Gov. Wes Moore has (without the ALL-CAPS social media posts) become the East Coast bookend to California Gov. Gavin Newsom in pushing back against the bellicose Prez. As many news outlets have noted, city leaders like DC Mayor Muriel Bowser (whose city is uniquely in the feds' grasp) have found it expedient to give Trump some room to gloat, BUT grand juries in DC and around the country are declining to indict those spuriously charged by Trump or his minions as a mode of intimidation. As also noted, states are banding together to provide what the Trump regime, as long as it lasts, is refusing to provide as the federal share, prompting edgy thoughts about even more state-level consolidation.

As our People's Action fed specialist Megan E points out below, as much as the chilling sight of uniformed soldiers patrolling the Capital's streets (or picking up trash in the parks, less chilling) troubles us, the long-range plans for health care are even more blood-freezing. This is a sneak attack that might get past most people, at least until the midterm elections are behind us. Don't let that happen.

It's News You Can Use -- meaning, most of the time, news soon enough so you can take action. Snooze, you can't use it as intended.

HERE IN MARYLAND

Summaries From Maryland Reporter

Moore, Scott Renew Crime Fighting Collaboration In B'more: With President Donald Trump’s threat to send National Guard troops into Baltimore in the air, Maryland leaders said Friday that they will pour more of their own resources to further bring down crime in the state’s largest city.WaPo

>> Neither Moore nor Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott (D) mentioned Trump by name Friday as they announced plans for a “renewed collaboration” between the Baltimore City Police Department and the Maryland State Police. But many of their remarks responded to charges by Trump, who recently called Baltimore a crime “hellhole. Maryland Matters.

Two weeks after practically daring the president to come walk through Baltimore with him, Moore set out Friday from the middle of Park Heights to do the thing Donald Trump has said he won’t: Take a stroll through the city.  Baltimore Banner.

Maryland Pushes Back As Trump Attempts To Intervene On Elections: Maryland elections officials have spent years batting down false claims of voter fraud and bolstering the state’s mail-in voting process. Now, as President Donald Trump once again tries to intervene in how states run elections, they’re pushing back — saying his latest efforts will undermine confidence in the process, while Maryland Republicans say the moves will help assure voters. Baltimore Sun.

Moore Says Covid Vaccine Will Be Available: Gov. Wes Moore sought to reassure Marylanders who want an updated Covid vaccine this fall that they will be able to get one in the state. “The federal government’s rapid changes and unnecessary swirl around vaccine policy is harmful for Marylanders and all Americans, and could result in disastrous public health outcomes,” Moore said in a statement Friday evening. Baltimore Banner.

Dot Releases Blueprint To Expand Trail System: The Maryland Department of Transportation has released a new blueprint to expand and connect the state’s transportation trail system with an emphasis on safety, accessibility and community development. Baltimore Sun.

THE OTHER 49

STALLED BUDGETS: Just two states in the nation have been unable to pass budgets for the 2025-26 fiscal year — and now, they’re staring down significant consequences if their respective legislative bodies fail to act soon. Pennsylvania has entered its third month without a new budget, while Michigan is just weeks away from a potential shutdown, according to the Pennsylvania Capital-Star and the Michigan Advance.

Federal Cost Shifts Force States To Scramble To Cover Losses: States are scrambling to prepare for an unprecedented shift of costs and responsibilities under President Donald Trump’s sweeping tax and spending plan, which will force them to make difficult decisions about cuts to state programs to offset the new financial burdens. “There’s not a single state that has the resources to make up for this. You cannot backfill it,” says Gov. Wes Moore. “The federal government is now literally saying to the states, ‘You are now on your own.’” WaPo, summary via Maryland Reporter

 PUBLIC HEALTH: At least half a dozen blue states have taken steps to preserve Covid vaccine access at pharmacies after new federal restrictions created confusion and backlogs at major chains. Officials in Colorado, Massachusetts, New Mexico, New York, Pennsylvania and Washington have authorized pharmacists to follow recommendations from state health departments and national medical organizations when determining who is eligible for vaccines. Major pharmacy chains in dozens of states have restricted access to Covid vaccines. CVS and Walgreens have said they are concerned about liability in the 16 states that require vaccines administered by pharmacists to be endorsed by a CDC advisory committee. The blue state actions are meant to ease those concerns. (Pluribus News) [has a paywall].

A survey of higher education faculty in the South found that professors are most worried about political influence, with many considering employment elsewhere, Louisiana Illuminator reports. In August, the American Association of University Professors surveyed approximately 4,000 faculty members in Red (Old Confederacy) states plus Tennessee. Professors reported many are considering employment elsewhere, noting they fear teaching about climate change, feminism and other topics extreme conservatives have put in their crosshairs when attacking universities they consider “too woke.” News from the States

GLOBAL, NATIONAL AND THE FEDS

Fast-rising unemployment rates for Black and young workers, whom economic downturns typically hit first and hardest, will make it tougher for the Trump administration to shrug off signs of a slowing labor market. The Bureau of Labor Statistics said Friday the unemployment rate for Black workers in August was 7.5%, up from 6.1% a year ago, while the unemployment rate for workers aged between 16 and 24 was 10.5% — a nearly four-year high. Meanwhile, part-time workers who want full-time work (“underemployment”) “is at its highest rate since 2021.” Semafor

And here’s a weekly deep dive into the TrumpWorld machinations as they show up in a compliant Congress. It’s from People’s Action federal affairs director Megan E

Hey People's Action,

Apologies in advance but it's more bad news after bad news.  Thanks to billionaires Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos, private sector workers in at least Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi (and kind of nationally) no longer have a federally enforceable right to organize and collectively bargain. The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) does not have a quorum of members because Trump fired them and refuses to appoint others because he too is against labor rights, so it’s basically defunct. The law requires that workers and their unions have to go through the NLRB before they can take a case to federal court. 

The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals [generally considered most conservative court in the US] ruled in a SpaceX case that the NLRB  is unconstitutional because it illegally takes power from the President’s executive authority. Amazon has a pending case against the Teamsters in the 5th Circuit. The Supreme Court found the National Labor Relations Act, which created the NLRB, was constitutional in 1937. However the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals relied on a recent Supreme Court decision allowing Trump to fire NLRB members at-will finding the law requiring a 5-year term unconstitutionally violates the right’s new made-up unitary executive theory.  

Public sector workers in a majority of states and farmworkers in 14 states have state protections for organizing and collectively bargaining. The NLRA does not apply to both of those groups and several others. 

Biden’s former General Counsel, Jennifer Abruzo, told the American Prospect that states will have to step up and pass laws enforcing workers rights to organize unions and collectively bargain. She reminds us that workers will “still have the power to withhold their labor.” 

As we head towards a potential government shutdown, there is still disagreement on a path forward. The White House and far-right fiscal hawks want a continuing resolution into January or longer and some Senate Republicans and Democrats want a short term continuing resolution to November while they work on a full appropriations package. Senate Democrats - via Senator Schatz (D-HI) & Murphy (D-CT) are warning that they won’t give in like last time. “Murphy's opposition stems from his belief that ‘Trump 'doesn't give a f*** what we write' and continues to withhold congressionally approved funds, making participation in appropriations bills futile and potentially legitimizing what he [Murphy] views as an illegal process.’” However, leadership is not making clear demands and it is not clear that the Senate Democrats are aligned. 

Some Democrats and frontline Republicans are looking to extend the advance premium tax credits that the Big Ugly Budget left out. If Congress doesn’t extend them, the price of health insurance on the ACA marketplaces will go way up and some 4 million people will lose their health insurance. Others want language in the bill that makes it harder for Republicans to pass Trump’s rescission packages. Even Ezra Klein* weighed in over the weekend to say this is an extraordinary moment in Trump’s authoritarian takeover and Congressional Democrats should use this leverage - practically the only leverage they have to force Republicans to the table. 

*I feel the need to make the disclaimer that everyone on staff makes when they mention Klein. I don’t like Abundance, but his podcast is very good.

Of course Klein saying out loud that Democrats should shut down the government poses a narrative problem. Republicans control the White House and Congress and are responsible for keeping the government open. But if Democrats don’t make the shutdown about a particular demand then it becomes about them shutting down the government. 

Politico describes the White House strategy: “Continually running the government on stopgaps is part of White House budget director Russ Vought’s strategy to shrink federal spending as he roots for the government funding process to be ‘less bipartisan.’ Those kick-the-can funding bills give the White House more leeway to shift cash while depriving Democrats of any increases in non-defense funding and GOP defense hawks the military budget increases they seek. Then, using party-line measures like the domestic-policy megabill and the $9 billion clawbacks package Congress cleared this summer [50 vote threshold in the Senate], Republicans can add or subtract funding without needing to rely on the votes of Senate Democrats.”

From Politico Pro AI: The appropriations process has become increasingly politicized, with Republicans benefiting significantly from earmarks in the fiscal 2026 bills. Senior House and Senate Republicans are leading in securing funding for local projects, marking the third consecutive year of Republican dominance in earmark allocations. Senator Mitch McConnell is set to receive over half a billion dollars in earmarks for Kentucky, while Representative Chuck Fleischmann has secured major funding for water projects in Tennessee. These earmarks are strategically timed to aid vulnerable Republican members ahead of midterm elections.^[9]

National Guard

Thousands of people over the weekend turned out for joyful marches in DC against Trump’s occupation of the city and in Chicago against Trump’s threats to send the National Guard there next.  The AP explains how Trump’s use of the  guard and the military to enforce domestic policy instead of responding to actually emergencies, is unprecedented in U.S. history: 

“A federal judge ruled last week that the Trump administration “willfully” broke the Posse Comitatus Act, a nearly 150-year-old federal law that limits the U.S. military’s role in domestic law enforcement, when he sent National Guard troops to the Los Angeles area in early June after days of protests over immigration raids. U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer in San Francisco noted Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth have stated they intend to deploy National Guard troops to other cities across the country, raising concerns they’re ‘creating a national police force with the President as its chief.’”

Oh, and the Department of Defense is now the Department of War. Feel better? You definitely won’t when you see what the GOP has in mind for Medicare… just not yet.

ISSUE UPDATE: CLIMATE

Lawmaker, AARP call for nationwide utility commission reforms to stop rising electric bills: Speakers at the press conference said it seemed likely that the Florida Public Service Commission would “rubber stamp” a $9.8 billion base rate increase proposed by Florida Power & Light, and argued that regulators have become too deferential to utility requests.

U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor, D-Fla., reintroduced legislation on Tuesday that would prohibit utility companies from using ratepayer dollars to fund political lobbying and advertising.

Backlash to High Electric Bills Could Transform U.S. Politics: Across the U.S., electricity bills are on the rise thanks, in part, to AI data centers. Voters aren't happy about it.

ISSUE UPDATE: HEALTHCARE

Trump Attacks Medicare by “Piloting” AI Medicare Death Panels in 6 States

Dr. Mehmet Oz has been clear he wants to fully privatize Medicare. But forcing people off of insurance they like could be hard and unpopular. Instead Dr. Oz has concocted this evil-genius plan to privatize traditional Medicare (starting in 6 states) on the back-end while pretending he is saving money. The states are: Arizona, New Jersey, Ohio, Oklahoma, Texas and Washington State. Oz announced a pilot program where the Center for Medicaid and Medicare Services, which he runs, will contract private companies to use artificial intelligence to override doctors and patients decisions. We don’t know what companies will get the contracts yet but … Unitedhealth Group subsidiary? Palantir?. 

People choose traditional Medicare precisely because there is no prior authorization. This is an attempt by the administration to further privatize Medicare so it can offer private contracts to its corporate donors. Once CMS further erodes traditional Medicare, people will be pushed on to the corrupt Medicare Advantage program that is siphoning off taxpayer dollars from our Medicare system. Medicare Advantage costs us, the people $150 billion dollars a year due to denied care and grift. Read more, and feel free to borrow our draft petition language,  here. 

From Politico Pro AI: “Healthcare funding and extensions represent another critical component of the latest government funding legislation. The Full-Year Continuing Appropriations Act, 2025, extends funding for Community Health Centers, the National Health Service Corps, and Teaching Health Centers with Graduate Medical Education programs. The bill also extends telehealth flexibilities until September 30, 2025, including the removal of geographic requirements, expansion of originating sites, and allowing audio-only telehealth services. These provisions reflect ongoing efforts to maintain healthcare access while negotiations on more comprehensive funding continue.^[6]”

Politico Pro: [CA Gov. Gavin] Newsom, along with governors from Oregon and Washington, announced Wednesday that they would be forming a West Coast Health Alliance that would make joint vaccine recommendations based on the advice of outside groups as well. On Thursday, Hawaii also joined. They will also look to the American Academy of Pediatricians for guidance instead of the federal government. 

Megan Essaheb (she/her/hers)