Tag: Sen. Elizabeth Warren

Trump Won’t Sign

President Trump signs the MOU with the Islamic Republic of Iran at the Palace of Versailles last Wednesday, as French President Emmanuel Macron looks on. [White House photo]

•Read the Iranian soccer team's post-it note left in the SoFi Stadium locker room after the team's 0-0 draw versus Belgium, in The Gray Area.

UPDATE: President Trump says he won't sign the bipartisan ROAD to Housing Act until Congress takes action on his SAVE America Act that would tighten national voting rules in time for the midterms. The White House had touted the bill as a pillar of Trump's affordability agenda and scheduled his signing ceremony for noon at the Capitol Wednesday, but now it is "of minor importance," he said in social media posts Wednesday morning (The Wall Street Journal). The bill will become law if the president does not sign or veto it within two weeks.

On the ROAD to a Historic Housing Act – A bipartisan House of Representatives passed the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act Tuesday, 358-32, marking Congress’ most significant such legislation since the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit of 1986, The Wall Street Journal reports. 

Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Tim Scott (R-SC) led backing of the ROAD to Housing Act, which passed the Senate earlier this week, 89-10, and now proceeds to President Trump’s Resolute Desk for signing.

Trump had backed a provision included in the bill that bans the sale of homes to institutional investors who already own more than 350 single-family homes, though with certain exceptions, including for property built specifically to be leased (per CQ Roll Call).

The bill also speeds up federal environmental reviews for certain projects, ties cities’ federal funding to affordable housing production and removes certain restrictions on the building of manufactured homes, including a requirement they are built on a metal frame. Removing the metal-frame requirement could cut costs of manufactured homes by as much as $10,000, according to the WSJ.

However, there is no new funding for affordable housing projects, the WSJ reports, and the bill is up against increased mortgage rates and material costs and Congress does not have the authority to override local zoning regulations and building codes.

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Mamdani Wins Again – New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani defeated establishment Democrats running in Tuesday’s primaries for heavy blue congressional districts (Roll Call). These overwhelming victories in deep blue congressional districts by Mamdani-backed candidates is foreshadowing how the progressive arm of the Democratic Party plans to fight the MAGA GOP’s right-wing populism in 2028.

In New York’s 13th District, challenger Darializa Avila Chevalier narrowly defeated five-time Rep. Adriano Espaillat, chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, 49% to 46%. The AP called the race for Mamdani’s endorsee at 10:38 p.m. local time

For New York’s 10th, Brad Lander trounced incumbent Rep. Dan Goldman, 62% to 38%. The AP called the race just after polls closed at 9 p.m. EDT.

Both losing incumbent representatives were endorsed by House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY). 

In the race to replace retiring Rep. Nydia M. Velázquez for New York’s 7th District, state Rep. Claire Valdez defeated Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso, 57% to 34% in a race the AP called at 9:23 p.m. Velázquez had endorsed Reynoso. 

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Diesel Breaks Below $5 – National average price for a gallon of unleaded regular is $3.928 Wednesday, up 0.6 cents over Tuesday and 95.7 cents over February 28, while diesel has fallen to $4.98, or 2 cents lower than Tuesday and $1.165 more expensive from the beginning of the US-Israeli war. –TL

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TUESDAY 6/23/26

Trump’s Economy – President Trump is scheduled to visit a Mack Truck assembly plant in Macungie, Pennsylvania, in the Lehigh Valley Tuesday and shift attention from the Iran MOU to tout the strengths of his economy. This is Trump’s fourth visit of his second term to the purple state and the first in this midterm elections year, The Philadelphia Inquirer notes.

Touting a strong economy Tuesday could be tough as the tech stock selloff “accelerates” according to The Wall Street Journal, and pre-trade futures in the tech-intensive NASDAQ 100 down 3%.

‘Plunging’ gas prices? … Not quite, but Trump will be able to tell Mack Truck workers the gas they use to get to work is 0.3 cents cheaper on Tuesday than it was Monday according to AAA’s national average for a gallon of unleaded regular. The president is not likely to mention that it’s still 95.1 cents more expensive than on February 28, according to AAA. The diesel that powers those Macks averages $5 per gallon, flat Tuesday, down 1.3 cents from Monday and up $1.185 over the beginning of the US-Israeli Iran war.

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Reflections in a Swamp – It’s straight out of the authoritarian handbook: Leader’s pet project somehow turns sour. Dear leader cracks down on radical opposition he blames for destruction or defect of said project and orders his police force to arrest anyone who looks suspicious. Could be East Germany’s Stasi, Soviet bureaucrats, modern China or Putin’s Russia.

Or the current White House, where President Trump has “stepped up” law enforcement presence at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, claiming that vandalism was the chief cause of the “American flag blue” pool filling with green algae blooms.

Trump said he has photographic proof of an individual cutting a 350-foot gash into the pool’s bottom coating, though he offered few details to back any of this up. 

“I saw it,” Trump said. “They cut it very violently.”

US Attorney for Washington Jeanine Pirro said her office received a handful of citations over alleged destruction, though experts blame the green algae on more intense heat from the deep blue lining Trump had added.

But there were no such large gashes in the pool lining earlier Monday to back up the president’s claims, The Wall Street Journal reports. 

Stina Blomgren of Sweden’s SVT briefly touched the pool water’s surface, she told Newsweek. Blomgren said a National Guard member told her, “Please refrain from touching the water. That will be the last time you do that. Any time after that you will be detained.”

No bid for green water … Beside the $14.7 million no-bid contract to Atlantic Industrial Coatings to reline the reflecting pool in American flag blue, the White House awarded a $1.7 million no-bid contract for improvement of the pool’s filtration system to Ohio-based Greenwater Services, a company owned by the J.J. Cafaro Investment Trust. 

The trust is led by John J. Cafaro, who has contributed more than $300,000 to Trump-linked political committees, The New York Times reports. Cafaro, a Florida neighbor of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago, pleaded guilty in 2001 for conspiracy to bribe then-US Rep. James A. Traficant Jr. (D-OH) and later testified against the congressman, according to the report. 

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IAEA Back In Iran? – Just prior to leaving Lucerne, Switzerland to return to the US Monday, Vice President Vance told reporters that Iran has agreed to allow inspectors from the United Nation’s International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) back in as part of the initial MOU negotiations. 

Not so, says Iran, which kicked out the IAEA in July 2025, after June US-Israeli missile strikes.

The art of the Trump White House’s deal so far seems to be making many concessions to Iran for maybe not so much in return. Sanctions on Iranian oil will be lifted under the deal, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said. That means Iran can sell freely at market prices, after years of evading said sanctions via ‘dark fleets’, and of selling oil outside the US dollar-based international banking system (per NPR’s Morning Edition).

The most controversial part of the deal is the unfreezing of $300 billion in overseas accounts to Iran so it can buy food from American farms. 

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Out of Subpoenas – US District Judge Patrick Schlitz has blocked the Trump administration’s attempt to subpoena Gov. Tim Walz, Attorney Gen. Keith Ellison, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, St. Paul Mayor Kaohly Her, as well as Hennepin and Ramsey county officials over a Justice Department investigation of whether they obstructed or impeded law enforcement during the sweeping immigration operations in the Twin Cities area, according to MinnPost.

Schlitz called the subpoenas an effort of harassment and retaliation to “coerce Minnesota officials into assisting the federal government with enforcing civil immigration law and to harass and retaliate against them for failing to do so.”

The Justice Department did not immediately respond to a MinnPost email seeking comment.

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In Memoriam: Alan Greenspan – Federal Reserve chairman for Presidents Reagan to Bush 43 Alan Greenspan died Monday at his Washington home, his wife Andrea Mitchell, chief Washington correspondent and chief foreign affairs correspondent for NBC News announced Monday. Greenspan, an erstwhile jazz musician and avowed Ayn Rand-devoted libertarian who served the second-longest tenure as Fed chair, from 1987 to 2006, oversaw the longest period of US economic growth in history. Greenspan also has taken some blame over the 2007-08 financial crisis leading to the Great Recession because of his laissez-faire policy toward banking. He was 100. –TL

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MONDAY 6/22/26

Green Algae Reflecting Pool and Swiss Talks – What color was Washington’s algae-green reflecting pool before President Trump signed a no-bid $14.2-million contract for an “American-flag blue” liner underneath? What of sanctions off Iranian crude oil, petroleum products and derivatives and related frozen bank assets, prior to the start of the war some 16 weeks ago?

Apologies for the all-too-obvious metaphor. 

Vice President Vance and Iran’s diplomats failed to show last Friday for talks at the beginning of the US-Iran 60-day ceasefire negotiated via memorandum of understanding last week. But Vance and his Tehran counterparts did show up in Lucerne, Switzerland, along with mediators Qatar and Pakistan later over the weekend. 

Iran’s diplomats reportedly walked out when a bellicose President Trump again warned he would revive missile attacks on the country Sunday. On Monday, both sides reported some progress.

To wit: The US issued waivers to allow Iran to sell crude oil, petroleum products and derivatives, and “associated banking,” The Times of Israel reports. Mediators said the two sides set up a “de-confliction cell” to stop military operations in Lebanon, mediators say (TToI further notes that neither Israel, Lebanon, nor Hezbollah were present for the negotiations). 

The United Nations reports there was no fighting between Israel and Hezbollah on Sunday.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi called the talks in Switzerland “major progress.”

Speaking of pre-war status … The Trump administration declared the Strait of Hormuz “open” to commercial traffic, while Iran said it had remained closed. 

Which is it? 

Most up-to-date source we can find is straits.live, which reports …

“No. ... The Strait of Hormuz is effectively closed to commercial shipping. As of 22JUN2026 • 1422Z, it is day 113 since the 28 February 2026 closure declaration.”

Meanwhile, at the pool … President Trump on Saturday blamed “vandalism” for “real problems” at the reflecting pool, where experts say the dark blue paint just applied to the liner attracted more heat from the sun, adding to the green algae bloom, The Guardianreports. Paint has been seen peeling off the water.

Trump claims that vandals have been arrested, though on Friday, David Hearn of Bethesda, Maryland, told The Washington Posthe was arrested mere seconds after reaching in and touching the American flag-blue liner at the end of a 52-mile bike ride around Hains Point. He is scheduled to appear in D.C. Superior Court July 9.

Happy semi-sesquincentennial.

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Starmer Out – British Prime Minister Keir Starmer will step down and hand over Labour Party leadership to former Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham, The Guardian reports. Starmer said Monday he will remain a caretaker PM until the elections.

Starmer became Labour’s first PM just under two years ago, following 14 years of Conservative Party leadership. 

Burnham won a by-election in Makerfield last week and will be sworn in as a Minister of Parliament Monday, setting him up for a party leadership election. A second candidate to replace Starmer as Labour Party leader, former health Secretary Wes Streeting has decided not to run and will support Burnham, according to The Guardian. 

Starmer’s resignation “marks the beginning of a transition and it is important that this process is conducted in an orderly and responsible way,” Burnham said, adding “I will put myself forth in the process.” 

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More Gas Relief – Fuel prices continue to drop, with the national average for a gallon of unleaded regular at $3.929 Monday, 4.4 cents less than last Friday and up 95.4 cents from February 28. Diesel is down 8.2 cents from Friday to $5.013 per gallon, up $1.198 from late February. – Compiled and edited by Todd Lassa

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MONDAY 6/22/26

The Fascination with Free College

By Charles Dervarics

For people of a certain age (read: young), the allure of free college is almost irresistible. At a time when some private universities charge more than $70,000 annually and top public institutions cost $30,000 a year, the entire process may seem daunting to students and their families.

And that’s before even reading about how the “sticker price” may differ from your final cost (like a car negotiation!) or the merits of online and “hybrid” learning during a pandemic.

One thing we do know: Americans already have a lot of college debt. According to the Federal Reserve, 20% of the U.S. population owes a combined $1.5 trillion in education loans. Not surprisingly, low-income students stand the most to lose. As the U.S. Department of Education notes, a low-income student is four times less likely than a wealthier student to earn a bachelor’s degree.

While free college is not in the massive $1.9 trillion stimulus bill, the issue looms as an upcoming flashpoint for Congress and President Biden. The president has proposed tuition-free public college for families earning up to $125,000 a year. In a recent CBS interview, Biden said he could provide that benefit for $1.5 billion, though his staff quickly backtracked and pegged the cost at approximately twice that level.

Part of the challenge is that, similar to K-12 schools, colleges rely not on the federal government but on state and local funds for much of their budgets. College costs also differ greatly by state. As reported by CollegeCalc, the average public college or university in Pennsylvania charged $23,167 last year. In New Mexico, the average was just $6,807. Does higher cost bring higher quality? And knowing the federal government would soon foot the bill for many students, would states cut their own contributions as a result?

Some lawmakers also want to help recent grads who wouldn’t reap benefits from this Biden plan. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-MA, is proposing to forgive up to $50,000 of a student’s loans, while the White House says it’s open to forgiveness of up to $10,000. Help for graduates now navigating the job market is politically popular, with several polls showing strong public support. 

Still another alternative is free community college, so more low-income students might earn a technical credential or associate degree at lower-cost, two-year schools. Biden has talked about this, too, as has First Lady Jill Biden, a community college professor. But here recent data show the devastating impact from a year of COVID-19. Despite low tuitions, community colleges suffered a 10% enrollment decline in Fall 2020, far more than other areas of higher education. Most alarmingly, based on data from the National Student Clearinghouse, freshman enrollment at two-year colleges dropped by a whopping 21%.

When times are bad, community colleges usually do well as the unemployed return to school. But that’s not happening now, perhaps because prospective students lack child care and technology or just don’t like virtual learning.

What’s interesting here is that some states already offer free community college to many students. Tennessee, an early leader, saw an 11% enrollment drop in fall 2020 with African Americans showing notable declines. Leaders cited factors such as economic uncertainty and lack of connectivity and child care. All of which may indicate that, when it comes to education and so many other issues, free isn’t always free.

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