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Gov.-elect Abigail Spanberger poses for a portrait during an interview in Richmond, Va., on Tuesday, Jan 13, 2026. Spanberger will break decades of tradition during her inauguration on Saturday by not wearing a morning suit worn by male governors before her. Tyrone Turner/WAMU hide caption toggle caption Tyrone Turner/WAMU RICHMOND, Va. — Virginia inaugurates its governors in traditional style, complete with a swearing-in ceremony outside the Capitol building presided over by men in three-piece morning suits with coattails and an occasional top hat. “At the conclusion of the oaths, there is a 19-gun salute by the National Guard and a…

Politics / Authoritarian Watch / January 16, 2026 The news was a firehose of stories of authoritarian behavior. We can’t let ourselves drown. Ad Policy President Donald Trump pumps his fist as he walks to board Marine One at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland on January 11, 2026.(Andrew Cabellero-Reynolds / AFP via Getty Images) Afew months ago, when my editors asked me to try my hand at a new “Authoritarian Watch” column in the new year, part of me worried that some weeks I would struggle to find material. After all, surely even the Trump administration would slow down; surely,…

Good morning. You’re reading the Up First newsletter. Subscribe here to get it delivered to your inbox, and listen to the Up First podcast for all the news you need to start your day. Today’s top stories President Trump has threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act in Minnesota to stop protests in Minneapolis. On Wednesday, immigration officers shot an immigrant man in the leg, sparking unrest on the city’s north side. There are as many as 3,000 federal immigration officers on the ground or expected to arrive soon in the Twin Cities, NPR’s Meg Anderson tells Up First. Protesters (R) are confronted by an…

Activism / January 16, 2026 Formed to oppose the Iraq War, Madres Contra La Guerra have now spent decades trying to end Puerto Rico’s role at the center of the US war machine in Latin America. Ad Policy A protester is detained as demonstrators rally against US military intervention in Venezuela in San Juan, Puerto Rico, on January 3, 2026.(Miguel J. Rodriguez Carrillo / AFP via Getty Images) In a blurry black-and-white Polaroid from 1971, Sonia Santiago Hernández reenacts an image of the Madonna and Child. Only 21 years old, she wears a miniskirt and sandals, and oversize sunglasses sit…

Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado waves to supporters on Pennsylvania Avenue as she leaves the White House after meeting with President Donald Trump Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Washington. Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP hide caption toggle caption Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP WASHINGTON — Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado said she presented her Nobel Peace Prize medal to President Donald Trump at the White House on Thursday even as he has questioned her credibility to take over her country after the U.S. ousted then-President Nicolás Maduro. The Nobel Institute has said Machado could not give her prize to Trump, an honor…

Politics / January 15, 2026 Early signs suggest that the Mamdani era in New York is off to an encouraging start—beginning with the mayor’s continued mastery of political spectacle. Ad Policy Mayor Zohran Mamdani at a January 13 press conference(Kyle Mazza/Anadolu via Getty Images) On the first Monday of the new mayor’s first week in office a returning visitor to Room 9—the press room just off the right side of the lobby—was struck by how little has changed. The scenery has been upgraded, with laptops and iPads now replacing more cumbersome computer terminals, and the phalanxes of daily tabloid and…

A person enters a polling station to vote on Nov. 4, 2025, at First United Methodist Church in Pasadena, Calif. Mario Tama/Getty Images hide caption toggle caption Mario Tama/Getty Images The Trump administration on Thursday was dealt its first legal setback in its unprecedented effort to consolidate voter data traditionally held by states. Federal district Judge David O. Carter dismissed a lawsuit in California that sought to give the Justice Department access to that state’s unredacted voter file, which includes sensitive data like Social Security numbers and driver’s license data. A district judge in Oregon also said in court Wednesday…

Politics / January 15, 2026 With another deadline looming at the end of the month, party leaders must use the power they have to begin dismantling Trump’s police state. Ad Policy Border Patrol Chief Gregory Bovino, flanked by masked agents, at the perimeter of the site where Renee Good was shot to death. (Scott Olson / Getty Images) Democrats must shut down the government over ICE or face their voters’ wrath Last week’s public execution of an unarmed Minneapolis mom engaged in routine ICE-watching feels like a critical juncture in the Trump administration’s attempted authoritarian takeover of the United States.…

President Donald Trump in the Oval Office on Wednesday. On Thursday, he made a health care announcement via a social media video. Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images hide caption toggle caption Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images In a video posted to social media Thursday, President Trump announced an outline for new health care legislation. The plan does not include a remedy for people who buy their health insurance on Healthcare.gov, some of whom are facing sky-high premium hikes this month. Trump dubbed the ideas “The Great Healthcare Plan.” According to a White House fact sheet and a press call hosted…

Activism / January 15, 2026 We can turn the tide against Trump—but only with mass action and courageous leadership. Ad Policy Minneapolis City Council member Robin Wonsley speaks to acrowd of bystanders near the scene where federal agents shot and killed a woman earlier on Portland Avenue in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on January 7, 2026.(Alex Kormann / The Minnesota Star Tribune via Getty Images) Shortly after dropping her 6-year-old son off at school, Renee Good was shot and killed by ICE agent Jonathan Ross. Republican leaders attempted to smear Good as a “domestic terrorist” and claim that Ross acted in “self-defense.”…