While US Army soldiers paraded downtown in a history pageant illustrating the service's 250-year tenure (reviewed by the 79-year-old Prez, who basked in the reflected glory) Marylanders were declaring independence from kings of any sort throughout the state.
The reverberations of savage federal budget cuts are felt in the state's universities, in housing aid for the poorest, and continued ICE raids. Around the other states we find similar struggles among the Red and the Blue; quite a few Biden energy projects were scratched despite the economic potential they promised in... Red states. Measles spreads from Texas, where folks seem to have caught on about the effectiveness of vaccines, to North Dakota, which hasn't got the memo.
And in DC, while the House is away, the Senate appears inclined to play with the precariously devised Big Beautiful Bill, meaning it might be legislative ping-pong right up to the budget and debt-ceiling deadlines. Do the Dems have an answer? They retain the monopoly on disarray, it seems. The parade continues, with the cars packed with clowns up front.
HERE IN MARYLAND
Thousands Of Marylanders Fill Streets, Parks For ‘No Kings’ Event: Thousands of protesters filled streets and parks across Maryland on Saturday as part of the nationwide “No Kings” demonstrations, one of the largest coordinated protest actions of the year against President Donald Trump’s administration. Demonstrators gathered in Baltimore, Bethesda, Columbia and dozens of other communities, waving signs and chanting in defense of civil rights and democratic institutions. Baltimore Banner
>>Several thousand people lined one of the busiest intersections near the Columbia Mall Saturday to protest President Trump as part of “No Kings Nationwide Day of Defiance” Saturday morning. Cars and trucks honked their approval as the crowd waved hand-made signs and American flags as suggested by the national organizers. Some used profanity to emphasize their message. Maryland Reporter
>>Gary Waugh clutched the 13-folded flag in its frame as he stood among more than 1,000 people gathered on a hot, smoggy Saturday afternoon at Patterson Park in Baltimore for a political rally. Waugh, 71, said the flag represented his father, William, a World War II vet who he said would have been “disgusted” by the Trump administration. Waugh brought the folded flag so his father could be a part of the more than 2,000 “No Kings” rallies nationwide to protest the Trump administration. Maryland Matters
Abrego Garcia Pleads Not Guilty To Human Smuggling: Kilmar Abrego Garcia, whose wrongful deportation to an El Salvador prison sparked national debate over Trump administration immigration crackdowns, entered not guilty pleas on Friday to two federal human smuggling charges. Maryland Matters
Opinion: Safeguarding Maryland’s Educator Pipeline: The Trump Administration’s proposed budget for Fiscal Year 2026 sends a troubling signal to educators and families across the country. It calls for deep cuts—or outright eliminations—of several federal programs that support teacher training, diversity, and development. It’s a long list, and these aren’t just line items on a spreadsheet. They are lifelines for public education systems already stretched thin, particularly in states like Maryland. Ashley Lopez and Sarat’ika Kelly in Maryland Reporter
MD Universities Told They Should Brace for the Coming Year’s 7% Budget Cut: In an unusual systemwide video message, UMD’s chancellor tells 40,000 faculty and staff ‘I’m sorry this is happening’; cuts will vary by campus but “personnel actions cannot be taken off the table.” Maryland Matters
International Faculty, Students Feel Pressure Of Trump Battles: International students and faculty have unwittingly been drawn into two of President Trump’s most fervid battles: against universities that he characterizes as hotbeds of “wokeness” and against foreigners, even if they are here legally. Baltimore Sun.
Officials Announce $96 Million In Grants To Continue Supporting Student Mental Health: Funds will be distributed to 107 programs to connect mental health services to schools across the state. The Maryland Consortium on Coordinated Community Supports will award a total of $96 million in grants this year to 107 programs to help combat increasing anxiety, depression and other challenges students are facing today. The consortium grew out of the state’s education reform plan, the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future, to improve student mental and behavioral health by providing greater access to wraparound services. Maryland Matters
Moore Says He’s Taking Action On Squatter ‘Crisis;’ Critics Disagree: Gov. Wes Moore’s response regarding the state’s efforts to tackle the region’s squatter crisis sharply contrasts with what state lawmakers and real estate professionals describe as a full-blown war against alleged unauthorized occupants and the online networks profiting from such activities. Baltimore Sun.
Trump Cuts Criticized For Taking Aim At B’more Housing Program: The Trump administration’s proposed cuts to housing assistance could affect thousands of Maryland residents — drawing criticism from Democratic members of Maryland’s congressional delegation. “Donald Trump is deliberately taking aim at programs in Baltimore that provide housing with no regard for the families and children they will kick to the curb,” U.S. Rep. Kweisi Mfume said in a statement Mfume represents Baltimore City and Baltimore County. Baltimore Sun.
Ice Arrest, Detention Data Has Been Curtailed: In Maryland, it’s almost impossible to know how many have been detained or arrested by ICE since January — and immigration and data experts say this time-sensitive data is vital for transparency and accountability. Despite regular news releases trumpeting arrests and detentions of immigrants, the federal immigration agency — Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE — has sharply reigned in actual data releases on its activities, and in some cases, stopped entirely since President Donald Trump took office. Baltimore Sun,
THE OTHER 49
Measles cases are in 34 states with North Dakota now the focus
As RFK Jr. overhauls federal vaccination panel, experts say shots have helped slow a Texas outbreak. Super-contagious measles continues to spread and nears a six-year U.S. record, but cases in its original epicenter of West Texas may be subsiding as hesitant residents become more concerned and willing to vaccinate, while North Dakota is a new focus with the highest rate of any state. The reality of measles may be overcoming vaccine misinformation in some areas, despite the purge of experts from decision-making roles in the Trump administration under Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. The nation’s top vaccine expert resigned under pressure in March.
NJ: New Jersey lawmakers target chronic absenteeism in schools | New Jersey Monitor
ME: Ban on state seizure of tribal land passes Maine legislature, but likely to be vetoed | Maine Morning Star
TOWING LAWS: Connecticut Democratic Gov. Ned Lamont signed into law an overhaul of the state’s century-old towing statutes after an investigation by the CT Mirror and ProPublica exposed lax standards and predatory practices that victimized people with low incomes, CT Mirror reports. The law offers new protections against towing without warning from private property. Stateline
US: Trump breaks historic Columbia River deal among feds, tribes and Northwest states, priorizing hydropower over salmon. | Oregon Capital Chronicle Stateline
North Carolina: Move-in day never came for a new low-income apartment complex, following a dispute with Duke Energy over whether the community can run on a single electric meter. States Newsroom
New Mexico: Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham (D) announced a new $1 billion privately funded "advanced geothermal" energy plant that will meet the power needs of Meta’s data centers in the state. States Newroom
Multistate inflation: Cleveland Fed: Tariffs are raising some prices in Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Kentucky States Newsroom
GLOBAL, NATIONAL AND THE FEDS
Nobody’s going to feel sorry for the ad industry, right? – those slippery Mad Men etc. Well, maybe it depends on who their enemies are. Semafor media writers report: …“the Trump administration’s pressure campaign on the ad industry hasn’t drawn the public protests that have accompanied his lawsuits against media organizations or the gentler treatment he’s won from owners of The Washington Post, CBS News, and The Los Angeles Times.
But the pressure on marketers is another major front in Trump’s media war. The Wall Street Journal’s Suzanne Vranica opened a rare window into Trump’s efforts to muscle the media his way when she reported in February that the ad giant IPG signed a deal with Elon Musk’s X, believing it was the cost of avoiding regulatory scrutiny of its sale to Omnicom. She added the news last week that X is rebuilding its business with a campaign of legal threats against advertisers. The Federal Trade Commission is now focused on pressuring agencies and brands to drop “brand safety” guidelines that it interprets as political boycotts of right-wing views.”
The US House is off for the week and the Senate has a Juneteenth-shortened week for working on its response to the House version of the BBB. But POLITICO reports this morning that serious money disagreements are emerging that could blow up the GOP coalition: “it appears Senate Republicans are set for a major departure from the House-passed bill to ratchet up savings from a politically explosive policy within Medicaid to pay for the megabill, and it’s already setting off shockwaves through Capitol Hill." Megan E's roundup (below) has a little less hyperventilating.
However, if the Republicans need to increase their supply of “disarray” they’ll have to scrounge for it at the thrift store because the supply is still monopolized by the Democrats: two top labor leaders have walked away from longtime DNC posts. The WaPo reports that “Randi Weingarten, the president of the American Federation of Teachers, and Lee Saunders, the president of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, recently declined offers to stay on as at-large members of the Democratic National Committee. Weingarten cited disagreements with [DNC Chair Ken] Martin, [whose recent election she did not support]. …”infighting at the DNC has spilled into the open,” the WaPo continues. “ Weingarten suggested she had concerns about the party’s direction in a letter to Martin declining to continue as an at-large member, a role she has held for decades. ‘While I am proud to be a Democrat, I appear to be out of step with the leadership you are forging, and I do not want to be the one who keeps questioning why we are not enlarging our tent and actively trying to engage more and more of our communities,’ Weingarten said in the letter. …She was vocally supportive of David Hogg, the Gen Z activist who departed his role as DNC vice chair last week after a messy dispute with Martin and other party officials.”
Here is Megan E's report from People's Action, the national affiliate of Progressive Maryland. She is their federal affairs director:
Saturday’s No King’s Day rally was a success with estimates of 4 to 6 million people turning out nationwide. It may have been the largest protest in U.S. history. Trump’s military-birthday parade, which cost around $45 million was short on attendees with Facebook ads running in the DC area offering to pay people in $Trump cryptocurrency to attend. The conservative-leaning, libertarian CATO institute estimates that the full cost of funding for deportations in the big, ugly budget reconciliation bill is a trillion dollars.
The Senate Finance Committee is supposed to release its bill text for its portion of the budget reconciliation today (covers tax policy & Medicaid cuts). The committee will brief Senators on it tonight. Politico is reporting that the committee is lowering the provider tax to 3.5 %. The House bill caps the provider tax at 6%. Lowering the tax is controversial as it will negatively affect rural hospitals. The tax is matched by federal dollars and then the money goes to pay providers. So less tax, less federal dollars are spent but that means rural hospitals are taking in less money. The bill will have a placeholder of a $10K SALT (State and Local Income Tax) deduction cap, far lower than the $40K cap in the House bill, which will cause controversy. The SALT issue is separately being negotiated with the White House.
Despite these ongoing points of tension within the caucus, the Senate appears on track to move the budget reconciliation across the floor next week. If they resolve the SALT issue before it’s voted on the floor, the House could then pass the Senate bill quickly before the July 4th recess. It’s more likely that the House and Senate bills get reconciled after the July 4th recess.
ACTIONS TO TAKE: ASKS: What You Can Do This Week
Multiple Locations! Stop The Billionaire Giveaway Bus Tour Here is a map of the stops. If you aren’t connected via a local partner and need help getting connected, please let me know!
DEADLINE TO SIGN IS FRIDAY JUNE 20TH COB: Americans for Tax Fairness State Legislator Sign-On Letter: Reject the Reconciliation Bill Please ask your legislative representative to sign on to this letter to Senators in opposition to the reconciliation bill.
In solidarity,
Megan