Texas state lawmakers board a bus following a press conference at the DuPage County Democratic Party headquarters in Carol Stream, Ill., on Aug. 3, 2025. Scott Olson/Getty Images Charlie Hunt, Boise State University The gerrymandering drama in Texas – and beyond – has continued to unfold after Democratic state legislators fled the state.
U.S. Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania was one of 10 Democrats who voted to break the filibuster on the GOP funding bill. Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images Charlie Hunt, Boise State University Facing a threat of imminent government shutdown, nine Democrats joined GOP Senate colleagues to defeat a filibuster, moving the six-month government funding bill
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy. Drew Angerer/Getty Images Charles R. Hunt, Boise State University What do you get when you combine a tiny legislative majority, a former president itching for influence and a rogue group of lawmakers who like making headlines? House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s hellish life these days. The pressure has been fierce
“This story was originally published by Grist. Sign up for Grist’s weekly newsletter here.” Environmental groups have been clamoring for Congress to make this year’s farm bill the next big climate law. With more funding, climate advocates say, farmers could cut greenhouse gas emissions by storing carbon in soil, curbing nitrogen fertilizer use, and
by Zachary Roth, Minnesota Reformer Many of the election deniers who ran last year for positions that would have given them control over state elections systems lost their races. But several have found a new path to exert influence: as chair of their state Republican Party. On Saturday, Kristina Karamo, an activist who
As recently as 2008 the platform of the Republican Party mentioned climate change 13 times. The GOP acknowledged that the Earth’s warming was caused by human activity, and a commitment was made to reducing the nation’s long-term use of fossil fuels. By the end of President Barack Obama’s first term, however, the GOP