Wednesday, April 30, 2025

Spinach, Feta and Artichoke Breakfast Bake in the Kitchen

babyhogg

 

Isaiah's THE WORLD TODAY JUST NUTS "The Virgin Baby Hogg"  went up a little while ago.  Little Precious, we can't afford you and most people grasp that.  We've all been 25 before and thought we knew everything only to get a year older and realize how little we knew.  He really needs to shut the f**k up because he's not helping the party and he's not helping us win in the mid-terms.  Someone needs to tell him, sit your dumb ass down.  


Pam e-mailed to say, "I love squash too!  I also love spinach and I don't think there's been a breakfast recipe in a bit so here's one I like at Skinny Taste for Spinach, Feta, and Artichoke Breakfast Bake."


Ingredients:

1 10-ounce package frozen chopped spinach, thawed, all excess liquid squeezed out
1/2 cup scallions, finely chopped
3/4 cup chopped artichokes, from canned, drained and patted dry
1/3 cup diced red pepper
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tablespoon fresh dill, chopped
8 large eggs
4 large egg whites
1/4 cup fat free milk
2 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese
1 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon ground pepper
1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese


Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 375°F. Spray a 9 x 13 casserole dish with nonstick spray.
In a small bowl combine spinach, scallions, artichoke, red pepper, garlic and dill. Pour into the casserole dish spreading evenly.
In another bowl, whisk together the eggs, egg whites, milk, parmesan, salt and pepper. Mix in feta cheese and pour over vegetables.
Bake until a knife inserted near the center comes out clean, 32 to 35 minutes.
Let stand 8 to 10 minutes before cutting into 8 pieces.


I love spinach as well.  And I've got some green onions (scallions) that I needed to use before they went bad so I made this for the grandkids tonight before getting on to blog.  It was very good. 

Now a video.


Nick's cooking a recipe from Matteo Lane's new book.  I reviewed the book earlier this month in  "Matteo Lane's Your Pasta Sucks: A 'Cookbook.'"
 



News?  Closet case Lindsey Graham.  The US senator is calling for Donald Chump to be made the next pope.  Like most good Catholics, Lindsey . . .  What's that?  He's not Catholic?  The gay man is Baptist.  The closet queen is not even Catholic.  So first off, shut your damn mouth.  I'm Catholic.  It's my religion.  It's my family's religion.  My family that's so much better than yours.  I have eight kids.  One of my sons is gay.  He's not in the closet.  He was out in high school.  We didn't raise cowards in my family.  Lindsey, I don't think you should open your mouth again until you're able to say these words, "I'm gay."  Until then, I think you should shut up.  

That's what I think.

What I know is you should shut your damn mouth about who needs to be the pope.  It's not your religion.

And you're an idiot.

Chump is not Catholic.  He can't become the pope.  He's also married which is another thing they don't allow popes to be.

So how about you sit your closeted and uneducated ass down?

The whole country knows you're gay and laughs at you for being the Beverly Leslie of the US Senate.  Beverly is the character Leslie Jordan played on Will & Grace.  The southern, elderly man always pretending he was straight.  Lindsey will turn 70 this summer.  The never married act has gotten as old as his pretending to be straight.

Oh, and Lindsey, if you're excuse is this was supposed to be a joke and funny?  Pope Francis died last week.  There's nothing funny about it.  He was a great man.  You're just a stooge.


This is C.I.'s "The Snapshot" for Wednesday:


Wednesday, April 30, 2025. While Democrats in Congress work to highlight Chump's abuses Gretch the Wretch throws her arms around him and grinds her crotch into his, an apparently blotto drunk Pete Hegseth announces he's over turned a hideous Biden policy that was, in fact, a Chump effort led by, among others, Rubio and Noem, Cry Baby Connolly tries to will his leadership post to a buddy even though it doesn't work that way, and much more.



Is it the lead in the water in Michigan that's turned so many of the state's politicians into clowns over the last year or so? 

Gretchen Whitmer decided to betray the Democratic Party yet again by slobbering over Convicted Felon Donald Chump.









Gretch The Wretch.  We warned you years ago.  


But what to say about yesterday?  Clown make up doesn't a politician make.  I have no idea why so many elected Michigan women feel the need to wear clown make up.  They'll slash that trashy dark red lipstick on for daytime wear as though an overpaid consultant's advised them this make them look like a serious woman?  There are all shades of lipstick and some honestly are inappropriate for women in political office at any time of day. Gretch also has those deformed fake eye brows.  For yesterday's event with Chump, she apparently got on the phone with the Secretary of Homeland Security and asked, "Hey, Kristi, could you help me out with some fashion choices."  How else do you explain that ridiculous cosplay -- especially the ball cap?   Elaine noted last night, "You know the Governor of Maine, Janet Mills, has a spine.  Gretch?  She's got a runner in her spine, someone help her shop for a new one."


Let's work on getting clowns like Gretch out of politics and back to Stepford with the other town wives where she belongs. 


While Gretch spent the day giving Chump a half-and-half, Senator Elizabeth Warren demonstrated Tuesday how politicians can actually use their voices. 



And on the day Gretch the Wretch was throwing her arms around Chump, here was Senator Chris Murphy on the floor of the Senate.



Let's stay with Democrats but move over to the House where cry baby Connolly is the news.  Scott Wong (NBC NEWS) reports:


Rep. Gerry Connolly’s surprise announcement that he plans to soon step down as the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee has set off a scramble to succeed him that could pit the party's old guard against an up-and-coming class of progressives who have aggressively opposed President Donald Trump.


Connolly, 75, said Monday that his esophageal cancer had returned after “grueling treatments” and that he would not seek re-election next year. The Virginia Democrat's decision came just four months after he defeated Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, D-N.Y., for the highly visible committee post.

If Democrats retake the House in next year's midterm elections, the ranking member would be in line to chair the committee, with the power to issue subpoenas to the Trump administration.


A senior Democrat on the panel, Rep. Stephen Lynch of Massachusetts, said Tuesday that he is taking over as interim ranking member and will handle day-to-day responsibilities as Connolly focuses on his health. And Lynch said that Connolly has pledged to endorse him for the role once it formally opens up. 


“He told me he’s publicly supporting me,” said Lynch, 70, who has served in the House since 2001. "I worked with him for almost 25 years. So we've traveled together — Iraq, Afghanistan — we've done investigations, we've worked on a whole bunch of stuff together. There's a friendship there."


A few things.  We supported AOC over Connolly for that post.  Some are now saying this proves this or that.  The issue wasn't, and never should have been, Cry Baby's age.  


There was no reason to believe Cry Baby could deliver leadership because in all his time in Congress he never did.  And for the last ten years or so, we called him out as a Cry Baby in hearing after hearing that we reported on here because I'm not a big fan of cry babies.


I cry often.  If someone sacrifices for someone else, goes to the matt for them, that can make me cry.  I cry for our country right now sometimes when I'm speaking to groups of people.  And I power through and keep going.  A cry baby crying for themselves all Connolly offered.  He had no strength and he accomplished in hearing after hearing.


That's why AOC was the better choice.


His age had nothing to do with it then and shouldn't now.


His health?  That's a whole other issue.  We don't have ROE V WADE anymore and that's in part due to RBG.  She put her desire to swear in Hillary Clinton as the first female president of America ahead of the rights of women.  Then Hillary didn't get into the White House.  Because RBG died.  The cancer.  The cancer she knew of and down played.  She should have stepped down when Barack Obama suggested it to her.  But she knew best.  Then she dies with Chump in the Oval Office.


Cry Baby Connolly knew his condition.  (I've had bouts with caner throughout the time of this website. I'm not stupid enough to think I could do chemo and hold public office.  When it's coming back, I may not want to admit it to others but I do sense it.) He never should have gone for the post.


As for his attempt to 'will' it to someone?  It's not his damn seat.  The House Democrats need to get together and immediately vote.  AOC clearly wants it, she should be the front runner.  


Stephen Lynch is not impressive.  He's been a reactor in Congress, not a doer.  


House Dems need to fill this spot immediately.  Lynch shouldn't be allowed to sit in it while others hope the country doesn't pay attention and then get the position slid over to him.


I'm not an AOC stan.  Sunday's comments riled some AOC supporters -- we'll deal with that on Thursday or Friday -- and my statements were accurate.  But AOC sought this position.  AOC has stood with the party -- this isn't a backstabber, for example, who told people not to vote for Kamala in 2024.  She didn't get the post.  And yet she continued to campaign for the party and for what the party believes in as she barnstormed the country.


The position should go to her.  


I wouldn't piss me off on this.  I can remember the last time I got pissed off over a committee position.  It was a highly unqualified idiot.  The idiot's not in Congress anymore.  No, I'm not like the bimbo RFK Junior made his running mate.  (And didn't we shut that bimbo down in real life after her threat to use the money spreading her legs brought it.  Made her social paraih across California and the media's not heard from her since.)  No, when I get pissed, I go looking.  And it didn't take much looking to find that this unqualified hack was also a thief.  Now she and her wigs did get the position that she didn't deserve.  But after that?  She was no longer in Congress.  She was in prison.  


AOC deserves this spot and has earned it.  If the party disagrees, the answer is not to say, "I'm not donating!" or anything like that.  The proper response is to do a deep dive into the reality of Stephen Lynch or whomever gets the post instead of AOC.


Corinne Brown's wasn't the first crooked member of Congress and she hasn't been the last.

And, by the way, there's no reason to wait to build a case against Lynch.  That should start right now.  And you can start with Lynch's 2002 vote for the war on Iraq.  How does that reveal leadership?  What does that say about judgment?  


Again, not an AOC groupie.


She should have been picked over Cry Baby to begin with.  Now that Cry Baby's stepped aside, the post needs to go to her.

Before I forget, Thursday night, MSNBC is doing a townhall live hosted by Stephanie Ruhle.  I went on BLUESKY and can't find anything on it or on Ari's live event on Friday.  Not on their own individual feeds and not even on the MSNBC feed.  News of those specials should be pinned at the top of the feeds.  


Now let's move over to Chump and his little boy Pete Hegseth.  With all the disasters Hegseth continues to create, Mama Chump refuses to take the boy off the tit. Evan Williams (TAG 24 NEWS) reports:



In a new interview with The Atlantic, Trump admitted that "Signalgate" was real and a major mistake, and for the first time pointed the blame at Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth.

"I think we learned: Maybe don’t use Signal, okay?" Trump told The Atlantic's editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg, who originally broke the story after being added to a Signal chat in plans to bomb Yemen were being shared.

Yet Chump goes on to insist that Hegseth is "safe in his job."


Apparently, Hegseth is finally sleeping through the night.  Those pampers must really be extra absorbent.  Phillip Kolb (2 PARAGRAPHS) reports:


President Donald Trump‘s U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth reported today on X: “This morning, I proudly ENDED the "Women, Peace & Security" (WPS) program inside the @DeptofDefense.”

Hegseth described WPS as “another woke divisive/social justice/Biden initiative that overburdens our commanders and troops - distracting from our core task: WAR-FIGHTING. WPS is a UNITED NATIONS program pushed by feminists and left-wing activists.” Hegseth claimed, “troops HATE it.”
Note: In 2017, President Trump enacted the Women, Peace, and Security Act (P.L. 115-68) which “promotes the meaningful participation of women in all aspects of the conflict continuum, including warfare and stabilization.”

Note: The bill “attracted wide bipartisan support, with then-Senator Marco Rubio, the current Secretary of State, serving as a cosponsor. Mike Waltz, the current U.S. national security advisor, was a founding member of the WPS congressional caucus.” And Rubio has been unwavering in crediting Trump with signing the bill.
Rubio said at the 19th Annual International Women of Courage (IWOC) Awards Ceremony on April 1: “President Trump also signed the Women, Peace, and Security Act, a bill that I was very proud to have been a co-sponsor of when I was in the Senate, and it was the first comprehensive law passed in any country in the world – the first law passed by any country anywhere in the world – focused on protecting women and promoting their participation in society.”


Was he drunk?  Again?  This bill had nothing to do with Joe Biden despite Hegseth's slurred lie.  How blotto is Hegseth by mid-day if he's unable to differentiate between Joe Biden and Donald Chump?  Guess who was a sponsor of the bill in the House?  Kristi Noem who is now Secretary of Homeland Security.   Again, how drunk is Hegseth when he's on the clock?  Nick Wadhams  (BLOOMBERG NEWS) notes another member of Chump's current administration praised the  law back during Chump's first term as president:


The law also received a recent endorsement from Dan Caine, Trump’s chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and a retired Air Force lieutenant general. In his April confirmation hearing, Caine said he didn’t think it was linked to diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives denounced by Trump and called it “a program that really helped us to understand the full spectrum of challenges that are in front of us.”
Hegseth’s attack on the law highlights yet another move by the current administration to cancel initiatives that Trump had championed during his first term concerning women’s empowerment and diversity. It’s also the latest move in a continuing push by Hegseth — who has come under criticism for a series of missteps — to lean into Trump priorities, such as shutting down the southern border and dismantling DEI initiatives, that are favorites of Trump’s MAGA base.


Meanwhile, Nikki McCann Ramirez (ROLLING STONE) reminds, "Hegseth is the current Secretary of Defense, and while he likes to tout 'WAR-FIGHTING' as his primary focus, his tenure so far has been defined by efforts to purge mentions of women and minorities from the DoD's websites, and accidentally texting sensitive attack plans to journalists." 


Chump's monkey man leaves us all at risk and open to attack.  But it's not just our national defense that Chump's destroying.  No, he's destroying everything.  Gabriela León observes, "The imposition of tariffs imposed by president Donald Trump just this April has made it more expensive for goods to enter the United States. One of the main consequences of artificially inflating import costs is a reduction in the quantity of goods available. On April 24, U.S. pork exports suffered a major setback due to tariffs imposed by China. According to recent USDA data, China cancelled an order for 12,000 metric tons of pork, the largest cancellation since the Covid-19 pandemic disrupted global supply chains in 2020."  Sydney Lake (FORTUNE) explains, "Consumer confidence fell for the fifth straight month on the heels of President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariff policies, driving up prices and spooking Americans. The Conference Board’s most recent survey for its Consumer Confidence Index, published Tuesday, shows confidence dropped nearly eight points in April to 86. Consumers’ expectations for the future are now at a 13-year low, according to the Conference Board."  Who's to blame?  America knows exactly who's to blame.  The idiot who crashed the economy was Donald Chump.  Ariel Edwards-Levy (CNN) notes, "A 59% majority of the public now says President Donald Trump’s policies have worsened economic conditions in the country, according to a new CNN poll conducted by SSRS, up from 51% in March and on par with the worst numbers Joe Biden saw during his presidency.  Americans remain broadly unhappy with the nation’s economy, the survey finds, and there’s little enthusiasm for the White House’s sweeping new trade policies. With the impact of new tariffs still largely to come, 6 in 10 already say that Trump’s policies have increased the cost of living in their community, with just 12% saying his agenda has helped to bring prices down."



The American public is frustrated, disappointed and increasingly angry at the state of politics 100 days into Donald Trump’s second term in the White House, according to a new CNN poll conducted by SSRS, with neither party positioned to change the mood.

Approval ratings for Republican leaders in Congress are deeply underwater, with Democrats faring even worse as their rank-and-file turn increasingly negative about the party’s leaders. Nearly two-thirds of all Americans say things in the country are going badly today.

The poll also finds a rising tide of fear among Americans looking ahead to the rest of Trump’s second term, with many doubtful that the checks and balances built into the US government are doing enough to limit Trump’s actions in office.

“I’m not pleased. I’m unsure. I’m honestly scared. I think this is the first time I can say that I’m fearful as to what is coming, what has happened and what is coming,” said Lisa Taylor, an independent from Maryland who voted for Trump in 2016 and for Democrat Kamala Harris in 2024 and participated in the poll.

She is one of about 4 in 10 Americans (41%) who say they feel afraid about the remainder of Trump’s second term, up 6 points since February and 12 points since December. 


Turning back to MSNBC, tonight Rachel Maddow completes her 100 day coverage of Chump.   She'll then return to Monday on MSNBC -- Mondays only.  Let's note this fro last night's show.



Let's wind down with this from Senator Patty Murray's office:


Senator Murray: “Let’s face it, billionaires like Elon Musk and Trump already had a “head start” in life, so of course they don’t care if anyone else needs a little help. But this is make or break for everyone else—and I mean everyone, not just for families, not just for parents, but for businesses as well, and for our economy which is powered by our working families.”

ICYMI: Head Start funding lags by nearly $1 billion this year, causing some preschool closures

Washington, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee and a senior member and former Chairof the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, joined a press conference hosted by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) on their announcement of a lawsuit against the Trump administration for seeking to dismantle the Head Start program. Senator Murray spoke about how critical Head Start is in helping kids and families across the country thrive.

Head Start currently serves over 750,000 kids nationwide, and the program has served nearly 40 million children and their families nationwide since its inception in 1965. There are over 17,000 Head Start centers nationwide and these centers are particularly important in serving rural communities with fewer options for care.

Since taking office, President Trump has gutted the offices that keep Head Start centers and child care programs across the country running. In late February, the Trump administration fired scores of staff at the Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Office of Head Start and Office of Child Care. Earlier this month, Trump continued to hollow out HHS, including by shuttering half of the regional offices at the Office of Head Start, which are responsible for ensuring high-quality Head Start services are available to families nationwide. The Trump administration has failed to articulate how it will ensure that uninterrupted services are available to families and that appropriate oversight will be carried out despite gutting the very offices charged with these responsibilities.

As data compiled by Senator Murray’s office shows, the Trump administration has failed to get out nearly $1 billion in funding for Head Start programs this year, part of a larger, sweeping funding freeze Trump has ordered since taking office.

Senator Murray’s full remarks, as delivered, are below:

“Well thank you all for being on this call, I really, really do appreciate it. And I just want to say that when I first got into politics to fight for child care and early education programs, I met with a few politicians who really did not get it—and a lot of parents who absolutely did. Well, we made our voices heard, we made a difference in that fight, and now, we have to keep it up!

“I still, constantly, hear from parents about child care and pre-K, and I take their stories back with me here to the Capitol to fight for change. We have made a lot of progress over the years making the case for child care, making historic investments in our families, and changing the conversation.

“But then, a couple of billionaires with no idea about what they are doing came along and decided to take an axe to Head Start. I mean talk about clueless. Talk about careless! Instead of giving our kids a Head Start Trump and Musk want to give billionaires another tax break and give families the cold shoulder.

“We already got a hint of how bad this could get for Washington state—when funding delays forced a Head Start program to the point of closure. 450 kids temporarily lost access to early education programs and support they counted on. And more than 70 employees were out of a job. To say nothing of the hundreds of parents who were about to be forced out of work because they lost pre-K.

“That chaos was from just one provider facing funding delays, if Trump and Musk get their way, if they zero out Head Start completely—the damage would be magnitudes greater.

“Let’s face it, billionaires like Elon Musk and Trump already had a “head start” in life, so of course they don’t care if anyone else needs a little help.

“But this is make or break for everyone else—and I mean everyone, not just for families, not just for parents, but for businesses as well, and for our economy which is powered by our working families.

 

“Trump and Musk may want to axe Head Start and they have already made clear they will do everything they can to break the program and cause chaos, but they are going to have to go through me—and they are going to have to go through all of you.

“I am going to keep doing what I have done since the very start, getting loud about why programs like Head Start matter for families, talking to other parents, lifting up their voices, and fighting, with all the power I have, for our kids.

“And I’m so glad to be fighting along such amazing advocates and organizations like the ACLU, and the Washington State Association of Head Start and E-CEAP—you don’t just serve our families, you are standing up for them, and we are all really thankful for that.

“So it’s great to be with you on this call—and let’s keep fighting, we’ve got to, thank you.”

###


The following sites updated:




Posted by at

Tuesday, April 29, 2025

One-Pan Garlic Butter Shrimp & Veggies in the Kitchen

Paul e-mailed to note Good Catholic's recipe for One-Pan Garlic Butter Shrimp & Veggies:

 

A quick and easy seafood dish that cooks in under 20 minutes!

  • Ingredients: 1 lb. of shrimp, garlic, olive oil or butter, lemon, zucchini, bell peppers (or whatever veggies you have on hand).
  • Saute garlic in butter and or olive oil for a few minutes. Add veggies. Push veggies aside in the pan and add a little more butter to saute the shrimp until pink. Sprinkle with lemon and serve immediately.
  • Tip: Serve over rice or pasta.




As I sat among the more than 200,000 people who came to Rome to grieve the loss and celebrate the life of Pope Francis, one word kept running through my mind − mercy.

I thought of the pope’s motto – “Miserando atque eligendo." It translates as, "He looked at him with mercy and chose him.” It is a reference to Jesus selecting Matthew to be his disciple, not despite the fact that the tax collector was a sinner, but because of it.

I thought of the Jubilee Year of Mercy that Pope Francis proclaimed. I thought of “The Name of God is Mercy” that he wrote.

Most of all, I thought of his mission, his ministry, his life’s work.

I first met Francis at his inauguration as pope in 2013. I was vice president. Like millions of Catholics all over the world, I felt a surge of hope and optimism.

In Francis, I saw the revitalization of the faith I had grown up with. A faith that calls us to care for “the last and the least” among us. A faith that gives us the obligation to feed the hungry, care for the sick, lift up the poor, welcome the stranger. A faith that sees the humanity in everyone and believes we are all God’s children. A faith of forgiveness and compassion. Of dignity and respect. Of love and mercy.

Please read it in full.  It's a lovely column and a great remembrance of the People's Pope. 

This is C.I.'s "The Snapshot" for Tuesday:



Tuesday, April 29, 2025.  Donald Chump continues to attack US citizens and immigrants and appears determined to see that someone gets popped in an ICE action, Pete Hegseth takes another belt as he remains Secretary of Defense, a MAGA liar needs to be exposed, and much more. 



Starting with the deeply unpopular Donald Chump, Kate Plummer (NEWSWEEK) reports:

President Donald Trump's approval rating among Hispanics has declined, new polling has revealed.

According to a new CNN poll, the proportion of Hispanic Americans who approve of the Republican has dropped by 13 percent since February, while a second poll has also suggested growing discontent among that group of the electorate.
Hispanic voters were integral in securing Trump the keys to the White House for a second time. While the demographic traditionally lean Democratic, Trump increased his share of the Hispanic vote from 16 percent in 2016 to 42 percent in 2024.


Of course it's declined.  Look at how he's terrorizing the immigrant community.  And then look at how he's terrorizing American citizens who are Latinos.  

And how he's putting everyone at risk -- the people being targeted as well as the ICE agents he's using.  From Ava and my "Media: Dangerous rip offs:"


They're being held like animals in cages with the exception that we'd demand much better conditions for animals.  This is repelling people, this reality of what Chump is actually doing. 

Again, nothing really happens in THE STUDIO but, in THE PLAYER, someone gets murdered.

Is that what's going to finally bury Chump's immigration plans?




The Trump administration has secretly allowed immigration agents to invade homes without a warrant for over a month, according to a leaked internal memo.

The memo, obtained by USA Today and issued by Attorney General Pam Bondi March 14, orders Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials to break into the homes of suspected members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua without a warrant.

It stated that ICE can curb the “proactive procedures” put in place to obtain a warrant, since they “will not always be realistic or effective in swiftly identifying and removing alien enemies.”


Is someone going to have to die to stop this policy?  If so, is it an ICE official that's going to get popped?

Grasp that this is the United States and guns are nearly as common as cell phones.  Also remember that 46 of the country's fifty states have open carry laws.  How many more warrantless kidnappings are going to take place?  And at what point is some concerned citizen seeing some woman like Rumeysa Ozturk being accosted on the street by people with no badges, no uniforms but maybe wearing masks -- at what point is some concerned citizen going to think these are mobsters trying to kidnap a woman off the street?

And if they shoot and kill an ICE agent, exactly what defense does the government think they can mount then?

Or maybe the ICE agent doesn't get killed.  Maybe they unload on the concerned citizen and kill that person on the street?

There are reasons that apprehension policies are in place.  There are reasons that require the police to identify themselves. 

Chump has tossed aside all legal requirements and those requirements exist not only to protect citizens, they also exist to protect law enforcement.  He's endangering everyone with his recklessness.

Someone is likely to get popped in one of these extralegal assignments Chump is carrying out.  When there's that kind of blood on his hands, what's Chump's defense going to be?



Secretary of State Marco Rubio forgot the Gospel According to Donald Trump on Sunday by admitting that anyone on U.S. soil is entitled to a fair hearing before being removed from the country.

“Yes, of course,” Rudio said in response to the host’s question of whether the Fifth Amendment still applies under Trump during his morning interview with MSNBC. “That’s what the law says!”

Perhaps conscious of having contradicted the latest White House statements and directives on the matter, he then scrambled to tell the network that “if you’re in this country illegally, you have no right to be here and you must be removed.”


If you are in the country with no right to be here?  That's a legal determination and it's why we have immigration courts. 

Instead, we have King Chump Dump circling the toilet and showing how heartless he can be.  Coach D explains it in the video below.


So, yes, Hispanic support for Chump is declining and will only continue to decline.  It's a direct result of Chump's policies. 




Border Czar Tom Homan and White House Secretary Karoline Leavitt announced Trump's latest anti-immigrant measures on Monday, Trump's 99th day in office.Andrew Leyden/ZUMA
Fight disinformation: Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily newsletter and follow the news that matters.

President Donald Trump is continuing to prioritize his anti-immigration agenda despite multiple polls in recent days showing that most Americans disapprove of it.

On Monday, the White House announced that Trump will sign two executive orders, one directing Attorney General Pam Bondi and Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem to draw up a list of sanctuary cities and states that are not complying with the federal government’s deportation orders, and another that will boost law enforcement capabilities to arrest immigrants.

At an early morning briefing alongside border czar Tom Homan, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt tried to justify the plan by reiterating the administration’s go-to—and false—trope that undocumented immigrants disproportionately commit crimes in the US. “It’s quite simple,” Leavitt said. “Obey the law, respect the law, and don’t obstruct federal immigration officials and law-enforcement officials when they are simply trying to remove public safety threats from our nation’s communities.” (In reality, research shows undocumented immigrants commit crimes at lower rates than US citizens.) The orders come just days after a federal judge blocked federal officials from carrying out a previous threat to withhold funding from 16 sanctuary jurisdictions.

Also on Monday, the White House debuted a set of lawn signs that appeared to highlight undocumented people who have been arrested since Trump’s return to power. The White House account on X posted a video of the signs set to Michael Bublé’s rendition of Nina Simone’s song “Feeling Good.” (A representative for Bublé—who is Canadian and has spoken out against Trump’s desire to annex the country as a 51st state—did not immediately respond to a request for comment about whether Bublé has a statement on the video.)

The Wall Street Journal reports that Trump will direct the Justice Department to open civil-rights cases against jurisdictions that he believes favor undocumented immigrants over US citizens. The Journal reports that the executive order cites at least 25 states that have adopted laws that provide immigrants with lower in-state tuition rates at public universities than those available to U.S. citizens. It is not clear which executive order the directive will be part of.


Let's note something about the above.

Michael Buble is not an American citizen. 

But this is who the MAGA cretins rip off to glorify.


MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN -- MAGA -- has never been anything more than racism.


"Feeling Good"?  No one in the world would argue did the definitive version of that song.

It's American Nina Simone.





Nina Simone recorded "Feeling Good" for her 1965 album I Put a Spell on You. The song has also been covered by other famous artists, including American singer Sammy Davis Jr., English rock band Traffic, Canadian singer Michael Bublé, American jazz saxophonist John Coltrane, American singer and actor Brian Stokes Mitchell, British singer George Michael, English pop singer Tony Hadley, American band Eels, American musician and singer Joe Bonamassa, Irish musician and singer Eden, English rock band Muse, British blues rock band Black Cat Bones, American DJ and electronic music producer Bassnectar, American singer and musician Sophie B. Hawkins, American rock musician Leslie West, Swedish DJ and music producer Avicii, American singer Chlöe, Palaver Strings & Kebra-Seyoun Charles, Victory, American rock music duo Sirsy (Melanie Krahmer), American rapper and singer Lauryn Hill, French DJ David Guetta, American singer Micah Dubitzky, and many others. It was also performed by American singer and pianist John Legend as part of the Celebrating America performance marking the inauguration of Joe Biden. 


It's Nina song to this day.  When it played in the last film in the QUIET PLACE franchise, Nina's version was when they went with.  Played in Bridget Fonda's POINT OF NO RETURN?  Nina's version.  Over and over, the world has responded to Nina's version.

And the supposed Make America Great goons, overlook Nina for a White Canadian man.  It's about racism.  

And, as Betty's been noting repeatedly this year, it's about Chump erasing Black people and their accomplishments:




In other news,  Charles Tiefer (TPM) notes:


The Trump White House this month announced two new executive orders radically changing procurement procedures, especially defense procurement procedures, in ways that will unleash waste, fraud and abuse. These orders — which largely flew under the radar — will effectively wipe out spending safeguards with potential effects that are hard to overstate considering that President Trump announced he will expand the defense budget to a breathtaking $1 trillion, and that the secretary of defense, Pete Hegseth, is no counterweight to politically driven spending.
To summarize, the new executive orders purport not merely to change or improve regulations, but to simply eliminate most of the existing procurement rules developed through years of oversight processes and outside scrutiny. They effectively undo procurement safeguards put in place after tremendous waste was exposed during the Cold War. In their place, the executive orders would elevate certain procedures that allow the government to spend unlimited sums without competition — the so-called “other transactions” process that need not be competed and that circumvents safeguards put in place to protect tax dollars. The Executive Orders say there should be a “first preference” for other transactions processes, which is like having a “first preference” for bringing a pistol with no safety to compete in a boxing match.

These revisions will also likely interfere with the system relied upon by competitors challenging improper awards, the “bid protest” system, which has long been a critical check on decisions made based on suspicious preferences rather than best value to the taxpayer. The orders proclaim that their goal is to “centralize decision-making,” which apparently means to move decisions on choosing weapon systems away from specialized, analytical government technical personnel steeped in the objective review of weapons choices so as to allow the decisions to be made by politically appointed officials attuned to politically favored contractors.


He is a danger to the entire country.  HIs stupidity puts us in all danger, his corruption puts us in danger, his inability to hire skilled people puts us all in danger.

On the last one, Hegseth hits the fan again.




Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s cybersecurity is again under scrutiny following a report from the New York Times that he used his personal cellphone for sports betting and highly sensitive military communications.

The Pentagon leader reportedly used his personal cellphone to create two Signal group chats about planned U.S. attacks on Houthis in Yemen. One included his wife and brother — neither of whom had security clearance — and the other accidentally included a reporter from the Atlantic.
Former FBI special agent and CIA officer Tracy Walder told NewsNation Hegseth’s communication practices are “very serious.”

“When you are sending that specific of information, like F-18 flight plans, targeting information, I would have been fired at the CIA if that is how I shared information,” Walder said. “FBI as well, because I held a security clearance there. So, that’s a fireable offense.”

The report said Hegseth’s personal phone number was found on betting sites, WhatsApp and Airbnb, as recently as March.

Cybersecurity experts have warned Hegseth’s phone was likely a prime target for spyware like Pegasus, given the public availability of his number and his position at the top of the Defense Department.

“This is why we don’t communicate classified information through those channels,” Walder said.




Colin Carroll, a former Pentagon official who was fired amid leaks at the Defense Department, said Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth was focused on “weird details” after the Signal group chat scandal was exposed.

Carroll joined “The Megyn Kelly Show” on Saturday, where he shared more about his experience working in the Pentagon and witnessing firsthand a “tale of two Petes.”
“Do you think he’s OK?” Host Megyn Kelly questioned about Hegseth.

“I honestly, I don’t know. I’m not sure,” Carroll replied.

Carroll began telling a story about how once, when House Freedom Caucus members visited the Pentagon, Hegseth was sharp and performed well during the budget-related discussion.

“The secretary crushed that meeting. I have never seen a meeting like that. There’s not a secretary in living memory that could have done as good a job with those guys,” Carroll said.

“At the same time, I’ve seen the secretary in more internal meetings where he is super focused on, like, very, in my opinion, weird details and very agitated and kind of yelling and just, nothing’s good,” Carroll later said.

Carroll, the former chief of staff to Deputy Secretary of Defense Steve A. Feinberg, noted he didn’t know Hegseth before he took his administration position.


Some BLUESKY reaction on Hegseth:



 





Turning to MAGA, MAGA liars are liars who love to play the victim.  They'll even lie to the press to make themselves look like a bigger victim.




If you love stupidity, you really need to know about Natalie Beisner.  On Saturday, she went to West Hollywood and elsewhere with alleged rapist Matt Gaetz as the two tried to find Chumpers.  For those who don't know, West Hollywood is Gay Town for LA.   Whiteys felt comfortable going there but you wouldn't catch their asses in Oakland and it's worth noting that reality since Natalie -- a very lousy actress -- insists she left the Democrats in 2020 due to charges of White privilege.  She does not have that, she insists.  Despite the fact that she's had a few acting jobs -- none that were big or memorable -- and she can't act.  Not even a little.  But she had looks that are considered attractive.  (She's already aging out of them.  On White woman, the first to go is usually the chin and it's starting to slide and the skin around it to pucker.)  She left because, in 2020, while she was 'following' the rules (she wasn't, she didn't get the vaccine), it was okay to protest with Black Lives Matter but not to go about this or that daily activity.

Let that register for a moment.

It's a dumb ass MAGA talking point.

They whine that they were following the rules and they don't like the rules.

Then why aren't you applauding BLM for bringing them down?  

That wasn't a Democratic Party action.  In terms of White people, there were some Democrats participating.  There were a lot of Socialists and anarchists participating.  Mainly, it was Black people standing up and saying no more.  

So why are you a cry baby about that Natalie?  You wanted the social distancing to end and, thanks to BLM, it did.  If you weren't such a racist, you'd be on your knees thanking BLM for achieving what you, in all your weakness, couldn't.


She also likes to whine about Granny.  The one she claims died in 2020.  Claims?  We'll come back to that.  But Granny died alone, alone, alone!  

Oh, the horror.  2020 was so horrible for her!  Those damn Democrats!

That's why she left the party.

Anybody see problems with her lies?

Joe Biden wasn't president in 2020.

Donald Chump was.  It's under Chump that the country had social distancing and other protocols.  Natalie's granny was dead long before Joe became president.

Are you starting to get how stupid Natalie is?


How about this?  BLM protests took place outside in the open air.  All along the COVID concern, like the influenza at the start of the first century, was mainly an enclosed area concern.  If you didn't know that, you didn't do the work required.  Ava and I did.  We ended up covering COVID early on.  In the one last century, for example, Boston hospitals realized the importance of the open air to prevent spreading.  

I am sympathetic to Natalie in one regard: The messaging was confusing.  I think Joe should have fired Faucci.  Faucci could never admit a mistake but constantly changed direction and directives.

That doesn't help with public safety.  You need to be able to say, "We continue to learn and based upon the latest findings, we now know . . ."  That was confusing.  To everyone, not just simpletons like Natalie.  

THE LOS ANGELES TIMES reported Monday on Natalie bizarre hook up with Matt Gaetz and noted, "Actress Natalie Beisner, who voted for Hillary Clinton and Obama, said the pandemic shutdowns made her rethink her political views. Beisner said that due to the shutdowns, she lost two jobs and her grandmother died alone, while at the same time, protesters prompted by the death of George Floyd could gather en mass. When she raised such concerns, Beisner said she was called racist and selfish."

Do they do any fact checking at LAT anymore?  

I ask because they say her granny died alone due to the shutdowns.

That's really something that sounds like a lie.

Probably because it is.

Women don't get a great deal of attention in this society, even when they get attention.  Kathy Bates' MATLOCK's a great show but it's not just older women that are erased and ignored.  As a feminist, I don't ignore women.  So I didn't get introduced to Natalie today.  No, I remember when she got an award for writing.  For writing about her grandmother dying.  "Woman Home."  That's what she titled her scribbles and the title didn't make sense to me but, at any rate, she's writing about a grandmother dying.  In 2020, she's writing about it.  And it has nothing to do with COVID and her mother's present and she's present in her grandmother's room.

In this June 7, 2020 interview, she's discussing her bad essay and how she writes -- or, rather, how she types.


Now many people have two sets of grandparents.  So maybe the essay, in 2020, is about one grandmother dying and the she ended up with another dying?  

Problem with that?  She taped a 'walk away' from the Democratic Party story and posted it online. "My Journey Away From The Democratic Party" is what she entitled it.  The video is long.  Seven seconds shy of ten minutes. She mentions every real and every imagined grievance she has with the Democratic Party -- and lot of insisting that she's not a racist.  You know what she doesn't mention in that nearly ten minute video?

A dead grandma.

But she trots out the story for LAT.  I guess, if she's not lying, her dead grandmother has left her with grief -- a kind of intermittent grief that comes and goes.  For instance, when taping her own ten minute video about how awful things were during COVID 'thanks to the Democrats' (again, Chump was in the White House in 2020), she forgets to mention the death of her grandmother?  I guess there's only so much a person can cover in ten minutes and grandma wasn't important enough to make the highlight reel.

Priorities. 

Last year, she did several segments on The Dinesh D'Souza Podcast talking about her 'walking away' from the Democratic Party and, guess what, she never mentioned grandma dying during COVID and being all alone at the time.  She apparently felt THE LOS ANGELES TIMES needed her to save this story, for five years, so that they would have an exclusive.

Either that or she's a liar.  



Let's wind down with this from Senator Patty Murray's office:

42 lawmakers write to RFK Jr. demanding answers on Trump admin’s actions undermining Head Start as Trump reportedly plans to eliminate the program

Washington, D.C. — Today, Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP), and Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Ranking Member of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies, led a letter to Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. calling out the Trump administration’s direct attacks on Head Start, reminding him of his legal obligation to administer the program, and demanding the Department of Health and Human Services immediately release Head Start funding and reverse the mass firing of Head Start staff and gutting of the offices that help ensure high-quality services are available for thousands of children and families across the country.

“We write to express our strong opposition to the actions you have taken to directly attack and undermine the federal Head Start program. Since day one, this Administration has taken unacceptable actions to withhold and delay funding, fire Head Start staff, and gut high-quality services for children. Already this year, this Administration has withheld almost $1 billion in federal grant funding from Head Start programs, a 37 percent decrease compared to the amount of funding awarded during the same period last year,” write the lawmakers. “It is abundantly clear that these actions are part of a broader effort to ultimately eliminate the program altogether, as the Administration reportedly plans to do in its fiscal year 2026 budget proposal.”

The lawmakers detail how the program plays an instrumental role in supporting kids and families across the country, writing: “Head Start provides early childhood education and comprehensive health and social services to nearly 800,000 young children every year in communities across this country, and employs about 250,000 dedicated staff. Head Start is a critical source of child care for working families, particularly in rural and Tribal communities, where Head Start programs are often the only option for high-quality child care services. Head Start programs ensure children receive appropriate health and dental care, nutrition support, and referrals to other critical services for parents, such as job training, adult education, nutrition services, and housing support.”

“You even acknowledged the value of Head Start following a recent visit to a Virginia Head Start center,” the lawmakers write, contrasting that statement of support with the Trump administration’s actions. “However, as a result of your actions to withhold and delay funding and undermine the administration of this vital program, Head Start centers are in serious jeopardy and have already had their day to day operations impacted. Programs are increasingly worried that they will not be able to make payroll, pay rent, and remain open to serve the hundreds of thousands of children and families who depend on their services in communities across the nation.”

“Since the very start of this Administration, Head Start programs have been under attack,” the lawmakers write, detailing office closures and funds that were frozen for Head Start grants across the country. “At one point, the National Head Start Association reported 37 programs serving nearly 15,000 children across the country could not access their federal funding. Head Start programs operate with thin margins and on short-term budgets from HHS, and without any communication from the Administration about the status of funding, programs were forced to temporarily close or to lay off staff.”

The lawmakers underscore how the gutting of Head Start offices and the firing of staff who keep the federal program running puts the entire program in jeopardy: “On April 1st, you abruptly closed five of the ten regional offices that help local grantees administer Head Start programs in 22 states . This left hundreds of programs without dedicated points of contact to address mission critical issues like approving grant renewals and modifications, investigating child health and safety incidents, and providing training and technical assistance to ensure high-quality services for children. While some grantees were assigned a new program specialist, we understand many have not been receiving responses to their inquiries. This is on top of the estimated 97 Office of Head Start central office staff that were terminated due to their probationary status and the recent reduction in force. You promised ‘radical transparency’ as Secretary, yet it is unclear how these actions will improve Head Start programs, and you and your staff refuse to respond to basic inquiries and requests for information.”

Importantly, they note that without funding that has so far not gone out the door, many more programs could be forced to close.

“Head Start grantees are still waiting on payments and grant renewals from the Office of Head Start, including programs whose grants end on April 30th, 2025. These notices should have gone out by now, yet we are concerned to hear programs report they have received little to no correspondence regarding their grant renewals,” the lawmakers continue to detail how local Head Start programs are receiving no notice for the path forward for grant funding. “Additionally, because we started fiscal year 2025 under a short-term continuing resolution, as is usual, some grantees have only received partial funding for the first few months of the year. But with a full year funding bill in place, these grantees should have received full funding by now, yet some are reporting that they have not received the full amount of their grants and will run out of funds this month or next. On Wednesday, April 16th, the delays in Head Start funding led to the closure of Head Start centers serving more than 400 children in Sunnyside, Washington.”

“The Administration has a legal and moral obligation to disburse Head Start funds to programs and to uphold the program’s promise to provide high-quality early education services to low income children and families across this country,” the lawmakers write. “There is no justifiable reason for the delay in funding we have seen over the last two months, and you have refused to offer any kind of explanation.”

The lawmakers conclude by warning that eliminating the program would be devastating, demanding answers on the administration’s actions, and demanding the reversal of them: “[W]e urge you to immediately reinstate fired staff across all Offices of Head Start, and cease all actions to delay the awarding and disbursement of funding to Head Start programs across this country.”

In addition to Senators Murray, Sanders, and Baldwin, the letter was signed by 39 colleagues, including Jack Reed (D-RI), Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI), Andy Kim (D-NJ), Ben Ray Lujan (D-NM), Charles E. Schumer (D-NY), Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-DE), Peter Welch (D-VT), Gary Peters (D-MI), Michael F. Bennet (D-CO), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Ruben Gallego (D-AZ), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Jacky Rosen (D-NV), Tina Smith (D-MN), John Fetterman (D-PA), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Christopher A. Coons (D-DE), Christopher S. Murphy (D-CT), Jeffrey A. Merkley (D-OR), Mark Kelly (D-AZ), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), Tim Kaine (D-VA), Alex Padilla (D-CA), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Elissa Slotkin (D-MI), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Raphael Warnock (D-GA), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Edward Markey (D-MA), Angus King (I-ME), Brian Schatz (D-HI), Martin Heinrich (D-NM), Angela Alsobrooks (D-MD), and Mark R. Warner (D-VA).

Full text of the letter is available HERE and below:

Dear Secretary Kennedy:

We write to express our strong opposition to the actions you have taken to directly attack and undermine the federal Head Start program. Since day one, this Administration has taken unacceptable actions to withhold and delay funding, fire Head Start staff, and gut high-quality services for children. Already this year, this Administration has withheld almost $1 billion in federal grant funding from Head Start programs, a 37 percent decrease compared to the amount of funding awarded during the same period last year. It is abundantly clear that these actions are part of a broader effort to ultimately eliminate the program altogether, as the Administration reportedly plans to do in its fiscal year 2026 budget proposal.

Head Start provides early childhood education and comprehensive health and social services to nearly 800,000 young children every year in communities across this country, and employs about 250,000 dedicated staff. Head Start is a critical source of child care for working families, particularly in rural and Tribal communities, where Head Start programs are often the only option for high-quality child care services. Head Start programs ensure children receive appropriate health and dental care, nutrition support, and referrals to other critical services for parents, such as job training, adult education, nutrition services, and housing support.

You even acknowledged the value of Head Start following a recent visit to a Virginia Head Start center, where you said, “I had a very inspiring tour. I saw a devoted staff and a lot of happy children. They are getting the kind of education and socialization they need, and they are also getting a couple of meals a day.”

However, as a result of your actions to withhold and delay funding and undermine the administration of this vital program, Head Start centers are in serious jeopardy and have already had their day to day operations impacted. Programs are increasingly worried that they will not be able to make payroll, pay rent, and remain open to serve the hundreds of thousands of children and families who depend on their services in communities across the nation.

Since the very start of this Administration, Head Start programs have been under attack. On January 27th, 2025, the Office of Management and Budget issued a memo (M-25-13) that suddenly froze the disbursement of grant funding for federal programs and services government-wide, including Head Start. Despite the Administration’s clarification that Head Start programs would not be the target of the funding freeze, many Head Start programs across the country were unable to draw down their grant funds through the Payment Management System (PMS) for weeks. At one point, the National Head Start Association reported 37 programs serving nearly 15,000 children across the country could not access their federal funding. Head Start programs operate with thin margins and on short-term budgets from HHS, and without any communication from the Administration about the status of funding, programs were forced to temporarily close or to lay off staff. In Wisconsin, the National Centers for Learning Excellence, which serves more than 200 children and their families, shut down for a week and laid off staff due to the funding freeze.

On April 1st, you abruptly closed five of the ten regional offices that help local grantees administer Head Start programs in 22 states. This left hundreds of programs without dedicated points of contact to address mission critical issues like approving grant renewals and modifications, investigating child health and safety incidents, and providing training and technical assistance to ensure high-quality services for children. While some grantees were assigned a new program specialist, we understand many have not been receiving responses to their inquiries. This is on top of the estimated 97 Office of Head Start central office staff that were terminated due to their probationary status and the recent reduction in force. You promised “radical transparency” as Secretary, yet it is unclear how these actions will improve Head Start programs, and you and your staff refuse to respond to basic inquiries and requests for information.

On March 14th, 2025, the Office of Head Start (OHS) notified all Head Start programs that “the use of federal funding for any training and technical assistance or other program expenditures that promote or take part in diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives” will not be approved and that any questions should be directed to regional offices. Programs have not received any guidance for what would be considered “DEI” but this policy is potentially in direct conflict with statutory and regulatory program requirements, such as providing culturally and linguistically appropriate instructional services for English learners. Many programs cannot direct questions to regional staff, as half of regional offices were abruptly closed, and as unprecedented actions are being taken to delay and withhold funding, Head Start programs have been intentionally left with little to no guidance.

Head Start programs are now arbitrarily required to provide justifications for each draw down of funds that is necessary to operate their programs, despite already receiving a federal grant award for these purposes. As of April 14th, Head Start programs have reportedly received correspondence from an email address “defendthespend@hhs.gov” requiring programs to submit a “specific description of why the funds are necessary and why they are aligned to the award” before programs can have funding disbursed. It has been reported that political appointees must sign off on every draw down of funds. This creates an illusion of improving oversight but only serves to add unnecessary red tape by requiring the manual sign off on hundreds of thousands of individual actions annually across the Department based on two to three sentence justifications. Already some grantees have reported delays in receiving funds, and have reported that furloughs or closures are imminent if funds are not released. For an administration that purports to value local autonomy and efficiency in federally funded programs, your actions have achieved the exact opposite.

Finally, Head Start grantees are still waiting on payments and grant renewals from the Office of Head Start, including programs whose grants end on April 30th, 2025. These notices should have gone out by now, yet we are concerned to hear programs report they have received little to no correspondence regarding their grant renewals. Additionally, because we started fiscal year 2025 under a short-term continuing resolution, as is usual, some grantees have only received partial funding for the first few months of the year. But with a full year funding bill in place, these grantees should have received full funding by now, yet some are reporting that they have not received the full amount of their grants and will run out of funds this month or next. On Wednesday, April 16th, the delays in Head Start funding led to the closure of Head Start centers serving more than 400 children in Sunnyside, Washington.

The Administration has a legal and moral obligation to disburse Head Start funds to programs and to uphold the program’s promise to provide high-quality early education services to low income children and families across this country. The fiscal year 2025 appropriations act provided $12.3 billion for Head Start, the same as the fiscal year 2024 level. The Head Start Act includes an explicit formula for how appropriated funds should be allocated. There is no justifiable reason for the delay in funding we have seen over the last two months, and you have refused to offer any kind of explanation. However, this week leaked fiscal year 2026 budget documents indicated the Office of Management and Budget was directing the Department, consistent with the Administration’s proposal to eliminate Head Start in fiscal year 2026, to “ensure to the extent allowable FY2025 funds are available to close out the program.” If this explains any of the delay in awarding fiscal year 2025 funding, we want to be clear, no funds were provided in fiscal year 2025 to “close out the program,” and it would be wholly unacceptable and likely illegal if the Department tries to carry out this directive.

Finally, the leaked budget documents provided a justification, albeit brief, for eliminating Head Start in fiscal year 2026 that makes this Administration’s priorities clear and puts the Department’s actions over the last several months in context. The Administration argues that eliminating Head Start, “is consistent with the Administration’s goals of returning education to the States and increasing parental choice.” It is shocking to see an argument that eliminating a program that provides comprehensive early childhood care and education to 800,000 children and their families would increase parental choice. It is particularly concerning to see that argument in the context of the significant delay in awarding fiscal year 2025 appropriated funds and what that indicates about the intent behind the Department’s actions. We believe it is obvious that eliminating Head Start would be detrimental to hundreds of thousands of children and families. Similarly, we believe it is obvious that delaying funding like we have seen over the last two months, forcing Head Start programs to close, and leaving families to scramble to find quality, affordable alternatives puts the education and well-being of some of the most vulnerable young children in America at risk. In our view, that is unacceptable.

Therefore, we urge you to immediately reinstate fired staff across all Offices of Head Start, and cease all actions to delay the awarding and disbursement of funding to Head Start programs across this country.

Please provide us with a written response to the questions below no later than 10 days from receipt:

1. Will you reinstate the staff who administer Head Start programs and reopen the closed regional offices responsible for overseeing Head Start programs in 22 states?

a) When is HHS going to share information on the reorganization plan for the consolidation of the regional offices?

b) Please provide the contact information for each program specialist designated to the 22 states who lost their regional office.

c) Who is responsible for ensuring there are no delays or lapses in funding, nor any disruptions to Head Start program operations now that these states do not have a regional office?

2. How many employees at the Offices of Head Start have been terminated, including the five regional offices and the central office?

a) Which officials at HHS were involved in the staffing reduction decisions for OHS and what planning, if any, was undertaken prior to these reductions? Please describe the events that unfolded and name each office that was involved in the decision. Further, please name the official(s) who approved the staffing reductions.

3. Can you confirm that the Administration will distribute all Head Start funds appropriated by Congress to Head Start programs in FY 25, as required by the Head Start Act?

4. Please provide a list of all grantees with 5-year Head Start grant renewals that start between now and the end of the fiscal year: May 1st, June 1st, July 1st, August 1st, and September 1st.

a) Will any funding be delayed for grantees that are due to receive their annual funding on May 1st or beyond?

5. Why are funding awards delayed for grantees that received partial awards during the first continuing resolution for FY25?

a) When can HHS guarantee that all funds will be awarded for partially funded Head Start programs?

6. What is the “Tier 2” department for review that is delaying drawn down for Head Start programs in the Payment Management System?

a) When should programs expect to receive their funds?

b) Please provide all communication that went to Head Start grantees on the new review process.

7. What guidance and clarifications have been provided to Head Start grantees on DEI expenditures?

a) How is HHS evaluating Head Start programs’ expenditures and grant awards for DEI?

b) What justifications are being used to prohibit DEI?

###



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