Thank you to everyone that e-mails suggested recipes. Even thank you to those who don't get highlighted. If the recipe is too involved, it's not for this site. I'm trying to help people who are new to cooking and people who are stretched for time. As a working mother (nurse) who raised eight kids, I know the struggle when you're trying to stretch time.
I mention that because I am very thankful to Randy for the recipe he e-mailed. Again, grateful for all. But he e-mailed to highlight A Seasoned Mom's "Roasted Yellow Squash" recipe. It has been a rough week at work. It has been an awful week for me in terms of the passing of Pope Francis. I've caught a cold (on Tuesday) that I just can't seem to shake. I'm just trying to make it to the weekend -- the American motto, right?
So Randy's e-mail and recipe made me very happy. I love yellow squash. Seeing the recipe, just seeing it and reading over it, made me smile. I'll be eating squash this weekend. Here's the recipe:
Optional garnish: chopped fresh herbs such as parsley, thyme, or basil
Instructions:
Preheat oven to 400°F. Place squash rounds
in a large bowl. Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper
to taste. Toss to coat.
Arrange squash in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet. Top with Parmesan cheese.
Roast in the oven for 12-14 minutes, or
until squash is tender. Transfer to the broiler for 1-2 more minutes, or
until the cheese on top is crispy and golden brown.
Garnish with fresh herbs and season with additional salt and pepper if desired. Serve immediately.
News? I'm really bothered by inept and corrupt administration. I guess I'll tackle a Trump tart? Pam Bonci, anyone?
In
a court filing Thursday morning, the Justice Department confessed that
it accidentally publicly uploaded a letter in which the DOJ was giving
legal advice to the Department of Transportation. Apparently, it had
been intending to post a different letter to the judge in a court case
involving the government's scrapping of New York City's congestion
charge scheme.
Data engineer Émilia Decaudin pasted the screen captures of the letter on X after they went live on Wednesday.
Lawfare's
Anna Bower noted that in a filing Wednesday, it "certainly looks like
the Justice Department intended to file a letter to Judge Liman in MTA
v. Duffy, but….it accidentally filed a letter containing its legal
advice to the Department of Transportation instead."
According
to the memo posted, on Wednesday, the DOJ said, "For the reasons below,
it is unlikely that Judge Liman or further courts of review will accept
the argument that the CBDTP was not a statutorily authorized 'value
pricing' pilot under the Value Pricing Pilot Program ('VPPP')."
On
Thursday, Bower posted an update with the new filing, saying, "The
Justice Department filed a letter acknowledging that it inadvertently
uploaded an attorney-client privileged document to the public docket
last night. DOJ seeks to have the document permanently sealed or
removed, and asks judge to hold that AC privilege was not waived."
How
stupid is Pam Bondi? She can't run a department. Do we not get how
major that screw up was? They handed over the case -- after wasting tax
payer money to pursue it in the first place.
What's
really sad? Pam Bondi might be one of the smarter ones in this
administration. She's miles ahead of, for example, Pete Hegseth, Peter
Navarro, Robert Kennedy Junior and the idiot who is Secretary of
Education -- Dried Up Hag, is that her name? I think it is. She's the
unqualified person -- probably one of many -- who bought her way into
the administration. Having done so, Dried Up Hag is not attempting to
ruin education for every American child. It's too bad she can't get
laid, that might relax her if she could.
Thursday, April 24, 2025. Donald Chump continues to wreck the economy
and continues to make the case for his own impeachment, security risk
Pete Hegseth remains in his position, David Hogg has failed at his
mission to communicate, and much more.
Let's start with Pete Hegseth. The unqualified Secretary
of Defense is in the news for so many things. Yesterday afternoon, a
friend at CBS NEWS called me about this report by Jennifer Jacobs:
Defense
Secretary Pete Hegseth recently ordered modifications to a room next to
the Pentagon press briefing room to retrofit it with a makeup studio
that can be used to prepare for television appearances, multiple sources
told CBS News.
The price tag for the project
was several thousand dollars, according to two of the sources, at a time
when the administration is searching for cost-cutting measures.
My CBS friend joked that Hegseth was "wounded" by comments in yesterday's snapshot
about his looks. I doubt it. But, sadly for him, I actually held back on
that. As soon as he returns to wearing his make up on camera I may
have to review his looks again. This time not just because that nose
requires much more comment (as does the chin) and not also because I'm
interested to see how much work is required to make him Maybelline Cover
Girl camera ready -- no, mainly because that vanity is something that
the US taxpayer is now paying to preserve.
Hegseth
continues to lie and he's the spawn of a liar (Chump) so it may get
confusing. But let's note one thing clearly. This was his second leak
problem, his second breach of national security. Shouldn't he be
explaining right now why, when the first one was revealed weeks ago, he
gave no heads up about this latest example?
He
knew during the last scandal, as he lied repeatedly, that he had done
another chat on a non-secure device, using the risky Signal app, and he
never said, "Let me explain, there's something else."
Maybe he didn't know?
I guess that's possible. Maybe he got blotto drunk, passed out and can't remember anything on the morning after?
If he wants to offer that excuse, I'm willing to consider it. But right now, he's just lying. Gustaf Kilander (INDEPENDENT) calls it like it is, "Defense
Secretary Pete Hegseth did use his personal phone to send sensitive
information to two group chats on the messaging app Signal, three
officials have told NBC News." Colby Hall (MEDIAITE) notes, "Hegseth
is reportedly troubled by the alleged 'total chaos' reported by his
former spokesperson and is “in full paranoia, back-against-the-wall
mode,” according to a source familiar with Hegseth’s state of mind over
the last month, per CNN’s report." Morgan Music (LATIN TIMES) notes the Hegseth hypocrisy of it all:
In
a 2016 Fox News segment, Hegseth harshly criticized former Secretary of
State Hillary Clinton over her handling of classified emails, declaring
that "any security professional military government or otherwise would
be fired on the spot for this type of conduct and criminally prosecuted
for being so reckless."
"The
fact that she wouldn't be held accountable for this blows the mind of
anyone who's held our nation's secrets dear, who's had a top secret
clearance—like I have," Hegseth continued. "Who know that even one
hiccup causes a problem."
Now, Hegseth himself
is accused of reckless conduct with the nation's secrets, reportedly
sending sensitive information about US airstrikes in Yemen to Signal
group chats.
So
what say you now, Hegseth? You've mishandled sensitive information --
that's putting it nicely -- so why shouldn't you be fired? And don't
give us a garbage reply like, "Hillary wasn't!" Hillary had already
stepped down as Secretary of State in February of 2013 -- three years
prior to the e-mail scandal emerging. When Hegseth was screaming she
should be fired, she had, again, been out of that job for three years.
Meanwhile,
Hegseth still holds his job. So what does Hegseth think should be done
with him? Hand him another bottle of beer? Nod while he exclaims,
"I'll drink to that!"
Jack Hobbs (THE MIRROR) reports, "White
House press secretary Karoline Leavitt took to the podium in the James
S. Brady Press Briefing Room on Tuesday for her regular briefing, where
she reaffirmed the White House's backing of the Secretary of Defense."
Yes, thus far the White House is standing by Hegseth.
That is correct.
Donald Chump is shirking his duty.
Hegseth
should have been fired immediately. Now we have a second breach of
security and Chump's waiting to see if it'll blow over.
The
mid-terms aren't going to blow over. If Dems end up with control of
just one house of Congress -- and they may get two -- look for
impeachment charges.
And
they'll be right to impeach and to remove from office. Nobody wants JD
Vance as president but Donald's committing a high crime right now.
The leaking of classified information is a high crime.
Instead of addressing it, Chump is ignoring it. That's dereliction of duty.
Susan
Rice was on Lawrence O'Donnell's MSNBC show last night. (Note, I'm
beyond sick this morning. I don't see the video at MSNBC, I was sick
last night. If it wasn't Lawrence, I'll note it tomorrow but as I'm
remembering it, it was Lawrence's show. ADDED: It wasn't Lawrence, it was Brian Tyler Cohen's YOUTUBE program, we'll note it in tomorrow's snapshot.])
Details of an impending military strike are top secret. There's no
debating this. And Hegseth's sharing this on two unsecure chats. This
outrageous. She was the National Security Advisor from 2013 to 2017.
She knows what she's talking about. She laid it out very cleary. He
broke the rules.
That's it when you're President of the United States. You make the call, you fire the idiot.
Chump
refusing to do so. He's dilly dallied for weeks now demonstrating that
he lacks the strength of character to do the most basic tasks to ensure
the safety of this country.
This is impeachable. This is not minor.
Yet, day after day, he refuses to address this situation.
Other countries are aware of this, it's on their news casts as well.
And
other countries are far less likely to share important information with
us if they have to worry that Gossip Girl Hegseth might let it slip in
a group chat. That's harming us right now. When Hegseth's loose lips
flutter, that also threatens the people tasked with carrying out a
mission -- such as the bombing of Yemen.
There
is no excuse for Hegseth's actions and he should be fired immediately;
however, as Chump continues to delay that, we need to expand the
spotlight so it includes Donald because he's refusing to do what a
president needs to do which is fire Hegseth.
Chump's
refusal to address this is a high crime. It puts the entire country at
risk, it endangers the military personnel he is tasking with missions
and it harms our relationships with other countries who share classified
information -- or used to share -- with us.
Jennifer
Hegseth has been a constant presence in her husband’s inner circle from
even before he was confirmed to the Cabinet job. Her involvement thrust
her back into the spotlight over the weekend, when it was reported
that she was in a Signal group chat with her husband, his brother, and
his lawyer, in which the secretary disclosed sensitive information about
military operations against the Houthis.
While
Hegseth’s brother Phil and his lawyer Tim Parlatore have official
positions within the Defense Department, Jennifer Hegseth does not.
A
source familiar with the situation told CNN Jennifer Hegseth submitted
paperwork for a security clearance, but it was unclear if she received
one. When asked by CNN if Jennifer Hegseth has a clearance, a
spokesperson said the department does not discuss security clearances
for any individual. Pentagon press secretary Kingsley Wilson, however,
added that Jennifer Hegseth has “never attended a meeting where
sensitive information or classified information was discussed.”
Jen
Psaki noted Monday night on MSNBC that she wasn't allowed to share
sensitive information with her husband when she worked for the
government.
America's richest and most powerful companies shelled out millions to fund President Donald Trump's inauguration festivities.
Three
months later, some may be asking whether the famously transactional
president has their backs. Many of those corporations have had their
businesses roiled by Trump's tariff policy and resulting consumer
caution, dampening the optimism much of the business and finance
community felt when he was reelected.
Some of the
nation's largest companies, including General Motors, BlackRock and
Meta, donated to Trump's inaugural committee, leading it to raise a
record $239 million – more than the previous three inaugural committees
took in combined, according to filings released Sunday.
In
other words, they didn't get what they wanted . . . nor did they get
what they needed. They tried real hard but they bought from a con man
so they got screwed. And screwed over is what is now happening to
American business -- big and small -- thanks to Chump. AFP reports,
"Boeing's CEO confirmed Wednesday that China had stopped accepting new
aircraft due to the US-China trade war, as the company's shares surged
following a smaller than expected loss" and they quote Kelly Ortberg
(Boeing Chief Executive) stating the country "stopped taking delivery
of aircraft due to the tariff environment." Mary Papenfuss (INDEPENDENT) notes:
Donald
Trump’s tariffs are already triggering thousands of layoffs in American
manufacturing plants, mostly in the Midwest and the East.
Companies
are ejecting workers in the wake of Trump’s purported plan to use the
levies to bring manufacturing jobs back to the country.
The
Volvo Group has announced it’s cutting 800 workers at its Volvo and
Mack Truck plants in Pennsylvania, Virginia and Maryland.
“Heavy-duty
truck orders continue to be negatively affected by market uncertainty
about freight rates and demand, possible regulatory changes, and the
impact of tariffs,” a Volvo Group spokesperson told Reuters.
Pennsylvania
Democratic state lawmaker Josh Siegel told ABC27 that Trump’s tariffs
have been a “devastating blow to Lehigh Valley workers” in a region
where Mack remains one of the region’s largest employers.
“Workers
are not just numbers—they are parents, neighbors, veterans, and skilled
tradespeople who built America’s backbone,” Siegel said.
President
Trump said this week that he never had any plans to fire Federal
Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, accusing the media of pushing a false
narrative that he was out to get the central bank chief.
But
inside the White House, some senior officials took Trump’s recent
public musings about terminating Powell seriously. As Trump’s criticism
of the Fed chair ramped up over the last week, White House lawyers
privately reviewed legal options for attempting to remove Powell,
including whether they could do so for “cause,” according to people
familiar with the matter. The laws that created the Federal Reserve say
Fed governors can only be removed before their term ends for cause,
which courts have generally interpreted to mean malfeasance or
impropriety. Finding a pretext for dismissing Powell would have edged
the White House closer to a dramatic escalation with the central bank.
Those
discussions came to a halt early this week when Trump told his senior
aides that he wouldn’t try to oust Powell. His decision came after
interventions from Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Commerce
Secretary Howard Lutnick, who warned Trump that such a move could
trigger far-reaching market chaos and a messy legal fight, the people
said. Lutnick also told the president that efforts to fire the Fed chair
likely wouldn’t lead to any practical change on interest rates because
other members of the Fed’s board would likely approach monetary policy
similarly to Powell, one of the people said.
In
an appearance on CNN, the U.S. National Editor for the Financial Times,
Ed Luce, claimed President Donald Trump is being schooled — but he
‘isn't learning a lesson’.
‘The Situation Room’ hosts Wolf Blitzer and Pamela Brown both pressed the editor on the economy under Trump.
[. . ]
"I
mean, 1.8% U.S. growth this year is still relatively on the high side. I
would have thought if you see a resumption of the trade war. But the
significance is that it just sort of feeds into this dawning and quite
dramatic realization on the part of markets that U.S. economic policy is
going to be capricious, unpredictable and a very hard climate in which
to invest whilst Donald Trump remains president. That's really the sort
of the salient fact in all of this. They don't trust President Trump."
Illinois
Gov. JB Pritzker announced that the state will take punitive actions
against the country of El Salvador for holding Kilmar Abrego Garcia in
custody.
“The United States Constitution
guarantees due process. We are witnessing Donald Trump erode our
fundamental Constitutional rights in real time, and we must fight to
restore the balance of power,” said Pritzker. “The State of Illinois
will stand up for the Rule of Law and do everything in our power stop
the Trump Administration from ripping apart our most basic rights.”
Garcia,
an accused MS-13 gang member, was deported from Maryland to his home
country in March, despite a 2019 court order barring his deportation to
El Salvador due to fear of persecution.
A
federal judge said Tuesday that the Trump administration is ignoring
court orders, obstructing the legal process, and acting in “bad faith”
by refusing to provide information about the steps they have taken, if
any, to free Garcia from an El Salvador prison.
The
U.S. Supreme Court ordered the Trump administration nearly two weeks
ago to facilitate Garcia’s return to the U.S. from a Salvadoran prison,
rejecting the White House’s claim that it couldn’t retrieve him after
mistakenly deporting him.
Kilmer
remains out of the US after being kidnapped by Chump and thrown into a
concentration camp in El Salvador. He is not the only one this has
happened to. Alex Bollinger (LGBTQ NATION) notes:
Out gay Rep. Robert Garcia (D-CA) sent letters demanding answers to
his “grave concerns” about why gay makeup artist Andry José Hernandez
Romero was sent to the CECOT torture camp in El Salvador. Authorities
claim that he has tattoos associated with the Tren de Aragua gang, but
that assessment appears to have been made by a disgraced former police
officer who was working for a private contractor after losing his job
with the police force.
While much of America is focused on Maryland dad Kilmar
Abrego Garcia, who was sent to CECOT due to an admitted “administrative
error,” Garcia is asking about Hernandez, a makeup artist who made
national headlines.
Hernandez Romero is a Venezuelan immigrant who trekked to the U.S. and
entered legally last year at San Diego. There, he asked for asylum,
saying that he was being targeted in Venezuela for being gay and due to
his political beliefs. He was held in a CoreCivic detention center,
where he was screened by Charles Cross Jr.
A
federal judge rebuked the Trump administration for thwarting the
collection of evidence in the case of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the Maryland
man mistakenly deported to El Salvador.
US
District Judge Paula Xinis, who is overseeing the case, on Tuesday
largely rejected the government’s objections to information demands from
Abrego Garcia’s lawyers as she keeps open the option of initiating
contempt of court proceedings.
The judge said
Justice Department lawyers must stop mischaracterizing a Supreme Court
order to facilitate Abrego Garcia’s release from custody and arguing
that information can’t be disclosed because it’s confidential for one
reason or another.
“For weeks, defendants have
sought refuge behind vague and unsubstantiated assertions of privilege,
using them as a shield to obstruct discovery and evade compliance with
this court’s orders,” Xinis wrote. “That ends now.”
Chump
and the crooks who work for him won't reveal anything on the deportees .
. . unless they can use it to harm. Case in point? Alex Woodward (INDEPENDENT) notes:
The
wife of a wrongly deported Salvadoran father living in Maryland was
moved to a safe house after Donald Trump’s administration posted a court
document that included her address on social media.
In an interview with The Washington Post,
Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s wife Jennifer Vasquez Sura said she began
fearing for her safety and the safety of her three children after the
Department of Homeland Security shared a protective order from 2021 that
prominently featured her address to the department’s 2.4 million
followers on X.
“I don’t
feel safe when the government posts my address, the house where my
family lives, for everyone to see, especially when this case has gone
viral and people have all sorts of opinions,” she told The Washington
Post. “So, this is definitely a bit terrifying. I’m scared for my kids.”
What
they have done is 'doxed' her. This was not a mistake or an accident.
It's retaliation. And it's outrageous. Chump's endless cycle of
retribution where he tries to strike out for every real and imaginary
slight he feels he's endured? It is leaving the US at risk. His
mental decline has been noted -- and should continue to be -- but we
also need to grasp that there's also a break with reality taking place
as he tries to erase various people in our country. And there are a lot
of ways to erase someone. For example, Meryl Kornfield, Lisa Rein, Hannah Natanson (WASHINGTON POST) report:
When Richard VanMetter tried to buy a sandwich, he didn’t realize he was dead.
The
76-year-old retired physicist, on vacation in Boca Raton, Florida, in
February, assumed there might have been a fraudulent charge that caused
his credit card to be declined for a $6 Italian sub purchase. Then he
called his bank and learned the government had told every financial
institution he had ever interacted with that he had died. The government
clawed back his last Social Security check and shut off his retirement
checks and Medicare. Months later, he’s still working on getting his
pension payments back.
“It has been the bane of my existence,” VanMetter said.
VanMetter
had been mistakenly added to Social Security’s Death Master File — a
database the government maintains to keep track of deceased people who
should no longer receive benefits that is also provided to financial
institutions, employers, election offices and other organizations. The
agency has acknowledged that about 600 people a month are placed in the
database mistakenly, for reasons ranging from clerical errors to bad
information.
Now, false claims by Elon Musk and
his U.S. DOGE Service about dead people getting benefits have led to a
new effort to move millions of names to the Death Master File —
increasing the odds that more people who are alive will inadvertently be
declared dead, according to current and former officials at the agency,
who spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation.
A
functioning president would be appalled by what happened to Richard
VanMetter. Grasp that we do not have a functioning president in the
Oval Office. We have a convicted felon experiencing cognitive decline
as he abuses the power of the office to seek retribution.
People of color are not stupid. And that was especially driven home in this YOUTUBE video to David Hogg.
Who is David Hogg talking about
replacing? People of color especially are concerned when a White man
starts talking about replacing members of Congress -- and for good
reason.
David needs to be
having a conversation but it's been days since his announcement and
he's still not eager for a conversation that reaches beyond the White
world. DSAers want AOC to be the next president but they've yet to make
any efforts to atone for what they did to the country and the Black
community in 2024. The sitcom's just fine and not going anywhere. But
maybe the media should hit hard on their other beloved trope: The Death
Of The Democratic Party? If certain self-proclaimed players are unable
to listen to minority populations, the party's going to do even worse in
2028.
Elements of DSA
want to take over the Democratic Party. The reality is that, if they
want AOC as the presidential nominee in 2028, they need to be talking to
the Black community which is not as stupid as the White community.
DSA
and MAGA share The Politics of Destruction -- which is why so many
people can flip from one group to the other -- Tulsi Gabbard, Jimmy
Dore, Jackson Hinkle, etc etc.
They want to destroy the system.
It's easy for White people to feel that way -- and White-identifying pocs.
They've been spoiled all their life.
Spoiled for centuries basically.
Not true for Black Americans.
We've
had to fight to end slavery, we've had to fight for basic rights after
slavery, as late as the 1960s the Civil Rights Movement was still
ongoing and though that movement did so much, it did not bring about
equality.
While spoiled White DSAers sat on
their asses and plotted to take down the system, Black Americans had to
fight daily for the system to open even a little for us.
So
when you start your nonsense about tearing everything down -- again, no
difference between DSA and MAGA -- we are going to stop and say,
"Woah." Because the system you are spoiled on is one we're still
fighting for our rights in. And when you talk about your idea of the
future, you don't talk about anything concrete or anything that assures
us that we will be part of such a system.
David
Hogg is just another vain White person. Vain? White men with that
awful hairdo -- think Gavin Newsom -- are narcissistic and that's why
they continue to believe it's a cool and sexy hairdo when it's ugly and
repulsive and should remain with Carrot Top.
David
Hogg has taken to slamming James Carville. Slam away. I do. It's the
only way you'll ever get his attention. He's a bean counter who has
been overpraised for years (Betsy Wright, as we've noted her for
decades, never got her due and she's much more responsible for Bill
Clinton getting elected President than James). But if you're going to
slam James be prepared for the return slam.
He
hasn't given it yet to David, so I will. David keeps going around
repeating a line about how James' last successful election came before
he was born.
Yes, it did.
And that's still one more success than David's had.
Davis
is 25. I supported his run and celebrated it. I thought he would work
with the DNC, take a moment to learn some things and improve the
party. Instead, months after being elected, he's now alarmed many with
his plan to primary Democrats in Congress.
That's really not a DNC job. And it is alarming many. The video Ava and I highlighted resulted in more words from David.
More words.
But no response.
In "The David Divide" above, they play David's reply -- again, not an actual response.
It's
appalling. A White man -- of 25, no less -- thinks he's going to
educate the Black community? He thinks we need him to tell us how we
could be participating at the local level? As though we don't know
this, as though we aren't already? White Messiah, thank you, for your
tone deaf reply that is racist and insulting.
This
is why David should have kept his mouth shut and listened. He thinks
he has all the answers but he can even respond to basic questions.
He tries to bury us with words that never address anything.
He preaches slogan and we're not idiots.
After
they play David's words, the first onscreen response is from Hooks who
types, "all I hear are Justice Democrats, DSA talking points."
Hooks is exactly right.
And
this week, Ava and I again noted that the DSA did not have the Black
community and does not speak for the Black community. Their inability
to communicate with the Black community is one of the biggest reasons
that they are a failure. For those late to the party, Justice Democrats
is a Socialist front created by Kyle and Cenk, it's better termed
Justice Socialists because that's what they are. But they knew Justice
Socialists wouldn't get enough support so they tried to trick the people
instead by dubbing it "Democrats."
We're not
idiots. We hear what you're saying and we're not taken in by the
sloganeering. We're fully aware that you're trying to put one over on
us and we're not buying it.
David started this
and has some time now to clear up what his aim is. He's insisting it's
not about replacing older members with younger members. Then why, in
all the time since he went public on this in April (this month), have
they not updated their website:
Leaders
We Deserve invests in candidates who reflect our generation and its
values matching them with the resources they need to run strong
campaigns, win, and change the face of power. Think EMILYs List for
young, progressive courageous candidates.
You're
failing on every level, David. And we're not giving our hard earned
gains to back you as a leader when you can't even be honest and you
can't even reply to actual questions with real examples.
Clearly,
I was wrong to have backed you for your current positions and as you
continue to create more of a mess and especially as you continue to
alienate Black Democrats, I really think you need to step down from your
DNC position because nothing you are doing at present is actually
helping the party. We need control of both houses. You've offered
nothing to demonstrate how your goals are going to help us with that.
As
one member of the House Black Caucus said to me over the phone last
night, "It really would be a White man, wouldn't it, who at the age of
25 would think he knew better than the whole damn party?"
Yes, it would.
Yes, it would.
David,
maybe you'll be of value in other ways or later in life. But at
present, you're a recent college graduate and that's basically it.
Maybe gets some life under your belt and work on communicating? At
present, we can't afford you and you're not offering much of value. I
don't say that with glee. I was rooting for you. But this was your
mission that you announced and you've yet to find a way to communicate
your goals in a way that isn't racist or insulting.
Let's wind down with this from Senator Patty Murray's office:
ICYMI:
Senator Murray Demands Answers from Secretary Collins Over VA’s
Unprecedented Refusal to Allow VA Puget Sound to Participate in Women
Veterans Roundtable
ICYMI: REPORT: Trump’s Mass Firings at VA Hurt WA Veterans
ICYMI:
Murray Statement on Trump & Elon Plans to Decimate the VA, Firing
80,000 Employees and Putting Veterans’ Care in Grave Danger
Seattle, WA — Today,U.S. Senator Patty Murray
(D-WA), a senior member and former Chair of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs
Committee, hosted a roundtable discussion at the Ballard-Eagleston VFW
Post 3063 with women veterans and veteran advocates to discuss the
challenges women veterans face in receiving quality care at the U.S.
Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), and how the Trump administration’s
steep cuts across the federal workforce—including at VA—are
affecting veterans. Senator Murray’s roundtable at the VFW took place
only after the Trump administration refused to allow VA Puget Sound to
host or participate in a discussion about the current state of women
veterans’ health care. Audio of the full roundtable discussion is
available HERE.
Senator Murray has been outspoken in callingattentionto how
Trump and Elon’s indiscriminate mass layoffs are hurting
people—especially veterans—across the country and will undermine
services Americans everywhere rely on. She has hosted multiplepress conferences
with veterans and VA employees in Washington state who are being laid
off by Trump and Elon for no reason and through no fault of their own.
Participating in the discussion with Senator Murray today were:
Minnette Mason, Veterans Training Support Center Program Manager at the
Washington Department of Veterans Affairs (WDVA); Alyson Teeter,
Commander of VFW Post 3063; Barbara Heston-Moore, President of VFW Post
2289 Auxiliary; Sarah Rubin with VFW Post 3063; Dr. Samantha Powers,
Director of UW Veteran Student Life; and Shellie Willis, Chair of the
WDVA Women’s Veterans Advisory Committee.
“I’m furious that under Trump, VA leadership is barring VA
Puget Sound from participating in or hosting this important discussion
on women veterans’ issues. Throughout my time in Congress, under both
Republican and Democratic administrations, I have been able to have open
and honest conversations with VA and engage with my veteran
constituents in Washington state—but this administration has proven to
be vastly different,” Senator Murray said. Yesterday, Senator Murray sent a letter to
VA Secretary Doug Collins expressing concern and dismay over the
unprecedented refusal—with no justification—by VA to allow VA Puget
Sound to participate in today’s roundtable. In the hearing on his
nomination to lead VA, his meeting with Senator Murray ahead of the Senate vote on his nomination, and in his own public statements, Doug Collins promised to be maximally transparent with Congress if confirmed.
“Even though women are more likely to seek care through VA,
and are more likely to be dealing with depression, anxiety, or sexual
trauma—women are also more likely to face barriers to getting the care
they need,” Senator Murray said. “And it’s been deeply
frustrating to see the Trump administration undermine VA care, fire
researchers, and push out other crucial workers who help veterans get
care over the past few months, to say nothing of the disrespect they
have shown female veterans—literally erasing the history of some women
in uniform and denigrating the service of women in combat. I’m going to
push every day to make sure you get the respect you deserve, and the
care you were promised—whether that’s making sure VA is implementing
women’s health care laws I worked to pass, fighting to expand access to
IVF services and menopause research, and providing the federal resources
we need for VA to improve care for women veterans.”
Senator Murray was the first woman to join the Senate Veterans’
Affairs Committee and the first woman to chair the Committee—as the
daughter of a WWII veteran, supporting veterans and their families has
always been an important priority for Murray. Advocating for women
veterans in particular has been a longtime focus for Senator Murray. As
Chair of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee in 2010, Senator Murray
passed her landmark Women Veterans Health Improvement Act into law. Murray has worked to permanently authorize the VA child care pilot program to increase access to free, quality child care for veterans during their appointments, make much-needed improvements to the women veterans call center, and fix a loophole that
left veterans footing the bill for medically-necessary emergency
newborn transportation that VA should be covering. Murray introduced and helped pass the Deborah Sampson Act,
legislation to address gender disparities at VA that established a
dedicated Office of Women’s Health at VA and required every VA health
facility to have a dedicated women’s health primary care provider, among
other things. Murray also helped to pass the MAMMO Actto expand access to high-quality breast cancer screening and treatment services for veterans.
Last year as Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Senator Murray delivered a record $900 million investment in women veterans’ health care. Earlier this month, Senator Murray introduced bipartisan legislation
to require VA and the Department of Defense (DoD) to research and study
the effects of menopause on women servicemembers and women veterans.
Senator Murray has also been a leading voice in the Senate in speaking outforcefully against President Trump and Elon Musk’s mass firing of VA employees and VA researchers across the country and Elon Musk and DOGE’s infiltration of
the VA, including accessing veterans’ sensitive personal information.
In recent weeks, Senator Murray and her colleagues sent letters to VA
Secretary Doug Collins demanding that the VA swiftly reverse moves to cut VA researchers, as well as multipleletters pressing
Secretary Collins to sever Elon Musk and DOGE’s access to any VA or
other government system with information about veterans, and protect
veterans, their families, and VA staff from unprecedented access to
sensitive information. Senator Murray grilled Trump’s
nominee for VA Deputy Secretary, Dr. Paul Lawrence, on the mass firings
of VA employees and VA researchers, and voted against Doug Collins’s
nomination to be VA Secretary in early February, sounding the alarm over reports of DOGE at the VA and making clear that the Trump administration’s lawlessness was putting our national security and our veterans at risk.
