Author: Sky York Journal

Sky York Journal Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) prepared a letter in recent days asking Israel’s president for a favor. In a previously unreported letter obtained by TPM, Fetterman asked Israel’s President Isaac Herzog to pardon Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. “In a world this dangerous, I question whether any democracy can afford to have its head of government spending valuable hours, day after day, in a courtroom rather than the situation room,” Fetterman wrote in a copy of the letter, dated Dec. 2, obtained by TPM. Netanyahu formally asked Herzog for a pardon late last month. Fetterman, expressing surprise that TPM…

Sky York Journal As it continues to platform conspiracy theorists who gained MAGA prominence during the 2020 election, the Trump administration has tapped 2020 election denier (and 2016 conspiracy theorist) Gregg Phillips for a leadership position in the Federal Emergency Management Agency.  Aside from having little to no official emergency management experience — beyond reportedly working with non-profits and religious groups to help victims of natural disasters — Phillips is a known conspiracy theorist who has publicly posted about his opposition to FEMA and interest in a “Christ centered approach” to emergency management. The Handbasket was first to report that Phillips…

Sky York Journal A federal judge enjoined the Trump administration’s federalization of the California National Guard Wednesday, writing that it has “sent California Guardsmen into other states, effectively creating a national police force made up of state troops.” Judge Charles Breyer, a Clinon appointee, wrote that there is no feasible reason to justify the continued use of the troops months after the June protest that prompted their mobilization. He bristled at the administration’s argument that once the Guard is federalized, all extensions are judicially unreviewable.  “That is shocking,” he wrote. “Adopting Defendants’ interpretation of Section 12406 would permit a president…

Sky York Journal As Republicans came before the Supreme Court Tuesday to get rid of one of the last regulations governing our wild west campaign finance system, the colloquies fell flat.  Justice Sonia Sotomayor took on the “slippery slope” role. She reminded listeners of the Watergate-era corruption that gave rise to the regulation that the petitioners in this case, the National Republican Senatorial Committee and JD Vance, want to do away with, and how little will be left if the limits on these donations to parties are wiped away too. But it had the feel of a skirmish after the…

Sky York Journal This story first appeared at ProPublica, a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up to receive ProPublica’s biggest stories as soon as they’re published. This fall, Americans got to see what it’s like to go without a safety net for the hungry. With the U.S. government shut down for multiple weeks and President Donald Trump refusing to fund SNAP, the federal food stamp program, a panic set in among the more than 40 million people who rely on it. Families skipped meals, and babies went unfed. Food banks ran out of food, and some people turned to dumpster…

Sky York Journal Chief Justice John Roberts scrambled around with a verbal broom and dustpan Monday, reflexively jumping into the arguments to downplay the obvious dangers his majority will soon unleash in its seemingly imminent decision to destroy independent agencies. The case stems from President Trump’s early-term bloodletting at the Federal Trade Commission (and several other protected agencies), and is expected to end with a major victory for the all-powerful presidency that the right-wing legal world has been working towards for decades. When Justice Sonia Sotomayor pointed out that the Trump administration’s logic for making the leaders of until-now independent…

Sky York Journal This story was produced by The Hechinger Report, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news outlet focused on education. Brown University, one of the most selective institutions in America, attracted nearly 50,000 applicants who vied for just 1,700 freshman seats last year. The university accepted nearly equal numbers of male and female prospects, even though, like some other schools, it got nearly twice as many female applicants. That math meant it was easier for male students to get in — 7 percent of male applicants were admitted, compared to 4.4 percent of female applicants, university data show. The Trump administration’s policies may soon…

Sky York Journal This story first appeared at ProPublica, a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up to receive ProPublica’s biggest stories as soon as they’re published. For months, the Trump administration has been accusing its political enemies of mortgage fraud for claiming more than one primary residence. President Donald Trump branded one foe who did so “deceitful and potentially criminal.” He called another “CROOKED” on Truth Social and pushed the attorney general to take action. But years earlier, Trump did the very thing he’s accusing his enemies of, records show. In 1993, Trump signed a mortgage for a “Bermuda…

Sky York Journal Lawsuits have been percolating over President Trump’s unprecedented attempt to undermine birthright citizenship since the beginning of his second term, but it took until Friday for the Supreme Court to announce that it will hear the case on the merits.  A previous iteration of the fight over Trump’s executive order — that would deprive the children of “temporary visitors” and “illegal aliens” of automatic citizenship if they’re born in the United States — had reached the Court already, although the Court did not rule on the actual question of whether Trump’s order complied with the Constitution. As…

Sky York Journal Indiana’s Republican-controlled state House approved a new gerrymandered congressional map on Friday, as expected.  While the new map had widespread support among Republicans in the state House — it passed by a 57-41 vote — the ultimate fate of the map remains unclear. The state Senate convenes on Monday, December 8 to make a decision on the matter.  The creator of the map legislation, Republican state Rep. Ben Smaltz, acknowledged during a House elections committee hearing on Tuesday that the maps are “politically gerrymandered,” but insisted that they were not racially gerrymandered.  The new map, which was…