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For Immediate Release
February, 08 2022, 12:02pm EDT
Contact:
ACLU of Florida Media Office, media@aclufl.org
ACLU of Florida Statement on Education Committee Passage of Senate Bill that Censors Free Speech and Discussions of Gender and Sexual Orientation in Classrooms
Today, the Senate Education Committee passed Senate Bill 1834, a bill that bans school districts and teachers from discussing topics related to LGBTQ+ issues, including conversations about sexual orientation or gender identity, in elementary and middle schools or at any level "in a manner that is not age-appropriate."
TALLAHASSEE, FL
Today, the Senate Education Committee passed Senate Bill 1834, a bill that bans school districts and teachers from discussing topics related to LGBTQ+ issues, including conversations about sexual orientation or gender identity, in elementary and middle schools or at any level "in a manner that is not age-appropriate."
The bill would require all "student support services trainings" in school districts to adhere to the guidelines and standards provided by the Florida Department of Education (DOE), which currently excludes anti-bullying resources intended to help prevent LGBTQ+ youth suicides.
The House companion bill is HB 1557.
Kara Gross, legislative director of the ACLU of Florida, responded to today's hearing with the following:
"This government censorship bill seeks to ban classroom discussions related to sexual orientation and gender identity in schools. If passed, it would effectively silence students from speaking about their LGBTQ+ family members, friends, neighbors, and icons.
"Additionally, it would bar LGBTQ+ students from talking about their own lives and would deny their very existence. It is always appropriate for kids to talk about themselves, their experiences, and their family. These are not taboo subjects, but banning them makes them seem so.
"SB 1834/HB 1557's dangerously vague provisions would have a chilling effect on support for LGBTQ+ youth because it creates new costly liabilities for school districts. Under the bill, any parent who thinks that a classroom discussion was inappropriate or who is unsupportive of a district's policies would be given broad powers to sue for damages and attorneys' fees.
"This bill does nothing to help and support our youth. Instead, it is meant to stigmatize LGBTQ+ people, isolate LGBTQ+ kids, and make teachers fearful of providing a welcoming and inclusive classroom. This bill will have a real and devastating impact on LGBTQ+ youth, who already experience higher rates of bullying, homelessness, and suicide.
"Legislators should oppose this bill and instead pass proposals that protect all students and truly address the challenges so many LGBTQ+ youth face in Florida schools."
The mission of the ACLU of Florida is to protect, defend, strengthen, and promote the constitutional rights and liberties of all people in Florida. We envision a fair and just Florida, where all people are free, equal under the law, and live with dignity.
LATEST NEWS
Pentagon Plans to Withhold Report on US Massacre of Iranian Kids Until After Midterms
One policy analyst wrote sardonically that the administration doesn't "want to remind voters before the midterms of the mass killing of schoolchildren on the first day of Trump's glorious war."
Oct 15, 2026
The Pentagon is reportedly planning to withhold until after the midterm elections the completed findings of its investigation into a devastating US strike on an elementary school in southern Iran, which killed more than 150 people—including 120 children—on the first day of President Donald Trump's illegal and deeply unpopular war.
Bloomberg reported on Thursday that "top Pentagon officials have expressed their intention to hold off on releasing an internal report into the attack" on Shajareh Tayyebeh Elementary School in Minab until after next month's midterms "at the earliest." The internal assessment is believed to have been effectively complete for months, and preliminary findings reported in early March determined that American forces hit the school with a Tomahawk missile due to "outdated" targeting information.
According to Bloomberg, Pentagon investigators "discovered that flawed intelligence, outdated imagery, and an overreliance on AI contributed to the attack," which is regarded as one of the US military's worst atrocities against civilians in decades. Trump brushed off the massacre in remarks to reporters in June, saying: "Mistakes are made. War is nasty."
Ryan Costello, policy director at the National Iranian American Council (NIAC), said in a statement that "the refusal to come clean about the attack on Minab is not just a shameful exercise to dodge accountability for a horrific war crime; it is actively risking these errors being repeated again."
"As the administration has dodged accountability on Minab and [a deadly strike on a sports hall hours later], it has engaged in further attacks that may be war crimes, including the bombing of a civilian home on Qeshm Island that killed a family and the bombing of a wedding party in Kuhestak that killed five, including two children," said Costello. "Ensuring these tragedies don’t repeat starts with accountability on Minab.”
International policy analyst Brian Finucane wrote sardonically that the Pentagon doesn't "want to remind voters before the midterms of the mass killing of schoolchildren on the first day of Trump's glorious war."
Bloomberg's reporting came as CNN published a story detailing internal US "strike plans" that include possibly dropping the so-called "mother of all bombs" on Iranian energy infrastructure.
The GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast Bomb (MOAB) is the largest nonnuclear bomb in the US arsenal. In 2017, Trump became the first US president to deploy the weapon, authorizing the military to drop it on Afghanistan.
Sina Toossi, a senior fellow at the Center for International Policy, warned that using the bomb against Iran would risk "triggering another major escalatory spiral, potentially including Iranian attacks on critical regional energy infrastructure, with consequences for global markets and the US economy."
"This only reinforces the fundamental problem: Trump has no viable military solution to the Iran conflict," Toossi wrote. "Is he looking for one spectacular strike to project strength and declare victory? Or is he prepared to plunge the US into an even deeper, potentially endless war that could devastate the rest of his presidency, legacy, and the economy?"
Costello of NIAC said that "the Trump administration’s threats to commit war crimes in Iran cannot be normalized."
"President Trump acts on many of his threats, necessitating more urgent action to bring this illegal war of choice to a definitive end," he added.
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2026 State of the Climate Report 'Shows a Planet Reaching Its Limits'
“This is no longer a warning for the future; it is a diagnosis of the present,” the report's authors warned.
Oct 15, 2026
Earth's life-support systems are "moving deeper into uncharted territory," with greenhouse gas concentrations, ocean heat, and other vital indicators reaching unprecedented levels as human activity continues to push the planet toward points of no return, an international team of scientists warned Wednesday.
"We are witnessing the rapid destabilization of the Earth’s climate system. This is no longer a warning for the future; it is a diagnosis of the present," the authors of The 2026 State of the Climate Report wrote. "Earth’s life-support systems are being pushed beyond stable limits, with changes unfolding faster than our ability to respond."
"Human activities are driving profound shifts in the atmosphere, oceans, and biosphere," the report—which was published in the peer-reviewed journal BioScience—continues. "Carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere are higher now than any time in the last 2 million years. Across the globe, extreme heat, floods, droughts, storms, and wildfires are no longer rare events but defining features of a changing planet. For example, July 2026 was the hottest month on record for the contiguous United States (1895–present), while global ocean temperatures also reached a record high for July."
2026 State of the Climate Report Shows a Planet Reaching Its Limitseos.org/research-and...
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— Prof Ian Hall (@ianhall.bsky.social) October 14, 2026 at 9:48 AM
The report, led by Oregon State University scientists William Ripple and Christopher Wolf, measures 16 key climate indicators, seven of which "are at record extremes and multiple others are also trending in the wrong direction," co-author Johan Rockström explained.
"Climate-related changes appear to be accelerating and intensifying, raising concerns about reinforcing feedbacks and crossing of tipping points, with potential irreversible impacts," the report notes. "Climate change is increasingly interacting with global biodiversity loss, freshwater stress, food insecurity, pathogens, and geopolitical instability, amplifying risks across interconnected human and natural systems."
"Yet, the gap between scientific understanding and societal response continues to widen despite mounting evidence of escalating risks," the authors said. "The evidence for accelerating climate and ecological disruption is now so compelling that attention must shift toward rapid decarbonization as well as adaptation, resilience, scalable responses, and transformative systemic change."
"Crucially, the communities least responsible for historical emissions, particularly in the Global South and small island states, are bearing disproportionately severe and early consequences, raising fundamental questions of climate justice that must inform both policy and science," the publication adds.
The new report comes on the heels of this year's Planetary Health Check assessment, which found that seven of nine measures of the Earth’s health are no longer within the “safe operating space”: ocean acidification, freshwater change, land system change, climate change, modification of biogeochemical flows, introduction of novel entities, and change in biosphere integrity.
Planetary Health Check lead author Boris Sakschewski said the findings indicate that "the risk of large-scale, persistent, and potentially irreversible change is increasing, while our margin for error in tackling these problems is shrinking.”
Some 2026 State of the Climate report authors—described by US meteorologist Jeff Berardelli as "a who's who of the best in the world"—weighed in individually on their findings.
“Global warming appears to be accelerating," Wolf told Scientific American.
“The climate emergency is already here, but the future is not yet determined,” he stressed. “We still have opportunities to avoid some of the worst outcomes through rapid emissions reductions, climate adaptation, and broader societal changes. The window for action is narrowing, but it has not closed.”
Rockström—who co-authored both reports—wrote on LinkedIn that "the global curve of emissions must start bending within the coming year or two."
"A fossil fuel-free global economy must be the landing point within the next 25 years," he said. "A global food system transition towards healthy diets from sustainable production systems must start now. Carbon dioxide removal needs to start scaling, fast."
"We have the solutions," Rockström continued. "They can be scaled. And, on essentially all fronts, we (meaning ALL peoples) come out as healthier, safer, more resilient, prosperous, and just, if we proceed with the transformation to a world within Earth's safe operating space."
"Failure is not inevitable," he added. "It is a choice. Our choice."
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US Families Have Spent an Extra $4,700 Each Due to Trump Policies—Including $100 Billion on Gas
"While President Trump and congressional Republicans promised to lower prices, their actions instead sent prices soaring," said Democratic US Sen. Maggie Hassan.
Oct 15, 2026
Democrats on the congressional Joint Economic Committee on Thursday published updated data estimating that President Donald Trump's policies have cost the average US family $4,700 during the first two years of his second term.
One major driver of price increases has been Trump's illegal war with Iran, which led to a global spike in energy prices after Iran shut down the Strait of Hormuz in retaliation for military strikes Trump launched without congressional authorization in February.
In total, the JEC found that Americans have spent $101 billion more on gas since the start of the war, which it calculated cost the average US family an additional $856.
The JEC report also highlights the massive rise in insurance premiums thanks to Trump and Republicans' refusal to extend enhanced subsidies for people who buy health coverage through exchanges established by the Affordable Care Act.
"Monthly premiums for ACA plans rose over 50% on average in 2026 compared to last year," JEC wrote. "Meanwhile deductibles surged to record highs, increasing by more than $1,000 on average."
And although Trump vowed to lower the cost of food starting on his first day in office, the report finds the average US family had to pay $310 more for groceries than in 2024.
"Beef and coffee prices are hitting Americans especially hard," the report notes. "Since the president took office, the average price of ground beef has risen almost every month to a record high of more than $7 per pound. Coffee prices also spiked and are now more than $9 per pound."
Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-NH), ranking member of the committee, said the new data is a damning indictment of Trump and the GOP's management of the economy.
"While President Trump and congressional Republicans promised to lower prices, their actions instead sent prices soaring," said Hassan. "Trump’s reckless tariffs and Iran War continue to make things harder every day for Granite Staters and Americans across the country."
Data released by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) on Thursday indicated that the affordability crisis in the US appears to be getting even worse.
According to the BLS' latest Producer Price Index, wholesale prices paid by businesses increased by an annual rate of 6.3% in September, which was far higher than economists' forecast of a 5.5% increase.
The biggest factor in increased wholesale costs in September was the price of energy, which posted a monthly increase of 10.8%, reflecting record-high prices for diesel fuel used to ship goods across the country.
PPI is seen as an important gauge of future inflation for consumers, as companies typically pass the costs they pay for inputs onto shoppers in the form of price increases.
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Mike Rogers' Wife Hands Out $10 Gas Cards, Begging Michiganders to Vote for Her Husband
One commentator called it "a cheap-ass bribe"—since Trump's Iran War caused prices to soar, $10 is now barely enough to buy two gallons of gas in Michigan.
Oct 15, 2026
As President Donald Trump's Iran War drives up gas prices, the wife of Michigan's Republican Senate candidate Mike Rogers was seen resorting to a desperate—and legally dubious—tactic to persuade voters to tick the box for her husband: handing out $10 gas cards.
Kristi Rogers, the wife of the former GOP congressman, was filmed Wednesday strutting around the parking lot of a Freedom Fuel station in Detroit, wearing a red pantsuit, black stilettos, and a large "Mike Rogers for Senate" sticker on her lapel, approaching lucky drivers with the gifts.
One interaction, captured by the Detroit journalist Sam Robinson, shows Rogers telling a driver who'd just finished filling his tank: "You should have gotten me before you filled up. I've got a $10 gift card!"
Other videos show Rogers attempting to sell voters on her husband's proposal to suspend state and federal gas taxes, which she claimed would save voters about $10 per fill-up.
However, she did not appear to address the primary reason fuel prices have shot up in the first place: the unpopular US-Israeli war with Iran that her husband has supported before abruptly reversing his stance as the election approached.
As of Thursday, $10 is barely enough to buy two gallons of gas in Michigan, according to data from the American Automobile Association. Gas prices in the state have reached $4.58 per gallon as of Thursday, up from just $2.85 before Trump launched the war—an increase of about 61%.
Rogers' Democratic opponent, former Detroit public health official Abdul El-Sayed, has savaged Rogers on the campaign trail for supporting the war, tying it directly to voters' affordability struggles.
The message seems to have resonated: A late-September poll by The New York Times and Siena College showed about three-quarters of Michigan voters disapprove of Trump's handling of gas prices and the overall cost of living. In that same poll, El-Sayed was shown with a five-point lead over Rogers in the race for the US Senate, which could determine whether Democrats retake the chamber.
Under federal law, paying someone to register to vote or cast a ballot can carry a potential penalty of up to five years in prison. Michigan law suggests the handouts could constitute illegal vote-buying if they were intended to induce people to register to vote, cast a ballot, or support a specific candidate.
None of the videos show Rogers directly telling card recipients that the gift was conditional. However, recipients told Robinson that Rogers asked them to "consider voting for my husband." Along with the gift cards, drivers were also given campaign literature promoting Rogers and bashing El-Sayed.
For at least one man who received a card, the message was clear: "Vote Mike Rogers on voting day!" he shouted to the camera.
The Rogers campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment about who purchased the cards or whether voters were told they needed to do anything in exchange for them.
At any rate, it's unclear whether $10 will make the difference on Election Day. A Fox News poll published Wednesday showed that 50% of registered voters nationally were "extremely" concerned about gas prices and 58% were extremely concerned about inflation.
In the same poll, voters said they trusted Democrats more than Republicans to handle high gas prices by a margin of 12 points and on inflation by a margin of 16 points.
Trump has been criticized for being out of touch with how his policies affect voters. He's emphasized that he didn't think about Americans' financial hardships "even a little bit" when prosecuting the Iran War, and he's suggested higher gas prices were a good thing. Earlier this month, he told voters at a rally that higher gas prices are "a small price to pay for keeping the world safe."
Political commentator and activist Charlotte Clymer suggested that Rogers' apparent wealth could make her stunt backfire.
"Weirdo ethics here aside," Clymer wrote on social media, "the optics of wearing an expensive outfit and shoes while handing out $10 gas cards—two gallons in Michigan—kinda undermines the whole effort."
"Not only is it illegal," another commentator remarked. "It's also a cheap-ass bribe."
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Trump Cancels Livestreamed Execution of Fort Hood Mass Shooter After Nationwide Outcry
Hours before the president backed off of the plan, a poll found 8 in 10 Americans opposed it.
Oct 15, 2026
As poll numbers showed the vast majority of Americans were repulsed by the idea of livestreaming the execution of Nidal Hasan, the former military psychiatrist convicted of killing 13 people at Fort Hood in 2009, President Donald Trump backed away from the plan Thursday.
On Truth Social, Trump wrote that he still believed that "streaming the execution for all to see might have been a strong deterrent for the World to witness how America deals with Terrorists and SCUM like Hasan."
But the president suggested the White House had received word that "many very good and well meaning people would rather not watch him die, through streaming, or through any other visual device," and said the execution by firing squad, scheduled for December 3, will not be publicly displayed.
Trump announced the decision hours after a nationwide poll by The Washington Post, ABC News, and Ipsos found that 8 in 10 Americans opposed the plan to livestream Hasan's state killing, regardless of their views on the death penalty in general or on executing the convicted murderer.
Nearly 70% of people who supported the execution said it should not be livestreamed. The plan was strongly opposed across the political spectrum, with 91% of Democrats, 83% of independents, and 64% of Republicans disapproving of the proposal—aggressively pushed by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth—to make the killing viewable to anyone.
Among Republicans who identified themselves as part of Trump's far-right MAGA movement, 55% said they opposed the livestream plan.
Men who were identified as MAGA were the only group in which a majority supported the livestream; 57% said they approved of it.
Hegseth said last week that the execution would be streamed “because people need to understand that there’s serious consequences for these types of things.” Trump expressed strong approval of the plan, while Vice President JD Vance, a Catholic convert, tepidly attempted to distance himself from it, saying he would not personally watch the execution. A number of Republicans in Congress spoke out against the plan.
While Hegseth defended the plan as one that was aimed at deterring violent crimes like the Fort Hood killing, fascism scholar Ruth Ben-Ghiat said a livestreamed execution could only be "an attempt to normalize extreme violence, ritualize violence, militarize the country, and make violence entertaining so when they ask you to commit violence in their name, you will be ready."
The United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights expressed horror at the proposal, saying it "would breach the absolute prohibition of torture," and Amnesty International called it "barbaric and deeply shocking."
In the Post/ABC/Ipsos poll released Thursday, one independent in Minnesota, Lawrence Sagstetter, said the livestream would be "going too far."
“It’s just going to cause more of an uproar, not only nationally but internationally," he said.
A Republican from New York, Bruce Gonka, said Hegseth's plan was "all for shock, and we don’t need that. We’re better than that."
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Disastrous Sign for GOP as Polls Show Independent Revolt Against Trump Economy
One new survey shows that nearly two-thirds of independents believe the US economy is heading in the wrong direction—up from 48% before President Donald Trump took office.
Oct 15, 2026
Polling data released Thursday shows that key segments of the American electorate—particularly independents and rural voters—are increasingly disaffected by President Donald Trump's stewardship of the US economy as inflation accelerates, real wages fall, and the historically unpopular war with Iran continues with no end in sight, spelling a potential midterm disaster for the Republican Party.
A Harris poll conducted for The Guardian shows that nearly two-thirds of independents believe the US economy is heading in the wrong direction—up from 48% in September 2024, before President Donald Trump won reelection to his second White House term.
"Even within the Republican ranks, optimism has waned," The Guardian reported. "In February 2025, just a few weeks after Trump was inaugurated, 39% of Republicans said the economy was getting better. By February 2026, just before the US launched attacks against Iran, that optimism was up to 49%. In the latest poll, just 28% of Republicans said the economy is getting better."
Two-thirds of participants in the new Harris survey pointed to gas and grocery prices—both of which have risen significantly during Trump's second term—as their top issues heading into the November midterms. Living expenses, healthcare costs, and foreign affairs also ranked as important issues.
The poll also found that 40% of rural voters—a key constituency of the president's—are in "survival mode," unable to withstand one surprise bill.
"When asked what is most affecting today’s gas prices, 46% of rural Americans said the US government compared with 28% of Republicans who said the same," The Guardian reported. "Republicans were the least likely of any group to blame the US government, instead spreading the blame across oil companies, the Iranian government and natural economic fluctuations."
Separately, The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research released polling on Thursday that reinforces the Harris survey's findings, showing that "the critical bloc of voters who identify as independents is much more likely to have a negative view of the Republicans than of the Democrats."
The AP-NORC poll also found that just 36% of US voters approve of Trump's handling of the presidency. That same percentage has a favorable view of the Republican Party, the survey shows.
"Democrats and independents are much likelier than Republicans to want a full overhaul of the country’s direction," AP reported. "But even Republican voters are still looking for something different. Slightly fewer than half, 45%, want substantial change, while 13% want upheaval."
An additional survey released on Thursday by Project 270 shows that 67% of swing-state voters want to "end US wars overseas," 51% "recognize Israel's actions in Gaza as a genocide," and 50% support halting "all military aid to Israel"—positions that run counter to the Trump administration's views and actions.
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Lula Celebrates End of Brazil's 6-Day Work Week, Fulfilling Key Pledge Ahead of Election
"Those who work so hard to build Brazil also deserve having time to live."
Oct 15, 2026
Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva celebrated on Wednesday night after Brazil's legislature overwhelmingly approved a constitutional amendment to end the country's six-day work week.
Under the amendment, which Lula has made a central plank of his reelection campaign, the work week will be shortened to 40 hours without a salary cut.
The amendment is projected to give an extra day off to millions of workers who previously had to work for six days under the old 44-hour work week.
In a Wednesday social media post, Lula celebrated the amendment's passage as "an historic achievement for millions of workers."
The Brazilian president said the shorter work week will mean "more time to live, rest, be with family, be with children as they grow, take care of yourself, and enjoy life."
"Those who work so hard to build Brazil also deserve having time to live," Lula added.
Polls show that Lula is currently locked in a tight race against rival Flávio Bolsonaro, son of former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, who is still serving a criminal sentence for efforts to instigate a coup after his loss in the 2022 election.
According to a Wednesday report in The Guardian, the shortened work week could give Lula a boost among key demographics ahead of the October 25 presidential runoff.
Specifically, The Guardian noted that "the change is expected to affect mainly workers in retail, restaurants, and hotels," which were "one of the groups which Lula lost the most support from since the 2022 election, when he defeated Jair Bolsonaro."
Victor Escobar, a researcher at the Laboratory of Parties, Elections, and Comparative Politics, told The Guardian that the amendment's passage "could indeed benefit Lula’s reelection campaign."
Polls show that ending the six-day work week is overwhelmingly popular with Brazilian voters and Bolsonaro recently came out in its favor after months of signaling opposition.
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'To End Billionaire Control Over Our Politics,' 97% of Talarico Historic Fundraising Arrives as Donations of $100 or Less
"This people-powered movement is going to change this broken, corrupt political system,” said the Texas Democratic running to beat Ken Paxton for the state's open US Senate seat.
Oct 15, 2026
James Talarico, the Democratic candidate for US Senate in Texas, says that his near record-breaking fundraising haul in the third quarter—one built almost entirely on small-dollar donations—is proof that grassroots energy is on his side as he faces off against the full weight of the Republican Party's money machine, including the world's richest man Elon Musk.
“Grassroots contributors from across Texas are coming together to end billionaire control over our politics and bring down costs for working families,” Talarico said in a statement as his campaign announced raising $64 million during the most recent 3-month period, the highest figure for any Senate candidate this cycle.
“Thanks to the support of everyday Texans," added Talarico, "this people-powered movement is going to change this broken, corrupt political system.”
According to Politico, citing figures shared exclusively by the campaign, Talarico has "raised more than $134.3 million since launching his campaign in September of 2025. More than 1.3 million donors contributed, the campaign said, as Democrats slowly reconcile themselves to their long-held but often fumbled dream of gaining a statewide perch in Texas. About 97% of those donations were of $100 or less."
Despite the massive fundraising haul, Politico reports that Talarico—fighting to defeat Republican nominee Ken Paxton for the open seat—has been outspent by an estimated two-to-one by his GOP opponents.
During a campaign event in February, Talarico explained to potential voters how the billionaire class is the one waging a class war against workers—and coming out on top year after year.
“It’s the billionaires waging war against the rest of us, and right now the billionaires are winning,” he said at the time. “They’ve been winning for 50 years. Trickle-down economics is not a theory, it is theft.”
Talarico continued by saying billionaires have been “stealing from the American people, stealing the wealth that we created.”
“It’s why everyone is so angry right now,” he argued. “It’s why, no matter how hard you work, you can’t seem to get ahead. The American people are not asking for a whole lot: A job we don’t hate, a house big enough to raise a family in, and a little left over so we can go on vacation every once in a while. That is a lot harder than it should be in America.”
A young man at our town hall asked if I was pushing class warfare.I told him: “We already have class warfare in this country — billionaires are waging war on the rest of us.” https://t.co/w238OfB8yH
— James Talarico (@jamestalarico) February 12, 2026
NBC News reports that "Republican outside groups have spent more than $175 million dollars to boost Paxton and attack Talarico since Sept. 1, according to AdImpact, trying to close off one pathway for Democrats as they try to take the GOP’s Senate majority."
An unnamed Democratic strategist who spoke to Politico said that despite Talarico's impressive fundraising, it's "still an uphill battle" for the Democratic state legislator.
“He’s fighting this battle basically alone," the person said, "while Elon Musk and the full weight of the GOP fundraising apparatus outspends him 2:1."
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Omar Raid and Investigation Aimed at Deporting Congresswoman, Officials Say
"Stripping the citizenship of opposition elected officials is really, really far down the road to fascism."
Oct 15, 2026
"I have rarely wanted to be wrong more," said one journalist Wednesday night after The Wall Street Journal confirmed what many supporters of US Rep. Ilhan Omar had suspected: that the Department of Homeland Security's raid on her home this week was part of an investigation that is ultimately aimed at deporting her.
The Journal reported that US officials confirmed the Trump administration aims to revoke Omar's (D-Minn.) citizenship, which she obtained in 2000, five years after she arrived in the US with her family from a refugee camp in Kenya. Omar is originally from Somalia, and President Donald Trump has made Somali Americans a key target of his mass deportation agenda and his racist attacks on immigrant communities.
Agents with Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), part of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), seized Omar's passport, cellphone, personal computers, and notebooks, according to the WSJ, when they searched her home in Washington, DC.
Authorities have also issued more than a dozen subpoenas and are seeking testimony from people including Omar's family members before a grand jury.
A Justice Department official told the WSJ that the agency plans to build its case on allegations that Omar lied about her age when she became a citizen.
Federal investigators have been examining whether Omar's father, who died in 2020, altered her age to say she was 17 instead of 18 on immigration paperwork when he applied for citizenship. Doing so would have allowed Omar to acquire citizenship through her father.
The congresswoman, who is currently running for a fifth term, has previously denied committing immigration fraud, which Vice President JD Vance has openly accused her of. Other Republican elected officials have explicitly attacked Omar for her criticism of Israel and for being a Muslim, with Rep. Randy Fine (R-Fla.) calling her a "terrorist."
Trump has suggested the progressive lawmaker should be deported for “always complaining” and has called to "denaturalize migrants who undermine domestic tranquility.”
Journalist Peter Sterne said Wednesday evening that "many on the left suspected" the administration was attempting to deport Omar, "but it’s still wild to see the WSJ confirm it."
Dylan Williams of the Center for International Policy emphasized that the raid and investigation—carried out just weeks before the midterm elections and as Americans are already voting, though the Justice Department typically does not take actions against candidates just before an election—are "an attempt by the Trump administration to stir up its flagging base ahead of elections that are going to be brutal for them."
"Nonetheless, we need to fight this fascist, un-American abuse of power, hold those responsible accountable, and stand with Ilhan Omar," said Williams.
Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, a senior fellow at the American Immigration Council, noted that "a case of this magnitude would take years to wend its way through the courts," and said DHS would have to initiate deportation proceedings after Omar was denaturalized.
Still, a number of observers wondered why many prominent Democrats—like Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and vocal Trump critic Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) have stayed quiet about the raid on Omar's house.
"Democrats, nice time to do a press conference united in defense of Ilhan Omar and condemning the Islamophobia against Muslim candidates," said commentator Wajahat Ali.
New York state Assembly Member Diana Moreno (D-36) said of the WSJ's reporting, "This is either the breaking point of our democracy or the moment we start fighting like hell to win back this country from the authoritarian demons in the White House. I stand with Ilhan Omar."
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'We're Making a Fortune,' Trump Says of High Oil Prices as Working Class Pays
"Workers are losing the race between wages and prices," said one economist. "It's no wonder workers feel left behind in the current economy."
Oct 15, 2026
President Donald Trump attempted to spin high oil prices as a boon for the United States at a rally in Arizona on Wednesday, just hours after new federal data showed that inflation reached its highest level in months in September.
"Because of the price of oil, Texas and Oklahoma and North Dakota and all these places, we're making a fortune," Trump declared, referring to states that produce large amounts of crude oil. Those states are home to major fossil fuel companies that have reported windfall profits amid Trump's illegal war on Iran.
Trump insisted that gas prices—currently at an average of $4.33 per gallon for regular gas and $6.32 for diesel—would tumble once the Iran war ends, but his administration has repeatedly given false timelines for the deadly conflict and has shown no indication that it is willing to reach a lasting diplomatic agreement.
Trump, who has profited massively from his second term in the White House, is a major investor in oil and gas companies. According to one recent analysis, the president's investments in fossil fuel stocks have boosted his net worth by up to $15.5 million since January.
Working-class Americans, meanwhile, are struggling to make ends meet as high gas prices compound a broader affordability crisis that extends to food, housing, and other necessities. A tracker maintained by the Watson School of International and Public Affairs estimates that American consumers have paid an extra $135 billion combined in fuel costs since the start of the Iran war—roughly $1,030 per household.
Wage growth has not kept up with inflation, which rose to an annualized rate of 3.7% last month.
" Workers are losing the race between wages and prices," Elise Gould, senior economist at the Economic Policy Institute, wrote on Wednesday. "Nominal wage growth continues to decelerate as workers lose bargaining power at work. Workers simply don't have the leverage to bid up their wages. Reduced leverage and higher prices translated into falling [year-over-year] real wages for six months in a row."
"Workers have seen zero progress on affordability compared to January 2025," Gould added. "Real wages are essentially stagnant as workers' leverage has declined and prices have risen. It's no wonder workers feel left behind in the current economy."
A Harris poll published by The Guardian on Thursday shows that three-quarters of US voters are concerned about a recession, and a "vast majority of Americans agreed that there is an affordability crisis, including 96% of Republicans."
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