A cartoon by Mike Luckovich. Related | Trump's incompetent DOJ makes a mess of latest Epstein files drop

Congressional Cowards is a weekly series highlighting the worst Donald Trump defenders on Capitol Hill, who refuse to criticize him—no matter how disgraceful or lawless his actions. President Donald Trump announced on Monday that he thinks that the federal government should take over the 2026 midterm elections—an obvious effort to rig the results in favor of Republicans to prevent Democrats from flipping control of Congress. An FBI press office person approaches the Fulton County Election Hub and Operation Center in Georgia on Jan. 28. «These people were brought to our country to vote, and they vote illegally. The Republicans should say, we should take over the voting in at least 15 places. The Republicans ought to nationalize the voting,» Trump told Dan Bongino, the loser podcaster who quit his job at the FBI. «We have states that I won that show I didn't win. You're gonna see something in Georgia.» But rather than condemn the obviously illegal and dangerous threat, Republicans have been gaslighting Americans into thinking that Trump didn't mean what he said and is actually just talking about the need to pass their voter suppression SAVE Act, which would require proof of citizenship when registering to vote. Take a look at what Senate Majority Leader John Thune said when asked whether he agreed with Trump's horrific demand to «nationalize» elections. «I think the president has clarified what he meant by that, and that is that he supports the SAVE Act,» Thune said Tuesday—an obviously false statement as Trump explicitly said that he wants the federal government to take over elections. xQ: Do you agree with Trump saying we should 'nationalize' elections? THUNE: I think the president has clarified what he meant by that, and that is that he supports the SAVE Act (That is not what he meant)— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) 2026-02-03T19:52:16.346Z Similarly, Sen. Jon Husted of Ohio was also asked if he agrees that the federal government should take over elections, and gave a mealy-mouthed response that did not answer the question. «I understand the president's frustration,» Husted said on CNN. «We can instill confidence in both the president and American people that elections are run well through the SAVE Act.» And when host Dana Bash pushed further, Husted demurred. «I don't know exactly what he means,» Husted said.  Yeah, sure bud. xBASH: Do you agree the state is 'an agent for the federal govt' in elections? HUSTED: I understand the president's frustration. We can instill confidence that elections are run well through the SAVE Act B: He wasn't talking about the SAVE Act, though HUSTED: I don't know exactly what he means— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) 2026-02-04T18:05:14.622Z Meanwhile, Coward of the Year House Speaker Mike Johnson spread voter fraud lies to defend Trump's call to take over elections—something the former constitutional lawyer should know is illegal.  Related | Why Trump's raid on Georgia election site is so chilling Article I Section 4 of the Constitution explicitly states that, “The Times, Places and Manner of holding Elections for Senators and Representatives, shall be prescribed in each State by the Legislature thereof.”  So Congress can make laws regulating elections, but they cannot run them—as Trump is demanding. «We had three Republican candidates who were ahead on election day in the last cycle, and every time a new tranche of ballots came in they just magically whittled away until their leads were lost. It looks on its face to be fraudulent,» Johnson told reporters on Tuesday. «Can I prove that? No.» xJohnson: “We had three House Republican candidates who were ahead on Election Day…And every time a new tranche of ballots came in, they just magically whittled away until their leads were lost…It looks on its face to be fraudulent. Can I prove that? No.”— The Bulwark (@thebulwark.com) 2026-02-03T20:17:21.200Z Of course, the order in which ballots are counted means nothing. Trump then made all of the GOP defenders look like idiots a day later, when he again said that, yes, he really did mean that the federal government should take over elections because of some nonexistent fraud he now has Director of National Intelligence Tulsia Gabbard probing. A cartoon by Clay Jones. «Take a look at Detroit … take a look at Philadelphia, take a look at Atlanta,» Trump said Thursday. «The federal government should not allow that. The federal government should get involved. These are agents of the federal government to count the vote. If they can’t count the vote legally and honestly, then somebody else should take over.» Indeed, Trump has already tried to take over election administration with executive orders that sought to require people to show proof of citizenship when registering to vote, limiting the use of electronic ballot-counting machines, and blocking states from counting mail-in ballots that were postmarked on Election Day.  But federal judges have blocked the orders, saying that Trump cannot unilaterally change election law. Republicans, who purport to be supporters of states’ rights, should be appalled at Trump's call to federalize elections. But because they’re all sniveling cowards, they’ve instead found any way possible to defend Dear Leader.

Some election leaders are preparing for the possibility of federal pressure. By Jonathan Shorman for Stateline President Donald Trump’s calls this week to “nationalize” elections capped a year of efforts by his administration to exercise authority over state-run elections. The demands now have some state and local election officials fearing — and preparing for — a tumultuous year ahead. “I don’t think we can put anything past this administration,” Oregon Democratic Secretary of State Tobias Read told Stateline in an interview. “I think they’re increasingly desperate, increasingly scared about what’s going to happen when they are held accountable by American voters. So we have to be prepared for everything.” Ever since Trump signed an executive order last March that attempted to impose a requirement that voters prove their citizenship in federal elections, the federal government has engaged in a wide-ranging effort to influence how elections are run. Under the U.S. Constitution, that responsibility belongs to the states. Then came Trump’s remarks on a podcast Monday that Republicans should nationalize elections and take over voting in at least 15 places, though he didn’t specify where. In the Oval Office the next day, the president reaffirmed his view that states are “agents” of the federal government in elections. “I don’t know why the federal government doesn’t do them anyway,” Trump told reporters on Tuesday, despite the Constitution’s clear delegation of that job to states. Related | Election officials draw on sobering 2020 lessons as Trump calls for nationalizing voting Across the country, election officials are watching recent developments and, in some instances, grappling with how the Trump administration’s moves could affect their preparations for November’s midterm elections, which will determine control of Congress. Local election officials say they are considering how they would respond to the presence of federal law enforcement near polling places and what steps they need to take to ensure voting proceeds smoothly. Several Democratic election officials, and some Republicans, have spoken out. Placing voting under control of the federal government would represent a fundamental violation of the Constitution, they note. The U.S. Constitution authorizes states to set the time, place and manner of elections for Congress but also allows Congress to change those regulations. The elections themselves are run by the states. “Oh, hell no,” Maine Democratic Secretary of State Shenna Bellows said in a video statement posted to social media about federalizing elections. Bellows, who is running for governor, said she would mail the White House a pocket Constitution, “because it seems they’ve lost their copy.” The U.S. Department of Justice already has sued 24 states and the District of Columbia to obtain unredacted voter rolls that include sensitive personal information that it says is needed to search for noncitizen voters. The Department of Homeland Security wants states to run their voter rolls through a powerful citizenship verification tool. Those opposed to the demand say sharing the data risks the privacy of millions of voters. Many fear the administration could use the information to disqualify eligible voters, challenge the legitimacy of a victory in a closely contested midterm election, or use the information to target political enemies. In recent weeks, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi linked the presence of federal immigration agents in Minneapolis in part to Minnesota’s refusal to turn over its voter rolls. And the FBI seized ballots from an elections warehouse Fulton County, Georgia — a state that was a central focus of Trump’s push to overturn his 2020 election loss. Related | Why Trump's raid on Georgia election site is so chilling “I think it does affect our planning as far as, what if there is some sort of federal law enforcement presence on Election Day or before or after? So that definitely factors into our planning,” said Scott McDonell, the Democratic clerk in Dane County, Wisconsin, which includes Madison. Ingham County, Michigan, Clerk Barb Byrum, a Democrat running for secretary of state, said she and other election administrators conduct tabletop exercises and keep emergency plans for numerous scenarios. Those used to focus on floods, power outages and cyberattacks. “Now, unfortunately, it’s turning into the president of the United States meddling in elections,” Byrum said. “We will be prepared. Voters will hopefully not see anything different at their polling locations. … But we need to be diligent.” Pamela Smith, president and CEO of the election security nonprofit Verified Voting, said election officials and their lawyers need to study up on laws and regulations, including chain-of-custody requirements for ballots. David Becker, director of the nonpartisan Center for Election Innovation & Research, which operates the Election Official Legal Defense Network, said more than 10,000 lawyers have been recruited who are ready to provide pro bono legal assistance or advice to election officials. When Stateline asked Read whether he anticipates Oregon facing federal pressure over its voter rolls, the secretary of state said he was set to meet this week with county clerks in the Portland metro area “to talk about that very question.” Read’s office later confirmed the meeting took place. Oregon’s largest city, Portland, has been a focus of the Trump administration. Last year, Trump deployed federalized Oregon National Guard members to the city after protests outside an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility. And federal agents last month shot two people in a hospital parking lot. Portland is a self-described sanctuary city that does not aid the federal government in immigration enforcement. A protester in a frog costume stands in front of federal law enforcement officers outside an ICE facility in Portland, Ore., in Oct. 2025. The concern in Oregon comes after Bondi on Jan. 24 sent a letter to Minnesota Democratic Gov. Tim Walz after federal agents killed Renee Good and Alex Pretti in separate shootings in Minneapolis that were captured on video. Bondi’s letter outlined three “common sense solutions” that would help end the “chaos” in Minnesota, she wrote. One of those solutions called for the state to provide the Justice Department with its full, unredacted voter rolls. Minnesota Democratic Secretary of State Steve Simon has called Bondi’s letter an “outrageous attempt to coerce Minnesota” into handing over the data. Simon hasn’t provided the voter list, but White House border czar Tom Homan is pulling 700 immigration agents from Minnesota amid outrage over their presence. Roughly 2,300 agents will remain in the state. In North Carolina, Durham County Director of Elections Derek Bowens called Trump’s rhetoric and recent federal actions concerning. Bowens, a nonpartisan official appointed by the Durham County Board of Elections, said that as long as the rule of law persists, a “constitutional guard” will protect election administration. Still, Bowens, who oversees elections in a largely Democratic area in a presidential swing state, said he and other local officials are preparing to prevent potential “intrusion” into the process. “I’m not at liberty to divulge what that would be in terms of security protocols, but that’s definitely in the forefronts of our minds,” Bowens said in an interview, adding that he would be working with local emergency services officials “to make sure we’re positioned to ensure everyone that is eligible has unfettered access to the ballot box.” Trump wants federal control Trump appears to be crossing a line from urging Congress to set additional election requirements into wanting the federal government’s hands on states’ election administration infrastructure, said Barry Burden, a professor of political science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the director of the Elections Research Center at the university. “That would be brand new,” Burden said. After Trump called for nationalizing elections during Monday’s appearance on the podcast of Dan Bongino, a right-wing media personality who was previously a top FBI official, the White House said Tuesday that the president had been referring to legislation in Congress that would require individuals to show proof of citizenship to register to vote. The bill has passed the House but is stalled in the Senate. But Trump late Tuesday doubled down on his original comments during an unrelated bill-signing ceremony in the Oval Office. He suggested the federal government should take a role in vote counting. “The federal government should get involved,” Trump said. “These are agents of the federal government to count the votes. If they can’t count the votes legally and honestly, then somebody else should take over.” Related | FBI's search of Georgia election center is 'dangerous,' experts warn Even before Trump’s nationalization comments, Democratic state chief election officials and some Republicans had refused to turn over copies of voter rolls containing driver’s license numbers, date of birth and full or partial Social Security numbers after the Justice Department began demanding the data last spring. Federal judges in California and Oregon have ruled those states don’t have to provide the data; numerous other lawsuits against other states are ongoing. Missouri Secretary of State Denny Hoskins, a Trump-supporting Republican who campaigned for office on calls to hand-count ballots, told a Missouri House committee on Tuesday that he wouldn’t provide the state’s full voter list without a court order. He said his office had only shared a public version of the voter rolls; Missouri hasn’t been sued by the Justice Department. The Trump administration has previously confirmed it is sharing records with Homeland Security, which operates an online program that it uses to verify citizenship. The Justice Department has also offered some states a confidential agreement to search their voter lists. “Clean voter rolls and basic election safeguards are requisites for free, fair, and transparent elections,” Assistant U.S. Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon wrote in a statement to Stateline. “The DOJ Civil Rights Division has a statutory mandate to enforce our federal voting rights laws, and ensuring the voting public’s confidence in the integrity of our elections is a top priority of this administration.” But U.S. District Court Judge David O. Carter, a Clinton appointee, wrote in a Jan. 15 decision that the voter roll demands risk a chilling effect on Americans who may opt not to register to vote over concerns about how their information could be used. He dismissed the Justice Department’s lawsuit seeking California’s voter rolls. “The taking of democracy does not occur in one fell swoop; it is chipped away piece-by-piece until there is nothing left. The case before the Court is one of these cuts that imperils all Americans,” Carter wrote in a 33-page decision. Some Republicans oppose nationalization Amid Trump’s call for nationalizing elections, some Republican election officials have broken with the president even as they have avoided criticizing him directly. State control has long been a central tenant of conservatism, though Trump has challenged elements of Republican orthodoxy over the past decade. Hoskins, the Missouri secretary of state, told state lawmakers on Tuesday, “I personally don’t believe we should nationalize elections.” Georgia Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger in a news release on Monday urged lawmakers to focus on strengthening state administration of elections. He said that was better than “moving to federalize a core function of state government.” Raffensperger, who is running for governor this year, was famously targeted by Trump following the 2020 election to overturn his loss in Georgia. In a phone call, Trump told Raffensperger he wanted to “find 11,780 votes” — the size of his loss in the state. Raffensperger refused to aid Trump. Five years later, Raffensperger now faces pressure from Georgia state lawmakers to provide the state’s unredacted voter list to the Justice Department. The Georgia Senate on Monday passed a resolution calling on the secretary of state to fully comply with the department’s request. Georgia Republican state Sen. Randy Robertson, the resolution’s lead sponsor, said during a state Senate committee hearing last month that federal law supersedes limits on data sharing in Georgia law. He didn’t respond to an interview request. In a statement to Stateline, Raffensperger said that state law is “very clear” that officials aren’t allowed to turn over the information. “I will always follow the law and the Constitution,” Raffensperger wrote. The Georgia Senate vote came less than a week after the FBI searched the Fulton County elections warehouse and seized ballots. Fulton County, which includes much of the Atlanta metro area, was where Trump was indicted on charges of conspiracy and racketeering related to his efforts to overturn the state’s 2020 presidential election. The case was dismissed last year. The Justice Department didn’t answer a question from Stateline about whether it plans to seek search warrants for other election offices. On Wednesday, Fulton County filed a motion in federal court demanding the return of the seized ballots and other materials, Fulton County Board of Commissioners Chair Robb Pitts, a Democrat, said at a news conference. The motion also asks for the unsealing of the affidavit used by the FBI to support its search warrant application. “We will fight using all resources against those who seek to take over our elections,” Pitts said. “Our Constitution itself is at stake in this fight.”

A cartoon by Clay Jones. Related | Trump's incompetent DOJ makes a mess of latest Epstein files drop

Survey Says is a weekly series rounding up the most important polling trends or data points you need to know about, plus a vibe check on a trend that’s driving politics or culture. President Donald Trump loves football, but football may no longer love him. One year ago, Trump became the first sitting president to attend the Super Bowl. He had just retaken the White House after winning the popular vote, and he held a net-positive approval rating. And seemingly as a tribute to his bigotry, the NFL painted over the words “End Racism” in its end zones, replacing it with the vague and benign “Choose Love.” He likely went to the game expecting to be cheered.  This year, though, Trump won’t attend. If you ask him, it’s because the game, which will be hosted in California, is “just too far away.” That’s a particularly funny thing to say for a man with Air Force One at his disposal. Nevertheless, he wants you to know that it has nothing, nothing at all, to do with his now-dismal approval rating. No, much the opposite, he claims.  “I’ve [gotten] great hands [at] the Super Bowl. They like me,” he told the New York Post last month. But if Trump believed that, he would be there. The real reason he won’t attend is that he, perhaps more than any previous president, grasps the political power of football in America—and he now sees that it could be used against him. In the U.S., no sport attracts more of the public’s love than football. Last summer, Quinnipiac University found that not only do 29% of Americans call football their personal favorite sport, but also an overwhelming majority (74%) recognize it as “America’s sport.” x Datawrapper Content More relevant to this year’s midterm elections, nearly 7 in 10 likely voters are fans of the NFL, according to a new poll from Echelon Insights. That’s far more than the second-most popular sport, baseball, which 47% are fans of. And 56% of Americans say they’ll definitely or probably watch the Super Bowl this year, per YouGov. Trump is attuned to these facts. When endorsing political candidates or even nominating judges, he is sure to mention whether the person played or coached football, no matter if it was in college or the NFL. He’s even taken the unusual step of lobbying for Washington, D.C., to host the 2027 NFL Draft. You have to wonder if that’s one reason he flooded the city with troops last year, signaling to the locals what he may do if they try to protest the big televised event. Trump’s social media feeds are filled with football, too. He’s posted demands that teams bring back their formerly racist names. And during this January alone, he’s spoken out on team staffing decisions, Hall of Fame ballots, and the NFL’s new “sissy” kickoff rules. To him, the previous rule was “Big Time, Strong, Glamorous, and Exciting,” no matter that the new rule has more than doubled the number of regular-season kickoff returns, which sagged to an all-time low during the 2023 season. In fact, while in office, Trump’s personal and governmental social media accounts have mentioned “football” or “NFL” in 161 posts on X and Truth Social, according to a Daily Kos analysis. That far outpaces former Presidents Barack Obama (26) and Joe Biden (15). x Datawrapper Content Some of that may derive from the fact that Trump is both a windbag and a football fan. It’s not hard to find him posting online about the poor showings of his hometown teams, the New York Jets and the Giants. Instead, he seems to prefer the New England Patriots, regularly congratulating them on social media, praising their performance, and wishing them good luck. He’s close with former quarterback Tom Brady and team owner Robert Kraft, so maybe his fandom is based on personal ties. Or maybe it’s because they’ve won a lot of Super Bowls (unlike, say, the Jets). It’s hard to know how much of Trump’s football focus is due to his own fandom or to a strategy to reach less engaged voters, like the one he employed when he made the rounds on “bro” podcasts ahead of the 2024 election. It’s probably both. Then-President Barack Obama throws a football at Soldier Field following the NATO working dinner in Chicago in May 2012. Forgive this comparison, but like Trump, Obama understood the special power of football. He was not shy about his love for the Chicago Bears, even welcoming the 1985 team to the White House in 2011 and declaring them “the greatest team in NFL history.” Even now, Obama will pop up on ESPN to cheer on Da Bears. Last month, the Obama Foundation posted an old photo on Facebook of him throwing a football and jokingly offered him up to quarterback the team. Sports fandom, among many other things, made him likable and relatable.  That’s why Obama always agreed to the Super Bowl’s traditional pregame interview. It gave him a platform to reach a very large and less politically engaged America. It’s also probably why Trump brought the interview back in 2025, after Biden skipped it two years in a row, despite the fact that the interviews are usually softballs—or should I say deflated balls? In fact, Biden dodging those two interviews presaged what would come later in 2024, at that catastrophic presidential debate, where he made repeated gaffes and struggled to complete his thoughts. In a given year, the Super Bowl brings in more viewers than any other single TV event, and it seems Biden—or at least his team—was afraid of that. After all, his number of public events greatly declined toward the end of his presidency.  x Datawrapper Content But when it comes to politics, the most meaningful aspect of this year’s Super Bowl may not be that Trump will avoid the stadium and the boos. It’s that the NFL itself is starting to create separation from him.  This past September, the league and its partners announced that Puerto Rican megastar Bad Bunny would perform at the 2026 Super Bowl halftime show, sparking backlash from the right. Not only did conservatives not want to suffer the immeasurable pain of hearing a person sing in Spanish, but also Bad Bunny, whose real name is Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, stands fervently opposed to Trump’s immigration agenda. The artist mocked Trump in a music video last summer, and he went as far as to avoid performing in the U.S. out of a fear of federal agents harassing his fans. And yet, despite this right-wing backlash, the NFL held firm. Bad Bunny, who will perform at the Super Bowl LX Halftime Show, departs after a news conference on Feb. 5. In October, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said, «[Bady Bunny is] one of the most popular entertainers in the world. ... I think it's going to be exciting and a united moment.» And later that month, the league’s chief marketing officer added, “Not everyone has to like everything we do. Bad Bunny is fucking awesome.” Even individual teams have backed El Conejo Malo. In November, Charlotte Jones, who is the ​​Dallas Cowboys chief brand officer and whose father owns the team, told a podcast that having Bad Bunny perform would be “awesome.” “We have a mixed culture and our whole society is based on immigrants who have come here and founded our country, and I think we can celebrate that,” she said. Quite the turn from just a year ago, when the NFL scrubbed “End Racism” off its fields in deference to Trump. And all of those above statements came before Trump’s federal agents killed two Americans in Minnesota in January, sparking protests across the country.  In fact, one day after federal immigration agents killed intensive-care nurse Alex Pretti, Trump took to social media to post about the NFL’s new kickoff rules. “I can’t watch the new NFL Kickoff. Like many others, I just turn my head. Who has the right to make such a change? So disparaging to the game!” he wrote to a nation that had just witnessed its second needless execution in a handful of weeks. Trump wasn’t reading the room then, but he seems to be reading it now—and he’s not liking what it’s telling him. Any updates? Democratic governors have been a brake on the Trump administration, and there’s some good news for two high-profile candidates this year: New polls show Sen. Amy Klobuchar with double-digit leads over her Republican rivals in Minnesota, and New York Gov. Kathy Hochul with a 26-percentage-point lead over the expected Republican candidate, Bruce Blakeman. Vibe check Another reason Trump might want to avoid the Super Bowl is that one of the teams has the most liberal fanbase in the NFL. Forty-three percent of Democrats have a “very favorable” view of the Seattle Seahawks, more than any other team, according to data that Morning Consult released in 2020. Only 27% of Republicans are Seahawks fans. That puts the partisan difference at a sizable 16 points. The wild thing is, all but one team—the Tennessee Titans—has a fandom that leans left. It also could be that liberals just like a wider swath of teams than Republicans do. Or some mix of both. x Datawrapper Content

Democratic Tennessee state Rep. Justin Jones spoke on the Statehouse floor Thursday, delivering what he called a "public service announcement for the Republican side of the aisle.”  Jones suggested that conservatives who are concerned about the much-anticipated Super Bowl halftime performance by Grammy-winning recording artist Bad Bunny should instead worry about Turning Point’s alternative halftime performer, Kid Rock. “I know some folks can be a little bit triggered by an artist named Bad Bunny, but I want to just make an announcement that, before you rage-tweet, Bad Bunny is from Puerto Rico, and Puerto Rico is a part of America,” Jones said. x View this post on Instagram A post shared by Justin Jones (@brotherjones_) “Secondly, I know some of you are gonna be watching the bootleg, Temu version of the halftime show that Turning Point and MAGA’s doing with a man named Kid Rock,” Jones continued. “He has lyrics about liking underage girls, which is called ‘pedophilia.’ And I think we should be a little uncomfortable by that. I know that's very common right now in the White House, but I think that we should not support people who have lyrics about liking underage girls.” At least Jones and other young members of Tennessee’s conservative-controlled legislature give us hope for the future.

Marco Rubio is out of a job. Well, one of them at least. You may have forgotten that, along with being secretary of State, Rubio was also serving as the acting U.S. archivist, which is easy to overlook given that he has, at various times, held eleventy different jobs. But his time as an archivist has come to an end, because his days were literally numbered, as acting positions expire by law after 300 days. This might look like the administration is actually trying to comply with the requirements of the Federal Vacancies Reform Act, in stark contrast to the shenanigans it is attempting with U.S. attorneys, but this is more malicious compliance than anything else. Related | Ben there, done that: Trump's latest unqualified hire is a familiar face You see, Trump doesn’t really want anyone heading the National Archives, so it’s no skin off his back to honor the 300-day limit. After taking office, he quickly and arbitrarily fired the actual archivist, Colleen Shogan. Shogun was inevitably going to be in Trump’s crosshairs because Trump remains furious that the National Archives and Records Administration tried to tell him he couldn’t just steal classified documents and stash them in his tacky Mar-a-Lago bathroom. This image, contained in the indictment against  Trump, shows boxes of records stored in a bathroom and shower in the Lake Room at Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida. Putting Rubio in the gig was just a way for Trump to thumb his nose at the whole enterprise. Trump hasn’t nominated anyone to be the archivist, nor is there a deputy archivist. If there were a deputy, that person would likely be a career employee and would automatically become acting archivist upon a vacancy, but we can’t have that. We might end up with some pencil-necked geek who thinks it’s actually important to follow the laws and preserve records.  So instead, Rubio “delegated” his authority to a senior adviser, James Byron, on his way out the door. It is in no way clear that this is legal under the FVRA, but it isn’t like the administration cares. Fun fact: Byron is on leave from the Richard Nixon Foundation, where he basically works to rehabilitate Nixon’s image, a thing that he is so passionate about that he has worked there since taking an internship in 2007, when he was 14. Since then, he’s worked his way up the ladder, becoming CEO in 2022 at 29 years old.  So yes, if you’re doing the math, NARA is now run by a Nixon freak who has only ever had one job. Moreover, his work is on the foundation side, not the library side, so he has literally no relevant experience in managing records. Well, guess he doesn’t really need it in an administration that is making no effort to preserve records.  Head of Office of Management and Budget and Acting Director for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Russ Vought Besides no longer pretending to run NARA, Rubio is also no longer the acting head of the United States Agency for International Development, and not just because Trump is shuttering the agency. He was replaced with Russ Vought back in August so Vought could “oversee the closeout.” Vought also has some side hustles. Besides being the head of the Office of Management and Budget, he’s also the acting director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which he is working tirelessly to shut down as well. Never fear, though. Rubio is still the national security adviser. Rubio and Vought aren’t the only administration officials doubling and tripling up on jobs. Scott Bessent is both the Treasury secretary and the acting IRS commissioner, because why not. Frank Bisignano, the head of the Social Security Administration, is also “chief executive officer” of the IRS, which was not a thing until Trump made it up. Oh, and remember when Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy was running NASA for a bit? Good times. All of this doesn’t just show that Trump wants his cronies in jobs without putting them through a confirmation process. It also shows his deep disregard for the actual work of government, turning major positions into afterthoughts. This is no way to run a government. 

A cartoon by Pedro Molina. Related | Kennedy Center crumbles under Trump

A daily roundup of the best stories and cartoons by Daily Kos staff and contributors to keep you in the know. 23 years ago: Colin Powell lied to launch a bogus war To think it used to be truly inappropriate to base political actions on lies. Bezos guts the Washington Post—just like Trump wanted We’re witnessing the death of mainstream media institutions. Republicans love Trump's ICE agenda—unless it's in their state The GOP is the party of NIMBY. Cartoon: Peachy fraud Something sure smells in the state of Georgia. ‘I don’t know’: Trump plays dumb on abysmal approval rating When in doubt, make it up. Trump dedicates National Prayer Breakfast to his favorite god—himself When Trump goes off the teleprompter, you truly never know what he’ll say. Trump’s latest US attorney pick is another real winner She’s been practicing law for three years. What could go wrong? Click here to see more cartoons.

A new survey released on Thursday proves what many had long suspected: X, the social media network owned by far-right billionaire Elon Musk, is trapped in an ideological bubble far removed from the rest of the world. The poll from The Argument, which was fielded between Jan. 26-27, found that among an array of news platforms, it was only among X users that President Donald Trump has a net-positive approval rating. Fifty-four percent of X users either strongly or somewhat approve of Trump, with 45% disapproving. That stands in strong contrast to his level of support among all registered voters: 42% approve, 57% disapprove. Trump is also viewed negatively by the audiences on several other major online platforms. For instance, Trump has a 46% approval rating among Facebook users, 39% among Instagram users, 35% with TikTok users, and an anemic 29% among Reddit users.  x Datawrapper Content Perhaps even more damning than the level of Trump support on X is how positively Immigration and Customs Enforcement is seen by users of the service. The Argument’s data shows that ICE was backed by 45% of X users, while the agency was at 35% among voters at large. The data verifies the effect of drastic changes made at X following Musk’s 2022 purchase of the company, previously known as Twitter. Musk manipulated many of the rules governing hateful and bigoted content, and he restored previously suspended accounts for figures like Trump and conspiracy theorist Alex Jones. The result was a significant increase in posts supporting racism, misogyny, religious discrimination, and misinformation—in other words, the perfect venue for Trump, who has supported those values during his time as a public figure. Pop singer Sabrina Carpenter, shown last September. The Trump administration has been feeding this bigoted audience the hateful content it craves. In one widely reported episode, singer Sabrina Carpenter called out ICE for using her song “Juno” over footage of agents handcuffing and tackling immigrants in an X post. “this video is evil and disgusting. Do not ever involve me or my music to benefit your inhumane agenda,” Carpenter wrote. Similarly, the White House and the Department of Homeland Security have used official X accounts to promote language and terminology associated with the white supremacist movement. At the same time that X has been operating as a pro-Trump/bigot feedback loop, the site has also reportedly been used in concert with the Musk-owned chatbot Grok to create and disseminate nonconsensual sexual imagery, including images of underage children. Governments around the world have condemned the practice, and official action has been taken in France, leading to a recent police raid. But the Trump administration and their Republican allies in Congress have not said much about it. After all, why would they do anything to anger the man who created their echo chamber and funds so much of their campaigns?

Have you been waiting with bated breath to find out who would perform at Turning Point USA’s halftime show? Lo, these long months where we were promised that this alternative halftime show would be epic, but the lineup was a mystery until Monday, when we learned about this absolutely killer lineup: Kid Rock, Brantley Gilbert, Lee Brice, and Gabby Barrett.  Real A-listers here, right?  If you had to Google everyone on this list except Kid Rock, you’re not alone. Rock is no surprise, given his affection for performing at Trump events. Mr. Rock even showed up in a truly remarkable outfit to stand next to Trump while Trump wrote out one of his little executive orders that has no force of law, this one about ticket scalping. Sadly for Rock, none of this has translated into decent album sales or anything like that, but at least Rock was once a very famous musician. The other three? Not so much. Country music artist Brantley Gilbert  Brantley Gilbert was once reasonably famous, hitting Number One with several singles on the Billboard Country Airplay charts, though that hasn’t happened since 2019. His last two records didn’t even crack the top 20 of Billboard’s Country Album charts.  But Gilbert isn’t there because of his middling career as a country singer. He’s there because he has shifted his efforts to being a conservative culture warrior. Remember when conservatives were furious that Bud Light gave transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney a personalized can of beer to promote the brand? Gilbert latched onto that, smashing a can of Bud Light on stage to show his MAGA bona fides.  Gilbert also performed at Turning Point USA’s 2021 America Fest, where he appeared on a bill that included such luminaries as former Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene and Matt Gaetz, Rep. Jim Jordan, Donald Trump Jr., and Kyle Rittenhouse. Brice hasn’t released an album since 2020, and even his hot-selling records have never broken 500,000 in sales. His singles have tanked of late as well, with the last four not charting at all on the Billboard Hot 100 or Billboard Country Songs.  As with Gilbert, though, Brice isn’t on this bill because of his innate talent or album sales or anything of the sort. He’s there because he’s the kind of guy who gets a soft-focus NRA profile about how much he loves guns. He’s there because he’s the kind of guy who goes on Will Cain’s Fox News show to talk about how people love country music for “real and honesty” and “God and country.” Singers Gabby Barrett, left, and Matthew West participates in the 103rd National Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony on the Ellipse, on Dec. 4, 2025. Barrett’s main claim to fame is placing third on “American Idol” eight years ago. Her most recent record did hit # 26 on the charts … the Billboard Christian Albums chart, that is. Like Rock, Barrett has also previously performed for Trump, singing “The First Noel” during the 2018 National Christmas Tree Lighting. Did Barrett see herself as singing to all Americans or honoring Jesus Christ or something similar? Lol, nope.  Barrett’s promo post on X said, “I will be performing ‘The First Noel’ for the President, in Washington D.C. on Wednesday.” To be fair, she did later say that performing for Trump “was an amazing opportunity to represent America and the Lord.” It’s honestly pretty surprising that Alexis Wilkins isn’t on the list. How dare TPUSA cut out Kash Patel’s country singer girlfriend from this superstar jamboree! She’s performed at TPUSA events a bunch of times, but apparently, that isn’t enough to get her in the door for the alternative halftime show.  Fox is desperately trying to spin this as “star-studded,” which it is not by any metric, but what else can conservatives do? They have to pretend that whatever motley collection of pro-Trump artists they dredge up are superstars, even if there is no evidence whatsoever of that.  Bad Bunny Meanwhile, after his Grammy win Sunday night, Bad Bunny’s album sales and streams have jumped even more. When he dropped “Debí Tirar Más Fotos” in January 2025, all 17 singles charted. He ranked Number One on Spotify’s 2025 Global Top Artist charts, notching 19.8 billion—that’s billion, with a “b”—worldwide. He also topped that chart in 2020, 2021, and 2022.  Most of the other artists performing at the actual Super Bowl will also make conservatives incandescent with rage. While they’re probably not all that mad about Charlie Puth, they’re going to be incredibly unhappy with everyone else.  Green Day is performing at the opening ceremony and has made no secret of their loathing of Trump. The band even changed the lyrics of “American Idiot,” from “I’m not a part of a redneck agenda” to “I’m not a part of a MAGA agenda.”  Brandi Carlile is openly queer and recently spoke out about ICE’s murder of Renee Good and 32 people who have died in ICE custody. Her foundation also just donated $25,000 to The Advocates for Human Rights in Minnesota to support their efforts to provide free legal assistance to detainees.  As far as Coco Jones, it likely isn’t so much who she is, but what she is going to sing. Jones will perform “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” also known as the Black national anthem. Your MAGA uncle is going to spend a lot of time complaining about DEI during this, bet.  It’s going to be a delight to see how pathetic the ratings for this thing will be. It’s going to make Bari Weiss’s cratering numbers over at CBS News look amazingly successful by comparison. Go anti-woke, go super-broke.

Former White House press secretary and current Fox News host Kayleigh McEnany went into full propaganda mode Monday, hyping first lady Melania Trump’s new documentary and adding to increasingly dubious stories about stellar ticket sales. “My mom went to it this weekend in Florida,” McEnany said on Fox News. “She said not only was the theater packed, it was, you know, standing room only—if you could, like, try to sneak in the back of the theater. People were cheering through it. They were excited. It was interactive, people interplaying with the film. She said it was just electric.”  xKayleigh: My mom went to see Melania. She said the theater was packed, it was standing room only. People were cheering through it, they were excited. It was interactive—people interplaying with the film. She said it was just electric. pic.twitter.com/dimgT5jGPF— Acyn (@Acyn) February 2, 2026 Name a single film you have attended, or even heard about, where there was “standing room only.” Did McEnany get the “Melania” documentary confused with “Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour,” which highlighted Taylor Swift’s 21-month-long, record-breaking tour? “Melania” did exceed some of the lowest expectations, pulling in a reported $7 million opening weekend. But once you factor in the cost—Amazon bought the rights to the film for $40 million and spent another $35 million to promote it—the opening weekend was anything but “electric.”

A cartoon by Clay Jones. Related | Shady new ad campaign paints ICE thugs as ‘friends and neighbors’

A daily roundup of the best stories and cartoons by Daily Kos staff and contributors to keep you in the know. Shady new ad campaign paints ICE thugs as ‘friends and neighbors’ This will totally change the public’s mind about ICE’s handiwork. Democrats' blowout victory in special election spells doom for GOP The win isn’t just significant for how much Democrats won by, but for how it happened in the first place. Kennedy Center crumbles under Trump Trump’s strategy seems to be if at first you don’t succeed, try construction instead. Cartoon: Dibs There seems to be a real party division on this one. Republican claims he’s always been ‘warning’ Trump about ICE Why don’t we roll the tape to find out … What the hell is Tulsi Gabbard’s job anyway? Do you think she even knows? Click here to see more cartoons.

Republican megadonor Elon Musk spent the weekend trying to change the narrative about his interactions with accused sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein after emails surfaced showing Musk arranging to attend a party at Epstein’s notorious private island. The emails, which were sent between 2012 and 2014, were released Friday by the Department of Justice, and they show Musk discussing attending a party hosted by Epstein, who was by then a convicted sex offender. In one email, Epstein referenced making arrangements for Musk to travel to the island with actor Talulah Riley, Musk’s partner at the time. Musk then asked Epstein which nights would have the “wildest party.” Documents that were included in the U.S. Department of Justice release of the Jeffrey Epstein files. In another, Musk laments an apparent scheduling conflict preventing him from visiting Epstein. Musk wrote that he was “very disappointed” and “really looking forward to finally spending some time together with just fun as the agenda.” He concluded the email, writing, “Hopefully we can schedule another time in the near future.” Many of the women allegedly abused by Epstein and his associates have said the island in question, Little St. James, was used as a hub for where they were trafficked and assaulted. After the emails were released, Musk went into damage-control mode. He argued on his social media account that the released emails were “performative” and “nothing but a distraction.” As reports emerged on the details of his exchanges, he complained, “Legacy media lies relentlessly.” Musk argued that “nobody” had pushed for the release of the Epstein files as much as he did, and he said legacy media and “far-left propagandists” would “make counter-accusations against me” and that he would be “smeared relentlessly.” Musk also used his X account, which has over 230 million followers, to amplify posts from supporters echoing his attacks on the press and pushing his narrative that he had done nothing wrong. The chummy back-and-forth between Musk and Epstein runs contrary to Musk’s previous claims that he had summarily rejected an invitation to the island. Related | Trump's incompetent DOJ makes a mess of latest Epstein files drop The documents are also notable because of Musk’s deep involvement in Republican politics. He was a major donor to President Donald Trump’s 2024 election campaign and has donated millions meant to help Republicans preserve their control over Congress this year. Additionally, Musk’s company SpaceX is a major contractor doing business with the federal government. Musk’s emails with a suspected sex trafficker are also being released while his company xAI is under probe from multiple foreign governments for providing a service, the chatbot Grok, that has been used to generate nonconsensual sexual images. Grok was also used to produce sexual photos of children. Despite those revelations, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth is moving forward with plans to integrate Grok in sensitive defensive systems. The emails show that Trump is not the only figure in the right-wing establishment now dogged by a relationship with Epstein.

MAGA folks are revisiting their beloved argument that conservative women have more children because they’re hotter.  “Conservative women are just factually more attractive than liberal women. It’s why more conservatives than liberals are having babies,” Katie Miller, the wife of White House chief of staff for policy  Stephen Miller, said via X Wednesday.  Her claims were paired with an equally strange Fox News segment between Jesse Watters and Kid Rock in which the former dad rock singer shared his sexist epiphany on live television. xConservative women are just factually more attractive than liberal women. It’s why more conservatives than liberals are having babies. https://t.co/gfpzhsmEtu— Katie Miller (@KatieMiller) January 21, 2026 “We have this low birth rate in America,” Rock began. “It just hit me right now, because who is going to sleep with these ugly-ass, broke, crazy, [Trump Deranged Syndrome], liberal women? You look at these rallies, it’s like a bunch of women that no guy wants to sleep with and a bunch of dudes that want to sleep with each other.” There are so many problems with Rock’s argument. And it’s a lot to assume any of these hypothetical women would be interested in sleeping with Rock as opposed to, say, someone like Republican Rep. Lauren Boebert. The thing is, studies suggest that conservative women are indeed having more children than liberals. However, it probably has nothing to do with how badly men want to sleep with them. Per the Institute for Family Studies:  In the 2020s, just 40% of liberal women between ages 25 and 35 report being parents, down from 51% in the 2010s. By comparison, conservative women in this age range saw no statistically significant change: in the 2020s, 71% report being parents. This means there is a 31-percentage point gap between young conservative women and their liberal peers today. And it also probably doesn’t have to do with the allegedly radical, leftist, blue-haired women with armpit hair that Watters and the majority of MAGA seem to use as a bogeyman for women’s rights.  While MAGA points to women’s looks as the reason for plummeting birth rates among more left-leaning families, they’re ignoring the policies in place that are keeping women (who want children) from taking that step.  Conservatives are diving toward an ideology that promotes godliness and duty to provide offspring over the practicality of raising children in today’s world altogether. And that concern is what has many liberal families holding off.  Related | Why 'The Great Feminization' is a great big conservative con Things like extreme costs for day care or childcare when parents go to work have come into the public conversation. Despite the desire, in some households, for one parent to be the breadwinner, affordability in Trump’s America makes that reality out of reach for many. Many mothers were able to join the workforce again when working from home was more accessible, but that has steadily declined as they’ve been forced back into the office. Once a pregnant person does give birth, however, there is the fear of exorbitant hospital bills and Trump doesn’t care if that medical debt goes on people’s credit reports.  The only thing that the Trump administration seems to be actively tackling is the incentive, or means, of making babies itself.  With the overturn of Roe v. Wade, abortion has become less accessible—and continues to become less so. On the bright side, should you have a child before 2028, Trump will start a $1,000 savings account for them.  While women on the left are looking at the logistics, MAGA women seem to be pushing the message of faith that, somehow, it will all work out for them.  However, no amount of hair extensions and lip filler will make better policies for mothers.

Former D.C. Metropolitan Police officer Michael Fanone—who was seriously injured while defending the Capitol during the Jan. 6 attack—told Republican Rep. Troy Nehls, “Go fuck yourself” during Thursday’s House committee hearing featuring former special counsel Jack Smith. Fanone, a vocal critic of MAGA efforts to rewrite the history of Jan. 6 and deflect blame from Donald Trump, was in attendance when Nehls had the audacity to claim that the Capitol Police’s leadership was to blame for the attempted coup after the president held a rally and ordered his followers to march to the Capitol and stop the certification of electoral votes. “The fault does not lie with Donald Trump,” Nehls whined. Fanone responded by coughing loudly while unmistakably directing his message to the stolen valor-wielding, cowardly Nehls. x x YouTube Video A groveling Trump simp, the Texas representative faced an ethics investigation before he abruptly dropped his reelection bid at the last moment—leaving virtually no time for anyone other than his twin brother, Trever, to file to run for Nehls’ House seat. Rep. Jim Jordan, who is also the worst wrestling coach ever, attempted to restore order to the proceedings—but the truth had already landed. Related | 'Stolen valor': GOP blasts one of their own for military pin he didn't earn

A cartoon by Clay Jones. Related | Trump repeatedly confuses Greenland for Iceland

A daily roundup of the best stories and cartoons by Daily Kos staff and contributors to keep you in the know. ICE goons to America: We don’t need no stinkin’ warrants The lawlessness continues unabated. Democrat shreds GOP's Trump worship: 'We took an oath' Too bad Republicans’ fealty is devoted to the crooked president. ‘I won’t be complicit’: Newsom stands against Trump’s bullying The California governor refuses to bend the knee. Cartoon: NRA goes MIA Where have all the gun nuts gone? Vance: So what if ICE kills a mom or abducts some kids? Apparently, these deadly “mistakes” are just “the nature of law enforcement.” Trump’s FCC goon demands talk shows give Republicans equal time This regime is so salty about late-night jokes. GOP loses another battle in gerrymandering war it started We love to see it. Click here to see more cartoons.

Congratulations, Republicans: Your mentally incapacitated president—who’s running the country without guardrails, constraints, or adult supervision—is burning through nearly a century of international goodwill, with consequences that will echo for decades. “You cannot put the genie back into the bottle. Things might get better and more calm a few months down the road, and Trump, he can’t be reelected, and the next president might be somewhat different,” Anders Schelde, chief investment officer of a Danish pension fund, said while announcing his exit from U.S. markets. “But what comes then in five, six, 10 years? I think there’s a strong realization across Europe that we need to be able to stand on our own feet.”  A crowd protests against President Donald Trump in front of the U.S. consulate in Nuuk, Greenland on Jan. 17. The fund he manages, AkademikerPension, is only about $100 million—a rounding error in global finance. But that’s not the point.  What matters is what he’s saying and what he represents: a growing belief among global investors and governments that the United States is no longer a reliable anchor for the world economy. For decades after World War II, the United States sat at the center of a global system for which it largely paid and designed—and it paid off enormously. The United States underwrote global security through alliances like NATO, stabilized trade through institutions like the International Monetary Fund and World Bank, and enforced rules that made markets predictable and conflicts less likely to spiral out of control. In return, the dollar became the world’s reserve currency, and U.S. companies enjoyed preferential access to global markets. Foreign capital flowed in not just because of returns but because the United States was seen as stable, serious, and governed by adults. President Donald Trump has lit all of that on fire. Related | ‘F-ck off’: Danish leader has had it with Trump’s Greenland nonsense And once the world adjusts—and allies build parallel systems that don’t rely on the United States—that advantage won’t simply snap back when Trump is gone.  The genie cannot go back in the bottle. During his first term, much of the world treated Trump as a fluke—a mistake we would quickly correct. Now the world understands the deeper problem: No matter how sane or responsible the next president might be, the United States is always just one deranged electorate away from putting another madman in charge. The world handed the United States enormous power because it trusted we would use it responsibly. Thanks to Trump and the Republicans who enabled him, that trust is gone.