Policy Soup stir the pot ALPHA

In an Appropriations Committee hearing earlier this year, I questioned Energy Secretary Chris Wright about the billions his department canceled in clean energy grants. He looked me in the eye and told me the decisions were made on the merits and had nothing to do with politics. That was a lie.

Trump Administration Admits Canceling Grants to States That Did Not Vote for Him (Gift Article)

You cannot withhold funds Congress appropriated as a weapon to punish states for how they voted. It is an abuse of power, plain and simple, and the people who lied to Congress about it need to answer for it. I am not letting this go. www.nytimes.com/2026/07/24/b...

Federal officials said in court documents that they halted billions of dollars in funding for energy projects to states “based solely” on whether they backed President Trump in the 2024 election.

Every version was false, and now his own attorneys have said so in writing. This is illegal.

Politics, and nothing else. The Energy Department’s own lawyers conceded not one of those grants was cut for any programmatic, statutory, or performance reason. Wright said the same thing under oath to the Senate and the Science Committee.

The Trump administration has now admitted in its own court filings that it terminated nearly 300 energy grants “based solely” on the political identity of the recipient’s state, whether it voted for Kamala Harris and had two Democratic senators.

This is your daily reminder that Trump and Republicans are spending billions of your tax dollars on an unauthorized war in Iran and Stephen Miller’s ICE agenda while gutting Medicaid, slashing SNAP, and driving up your health care costs.

Reposted byMike Levin

Mike Levin@mikelevin.orgJul 20(source)

This is really bad. The New York Times reports that FBI managers were told the bureau will stop investigating violent confrontations involving immigration agents, handing those cases instead to an arm of ICE. In other words, letting the agency investigate itself.

These families deserve transparency and guidance they can trust. I will keep pressing until they have it. ktla.com/news/califor...

I want to be clear about what we know and what we don’t. A cluster of cases is not proof of a cause. That is exactly why we need a rigorous, independent investigation, so these families get real answers rather than speculation.

That is why I wrote to EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin requesting an immediate investigation into potential environmental causes and an assessment of whether other children are at risk. We expect a formal response soon.

Six children in the community have been diagnosed with Ewing sarcoma. According to the American Cancer Society, roughly 200 children and teens in the entire country are diagnosed with this cancer each year. Six cases in one community is a number that warrants serious federal attention.

I’m closely following the deeply troubling pattern of childhood cancer in Ladera Ranch, and I’m standing with these families in my district as they demand answers.

Mike Levin@mikelevin.orgJul 23(source)

Trump hung Teddy Roosevelt in the Oval Office like he’s the heir apparent. What a joke. Roosevelt busted monopolies, banned corporate cash, and jailed the spoils system. Trump runs the family business from the Resolute Desk. One man fought the powerful. The other invoices them.

Mike Levin@mikelevin.orgJul 22(source)

Today would be a good day for Trump to fire Pete Hegseth and replace him with someone competent. Every American, and every soldier we have deployed abroad, would be safer for it.

Picking a trade war with your friendliest neighbor over hockey sticks and milk is economic self-sabotage dressed up as toughness while working families foot the bill.

Trump Imposes Additional 50% Tariffs on Certain Canadian Goods

Ontario’s premier is already calling for dollar-for-dollar retaliation, which means our farmers and exporters get hammered next. We’ve seen this movie before. Canada retaliates, US alcohol sales there already dropped 81%, and everyone loses.

Measure applies to goods including wine, though energy and parts of other sectors are exempt.

You cannot negotiate a trade agreement, sign it, celebrate it, then blow it up and expect anyone to trust the next deal. And who actually pays? American importers and American families. Tariffs are a tax on us.