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Notes for the video episode:
Dispatch Drop for 11.11.2025//
Government Shutdown News:
Arguably what is on most people’s minds this weekend and through Monday day side was the government shutdown. 7 Democratic and 1 independent Senator(s) bucked from the party to join the Republicans to begin the process of re-opening the government. In what is now officially the longest government shutdown in US history (41 days and counting), the pressure to open the government was squarely pegged on the Republicans. Immense pressure from Americans from across the country, including those who believe healthcare subsidies should continue, and that SNAP benefits should also be funded, can’t be overstated.
For more than a month, Democrats had insisted that any deal to reopen the government include an extension of Affordable Care Act premium tax credits, set to expire Dec. 31. The shutdown had already left hundreds of thousands of federal workers unpaid, disrupted air traffic control, and airport operations, and millions were facing the loss of food assistance. - Boston Globe
The senators who voted for the government to re-open were - Democratic senators John Fetterman, Maggie Hassan, Jeanne Shaheen, Tim Kaine, Jacky Rosen, Dick Durbin, Catherine Cortez Masto, along with independent Senator Angus King.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom tweeted on X.com saying “America Deserves Better” after the vote had come through.
Democrats rebel after 8 senators cut a deal to end the shutdown without ACA funds
WASHINGTON — Many Democrats are fuming after a breakaway group of eight senators teamed up with Republicans to strike a deal to reopen the government without extending health care subsidies, backing off on the demand that led to the shutdown.
The agreement, which cleared a key procedural hurdle late Sunday by a vote of 60-40, sparked heavy criticism from congressional candidates, progressive activists and Democratic lawmakers. That includes some members with higher ambitions, who said it shows party leaders are not up to the task of marshaling effective opposition to President Donald Trump.
“This is a defining moment for the party. We need new faces with bold new ideas,” Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., who is considering a presidential run, told NBC News. “The American people are tired of a failed status quo.”
Even though Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., criticized the deal and voted against it, some liberal groups and Democratic candidates running against the establishment pointed the finger at him for failing to keep his caucus unified in opposition to a deal that did not include Affordable Care Act funds. If the subsidies expire on schedule at the end of 2025, more than 20 million Americans could face health insurance premium hikes.
Khanna called on Schumer to “be replaced.” Senate Democratic candidates, including Michigan’s Mallory McMorrow, Iowa’s Zach Wahls and Maine’s Graham Platner — all of whom have expressed skepticism about or opposition to re-electing Schumer as leader — demanded a shake-up in Senate leadership.
“Down here in eastern Maine, a doubling of health care premiums destroys families,” Platner said in a video posted to X. “We need to elect leaders that want to fight.”
The left - Democrats, liberals, leftists, anyone left of center... needs to primary every single one of the senators who voted for this.
ICE News:
Man who suffered apparent seizure in Fitchburg ICE stop thanks supporters at vigil: ‘We’ll find a way out of this’ - Boston Globe
FITCHBURG — Two days after Carlos Sebastian Zapata was stopped in his car by immigration agents and suffered an apparent seizure, he climbed the steps of city hall with tears in his eyes.
“I never thought something like this was going to happen,” he said in Spanish, addressing the crowd of supporters before him. “But with your support, and with God, we’ll find a way out of this.”
Dozens of people huddled together around Zapata at a vigil held for his wife, Juliana Milena Zapata, on Saturday evening, who was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Thursday after Zapata lost consciousness.
Zapata’s wife, has been charged with stabbing a coworker in the hand and throwing a trash can at her. They also claimed that Zapata had faked his seizure.
“There are lots of bad rumors out there about me, my wife, my family,” he said on Saturday. “We’re human beings and we make mistakes. But we’ve never been bad people.”
Supreme Court News:
Kim Davis, a Kentucky county clerk who refused to issue same-sex marriage licenses, had asked the court to reconsider its landmark 2015 opinion.
“She had asked the Supreme Court to reverse an order that required her to pay more than $300,000 to a couple denied a marriage license — and to overturn the same-sex marriage ruling from 2015.”
--> This surprised many legal experts and the LGBTQIA+ community, but was welcome news.
To no ones surprise, Justice Clarence Thomas wrote separately to urge reconsideration of the Obergefell v. Hodges ruling, which recognized gay marriage nationwide.
The justices agreed to hear a challenge to Mississippi’s law, a case that could upend similar measures in dozens of states before the 2026 election.
The Supreme Court said on Monday that it would hear a challenge to Mississippi’s counting of mail-in ballots received after Election Day, a case that could upend mail-in rules in dozens of states, creating chaos ahead of the 2026 elections.
The case, Watson v. Republican National Committee, asks the justices to determine the meaning of “Election Day.” It is a potential blockbuster and adds to the court’s other elections and voting cases for the term, which include a case about who can sue to challenge Illinois’ mail-in ballot rules and a challenge to the Louisiana congressional district map that could gut a remaining pillar of the Voting Rights Act.
The Republican National Committee challenged Mississippi’s mail-in ballot rules, arguing that Congress had intended that voting take place on a single Election Day and that allowing ballots to arrive days later and still be counted undermined election integrity and the public’s trust in the vote.
Mississippi argued that Congress only set a date by when voters must make their choice, not the date by when ballots must arrive. Mississippi defended its grace period, which is similar to ones in place in many other states, as allowing elections officials to count ballots that have been mailed by Election Day but arrive a few days after.