Robert Garcia speaks in Buena Park, California, in October. Photograph: Etienne Laurent/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
Robert Garcia, set to become oversight chair, vows to take on president while Senator Ron Wyden signals ‘subpoenas’
Robert Garcia, the Democratic congressman set to become the next chair of the oversight committee of the House of Representatives, had two words for Republicans on Tuesday evening: “Lawyer up.”
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Garcia, who currently serves as the ranking member of the oversight committee, is expected to become its chair.
The House oversight committee serves as a “watchdog” committee and has broad authority to call witnesses, request government documents and issue subpoenas.
Orcas discuss Donald Trump and the killer apes’ concept of democracy. Front Orca warns that Trump is crashing his country’s economy and that everything he does he does for the fantastically wealthy.
Emil Bove, President Donald Trump’s nominee to be US Circuit Judge for the 3rd Circuit, testified during his Senate confirmation hearing on June 25, 2025. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
“We must vote in numbers so overwhelming that no Trump judge could deny the truth.”
If the Trump administration decides to challenge the outcome of any of the dozens of battleground contests in next week’s midterms, there’s a significant chance that one of the president’s handpicked, election-denying judges will oversee the case.
That’s according to a report published Tuesday by the advocacy group Demand Justice, which found that 53 of 60 battleground races for US House and Senate that will be held on November 3 “are in districts or states presided over by at least one Trump-appointed federal judge who, under oath, refused to admit that Donald Trump lost the 2020 election.”
“If these judges couldn’t tell the truth about 2020, we can’t count on them to do so in 2026,” said Josh Orton, president of Demand Justice. “We must vote in numbers so overwhelming that no Trump judge could deny the truth.”
The report defines battleground races as Senate and House contests that analysts currently rate as either a toss up, lean Republican, or lean Democratic.
Demand Justice emphasizes that federal courts “look very different” today than they did in 2020, when the judiciary “halted Trump’s attempt to challenge the 2020 election results.”
“Since then, Trump appointed Emil Bove and Jennifer Mascott to the Third Circuit, Rebecca Taibleson to the Seventh, Michael Martin to the Eastern District of Michigan, and Eric Tung to the Ninth Circuit, which hears appeals from Arizona,” the report notes, pointing to courts that previously weighed 2020-related cases.
During their confirmation hearings, each of those Trump-picked judges—along with dozens of others—refused to explicitly say that Trump lost the 2020 election. As Demand Justice observed in an earlier report, Trump’s judicial picks used virtually identical phrasing to evade senators’ questions about the 2020 election results, saying that former President Joe Biden “was certified as the winner.”
The report comes amid mounting concerns that the Trump administration could try to intervene in the midterms if the outcome is unfavorable to Trump and his Republican Party, which is seeking to maintain control of both chambers of Congress.
Demand Justice cited as an alarming example the Justice Department’s lawsuit aiming at blocking certification of Alaska’s US Senate election if Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan loses. Trump told reporters late last week that he ordered the DOJ to file the lawsuit, which Democratic nominee Mary Peltola is seeking to dismiss before Election Day.
“Trump’s attempt to interfere in Alaska’s Senate race is a wake-up call,” said Orton. “His administration will not accept election results unless the Republicans win.”
Orcas discuss Donald Trump and the killer apes’ concept of democracy. Front Orca warns that Trump is crashing his country’s economy and that everything he does he does for the fantastically wealthy.
Climate science denier Donald Trump confirms that he knows nothing about democracy and that more liquid gold is being secured according to his policy of global privateering (armed extortion).
President Donald Trump’s first taxpayer-funded ad, which aired on September 23, 2026. (Screenshot from an ad posted by the White House)
The administration had allocated $20 million in public funds to pay for ads celebrating Trump weeks before the midterms.
Less than a week before Election Day, another federal judge on Wednesday blocked the Trump administration from using taxpayer funds to run ads promoting the president.
US district judge Loren AliKhan froze the White House Office of Management and Budget’s $20 million allocation to run the ads, saying the administration likely “used public dollars to unlawfully finance a national media campaign in the final weeks before the November 2026 elections.”
The ads, which stated that they were “paid for by the US government,” attacked Trump’s enemies as “Marxists,” celebrated his military operations in Iran and Venezuela, and promoted his personal declaration that his presidency marked the beginning of a “golden age of America.” Another ad that was reportedly prepared but never aired declared that “God made Trump.”
— Commentary Trump Daily Posts (@TrumpDailyPosts) May 19, 2024
Following public outcry over the ads, Trump promised that future ads would be paid for with money he raised for his super political action committee MAGA Inc.
“That promise went unfulfilled,” wrote AliKhan, an appointee of former President Joe Biden. “The ads continued to air with the ‘Paid for by the US government’ disclosure for at least another week.”
The US Department of Justice has also acknowledged that the ads continued to run hundreds of times after a court order issued on October 11 requiring them to be canceled.
Federal law prohibits using federal appropriations for “publicity or propaganda purposes within the United States not heretofore authorized by Congress.”
The DNC argued that the administration’s use of public funds illegally “deprives the DNC of a fair electoral process by adding public funds to the resources available to support Republican candidates.”
AliKhan agreed that there was “little doubt that defendants’ unlawful use of public funds makes it more difficult for the DNC to achieve its mission of ‘electing Democratic candidates in federal, state, and local elections across the country.’”
“The court just delivered a victory for the rule of law and for American taxpayers,” DNC chair Ken Martin said following the ruling on Wednesday. “Trump and his administration can no longer misuse Americans’ hard-earned dollars to run political ads while working families can’t even afford to pay for their gas and groceries.”
Martin added that “Trump’s illegal and desperate attempt to save his cratering approval ratings ahead of the midterm elections only underscores how out of touch he is with the American people, who will hold him and Republicans accountable for their destructive agenda at the ballot box next week.”
Donald Trump calls for help from NATO allies in securing the Strait of Hormuz despite saying on 7 March 2026 that they don’t need people to join wars after they’ve already won. He’s challenged with the claim that he lies as much as the IDF.Climate science denier Donald Trump confirms that he knows nothing about democracy and that more liquid gold is being secured according to his policy of global privateering (armed extortion).
Orcas discuss Donald Trump and the killer apes’ concept of democracy. Front Orca warns that Trump is crashing his country’s economy and that everything he does he does for the fantastically wealthy.
“At a time when lawmakers claim the country cannot afford investments in families and communities, some of the most profitable corporations in American history are paying little or nothing in federal income taxes.”
Some of the biggest US corporations paid an effective federal income tax rate of just 10.4% last year as Republican legislation passed by President Donald Trump disproportionately benefited businesses and the superrich while eviscerating key social programs, a study published Thursday revealed.
The 706 corporations examined by the Washington, DC-based Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) reported a combined $1.88 trillion in US profits in 2025, yet paid less than half the statutory federal corporate income tax rate of 21%. Of those companies, the study found that 114 paid no federal income taxes at all.
Those 706 companies collectively paid current federal corporate income taxes equal to just 10.4% of that $1.88 trillion, “the lowest effective rate that ITEP has uncovered in over 40 years of analyzing corporate income taxes,” according to the analysis.
The study attributes this to two major tax laws enacted under Trump: The 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act—derided at the time as the “GOP Tax Scam”—slashed the statutory corporate income tax rate from 35% to 21%, while the so-called One Big Beautiful Bill Act passed by the Republican-controlled Congress and signed by the president last year expanded and made permanent the 2017 cuts.
NEW: U.S. corporations are paying the lowest tax rate seen in decades.706 major corporations collectively paid a federal income tax rate of just 10.4%, less than half the statutory rate.114 corporations paid zero.itep.org/corporate-ta…
“These findings show just how dramatically the corporate tax system has been tilted in favor of the nation’s wealthiest and most powerful companies,” ITEP senior fellow Matt Gardner, who co-authored the report, said in a statement.
“At a time when lawmakers claim the country cannot afford investments in families and communities, some of the most profitable corporations in American history are paying little or nothing in federal income taxes,” he added. “This is not an accident. It is the predictable outcome of deliberate policy choices that have steadily eroded the corporate tax base.”
Among the report’s key findings:
The 114 companies that paid no current federal income tax last year include Tesla, Walt Disney, CVS, Citigroup, United Airlines, and DoorDash;
258 corporations paid effective tax rates below 7%, or less than one-third of the statutory rate;
Those 258 companies reported $683 billion in US profits but paid an effective federal income tax rate of just 1.7%;
The 706 corporations studied received $198 billion in federal tax subsidies by paying less than the statutory 21% rate;
They also benefited from an additional $263 billion in tax savings attributable to the 2017 reduction of the statutory rate from 35% to 21%; and
Just 25 corporations accounted for more than half of the 2025 tax subsidies, with Alphabet ($18.9 billion), Microsoft ($18.7 billion), Amazon ($17.4 billion), and Meta ($13.9 billion) among the largest beneficiaries.
While proponents of subsidies claim they are necessary to encourage investment, the new study raises questions about why some of the nation’s most profitable corporations should receive billions of dollars in taxpayer subsidies while vital social programs upon which tens of millions of Americans rely, like Medicaid and food stamps, suffer historic cuts under Republican legislation.
“Congress has repeatedly chosen to expand tax breaks for corporations that are already extraordinarily profitable,” said Steve Wamhoff, ITEP’s federal policy director and co-author of the report. “Rather than continuing to subsidize corporate investments and reward aggressive tax avoidance, lawmakers should close these loopholes and ensure that large corporations pay a meaningful share of their profits in taxes.”
Elon Musk urges you to be a Fascist like him, says that you can ignore facts and reality then.Orcas discuss Donald Trump and the killer apes’ concept of democracy. Front Orca warns that Trump is crashing his country’s economy and that everything he does he does for the fantastically wealthy.
Protesters in New York City take part in the “Freeze AI Now” national day of walkouts on October 20, 2026. (Photo by Kena Betancur/Getty Images)
“Left unchecked, AI could endanger the entire global financial system—including your bank account.”
Sen. Bernie Sanders on Thursday renewed calls to pause development of artificial intelligence following reporting that unauthorized AI agents are operating inside the systems of major US banks.
Axios’ Madison Mills revealed that Morgan Stanley, Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, and other financial institutions are “racing to contain agent risks,” including “situations when an agent or AI assistant accesses a human’s account with the user’s permission and login credentials,” which “goes against the guidelines of most banks requiring that humans log in to their own accounts.”
In AI, an agent is a system that can take actions to complete an assigned task, rather than simply responding to queries or generating text.
According to Mills’ reporting—which cites people familiar with the matter—some agents have contacted bank call centers or appeared to take actions independently of users’ instructions.
Banking executives interviewed by Mills described the problem as “horrifying,” with one official warning of potentially serious consequences for customers’ finances.
The stakes are particularly high, the executives said, when AI agents have permission to make purchases or transfer funds. Banks are also struggling to determine whether activity is actually authorized by customers or whether an agent has gone rogue.
“This is insane,” Sanders (I-Vt.) posted on social media in response to Mills’ report. “We cannot allow AI agents to go into your bank account and act independently without your authorization.”
“But that is what’s happening right now,” he continued. “Left unchecked, AI could endanger the entire global financial system—including your bank account.”
The senator added, “Pause AI NOW!”
Sanders has repeatedly warned that the race to create increasingly powerful AI systems is outpacing efforts to ensure their safety. Such concerns are mounting as profit- and ego-driven tech oligarchs race toward the “holy grail” of artificial general intelligence (AGI)—an advanced AI that can understand, learn, and apply knowledge of any subject as well as or better than a typical human.
Earlier this month, Sanders renewed his call for a congressional ban on the development of advanced AI, citing Big Tech oligarchs’ secret preparations for a “catastrophic AI event.”
The senator has repeatedly cited pioneers like Geoffrey Hinton who have warned that superintelligent AI—a development that experts believe could come after AGI—might wipe out humanity, as well as less existential but still potentially devastating outcomes like xAI CEO Elon Musk’s prediction that AI and robots could “replace all jobs.”
Last month, Sanders and Congressional Progressive Caucus Chair Greg Casar (D-Texas) introduced legislation to pause advanced AI development and ban the creation or deployment of artificial superintelligence. Sanders also wants a moratorium on the construction of new AI data centers.
The banking story underscores the growing challenge of deploying autonomous AI systems in consequential settings before their behavior can be reliably controlled or monitored.
JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon last week announced a ban on outside AI agents from accessing customer accounts.
Sanders wasn’t the only elected official who responded with alarm to the new Axios report.
“This is the exact thing we’ve been warning about for years,” Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) said on social media. “AI agents with unrestrained access to your bank account and protected information. When consumer AI agents are accessing YOUR bank account or using YOUR credit card, they must be subject to fiduciary-like duties of care.”
“We need to pass my AI AGENT Act to get some basic guardrails in place,” Warner added, referring to legislation that would establish federal rules for artificial intelligence agents that act on people’s behalf.
Congressman Ted Lieu (D-Calif.) also weighed in on the report, writing on social media that “the Trump administration and GOP leadership made the deliberate decision to let the AI industry run wild.”
“That was a bad political decision,” he added. “And now it’s become a potentially catastrophic policy decision.”
On the other side of the political aisle, Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis—who has opposed the Trump administration’s efforts to prevent states from regulating AI—said on X, “Imagine a rogue AI agent liquidating your bank account and investment portfolio.”
“If you are the only victim, I suppose you could get made whole by the AI company responsible,” he added. “If rogue agents liquidate hundreds of billions across millions of accounts, the AI company would go bankrupt and you wouldn’t get made whole.”
The new Axios report comes two days after nationwide “Freeze AI Now” walkout protests by students, workers, academics, and others demanding an immediate halt to further AI development until the public has a meaningful say in how the technology is built and regulated.
Orcas discuss Donald Trump and the killer apes’ concept of democracy. Front Orca warns that Trump is crashing his country’s economy and that everything he does he does for the fantastically wealthy.
