Trump’s embrace of pot has Republicans in Congress fuming
In moving to reduce marijuana regulation, the president has defied the party’s old guard.
Today's Liberal News
President Trump Totally Meant to Ask Congress Before Attacking Venezuela
For those confused about the decision to strike Venezuela, capture Nicolás Maduro, and bring him to New York City: This is actually an important phase of Donald Trump’s immigration policy.
Phase 1 (ongoing) has been to remove all law-abiding immigrants who have been living in the country waiting for their asylum claims to be processed, hoping that America could be a place for them to have a better life.
Photos: The Venezuelan Diaspora Celebrates the Capture of Maduro
Javier Torres / AFP / Getty
Venezuelans living in Chile celebrate in Santiago on January 3, 2026, after U.S. forces captured Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro.Natacha Pisarenko / AP
In Argentina, Venezuelans celebrate the capture of Maduro, gathering at the Obelisk of Buenos Aires on January 3, 2026.Natacha Pisarenko / AP
Venezuelans celebrate at the Obelisk of Buenos Aires on January 3, 2026.Pablo Sanhueza / Reuters
In Santiago, Chile, a woman celebrates the announcement that the U.S.
Trump Threatens Venezuela’s New Leader With a Fate Worse Than Maduro’s
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In a telephone interview this morning, President Donald Trump issued a not-so-veiled threat against the new Venezuelan leader, Delcy Rodríguez, saying that “if she doesn’t do what’s right, she is going to pay a very big price, probably bigger than Maduro,” referring to Nicolás Maduro, now residing in a New York City jail cell.
Trump’s drug-pricing deals won’t benefit most Americans today. They could over time.
Most Americans likely will not benefit immediately from efforts to lower prescription prices. Administration officials expect effects to spread as markets are reshaped.
January First
No chrome without winter,
no New Year, no white baldachin
strung out above the altar, wood
painted white, carved angels singing
for twelve hours straight
in that choir, no hours, no altar,
no slick white glyphs of blades on ice,
stunts of red fireworks, or corrugated heart
projected bright on the screen, no twin votives
by which you held me and said,
I want to feel this way all of the time. No
all of the time.
What Was The Hottest Take This Year?
Rating the spiciness and truthiness of the hottest takes we heard in 2025.
Money Talks: Saving Lives Without USAID
Mary Childs learned about how places like ALIMA and Givewell are moving forward now that USAID is done.
Nuclear Fusion Powered by Memestock
Trump Media & Technology Group has merged with a nuclear fusion company TAE Technologies.
States step into the breach as Obamacare subsidies lapse
Even state governments that want to help can’t completely cover rising insurance premiums.
Trump admin doles out billions for rural health
Montana and California will receive near equal amounts in 2026, despite their massive size disparity.
The miracle cure for sickle cell is now 2 years old. Most are still waiting.
Despite a Trump administration push, there are few facilities offering the complex treatment in the rural areas where many patients live.
The ultraprocessed food makers have an answer for RFK Jr.
The companies behind Doritos, Oscar Mayer wieners, and Kraft Mac & Cheese are warning state regulation promoted by the health secretary is driving up your food bill.
Why RFK Jr.’s plan to follow Europe on vaccines is getting panned
In some cases, Europe has better contained disease, in others it’s let them spread to keep costs down.
When Church Was a Queer Space
Outward’s hosts sit down with the host and co-creator of When We All Get to Heaven.
Remembering, with the People of MCC San Francisco, AIDS Still Isn’t Over.
The neighborhood changes, the church moves, people forget and remember “the AIDS years,” but AIDS isn’t over.
What Happens When You Organize Church Around AIDS – and AIDS Changes?
The AIDS cocktail opens new possibilities. And MCC San Francisco tries to use the experience of AIDS to make bigger social change.
The Church’s Pastor Gets Diagnosed with AIDS. And the Church Wonders How Much They Might Lose.
The church’s minister gets sick and everyone knows it.
A Church Romance Between a Hula Dancer and a Lumbersexual Blossoms in a Dangerous Time.
The church’s “it couple” faces AIDS, caregiving, and loss as part of a pair, part of families, and part of a community.
Vance tries to thread affordability needle in Rust Belt
The vice president fine-tunes Trump’s economic message, but he’s only got so much wiggle room.
Ex-Trump voters swung hard to Democrats over costs in NJ & VA, new research shows
Voters who backed Donald Trump in 2024 and swung to Democrats in this year’s Virginia and New Jersey elections did so over economic concerns, according to focus groups conducted by a Democratic pollster and obtained by POLITICO.
Democrats think they’ve found their 2026 message — and Miami just backed it up
In races across the country, Democrats focused on promises to make life more affordable — even as they offered contrasting approaches.
Voters sour on Trump’s handling of the economy in new poll
The White House plans to make affordability a key selling point for Republicans across the board as the 2026 midterm elections come into focus.
Trump will again test ‘blame Democrats’ message on the economy — this time at a casino
President Donald Trump will give a speech in Northeastern Pennsylvania on Tuesday, the first stop in a ‘tour’ where he will talk about affordability concerns, among others.
“I Will Govern as a Democratic Socialist”: Watch Zohran Mamdani & Bernie Sanders at NYC Inauguration
Zohran Mamdani hailed “a new era” for New York on Thursday, promising in his inaugural address to deliver on the ambitious agenda that electrified progressives in the city and saw him defeat the political establishment in both the Democratic primary and the general election last year. Addressing thousands of supporters who braved freezing temperatures to attend the ceremony at City Hall, Mamdani vowed to “govern expansively and audaciously” for residents.
AOC, NYC Public Advocate Jumaane Williams & Poet Cornelius Eady: Voices from the Mamdani Inauguration
“We have chosen courage over fear. We have chosen prosperity for the many over spoils for the few,” said Congressmember Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in her introduction to the historic inauguration of democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani as New York City mayor.
Zohran Mamdani Supporters Celebrate “Politics of Optimism” at His Inauguration
Tens of thousands of New Yorkers braved freezing temperatures and police barricades to be part of Zohran Mamdani’s inauguration as mayor on New Year’s Day. Democracy Now! spoke with many Mamdani supporters, including a high school student and Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil, about what the day represented to them, their hopes for the new administration and how it could set a model for progressives across the country.
Mamdani Takes Oath at Abandoned NYC Subway Station to Highlight Plan to Improve Public Transit
New York City started 2026 with a new mayor, as democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani made history when he was sworn in as the city’s first Muslim, first South Asian and first African-born leader, as well as the youngest in over a century.
The ‘America First’ President Takes On the World
American forces’ surgical capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, carried out in a daring raid shortly after 1 a.m. local time today, had been planned and rehearsed for months. Informants monitored the first couple’s movements, more than 150 aircraft provided cover starting late last night, missile strikes on military installations knocked out air defenses, and low-flying helicopters landed Delta Force soldiers in the center of Caracas. U.