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For Immediate Release
August, 29 2018, 12:00am EDT
Contact:
Tim Kauffman, 202-639-6405, tim.kauffman@afge.org
AFGE Statement on OPM EO Guidance
WASHINGTON
American Federation of Government Employees National President J. David Cox Sr. today issued the following statement:
"As a direct result of the American Federation of Government Employees' lawsuit against three union-busting, democracy-busting executive orders, and the resulting injunction we won in court, the Office of Personnel Management has issued the following guidance: https://chcoc.gov/content/updated-guidance-relating-enjoinment-certain-provisions-executive-orders-13836-13837-and.
"AFGE is proud to have led the way in this legal victory for federal employees and the unions that represent them. We are continually resolved in our conviction to protect and preserve critical government services and functions for all Americans. We will not let up this fight until all federal employees are given the workplace protections and conditions they deserve."
The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) is the largest federal employee union proudly representing 700,000 federal and D.C. government workers nationwide and overseas. Workers in virtually all functions of government at every federal agency depend upon AFGE for legal representation, legislative advocacy, technical expertise and informational services.
(202) 737-8700LATEST NEWS
Platner Campaign Says Fundraising Up, Polling Lead Over Collins Holding, Despite Latest Smear Effort
"This campaign has always been about the ideas that will move Maine forward and past a broken politics of the past—just what the electorate and this moment demands," said Platner.
Jun 03, 2026
Releasing new polling and fundraising data that has been gathered in recent days, Democratic US Senate candidate Graham Platner emphasized Wednesday that despite the latest wave of attacks by party consultants and the media, voters across Maine appear focused on "the cost of living and whether it still trusts" Republican Senator Susan Collins.
"This is a race against an incumbent losing her grip on the voters who put her there," said Platner. "Across the board—the poll numbers, the fundraising, the conversations with voters—all signs point in our favor."
On Tuesday and Wednesday, Public Policy Polling conducted a survey of 670 voters, and found that the presumptive Democratic candidate had the support of 49% of respondents, compared with 45% who backed Collins.
Six percent of voters said they were undecided, and those respondents largely voted for former Vice President Kamala Harris by a 23-point margin in 2024. They gave President Donald Trump a net -26 favorability rating, suggesting they're more likely to ultimately vote for Platner than the five-term Republican who cast decisive votes to help the president secure a right-wing US Supreme Court and has recently backed his invasion of Iran.
"Susan Collins is spineless and corrupt," said Platner on social media as his campaign released the internal polling results. "And in 153 days, we will defeat her."
The Maine Senate primary is being held on June 9. Platner's closest competitor, Gov. Janet Mills, suspended her campaign at the end of April after trailing him in polls and fundraising for months, making him the presumptive Democratic nominee.
The pollster surveyed Mainers after telling them about a former Platner campaign staffer's revelation over the weekend that the candidate's wife had told her about "sexually charged text messages" he sent to other women early in their marriage, an issue the couple says they worked through in counseling. The group also told voters that “critics say that Susan Collins used her position as US senator to help steer over $50 million in government contracts to her husband’s company."
When the voters were given the information, the four-point differential stayed the same, with Platner leading 48%-44%.
Platner said that over the past week, since the news broke about the couple's earlier marital struggles, the campaign has also "seen some of the strongest fundraising of the entire campaign."
Over four days following last Saturday, when the story set off a media firestorm, the campaign's fundraising was 17% higher than the previous four-day period.
It also saw an 18% increase in small-dollar donations overall, and a 27% increase in small-dollar donations that came from Mainers.
The campaign noted that media coverage on the ground in Maine this week tells a similar story to the one conveyed by the poll and the fundraising numbers.
On Tuesday, CBS News interviewed several voters who said the news about Platner's marriage and earlier controversies—none of which made a dent in polling for the candidate—would not change their voting plans.
Maine voters tells CBS News that Graham Platner’s sexting controversy won’t change their votes#MaineSenate pic.twitter.com/CNlNE6hp0J
— Politics & Poll Tracker 📡 (@PollTracker2024) June 2, 2026
A Maine resident named Anne Morrissey also told The Washington Post on Tuesday that she viewed the news of Platner's previous marital struggles as a "nothingburger."
"It's 2026," she said. "There are so many real problems."
Another voter, Tara Grady-Taylor, said the texting controversy “doesn’t change the amount of good he could do if he does the things he promises."
The Platner campaign described the message it is getting from Mainers as "steadfast."
"They care that you’re fighting for their hospitals, their wages, their housing, and their kids," said Platner. "This campaign has always been about the ideas that will move Maine forward and past a broken politics of the past—just what the electorate and this moment demands."
Key Platner supporters in Congress have also called for the media to remain focused on the issues facing working families across the country, such as the rising cost of living, healthcare, and massive economic inequality—all of which Platner has made central focuses of his campaign.
When asked by The Associated Press on Monday whether he still supports Platner, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) replied, "Of course. Why would I not?"
“People can’t afford healthcare. Can’t afford groceries. Can’t afford to put gas in their cars," said Sanders. "And I think it might be a good idea if we focused on the important issues facing the working families of Maine and this country."
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Citing Shady Stock Trades, Warren Asks Bessent If SEC Should 'Be Knocking on President Trump's Door'
"Instead of draining the swamp, what Donald Trump is doing is he is enriching himself by taking advantage of his position," said Sen. Elizabeth Warren. "That is not public service."
Jun 03, 2026
US Sen. Elizabeth Warren on Wednesday pressed Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on the suspiciously timed trading activity of President Donald Trump, pointing specifically to a large purchase of Nvidia stock just days before his administration approved a sale of the tech giant's chips to China.
During a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing, Warren (D-Mass.) asked Bessent—who has criticized lawmakers for trading stocks—whether he would be willing to hold his boss to the same standard. Last year, Bessent said that if any private citizen traded like members of Congress, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) "would be knocking on their door."
"Should the SEC be knocking on President Trump's door?" Warren asked Bessent, who responded that the Massachusetts Democrat and her congressional colleagues should "lead by example."
"I would like to see the president of the United States lead by example," replied Warren, who supports a ban on congressional stock trading and does not own or trade stocks in individual companies. "Instead of draining the swamp, what Donald Trump is doing is he is enriching himself by taking advantage of his position. That is not public service. He's the one who should lead by example."
Watch the exchange:
Financial disclosures released last month show Trump made more than 3,600 trades during the first three months of 2026, purchasing shares in some companies that his administration is tasked with regulating.
"Many of these trades coincided with favorable regulatory decisions," NOTUS reported. "Trump purchased $1 million to $5 million worth of Nvidia stock on February 10, only a week before Nvidia announced a major computer processing power deal with AI and social media giant Meta. Trump previously purchased $500,000 to $1 million worth of Nvidia stock on January 6, a week before the Commerce Department officially approved the sale of some Nvidia chips to China."
In a video response response to the disclosures, Warren asked: "Was this insider trading? And what else is Trump doing to boost his own stock?"
"The American people deserve to know," said Warren. "What Trump is doing should be illegal. It's long past time that we ban the president and every single lawmaker in this country from trading in stocks. We need to end this corruption now."
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'Stop Making Excuses,' Says Ramirez as Dem Colleagues Anonymously Grumble About Lebanon War Powers Vote
"The fact that 'Democratic leadership' hides behind blind quotes is evidence they know how unpopular their opposition is," said one foreign policy critic.
Jun 03, 2026
Rep. Delia Ramirez called on her fellow Democrats to "stop making excuses and act" to stop a war in Lebanon, as many refuse to go on the record about whether they'll support a war powers resolution that would halt US military participation in Israel's escalating occupation of the country.
Axios reported on Wednesday that some Democrats are "fuming" about having to take a vote on a resolution introduced by Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), which would require the US to end unauthorized military cooperation with Israel in Lebanon within seven days of being passed. The resolution would need Republican support to pass the GOP-controlled House.
Israel's assault on Lebanon, which began in March, has resulted in the deaths of more than 3,500 people. With forced evacuation orders that have led to the expulsion of more than 1.2 million people from their homes, Israel has systematically razed dozens of villages across the south of the country where leaders have expanded their military "combat zone" further north to the Zahrani River.
"Every day that we do not act to stop the assault on Lebanon, we enable another genocide," Ramirez (D-Ill.) said. "The War Powers Resolution is targeted to end Netanyahu and Trump's war crimes."
Anti-war activists supporting Tlaib’s measure—which has 17 Democratic cosponsors—have described it as a way to force Democratic legislators skittish about their party’s growing anger toward Israel to go on the record about where they stand on the country's actions in Lebanon.
One unnamed House Democrat told Axios that "people are not happy" that Tlaib "is making people take this vote."
Citing multiple unnamed sources, the outlet reported that the top Democrats on the House Foreign Affairs, Armed Services and Intelligence Committees—Reps. Greg Meeks (D-NY), Adam Smith (D-Wash.), and Jim Himes (D-Conn.)—are also "on the fence." Another unnamed House Democrat was quoted as saying that their hesitation will likely make others in the party reluctant to jump on board.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) said of the two-page resolution that he hadn't "taken a look at it yet."
Axios quotes other anonymous Democrats—one of whom said they are “probably a ‘no’” and another who angrily remarked that the resolution “does nothing to advance a solution.”
The outlet described Democrats’ hesitation as stemming in part from the fact that “there is no indication the US is planning imminent, large-scale ground operations in Lebanon.”
But anti-war groups demanding passage of the resolution have made the point that even without boots on the ground, the US is still intimately involved in Israel's decision-making, with President Donald Trump reportedly giving the "green light" on major operations: These have included Israel's decision to invade Lebanon in March as well as its assault on Beirut in April which killed over 250 people and tanked US negotiations with Iran.
A policy roundup published Tuesday by the Institute for Middle East Understanding, urging the House to pass the resolution, said "Israel is using US-provided weapons and bulldozers to flatten the southern part of the country and to potentially permanently displace 600,000 people. Israel has already used bulldozers, likely provided by the US, to destroy homes and infrastructure in the area."
Aside from continuing to provide direct military aid to Israel, the US is also closely involved in intelligence sharing and coordination that has led to Israeli strikes on specific targets. In a letter sent to Adm. Bradley Cooper last month, some senators raised the possibility that, without approval from Congress, these actions could violate the War Powers Act.
In an email sent to Democratic staffers Tuesday, obtained by Common Dreams, the anti-war group Just Foreign Policy said that Trump's reported intervention to tell Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to call off strikes on Beirut earlier this week was the latest example demonstrating "how Trump is engaged in an unprecedented, high-level command and coordination over the Israeli offensive in Lebanon" in violation of the War Powers Resolution of 1973.
The email also pointed out that "a ceasefire in Lebanon is key to peace with Iran" because "Iranian officials have made clear that a full ceasefire in Lebanon is a necessary precondition for diplomacy with the US to advance."
Note the sources who oppose it
"numerous lawmakers and aides"
"one senior House Democrat"
"Dem leadership"
"second senior House Democrat"
"another House Democrat"
"a fourth House Democrat"
ALL anonymous.
Everyone FOR it put their name on their quotes. What does this tell you? https://t.co/XIIHkvF2hF
— Adam Johnson (@adamjohnsonCHI) June 3, 2026
Polling from the Arab American Institute in April found that by about a two-to-one margin, American voters believe the US should do more to pressure Israel to stop bombing and leave southern Lebanon. Sixty-five percent of Democrats said the US should pressure Israel to accept a ceasefire, while just 17% said no and 18% were unsure.
Adam Johnson, a journalist and prominent US foreign policy critic, noted on social media that while Ramirez and Tlaib went on the record to voice their support for the measure, the Democrats in opposition were doing so under a shroud of anonymity.
"The fact that 'Democratic leadership' hides behind blind quotes is evidence they know how unpopular their opposition is," he said.
"If...leadership has objections to the Lebanon war powers resolution, then they can openly come out against it," he added. "Instead they're laundering their 'reservations' through anonymous leaks. Curious!"
While the Axios report portrays Tlaib as the cause of a rift in the Democratic Party, Johnson emphasized that "Tlaib's bill is the overwhelming majority position among Dems by almost 4-to-1," adding that "the 'division' is between Dem voters and pro-Israel party leaders."
Janet Abou-Elias, a researcher at the Democratizing Foreign Policy Project at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, said that the Democrats "hedging" on the war powers vote were still taking a side.
"You'd be going on record enabling an unauthorized war that has killed over 3,433 Lebanese people," she said. "US weapons. US intelligence. zero congressional approval."
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