Please expose the SAVE act for what it really is -voter suppression. More than 140 million American citizens do not possess a passport and up to 69 million women who have taken their spouse’s name do not have a birth certificate matching their legal name. These women would likely need additional documentation, such as a name change document or marriage certificate, to register to vote. Its a solution where there is no problem, and at every level of government voting rights are being stripped from American citizens. Thank you for your work!
Agree about the SAVE Act but please go further. The states control voting and it is there that Republicans will focus their efforts to rig elections in 2026 and beyond. Yes federal officials such as AG Pam Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel (I STILL can't believe that's who is in charge) will certainly meddle with and try to intimidate Democratic-run states and cities, but the Republican state legislatures, governors, Republican AGs and local Republican officials are the ones to watch.
In the mean time, everyone and I mean EVERYONE, needs to be in touch with all of their family and friends networks to make sure that you and all of your circle have identification documents in case they are needed for voting. Help out neighbors and like-minded voters too. That means getting/renewing passports NOW, finding original or obtaining certified birth certificates, marriage licenses, especially for married women who changed their names, and any local IDs (driver's license, non-driver voter ID, state-approved photo ID, etc.), checking registration and anything else needed to vote in 2026 TODAY!!! Develop trusted information platforms for accurate info on polling locations, dates, times and any ID requirements. Make plans for transportation to the polls and any support functions for your district. Volunteer to be a poll worker, observer or caregiver for people who need baby sitting or help with a disabled family member while they go vote. We cannot wait until September. 2026 to be ready for the next election, if we are lucky enough not to have Trump declare a state of emergency and martial law before hand. This may be our last chance and that is not hyperbole.
Some states have ‘proof of citizenship’ laws but due to the Voting Rights Act they don’t apply to federal elections. And a birth certificate that doesn’t match someone’s legal name won’t be accepted.
Yes, people need to prepare now. ‘Proof’ could be required for other reasons. Last yr a bill was introduced in Congress re: healthcare.
I am puzzled that a birth certificate is accepted as ID.
I was an election official at every election for something like thirty years. (In Canada.) At one, in a poll in Toronto's Chinatown, a woman appeared with only a Canadian birth certificate. It could have belonged to anyone. She spoke no English, and no one in the poll – no official, no voter – spoke her language. I couldn't let her vote.
No, a birth certificate would not be accepted as ID. It would be additional documentation to prove citizenship.
To prove citizenship:
• Photo IDs don’t indicate citizenship except in a couple border states. Therefore, a birth certificate or current passport would be needed to prove a person was born in the US. — Naturalized citizens would need to present their naturalization paper or passport.
• To prove eligibility to vote in that state or polling location:
An acceptable photo ID showing the legal name matching the citizenship proof with the current address matching the voter rolls (if already registered). Some states frequently change what types of ID is accepted.
This is more of problem for women who are the most likely to have legal names that don’t match their birth certificate. There is no guidance for states on ID that are acceptable or the paperwork required to prove name changes. But it appears this would be necessary each time someone registers to vote (for instance changes their address) and must be presented to the election worker at the polls to vote.
When politicians pretend to be solving problems that don’t exist they obviously have another agenda: This time it is voter suppression.
It’s all true. About half of Americans have passports. They are also expensive and take much longer to obtain than ‘traditional’ IDs. I’m not sure I’d trust this administration to speed them up.
Women should be gathering their documents now. If for no other reason than to prepare for next year’s primaries. Vague confusing provisions about what constitutes proof could give a lot of discretion to states or local officials.
The League of Women Voters is not a radical group. It has been against this bill since it was introduced the first time.
please make it more public what the EPA is doing to scrap the mission of protecting our environment. In addition to changing their entire mission, they have frozen $20 billion granted by the Inflation Reduction Act which was. earmarked to bring lower cost renewable energy to underserved communities. They continue to cut funding for those who need it most.
Agree! Please shine a light on Lee Zeldin's radical agenda to gut EPA, in violation of its mission and the law. For an excellent piece on this read Jeremy Symons:
It is of course not impossible for the regime to negotiate with El Salvador. Leaving anyone there is a crime, but to send someone without due process is yet another crime on the part of the administration.
I absolutely agree. The reality is that the administration paid El Salvador to extra-legally imprison these human beings, and the regime there was happy to take the innocent people and the money. The administration would probably have to pay to get them out. But it's we, the taxpayers, who are funding this travesty. Just like we fund so many terrible things.
The round-up and imprisonment of gang members in El Salvador is credited with drastic reductions in crime in that country. But no one should be placed in a maximum security prison -- let alone the CECOT prison in El Salvador -- without due process and without having been convicted of a violent crime.
For the Administration to say they cannot do anything to correct this mistake is a lie. Everyone knows that the Secretary of State could retrieve anyone mistakenly sent from the US to that prison, by simply making a request to the El Salvadoran government. But for that to happen, the Secretary of State would have to be honorable. That's the catch.
yes and, the swift deportation, sans due process, to torture prisons of even legal immigrants is also designed to send a message to all of us: none of us are safe
agree 100% -- and it's designed to terrify anyone who's paying attention.
disappearing people -- as with the case of legal immigrant Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who was swept up and deported "mistakenly," the regime admits (while saying oh well, can't do anything about it) to the El Salvador megaprison
fwiw, I've developed a bad habit of muting my outrage about the inhumane treatment of immigrants -- those legally here and those not -- because I spend a fair amount of time weekly trying to get through to the maga voters I grew up with in West Texas.
The regime's terrorizing and disappearings of non-white people doesn't always reach self-described "christian" (not actually Christian) maga voters.
Pointing out the joyfully malicious firings of veterans & dismantling of the VA, the attacks on farmers, and the growing risk of big jumps in inflation and a recession -- those things, maybe, will get through.
Trumps mental state must be reported. He makes statements that are opposite earlier statements he has made too often to ignore them. Last week he signed a bill and blasted whoever signed an earlier bill. However he was the one who signed the earlier bill.
Three or four gaps like that reported together might get more Maga followers pay attention.
I absolutely agree. The sitting president personifies a person struggling with dementia. The most powerful human being on the planet is incapable of rational thought and empathy.
musk and other technofascist backers, with an assist from the christofascists (think Russell Vought)
Note: christofascists are in no way actual capital-C Christians. Christ's prime teachings -- e.g., "love thy neighbor as thyself" along with "welcome the stranger," "as you did unto the least of these you did unto me" -- all right out.
Is there a case for his enablers being charged with Elder Abuse?
He seemed confused about Hegseth's culpability in the flagrant violation of intelligence laws via Signal. And it looks like Steven Miller is orchestrating a lot of the most offensive fascist policies. If the president is barely in the loop when the public is allowed to see him, what is he like the rest of the day?
I am relieved that you are who you are, where you are, doing what you do in a way that is accessible, readable and understandable. You focus on one thing a day. I am never overwhelmed by your reporting. I am grateful for what you do and adding Muskwatch in a separate read to keep it all manageable. Thank you.
Can you focus on the procedure and officials that would be involved in arresting govt officials that break the law? Seriously. Civics 101. I ask because of the thousands of comments on news sites that say "arrest him!" Why isn't that being done?
Please conintue the crucial work you are doing through Popular Information. More than half of our population is against all of the DOGE moves. Thank you Judd Legum for being our voice of vigilance to protect all that has made so many people's lives safer and given us sources to turn to for support. You well know that your work is vital to the protection of all of the agencies formed to make our government function at the high level that has been the envy of the globe. We can now see clearly how it has been a Republican position to lessen the development of these helpful organizations: SSA, Medicare, Education, Veterans Administration, AFCare Act, Dept. of Agriculture, EPA, and so on and on. They have put the well being of We The People at the forefront. Our nation of immigrants must live up to the reality of who make up the population of our country--we are all immigrants.
yes and, these folks aren't Republicans. The maga gop is full-on fascist, funded by technofascists, with folks on the ground indoctrinated by their "faith leaders" (see: new apostolic reformation)
Trump makes a ton of announcements. I would love reporting on the follow up. Did what he promised actually happen? What’s the status of all of these ideas? What is the continuing consequences of what DOGE has done? Report back in 6 months after USAID ended for example.
How about the regime's focus on Panama and Greenland. Now Trump has ordered the Pentagin to study & cost out what it would cost to take over the country! And Panama. What gives there? Do I understand correctly that Panama is a tax haven? If so, could this be why Trump is interested in taking over the country, in addition to the Canal. This is all very suspicious and disturbing.
Thanks for the work you do. Please report on the real time effects of some of the things he is indirectly causing - like the 401K - we have lost about 10-20% in 2 months - will we have any left in 12 months - what is the game plan. Also, it is hard to determine in all the noise what is actually happening.... he says something, lawsuits are filed - some are in appeal some are not, some are stopped some are not, some rulings ignored some not.... it is difficult to actually tell what is happening! Same thing with congress, it is reported that something is passed, but then we find it has to still go through something or another. The Senate passed a bill to stop Canadian tariffs, but it needs to get through the house - not a word about it! How can we push Representatives if we do not know what is going on. Maybe a Presidential Order Tracker!
I can’t stop the husband from obsessing over same. Had to cash some in after house insurance went to $7800 from $1700 annual when companies abandoned FL. New roof last April, Hurricane Milton dropped a 70’ old oak on it. Had to remove 6 trees total, roof repair took months, massive pile of debris took months to clear, and insurance paid ZILCH. Did reduce insurance a couple thousand with new roof. For a month. Then raised price again as house increased in value? WTF.
Some of us have been aware of that. It started at the end of March when six KC-135 refuellers showed up. The B-2s arrived over the next day or so.
The B-2s stealth finish needs lots of TLC and they are usually kept in specially outfitted hangars. Diego Garcia only has three of those hangars. The other three are sitting outside in the weather. We're wondering if this means they will be used soon, given their relative fragility. Iran seems likely. 🤔
Trump's distraction war? I hope not because that would set off the entire Middle East and possibly WW III. There's no other nation in that part of the world that would need B-2s.
I would love to see more stories on what extremist republicans are doing at the state level in red states especially where they have supermajority like TN. Here are some examples:
Bad News from TN General Assembly
HB0064/SB0472 that requires all residential education programs to segregate bathrooms, changing rooms, etc. passed the House & Senate.
HB322/SB392 that criminalizes harboring or hiding undocumented immigrants advanced out of the House Criminal Justice Subcommittee.
SB670 that would remove protections from >300,000 acres of wetlands in TN passed the Senate Finance, Ways & Means Committee. It is before a House committee on Tues.
HB0120/SB1303 that criminalizes impeding or obstruction a member of protective services (e.g. governor’s or speaker’s security detail) or law enforcement passed both chambers.
Wasn't Signal the app in use by the Secret Service on January 6th? What's up with Signal anyway? Who owns it? Do the comms REALLY just disappear? Even at the USGs massive electronic hoover in utah?
Please expose the SAVE act for what it really is -voter suppression. More than 140 million American citizens do not possess a passport and up to 69 million women who have taken their spouse’s name do not have a birth certificate matching their legal name. These women would likely need additional documentation, such as a name change document or marriage certificate, to register to vote. Its a solution where there is no problem, and at every level of government voting rights are being stripped from American citizens. Thank you for your work!
Agree about the SAVE Act but please go further. The states control voting and it is there that Republicans will focus their efforts to rig elections in 2026 and beyond. Yes federal officials such as AG Pam Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel (I STILL can't believe that's who is in charge) will certainly meddle with and try to intimidate Democratic-run states and cities, but the Republican state legislatures, governors, Republican AGs and local Republican officials are the ones to watch.
In the mean time, everyone and I mean EVERYONE, needs to be in touch with all of their family and friends networks to make sure that you and all of your circle have identification documents in case they are needed for voting. Help out neighbors and like-minded voters too. That means getting/renewing passports NOW, finding original or obtaining certified birth certificates, marriage licenses, especially for married women who changed their names, and any local IDs (driver's license, non-driver voter ID, state-approved photo ID, etc.), checking registration and anything else needed to vote in 2026 TODAY!!! Develop trusted information platforms for accurate info on polling locations, dates, times and any ID requirements. Make plans for transportation to the polls and any support functions for your district. Volunteer to be a poll worker, observer or caregiver for people who need baby sitting or help with a disabled family member while they go vote. We cannot wait until September. 2026 to be ready for the next election, if we are lucky enough not to have Trump declare a state of emergency and martial law before hand. This may be our last chance and that is not hyperbole.
START TODAY!
And thanks Judd and Team!
Some states have ‘proof of citizenship’ laws but due to the Voting Rights Act they don’t apply to federal elections. And a birth certificate that doesn’t match someone’s legal name won’t be accepted.
Yes, people need to prepare now. ‘Proof’ could be required for other reasons. Last yr a bill was introduced in Congress re: healthcare.
https://www.lwv.org/blog/safeguard-american-voter-eligibility-save-act-trick
I am puzzled that a birth certificate is accepted as ID.
I was an election official at every election for something like thirty years. (In Canada.) At one, in a poll in Toronto's Chinatown, a woman appeared with only a Canadian birth certificate. It could have belonged to anyone. She spoke no English, and no one in the poll – no official, no voter – spoke her language. I couldn't let her vote.
No, a birth certificate would not be accepted as ID. It would be additional documentation to prove citizenship.
To prove citizenship:
• Photo IDs don’t indicate citizenship except in a couple border states. Therefore, a birth certificate or current passport would be needed to prove a person was born in the US. — Naturalized citizens would need to present their naturalization paper or passport.
• To prove eligibility to vote in that state or polling location:
An acceptable photo ID showing the legal name matching the citizenship proof with the current address matching the voter rolls (if already registered). Some states frequently change what types of ID is accepted.
This is more of problem for women who are the most likely to have legal names that don’t match their birth certificate. There is no guidance for states on ID that are acceptable or the paperwork required to prove name changes. But it appears this would be necessary each time someone registers to vote (for instance changes their address) and must be presented to the election worker at the polls to vote.
When politicians pretend to be solving problems that don’t exist they obviously have another agenda: This time it is voter suppression.
It’s all true. About half of Americans have passports. They are also expensive and take much longer to obtain than ‘traditional’ IDs. I’m not sure I’d trust this administration to speed them up.
Women should be gathering their documents now. If for no other reason than to prepare for next year’s primaries. Vague confusing provisions about what constitutes proof could give a lot of discretion to states or local officials.
The League of Women Voters is not a radical group. It has been against this bill since it was introduced the first time.
https://www.lwv.org/blog/safeguard-american-voter-eligibility-save-act-trick
How did DeSantis get away with drawing his own maps for FL?!
please make it more public what the EPA is doing to scrap the mission of protecting our environment. In addition to changing their entire mission, they have frozen $20 billion granted by the Inflation Reduction Act which was. earmarked to bring lower cost renewable energy to underserved communities. They continue to cut funding for those who need it most.
Agree! Please shine a light on Lee Zeldin's radical agenda to gut EPA, in violation of its mission and the law. For an excellent piece on this read Jeremy Symons:
https://jeremysymons.substack.com/p/toxic-polluters-are-taking-control
And huge thanks to Judd and team for your work!
We need to get the unjustly incarcerated people back from El Salvador.
It is of course not impossible for the regime to negotiate with El Salvador. Leaving anyone there is a crime, but to send someone without due process is yet another crime on the part of the administration.
My heart breaks for the desperation of the families and the sheer villainy of the administration
I absolutely agree. The reality is that the administration paid El Salvador to extra-legally imprison these human beings, and the regime there was happy to take the innocent people and the money. The administration would probably have to pay to get them out. But it's we, the taxpayers, who are funding this travesty. Just like we fund so many terrible things.
WE only paid to extra-legally hold them there for 1 yr. WE will either have to pay again in another year for the ES govt to keep them, or?
The round-up and imprisonment of gang members in El Salvador is credited with drastic reductions in crime in that country. But no one should be placed in a maximum security prison -- let alone the CECOT prison in El Salvador -- without due process and without having been convicted of a violent crime.
For the Administration to say they cannot do anything to correct this mistake is a lie. Everyone knows that the Secretary of State could retrieve anyone mistakenly sent from the US to that prison, by simply making a request to the El Salvadoran government. But for that to happen, the Secretary of State would have to be honorable. That's the catch.
yes and, the swift deportation, sans due process, to torture prisons of even legal immigrants is also designed to send a message to all of us: none of us are safe
First they came...
Especially agregious is the swift transferring of detainees to another state where their families and lawyers cannot help them.
agree 100% -- and it's designed to terrify anyone who's paying attention.
disappearing people -- as with the case of legal immigrant Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who was swept up and deported "mistakenly," the regime admits (while saying oh well, can't do anything about it) to the El Salvador megaprison
https://www.politico.com/news/2025/04/01/salvador-man-maryland-deported-mistake-00262870
fwiw, I've developed a bad habit of muting my outrage about the inhumane treatment of immigrants -- those legally here and those not -- because I spend a fair amount of time weekly trying to get through to the maga voters I grew up with in West Texas.
The regime's terrorizing and disappearings of non-white people doesn't always reach self-described "christian" (not actually Christian) maga voters.
Pointing out the joyfully malicious firings of veterans & dismantling of the VA, the attacks on farmers, and the growing risk of big jumps in inflation and a recession -- those things, maybe, will get through.
Trumps mental state must be reported. He makes statements that are opposite earlier statements he has made too often to ignore them. Last week he signed a bill and blasted whoever signed an earlier bill. However he was the one who signed the earlier bill.
Three or four gaps like that reported together might get more Maga followers pay attention.
I absolutely agree. The sitting president personifies a person struggling with dementia. The most powerful human being on the planet is incapable of rational thought and empathy.
Except, the most powerful man on the planet is also the richest. Elon Musk has been running the country since Day 1.
musk and other technofascist backers, with an assist from the christofascists (think Russell Vought)
Note: christofascists are in no way actual capital-C Christians. Christ's prime teachings -- e.g., "love thy neighbor as thyself" along with "welcome the stranger," "as you did unto the least of these you did unto me" -- all right out.
“Groceries”
OMG yes! That was insane!
Is there a case for his enablers being charged with Elder Abuse?
He seemed confused about Hegseth's culpability in the flagrant violation of intelligence laws via Signal. And it looks like Steven Miller is orchestrating a lot of the most offensive fascist policies. If the president is barely in the loop when the public is allowed to see him, what is he like the rest of the day?
yes and, trump is the frontman, the "chairman of the board" -- the real dictatorial "CEO" is Musk and the other technofascists
I am relieved that you are who you are, where you are, doing what you do in a way that is accessible, readable and understandable. You focus on one thing a day. I am never overwhelmed by your reporting. I am grateful for what you do and adding Muskwatch in a separate read to keep it all manageable. Thank you.
Yes Thank you!
Hear, hear🌞
During all the fervor of the "trump Tariffs" we have a new/old player slinking into town. This dude: Kirill Dmitriev
Are you and your staff aware of this guy? What could push the MSM into covering this guy (other than following PI's lead?)
Can you focus on the procedure and officials that would be involved in arresting govt officials that break the law? Seriously. Civics 101. I ask because of the thousands of comments on news sites that say "arrest him!" Why isn't that being done?
Yaaaaaaas!!!!
Please conintue the crucial work you are doing through Popular Information. More than half of our population is against all of the DOGE moves. Thank you Judd Legum for being our voice of vigilance to protect all that has made so many people's lives safer and given us sources to turn to for support. You well know that your work is vital to the protection of all of the agencies formed to make our government function at the high level that has been the envy of the globe. We can now see clearly how it has been a Republican position to lessen the development of these helpful organizations: SSA, Medicare, Education, Veterans Administration, AFCare Act, Dept. of Agriculture, EPA, and so on and on. They have put the well being of We The People at the forefront. Our nation of immigrants must live up to the reality of who make up the population of our country--we are all immigrants.
Hear, hear.
yes and, these folks aren't Republicans. The maga gop is full-on fascist, funded by technofascists, with folks on the ground indoctrinated by their "faith leaders" (see: new apostolic reformation)
Great work digging out all the information you get and exposing the "reign" of a greedy, self centered sociopath!
Trump makes a ton of announcements. I would love reporting on the follow up. Did what he promised actually happen? What’s the status of all of these ideas? What is the continuing consequences of what DOGE has done? Report back in 6 months after USAID ended for example.
Yes, this would be very helpful.
How about the regime's focus on Panama and Greenland. Now Trump has ordered the Pentagin to study & cost out what it would cost to take over the country! And Panama. What gives there? Do I understand correctly that Panama is a tax haven? If so, could this be why Trump is interested in taking over the country, in addition to the Canal. This is all very suspicious and disturbing.
Canada & Denmark should talk!!
Canada and Mexico should talk!
Trump owes Panama money.
Really?! Do you have details about this?
https://www.ifcreview.com/news/2024/december/panama-trump-organization-accused-of-tax-evasion-in-panama/
Thank you. I had no idea this was going on!
Thanks for the work you do. Please report on the real time effects of some of the things he is indirectly causing - like the 401K - we have lost about 10-20% in 2 months - will we have any left in 12 months - what is the game plan. Also, it is hard to determine in all the noise what is actually happening.... he says something, lawsuits are filed - some are in appeal some are not, some are stopped some are not, some rulings ignored some not.... it is difficult to actually tell what is happening! Same thing with congress, it is reported that something is passed, but then we find it has to still go through something or another. The Senate passed a bill to stop Canadian tariffs, but it needs to get through the house - not a word about it! How can we push Representatives if we do not know what is going on. Maybe a Presidential Order Tracker!
I can’t stop the husband from obsessing over same. Had to cash some in after house insurance went to $7800 from $1700 annual when companies abandoned FL. New roof last April, Hurricane Milton dropped a 70’ old oak on it. Had to remove 6 trees total, roof repair took months, massive pile of debris took months to clear, and insurance paid ZILCH. Did reduce insurance a couple thousand with new roof. For a month. Then raised price again as house increased in value? WTF.
https://substack.com/@malcolmnance/note/c-105376797?utm_source=notes-share-action&r=1n30w
>Moving BOMBERS around?? People need to know this.🗽🇺🇲🇺🇦
And ships
Some of us have been aware of that. It started at the end of March when six KC-135 refuellers showed up. The B-2s arrived over the next day or so.
The B-2s stealth finish needs lots of TLC and they are usually kept in specially outfitted hangars. Diego Garcia only has three of those hangars. The other three are sitting outside in the weather. We're wondering if this means they will be used soon, given their relative fragility. Iran seems likely. 🤔
Trump's distraction war? I hope not because that would set off the entire Middle East and possibly WW III. There's no other nation in that part of the world that would need B-2s.
I would like more information about how we put our thumb on the scale for our own trading, like farm subsidies, etc
I would love to see more stories on what extremist republicans are doing at the state level in red states especially where they have supermajority like TN. Here are some examples:
Bad News from TN General Assembly
HB0064/SB0472 that requires all residential education programs to segregate bathrooms, changing rooms, etc. passed the House & Senate.
HB322/SB392 that criminalizes harboring or hiding undocumented immigrants advanced out of the House Criminal Justice Subcommittee.
SB670 that would remove protections from >300,000 acres of wetlands in TN passed the Senate Finance, Ways & Means Committee. It is before a House committee on Tues.
HB0120/SB1303 that criminalizes impeding or obstruction a member of protective services (e.g. governor’s or speaker’s security detail) or law enforcement passed both chambers.
Wasn't Signal the app in use by the Secret Service on January 6th? What's up with Signal anyway? Who owns it? Do the comms REALLY just disappear? Even at the USGs massive electronic hoover in utah?