Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Follow Us:
Top Stories

Top seeds squaring off for the 'best of the rest' in Democracy Madness

basketball and democracy
by designing makes me more alive/Getty Images

Three of the four quarters of Democracy Madness have wrapped up. Now, it's time to crown the champion of the "Best of the Rest" division and move into the Final Four of our reader-driven tournament to come up with the fan favorite proposal for fixing the broken democracy.

The top seeds in this part of the bracket — always using paper ballots in elections (No. 1) and using federal funding to power elections (No. 2) — will square off today and Thursday in the final round of this "regional" competition. Both proposals have breezed past their opponents thus far, though the second seed has had higher win margins during its run.


Can federal election funding upset paper ballots? Or will the lead seed bring home the victory? You decide by clicking "Vote Now" and tracking your pick.

Starting Monday, the champions of each divisional bracket will go head-to-head to decide which reform you think is the top choice.



Read More

Person holding a sign that reads, "Get ICE out of our cities."

Rep. Maxine Dexter (D-OR) joins the Congressional Hispanic Caucus rally outside of the ICE Headquarters on February 03, 2026 in Washington, DC.

Getty Images, Heather Diehl

Democrats’ Demands for ICE Reform

After the killing of two Minneapolis citizens by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers in January, Democrats refused to approve further funding for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) without new reforms. As a result, starting on February 14, no funding has been available for most DHS agencies: TSA, FEMA, CISA, and Coast Guard employees have either been furloughed or are required to work without paychecks (although backpay is expected).

ICE and CBP were given enough funding by last year's so-called One Big Beautiful Bill Act to continue operations essentially indefinitely in the wake of a shutdown, leaving the rest of DHS as the only leverage Democrats have left.

Keep ReadingShow less
A person's hand holding a stamp above a vote deposit box.

A woman casts her vote on the day of the presidential election on May 18, 2025 in Bucharest, Romania. Today's was a second-round vote after a first round on May 4th.

Getty Images, Andrei Pungovsch

When Rivals Converge: Electoral Influence Beyond the Cold War

A recent report issued by Republican staff members on the U.S. House Judiciary Committee, which focused on alleged European censorship practices, cited Romania as a case study of aggressive EU overreach, referencing investigations into the far-right candidate’s campaign financing and the annulment decision. In doing so, elements within the U.S. political system appeared to align rhetorically with Moscow’s framing of the episode as an example of EU elite suppression rather than Russian interference.

This does not constitute evidence of coordination between Russia and the United States. There is no public proof of joint strategy or operational cooperation. But it does suggest something more subtle: narrative convergence in support of the same political force abroad and in opposition to pro-European institutional actors.

Keep ReadingShow less
A display entitled 'The Dirty Business of Slavery' at the President's House on August 9, 2025 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Tourists inspect a display entitled 'The Dirty Business of Slavery' at the President's House on August 9, 2025 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Getty Images, Matthew Hatcher

Trump's Perversion of U.S. History

One more example of Trump's broadcasting fake news and lies is his confrontation with American history.

In his Executive Order, "Restore Truth and Sanity to American History," Trump stated that there has been "a concerted and widespread effort to rewrite our Nation’s history, replacing objective facts with a distorted narrative driven by ideology rather than truth." He has, among other things, instructed the National Park Service and a variety of museums and other sites to remove all information that "inappropriately disparage Americans, past or living." This includes information about slavery, the treatment of Native Americans, and a host of other subjects.

Keep ReadingShow less