Contributing Writers

The partial government shutdown over funding for the Department of Homeland Security has caused major staffing shortages within the Transportation Security Administration, an agency under DHS that handles airport security procedures created in response to the September 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center. TSA officers have not been paid for over a month, leading to hundreds of resignations and leaves of absence.

Democracy Now! celebrated its 30th anniversary at the historic Riverside Church in New York City with live performances by guests including musician Bruce Springsteen. Springsteen performed his new song, “Streets of Minneapolis,” about the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti by immigration enforcement agents in Minneapolis and spoke about his upcoming tour, which begins in Minneapolis next week. Watch the full event here.

Democracy Now! celebrated its 30th anniversary at the historic Riverside Church in New York City with live performances by guests including the Pulitzer Prize-winning Palestinian poet Mosab Abu Toha. Mosab Abu Toha read his poem “Under the Rubble” and spoke about his experience surviving Israel’s genocide of Gaza, which killed 30 members of his extended family. Watch the full event here.

“This is about how far Israel can extend its dominion, how much of a hard-power, dominant hegemon it can be in the region.” Daniel Levy of the U.S./Middle East Project says that U.S. involvement in the ongoing war on Iran is being driven by Israel’s expansionist ambitions in the Middle East. “Israel is still on the impunity high from its Gaza genocide, which has led us here.” Levy, a former Israeli peace negotiator, also provides analysis of current U.S.

Experts are calling it “the worst voter suppression bill ever seriously considered by Congress.” As the U.S. Senate prepares to vote on a Trump-backed voter ID bill known as the SAVE Act, millions of citizens who lack easy access to its required forms of documentation are now at risk of disenfranchisement. “Republicans are singularly focused on making it harder to vote and pursuing this MAGA fever dream,” explains Ari Berman, national voting rights correspondent for Mother Jones.

With thousands more U.S. Marines headed to the Middle East and President Trump reportedly considering a ground invasion of Iran, we speak with Mike Prysner, executive director of the Center on Conscience and War, who says his organization has received a massive increase in inquiries from soldiers seeking to submit conscientious objector applications. Prysner cites a “shift in consciousness” among young people in the United States, spurred by the Gaza genocide.

We look at how Europe is responding to the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran as President Trump denounces NATO allies for not joining the war. International affairs scholar Nathalie Tocci, speaking to Democracy Now! from Italy, criticizes Europe’s “ambiguous” response to the war on Iran as most of the continent has refused to condemn it. “We were the ones that were for multilateralism, for international law, and that ambiguity is basically another nail in the coffin of our credibility.

The U.S.-Israeli war on Iran has now entered its fourth week. The de facto closure of the Strait of Hormuz by Iranian forces is being felt worldwide, as shipments of oil, natural gas and fertilizer have been drastically curtailed. A fifth of the world’s oil supply transits through the strait, and the price of oil is up by about 50% since the war began in late February.

Experts are calling it “the worst voter suppression bill ever seriously considered by Congress.” As the U.S. Senate prepares to vote on a Trump-backed voter ID bill known as the SAVE Act, millions of citizens who lack easy access to its required forms of documentation are now at risk of disenfranchisement. “Republicans are singularly focused on making it harder to vote and pursuing this MAGA fever dream,” explains Ari Berman, national voting rights correspondent for Mother Jones.

As Israel continues to pummel Lebanon in its resumed war against the country and the Hezbollah paramilitary, we get an update from Associated Press reporter Kareem Chehayeb in Beirut. “If you compare this particular war to the last one, less than two years ago, what happened in the past three weeks is what happened in the past seven or eight months,” says Chehayeb, who describes masses of displaced people and fears of an imminent ground invasion.

A major New York Times investigation details the late co-founder of the United Farm Workers Cesar Chavez’s sexual abuse of women and girls. The revelations about Chavez’s history of grooming and abuse have sent shockwaves through the labor movement and California, where officials are already moving to cancel or rename public celebrations planned in his honor. Chavez is also accused of sexually assaulting fellow labor rights icon and United Farm Workers co-founder Dolores Huerta, now 95.

Democrats on the House Oversight Committee walked out of a closed-door briefing on the Epstein files with Attorney General Pam Bondi and her deputy, Todd Blanche, less than an hour after it began Wednesday, after Bondi repeatedly declined to say whether she would comply with a subpoena requiring her to appear for a sworn deposition on April 14.

Experts are calling it “the worst voter suppression bill ever seriously considered by Congress.” As the U.S. Senate prepares to vote on a Trump-backed voter ID bill known as the SAVE Act, millions of citizens who lack easy access to its required forms of documentation are now at risk of disenfranchisement. “Republicans are singularly focused on making it harder to vote and pursuing this MAGA fever dream,” explains Ari Berman, national voting rights correspondent for Mother Jones.

As Israel continues to pummel Lebanon in its resumed war against the country and the Hezbollah paramilitary, we get an update from Associated Press reporter Kareem Chehayeb in Beirut. “If you compare this particular war to the last one, less than two years ago, what happened in the past three weeks is what happened in the past seven or eight months,” says Chehayeb, who describes masses of displaced people and fears of an imminent ground invasion.

A major New York Times investigation details the late co-founder of the United Farm Workers Cesar Chavez’s sexual abuse of women and girls. The revelations about Chavez’s history of grooming and abuse have sent shockwaves through the labor movement and California, where officials are already moving to cancel or rename public celebrations planned in his honor. Chavez is also accused of sexually assaulting fellow labor rights icon and United Farm Workers co-founder Dolores Huerta, now 95.

Democrats on the House Oversight Committee walked out of a closed-door briefing on the Epstein files with Attorney General Pam Bondi and her deputy, Todd Blanche, less than an hour after it began Wednesday, after Bondi repeatedly declined to say whether she would comply with a subpoena requiring her to appear for a sworn deposition on April 14.

Democrats on the House Oversight Committee walked out of a closed-door briefing on the Epstein files with Attorney General Pam Bondi and her deputy, Todd Blanche, less than an hour after it began Wednesday, after Bondi repeatedly declined to say whether she would comply with a subpoena requiring her to appear for a sworn deposition on April 14.

Experts are calling it “the worst voter suppression bill ever seriously considered by Congress.” As the U.S. Senate prepares to vote on a Trump-backed voter ID bill known as the SAVE Act, millions of citizens who lack easy access to its required forms of documentation are now at risk of disenfranchisement. “Republicans are singularly focused on making it harder to vote and pursuing this MAGA fever dream,” explains Ari Berman, national voting rights correspondent for Mother Jones.

As Israel continues to pummel Lebanon in its resumed war against the country and the Hezbollah paramilitary, we get an update from Associated Press reporter Kareem Chehayeb in Beirut. “If you compare this particular war to the last one, less than two years ago, what happened in the past three weeks is what happened in the past seven or eight months,” says Chehayeb, who describes masses of displaced people and fears of an imminent ground invasion.

A major New York Times investigation details the late co-founder of the United Farm Workers Cesar Chavez’s sexual abuse of women and girls. The revelations about Chavez’s history of grooming and abuse have sent shockwaves through the labor movement and California, where officials are already moving to cancel or rename public celebrations planned in his honor. Chavez is also accused of sexually assaulting fellow labor rights icon and United Farm Workers co-founder Dolores Huerta, now 95.

The Trump administration is escalating threats against news organizations, with President Trump suggesting outlets should face “treason” charges for disseminating false information. Brendan Carr, the chair of the Federal Communications Commission, has also threatened to revoke broadcasters’ licenses over their coverage of the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran. This all comes as allies of President Trump consolidate their control over several major media outlets.

Democrats on the House Oversight Committee walked out of a closed-door briefing on the Epstein files with Attorney General Pam Bondi and her deputy, Todd Blanche, less than an hour after it began Wednesday, after Bondi repeatedly declined to say whether she would comply with a subpoena requiring her to appear for a sworn deposition on April 14.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards have warned a “new stage of war” has begun after Israel bombed Iran’s South Pars gas field — the largest known natural gas reserve in the world. This comes as the price of oil has spiked to $118 a barrel, a 60% jump since the U.S. and Iran attacked Iran on February 28.
Professor of Gulf studies Laleh Khalili lays out the global economic implications of the effective closing of one of the world’s “major choke points for oil,” the Strait of Hormuz.

In a major escalation in the war in the Middle East, Israel has bombed Iran’s South Pars gas field, the largest known natural gas reserve in the world, leading Iran to attack energy sites across the Gulf. Iranian American professor of international affairs Vali Nasr says that Iran is prepared for a much longer war than the U.S. and Israel anticipated.

A jury in Texas has convicted eight people in the first federal anti-terror case since the Trump administration declared “antifa” a terror group. Nine defendants alleged to be members of an “antifa terror cell” stood trial on federal and state charges including rioting, using explosives and attempted murder. The charges stemmed from their attendance at an anti-ICE protest outside the Prairieland ICE jail on July 4, during which fireworks were set off and a police officer was shot and wounded.

The Trump administration is escalating threats against news organizations, with President Trump suggesting outlets should face “treason” charges for disseminating false information. Brendan Carr, the chair of the Federal Communications Commission, has also threatened to revoke broadcasters’ licenses over their coverage of the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran. This all comes as allies of President Trump consolidate their control over several major media outlets.

A top national security official resigned from the Trump administration Tuesday in response to the war on Iran. “Iran posed no imminent threat to our nation, and it is clear that we started this war due to pressure from Israel and its powerful American lobby,” Joe Kent, who served as director of the National Counterterrorism Center, wrote in his resignation letter.

As the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran continues, we look at how the Pentagon is using artificial intelligence in its operations. The system, known as Project Maven, relies on technology by Palantir and also incorporates the AI model Claude built by Anthropic. Israel has used similar AI targeting programs in Iran, as well as in Gaza and Lebanon.

A jury in Texas has convicted eight people in the first federal anti-terror case since the Trump administration declared “antifa” a terror group. Nine defendants alleged to be members of an “antifa terror cell” stood trial on federal and state charges including rioting, using explosives and attempted murder. The charges stemmed from their attendance at an anti-ICE protest outside the Prairieland ICE jail on July 4, during which fireworks were set off and a police officer was shot and wounded.