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dailykos_feedThe GOP-controlled Senate delivered a rare public rebuke to President Donald Trump on Thursday, advancing a bipartisan resolution that would block him from using military force in Venezuela without congressional approval.
The vote comes less than a week after Trump stunned Congress and the nation by ordering a raid to kidnap Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. He and his wife, Cilia Flores, are now facing criminal prosecution in New York. The White House has not ruled out further actions, a prospect that has raised alarm among lawmakers on both sides of the aisle.
Five Senate Republicans—Susan Collins of Maine, Josh Hawley of Missouri, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Rand Paul of Kentucky, and Todd Young of Indiana—joined all 47 Democrats in voting in favor of the resolution.
Young and Hawley were the surprise defections, siding with Paul, who has long criticized Trump’s foreign adventures. Democratic Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania also voted with his caucus, though CNN reports that he refused to explain why afterward.
Predictably, Trump reacted with fury, accusing the GOP senators of betraying national security and the Republican Party.
“Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski, Rand Paul, Josh Hawley, and Todd Young should never be elected to office again,” he wrote on Truth Social, claiming that they voted to “take away our Powers to fight and defend the United States of America.”
Before the vote, Republican leaders tried and failed to block the resolution, hoping to preserve Trump’s unilateral authority. Trump has signaled a potential second wave of attacks on Venezuela, claiming that the United States will “run” the country after last week’s raid.
Democratic Sens. Tim Kaine of Virginia—who led the resolution alongside Paul—and Adam Schiff of California and Minority Leader Chuck Schumer framed the measure as a defense of the Constitution.
“Instead of responding to Americans’ concerns about the affordability crisis, President Trump started a war with Venezuela that is profoundly disrespectful to U.S. troops, deeply unpopular, suspiciously secretive, and likely corrupt,” Kaine said. “Trump’s war is also clearly illegal because this military action was ordered without the congressional authorization the Constitution requires.”
The procedural vote sets up a full Senate vote next week, which is expected to pass. Even though the measure would still need House approval and Trump’s signature to become law, it sends a clear message: Trump can’t act entirely on his own, even in a deeply divided chamber.
“To my Senate colleagues: Enough is enough,” Kaine said. “No war without a debate and vote in Congress.”
The raid, carried out over the weekend by Delta Force commandos, killed more than 100 people and broke with decades of congressional notification norms. Lawmakers have been alarmed by Trump’s pattern of unilateral military action, which might now extend beyond Venezuela—to Cuba, Colombia, and maybe even Greenland.
Collins said that the resolution was necessary to rein in a president who has been openly contemplating “boots on the ground” in Venezuela, and Murkowski emphasized the role of Congress as laid out in Article I of the Constitution. Similarly, Paul framed it as a constitutional debate: Who has the power to commit the United States to war?
“Make no mistake: Bombing another nation’s capital and removing their president is an act of war, plain and simple,” he said.
While largely symbolic, Thursday’s vote is a rare bipartisan check on Trump, signaling that even in a polarized Senate, some lawmakers are willing to challenge his lawlessness.
dailykos_feedA cartoon by Tim Campbell.
Related | ICE killed an unarmed citizen. Republicans keep trying to justify it.
dailykos_feedFederal immigration officers shot and wounded two people in Portland, Oregon, on Thursday, authorities said.
The FBI’s Portland office said it was investigating an “agent involved shooting” that happened around 2:15 p.m. “involving Customs and Border Patrol Agents in which 2 individuals were wounded.”
The Portland Police Bureau said its officers responded and found a man and woman with apparent gunshot wounds. They were transported to a hospital and their conditions are unknown, the bureau said in a statement.
The Department of Homeland Security’s agencies include Customs and Border Protection and the U.S. Border Patrol.
The shooting comes a day after an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer shot and killed a woman in Minnesota.
Related | ICE killed an unarmed citizen. Republicans keep trying to justify it.
Council President Elana Pirtle-Guiney said during a Portland city council meeting that Thursday's shooting took place in the eastern part of the city and that two Portlanders were wounded.
“As far as we know both of these individuals are still alive and we are hoping for more positive updates throughout the afternoon,” she said.
dailykos_feedA daily roundup of the best stories and cartoons by Daily Kos staff and contributors to keep you in the know.
ICE killed an unarmed citizen. Republicans keep trying to justify it.
It’s par for the course for Trump and MAGA, for whom cruelty is the point.
In Trump’s America, there’s no money for health care—only war
You may die of a preventable illness, but at least Trump might get his “Dream Military.”
Trump's minions have mixed feelings about his plan for world domination
Don’t worry—accused rapist and human trafficker Andrew Tate is on board.
Republicans’ response to ICE killing: Obey Trump or you’ll be next
They’re trying to justify ICE’s killing of Renee Good in Minneapolis as “classic law enforcement.”
Cartoon: Is this a distraction?
Whatever you do, don’t look up.
House Democrat's exit marks end of an era—and a test for the future
This is another opportunity for the Democratic Party to reinvent itself.
WTF? Job-killing DOGE is now hiring.
Who wouldn’t relish a chance to report to the illustrious “Big Balls”?
universal_hub_feed
Ron Newman attended tonight's protest over the regime's murder of Renee Good at Park Street, where protesters gathered in front of still operating Christmas lights on the Common - and as news was coming in that ICE shot two more people, this time in Portland, OR.
soc_puppet posting in queerly_belovedtroisoiseauxOnly a rank sucker will think of taking two peeks at Dave the Dude's doll, because while Dave may stand for the first peek, figuring it is a mistake, it is a sure thing he will get sored up at the second peek, and Dave the Dude is certainly not a man to have sored up at you.
dailykos_feedMinnesota Gov. Tim Walz held a press conference Thursday to address the heinous killing of 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent.
Speaking to the destructive and inhumane nature of President Donald Trump’s immigration policy, Walz noted that ICE agents raided Roosevelt High School in Minneapolis shortly after the killing, creating chaos and fear for children.
“This tragedy will be magnified a hundredfold if this fight moves into the hallways of our public schools amongst our youth. And they're watching us. They’re watching us now—how we respond,” he said.
Walz also pointed out that the Trump administration is refusing to cooperate with Minnesota officials in investigating Good’s killing.
“[It is] very difficult for Minnesotans to think in any way this is going to be fair when Kristi Noem was judge, jury, and basically executioner yesterday,” he said.
Walz further cautioned against rash or retaliatory actions directed at fellow Minnesotans, while also urging Americans not to “bend the knee” to the “brazen use of force” exhibited by ICE goons.
“Protect our Minnesotans who are out there, and don’t turn the anger to them,” he said. “The way we give them what they want is [to] allow them to use this as an excuse to put more troops on the ground.”
Walz closed by quoting George Orwell’s warning against authoritarianism in “Nineteen Eighty-Four.”
"’The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most [essential directive],’” he said. “The nation's looking to us to hold the line on democracy, to hold the line on decency, to hold the line on accountability. And more than that, to rise up as neighbors and simply say we can look out for one another.”
twistedchickdailykos_feedIn a remarkable rebuke of Republican leadership, the House passed legislation Thursday, 230-196, that would extend expired health care subsidies for those who get coverage through the Affordable Care Act as renegade GOP lawmakers joined essentially all Democrats in voting for the measure.
Forcing the issue to a vote came about after a handful of Republicans signed on to a so-called “discharge petition” to unlock debate, bypassing objections from House Speaker Mike Johnson. The bill now goes to the Senate, where pressure is building for a similar bipartisan compromise.
Together, the rare political coalitions are rushing to resolve the standoff over the enhanced tax credits that were put in place during the COVID-19 crisis but expired late last year after no agreement was reached during the government shutdown.
“The affordability crisis is not a ‘hoax,’ it is very real — despite what Donald Trump has had to say,” said House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, invoking the president's remarks.
“Democrats made clear before the government was shut down that we were in this affordability fight until we win this affordability fight,” he said. “Today we have an opportunity to take a meaningful step forward.”
Ahead of voting, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimated that the bill, which would provide a three-year extension of the subsidy, would increase the nation's deficit by about $80.6 billion over the decade. At the same time, it would increase the number of people with health insurance by 100,000 this year, 3 million in 2027, 4 million in 2028 and 1.1 million in 2029, the CBO said.
Johnson, R-La., worked for months to prevent this situation. His office argued Thursday that the federal health care funding from the COVID-19 era is ripe with fraud, pointing to an investigation in Minnesota, and urged a no vote.
On the floor, Republicans argued that the subsidies as structured have contributed to fraud and that the chamber should be focused on lowering health insurance costs for the broader population.
“Only 7% of the population relies on Obamacare marketplace plans. This chamber should be about helping 100% of Americans,” said Rep. Jason Smith, the Republican chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee.
While the momentum from the vote shows the growing support for the tax breaks that have helped some 22 million Americans have access to health insurance, the Senate would be under no requirement to take up the House bill.
Instead, a small group of senators from both parties has been working on an alternative plan that could find support in both chambers and become law. Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said that for any plan to find support in his chamber, it will need to have income limits to ensure that the financial aid is focused on those who most need the help. He and other Republicans also want to ensure that beneficiaries would have to at least pay a nominal amount for their coverage.
Finally, Thune said there would need to be some expansion of health savings accounts, which allow people to save money and withdraw it tax-free as long as the money is spent on qualified medical expenses.
Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., who is part of the negotiations on reforms and subsidies for the Affordable Care Act, said there is agreement on addressing fraud in health care.
“We recognize that we have millions of people in this country who are going to lose — are losing, have lost — their health insurance because they can’t afford the premiums,” Shaheen said. “And so we’re trying to see if we can’t get to some agreement that’s going to help, and the sooner we can do that, the better.”
Trump has pushed Republicans to send money directly to Americans for health savings accounts so they can bypass the federal government and handle insurance on their own. Democrats largely reject this idea as insufficient for covering the high costs of health care.
The action by Republicans to force a vote has been an affront to Johnson and his leadership team, who essentially lost control of what comes to the House floor as the Republican lawmakers joined Democrats for the workaround.
After last year’s government shutdown failed to resolve the issue, Johnson had discussed allowing more politically vulnerable GOP lawmakers a chance to vote on another health care bill that would temporarily extend the subsidies while also adding changes.
Related | Record number of Americans think health care sucks under Trump
But after days of discussions, Johnson and the GOP leadership sided with the more conservative wing, which has assailed the subsidies as propping up ACA, which they consider a failed government program. He offered a modest proposal of health care reforms that was approved, but has stalled.
It was then that rank-and-file lawmakers took matters into their own hands, as many of their constituents faced soaring health insurance premiums beginning this month.
Republican Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick, Robert Bresnahan and Ryan Mackenzie, all from Pennsylvania, and Mike Lawler of New York, signed the Democrats’ petition, pushing it to the magic number of 218 needed to force a House vote. All four represent key swing districts whose races will help determine which party takes charge of the House next year.
What started as a long shot effort by Democrats to offer a discharge petition has become a political vindication of the Democrats’ government shutdown strategy as they fought to preserve the health care funds.
Democrats are making clear that the higher health insurance costs many Americans are facing will be a political centerpiece of their efforts to retake the majority in the House and Senate in the fall elections.
Related | Why Republicans want you to die—and fast
Trump, during a lengthy speech this week to House GOP lawmakers, encouraged his party to take control of the health care debate — an issue that has stymied Republicans since he tried, and failed, to repeal Obamacare during his first term.
dailykos_feedHealth and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy literally flipped the White House’s food guidelines on its head, and the changes come with glaring conflicts of interest.
According to The New York Times, five out of the 10 scientific experts tapped to make the latest dietary guidelines—which emphasize meat and dairy consumption—have financial links to “beef, dairy or pork industries, or food, infant formula, supplement or pharmaceutical companies.”
In a written statement to Daily Kos, Health and Human Services press secretary Emily Hilliard said, “All experts publicly disclosed any nutrition-related private interests, including those that could present an appearance or potential for private interests.”
"The National Institutes of Health (NIH) Office of Nutrition Research coordinated an external peer review process, assigning two independent reviewers to each scientific review. Reviewers were selected based on relevant expertise and absence of conflicts of interest," she added.
The new food guidelines raised some eyebrows after Kennedy’s quackery-filled press conference to announce the new guidelines.
Off the bat, there is a jump in the daily recommendation for meat and dairy products, despite that scientific research says these foods contribute to worsening heart health. Kennedy’s push for red meat coincides with his efforts to end “the war on saturated fats.”
“[W]e are concerned that recommendations regarding salt seasoning and red meat consumption could inadvertently lead consumers to exceed recommended limits for sodium and saturated fats, which are primary drivers of cardiovascular disease,” the American Heart Association said in a press release Wednesday.
The workout-obsessed administration also bizarrely relaxed alcohol guidance—“a win for Big Alcohol,” said Mike Marshall, chief executive of the Alcohol Policy Alliance. The previous advice was for men to consume no more than two drinks a day and for women to consume no more than one. Now, there is no specified limit.
However, despite health concerns about alcohol consumption, Dr. Mehmet Oz will tell you that alcohol is necessary because people can apparently socialize only at bars.
"Alcohol is a social lubricant that brings people together,” Oz said in Wednesday’s press conference. “In the best-case scenario, I don't think you should drink alcohol, but it does allow people an excuse to bond and socialize, and there's probably nothing healthier than having a good time with friends in a safe way."
The White House’s press blast promoting the new food guidelines also included praise from food influencers who promote dubious nutrition advice, such as Vani Hari—who has built a reputation on her factually gray food investigations—and author Shawn Baker, who promotes a meat-centric diet.
But Kennedy has always had a soft spot for the sketchy types.
In May 2025, he pushed for Casey Means to be surgeon general. For those who need a refresh after a long 2026 (it has been eight days), Means never finished her surgical residency and doesn’t hold an active medical license. And yet, like other officials, Means has ties to the supplements industry.
While pushing the American diet toward less processed foods and more whole foods isn’t a bad thing, the devil is in the murky details—and who’s promoting them.
davidgillonStorm Goretti has finally brought us some snow. Not much, just a light covering, but it really was getting ridiculous, it seemed like everywhere else in the country had snow, while we were surrounded by it, but resolutely dry.
Not any more. Let's see what the morning brings.
slacktivist_feedarstechnica_feedIn 2002, Bryan Fleming helped to create pcTattletale, software for monitoring phone and computer usage. Fleming's tool would record everything done on the target device, and the videos would be uploaded to a server where they could be viewed by the pcTattletale subscriber.
This might sound creepy, but it can also be legal when used by a parent monitoring their child or an employee monitoring their workers. These are exactly the use cases that were once outlined on pcTattletale's website, where the software was said to have "helped tens of thousands of parents stop their daughters from meeting up with pedophiles." Businesses can "track productivity, theft, lost hours, and more." Even "police departments use it for investigating."
But this week, nearly 25 years after launching pcTattletale, Fleming pled guilty in federal court to having knowingly built and marketed software to spy on other adults without their consent. In other words, pcTattletale was often used to spy on romantic partners without their knowledge—and Fleming helped people do it.
arstechnica_feedThe Federal Communications Commission plans to authorize a new category of wireless devices in the 6 GHz Wi-Fi band that will be permitted to operate at higher power levels than currently allowed. The FCC will also consider authorizing higher power levels for certain wireless devices that are only allowed to operate indoors.
The FCC said it scheduled a vote for its January 29 meeting on an order "to create a new category of unlicensed devices... that can operate outdoors and at higher power than previously authorized devices." These so-called Geofenced variable power (GVP) devices operating on the 6 GHz band will "support high data rates suitable for AR/VR, short-range hotspots, automation, and indoor navigation," and "overcome limitations of previous device classes by allowing higher power and outdoor mobility," the FCC said. They will be required to work with geofencing systems to avoid interference with fixed microwave links and radio astronomy observatories.
FCC Chairman Brendan Carr attributed the FCC's planned action to President Trump in a press release titled, "President Trump Unleashes American Innovation With 6 GHz Win." That's consistent with Carr's relatively new stance that the FCC takes orders from the president, despite his insisting during the Biden era that the FCC must operate independently from the White House.
