Democratic Underground: Forums for U.S. Liberals and Democrats

DOJ Defends Reassignment of Military Lawyers to Serve as Immigration Judges

Published Nov 15, 2025 at 05:36 PM EST updated Nov 15, 2025 at 05:46 PM EST The Department of Justice (DOJ) issued a 13-page defense of the decision to temporarily reassign Defense Department lawyers to immigration tasks, saying that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth may do so since the lawyers will work "on a full-time basis, in an entirely civilian capacity, under the supervision of civilian DOJ supervisors." "Under our longstanding view, those conditions are sufficient to compl ...

BumRushDaShow

Alice Wong, disability rights activist and writer, dies at 51

Nov. 15, 2025, 5:57 PM EST SAN FRANCISCO — Alice Wong, a disability rights activist and author whose independence and writing inspired others, has died. She was 51. Wong died Friday because of an infection at a hospital in San Francisco, said Sandy Ho, a close friend who has been in touch with Wong’s family. Ho called her friend a “luminary of the disability justice movement” who wanted to see a world where people with disabilities, especially ones of marginalized demographics who were peopl ...

BumRushDaShow

Smithsonian museums, National Zoo reopenings bring flocks of visitors

PUBLISHED Nov 15, 2025, 4:25 PM ET Smithsonian museums and the National Zoo are welcoming members of the public back after weeks of closures because of the government shutdown. The Smithsonian Institution, which receives federal funding and comprises the largest museum complex in the world, closed as the shutdown entered its third week after initially using budget funds from previous years to stay open. The facilities are now reopening on a rolling basis through Monday. After a month shuttere ...

BumRushDaShow

Texas, California National Guard members to leave Portland and Chicago

November 15, 2025, 4:48 PM The 200 federalized California National Guard members sent to Portland, Oregon, and another 200 federalized Texas National Guard members sent to Chicago will return to their home states, according to two U.S. officials. The federalized Guard troops arrived in those cities in early October but never deployed operationally because of legal challenges that continue playing out in the courts. Late Friday night, U.S. Northern Command hinted that changes were coming t ...

BumRushDaShow

SNAP Benefits Update: Trump Admin Says 'Everyone' Will Have To Reapply

Published Nov 15, 2025 at 03:35 AM EST updated Nov 15, 2025 at 06:18 AM EST The Trump administration has revealed plans to make all current SNAP recipients reapply for their benefits in an attempt to prevent fraud. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins told Newsmax on Thursday the plan is to “have everyone reapply for their benefits, make sure that everyone that’s taking a taxpayer-funded benefit through ... food stamps, that they literally are vulnerable and they can’t survive without it.” Ne ...

riversedge

Bill Clinton responds to Epstein probe

Sam Stevenson • updated Nov 15, 2025 at 11:50 AM EST ...........In a brief statement posted on X, Clinton’s spokesperson Angel Ureña said: “These emails prove Bill Clinton did nothing and knew nothing. The rest is noise meant to distract from election losses, backfiring shutdowns, and who knows what else.” The probe, initiated at Trump's request, raises questions about the independence of federal law enforcement, political motivations behind such investigations, and ongoing calls for tra ...

BumRushDaShow

'We ain't ready.' Michelle Obama says the country doesn't want a woman president.

Nov. 15, 2025, 10:13 a.m. ET Michelle Obama said Americans don't want a woman to be president, and that's why they shouldn't look to her to run for the nation's highest office. "As we saw in this past election, sadly, we ain’t ready," Obama said. "That’s why I’m like, don’t even look at me about running, because you all are lying. You’re not ready for a woman. You are not." The former first lady and wife of President Barack Obama made the comments Nov. 14 in a conversatio ...

BumRushDaShow

Jasmine Crockett To Marjorie Taylor Greene On Trump Fallout: 'I Told You Not To Trust Him'

Nov 15, 2025, 01:18 PM EST Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas) weighed in on President Donald Trump’s ongoing spat with Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) with a message for the right-wing congresswoman that was supportive, in its own way. “This almost feels like a moment where Marge should phone a friend…” Crockett wrote on X. “I’m here for you girl… I told you not to trust him… all he cares about is HIMself (and protecting pedos) he never loved you. My granny always said ‘be with the man that ...

Omaha Steve

Pope returns 62 artifacts to Indigenous peoples from Canada as part of reckoning with colonial past

By NICOLE WINFIELD Updated 6:58 AM CST, November 15, 2025 Leer en español VATICAN CITY (AP) — The Vatican on Saturday returned 62 artifacts to Indigenous peoples from Canada, a historic restitution that is part of the Catholic Church’s reckoning with its role in helping suppress Indigenous culture in the Americas. Pope Leo XIV gave the artifacts, including an iconic Inuit kayak, and supporting documentation to a delegation of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops, which is expected to r ...

Expand Featured Stories

Issue Forums

Alliance Forums

Region Forums

Latest Breaking News

Congress' Obamacare subsidy vote could set off state scramble

42 min ago - 11/16/2025 07:00 AM EST The nation’s 20 state Obamacare exchanges appear poised to quickly update premiums if Congress passes a straightforward extension of enhanced subsidies when it votes on the matter next month. But there’s another, inc ... (Politico)

Hundreds of low-paid NHS hospital staff win improved terms after strike threat

1 hr ago - More than 330 workers, mainly cleaners, caterers and porters, at St George’s, Epsom and St Helier hospital group voted to strike Diane Taylor Sun 16 Nov 2025 09.43 EST Hundreds of low-paid NHS hospital workers are celebrating victory after bosse ... (The Guardian)

Dick Cheney, a longtime Democratic bogeyman, became an ally opposing Trump

1 hr ago - Nov. 16, 2025, 5:02 a.m. ET WASHINGTON – Then-Rep. Adam Schiff didn’t recognize who was standing next to then-Rep. Liz Cheney as the two chatted on the House floor after a moment of silence on the first anniversary of the Capitol attack on ... (USA Today)

Trump official hit over new target

2 hrs ago - 12h Donald Trump on Saturday took to Truth Social, his own social media site, to rage against Seth Meyers, and Commissioner of Federal Communications Commission Brendan Carr raised eyebrows by amplifying the attack. "NBC’s Seth Meyers is sufferi ... (msn/Raw story)

Iran's foreign minister says the nation is no longer enriching uranium at any site in the country

3 hrs ago - November 16, 2025 6:00 AM ET TEHRAN, Iran — Iran's foreign minister on Sunday said that Tehran is no longer enriching uranium at any site in the country. Answering a question from an Associated Press journalist visiting Iran, Foreign Minister Ab ... (NPR/AP)

Republicans clash over surprise phone records provision that could enrich senators

4 hrs ago - 11/16/25 6:00 AM ET Republicans are at odds over an effort to unwind a controversial provision tucked into the bill to reopen the government that would allow senators to sue for substantial sums if they aren’t notified when federal law enforceme ... (The Hill)

Trump pulling out all the stops to welcome Saudi crown prince for first White House visit since Khashoggi killing

4 hrs ago - PUBLISHED Nov 16, 2025, 5:00 AM ET President Donald Trump is planning to receive Saudi Arabia’s powerful Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman at the White House this week with all the trappings of a state visit, sources familiar with the matter said ... (CNN Politics)

South Carolina looks at most restrictive abortion bill in the US as opponents keep pushing limits

5 hrs ago - Updated 12:01 AM EST, November 16, 2025 COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Sending women who get abortions to prison for decades. Outlawing IUDs. Sharply restricting in-vitro fertilization. These are the strictest abortion prohibitions and punishments in the ... (AP)

Backfire: More white clergy running as Dems after Trump 'duped' churches

5 hrs ago - November 15, 2025 8:19PM ET The Guardian reports roughly 30 Christian white clergy, including pastors, seminary students and other faith leaders, are filing or have already filed to be Democratic candidates in next year’s midterm elections. ... (Raw Story)

4 law enforcement officers shot in rural Kansas responding to domestic violence call

5 hrs ago - By JOHN HANNA and JACK DURA Updated 8:48 PM CST, November 15, 2025 CARBONDALE, Kan. (AP) — Four law enforcement officers were shot Saturday morning while responding to a domestic violence call at a home in a rural area south of Topeka, and a 22- ... (AP)

Alice Wong, disability rights activist and writer, dies at 51

7 hrs ago - Nov. 15, 2025, 5:57 PM EST SAN FRANCISCO — Alice Wong, a disability rights activist and author whose independence and writing inspired others, has died. She was 51. Wong died Friday because of an infection at a hospital in San Francisco, said Sa ... (NBC News/AP)

DOJ Defends Reassignment of Military Lawyers to Serve as Immigration Judges

7 hrs ago - Published Nov 15, 2025 at 05:36 PM EST updated Nov 15, 2025 at 05:46 PM EST The Department of Justice (DOJ) issued a 13-page defense of the decision to temporarily reassign Defense Department lawyers to immigration tasks, saying that Defense Secretar ... (Newsweek)

27 Epstein survivors thank GOP lawmaker for taking on Trump: 'You have our full support'

8 hrs ago - November 15, 2025 5:33PM ET More than two dozen survivors of Jeffrey Epstein have reportedly sent a letter to a GOP lawmaker who has been speaking out against Donald Trump. Trump‘s decision to lash out and make personal attacks on Rep. Marjorie ... (Raw Story)

Texas, California National Guard members to leave Portland and Chicago

8 hrs ago - November 15, 2025, 4:48 PM The 200 federalized California National Guard members sent to Portland, Oregon, and another 200 federalized Texas National Guard members sent to Chicago will return to their home states, according to two U.S. officials. T ... (ABC News)

Smithsonian museums, National Zoo reopenings bring flocks of visitors

9 hrs ago - PUBLISHED Nov 15, 2025, 4:25 PM ET Smithsonian museums and the National Zoo are welcoming members of the public back after weeks of closures because of the government shutdown. The Smithsonian Institution, which receives federal funding and comprises ... (CNN Politics)

New law killing "THC loophole" could hurt state programs and businesses, advocates say

9 hrs ago - 11h Congress rallied to pass a spending bill that ended the record-long government shutdown, but it came with a price: much of the legal cannabis industry. The big picture: A last-minute provision in the spending bill criminalized many hemp-derived p ... (msn/Axios)

Suspected Haitian gang members exchange fire with Marines protecting US Embassy in Port-au-Prince

13 hrs ago - Updated 5:43 PM CST, November 15, 2025 Leer en español PORT AU PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — A group of suspected Haitian gang members fired this week on American forces protecting the U.S. Embassy in Port-au-Prince, a spokesman said Saturday, in ... (AP)

Tariffs cause shortage on holiday decor

16 hrs ago - 11/15/25 2:48 PM ET While retailers are gearing up for Christmas, business owners warn consumers might see fewer options and higher price tags for decorations this year as a result of the Trump administration’s sweeping tariffs. Artificial Chris ... (The Hill)

AI-Powered Stuffed Animal Pulled From Market After Disturbing Interactions With Children

16 hrs ago - Children’s toymaker FoloToy says it’s pulling its AI-powered teddy bear “Kumma” after a safety group found that the cuddly companion was giving wildly inappropriate and even dangerous responses, including tips on how to find and l ... (Futurism)

Ford CEO says car giant is struggling to fill 5,000 mechanic posts despite offering $120K salary

17 hrs ago - Saturday 15 November 2025 09:43 EST Ford CEO Jim Farley is sounding the alarm on a “very serious” nationwide shortage of skilled tradesworkers, saying the company is struggling to fill 5,000 mechanic positions that pay $120,000 a year. Appe ... (The Independent)