Tuesday, June 16, 2026

Taylor Swift, Bonnie Tyler, Carly Simon

booksellingmiss sassy

 

Isaiah's THE WORLD TODAY JUST NUTS "Miss Sassy Has A Book To Sell" and it went up earlier tonight.  


Now for music, Gary Trust (BILLBOARD) reports:


Taylor Swift's "I Knew It, I Knew You" gallops in at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. The single from Toy Story 5, inspired by the film's cowgirl heroine Jessie, is Swift's 15th career leader.

Among highlights of the song's instant coronation, Swift breaks out of a tie with Drake and Rihanna to claim sole possession of the third-most No. 1s in the Hot 100's history, after only The Beatles (20) and Mariah Carey (19).

The track is also Swift's ninth No. 1 Hot 100 debut, as she passes Ariana Grande for the most among women, and her 70th top 10, extending her record for the most by a woman artist.

So good for Taylor Swift.  Now for an update on Bonnie Tyler.  KiMi Robinson (USA TODAY) reports:

After a month in an induced coma, Grammy-nominated singer Bonnie Tyler's team has shared an update on her health.

The 75-year-old "Total Eclipse of the Heart" songstress "is no longer in a coma but remains very unwell and in intensive care in hospital in Portugal," her spokesperson said June 15 in an update on her website.
"Although her condition is improving it is a slow process," the statement continued. "Her doctors remain confident that she will make a good recovery but it is going to take time."

Hopefully, she'll be better and back on her feet shortly.  Meanwhile, S. Flannagan (GRUNGE) argues 1972 was Carly Simon's best year:

Carly Simon has been a mainstay of popular music for more than half a century. Her journey has been long and varied, but always central to her art is her often ironic, intelligent brand of songwriting and her willingness to delve into the lived reality of relationships in all their glory and chaos. And though her career has had many high points, many fans consider 1972 to be the year Simon hit her creative peak.
Having emerged from the New York scene in the late 1960s, Simon's self-titled 1971 album put her on the map, earning her a Grammy Award. She also earned a Grammy nomination for her sophomore album, "Anticipation," released later that year. But it was 1972's "No Secrets" that established her as a bona fide superstar, sitting atop the Billboard 200 for five weeks and introducing the world to several of her signature songs. Here, then, is a selection of five tracks from the classic album that prove 1972 was the best year of Carly Simon's career. While she would go on to have many more hits, these are the songs that established her as an idiosyncratic songwriter and a luminous performer and form the foundation of her reputation today.


Flannagan goes on to list "You're So Vain," "The Right Thing To Do," "We Have No Secrets," "The Carter Family" and "Night Owl" from NO SECRETS.  I would've skipped "Night Owl" and instead included "Embrace Me You Child."

But even so, I wouldn't pick that as Carly best collection.  THE BEDROOM TAPES, HAVE YOU SEEN ME LATELY? and COMING AROUND AGAIN would be ahead of NO SECRETS.  I'd also put ANTICIPATION ahead of NO SECRETS.  

Closing with C.I.'s "The Snapshot:"

Tuesday, June 16, 2026.  Chump's 'deal' with Iran remains shrouded in secrecy, news of JD Vance advocating to implement the Insurrection Act hits the news cycle just as he was presenting a kinder and gentler fake JD in his new book, the administration considered suspending habeas corpus and much more.


The 'deal' that we were told would be reached over last weekend hasn't been.  It's said now that it will be released on Friday at which point, We The People will know what our government agreed to.  Ben (MEIDASTOUCH NEWS) covers it in the video below. 





Several high-ranking U.S. officials are privately skeptical of the memorandum of understanding with Iran signed by the Trump administration, Axios reported on Monday.

On Sunday, President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance signed the memo with Iranian officials to put the countries on a pathway to end the war. Details of the arrangement are sparse, but it reportedly involves Iran reopening the Strait of Hormuz and agreeing to nuclear inspections. In exchange, the U.S. will end the naval blockade of Iran, unfreeze Iranian assets, and allow the country access to a $300 billion reconstruction fund. The latter provision has been both floated by Vance and denied by Trump.

Politicians and pundits have called on the administration to release the text of the memo.

On Monday, Axios reported that top officials in Trump’s circle have serious doubts about the deal. These include Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, and CIA Director John Ratcliffe. 



President Donald Trump isn’t likely to admit he shares a penchant for dealmaking with one of his predecessors, Bill Clinton, that’s become more evident with the opaque agreement to end the U.S. war with Iran.

The deal, which has lifted Asian and European stocks to record highs and looks set to power U.S. stocks back towards their record peaks of early June, takes a page out of Clinton’s Middle East playbook by unveiling a sweeping agreement on a key principal, but leaving the more difficult—and potentially deal-breaking—discussions for another day.



Further details will be sorted out in the next phase of negotiations, which is expected to last for roughly 60 days. That includes ironing out the process for destroying and disposing of Iran’s highly enriched uranium stockpile.

“Our expectation is that the strait is going to be opened in a toll-free way for the long term, and that’s the sort of thing that we’re going to figure out in these technical negotiations,” Vance said, adding that the U.S. has “all the cards” in the talks.

Trump muddied matters Sunday by saying that Iran could immediately resume oil exports and that the U.S. would lift its blockade of Iranian ports once the agreement was signed. For weeks, administration officials asserted Iran would get no financial lifeline or relief from the blockade until it had followed through on dismantling its nuclear work. Iran insisted it would first get at least $12 billion from its frozen assets abroad before fresh nuclear talks begin, a statement U.S. officials quickly denied.

American lawmakers are already angling to have their say in approving or scuttling the accord. Democrats who opposed the war met Trump’s announcement with tepid support in hopes of reopening the strait. But some Republicans, largely supportive of Trump, still signaled their reservations.

“Under our law, any nuclear deal with Iran will be sent to Congress for review and a vote,” South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, a prominent Iran hawk and Trump ally, said in a social-media post Sunday. “I look forward to reviewing the final product and I believe it is imperative that the architect of the deal, Vice President Vance and his negotiating partners, be part of the process in presenting the final deal to Congress.”






On the heels of his disappointing nonsense on Sunday, Chump is now planning a July 4th event -- a rally at the Lincoln Memorial entitled "Tribute to America." Riya Misra (POLITICO) notes:


It’s his latest effort to cast the nation’s marquee anniversary in his own likeness. On his 80th birthday Sunday, Trump transformed the White House lawn into a fighting ring, officially kicking off the birthday celebrations — both America’s and his — with one of his favorite sports. (Trump has been a decades-long fixture at Ultimate Fighting Championship matches, and CEO Dana White is a close friend).

“More than 300 Members of our strong and talented Military Bands, Orchestras, and Ceremonial Units, will perform Patriotic Melodies and American Classics,” he wrote, “and my Playlist (We will have none of those people that put you to sleep and constantly complain!) ....”

“Do not miss it,” he continued.

His face will be stamped on America 250-themed passports and coinage. And he’ll personally headline the Great American State Fair, a two-week showcase on the National Mall, after half of the event’s performers withdrew, citing concerns about the fair’s ties to Trump. Meanwhile, the fair will feature a slate of conservative outlets, including evangelical and religious groups, political advocacy organizations and an anti-LGBTQ+ ministry.


Only some people, please note, are invited to celebrate.  Leave it to Chump and his posse of hatred to bring in anti-LGBTQ+ ministry.   Hafiz Rashid (THE NEW REPUBLIC) notes:

One day after celebrating his 80th birthday with a UFC spectacle on the White House lawn, President Trump looked like he was feeling every bit his age while visiting France for the G7 summit.

Speaking with the media with French President Emmanuel Macron Monday, Trump was struggling to keep his eyes open as Macron praised the developments on peace with Iran, even as Macron often turned to Trump to acknowledge his efforts.
Later, appearing outdoors with Macron and his wife Brigitte, Trump looked tired and his right hand appeared swollen and discolored.

Sagging worse than Chump at the G7?  His poll numbers.  Cameron Adams (DAILY BEAST) notes:

Donald Trump has received an unwanted birthday present—a new poll showing his approval rating has hit a new low in his second term as president.

Trump, who turned 80 on Sunday, crashed out in the latest NBC News poll, awkwardly released on his birthday.

The polling found his approval rating among all American adults currently sits at 39 percent. Trump’s approval rating among registered voters dropped to 42 percent, matching his lowest point from July 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic and the reaction to the murder of George Floyd.
Almost two-thirds of independent voters disapprove of the job Trump is doing as president, and there has been a slight fall in his support from Republicans.

Meanwhile Miss Sassy JD Vance is out promoting his latest book.  He talks about his "cat lady" remarks and calls it a mistake he's learned from.  He says nothing similar about the lie that Haitian immigrants were eating cats in Ohio.  More to the point, he says nothing about the Insurrection Act.  Something he called for invoking months ago.  



Top White House officials reportedly debated whether Donald Trump should invoke the Insurrection Act after federal agents killed two protesters in Minnesota, but feared the political and public relations blowback over images of U.S. troops on American streets.

The president repeatedly threatened to invoke the law in his nationwide campaign to rapidly deport tens of thousands of people from Democratic-led cities patrolled by hundreds of masked and heavily armed officers.
But discussions reportedly came to a head after federal immigration agents fatally shot Renee Good and Alex Pretti during January’s demonstrations in Minneapolis, according to Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan of The New York Times for their forthcoming book Regime Change: Inside the Imperial Presidency of Donald Trump.

Days after Pretti was killed, Vice President JD Vance reportedly walked into the office of White House chief of staff Susie Wiles to make the case that the president should send a message to protesters by invoking the Insurrection Act.

Trump’s opponents warned for months that a surge of militarized Homeland Security officers would only stir up more unrest, giving the president an opening to invoke the Insurrection Act to deploy active-duty troops into cities run by his political enemies.

A previously unreported confidential memo was circulated among White House officials in October 2025 as the president publicly declared his right to invoke the Insurrection Act to crush protests against his mass deportation efforts.


That was only one of the horrendous things the administration was plotting.  Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan (NEW YORK TIMES) report:

Last spring, Will Scharf, an arch-conservative lawyer serving as the White House staff secretary, wrote a secret memo to the chief of staff that reflected growing unease in the West Wing about one of the extreme measures being weighed by Stephen Miller, the powerful adviser driving President Trump’s deportation campaign.

Dated April 29, 2025, and stamped “confidential,” the memo was careful and lawyerly but amounted to a warning against end-running the rule of law. The subject line read: “THE WRIT OF HABEAS CORPUS.”

Habeas corpus — the centuries-old right to force the government to justify, before a judge, why it has locked a person up — is enshrined in Article I of the Constitution. Mr. Scharf’s memo, in its unassuming way, was a blinking red warning light. The second Trump White House was deliberating an explosive new claim of presidential power: the suspension of habeas rights for unauthorized immigrants.

The suspension of habeas corpus has occurred just a handful of times in U.S. history, and always under the most dire circumstances of war or invasion. Yet to a greater degree than previously known, administration officials, encouraged by Mr. Trump, actively weighed taking that step in the early months of his second term — this time to accelerate the mass deportation of immigrants in the country illegally.

[. . .]

The Constitution, Mr. Scharf wrote in his memo to Susie Wiles, the White House chief of staff, permits suspension of habeas corpus only in cases of rebellion or invasion. Courts have almost uniformly held that only Congress can do it.

He added: “Even where Congress has explicitly suspended habeas corpus rights, the Supreme Court has held that some alternative process must be provided to defendants, with procedural safeguards akin to a habeas corpus action.”


Some members of the administration were angling to throw out the Constitution.  So when one of them says that -- "thorw out the Constitution" -- in a live interview on TV, we need to be alarmed.  Sunday, a Cabinet Secretary did just that.  In other news, Alex Galbraith (SALON) notes:

Department of Homeland Security head Markwayne Mullin said he’s willing to go to extreme lengths to fight the nonexistent scourge of voter fraud in the upcoming midterm elections.

The Republican senator from Oklahoma told CNN‘s Dana Bash that he’s ready to “throw out the Constitution” to make sure “only citizens of the United States are voting.”

“What we want to make sure is that every vote actually counts, that we’re not having games like you might see in sanctuary cities. I’m not saying they are,” he said. “Democrats always want to throw out the Constitution all the time. Well, great, let’s throw out the Constitution.”

When Bash gave Mullin a questioning look, he immediately backpedaled.

“I mean, not throw it out. Throw it out as an argument,” he said. “I’m glad you had that look on your face.”


No, he meant throw out the Constitution.  He's an idiot.  He took an oath to the Constitution when he was sworn in the US Senate and he took an oath to it when he became Secretary of Homeland Security.  Someone doesn't appear smart enough to grasp what taking an oath means. 

The next time he appears before Congress, he needs to be asked about those remarks. 







Meanwhile, Aaron Blake (CNN) examines Chump's vainty projects:


President Donald Trump’s efforts to turn his second term into a big vanity project largely focused on himself are looking increasingly messy.

It would be one thing for him to go to such great lengths to build an elaborate White House ballroom and slap his name on buildings in the best of times; but Trump’s timing would seem exceedingly tone deaf, given most Americans are more concerned about their own pocketbooks than honoring a historically unpopular president.

And repeatedly in recent days and weeks, the administration’s initiatives have run into roadblocks and its efforts to embellish Washington, DC, (often by skirting the law) have looked rather haphazard.

Perhaps most striking was Trump’s setback at the Kennedy Center.

After he effectively hijacked the center’s board by installing loyalists, the board moved to — surprise! — put Trump’s name on the building late last year. They added it alongside the deceased president whose name was on the building as a matter of federal law.

But after the courts predictably ruled that was illegal, the administration has had to confront the optics of taking Trump’s name off the building. As I wrote earlier this month, that removal threatened to be “an indelible — and telling — image.”

And lo, when the Kennedy Center was compelled to take Trump’s name off the building this weekend, it was conveniently done in the middle of the night. Scaffolding was constructed and tarps were hung to obstruct those assembled from viewing it.

By Monday, the face of the building was still covered up.

Speaking of things not exactly going according to plan: Trump and many allies have celebrated his administration’s legally dubious effort to paint the bottom of the Lincoln Memorial’s Reflecting Pool dark blue.

While perhaps a commendable idea, the cost of the project ballooned from Trump’s initial estimate of $1.8 million to more than $14 million. The contractor was also given a no-bid contract, which is generally reserved for special circumstances. The New York Times also reported that the company was allowed a profit margin much higher than normal, according to a National Park Service analysis.

And now, less than a week after Trump announced the project was finished, the Reflecting Pool has been overrun with algae, turning the water a familiar shade of green.


With more on The Kennedy Center, let's note Liz Dye (ABOVE THE LAW): 



This weekend, two formerly lauded public institutions humiliated themselves in spectacular fashion. By Sunday, one was shrouded in thousands of yards of tarpaulin — a translucent prophylactic, hiding an old man’s flaccid defeat. The other dangled limply in the breeze, its useless degradation on full display.

The occasion of this display of onanism was the courts’ refusal to let Trump rechristen the Kennedy Center in honor of himself. After booting the prior board, he filled out the roster with cronies and wives of cronies, led by “an amazing Chairman, DONALD J. TRUMP!” His henchmen, including sentient s[**]tpost Ric Grenell, as executive director, set about alienating every artist to the left of Lee Greenwood. By happenstance, the patriotic pop singer is the only artist currently on the Kennedy Center’s Board.

In December, the Board announced that it had agreed to rename the institution “The Donald J. Trump and John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts.” The decision was “unanimous,” thanks to the recently amended bylaws, which purported to strip voting rights from ex officio trustees. The steady trickle of artist cancellations increased to a tsunami. Faced with the evaporation of the 2026 season, the Board voted to shut the Center down entirely for two years, accelerating a planned renovation that had been scheduled to take place in stages to allow performances to continue.

Rep. Joyce Beatty, one of those disenfranchised ex officio board members, sued to block the changes, and on May 29, she won. Judge Christopher Cooper granted summary judgment on the name change and the voting issue, ruling that the Board’s actions violated the plain language of the Kennedy Center’s organic statute. He issued a preliminary injunction voiding the vote to shut the place down, finding that the Trump trustees violated their fiduciary duty consider the long-term health of the institution when they simply obeyed Trump’s demand to close up shop.

The judge ordered the Center to reverse the name change and remove all signage within 14 days, and initially it looked like the Board intended to comply. On June 4, management sent a memo to the remaining staff instructing them to immediately remove all references to the “Trump” Kennedy Center from the website and their email signatures. But then on June 11, just hours before the deadline, the Board noticed its appeal to the DC Circuit and requested that Judge Cooper stay his ruling.

That motion was pretty desultory, even by the low standards of the current DOJ — just five mumbled pages, rehashing rejected arguments and asserting without evidence that taking Trump’s name off the building would decimate fundraising. Judge Cooper rejected it in a cursory minute order citing “both the de minimis resources that would be required to restore the Center’s current name in the event of a successful appeal and the lack of record evidence linking increased donations to the current name.”

As this was going on, workers began constructing scaffolding in front of the building, and a crowd gathered to watch Trump’s name come down — our own little toppling of the Saddam statue. Construction stopped mid-afternoon, putatively because of a brief rain shower, but more likely because the Justice Department had filed an emergency request for a stay from the DC Circuit.


Let's wind down with this from Senator Elizabeth Warren's office:

New Trustees Report reveals Trump’s policies accelerate Social Security Trust Fund insolvency as top Republicans threaten Social Security benefit cuts

Text of Letter (PDF)

Washington, D.C. — U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) pressed President Donald Trump on Republican threats to Social Security after a new Trustees Report revealed that Republican policies are accelerating Social Security’s insolvency. The letter also follows a series of comments from Trump administration officials and Republican leaders in Congress suggesting that they support benefit cuts.

“[T]hese comments cast fresh doubt on your ‘sacred pledge’ to ‘always protect Social Security’ – and your failure to respond to our previous requests for assurances – we urge you to clarify the administration’s stance on raising the retirement age,” wrote the senators.

The Social Security Administration's 2026 Trustees Report revealed that Trump and Congressional Republicans’ One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) will worsen the trust fund's finances and accelerate its insolvency.

Republicans have long supported increasing the retirement age, privatizing Social Security, or otherwise cutting Social Security benefits — and some have continued to make explicit threats even after Trump promised not to ‘touch’ Social Security. Just last week, House Speaker Mike Johnson indicated that Republicans intend to cut Social Security, along with Medicare and Medicaid, if they are in a position to do so next Congress. Social Security Commissioner Frank Bisignano previously indicated that raising the retirement age — a critical cut to Americans’ benefits — is under consideration.

A Senate Republican in a March Budget Committee hearing also suggested raising the retirement age — which would, in practice, reduce the median retiree’s monthly benefits and disproportionately harm low-income seniors. And Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Administrator Mehmet Oz called for Americans to delay their retirement and work longer in order to pay for the federal deficit, which Trump’s OBBBA increased.

“The new estimates showing that your OBBBA will hasten the demise of the Social Security trust fund, the ongoing pattern of comments suggesting that Republicans will seek to increase the retirement age or otherwise cut Social Security benefits, and the SSA customer service chaos that is occurring under your watch and making it more difficult for older Americans to interact with the agency when they need assistance raise new questions about whether you will break – or are already – breaking your promise to ‘not touch’ Social Security,” wrote the senators.

"Raising the retirement age – or otherwise cutting benefits – only worsens the looming retirement income crisis, and, as we outlined in our initial letter to you, doing so hurts older Americans, cutting monthly benefits and forcing millions into poverty," continued the senators.

The senators pressed President Trump for answers to a series of questions regarding the administration's plans for Social Security, including whether he supports raising the retirement age, whether he would veto legislation that increases the age of eligibility for Social Security, and whether White House officials have discussed raising the retirement age with Administrator Oz. The senators requested a response by June 27, 2026.

Senator Warren has introduced legislation that would expand Social Security benefits by $2,400 a year and ensure Social Security is fully funded for the next 75 years while not raising taxes on over 91 percent of American households.

Senate Democrats’ Social Security War Room coordinates Democrats’ fight to defend Social Security, encourages grassroots engagement by providing opportunities for Americans to share what Social Security means to them, and educates Senate staff, the American public, and stakeholders about Republicans’ agenda and their continued cuts to Americans’ Social Security services and benefits:

  • In June 2026, U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), a Member of the Senate Finance Committee, and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Ranking Member of the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations (PSI), pressed Social Security Administration (SSA) Commissioner Frank Bisignano and three former Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) staffers on an alarming new whistleblower account detailing Trump administration plans to mark 2.7 million people as dead in a Social Security database as part of its immigration enforcement agenda.

  • In April 2026, Senate Democrats’ Social Security War Room, led by U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), published a new report highlighting how, in its first year, it has fought to protect Americans’ Social Security benefits.

  • In March 2026, at a hearing of the Senate Special Committee on Aging, U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) questioned Dan Adcock of the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare about Republicans’ plans to raise the retirement age.

  • In March 2026, Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Angela Alsobrooks (D-Md.), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), Ranking Member of the Special Committee on Aging Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Ben Ray Lujan (D-N.M.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), and Ranking Member of the Committee on Finance Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) launched a new investigation into the Social Security Administration’s (SSA) ongoing customer service crisis reaching new extremes, the latest from Senate Democrats’ Social Security War Room.

  • In March 2026, U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Representatives Adelita Grijalva (D-Ariz.), Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.), and James Moylan (R-GU) led over 30 lawmakers in introducing the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) Restoration Act, a bipartisan bill to strengthen critical SSI benefits that support nearly 8 million seniors and Americans with disabilities.

  • In December 2025, U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Senator Peter Welch (D-Vt.), a member of the Senate Finance Committee, and U.S. Representative Gabe Amo (D-RI-01) introduced the Social Security Survivor Benefits Equity Act, bicameral legislation to increase the Social Security Administration’s (SSA) lump-sum death benefit, which covers costs associated with cremation or burials for surviving family members, to account for inflation.

  • In December 2025, U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.); Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Ranking Member of the Senate Finance Committee; Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP); and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Ranking Member of the Senate Special Committee on Aging, wrote to Social Security Administration (SSA) Commissioner Frank Bisignano, pressing him on reports that the agency has a new goal of slashing field office visits by nearly 15 million annually.

  • In November 2025, Senate Banking Committee Ranking Member Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), both leading members of the Senate Democrats’ Social Security War Room, launched a probe into Social Security Administration (SSA) Commissioner Frank Bisignano’s tenure as chief executive officer at Fiserv.

  • In October 2025, U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) led Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), and Senators Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), Angela Alsobrooks (D-Md.), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Tina Smith (D-Minn.), and Peter Welch (D-Vt.) in introducing the Social Security Emergency Inflation Relief Act.

  • In September 2025, U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Ranking Member of the Senate Subcommittee on Social Security, Pensions, and Family Policy, and Senate Democrats’ Social Security War Room leaders today introduced the Keep Billionaires Out of Social Security Act.

  • In July 2025, U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), a leader of the Senate Democrats’ Social Security War Room, secured key commitments and admissions from Social Security Administration (SSA) Commissioner Frank Bisignano during a private meeting.

  • In June 2025, U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Ranking Member of the Senate Finance Committee, pressed top Trump administration officials on how President Trump’s chaotic tariffs — paired with his efforts to dismantle the Social Security Administration — are harming America’s seniors.

  • In May 2025, U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Ranking Member of the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee, Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Ranking Member of the Senate Finance Committee, and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Ranking Member on the Senate Aging Committee, pressed new Commissioner of the Social Security Administration Frank Bisignano on reported plans to recategorize thousands of workers as Schedule F “policy-making” employees.

  • In May 2025, U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Ranking Member of the Senate Finance Committee Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), and Ranking Member of the Senate Aging Committee Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) welcomed newly-confirmed Commissioner of the Social Security Administration (SSA) Frank Bisignano to the agency with copies of 17 letters — containing nearly 200 unanswered questions — the lawmakers had previously sent to the SSA under Acting Commissioner Leland Dudek.

  • In April 2026, U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Ranking Member on the Senate Finance Committee Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), and Ranking Member on the Senate Special Committee on Aging Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) led a coalition of over 100 Congressional Democrats in writing to the Acting Commissioner of the Social Security Administration (SSA), Leland Dudek, to demand that he keep Social Security field offices open.

###






The following sites -- plus Ann's "Chump, Rogan and Hokit" and Rebecca's "chump is a failure" --  updated:


Posted by at

Monday, June 15, 2026

Stevie Nicks and Bob Dylan


Few rock stars have ever possessed the mystique of Stevie Nicks.

As the voice behind Fleetwood Mac classics like Dreams, Rhiannon, and Landslide, Nicks combined powerful songwriting with an unforgettable stage presence. Her flowing outfits, distinctive voice, and bohemian style helped create an image that became instantly recognizable.

She remains one of the most influential women in rock history.




"Cheaper Then Free."  That's a track from Stevie Nicks' IN YOUR DREAMS.  Tim Coffman (FAR OUT) writes:

She needed to prove to the world that she could make a great album on her own when she made Trouble in Shangri-La, but compared to everything else that she was working on with ‘The Mac,’ Dave Stewart seemed to have that sixth sense for what she wanted out of her tunes most of the time.

Which shouldn’t be all that surprising. For everyone who remembered Stewart as being the beard with glasses in Eurythmics, a lot of what he was doing was trying to decorate the beautiful voice that he was working with. And since Annie Lennox was hard at work with her own solo career at that point, working on tunes like ‘Cheaper Than Free’ gave Nicks the same kind of feeling that she figured every great partnership was supposed to have.

This was her Lennon/McCartney moment, and working on that song was her chance to prove to the world that she could still make something as strong as her classics, saying, “I believe in my heart that that song will live on forever. I said to everybody, ‘We have to really treat this song with kid gloves, because this may be the best song that Dave Stewart and Stevie Nicks ever does.’” But a lot of the power of the song comes down to the way that both of them sing their parts.


On songwriting, Sarah Polonsky (SCREEN RANT) notes Bob Dylan:

Bob Dylan has built an entire career out of doing the unexpected. Every time fans thought they had him figured out, he changed direction, whether that meant plugging in an electric guitar at Newport, disappearing from public life at the height of his fame, embracing country music, or recording gospel albums that divided his audience. Part of Dylan's appeal has always been that he refuses to operate according to anyone else's expectations. More than 60 years into his career, that unpredictability remains one of the defining traits of his legacy.
That unpredictability has also led to a few decisions that continue to baffle fans decades later. Music history is full of stories about great songs being left off albums, but most involve artists who eventually corrected the mistake. Bob Dylan never really did. In 1983, while recording what would become Infidels, he wrote and recorded a song that many critics and longtime listeners now rank among the finest compositions of his entire career. Not one of his best songs of the 1980s—one of his best songs, period.

The strange part is that Dylan didn't bury the track because of label politics, commercial concerns, or creative disagreements. By most accounts, the decision was entirely his own. While Infidels went on to become one of the strongest-reviewed albums of his later career, the song remained absent from the final track list, leaving fans to wonder how such an obvious standout could have been overlooked.
More than 40 years later, that mystery has become part of the song's legend. Critics still cite it as one of the most shocking omissions in Dylan's catalog, while musicians and fans continue debating why it never made the album. The song at the center of that conversation is "Blind Willie McTell."

I didn't think "Blind Willie McTell" was a bad song but don't consider it a great one either.  In the 80s, he wrote many great songs but, for me, that wasn't one.  I'd easily hail "Brownsville Girl," "Drifting Too Far From Shore," "Maybe Someday," "Seeing The Real You At Laat" and "I'll Remember You" as masterpieces from the eighties, but not "Blind Willie McTell."



In a 2017 interview posted on Dylan's official website, though, the singer was asked a very interesting question: "A lot of other songwriters have mentioned you in their songs-John Lennon in ‘Yer Blues,' Ricky Nelson in ‘Garden Party,' David Bowie in ‘Song for Bob Dylan.' It's quite a list. Do you have a favorite?" 
Dylan's unequivocal answer was "Garden Party." This might be surprising to some, but veteran fans would have known that Dylan's fondness for Ricky Nelson goes back a long way. 

Nelson was born in 1940, just a year before Dylan. He was something of a child prodigy, acting in radio and television shows from the age of eight. In 1959, Nelson starred alongside John Wayne in Howard Hawks' seminal Western, Rio Bravo. 
It is as a recording artist, however, that Nelson is best remembered. He made 25 albums over his lifetime, with an incredible 49 singles registering on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Eighteen of those broke the top 10, and two hit the No. 1 spot. 

Writing in his autobiography, Chronicles: Volume One, Dylan stated of Nelson: "I'd always felt kin to him… He sang his songs calm and steady, like he was in the middle of a storm, men hurling past him. His voice was sort of mysterious and made you fall into a certain mood."

Closing with C.I.'s "The Snapshot:"


Monday, June 15, 2026.  Chump's 'big' b-day bash is a whimper, even he knows it and takes to posting about Democrats in the early morning hours, Hegseth tries to lie to CBS NEWS, and much more. 




In the video above, Ben breaks down the deal with Iran and last night's ridiculous nonsense at the White House.  

The deal?  Not yet in place and nothing to brag about.  It's much weaker than what was in place, what Barack Obama had negotiated.  Jennifer Bowers Bahney (MEDIAITE) notes that Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth appeared on CBS' FACE THE NATION yesterday to lie about it

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth claimed on CBS News’s Face The Nation Sunday that the United States has controlled the Strait of Hormuz during the entire Iran war, despite the U.S. still having to negotiate for Iran to re-open the strait.

“You had 45 days of overwhelming combat, which Iran could not manage,” Hegseth said. “Their navy is gone, air force gone, air defenses. It led to a blockade, which was impenetrable for a couple of months. Now you have the underground Project Freedom, which allowed 25 million barrels of oil to transit the strait, to show that we control the strait. And then we did two more days of bombing, because they weren’t really coming to the table. So it’s been military pressure and strength from President Trump that has compelled Iran to this deal, which will be performance-based when it’s signed shortly.”

“Right, but we are not at that deal yet,” said moderator Margaret Brennan.  “We are not even at the memorandum. That’s what we are waiting on being signed today.”

Trump has claimed repeatedly that the U.S. and Iran would sign a Memorandum of Understanding Sunday to pave the way for future talks on Iran’s nuclear enrichment program. The M.O.U. also calls for a 60-day ceasefire and for Iran to immediately reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

“So, tomorrow you will end the blockade?” Brennan asked.



But apart from extending the ceasefire and pledging to begin talks, the memorandum of understanding (MOU) supposed to be signed in the hours ahead does not actually address any of the key objectives laid out by the president, Hegseth and other U.S. officials for the war effort beyond re-opening the Strait of Hormuz. The two sides are set to continue negotiations on Iran’s nuclear program, while other stated objectives like seeking out regime change or ending Iran’s ballistic missile capabilities remain unachieved.

Adding to the issue for the White House is the fatigue many Americans and many especially in Washington are feeling as countless promises from top officials that the war will end in days or weeks have fallen by the wayside and the Iran War approaches the end of its fourth month as a conflict.

Reports indicate that the deal will not be signed at a signing ceremony, but rather over a digital meeting.

Other reports indicated Sunday that Iranian officials had not committed to signing the agreement. Iran’s foreign minister also insisted on Friday that dissolution of Iran’s nuclear material would have to occur within Iran’s borders.


Hegseth wasn't qualified for the job and it took JD Vance casting a vote for Hegeth to be carried across the line to the position of Secretary of Defense.  

David Wippman and Glenn C. Altschuler (THE HILL) review several of Chump's many unqualified nominees:

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a vaccine skeptic with no background in public health administration, now runs the nation’s health agencies. 

Kash Patel, who lacked any senior law enforcement experience and vowed to “shut down the FBI Hoover Building on day one,” heads the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

The same pattern recurs throughout the executive branch. 

Trump chose Steve Witkoff, a golf buddy and real estate developer with no diplomatic experience, to manage a huge portfolio: negotiations with Russia, Iran and the Middle East. Even administration insiders were appalled to learn that Witkoff held high-level meetings with Russian officials by himself, sometimes relied on Kremlin translators, and apparently coached a senior Russian official on how best to manage Trump.

A member of Trump’s first administration described Witkoff as “a bumbling f—ing idiot” who “should not be doing this alone.” Two weeks ago, Russia made clear it was tired of Witkoff’s periodic visits and preferred a diplomatic process with knowledgeable working groups and regular meetings.

After forcing out a career prosecutor who found insufficient evidence to indict former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James, Trump installed Lindsay Halligan — a 36-year-old insurance lawyer with no prosecutorial experience — as the interim U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia. Halligan quickly indicted Comey and James but made “fundamental misstatements of the law” in presenting the Comey case to the grand jury. A federal judge appointed by Trump ruled her appointment unlawful and dismissed both cases. When she refused to leave office, a second judge ordered her to stop “masquerading as the United States Attorney.”

Last June, Trump named Paul Ingrassia, a 30-year-old activist who graduated from law school in 2022 and was admitted to the New York bar in 2024, to lead the Office of Special Counsel — the agency charged with protecting government whistleblowers and enforcing restrictions on partisan political activity by government employees.  

By law, that position must go to someone “especially qualified.” Ingrassia’s apparent qualifications included serving as a far-right podcast host and a brief stint as White House liaison to the Justice Department, where he pushed to hire only candidates showing “exceptional loyalty” to Trump. After it emerged that Ingrassia had made a series of racist remarks and admitted to having a “Nazi streak,” Republican support evaporated and Ingrassia’s nomination was withdrawn. Trump then appointed him acting general counsel of the General Services Administration, an organization with more than 10,000 employees.

These are not isolated examples. Although he claims to appoint only “top, top people,” Trump has set modern records for withdrawn nominations, turnover among senior officials, and appointments of judges the American Bar Association deems unqualified. 


And then there's Miss Sassy, the original disappointment, JD Vance.  Amanda Marcotte (SALON) observes:

JD Vance is famously addicted to social media, to a degree that one wonders if he has any job duties as vice president at all. It’s almost certain that he’s well aware that the late Charlie Kirk has not become the movement martyr MAGA hoped for. On the contrary, the memory of the Turning Point USA founder has become a joke on social media. The cringeworthy efforts to deify Kirk are irresistible bait for online jokesters, who spent months turning his image and even an AI-generated song about him into fuel for irony-drenched memes mocking the deceased right-wing leader. Trying to shove Kirk on the public backfired for MAGA, causing most people to rebel with mockery.

But even though most Republicans have quietly moved on, Vance is still hoping to get enough juice out Kirk’s death to sell books. In early June, the Wall Street Journal published an excerpt from Vance’s latest memoir, “Communion: Finding My Way Back to Faith,” which is officially released tomorrow. In it, Vance credits Kirk’s widow, Erika Kirk — who is even more hated than her dead husband — for convincing his wife, Usha Vance, to have a fourth child. No, it’s not as a response to the embarrassingly intimate hug Erika Kirk and JD Vance shared at a TPUSA event last November, despite online gossip speculating otherwise. Instead, the vice president claims “Erika told Usha between sobs that she regretted having only two kids with Charlie,” and that’s what changed his wife’s mind.

It’s hard to oversell how nauseating the entire excerpt is, especially since it’s replete with Vance’s overbearing efforts to inject religious language into every beat of his story about his allegedly great friendship with Kirk. It’s hard to read sentences like, “Charlie taught me to love all parts of our Christian communion,” while imagining Vance’s voice, especially as his only gear as a public speaker is to use a snide tone, even when talking about his supposed higher aspirations. But these are granular annoyances. The real question is why did Vance choose a passage about Kirk, who is beyond old news, as a represenation of a book people are supposed to want to buy now?

The 41-year-old Vance makes great hay out of his relative youth on Capitol Hill, right up to bragging as often as possible about his pregnant wife. But this opening to his book tour has reflected how out-of-touch Vance actually is, not just with young people, but with Americans generally. He’s a fuddy-duddy, and he only makes it worse his habit of making bad jokes and then reacting petulantly when people don’t laugh at them. As Donald Trump’s vice president, Vance enjoys the presumption that he’s a shoo-in to be the next Republican nominee for president. But he’s so bad at politics that it increasingly seems he will get trounced in the primary, even as his potential challengers are also sorely lacking in charisma.

The book tour for “Communion” is already showcasing Vance’s incompetence as a politician. He sat for a telephone interview with USA Today last week that was clearly meant to read as “heartfelt,” but only makes him sound like a phony. He tries to cast his days of “blindly chasing ambition” behind himself, insisting now that his conversion to Catholicism has changed him into a man who tries to “focus on the good.” He swears to USA Today that he tries to “make wise decisions and moral decisions.”

Sadly for Vance, that interview was overshadowed by a New York Times story revealing how devoted Vance was to minimizing the relationship Trump had with deceased sex predator Jeffrey Epstein. The story, written by Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan, relies heavily on sources — possibly Vance himself — who are doing their level best to make him seem like the adult in the room, as the White House top staff convenes to cover for a boss who is cagey about his reasons for wanting to bury documents collected by the FBI on Epstein, who called himself “Don’s best friend.”

But while Vance is portrayed as wanting to release the files, it’s not for noble reasons, but in hopes that the illusion of transparency would prevent people from asking further questions about Trump and Epstein’s long and deep friendship. Vance also floated the idea of letting Epstein’s former girlfriend, Ghislaine Maxwell, out of prison for a day to sit in an interview with Tucker Carlson, having set the expectation that she would say Trump did nothing wrong. The fact that she would be contradicting credible sources, including another ex-girlfriend of Epstein’s who says Trump assaulted her, didn’t matter to Vance.



On  THE TIMES article that put Epstein back into the news cycler, Maureen Dowd notes it in her latest column:


In an article in The Times based on reporting for their upcoming book, “Regime Change: Inside the Imperial Presidency of Donald Trump,” Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan conjured a story that sounds like a farcical fable. It limns a group of stupid, craven, power-hungry people who inflame a panic about pedophilia among the elites, propelling Trump forward, before it all goes sideways and comes back to bite them.

Many in the White House, including the president and Pam Bondi, “had either grossly underestimat The authors reveal the stunning scene where Trump advisers met clandestinely one July day last year to figure out how to get control over the Epstein story.

JD Vance, Susie Wiles, Todd Blanche, Steven Cheung, Karoline Leavitt and others gathered, blasphemously, in the Situation Room — a place designed to steer combat operations, not political rescue missions. Bondi and Kash Patel joined via speaker phone.

Talk about a situation! The vice president was panicky, the authors wrote. He seemed to subscribe to “the darkest theories about Epstein and a cabal of predators hidden within the country’s ruling class.” He had been pushing for the release of all the files.

“Vance had also floated to colleagues an extraordinary P.R. gambit — that the White House enlist Tucker Carlson to interview Epstein’s longtime girlfriend and co-conspirator Ghislaine Maxwell in prison,” Haberman and Swan wrote. “It might help the president if Maxwell was willing to state that Trump had not been part of any wrongdoing with Epstein.”

Even as Trump used the government to exact petty revenge, Epstein was posthumously getting revenge on Trump for trying to shake him off and claim they weren’t that close and that he was “not a fan.”

“Behind the scenes,” Haberman and Swan wrote, “the Epstein crisis was paralyzing the Trump administration to a far greater extent than the public knew.” (After their article ran, 19 Epstein survivors came out against Blanche’s nomination to be attorney general over his participation in the secret meeting.)

In the Situation Room, someone mentioned an uncorroborated accusation about Trump and a girl in Epstein’s sex-trafficking ring named Jen, who told another victim that she had sex with Trump and that he had a predilection for nipples, aggressively sucking and flicking hers. (This was surprising since Trump’s previous comments had him focused on grabbing another part of women’s anatomy.)


Epstein -- and Chump's long connection to him -- is not going away.   

The calls for people to appear before the Committee only increases.  Hugo C. Chiasson and Elise A. Spenner (HARVARD CRIMSON) report:


Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.) called Wednesday for former Harvard President Lawrence H. Summers to testify before the House Oversight Committee about his relationship with convicted child sex offender Jeffrey E. Epstein.

Garcia, the ranking Democrat on the panel, told MSNow after a lengthy session with Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates on Wednesday that he believed Summers was “someone that needs to be in front of the Oversight Committee and that we need to hear from directly.”

Summers faced public and professional backlash after a November release of documents revealed that he maintained an intimate, longstanding relationship with Epstein. Shortly after, the Department of Justice launched an investigation into Epstein’s relationship with Summers and other high-profile figures.

His name surfaced again during Gates’ Wednesday interview. Midway through Gates’ testimony, Garcia stepped out to tell reporters that Gates had cited Summers as someone involved in meetings or other activities with Epstein.

“Mr. Summers is someone that we as a committee have not had the chance to speak with, that we would like to speak with,” Garcia said at the time. “It seems that his name continues to come up.”

Summers declined to comment, through a spokesperson, on whether he had been formally asked to testify.



The House Oversight Committee formally requested Friday that Harvard Law School professor emeritus Alan Dershowitz testify about his ties to convicted sex offender Jeffrey E. Epstein, marking the latest step in the panel’s widening investigation into Epstein and his associates.

In a letter to Dershowitz, Rep. James R. Comer (R-Ky.), who chairs the committee, asked him to appear on July 9 for an in-person, videotaped transcribed interview in Washington, D.C.

The committee wrote that it believes Dershowitz has information that would assist its investigation because of his role as Epstein’s attorney, public reporting, documents released by the Department of Justice, and records obtained by the committee.


Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan (NEW YORK TIMES) Wednesday report on the Situation Room meetings of Todd Blanche, Pam Bondi, Susie Wiles, JD Vance and other members of the administration to plot on how to deceive the American people about Epstein and specifically Chump's closeness to Epstein continues to garner attention.  Jim VandeHei and Mike Allen (AXIOS) report:


Top White House officials believe New York Times reporters Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan obtained audio recordings of Situation Room meetings for their forthcoming book, "Regime Change."

Why it matters: Such a taped leak would be a shocking breach of one of the most secure settings on Earth. Independent recording devices in the Situation Room are forbidden.

  • "We're afraid some of our most sensitive conversations were being recorded," an administration source told us. "And we have no idea which ones."

Verbatim accounts of several Situation Room meetings were included in excerpts about the Iran war and the Epstein files that The Times posted ahead of the book's June 23 publication. The authors conducted more than 1,000 interviews for "Regime Change," which covers Trump's second term.

  • Tellingly, White House officials haven't disputed verbatim dialogue from the top-secret Sit Room talks, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio saying about Bibi's regime-change scenarios for Iran: "In other words, it's bullshit."

If Chump's 'big' birthday felt hollow to you, apparently it did to Chump as well.  This morning, Tommy Christopher (MEDIAITE) reports:

President Donald Trump blurted a dead-of-night attack on “The Dumocrats” just hours after his Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) birthday bash on the White House lawn.

After being delayed by some nasty weather, the Trump-backed “Freedom 250” organization’s UFC fight at the White House to celebrate Flag Day/Trump’s birthday finally got underway.

The event lasted until well after 1 a.m., with Trump taking to the stage to congratulate the winner of the final bout, Justin Gaethje, at 1:15 after he defeated Ilia Topuria in the final event to take the UFC lightweight title

But Trump was still up at 4 a.m., posting on Truth Social — but not about the fight, his birthday, or the Bicentennnial-plus-50.



Mad ravings from the mind of a lunatic.  


Let's wind down with this from Senator Elizabeth Warren's office:


Adani hired President Trump’s personal lawyer and reportedly offered to invest $10 billion in the United States to persuade the DOJ to drop its case

“DOJ’s actions doubly undermine global efforts to combat bribery: they appear to reduce accountability for the crime of bribery while also suggesting that quid-pro-quos can successfully undermine the enforcement of our laws.”

Text of Letter (PDF)

Washington, D.C. — U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) pressed Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche for answers following the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) request to drop its criminal case against billionaire Gautam Adani after he hired President Trump’s personal lawyer and reportedly offered a quid-pro-quo deal to invest $10 billion in the United States in return.

“Mr. Adani appeared to engage in transparent influence-peddling to avoid accountability,” wrote the senators.

In its 2024 indictment, the DOJ alleged that Adani knowingly participated in a scheme to bribe Indian government officials and mislead investors to secure billions of dollars in investments—including at least $175 million from U.S. investors, per the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Adani hired a new legal team led by Robert J. Giuffra Jr., one of President Trump’s personal attorneys. In April, Mr. Giuffra reportedly met with prosecutors at DOJ headquarters to try and convince them to drop the charges. As part of his pitch to prosecutors, Mr. Giuffra reportedly included a highly unusual offer that the tycoon would invest $10 billion in the U.S. economy if prosecutors dropped the charges against him. While prosecutors reportedly “told Mr. Giuffra that the $10 billion investment would play no role in the resolution of the criminal case,” the offer reportedly “received a favorable response from at least one senior Justice Department official at the meeting.”

The DOJ then sought to dismiss the charges against him without any substantive rationale beyond the decision to not “devote further resources” to the case. This dismissal would prevent the DOJ from bringing the same charges against him again in the future.

“The DOJ’s decision gives the appearance that Mr. Adani – with the help of one of the President’s personal lawyers – bought his way to criminal immunity, trading the promise of an investment in the United States for immunity from an alleged multi-billion dollar bribery scheme,” wrote Senator Warren.

Within weeks of the DOJ's move to drop criminal charges, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) sought to settle its parallel civil case against Adani for $6 million without an admission of wrongdoing, while the Treasury Department settled allegations of sanction violation with an Adani subsidiary.

The senators note that the DOJ's abandonment of the Adani case fits a pattern of favorable treatment for Trump’s allies, pointing to pardons granted to major Trump donors and the DOJ’s decision to decline to prosecute over 6,000 white-collar crime cases in the first six months of this administration, a 59% increase from the last three administrations.

“This refusal to prosecute those accused of white-collar crimes allows guilty parties to get off scot-free, keeping their ill-gotten wealth earned by cheating hard-working Americans,” wrote the senators.

“The reports of Mr. Adani’s offer to the DOJ last month appear to represent an egregious quid-pro-quo offer and a blatant attempt by a wealthy individual to buy his way to leniency – and the DOJ’s decision to seek to drop all criminal charges against him weeks later gives the appearance that the DOJ is an equal partner in corrupt behavior,” concluded the senators.

Senators Warren and Blumenthal asked the DOJ to explain how the DOJ came to the decision to seek to drop the charges against Adani; if Adani, or his representatives, made an offer, implicitly or explicitly, to invest $10 billion in the United States if the DOJ dropped its prosecution of him; and if anyone from the White House communicated with the DOJ regarding Adani’s case by June 25, 2026.

Senator Warren has led the fight to root out corruption and hold the Trump administration accountable:

  • In June 2026, Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) and Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), along with Representatives Jason Crow (D-Colo.) and Mike Levin (D-Calif.), pressed White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles following reports that the White House interfered to deliver a lucrative Department of Defense (DoD) contract to Vulcan Elements, a key Trump Jr.-linked company.
  • In May 2026, Senator Elizabeth Warren pressed the Acting Director-Designate for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), David Venturella, on his decades-long revolving door career between ICE and the private prison industry and his reported use of Department of Homeland Security (DHS) personnel and resources for personal or political favors.
  • In May 2026, Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Rick Scott (R-Fla.) introduced the Banning Lobbying And Safeguarding Trust (BLAST) Act, a bipartisan bill to impose a lifetime ban on lobbying by former members of Congress.
  • In February 2026, Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Andy Kim (D-N.J.), along with Representatives Pat Ryan (D-N.Y.) and Deborah Ross (D-N.C.) pressed the Inspectors General (IGs) of 16 key agencies to open investigations into senior Trump officials who were recently lobbyists or “shadow lobbyists” and may be using their roles to benefit their former employers and clients.
  • In January 2026, Senators Warren (D-Mass.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), and Andy Kim (D-N.J.), pressed Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth on potential conflicts of interest surrounding the awarding of multiple lucrative Department of Defense (DoD) contracts and loans to companies associated with President Donald Trump’s son, Donald Trump Jr.
  • In December 2025, Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Representative Chris Deluzio (D-Pa.) pressed the Trump administration to follow through on promises to limit defense companies' stock buybacks and incentivize them to increase research and development spending.
  • In December 2025, Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) called for then-Attorney General Pam Bondi to recuse herself from the Department of Justice (DOJ)’s review of any Warner Bros. merger due to potential conflicts of interest related to her former employer, lobbying firm Ballard Partners.
  • In September 2025, Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), a member of the Senate Finance Committee, wrote to Donald Korb, nominee for Chief Counsel for the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), ahead of Korb’s confirmation hearing, pressing him on his stark conflicts of interest and urging him to make ethics commitments to mitigate these conflicts.
  • In July 2025, Senators Warren (D-Mass.) and Rick Scott (R-Fla.) wrote to former Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin seeking an explanation and further information on his recent decision to start a strategic advisory firm. Austin had publicly promised Senator Warren during his 2021 confirmation process that he would not become a lobbyist after his government service ended.
  • In July 2023, United States Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Chair of the Senate Armed Services Committee Subcommittee on Personnel, and Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), and United States Representatives Jason Crow (D-Colo.) and Suzan DelBene (D-Wash.) introduced the Retired Officers Conflict of Interest Act – a bill that would require public reporting on retired service members working on behalf of foreign governments and creating civil penalties if they break the law.
  • In December 2020, Senator Warren (D-Mass.) and Representative Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) reintroduced the Anti-Corruption & Public Integrity Act to strengthen ethics laws and crack down on government officials’ conflicts of interest across the government.

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