Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) sent messages to all members of Congress terminating their positions, stating “Your performance has not been adequate to justify further employment.” All Democratic and independent members of Congress, as well as two Republicans, found themselves locked out of their offices after everything inside had been confiscated.   read more

It’s no accident that a large minority of Americans don’t believe the scientific evidence on climate change. New research shows that corporations have spent two decades funding studies that have sown the seeds of doubt in many Americans’ minds. “We sort of always suspected that this was the case...but this really demonstrates it empirically,” said professor Robert Brulle. Corporate funding helped create “a united network within which the contrarian messages could be strategically created.”   read more

American Family Voices is funded by labor unions, environmental interests and a major corporate retail lobbying group. Its video features Sen. Harry Reid criticizing the use of dark money in politics. “Working families can’t compete with billionaires,” he says in the video. “Let’s stop the flood of dark money into our political system and do it now.” But Reid has benefited from dark money as well. Patriot Majority USA spent more than $10 million running ads against Republican candidates.   read more

The men are suing the city of Manteca for adopting ordinances making it illegal to sleep or set up encampments outside. It also banned urination and defecation in public. The four say they have been cited by police for illegal campsites and argue the laws violate their constitutional rights by making homelessness a crime. “If we are not doing a crime, leave us alone,” Acosta told ThinkProgress, adding, “I shouldn’t be arrested and dragged off to county” just for being homeless.   read more

The demand has created business for companies such as Enviva, the so-called pellet giant of the U.S., according to the NRDC report. Other industry leaders include Franklin Pellets, Wood Fuel Developers and Georgia Biomass, which operates the world’s largest pellet factory. “Wood pellet manufacturing in the region is expected to continue skyrocketing, with production estimates as high as 70 million metric tons by 2020,” the report states.   read more

At the bottom of the popularity scale is Kansas’ governor, Sam Brownback, with a 26% approval rating. Brownback is widely disliked in his state for his financial policies that have forced massive cuts in school funding and infrastructure spending. Second from the bottom is Republican Bobby Jindal of Louisiana, with 35%. Since Republicans hold more than 60% of the governors’ seats in the United States, it makes sense they would land at both ends of the scale.   read more

Investigators say Centcom may have underestimated the threat posed by ISIS and later overplayed the effectiveness of military operations against the Islamic militants.The investigations may be hampered by missing documents, because some were destroyed before the materials were given to investigators. Sources told The Daily Beast that Maj. Gen. Steven Grove and his civilian deputy, Gregory Ryckman, deleted emails and files from computer systems before the inspector general could examine them.   read more

The FDA found one blood test to detect ovarian cancer wasn’t effective, yet medical professionals continued to rely on it, resulting in “unnecessary surgery to remove healthy ovaries.” Other women have had abortions after being told possibly inaccurate tests showed abnormalities in the fetus. “The problems are more prevalent than people want to recognize,” said FDA's Dr. Jeffrey E. Shuren. “Doctors and patients rely on these tests... If they get inaccurate results...people get hurt as a result.”   read more

Texas faces the greatest threat from drought and wildfires by 2050 and the second-greatest threat from extreme heat, with 115 dangerous heat days per year. However, the state has done little to prepare for the threat. Arkansas faces a high risk of wildfires coupled with an extreme flooding threat. That state has done virtually nothing to prepare for either catastrophe. Nevada’s prospects for drought aren’t too bad, but it has done nothing to prepare for it, according to the report.   read more

Smith, a formerly homeless ex-convict with a learning disability, was fired after he was interrogated by three security managers and told to sign a statement, which he could not read because he did not have his glasses with him. He signed it anyway because he did not want to argue and risk violating his parole. The controversy has resulted in “a groundswell of indignation spurred an online petition, calls for action against the retailer and hundreds of angry comments on social media.”   read more

This prohibition, which is unique among states that have adopted medical marijuana laws, is being challenged in court by two Libertarian candidates running for office. Claire Ball and Scott Schluter sued Attorney General Lisa Madigan and eight members of the Illinois Board of Elections in federal court, claiming the state’s prohibition on medical cannabis cultivators and dispensaries from making campaign contributions violates their First Amendment rights.   read more

“The process is the most intensive of any check conducted for people seeking admission to the United States,” wrote CAP’s Jawetz and Gude. “It is specially designed to mitigate any threats and helps ensure Americans are not placed in harm’s way.” The ordeal takes a year-and-a-half to two years. “If at any stage in that process there is ever the slightest shadow of a doubt or the slightest whisper of suspicion, they are removed from the process. That is that,” said the U.N.'s Christopher Boian.   read more

U.S. ranking in the report was 28th, down eight spots from last year, due to slightly “less perceived wage equality for similar work,” the report states. In some areas, the U.S. fell even further in the rankings. Measured for political equality, it dropped 18 spots to No. 72. “The number of American women in cabinet-level positions dropped to just 26 percent from 32 percent last year, and only 19 percent of congressional positions are held by women,” ThinkProgress noted.   read more

Seventy-two percent of Americans believe that the country is still in recession, although the Great Recession ended in 2009. Janell Ross at The Washington Post said these numbers may reflect how bad off many people still are financially. “A situation where people’s personal economic circumstances remain either so bad or so reduced from what they were in the run up to the Great Recession that they continue to view the economy through irrationally grim glasses,” she wrote.   read more

Supporters of the laws say the change will help reduce the number of unintended pregnancies. But some medical professionals say the new laws don’t go far enough, preferring that birth control be available over the counter, cutting both pharmacists and doctors out of the process. “My basic tenet is there should be nobody between the patient and the pill,” said Dr. Mark DeFrancesco. “I’m afraid we’re going to create a new model that...[will] derail the over-the-counter movement.”   read more

A new report from the Department of Housing and Urban Development says the number of those living without proper housing has gone down every year since 2010. Last year, for example, the number of homeless in the U.S. dropped by 2%, or 11,742 individuals. Homelessness among youth and veterans declined even faster, according to ThinkProgress. Still, the number of homeless exceeds 560,000, with 69% of those people staying in shelters.   read more

In the immediate wake of the attacks, as France declared war on ISIS and sharply escalated its bombing campaign against the terrorist group’s targets in Syria, stock prices of major weapons manufacturers skyrocketed. “The markets could barely wait to start buying,” Glenn Greenwald at The Intercept wrote. “The private-sector industrial prong of the Military and Surveillance State always wins, but especially when the media’s war juices start flowing.”   read more