January, 30 2026, 04:25pm EDT
Sanders Secures Vote on His Amendment to Cut $75 Billion in ICE Funding and Redirect Those Funds to Medicaid
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) today secured a Senate vote on his amendment to the government funding package to repeal the $75 billion funding increase for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) — originally included in Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill” (OBBB). The amendment would use those savings to reverse Medicaid cuts in the OBBB, preventing 700,000 Americans from losing their health care.
“As we speak, ICE agents are shooting American citizens in cold blood, breaking down doors to arrest people, and sending 5-year-olds to detention centers, all in clear violation of our Constitution,” Sanders said. “Instead of funding Trump’s domestic army, we should instead use that money to prevent hundreds of thousands of Americans from losing the health care they desperately need by investing in Medicaid. I urge my colleagues to support this commonsense amendment and stand up for the rights and dignity of all Americans.”
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Privacy Advocates Relieved Trump Allies 'Can't Get Their Warrantless FISA Reauthorization Across the Finish Line'
"Our bipartisan movement in defense of civil liberties is holding strong," a Demand Progress campaigner said after Congress passed a short-term extension to continue talks on a longer renewal.
Apr 30, 2026
Just a day after Democrats in the GOP-controlled US House of Representatives helped Republicans send a major spying bill to the Senate, despite warnings that it was dead on arrival there, both chambers on Thursday passed a 45-day extension to continue negotiations.
The Senate approved the stopgap bill for Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA)—which allows the federal government to spy on electronic communications of noncitizens located outside the United States without a warrant—by a voice vote. The House signed off with a 261-11 vote, just hours before a previous short-term extension was set to expire.
President Donald Trump and his homeland security adviser, Stephen Miller, have been demanding a "clean" extension of the program, while critical lawmakers from both parties and over 100 civil society groups have called for privacy reforms to protect Americans whose data is swept up in federal surveillance efforts.
Hajar Hammado, senior policy adviser at Demand Progress, one of the organizations leading reform calls, said in a Thursday statement that "intelligence agencies, the White House, and their allies in Congress have tried every trick in the book from fearmongering to misinformation, but they still can't get their warrantless FISA reauthorization across the finish line."
"The reason we keep ending up at this point is congressional leaders' refusal to allow votes on overwhelmingly popular, bipartisan reforms," she continued. "This 'my way or the highway' approach needs to stop."
According to Politico, US Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) told reporters on Thursday that he and House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) discussed the short-term extension during a closed-door meeting the previous day.
"I think there's already a pretty substantial dialog going on" between key Democrats and Republicans in both chambers, Thune added. "We're interested in looking at some ways in which it can be reformed... So we're entertaining those ideas at the moment."
Hammado declared that "when Congress returns, Speaker Johnson and Leader Thune must allow votes on amendments for real privacy protections or we'll keep repeating this farce over and over again. Our bipartisan movement in defense of civil liberties is holding strong, and we won't accept anything less."
Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), a longtime defender of privacy rights who had threatened to block the extension, highlighted on social media Thursday that he "secured a commitment that the FISA court opinion revealing abuses of Americans' rights will be DECLASSIFIED before Congress votes on reauthorization."
"The more Americans know about these abuses," he said, "the more they'll demand real reforms."
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'War Criminal' Pete Hegseth Hammered on True Costs of Iran Debacle During Senate Hearing
"The greatest obstacle to peace is the incompetence of the secretary of defense and of the president of the United States," declared Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer.
Apr 30, 2026
"Pete Hegseth, you're a war criminal. You should be arrested!" an anti-war activist shouted at the US secretary of defense, who was on Capitol Hill Thursday to testify at a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing about the administration's unprecedented Pentagon budget request, President Donald Trump's illegal war on Iran, and more.
"What you're doing is despicable," the CodePink activist, Gus, told Hegseth as he was escorted out of the hearing and arrested. "The American people do not want to go into this war. We don't want to fight a war with Israel!"
As civilian casualties across the Middle East and gasoline prices across the United States have soared, so has the US public's disapproval of Trump and Israel's war on Iran. There are ceasefire agreements in place for both that assault and Israel's related attacks supposedly targeting Hezbollah in Lebanon—but, as Amnesty International noted in a Wednesday statement demanding international action to promote sustainable peace in the region, those deals are "fragile, temporary, and in danger of collapse at any moment."
Hegseth—whose controversial Senate confirmation required a tiebreaking vote from Vice President JD Vance—last appeared before the Senate committee in June. As the panel's ranking member, Sen. Jack Reed (D-RI) pointed out to the Pentagon chief in his opening remarks Thursday, since then, "you and President Trump have unwisely taken the United States to war with Iran."
That war has killed at least 3,375 Iranians, and injured another 25,000, while recent Israeli attacks on Lebanon have killed more than 2,200 people and wounded over 7,500, according to Amnesty. Iran and Hezbollah's retaliatory strikes have killed at least 21 civilians in Israel, four Palestinians in the illegally occupied West Bank, and 29 people across the Gulf, including 13 US service members.
The Department of War—as Hegseth and Trump call it—estimated that the first six days of the Iran assault cost an average of $1.88 billion per day, and Pentagon comptroller Jules "Jay" Hurst told Congress on Wednesday that it cost $25 billion in total, though some lawmakers and experts believe the figure could be far higher.
Beyond the Middle East, Hegseth has led a US attack on Venezuela and directed an "ongoing illegal boat strike campaign in the Caribbean and Pacific," Reed noted. At the defense secretary's direction, the senator continued, "our forces have bombed Yemen, Somalia, Iraq, Syria, Nigeria, and Ecuador."
"In the United States, you have deployed thousands of troops to cities like Washington, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Portland to police American citizens," Reed told Hegseth. "And you have personally intervened to end the careers of dozens of military leaders. without explanation."
Reed went on to express skepticism about Trump's massive defense budget request and rip the president's incoherent strategy on the Iran war. He also acknowledged various costs of the conflict, stressing that "American families are bearing the cost of a war they wanted nothing to do with, and have gained nothing from."
Other standout moments from the hearing included Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) grilling Hegseth about others' suspicious bets related to the Iran war and oil prices, as well as his own investments—the latter of which drew hostile responses from the secretary.
Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) has had a contentious relationship with Hegseth since the retired US Navy captain participated in a November video advising military service members that they have a duty to disobey unlawful orders, which drew legally dubious retaliation from the Pentagon secretary.
On Thursday, Kelly questioned Hegseth about his March declaration that "no quarter" will be given to "our enemies" in Iran—which was similar to previous comments from the secretary, who said last September that "we also don't fight with stupid rules of engagement. We untie the hands of our warfighters to intimidate, demoralize, hunt, and kill the enemies of our country. No more politically correct and overbearing rules of engagement, just common sense, maximum lethality, and authority for warfighters."
Sen. Elissa Slotkin (Mich.), a former Central Intelligence Agency analyst who joined Kelly in the video to service members, questioned Hegseth about how he would handle Trump directing him to have troops seize ballots or voting machines during the 2026 midterm elections.
Hegseth was openly dismissive of Slotkin, chuckling at her, calling her question "yet another 'gotcha' hypothetical, which is your specialty," and accusing the senator of "performing for cable news."
As Hegseth, Hurst, and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Dan Caine testified on Capitol Hill for the second day in a row—they also appeared before the House Armed Services Committee on Wednesday—the United States' largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy group sent Congress a report calling for the defense secretary's impeachment.
"The record presented here establishes that military operations carried out under Secretary Hegseth's leadership constituted war crimes under US and international law, including the killing of civilians, the destruction of infrastructure indispensable to civilian survival, and the targeting of protected religious and other civilian sites," states the foreword of the report from the Council on American-Islamic Relations and CAIR Action.
"These crimes were not accidental," the foreword continues. "They followed deliberate decisions to strip away legal oversight, weaken operational restraints, and dismantle civilian harm mitigation structures, even as senior Trump administration officials warned President Trump that a US-Israel war on Iran was not feasible and risked broader regional escalation."
CAIR Action executive director Basim Elkarra, the report's co-author, said in a statement that Hegseth's record not only "establishes a basis for impeachment," but also "raises serious questions of criminal liability."
While testifying to House panel about Trump's Iran War, Hegseth claimed that "the biggest challenge—the biggest adversary we face at this point—are the reckless, feckless, and defeatist words of congressional Democrats and some Republicans."
Responding on Thursday, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said on the floor: "Take a look in the mirror. Our greatest challenge in Iran is Donald Trump and Secretary Hegseth, and Americans know it. The war is unpopular, they blame Trump for it of course. The greatest obstacle to peace is the incompetence of the secretary of defense and of the president of the United States."
Hegseth's Senate testimony came on the eve of a key deadline that increases pressure on Congress to pass a war powers resolution ending Trump's assault on Iran. So far, multiple efforts in both Republican-controlled chambers have failed—though Democrats haven't stopped trying.
"Tomorrow marks 60 days since Donald Trump officially notified Congress about his attack on Iran. After we cross that 60-day threshold, there can be no more doubts that he's violating the War Powers Act," Schumer stressed. "Republicans are out of hollow excuses, they're out of hiding places. End this war, Republicans. Bring our troops home, stop bleeding taxpayers dry, support our war powers resolution."
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US Working Class Mobilizes Ahead of Nationwide 'May Day Strong' Rallies
“Amid attacks on our health and safety, our civil rights, and our very freedom to organize, we are standing up for a worker-centered vision of America," said one union leader.
Apr 30, 2026
Labor groups, students, and families are among those preparing for nationwide rallies and marches set for Friday as part of this year's May Day Strong protests "to demand a nation that puts workers over billionaires" amid worsening US wealth inequality under President Donald Trump and Republican rule.
"We are building a day of power," May Day Strong organizers said on the event website. "Because when the billionaires break every rule, it’s going to take more than a rally to stop them."
As Common Dreams reported, May Day Strong—a coalition of 500 labor and community organizations—has planned over 3,000 events across the nation to demand higher taxes on the wealthiest Americans, abolition of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) amid Trump's deadly crackdown on immigrants and their supporters, an end to the illegal US-Israeli war of choice on Iran, and expanding democracy over corporate rule.
For more information about Workers Over Billionaires, or to find the nearest action to you, go to maydaystrong.org.
— 50501: The People’s Movement ❌👑 (@50501movement.bsky.social) April 30, 2026 at 10:52 AM
"Following the examples of the historic 2006 day without immigrants that reshaped May Day and the Black-led corporate campaigns that have unseated CEOs, to Minnesota’s resistance to occupation, together we will flex our collective power in a tremendous day of action—rallying, marching, and taking action to demand a country that puts workers over billionaires, with many refusing business as usual," the coalition added. "No Work. No School. No Shopping."
As Neidi Dominguez, executive director of Organized Power in Numbers—one of the coalition's leaders—said, "We want our tax dollars going to good jobs, schools, and housing, not to sending federal agents into our cities to attack our neighbors."
"We want a government that puts more into community benefits and less into billionaire bank accounts," Dominguez added. "We are for one job being enough to pay the bills, for housing people can afford, and for public schools and healthcare that work for working families, not piggy banks for the ultrarich to steal from."
Labor author & historian, @kimkelly.bsky.social talks about the importance of channeling momentum into action, and how May Day Strong can help do that.#mayday #workersoverbillionaires #kimkelly
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— Organized Power in Numbers (@opinorg.bsky.social) April 28, 2026 at 5:27 PM
Liz Shuler, president of the AFL-CIO—which represents nearly 15 million workers and 65 affiliated unions—said Wednesday that “for the labor movement, Workers Memorial Day and May Day aren’t just days of reflection—they are days of demand."
“Amid attacks on our health and safety, our civil rights, and our very freedom to organize, we are standing up for a worker-centered vision of America," Schuler continued. "From now through November, the AFL-CIO, our state and local labor movements, and allies across the country will be in the streets and at worksites to peacefully engage our co-workers and neighbors on the issues at stake in the next election so we can ensure that everyone can vote and every vote is counted and unify working people around our economic demands."
"This week and for the months to come, we will continue to fight for our vision of a worker-centered America," she added.
American Federation of Teachers president Randi Weingarten said in a statement that “May Day has its roots in the fight for fair wages, safe workplaces, and a better life—and a reminder that real change happens when working people act together."
“That includes attacks on immigrant workers who are an essential part of our workplaces and communities," she added. "That’s why May Day isn’t just about showing up in the streets. It’s about using our power in every way it counts.”
Tomorrow, a wave of young people is taking action for May Day. We need a Green New Deal — not more wars for oil profit — and we're building the muscle to shut down the billionaire status quo until our demands are met.Read more on our substack. vist.ly/42h52
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— Sunrise Movement (@sunrisemvmt.bsky.social) April 30, 2026 at 12:02 PM
Hundreds of thousands of people rallied from coast to coast last May 1 to mark International Workers’ Day with spirited demonstrations supporting labor rights and protesting Trump’s “billionaire agenda” and attacks on the rule of law, unions, immigrants, Palestine defenders, transgender people, and others.
Since then, US wealth inequality has widened as the pro-plutocrat provisions of Republicans' so-called One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) have taken effect—especially the permanent extension of Trump's 2017 tax cuts, which “delivered big benefits to the rich and corporations but nearly none for working families," according to a pair of progressive economic groups.
Federal Reserve data published earlier this year showed the top 1% of Americans held nearly one-third of all US wealth—the highest share since the Fed began tracking such statistics in the late 1980s—while the bottom half held just 2.5%.
Experts say the situation will worsen as some of the worst parts of the OBBBA—including the biggest cuts to Medicaid and food assistance in those programs' histories—take effect in the near future.
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