Author: rpnadmin

December 9, 2025 But local MAHA laws may be an even bigger threat. Ad Policy US Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. speaks during the Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) summit in Washington, DC, on November 12, 2025. (Alex Wroblewski / Getty Images) Even within the freakshow that is Donald Trump’s cabinet, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has a singular knack for dominating the headlines with the most disturbing sort of carnivalesque spectacle.  In recent months, he’s amplified harmful disinformation linking Tylenol and autism and dismissed the entire CDC vaccine advisory committee, replacing them with skeptics and conspiracy theorists.…

Republicans in Congress have shown some willingness to push back on President Trump but it is not clear how far they are willing to push back against the leader of their own party. Zayrha Rodriguez/NPR hide caption toggle caption Zayrha Rodriguez/NPR The Republican-controlled House and Senate have not done much to stand in the way of President Trump — even when his actions have encroached on terrain the Constitution reserved for them. But there are signs that some Republican lawmakers are trying to reassert their independence. When news broke last week that the Pentagon carried out a second strike on…

FBI officers are seen here taking a knee as demonstrators marched in June 2020, in Washington, D.C., during a protest over the death of George Floyd, a Black man who died after a police officer kneeled on his neck for several minutes. Jose Luis Magana/AP hide caption toggle caption Jose Luis Magana/AP Twelve FBI agents who were fired this year for taking a knee during racial justice protests in the heated summer of 2020 are suing the Bureau and its director, alleging unlawful retaliation. The former special agents—who together have nearly 200 years of experience—once received awards for helping disrupt…

Alina Habba speak during a panel discussion at the Conservative Political Action Conference in February 2025 in Oxon Hill, Md. Andrew Harnik/Getty Images hide caption toggle caption Andrew Harnik/Getty Images Alina Habba, a former personal attorney for President Trump, is stepping down as the top federal prosecutor in New Jersey following an appeals court ruling last week that found she was unlawfully serving in the role. Habba said in a statement posted on social media on Monday that she was not quitting in the face of legal challenges but instead resigning “to protect the stability and integrity” of the U.S.…

The voluminous literature devoted to examining the relationship between capitalism and environmental degradation makes it rather difficult to have something original to say. But in her new book, Free Gifts: Capitalism and the Politics of Nature, the political theorist Alyssa Battistoni does exactly this by pinpointing the exact reasons for capitalism’s persistent failure to value nonhuman nature, and what this means for politics as well as for our collective future on this planet.Inspired by Marxist thought, Battisoni argues that the problem of climate change is rooted in the manner in which capitalism systematically treats nature as a “free gift.” By…

Dan Duffy uses a tractor to plant soybeans on land he farms with his brother on April 28, 2025 near Dwight, Illinois. Scott Olson/Getty Images North America hide caption toggle caption Scott Olson/Getty Images North America The Trump administration is announcing $12 billion in one-time payments to farmers in the wake of this year’s tariff hikes, according to the White House. The payments are targeted at row crop farmers and will be announced during a roundtable event hosted by President Trump Monday, featuring farmers affected, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, said a White House official speaking…

Politics / December 8, 2025 It’s bedtime for Bozo—and you’re paying the price. Ad Policy President Donald Trump attends a cabinet meeting at the White House in Washington, DC, on December 2, 2025. (Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images) One of Donald Trump’s most successful political tactics has been labeling his opponents as too physically enervated to handle the job of the presidency. In 2016, Trump immortally smeared Jeb Bush as “low energy” (a charge that doomed Bush’s campaign) and framed Hillary Clinton as lacking in “stamina” (a jibe supercharged with sexism). In 2019, Trump coined the nickname “Sleepy Joe” for…

After the Supreme Court’s conservative majority ruled in favor of Texas lawmakers last week, Republicans head into the 2026 election year with an edge in the redistricting fight kicked off by President Trump. The court Thursday allowed Republicans’ new congressional map to move ahead — despite a lower court finding that the Texas legislature had likely conducted a racial gerrymander. The map could yield five more seats for the GOP. It is the latest major turn in the nationwide redistricting race, from California to Florida, that Trump started to help maintain Republican control of the House of Representatives. If Democrats…

Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., speaks during a hearing in Washington, DC. Cassidy has proposed sending government funds to Americans’ health savings accounts instead of subsidizing insurance premiums for those on ACA plans. Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images hide caption toggle caption Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images Sarah Monroe once had a relatively comfortable middle-class life. She and her family lived in a neatly landscaped neighborhood near Cleveland. They had a six-figure income and health insurance through her job. Then, four years ago, when Monroe was pregnant with twin girls, something started to feel off. “I kept having to come into the emergency room for…

FILE – Benin’s President Patrice Talon attends a meeting with Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva at Planalto presidential palace in Brasilia, Brazil, on May 23, 2024. Eraldo Peres/AP hide caption toggle caption Eraldo Peres/AP COTONOU, Benin — A coup that was announced in Benin on Sunday has been “foiled,” the interior minister said in a video on Facebook. “In the early morning of Sunday, Dec. 7, 2025, a small group of soldiers launched a mutiny with the aim of destabilizing the state and its institutions,” Alassane Seidou said. “Faced with this situation, the Beninese Armed Forces and their…