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'Duffy Lied': Air Traffic Controllers Refute Trump Transportation Secretary's Ground Stop Explanation
"I’ve spoken with 60 air traffic controllers tonight about what Sean Duffy said at the White House today," said one journalist. "None of them are buying what he said."
Nov 14, 2026
Air traffic controllers are rejecting US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy's explanation for Friday's nationwide flight ground stop, raising questions about the Trump administration's account of a communications failure that disrupted air travel across the United States, affecting an estimated 1.5 million travelers.
Washington Examiner homeland security reporter Anna Giaritelli told CNN's Laura Coates during a Friday night interview that she'd spoken with 60 air traffic controllers about the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) ground stop, which was just the third to ever occur.
"None of them are buying what he said," Giaritelli said. "The controllers were saying, 'We don’t buy that this is actually what’s happening, the reason that Sean Duffy is saying this has happened.'"
Duffy lied.
[image or embed]
— Ron Filipkowski (@ronfilipkowski.bsky.social) November 14, 2026 at 3:24 AM
At a White House briefing Friday evening, Duffy blamed the disruption on America's aging air traffic control infrastructure, saying overloaded switches and routers had produced inconsistent radar and communications data.
“Our switches, our routers actually got overloaded with data,” he said. “And because of that, we shut the system down.”
But Giaritelli said the controllers she contacted questioned the plausibility of the administration's account, particularly the timing of the alleged equipment changes.
“These types of switches... that the FAA is doing, they don't happen during the day,” she told Coates. “They don't happen during busy times like a Friday afternoon. They're doing these midweek, middle of the night, when there is no air traffic going on.
Giaritelli's comments came as the Trump administration struggled to explain how a failure in the nation's air traffic control network could have escalated into a shutdown affecting airports nationwide. The FAA lifted the ground stop at approximately 8:15 pm Eastern on Friday, but the disruption continued Saturday.
Duffy offered a new detail on Saturday, saying that a system overload occurred when contractor L3Harris Technologies Inc. was replacing a section of the air traffic control system’s old copper wire with new fiber wire.
“Our contractor didn’t meet the moment or the equipment didn’t meet the moment,” the secretary said, adding that officials were investigating whether the contractor's "incompetence" or a faulty router was to blame.
Duffy emphatically denied that the FAA's recent nationwide rollout of an $875 million artificial intelligence system called Strategic Management of Airspace, Routes, and Trajectories (SMART) had anything to do with Friday's disruption, claiming that the system "is not even plugged in."
The FAA said earlier this week that it "will now use SMART in the airspace of all 22 [air traffic control] centers across the country to reduce delays, reduce fuel consumption, and improve the travel experience for the flying public."
Duffy also used the crisis to renew his demand for $50 billion in congressional funding to overhaul the nation's air traffic control system, arguing that the aging infrastructure would continue to fail without additional investment.
The administration's shifting account has added to calls for an independent investigation. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said Friday that investigators had found no evidence of a cyberattack, although he acknowledged that the possibility had not been entirely ruled out.
Rep. James Walkinshaw (D-Va.) was among those who challenged the administration's explanation, suggesting that Duffy had concealed the role of the Trump administration's own modernization efforts.
Walkinshaw cited a September report from the Government Accountability Office warning that precisely this could happen.
“In essence, the FAA is buying delivery speed at the risk of cost uncertainty and potential disruptions," GAO said. "The net effect could be that air traffic controllers are forced to continue to rely on severely outdated systems that are prone to failure leading to more system outages, ground stops, flight delays, or worse—safety incidents.”
The fiasco prompted critics, including Democratic New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, to call for Duffy's resignation.
"From chronic air traffic controller shortages to repeated communications breakdowns, serious lapses in our aviation system have become a pattern on Sean Duffy’s watch," Hochul wrote on Facebook.
"Through it all, he’s been more focused on starring in his own reality show than addressing the crisis at his agency," she added, referring to the former MTV "Real World: Boston" and "Road Rules: All Stars" participant's "The Great American Road Trip" travel series, which features his family, including his wife, Fox News personality Rachel Campos Duffy.
The ground stop was the longest nationwide aviation shutdown in 25 years, with more than 3,500 aircraft already airborne when the FAA ordered the grounding. More than 4,100 flights were canceled Saturday alone, according to FlightAware.
FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford said Saturday that normal operations were expected to resume by Sunday evening.
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Ecuadorian Fishers Who Survived 'Manifestly Unlawful' US Boat Strikes Sue Trump Admin
“There is no actual armed conflict that could justify the use of military force against the boats," states the lawsuit, which accuses the US of "kidnapping and torture."
Nov 14, 2026
Sixteen Ecuadorian fishers are suing the US government over "catastrophic" harm resulting from a drone strike in the eastern Pacific Ocean earlier this year, and what they say was their subsequent abduction and torture, as part of the Trump administration's boat-bombing spree supposedly targeting drug smugglers.
The Guardian reported Saturday that the lawsuit is set to be filed Monday in the US District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania. The suit concerns a March 17 drone strike on the fishing vessel La Negra Francesca Duarte II, which the fishers said was returning from a two-week expedition when it was bombed approximately 385 nautical miles off Ecuador's coast.
According to the filing, Ecuadorian authorities had inspected the vessel shortly before the attack and concluded it was carrying no drugs and that its crew had no affiliation with drug cartels.
However, two drones bombed the vessel, setting it ablaze and seriously burning two crew members. The fishers jumped into the water and escaped aboard smaller emergency boats before being intercepted by US military personnel, who allegedly restrained them with zip ties and covered their heads with plastic hoods.
The survivors say they were subsequently taken to a detention center in El Salvador, where they were held for several weeks before being returned to Ecuador. Their lawsuit seeks unspecified financial compensation for what it describes as a "manifestly unlawful" attack and the subsequent "kidnapping and torture."
Other survivors of US boat strikes have also said they were abducted and tortured by American forces.
“There is no actual armed conflict that could justify the use of military force against the boats, nor was there one on March 17 when the attack took place," the lawsuit states. "The US’ campaign of bombings against defenseless vessels and individuals violates long-standing and well-accepted international law.”
Dan Kovalik, the attorney filing the lawsuit, told The Guardian that the men "go out fishing, they don’t come home for a month, they’re... in a migrant detention center in El Salvador, and as we know those centers are not so nice."
"So there’s a lot of trauma there," he continued. "It was catastrophic for them. They are home now, but they are struggling financially, and the two guys who were hurt bad are still dealing with that.”
“They would also like the US to stop these boat strikes," Kovalik added. "That’s another goal of all this, and I think the US public and the media have been, honestly, not outraged enough about these strikes.”
The suit is the latest legal challenge to President Donald Trump's Operation Southern Spear, which the administration launched in September 2025, ostensibly to combat drug trafficking. But US officials have provided scant evidence to support claims that targeted vessels were engaged in narcotrafficking.
The Washington Office on Latin America, a human rights NGO, estimates that as many as 250 people have been killed in the campaign.
In January, relatives of two Trinidadian fishers killed by a US boat strike last year filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the Trump administration in a Massachusetts court. The men were among six people killed in an October 14, 2025 missile strike while traveling from Venezuela to Trinidad. Their families, represented by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR), are seeking damages under the Death on the High Seas Act and the Alien Tort Statute.
The ACLU, CCR, and New York Civil Liberties Union also filed a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit last December demanding the release of a secret Justice Department Office of Legal Counsel opinion purportedly providing the legal framework for the strikes.
Relatives of a Colombian man killed during Operation Southern Spear also lodged a complaint with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights last December, accusing US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth—who earlier this week survived an attempt to impeach him, in part over the boat strikes—of ordering murder.
Meanwhile, The Washington Post reported in August that strikes on Ecuadorian fishing boats near the Galápagos Islands earlier this year were carried out by the Central Intelligence Agency.
Eight crew members of one vessel, the Fiorella, also disappeared after an apparent attack in January and remain missing.
The Former Judge Advocates General Working Group, which includes former officials who served as legal advisers for the US military, said last year that Hegseth's alleged order to "kill everybody" in one September 2025 boat strike—which resulted in a follow-up attack on two survivors—suggested that the defense secretary committed "war crimes, murder, or both."
Kovalik said he looks forward to the incoming Democrat-controlled Congress holding Trump administration officials accountable for the strikes.
“Some of the Democrats that we met with are very interested in doing hearings on these boat strikes,” he said. “We hope this case will encourage the Democrats when they get sworn in in January to start some hearings. I think it will have that impact.”
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'Miracle on the Mississippi': All Accounted for After Tanker Hits New Orleans Riverboat With 120+ Aboard
New Orleans Mayor Helena Moreno credited first responders, who she said "literally jumped right in to help," with saving victims' lives.
Nov 13, 2026
A large asphalt tanker struck a river cruise boat in New Orleans on Friday afternoon, causing the paddleboat carrying more than 120 passengers and crew to capsize and partially submerge in the Mississippi River.
Thirty-two people were injured and taken to local hospitals after the 520-foot asphalt and bitumen tanker Atlantic Asphalt lost control and perpendicularly struck the American Heritage, a docked paddlewheel riverboat operated by American Cruise Lines, at approximately 12:30 pm local time, according to Nola.com.
The cruise vessel was in the process of disembarking passengers when it was hit. Video posted on social media showed passengers swimming away from the listing boat.
One witness, Jamie Holford, told WDSU that the American Heritage took approximately 15 minutes to overturn after the initial impact.
Holford described the scene as "surreal."
New Orleans Mayor Helena Moreno, a Democrat, said the tanker had apparently lost control before striking the riverboat, sending passengers and crew members into the Mississippi River.
"At this moment, the information that we have, we have zero people unaccounted for, which truly is a miracle on the Mississippi," Moreno said at a news conference. She credited local, state, and federal emergency personnel who "literally jumped right in to help."
The injuries suffered by the 32 passengers were described by officials as noncritical. Two New Orleans Harbor Police officers were also hospitalized after helping with rescue efforts.
The US Coast Guard temporarily closed a three-mile stretch of the Mississippi River to commercial and recreational vessel traffic while emergency crews conducted rescue operations and assessed the damage.
The National Transportation Safety Board said it would dispatch an investigative team to New Orleans on Saturday to determine the circumstances surrounding the crash.
The incident raised questions about maritime safety along one of the nation's busiest commercial waterways.
Maritime law expert Martin Davies of Tulane University told WVUE that the tanker could have caused an even greater catastrophe had it struck the nearby Crescent City Connection bridge, which carries an estimated 160,000 vehicles daily.
In March 2024, the Maersk-chartered Dali, a Singapore-flagged container ship with a history of problems, lost power and steering before crashing into a support pier of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, triggering a catastrophic collapse. Six highway maintenance workers were killed and a seventh was seriously injured.
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Mexican Officials Fear Stephen Miller Will Push Trump to 'Authorize Direct US Military Action' in Their Country
Miller is reportedly demanding that Mexico drive the number of daily unauthorized border crossings to zero, which they have told him is impossible.
Nov 13, 2026
Officials in Mexico are reportedly worried that new White House Chief of Staff Stephen Miller will goad President Donald Trump into launching a military invasion of their country.
Politico reported Thursday that concerns about Miller—a fanatical anti-immigration zealot with a long documented history of promoting white nationalist literature and conspiracy theories—are being expressed by "government officials, business leaders, and other power players" throughout Mexico.
Specifically, these officials fear that Miller will "push Trump to authorize direct US military action on Mexican soil" if it doesn't do even more to crack down on migration at the US southern border.
John Feeley, a former senior US diplomat who has been in contact with several Mexican officials, told Politico that "no one is pleased, to say the least" about Miller's promotion.
A Friday report in The New York Times revealed that Miller has been haranguing Mexican officials for weeks to get unauthorized crossings into the US down to zero per day, which they have told him would be impossible given that the US-Mexico border is roughly 2,000 miles long.
In a Thursday social media post, Trump threatened Mexico over a purported migrant caravan that he claimed was heading toward the US border.
"Many of the people in these Caravans are those that various countries don’t want—'Send them to America,' they say," Trump wrote, without citing any evidence to back up his claims. "But they will not be accepted! MEXICO MUST STOP THEM, NOW, and if they do not do so, the Tariffs on Mexico will be IMMEDIATELY DOUBLED."
A Tuesday op-ed written by columnist Leo Zuckermann published in Mexican media outlet Excelsior declared Miller a "danger" and the polar opposite of predecessor Susie Wiles, whom he described as "a skilled, disciplined, and pragmatic political operative."
Zuckermann also cited reporting from New York Times journalists Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan that Miller in the past has demanded military attacks on Mexican soil against suspected drug cartels.
"Let's be clear," Zuckermann emphasized. "The new chief of staff is a racist who does not look favorably upon our country... At any moment, he could revive plans to attack Mexico and convince Trump of their necessity."
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Israel's Spy Chief Reportedly in DC to Cajole Trump Back Into Iran War
The Mossad director's trip comes amid efforts by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to persuade the US president to abandon diplomacy and resume military strikes on Iran.
Nov 13, 2026
The head of Israel's foreign intelligence agency was in Washington, DC on Friday, reportedly trying to persuade the Trump administration to renew the illegal US-Israeli war of choice against Iran.
Mossad Director Roman Gofman was scheduled to meet with CIA Director John Ratcliffe in the nation's capital before traveling to Miami for talks with White House Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, according to reporting from Axios' Barak Ravid.
Other sources, including The Jerusalem Post, confirmed that Gofman was in Washington to discuss the Iran War.
Gofman's trip comes amid an increasingly public campaign by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to persuade US President Donald Trump to abandon diplomacy and return to military strikes on Iran.
According to Axios, Trump has so far resisted Netanyahu's demands, instead favoring continued economic pressure and a naval blockade while leaving open the possibility of a negotiated agreement.
"I could end it immediately," Trump said Thursday of the 258-day war—a claim he has made dozens of times in one form or another. "At the request of the nations that I'm looking to protect, we are doing it a little bit longer... a little bit more civilly."
The president claimed that leaders of countries including Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, and Bahrain said they preferred that the US maintain the current approach rather than resume fighting.
Netanyahu had reportedly been lobbying Trump to resume strikes immediately after the US midterm elections, in which the Iran War played a major role in Republicans' losing control of Congress, according to exit polls.
Israel's domestic political turmoil may also be playing a part in Netanyahu's machinations. His Likud-led far-right bloc lost its parliamentary majority in last month's election, and opposition leader Gadi Eisenkot has a mandate to try to form a new government.
Some Israeli opposition figures fear Netanyahu could initiate another attack on Iran—or provoke an Iranian response—in an effort to sabotage Eisenkot's efforts and cling to power. Eisenkot, who met with Netanyahu for two hours Thursday, said Friday that he had warned the outgoing prime minister against taking advantage of the political transition to pursue military objectives.
Trump's own rhetoric has become increasingly bellicose. On Thursday, he said that he had "no hesitation" about using military force against Iran and that renewed strikes were possible "right now" if he decided to give the order.
In a separate Truth Social post, he declared: "We don't need a deal with Iran. Those days have long since passed."
Thousands of Iranians—including more than 3,500 civilians, at least 380 of them children—have been killed and tens of thousands more wounded by US and Israeli attacks since February 28, according to Iranian and international officials. More than 20 US troops and dozens of people in Gulf Arab states have been killed in Iranian counterattacks.
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Working Families Party Joins Call for Schumer to Step Aside in Senate Leader Race
"Voters demanded change, and many of them made clear to us that they meant change in Democratic leadership too."
Nov 13, 2026
Echoing a call from a key machinists' union earlier this week, the Working Families Party on Friday became the latest organization to acknowledge Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer's years of leadership—as it urged the New York Democrat to allow the party to begin a new chapter with fresh leadership.
The group's leaders wrote to Schumer on behalf of its hundreds of thousands of members "and the working-class people we organize" to thank him for helping to pass crucial relief packages during the coronavirus pandemic and the Inflation Reduction Act.
But the leaders emphasized that regardless of previous Democratic successes, the voters who turned out in last week's historic elections and handed the party control of the US Senate and House, flipping numerous seats from red to blue, were not giving their "endorsement of business as usual for either major party."
"Our coalition knocked on hundreds of thousands of doors this election year, and heard from voters who are fed up with a political system that has failed to deliver change at the scale they need," reads the letter. "Voters demanded change, and many of them made clear to us that they meant change in Democratic leadership too."
The letter came as some Democrats in the Senate, including Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse (RI) and Mark Kelly (Ariz.), credited Schumer with securing the party's new majority in the elections. Sens. Ruben Gallego (Ariz.), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), and Angus King (I-Maine) all reached for a baseball metaphor to explain why they were supporting Schumer, comparing the election to the World Series.
Democrats who won those races have expressed doubt that their supporters were hoping to secure a majority led by Schumer, a staunch supporter of Israel and opponent of the broadly popular Medicare for All proposal who has held public office for over four decades.
Sen.-elect Adam Hamilton (Kansas) has called Schumer a "divisive figure" in his home state, while Sen.-elect Scott Colom (Miss.) on Friday rejected the idea that the Senate minority leader had "recruited" him.
"It’s fair to assume not a single American cast their 2026 vote believing it was an enthusiastic affirmation of Chuck Schumer," said David Sirota of The Lever. "There were lots of Americans who believed they were voting for change—including a change in the Democratic Party. Democrats ignore this at their peril."
"Working-class voters are demanding a government that will fight for them with urgency and conviction," said WFP. "With deep respect for your service, we urge you not to seek another term as Senate Democratic leader. It's time for a new generation of leadership in the Senate to carry forward the agenda the voters demanded last week: taxing the rich to fund the needs of working families, guaranteeing healthcare and childcare, lowering the cost of housing, ending the corrosive influence of money in politics, and making our democracy work for the many, not the few."
The group later said it was endorsing Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), who announced late Thursday that he was challenging Schumer for the role, and called on Democrats in the Senate to back him.
WFP noted that Van Hollen is a co-sponsor of the Medicare for All Act "and has said Democrats must stop tinkering around the edges of a broken system," showed leadership in the fight against President Donald Trump's mass deportation agenda when he went to El Salvador to demand the return of his constituent, Kilmar Ábrego Garcia, and has long called for the US to condition aid and block weapons sales to Israel.
“The voters who just elected a new Senate majority are asking for a new generation of leadership that will deliver on housing, healthcare, and childcare. We believe Senator Van Hollen is the right choice for this moment to lead that fight, and we are proud to stand with him," said Jasmine Gripper, state director of the New York Working Families Party.
According to a tally by Drop Site News, 16 senators have expressed support for Schumer and eight have backed Van Hollen or are leaning towards supporting him, based on their previous comments on the minority leader. Twenty-two senators have indicated they are undecided, and nine have not said what their position is on the race.
Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.) has called for new leadership, and said Friday that she will not be supporting Schumer, but did not say specifically that she plans to vote for Van Hollen.
Paul Blest of More Perfect Union posited that support from Slotkin, who has presented herself as a "moderate" Democrat, would be key for Van Hollen.
"If it becomes a progressive vs. moderate thing, Schumer wins that every time because there are more moderates in the Senate," said Blest. "It would need to be about retiring an unpopular leader to signal it’s a different party."
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Next Democratic President Must Say ‘No More Foreign Wars—None!’ Declares Ro Khanna at Summit in Denver
Khanna, who has floated a 2028 presidential run, said Democrats' midterm performance showed "being uncompromised" is the way "to reach disaffected independent and MAGA voters who want change."
Nov 13, 2026
US Rep. Ro Khanna, a leading progressive contender for 2028, was met with cheers at a Democratic strategy conference in Denver on Friday as he called on the next Democratic president to categorically reject foreign wars.
"When the foreign policy blob comes, and they say, 'Mr. President, we need an aerial bombing campaign on a rogue regime,' a president must say, 'Not on my watch,'" Khanna said. "And when they come back, and they say, 'It will only be a few days, it will only be a few places, it will only be a few planes,' the next American president must stand firm and say, 'No more foreign wars! None!'"
Khanna (D-Calif.) was one of several Democratic politicians who headlined the "What's Next" conference, put on by the group Majority Democrats in the wake of the party's blowout midterm victory earlier this month.
According to exit polls, opposition to President Donald Trump’s war with Iran and the resulting economic fallout were major factors that fueled unprecedented gains for Democrats in territory that has been represented by the GOP for decades.
That includes the victories of Sens.-elect Abdul El-Sayed (D-Mich.) and Troy Jackson (D-Maine), who won competitive elections while aggressively criticizing the US foreign policy establishment and advocating for a progressive domestic agenda.
Khanna told the crowd that the election results showed "being uncompromised" is the way "to reach disaffected independent and MAGA voters who want change."
"This means standing up to private insurance and drug companies and delivering Medicare for All. No half measures!" he shouted. "It means saying no to the defense contractors and cutting a $1 trillion, bloated Pentagon budget. It means a wealth tax on the billionaires who are the economic royalists of our time... It demands rejecting AIPAC [the American Israel Public Affairs Committee], calling out the genocide that Americans saw with their own eyes, and saying zero aid to Israel!"
Khanna told MS NOW on Friday that Democrats' historic wins “made it more likely than not” that he'd launch a presidential bid, joining a field of possible contenders that includes other similarly minded progressives, such as Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY).
“We elected so many unique candidates: a Muslim senator in Michigan, a young preacher in Texas, an African American district attorney in Mississippi,” he said, referring to El-Sayed and Sens.-elect James Talarico (D-Texas) and Scott Colom (D-Miss.).
“It shows that this country is open to diversity," Khanna added. "It shows that they’re open to people who are not part of the establishment, unique outside voices, and that someone can surprise."
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Air Traffic Control Outage Blamed as FAA Orders Nationwide Ground Stop, Citing 'Extraordinary Circumstances'
"All departing traffic should remain ground stopped until further notice," said the Federal Aviation Administration.
Nov 13, 2026
This is a developing story. Please check back for possible updates.
All US flights were ordered not to take off Friday afternoon as the Federal Aviation Administration ordered a "national ground stop."
"Due to extraordinary circumstances and for reasons of safety," said an alert from the FAA, "by order of the Federal Aviation Administration all airports are ground stopped. All departing traffic should remain ground stopped until further notice."
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said the ground stop was due to "a communication issue impacting all Air Route Traffic Control Centers.”
A major outage appeared to be affecting the FAA's air traffic control system, The New York Times reported.
“FAA technicians are investigating the issue,” Duffy said. “We will provide immediate updates as we have them."
The FAA issued an unprecedented nationwide ground stop order and closed the nation's airspace after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. An outage in the FAA's system that alerts pilots of safety issues had an outage on January 11, 2023, which also required a ground stop.
According to the flight tracking app Flighty, there were more than 30,000 departures and arrivals scheduled for the remainder of the day when the ground stop was ordered.
The Times reported that the FAA has recently incorporated an artificial intelligence model into its system, but it was not clear late Friday whether that contributed to the outage. The tool, Strategic Management of Airspace, Routes, and Trajectories (SMART), was made by an AI company called Air Space Intelligence, which won an $875 million contract to develop the program. The tool is aimed at avoiding flight delays.
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Van Hollen Cheered, Jeffries Jeered at Denver Event Asking ‘What’s Next’ for Democratic Party
"We have an opportunity to restore faith in our democracy—not by preaching about its virtues, but delivering," said US Sen. Chris Van Hollen.
Nov 13, 2026
Sen. Chris Van Hollen got an enthusiastic reception on Friday at the “What’s Next” summit hosted by the group Majority Democrats in Denver, when the Maryland Democrat brought up his bid to challenge Sen. Chuck Schumer as leader of the caucus.
Van Hollen, who just hours earlier announced his intention to run for Senate majority leader in the next US Congress, was greeted with big applause as he took to the stage at the convention, with some in the audience shouting, "Leader!"
Chris Van Hollen gets thunderous applause and "leader" shouts at What's Next. https://t.co/T7g4DE48tm
— CENTRIFUGE (@ClippingMods) November 13, 2026
During his address, Van Hollen said that his goal as leader would be to restore American voters' faith in democracy, as polls for years have shown steep declines in trust across US institutions.
"For many Americans, our institutions sound like the thing that is standing in the way of getting that better life," Van Hollen said, according to Semafor reporter Dave Weigel. "We have an opportunity to restore faith in our democracy—not by preaching about its virtues, but delivering."
The Maryland Democrat then echoed remarks made over the last week by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), as well as Sens.-elect Abdul El-Sayed (D-Mich.) and James Talarico (D-Texas), about passing popular legislation and daring President Donald Trump to block it.
"What if we actually had votes on the Senate floor about things the American people really cared about?" Van Hollen asked. "If Trump wants to veto it and... show that he stands with his billionaire buddies, let him do that."
While Van Hollen was well received at the conference, Democratic Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), who aims to become the House speaker, was repeatedly heckled and booed during his discussion with Democratic strategist Jessica Tarlov.
One demonstrator, who was escorted out of the auditorium, yelled that Jeffries was a "traitor" for "shaking hands with the Trump family," presumably a reference to the New York Democrat's meeting with Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, earlier this year.
yikes -- Jeffries's talk in Denver is being disrupted by a string of protesters, one of whom screams obscenities at him https://t.co/zyiYkgdSIj
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) November 13, 2026
Progressive organizers over the last week have been calling for Jeffries to step aside as leader, although no other House Democrat has officially announced their candidacy for the speakership.
A Change.org petition posted earlier this week to draft Rep. Ayana Pressley (D-Mass.) for the speakership has gained nearly 99,000 signatures as of this writing.
The New York Times reported on Friday that Jeffries is "pressing to wrap up his nomination to be speaker next week quickly and overwhelmingly, leaving potential detractors little room to maneuver around him even as some of them complain about an undemocratic process."
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The Intercept Sues Pentagon Demanding 'True' Casualty Figures From Trump's Iran War
"The Pentagon has been playing games with US casualty stats for months," said investigative journalist Nick Turse. "Someone is dead. Then they're not. 15 people are wounded. Then they disappear."
Nov 13, 2026
The Intercept, an investigative news outlet, is suing the US Department of Defense in an effort to compel it to disclose the “true” number of casualties from the Iran War.
Since President Donald Trump launched the war in February, investigative journalist Nick Turse has reported extensively on what one US defense official quoted in his reports has described as a “casualty cover-up.” He has documented several deaths and hundreds of injuries not included in official tallies and tracked unexplained changes that obscure the full toll of the conflict.
"The Pentagon has been playing games with US casualty stats for months," Turse explained in July. "Someone is dead. Then they're not. 15 people are wounded. Then they disappear."
The lawsuit follows the Pentagon’s failure to substantively respond to five requests by The Intercept under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) for records documenting US casualties, briefings provided to Defense Department personnel including Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, internal communications, directives governing how casualties were counted, and the war’s financial costs.
The Pentagon acknowledged receiving the requests but missed the legal deadline to fulfill them.
In a complaint filed Friday in federal court in the Southern District of New York, The Intercept accused the Pentagon of violating its duties “to conduct a reasonable search for responsive records” and “to take reasonable steps to release all nonexempt information.”
“For months, The Intercept has been working to determine the true number of US military personnel who have been killed or injured in the Iran War. And for months, the Department of Defense has failed to give a clear answer,” said Ben Muessig, the outlet’s editor-in-chief. “The public deserves clarity and transparency from its government.”
The Intercept's lawsuit comes amid what Turse has described as "the most aggressive assault on press freedom in memory," under Hegseth, who has tried to outlaw journalists from seeking information not officially "authorized" for release—an effort blocked by a federal judge in March—and sought sweeping authority to withhold unclassified records requested under FOIA.
In August, a US Central Command (CENTCOM) public affairs official threatened to put Turse on a “list of people to disregard” after he repeatedly sought answers about Iranian attacks, conflicting casualty figures, and medical evacuations. CENTCOM subsequently denied maintaining a blacklist.
The Intercept is being represented by the nonprofit legal group Democracy Forward, which is also representing the outlet in a similar lawsuit filed in June seeking to compel the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to release documents related to a secretive database of activists who have protested and recorded Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents.
“The American people deserve the truth from their government, especially about the true human cost of the military conflict with Iran,” said Skye Perryman, president and CEO of Democracy Forward. “We are honored to work with The Intercept once again to hold our government accountable, and to fight for a democracy where a free press can report on important issues without interference or being unlawfully prevented from accessing public information.”
As of its latest update on November 9, the Pentagon’s Defense Casualty Analysis System shows that 23 US service members have died and 867 have been wounded in action since the attacks against Iran began on February 28.
But The Intercept says the tallies still contain discrepancies that “have yet to be corrected or explained” and, in October, launched a letter-writing campaign calling for Congress to investigate them.
"More than 200 sailors treated for lacerations or smoke inhalation have never been listed in official statistics. In April, the official number of wounded-in-action troops declined by 15 without explanation. An Army death listed in late May was removed from the record in early June. Ten wounded troops added to the official record in July disappeared a few days later," read the more than 68,000 letters sent to members of Congress.
The Intercept has also asked for answers about why the Pentagon waited more than six months to include Maj. Sorffly Davius, a signals and communications officer with the New York Army National Guard, who died on March 6 while on duty at Camp Buehring, Kuwait, in its official death tally. The Intercept wrote 10 articles about Davius’ death before the Pentagon added it to the count.
"Despite repeated questions for months, the Pentagon has not explained these and other disparities," the letters said. "It’s time for Congress to demand answers about the Pentagon’s long-delayed classification of the death of Maj. Davius and find out the truth about hundreds of other casualties missing from the official record."
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New York City Fights 'Predatory Corporate Tactics' With Ban on Surveillance Pricing
“New Yorkers’ personal data should never be used as a weapon against their own pocketbooks,” said Mayor Zohran Mamdani.
Nov 13, 2026
The New York City Council on Thursday approved landmark legislation banning businesses from using consumers’ personal data and algorithms to charge different people different prices for the same goods and services, an increasingly common—and controversial—corporate practice known as surveillance pricing.
In a 44-5 vote, city lawmakers passed Introduction 891-A, sponsored by Council Speaker Julie Menin, which prohibits businesses from using personal data—including browsing histories, shopping habits, demographics, location information, and other identifying characteristics—to determine individualized prices for consumers.
The legislation gives the city's Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (DCWP) authority to investigate complaints and impose civil penalties of up to $1,000 for each violation. Qualifying small businesses would have an opportunity to correct their violations before facing penalties.
“The City Council is putting consumers first by ending the deceptive and insidious practice of surveillance pricing,” said Menin, a Democrat. “When corporations use algorithms and personal data to charge different people different prices for the same products, it’s unethical and worsens our affordability crisis."
"We take consumer protection extremely seriously, and we will continue fighting to lower prices and stop predatory corporate tactics," she added.
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamadani, also a Democrat, supports the measure, and called surveillance pricing a way for corporations to "squeeze working people."
“New Yorkers’ personal data should never be used as a weapon against their own pocketbooks,” he said. “Our administration will continue working with the Council to protect workers, tenants, and consumers, and put an end to the scam economy.”
Mamdani has 30 days to sign the bill. If he does not, it automatically becomes law unless he vetoes it, a highly unlikely move that city council members could override with a two-thirds majority.
As the City Council explained:
Surveillance pricing is invisible to consumers, making it difficult to identify, but reports suggest the practice is occurring in a variety of industries. One investigation found that a major grocery delivery platform was engaging in algorithmic pricing experiments that resulted in individualized price differences as high as 23%. Another investigation found that the price of a television at one retailer increased from $499.99 to $599.99 when the consumer pulled into the store’s parking lot. A behavioral economist who worked for a major ride-share company revealed that the application increases prices when a consumer’s phone battery is low because they might not otherwise be able to get home if they do not accept the high offer. The Council aims to end these predatory practices and protect New York consumers with this landmark ban.
"Fair pricing visible for all to see. Today, New York City has upheld this basic principle, passing the country’s strongest municipal protections against surveillance pricing," DCWP Commissioner Samuel A. A. Levine said in a statement.
"At a moment when working families are struggling with the cost of living," he continued, "New Yorkers should not have to contend with an ever more fickle economy, in which the price of groceries, household goods, and everyday essentials depends on how much an algorithm thinks it can squeeze from their wallets."
"Surveillance pricing weaponizes our personal data against us—tracking our behavior, characteristics, location, schedules, and purchasing history to predict the most we are willing to pay, then charging accordingly," Levine said. "It’s wrong, it’s loathed by consumers, and now it’s illegal."
"In New York City, algorithms do not have the final say," he added. "People do."
New York City follows Seattle—which in September became the first US city to ban surveillance pricing—as well the states of Connecticut, Maryland, and New Jersey in outlawing the practice.
When I sponsored legislation making Seattle the first city in the country to ban surveillance pricing, I knew we wouldn’t be the last. Now, we’re taking on unfair pricing coast to coast. Congrats, New York.Portland City Council, your move.
— AMR - Alexis Mercedes Rinck (@alexis4seattle.bsky.social) November 12, 2026 at 9:23 PM
Consumer advocates hailed Thursday's vote, with Consumer Reports senior policy analyst Grace Gedye saying that “living in New York is already expensive enough. The last thing New Yorkers need is algorithms quietly hiking prices on everyday essentials."
"Nobody should pay more just because a data broker is tracking what they search for, what they hover over, or where they live,” she added. “The price you see shouldn’t be different based on who you are."
Lindsay Owens, the president and CEO of the economic justice group Groundwork Collaborative, asserted that “New Yorkers didn’t sign up to be spied on and have their own data turned against them just to pad corporations’ pockets."
"Today, the New York City Council has drawn a clear line in the sand that New Yorkers deserve a fair price, not one set by an algorithm designed to extract every last penny they’re willing to pay," she continued.
"But while the Council has moved to protect shoppers in the city, families across the Empire State, from Westchester to Buffalo to Albany, are still waiting on Governor [Kathy] Hochul to do the same," Owens added. "All New Yorkers deserve a fair price, no matter their ZIP code. Gov. Hochul can’t wait another day to sign the One Fair Price Act.”
“Living in New York is already expensive enough. The last thing New Yorkers need is algorithms quietly hiking prices on everyday essentials."
New York state lawmakers passed that bill in June. Championed by Democratic New York Attorney General Letitia James, the legislation would prohibit companies from using consumers' personal data—including browsing histories, income, and other identifying information—to set individualized prices for goods and services. It also prohibits collecting, retaining, selling, or sharing personal data to facilitate surveillance pricing.
Not everyone welcomed New York City's surveillance pricing ban. Uber spokesperson Josh Gold argued that "this law will make it harder for small restaurants with limited marketing budgets to reach customers, putting them at a disadvantage against national chains."
The surveillance pricing victory comes amid a broader campaign to restrict corporate snooping on New Yorkers, including the increasingly widespread use of facial recognition and other biometric identification technologies in retail businesses.
A separate City Council measure sponsored by Brooklyn Councilmember Shahana Hanif, a Democrat, would prohibit businesses and other public accommodations from using biometric recognition technology to identify or verify customers. It would also require notification and written consent for biometric data collection and establish protections governing the handling of that information.
The legislation would restrict Madison Square Garden’s controversial use of facial recognition technology. MSG owner James Dolan has notoriously used facial recognition to blacklist people he dislikes, including hundreds of attorneys whose law firms have sued his companies; in one particularly publicized case, a mother was denied entry to Radio City Music Hall while accompanying her daughter’s Girl Scout troop because she worked for a firm litigating against MSG.
Hanif has warned that biometric surveillance poses particular dangers to immigrant communities, whose identifying information could potentially reach federal immigration authorities amid the Trump administration's deadly crackdown.
"This bill protects everybody," Hanif said when introducing her bill, "but we know who experiences disproportionate surveillance, and our immigrant community is among them."
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