

SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
To donate by check, phone, or other method, see our More Ways to Give page.


Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.

Collin Rees, Oil Change U.S., collin@priceofoil.org, 308-293-3159
Brett Hartl, Center for Biological Diversity Action Fund, bretthartl@centeractionfund.org, 202-817-8121
Sam Bernhardt, Food & Water Action, sbernhardt@fwwatch.org, 267-428-1903
Alan Minsky, Progressive Democrats of America, alan@pdamerica.org, 818-749-9497
Zanagee Artis, Zero Hour, zanagee@thisiszerohour.org, 860-575-7535
Today, five national environmental and progressive groups representing tens of thousands of New Mexico voters announced their endorsement of State Senator Antoinette Sedillo Lopez for New Mexico's 1st Congressional district. The groups announcing their endorsement of Sedillo Lopez include Oil Change U.S., the Center for Biological Diversity Action Fund, Food & Water Action, Progressive Democrats of America, and Zero Hour.
Collin Rees, Senior Campaigner at Oil Change U.S., said:
Today, five national environmental and progressive groups representing tens of thousands of New Mexico voters announced their endorsement of State Senator Antoinette Sedillo Lopez for New Mexico's 1st Congressional district. The groups announcing their endorsement of Sedillo Lopez include Oil Change U.S., the Center for Biological Diversity Action Fund, Food & Water Action, Progressive Democrats of America, and Zero Hour.
Collin Rees, Senior Campaigner at Oil Change U.S., said:
"We need Antoinette Sedillo Lopez's visionary leadership in Congress. As a state senator she's been a tireless advocate for communities impacted by the fossil fuel industry's greed, rejecting industry money and working for an equitable transition beyond oil and gas. Senator Sedillo Lopez will be a worthy successor to Secretary Deb Haaland, carrying on the mantle of progressive and environmental leadership for New Mexicans."
Brett Hart, political director at the Center for Biological Diversity Action Fund, said:
"Antoinette shares Deb Haaland's environmental vision, one that puts people and our environment first. She will be a champion for wildlife, a champion for clean air and water, and a tireless advocate to save our climate from the ravages caused by the fossil fuel industry."
Wenonah Hauter, Executive Director of Food & Water Action, said:
"Senator Sedillo Lopez has demonstrated time and again a fierce advocacy for environmental justice issues and a bold willingness to stand up to the fossil fuel industry. She will bring the same tenacity and concern for her constituents in Congress as she has done for her district as a New Mexico state senator. New Mexicans need a fighter on their side who will stand up for what is right, and they've found a champion in Antoinette Sedillo Lopez."
Alan Minsky, Executive Director of Progressive Democrats of America, said:
"As she proved in the New Mexico State Senate, Antoinette Sedillo Lopez is an unwavering advocate for the people and the planet. Her policy positions -- rooted in years of advocacy work in her community, and grounded by a deep commitment to economic, environmental, and social justice -- are a template for the transformative politics we need in the 21st century. Sedillo Lopez will be an excellent successor to Deb Haaland in Congress."
Zanagee Artis, Policy Director of Zero Hour, said:
"Zero Hour knows that Senator Sedillo Lopez will carry forward a bold vision of nationwide renewable energy and an end to fossil fuel reliance as a member of Congress. Antoinette Sedillo Lopez will be a champion for young people in pushing forward the Green New Deal that New Mexicans and youth across the nation need for a livable future. Young people need her in the halls of the U.S. Congress."
Oil Change International is a research, communications, and advocacy organization focused on exposing the true costs of fossil fuels and facilitating the ongoing transition to clean energy.
(202) 518-9029"The fact that 'Democratic leadership' hides behind blind quotes is evidence they know how unpopular their opposition is," said one foreign policy critic.
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."
"The idea of occupation, control, and pushing borders forward has become the core of the Israeli security doctrine," said one Palestinian analyst.
Instead of leaving Gaza as required under the ceasefire deal it signed last October, satellite images published Wednesday by Al Jazeera show that Israel is quietly building dozens of heavily fortified permanent military bases around the entire inner perimeter of the coastal strip, a move critics fear is preparation for the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians and possible Israeli resettlement.
Al Jazeera's Open Source Unit analyzed satellite data through May 2026 and identified 40 Israel Defense Forces (IDF) outposts inside the Gaza Strip that were all built after the October 2025 ceasefire between Israel and Hamas took effect, with another base under construction.
Observers say the network of IDF bases inside Gaza is meant to facilitate Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's stated goal of taking 70% or more of the Palestinian exclave.
Combined with Israel's ever-expanding so-called "yellow line," the satellite imagery reveals at least "a systematic effort to build a sustainable, long-term military infrastructure rather than temporary observation posts," according to Al Jazeera.

As Al Jazeera reported:
The geographical distribution of these 40 military outposts reveals a deliberate strategy of encirclement. The bases, connected by a network of earthen berms, trenches, and internal military roads, tightly surround Palestinian population centres from multiple directions.
This suffocating architecture severely restricts the ability of civilians to move freely or access their lands, particularly in areas abutting the Israeli deployment lines.
The expanding occupation stands in direct violation of the United States-brokered October 2025 ceasefire agreement, which was based on a 21-point peace plan proposed by President Donald Trump. The framework demanded an end to the hostilities, the immediate entry of aid, the disarmament of Hamas, and a phased Israeli withdrawal.
However, “the idea of occupation, control, and pushing borders forward has become the core of the Israeli security doctrine," Palestinian political analyst Abdullah Aqrabawi said.
In early 2024, Netanyahu—who is wanted by the International Criminal Court for alleged crimes against humanity and war crimes in Gaza—declared that Israel would establish "full security control" over Gaza. In April 2025, he announced the creation of the so-called Morag Corridor, describing it as an additional security corridor dividing Gaza and signaling that Israel was "cutting up the Strip" to increase pressure on Hamas, which led the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel.
Last week, Netanyahu told an audience at a youth military academy that "we are now in 60% of the Gaza Strip, more or less." When the crowd interrupted with chants of "100%! 100%!," the prime minister replied: "Wait, let’s go in order. First 70%. Let’s start with that.”
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said last year that IDF troops were “expanding to crush and clean” Gaza while “seizing large areas that will be added to the security zones of the state of Israel for the protection of fighting forces and the settlements,” a reference to plans by far-right members of Netanyahu’s government and leaders of the settler movement for the ethnic cleansing and illegal Israeli recolonization of the Palestinian enclave.
Israel first colonized Gaza following its seizure during the 1967 Six-Day War; its settlements were dismantled in 2005 under then-Prime Minister Ariel Sharon amid stalled peace negotiations during the Second Intifada, or Palestinian uprising.
Katz and other Israeli leaders advocate for a US-backed "voluntary migration" plan for Gaza's Palestinians. However, critics call voluntary migration a euphemism for ethnic cleansing, given the unwillingness of most Palestinians to leave Gaza, most of whose inhabitants are the descendants of people forcibly expelled from other parts of Palestine during the establishment of the modern state of Israel in the late 1940s.
As Israel seizes more and more of Gaza, its forces continue killing Palestinians there despite the truce. The Gaza Ministry of Health said Wednesday that at least 119 Palestinians were killed in Gaza in May, the highest monthly total recorded this year. Those slain by IDF troops include 19 children and 10 women, with Israeli soldiers saying that indiscriminate killings of Palestinian civilians continue along the ever-shifting yellow line.
According to Gaza’s Government Media Office, Israel has violated the ceasefire more than 3,005 times, resulting in more than 900 Palestinians killed and nearly 2,800 others injured since last October. Since October 2023, more than 250,000 Palestinians have been killed or wounded, including thousands of people who are missing and presumed dead and buried beneath rubble.
Wednesday's Al Jazeera report follows another analysis published last week by the network using satellite imagery to show Israel's erasure of large swaths of southern Gaza, including cities, towns, farmland, and even cemeteries in what the article's authors called an Israeli effort at "erasing geography and memory."
“Satellites photograph the destroyed buildings, but they cannot document the feeling of a human searching for their home to no avail,” Palestinian journalist Muhannad Qishta said. “The hardest thing is not the destruction itself, but the stories buried beneath it.”
Sanders has said his endorsements are about "building a movement for the future" capable of not just taking on the GOP, but also the Democratic Party establishment.
Progressive candidates endorsed by Sen. Bernie Sanders swept to victory on Tuesday in Democratic primaries across the US.
In New Jersey, surgeon Adam Hamawy prevailed in the Democratic primary in the state's 12th Congressional District, while Rep. Analilia Mejia (D-NJ) easily defeated primary challengers in the state's 11th Congressional District by garnering more than 80% of the vote. Sanders (I-Vt.) endorsed both candidates.
Sanders-backed candidates in California also put in strong showings, with former San Francisco city supervisor Jane Kim advancing to the general election in the race to be the state's next insurance commissioner.
Political scientist Randy Villegas, meanwhile, is currently edging out rival Jasmeet Bains in the jungle primary in California's 22nd Congressional District, currently represented by Rep. David Valadao (R-Calif.).
And in Montana, former smokejumper and union leader Sam Forstag won the Democratic primary to represent the state's 1st Congressional District, where he'll face off against Republican Aaron Flint in the fall.
Sanders adviser Faiz Shakir on Wednesday took a victory lap in the wake of the results.
"Shaping up to be a clean sweep for Bernie’s endorsements last night," Shakir wrote in a social media post.
In an interview with The New York Times last month, Sanders said that his goal with the endorsements is "building a movement for the future" capable of not just taking on President Donald Trump's Republican Party, but also the Democratic Party establishment.
“Our effort is to lead a national movement against Trump’s authoritarianism and kleptocracy and unnecessary wars and his contempt for the Constitution,” Sanders told the Times. “But equally important, the American people need an alternative to the Democratic establishment, which is significantly dominated by big-money interests."