January, 28 2019, 11:00pm EDT
Trump Failing to Protect Drinking Water by Ignoring Dangerous Chemicals PFOA and PFOS
Statement of Wenonah Hauter, Executive Director, Food & Water Watch
WASHINGTON
A report today indicated that the Trump administration is not planning to establish drinking water limits for PFOA and PFOS, two toxic chemicals that are linked to cancer and numerous other health problems. In response, Food & Water Watch Executive Director Wenonah Hauter released the following statement:
"Sadly, it's no surprise the Trump administration is failing to protect Americans from these dangerous chemicals. They've already tried to hide the impacts of PFOA and PFOS, and they've done nothing to protect people from industry pollution. This administration prioritizes corporate profits over public safety, pure and simple.
"More than ever, we need strong federal legislation to protect drinking water. The Water Accountability, Transparency, Equity and Reliability (WATER) Act would upgrade our aging infrastructure and help keep vital water systems under local public control. But it would also provide funding to help keep drinking water safe from toxins like PFOA and PFOS, in spite of this administration's failure to act.
"It's time for state governments and Congress to step up, since it's obvious we can't rely on Andrew Wheeler and Trump's EPA to protect us from dangerous chemicals in our drinking water."
Food & Water Watch mobilizes regular people to build political power to move bold and uncompromised solutions to the most pressing food, water, and climate problems of our time. We work to protect people's health, communities, and democracy from the growing destructive power of the most powerful economic interests.
(202) 683-2500LATEST NEWS
As Abbott Signs Texas Map Rigged for Trump, Missouri GOP Aims to Follow Suit
One critic said Texas Republicans' "reckless, partisan power grab will harm our democracy for years to come."
Aug 29, 2025
Democracy defenders on Friday blasted elected Texas Republicans, including Gov. Greg Abbott, after he signed a new congressional map gerrymandered for the GOP at the request of US President Donald Trump—and Missouri Gov. Mike Kehoe, for launching a copycat effort.
"Gov. Abbott would rather do Trump's dirty work than help the people of Texas," said Brett Edkins, managing director of policy and political affairs at the progressive advocacy group Stand Up America, in a statement.
"For months, he has ignored the real issues affecting Texans, including flood relief, and instead pandered to Trump's demand that he redraw Texas' political maps to rig the 2026 elections and silence communities of color," he continued. "Texas Republicans have started a nationwide redistricting arms race with no end in sight. Their reckless, partisan power grab will harm our democracy for years to come."
Abbott and state lawmakers have been open about aiming to help the GOP retain control of Congress during next year's midterm elections by passing their so-called "One Big Beautiful Map." The governor—who called two special legislative sessions to force through the bill—posted a video of himself signing it on social media and declared that "Texas will be more RED in Congress."
During the first legislative session, dozens of Democrats in the Texas House fled to blue states in a bid to block the map, but they ultimately returned to Austin. After GOP legislators passed the bill, the NAACP and the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law filed a lawsuit over the map.
After the governor signed the bill on Friday, Texas Democratic Party Chair Kendall Scudder said in a statement that "with a stroke of the pen, Greg Abbott and the Republicans have effectively surrendered Texas to Washington, DC."
"They love to boast about how 'Texas Tough' they are, but when Donald Trump made one call, they bent over backwards to prioritize his politics over Texans. Honestly, it's pathetic," he said. "I am proud of the Texas Democrats in the House and Senate who chose to fight, whether by a constitutionally protected quorum break, questioning these mapmakers, trying to pass amendments, or even attempting to filibuster."
"This isn't over—we'll see these clowns in court," he pledged. "We aren't done fighting against these racially discriminatory maps, and fully expect the letter of the law to prevail over these sycophantic Republican politicians who think the rules don't apply to them."
The contested map makes five Texas districts for the US House of Representatives that are currently held by Democrats more favorable to Republicans.
While elected Democrats in states such as California have threatened to fight fire with fire and draw Republican congressional districts out of existence, GOP governors—under pressure from the president—have also moved to follow Texas' lead. For example, Missouri Gov. Mike Kehoe on Friday announced a special legislative session to pass his proposed "Missouri First Map."
Responding in a statement, Democratic National Committee (DNC) Chair Ken Martin said that "another Republican governor just caved to the demands of Donald Trump at the expense of Missouri families and American democracy. Time and time again, Missouri Gov. Mike Kehoe has undermined the voice of Missouri voters."
"Now he is attempting to dilute their power altogether by removing the ability of Missourians to stand up against this power grab," Martin continued. "Make no mistake: This all started because Trump and Republicans passed a historically unpopular budget bill that wrecks the working class to reward billionaires. Now, instead of facing the consequences of their votes, Republicans think they can just choose their voters—that's not how this works."
"As California has shown, Democrats are rising up to protect voters' sacred rights, and we're not pulling our punches," he added. "The DNC will stand with Democrats protecting the rights of all Americans as Donald Trump and spineless Republicans try to rig the game against the will of the people."
John Bisognano, president of the National Democratic Redistricting Committee, said that "over the past month, Missourians of all stripes, from proud union members to business leaders, have expressed their opposition to a mid-decade gerrymander, yet Missouri Republicans are choosing to take orders from Washington instead of their constituents."
"Republicans enacted the current congressional map in response to public pressure from Missouri voters," he said. "Their sudden reversal shows that their pursuit of a mid-decade gerrymander is nothing more than a power grab at the expense of the people. Heading into this special session, Missouri Republicans have a choice: They can listen to Missourians, who oppose a mid-decade gerrymander, or they can fold to Donald Trump's demands and face the same level of fierce resistance displayed in Texas."
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Nearly 1,000 'Workers Over Billionaires' Protests Planned Across US for Labor Day
"This is about workers showing up and demanding what workers deserve all across the country," said Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers.
Aug 29, 2025
Unions and progressive organizations are planning nearly 1,000 "Workers Over Billionaires" demonstrations across the United States this Labor Day to protest President Donald Trump's assault on workers' rights.
The day of national action has been organized by the May Day Strong coalition, which includes labor organizations like the AFL-CIO, American Federation of Teachers, and National Union of Healthcare Workers, as well as advocacy groups like Americans for Tax Fairness, Indivisible, Our Revolution, and Public Citizen.
"Labor and community are planning more than a barbecue on Labor Day this year because we have to stop the billionaire takeover," the coalition says. "Billionaires are stealing from working families, destroying our democracy, and building private armies to attack our towns and cities."
Since coming into office, the Trump administration has waged war on workers' rights. Among many other actions, his administration has stripped over a million federal workers of their right to collectively bargain in what has been called the largest act of union busting in American history and dramatically cut their wages.
He has also weakened workplace safety enforcement, eliminated rules that protected workers against wage theft, and proposed eliminating the federal minimum wage for more than 3.7 million childcare and home workers.
Despite Trump's efforts, Americans still believe in the power of collective action. According to a Gallup poll published Thursday, 68% of Americans say they approve of labor unions, the highest level of support since the mid-1960s.
"Just like any bad boss, the way we stop the takeover is with collective action," the coalition says on its website.
The May Day Strong coalition previously organized hundreds of thousands of workers to take to the streets for International Workers Day, more commonly known as "May Day." On Monday, rallies are once again expected across all 50 states.
Four months later, their list of grievances has grown even longer, with Republicans having since passed a tax cut expected to facilitate perhaps the largest upward transfer of wealth in US history, featuring massive tax breaks for the wealthy paid for with historic cuts to the social safety net.
"There are nearly 1,000 billionaires in the country with a whopping $6 trillion, and that is still not enough for them," said Saqib Bhattie, executive director of the Action Center on Race and the Economy, another group participating in the protests. "They are pushing elected officials to slash Medicaid, [Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program] benefits, and special education funding for schools in order to fund their tax breaks. We need to claw back money from the billionaire. We need to push legislation to tax billionaires at the state and local levels. We need to organize to build the people power necessary to overcome their money."
The group also plans to respond to Trump's lawless attacks on immigrants and his militarized takeovers of American cities.
"This Labor Day," said Lisa Gilbert, co-president of Public Citizen, "we continue the fight for our democracy, the fight for the soul of our nation, the fight against the vindictive authoritarian moves Trump and the billionaire class aimed at stealing from working people and concentrating power."
"This is about workers showing up and demanding what workers deserve all across the country," said Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers. "This Labor Day is really different, because it's not just labor unions, as important as we may be to the workers we represent. It has to be all workers and all working families saying enough. Workers and working families deserve the bounty of the country."
May Day Strong will host a national "mass call" online on Saturday. The locations of the hundreds of protests on Monday can be found using the map on May Day Strong's website.
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Social Security Data Chief Who Blew Whistle on DOGE Resigns, Citing 'Culture of Fear'
Social Security Administration chief data officer Charles Borges described "fear and anxiety over potential illegal actions resulting in the loss of citizen data" in his resignation letter.
Aug 29, 2025
A federal worker who filed a shock whistleblower report alleging that employees of the Department of Government Efficiency had potentially compromised Americans' Social Security data abruptly resigned on Friday.
In a letter obtained by independent journalist Melissa Kabas, Social Security Administration (SSA) chief data officer Charles Borges said that he was "involuntarily" stepping down from his position at the agency due to "serious... mental, physical, and emotional distress" caused in the wake of his whistleblower report.
Borges said that after filing his report with the help of the Government Accountability Project, he was subjected to "exclusion, isolation, internal strife, and a culture of fear" that created a hostile work environment and made "work conditions intolerable."
Borges then recounted that he filed the whistleblower report because he was concerned that Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) employees had uploaded Americans' Social Security information onto a cloud server that he believed was vulnerable to external hackers.
"As these events unfolded, newly installed leadership in IT and executive offices created a culture of panic and dread, with minimal information sharing, frequent discussions on employee termination, and general organizational dysfunction," Borges claimed. "Executives and employees were afraid to share information or concerns on questionable activities for fear of retribution and termination."
Borges concluded by saying that the total lack of visibility into the actions of DOGE employees who were handling Americans' most sensitive data created a sense of "fear and anxiety over potential illegal actions resulting in the loss of citizen data."
The report, whose existence was made public earlier this week, contends that Borges has evidence of a wide array of wrongdoing by DOGE employees, including "apparent systemic data security violations, uninhibited administrative access to highly sensitive production environments, and potential violations of internal SSA security protocols and federal privacy laws by DOGE personnel."
At the heart of Borges' complaint is an effort by DOGE employees to make "a live copy of the country's Social Security information in a cloud environment" that "apparently lacks any security oversight from SSA or tracking to determine who is accessing or has accessed the copy of this data."
Should hackers gain access to this copy of Social Security data, the report warns, it could result in identity theft on an unprecedented scale and lead to the loss of crucial food and healthcare benefits for millions of Americans. The report states that the government may also have to give every American a new Social Security number "at great cost."
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