curated citations to news sources
NY Times: Until Trump Fired Her, She Was an Economist With Bipartisan Support
Erika McEntarfer led the agency that produced key data on jobs and inflation. Then July’s report showed a weakening economy, and President Trump accused her of “rigging” the numbers.
Nearly the entire Senate supported Erika McEntarfer in 2024 to lead the agency that produces key data on jobs and inflation. The widely respected economist was confirmed on a bipartisan 86-8 Senate vote, with support from Vice President JD Vance, who was then an Ohio senator, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, then a Florida senator.
But Dr. McEntarfer was suddenly caught in the political crossfire on Friday when President Trump lashed out over the agency’s most recent jobs report and fired her for releasing monthly jobs data showing surprisingly weak hiring. He called the data “rigged” without offering any evidence, and he accused Dr. McEntarfer of manipulating the job numbers “for political purposes.”
Dr. McEntarfer was nominated to her most recent post by President Joseph R. Biden Jr. Before that, she earned her stripes at the Census Bureau, where she worked for over two decades under both Republican and Democratic presidents.
(NY Times more…)
Nate Silver: Trump’s jobs data denialism won’t fool anyone
Firing the BLS commissioner won’t prevent the effects of tariffs. But it will reduce American economic leadership and increase uncertainty for businesses, workers and investors.
Rolling Stone: ‘Grow Up’: Conservative Senators, Economists Slam Trump for Firing Labor Stats Chief
“You can’t really make the numbers different or better by firing the people doing the counting,” said Sen. Rand Paul
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Heather Cox Richardson: Letters from an American – August 2, 2025
Republicans in the Texas legislature are working to redistrict the state before the 2026 midterm elections. Although state legislatures normally redraw district lines every ten years after the census required by the Constitution, President Donald J. Trump has asked Texas Republicans to redistrict now, mid-decade, in order to cut up five districts that tend to vote Democratic and create districts Republicans will almost certainly win. Five additional seats will help the Republicans hold control of the House of Representatives despite their growing unpopularity.
Trump is urging other Republican-dominated state legislatures—those in Florida, Indiana, Missouri, New Hampshire, and Ohio, for example—to do the same thing. “We’re going to get another three or four or five, in addition,” Trump said to reporters about House seats. “Texas would be the biggest one, and that’ll be five.”
…Trump and the Republicans would not be trying to rig the system if they thought they could win a majority of voters.
…California governor Gavin Newsom posted on social media: “[Trump] is so scared of the American people holding him accountable for his catastrophic actions, he wants Republicans to rig the 2026 elections for him.” Newsom pointed out that it would be easy for California to eliminate its Republican-leaning districts altogether, getting rid of nine Republican seats.
He posted on social media: “Game on.”
(Heather Cox Richardson more…)Fox: Texas GOP’s new map would move Rep. Crockett’s home out of her district, slash Dem seats
A gerrymandered map proposed by the Texas GOP would kick firebrand Democratic Rep. Jasmine Crockett out of her own district and likely add more House seats to the Lone Star’s Republican delegation.
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Atlantic: Not With a Bang, but With a Truth Social Post
The president is rattling a nuclear saber as a distraction.
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Todd A Raffensperger: “Hoax” Revisited. Pt. 2
Oh yes, there was Russian interference.
I do not believe for a second that Donald Trump and his sycophant Tulsi Gabbard seriously intend to indict former President Barack Obama. That’s really not the point of these and other “investigations” that he and his allies in Congress. It’s just retaliation and harassment on a monumental scale.
But this time, Trump resurrecting the issue of Russian interference may well cause people to take another look at the entire issue.
Some people may even decide to read the Mueller Report.
(Todd A Raffensperger more…)
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Slate: The EPA Just Issued Its Most Damaging Climate Change Move Ever
Daily Kos: Scientists fight back against Energy Department’s ‘antiscientific’ and ‘deceptive’ climate report
(Daily Kos more…)
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AXIOS: Federal judge defers ruling on Alina Habba’s legal authority
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Politico: DOJ is walking back the White House’s goal to arrest 3,000 immigrants per day
It’s another discrepancy between what White House advisers say and the administration’s legal posture.
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Egberto: Meet The Press challenges … Lindsey Graham with his past words on Russia & Obama
(Egberto more…)
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Allison Gill: I Am Suing the Department of Justice for the Epstein Files Training Videos
On July 20th, I was the first to report the existence of training videos instructing FBI personnel how to flag mentions of Trump and others in the Epstein files. Today, I’m suing for those videos.
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Thom Hartmann: The Next Time Some Idiot Tries to Tell You the GOP is “The Party of Business”
Timeline: Tracking the Trump Justice Department’s Anti-Voting Shift
Tracking the Lawsuits Against Trump’s Agenda
Tracking the Lawsuits Against Trump’s Agenda
Trump Pardons Database
Project 2025 Tracker
DOGE Tracker
ProPublica: Elon Musk’s Demolition Crew
Wired: 6 Tools for Tracking the Trump Administration’s Attacks on Civil Liberties
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