Sen. John Fetterman has faced a tide of public criticism from fellow Democrats as he stakes out lonely ground as a critic of the far-left wing of his party — and another wave rolled in Wednesday after he made a surprise video appearance at the Republican midterm convention.
So far, however, his Senate colleagues haven't joined the pile-on.
Democratic senators are staying above the fray as they work to flip the majority in November amid constant speculation that the 57-year-old Pennsylvanian could trigger a nightmare scenario by leaving the party and caucusing with the GOP.
Some have worked to publicly bat down suggestions that Fetterman could abandon Democrats for the final two years of his term — something he has denied considering, even as he continues to raise eyebrows with his outspoken support of Israel, bashing of democratic socialists and close relationships with Senate Republicans.
"John Fetterman is a friend and an important member of our caucus. It's a waste of energy to get spun up about his voting record or place in our party — he votes with us 90 percent of the time," Democratic Sen. Peter Welch of Vermont, who is close with Fetterman, said in a statement to POLITICO before the convention appearance. "We need a big tent if we're going to win in November."

#party #democrats #appearance

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Alongside the familiar sounds of roosters crowing and thrill seekers screaming on rides at the Iowa State Fair, there was a chorus of boos from Turning Point Action activists who were heckling Democratic politicians making their way through the crowds.
Videos of the confrontations got hundreds of thousands of views on social media, a burst of attention for a conservative youth organization that is charting its next chapter after last year's **** assination of its leader Charlie Kirk. But the true test of Turning Point Action's clout was unfolding inside the exhibition center, where staff members were registering voters, handing out **** ons and signing people up for social events.
"Building the foundation for 2028," said one of the flyers.
While Democrats have punted Iowa from the top of its presidential primary calendar, the state's caucuses will still kick off Republicans' next nominating process. Turning Point Action is positioning itself to shape that contest, a reminder that preparations for the next White House campaign are already in motion even though no candidates have announced and the midterm elections aren't over yet.
Turning Point Action wants at least one staffer in each of Iowa's 99 counties to mobilize the conservative grassroots.

#point #next #conservative

Anti-Israel journalist Rula Jebreal apologized "unconditionally" after calling House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., an "AIPAC monkey" during an interview earlier this week, a remark the Congressional Black Caucus and several Democratic lawmakers condemned as blatantly racist.
The comment came as Jebreal appeared on Wajahat Ali's "The Left Hook" podcast Wednesday and accused Jeffries, who is Black, of carrying out the agenda of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) and blasted his support for Israel.
"His name is Hakeem. 'Hakeem' is an Arabic name which means 'healer.' He's not a healer, he's a divider," Jebreal said.
Left-wing Podcaster Blasts Schumer, Jeffries As 'Fascist Collaborators'
Rula Jebreal speaks during a conference on the situation in the Gaza Strip in Parma, Italy, July 3, 2025.

#name

The House of Representatives passed a resolution condemning socialism on Tuesday evening, with all but eight House Democrats voting against it.
In a stunning twist of fate, however, the vote would not have occurred if two House Democrats hadn't stepped in hours earlier to help the GOP through a procedural hurdle — blindsiding House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., in the process.
Jeffries later threatened consequences for the pair in a dramatic statement late on Tuesday night, calling their move a "breach of trust."
The resolution passed 220 to 192 with all "no" votes coming from the left, including Democrats' senior leaders: House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., House Minority Whip Katherine Clark, D-Mass., and House Democratic Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar, D-Calif.
Johnson Scores Win As Conservative Rebels End House Floor Blockade Over Voter Id Bill

#House #minority #resolution

Abdul El-Sayed, the Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate in Michigan, apologized to the state's Jewish Democratic Caucus on Saturday for comments he made after an attack on a synagogue in March, which he tied to Israel's actions in the Middle East.
"My comments may have been misconstrued to justify something I did not mean to justify," El-Sayed told reporters after he addressed the caucus at a party convention in Lansing. "To anyone who feels like my comments might have been hurtful, I'm really sorry. That was not my intention."
El-Sayed's apology was his latest attempt to unify Democrats after a bitter primary where he defeated U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens. He's eager to push past a series of controversies involving allegations of antisemitism, including his ****** ociation with controversial commentator Hasan Piker. He faces Republican nominee Mike Rogers in a race that will help determine control of the Senate.
In March, a man attacked Temple Israel synagogue in a Detroit suburb, ramming his car into the building and opening fire on a security guard before dying by suicide. The man, Ayman Mohammad Ghazali, had lost four relatives in an Israeli airstrike on Lebanon the week prior.
In a video response at the time, El-Sayed condemned the attack and added that "hurt people hurt people," a reference to what happened to Ghazali's family. Critics accused El-Sayed of justifying Ghazali's actions.

#sayed #synagogue

With a market cap of $26.9 billion, Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (DGX) is a leading provider of diagnostic testing services in the United States and internationally. The company delivers a wide range of routine and advanced diagnostic information services through its brands and network of laboratories, serving healthcare providers, insurers, employers, and government institutions.
Shares of the Secaucus, New Jersey-based company have outperformed the broader market over the past 52 weeks. DGX stock has returned 36.3% over this time frame, while the broader S&P 500 Index ($SPX) has gained 19.1%. Moreover, the stock has soared 40.4% on a YTD basis, compared to SPX's 12% increase.
IonQ vs. Rigetti: The Better Quantum Computing Stock for Long-Term Investors
QQQ is Still in a Negative Gamma Regime. Here's How a 'Put Wall' and Fibonacci Support Could Come Into Play.
IBM Just Hit a New Quantum Computing Milestone. How to Play IBM Stock Now.

#quantum #computing #market #quest

A growing number of Democrats who grabbed national attention as they led the resistance to President Donald Trump during his first term in the White House are the latest casualties in this year's primary battle between the party's left-wing and the establishment.
The latest victim: Alexander Vindman, who gained national prominence nearly a decade ago as the then-Army lieutenant colonel and National Security Council official who served as a key witness against Trump during the president's first impeachment trial.
Vindman, who made resisting Trump a key part of his Senate bid, was upset Tuesday in Florida's Democratic Senate primary by state Rep. Angie Nixon. A Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) member, Nixon landed a double-digit victory over Vindman despite being outspent by a roughly 10-to-1 margin.
Democracy '26: Stay Up To Date With The Fox News Election Hub
Retired Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, who was a key impeachment witness against President Donald Trump, speaks during a campaign event at the Broward County Democratic Clubs and Caucuses on February 9, 2026, in Sunrise, Florida.

#vindman #nixon

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) said Sunday that he does not back the agenda of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), even as democratic socialists and left-leaning candidates racked up primary wins in the last few months.
"I don't support the DSA agenda, as has been articulated by the DSA itself. Now, you're going to have individual members who have been elected in Democratic primaries and if they are elected in the general in November, will be part of the House Democratic Caucus. It's going to be a broad caucus. There will be progressives. There will be New Dems. There will be Blue Dogs," Jeffries told NBC News's Kristen Welker on "Meet the Press," noting other factions of the Democratic Party.
"What I'm excited about are the candidates who are running to flip seats in November, to deliver us a majority that pushes back against Donald Trump's extremism and moves the country in the right direction," he added.
Democratic socialists and insurgent progressive candidates have beat out more establishment figures in recent Democratic primaries.
The DSA, a nonprofit activist group, is the central organizational machine behind democratic socialism in the U.S., but some candidates may back democratic socialist ideology without being formal members of the organization.

#House

In an exclusive interview with Meet the Press, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) says he's anticipating a "broad caucus" of Democrats in the House if progressive or DSA candidates are elected in the midterms.

#leader

WASHINGTON, Aug 14 (Reuters) - A South Florida site backed out of hosting a rally with Democratic U.S. Representative Rashida Tlaib, a vocal critic ‌of Israel's government, after complaints by a Democratic state lawmaker in the ‌party's latest flashpoint over its stance on Israel.
Tlaib, the first Palestinian American member of Congress, was scheduled to appear on Friday at a rally for three candidates in Florida's upcoming Democratic Party primary.
However, The Venue Fort Lauderdale, which was scheduled to host the event, suddenly canceled it after State Representative Michael Gottlieb, chairman of the Florida Legislative Jewish ‌Caucus, posted a statement on ⁠Thursday calling the planned rally an "anti-Jew" gathering.
Tlaib has condemned antisemitism and says criticism of Israel's occupation of Palestinian territories and its ⁠attacks in Gaza and Lebanon is not antisemitic.
The Venue in a statement cited "increased security concerns" for its decision and said it is Jewish-owned and "our values and commitment to the Jewish community are deeply important to us."

#democratic #rally #scheduled

Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., is being criticized by Florida's lone Jewish Republican in Congress as she works to unseat two fellow House Democrats.
Tlaib is appearing at a rally in Fort Lauderdale Friday held by left-wing groups in support of three congressional candidates, according to a flier posted on Instagram, including two socialists running to unseat Reps. Jared Moskowitz, D-Fla., and Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla.
"I think that it's no coincidence that she's coming to target two of the remaining Jewish Democrats," Rep. Randy Fine, R-Fla., told Fox News Digital.
Jeffries Declines To Back Wasserman Schultz As Black Leaders Revolt Over District Switch
Rep. Rashida Tlaib speaks during the DWC x the Mamas' Caucus hearing "Moms Pay the Price: The Republican Affordability Crisis" at the Rayburn House Office Building on April 28, 2026 in Washington, D.C.

#House

The Senate advanced its solution to avert a government shutdown on Saturday, capping off several months of hand-wringing that, if given the chance, Senate Democrats would use a shutdown to score political points in November.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and his caucus relented, and stayed true to the bargain they struck with Republicans to keep the government funded well past Election Night and into early December.
The about-face, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., told Fox News Digital, appeared to be a political calculation on Schumer and Democrats' part.
Schumer Claims Victory As Senate Moves To Avert Shutdown; Gop Says He Got Played
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, a Democrat from New York, during a news conference following the weekly Senate Democrat policy luncheon at the US Capitol in Washington, DC, US, on Tuesday, March 17, 2026.

#leader #shutdown #chuck #avert

The Protect College Sports Act couldn't beat the clock.
And now uncertainty lingers around the bill's future.
The U.S. Senate adjourned for its annual five-week August recess early in the morning on Saturday without voting on legislation that intends to regulate college athletics, stiff-arming the bill for more crucial matters and kicking any possible vote to September — a move that troubles supporters.
While the legislation may take top priority once the Senate returns on Sept. 14, such a long break places the act in an uncomfortable position, making it susceptible to an increased onslaught of criticism from lawmakers, special interest groups and other entities.
For instance, as the bill inched toward a vote on the Senate floor this week, a wave of detractors emerged to disrupt the path. The Congressional Black Caucus released a statement slamming the bill on Thursday; more than a dozen Republican senators filed objections or amendments to the legislation; several labor unions sent a joint letter in opposition; and the Whip's vote count wasn't as high as originally expected.

#senate #bill #august #saturday

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) sent a "Dear Colleague" letter to Democrats warning that privatizing Social Security or passing the Protecting Retirement Opportunities and Maintaining Income Security for Everyone, or PROMISE Act, would result in a breakdown of trust among Democratic voters during a key midterm election year.
When reached for comment, a spokesperson for Sanders sent the letter, which called on the Democratic caucus to make it "abundantly clear that under no circumstances will we support legislation that cuts Social Security benefits, raises the retirement age, reduces Cost-of-Living Adjustments (COLAs), or privatizes this essential program." It was first reported by Politico.
The PROMISE Act would create a procedure through which the bipartisan Social Security Advisory Board (SSAB) would make recommendations to Congress to achieve a period of Social Security solvency for 50 years.
Sanders criticized the bill because the SSAB is an "unelected commission," and its expedited timeline falls before the midterm elections. He said it would be "absurd, anti-democratic and unacceptable" to decide the fate of Social Security so close to midterm elections.
Sanders alternatively proposed cutting caps on Social Security income taxes, while pointing out that ****** eX CEO Elon Musk pays the same amount to the program as someone earning $184,500 a year.

#midterm #promise #income #sent

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS - JULY 25: WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert speaks to the media during a press conference prior to the 2026 AT&T WNBA All-Star Game between Team Coop and Team Spoon at the United Center on July 25, 2026 in Chicago, Illinois. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Sage Zipeto/Getty Images)
Amid the excitement of the 2026 WNBA All-Star celebrations, WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert announced the launch of a Replay Center beginning with the 2027 season, a move intended to address concerns about officiating and on-court safety raised by players, coaches and fans.
"This is one of the most significant investments we've ever made in our basketball operations," said Engelbert during the All-Star pregame press conference on Saturday. "This investment of tens of millions of dollars will help bring greater consistency, efficiency, and transparency to our officiating process, while continuing to improve the quality of the game."
Engelbert shared few details about the project but said that the WNBA will center operations alongside the NBA Replay Center in Secaucus, N.J., where officials will have access to additional camera angles and replay footage to help them make better-informed decisions.
Los Angeles Sparks forward and WNBPA president Nneka Ogwumike welcomed the move, emphasizing the positive impact it can have on the relationship between players and the league.

#user

FIRST ON FOX: A Republican firebrand is pushing legislation to abolish some of the most influential Democratic groups in Congress.
Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., introduced a resolution Thursday barring the formation of House caucuses organized around race, ethnicity or national origin.
If adopted, the measure would effectively force the dissolution of Democrat-aligned groups, including the Congressional Black Caucus, the Congressional Hispanic Caucus and the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus.
The proposal could also affect GOP-affiliated organizations, including the Black Republican Congressional Staff ***** ociation, the GOP Latino Staff ***** ociation and the Republican Asian American Staff ***** ociation.
Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., departs the U.S. Capitol after a series of House votes on March 5, 2026, in Washington, D.C.

#congressional #caucus #staff #asian

Lauren Gardner's run in Secaucus is over.
The MLB and NHL Network host announced on social media Friday that she and her husband, Patrick, had decided to return to Colorado to be closer to family as they begin a new chapter together.
"Lauren's been a fantastic colleague and friend to us all throughout her eight years here in Secaucus," the networks said, confirming her departure in a joint statement to Awful Announcing. "We thank her for the wonderful contributions she's given across our platforms and projects, and we wish her nothing but the absolute best as she heads back home to Colorado."
Gardner first arrived in Secaucus in March 2019 for DAZN's baseball coverage, which was co-produced by MLB Network out of its own studios in Secaucus. The move capped a long, unconventional climb chronicled the same month by The Athletic's Ryan S. Clark, who profiled Gardner as she prepared to leave behind the Colorado sports scene for what ended up being seven years in New York/New Jersey.
A Denver native, Gardner had spent that stretch working the Avalanche and Nuggets beats for Altitude Sports, but her path there ran through nearly every odd job the local sports world had to offer. She interned at Mile High Sports Magazine at 19, cheered for the Broncos, spent two years as the on-camera face of the Champ Car racing series, and pieced together a living through sideline reporting for the Colorado Eagles and Mammoth while working day jobs in commercial real estate and condo sales just to keep the broadcasting dream alive. Gardner told Clark the decision to leave for the Tri-state area arrived almost like a premonition, recalling a specific drive down Colorado Boulevard, right where the road crests and the mountains come into view, when she suddenly knew, without any real explanation, that she was about to move east.

#secaucus

The House passed its $1.15 trillion annual defense policy bill Wednesday after a bipartisan revolt over a provision expanding U.S.-Israel defense technology cooperation.
The fiscal year 2027 National Defense Authorization Act passed 216-212, with Republicans largely supporting and Democrats mostly opposing the measure.
The annual bill, which sets Pentagon policy and typically draws broad bipartisan support, received only six Democratic votes as much of the caucus objected to Section 219 and Republican-backed amendments restricting transgender care and easing access to personal guns on military bases.
House Democrats Fracture Badly Over Massie Amendment To Cut $3.3B In U.s. Aid To Israel
Opposition came from a coalition of progressive Democrats and Republican skeptics of U.S. support for Israel, who accused congressional leaders of shielding the provision from scrutiny after lawmakers were denied a separate vote to remove it.

#policy #bill

Infighting has erupted within the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) about the selection of its pick for U.S. president, as the group's influence continues to grow on the national stage and speculation swirls about a 2028 presidential run by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y.
The infighting reveals fractures in the roughly 120,000-member group, which has emerged as the preeminent socialist group in America. The division also sheds light on how some Democratic Socialists of America members believe the group can gain a permanent foothold in American politics and deliver on its socialist ideals on a national scale.
Some Democratic Socialists of America leaders have been pushing for an earlier presidential endorsement in place of the group's normal practice of selecting endorsements at its biennial national convention, which is set for summer 2027.
One faction known as the "Groundwork" caucus is pushing strongly for the group to conduct a national member poll and "endorse AOC on day one." The caucus believes an early endorsement will help DSA hold a more influential early role in 2028 presidential politics and "build power for socialism."
Democratic Socialists Of America Leader Says 'Many' In Group Would Be 'Thrilled' At Aoc In 2028

Steven Olikara
There is an industry that profits every time you come to hate your neighbor a little more. Steven Olikara calls it the "division industrial complex" — "a collection of algorithms, polarized media, and hyper-partisan political operatives that make money on making us hate each other all the time." It is a multibillion-dollar machine, he argues, mirroring the military-industrial complex it rhymes with, and it has convinced most of us that the people on the other side want to destroy everything we hold dear. The strangest part, he says, is that it's mostly a lie. "We end up having a lot more in common than we realize. Just our discourse doesn't reflect that."
Olikara's response was to go where the lie is manufactured. He runs Bridge Entertainment Labs, what he describes as the first Hollywood office built to combat toxic polarization and grow a culture of pluralism in America. It advises filmmakers and studios from Disney to Paramount on how to tell stories that make Americans see each other as human again. He came to it the long way: a decade in politics, and before that, a kid at a piano in a segregated city, learning that the people who aren't supposed to share a room can still build something together.
That kid grew up in Milwaukee, one of the most racially and socioeconomically segregated metros in the country, a place where, as he puts it, "not a lot of people looked like me or shared my background." Music was his way across. What he loved most was when his bands would draw and infuse different influences across genres and cultures — the collision that made the art, in his words, "so much more dynamic, exciting, and creative." Jazz in particular taught him how. "You have to listen before you can play," his instructor used to say — a discipline of presence and call-and-response he came to see as a model for how a fractured country might talk to itself. In the right kind of creative, open and dignified **** es, he says, people "can add up to something that's larger than the sum of our parts" — not a least common denominator, but "something totally new and evolutionary together."
Olikara spent that decade chasing the idea into politics, founding Future Caucus, now the largest movement of young elected officials working across partisan lines on issues from gun violence prevention to criminal justice reform. The wins were real. But he kept circling a harder problem. Passing reforms in statehouses was one thing; convincing the friends he grew up with that a better discourse was even possible was another. "That's hard to believe if you're not seeing it in our media, you're not seeing it in the stories we tell," he says. The question that followed reframed his whole mission: for the people with media platforms, "which stories do we choose to tell and which ones do you choose to ignore?" That question launched the Bridge Entertainment Labs chapter. As the country approaches its 250th year, he frames the stakes in one line: "Can we cre

As I watched highlights from the recent opening of the Obama Presidential Center, I couldn't help but remember the night I first heard then-Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) make his pitch to Iowa caucusgoers in 2008.
It was at that moment I understood something truly profound was happening. Obama was charting a new direction in presidential politics. I wanted to be aboard his ship.
Lucky for me, I had two chances to meet Obama before he was elected president. The first was in June 2007, when I spent 45 minutes introducing him to a gathering of 30 prominent Democrats in Orange County. The second was the month before he traveled to Denver to accept the Democratic Party's presidential nomination in 2008. That's when Obama stopped by the Balboa Bay Club for a major fundraiser.
When it was my turn to have my picture taken with him, he warmly greeted me by saying, "I remember you from last year." I was both thrilled and momentarily speechless.
After the photos were taken, I moved away from Obama's right shoulder, but not before turning back and saying to him, "Senator, we're all counting on you."

The World Cup is expensive. The World Cup is snarled roadways. The World Cup is $98 NJ Transit tickets, and bickering with our New York neighbors, and five weeks with our regularly scheduled lives thrown into a blender. Or, at least, that’s how I felt at 6:01 p.m. on Monday when a man from Norway grabbed me in the MetLife Stadium parking lot and unofficially changed my citizenship.
“You are one of US now!” he announced.
We had just watched a few hundred of his — er, our — fellow countrymen sit near the muddy backstretch of the Meadowlands Racetrack to row an imaginary boat in the pouring rain. This is something Norway fans have done on escalators, in Times Square, even on one of our unglamorous commuter trains from Secaucus. As cool as the social media videos look, the vibe is much, much wilder in person.
“RO!” they yelled in unison after the bang of a drum, with the cadence quickening after a few pulls of their invisible oars.
“RO! ...... RO! ...... RO!”

Sen. Brian Schatz, who many believe will take over the No. 2 role in the Democratic caucus next year, has a warning for President Donald Trump: He could be dealing with a very different Washington if Democrats achieve the electoral gains they're hoping for this fall.
"The quality of the nominees would immediately have to go up, because they're not going to get people like Bill Pulte or RFK Jr. or Pete Hegseth through the United States Senate if the Democrats run that," he told CNN's Manu Raju, listing some of the president's more controversial administration picks, who have received no votes of confidence from Democrats.
After two years of Republicans fighting to push Trump's agenda through Congress with their narrow majorities, Democrats hope the president's dwindling approval numbers will help them secure control over both chambers and usher in a new wave of leaders on Capitol Hill.
Though Schatz superstitiously knocks on wood when his potential ascent is mentioned, he is widely viewed as the likely choice to succeed retiring Sen. **** Durbin as Democratic whip next year.
In a wide-ranging interview for "Inside Politics Sunday," the Hawaii Democrat laid out an aggressive, yet pragmatic, approach for taking on Trump if he secures the No. 2 role in a Democratic majority in January.