🔥 What’s Happening This Week as We Resist Trump and Republican Fuckery

Follow the money. Follow the power. Demand the receipts.

Friends, every time we examine how power is being used in Washington, the same question keeps coming back: Who is our government actually serving?

This week’s reporting raises troubling questions about nearly $350 million in Pentagon contracts, allegations that a Trump-connected ambassador offered access to administration officials in exchange for a $100,000 payment, and Justice Department efforts to shield presidential communications from scrutiny in a dispute over the Kennedy Center.

These stories concern different institutions, but they reveal a common danger: government authority operating without enough transparency to establish whose interests come first.

Let’s be clear. Allegations are not convictions, political connections do not automatically prove corruption, and disputed legal claims are not settled findings.

But Americans do not need a criminal conviction to demand public records, independent oversight, and honest answers.

Public office is a public trust. Not a private business opportunity. Not a favor owed to donors. Not a license to hide decisions from the people.

Here is what we know, what remains disputed, and why accountability cannot wait.

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💰 $350 Million in Pentagon Contracts. Who Got the Deal?

An October 9 investigation revealed that the Pentagon awarded approximately $350 million in contracts to Alvarez & Marsal Federal, a consulting firm with business connections to senior Defense Department official George K. Kollitides II.

One $281 million contract was awarded without competitive bidding. Corporate records also identified Kollitides as an adviser to an affiliated investment firm after he entered government service. Pro Publica

Pentagon officials maintain that Kollitides complied with ethics requirements. The reporting does not establish that he improperly directed contracts or personally profited.

The accountability check: Who approved these contracts? Why was competitive bidding bypassed? Were conflicts properly addressed?

Taxpayer dollars deserve transparency, not preferential treatment for the politically connected.

💵 $100,000 for Political Access? A Trump Ambassador Faces Questions

Trump donor Eric Deters alleges that Kimberly Guilfoyle, U.S. ambassador to Greece, offered access to senior administration officials in exchange for a $100,000 payment toward an American Express bill. Deters says he never paid.

Reported messages raised questions about whether political access was being offered for personal financial benefit. The Guardian

Guilfoyle’s attorney disputes the messages’ authenticity and says she was owed money for travel and speaking engagements. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has expressed support for her.

The accountability check: These allegations do not establish wrongdoing. But Congress should examine the communications, financial records, and applicable ethics requirements.

Public service is not a personal ATM. Government access should never be for sale.

⚖️ Trump Wants Secrecy at the Kennedy Center. A Court Is Asking Questions.

The Justice Department is invoking presidential executive privilege to prevent Kennedy Center officials from answering questions about Trump’s involvement in the institution’s operations.

The dispute stems from Representative Joyce Beatty’s lawsuit challenging decisions by the Trump-controlled board, including plans to close the performing arts complex for renovations. Government lawyers blocked questions about presidential communications involving finances and operations. Washington Post

Legal experts question whether executive privilege applies to Trump’s activities as board chairman. A judge has ordered additional financial disclosures while considering the privilege claim.

The accountability check: Executive privilege is not automatic protection for every presidential conversation.

The Kennedy Center belongs to the public. Its money, decisions, and leadership deserve transparency.

💚 Good News Worth Carrying With You

A Federal Judge Protects Voters’ Privacy and State Election Authority

On October 9, U.S. District Judge Sparkle Sooknanan ruled against the Justice Department’s policy of obtaining sensitive state voter registration information for comparison with federal immigration records.

The court found that the policy violated legal protections and improperly intruded upon state election authority.

The lawsuit raised concerns that unreliable citizenship information could mistakenly flag eligible voters. The ruling protects voter privacy without preventing lawful voter registration maintenance. The courts are reminding Washington that the Constitution still matters, and the people still have rights. ACLU

Why this matters: Eligible Americans should never lose their voting rights because of faulty government records. The ruling is a meaningful victory for privacy, voting rights, and judicial accountability, although further proceedings remain possible.

🔍 Our Government. Our Right to Know. We Have The Power to Demand Answers.

Friends, the government belongs to us. Not wealthy donors, politically connected contractors, or the president’s friends and family.

When $350 million in federal contracts raises conflict-of-interest questions, when officials face allegations of selling access, or when government lawyers invoke secrecy, the public deserves answers.

We must demand disclosures, scrutinize contracts, examine political influence, and distinguish allegations from proven misconduct.

Political connections do not prove wrongdoing, but they should never shield anyone from oversight.

Ask the questions. Demand the documents. Follow the money. Make them answer.

📣 Take Action This Week

📞 Take Action» Tell Your Representative to Demand Transparency in Federal Contracts

Ask Congress to request procurement records, examine no-bid contract decisions, and protect independent government ethics oversight.

🔎 Take Action» Contact Your Senators and Demand Accountability for Political Access

Urge senators to examine allegations involving public officials, financial relationships, and possible conflicts of interest through fair, documented oversight procedures.

👀 What We’re Watching

We’re watching whether investigators scrutinize $350 million in Pentagon contracts, whether allegations involving Ambassador Kimberly Guilfoyle receive an independent review, and whether courts require greater transparency in the Kennedy Center and voter privacy cases.

Will Congress demand records, testimony, and conduct meaningful oversight? No assumptions of guilt. No unchecked power. Just evidence, answers, and accountability.

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📢 Check out A Complete Guide: No Kings Vote Early - October 17, 2026

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❤️ One Thing to Carry With You

Friends, corruption thrives when people stop asking questions.

When contracts disappear into paperwork, when political access becomes a private privilege, and when powerful officials insist their decisions are none of our business, democracy suffers.

But we are not powerless.

We can demand records. We can question our representatives. We can organize our neighbors. We can refuse to accept secrecy as the price of government.

Every taxpayer dollar represents someone’s hard work. Every public office carries a responsibility to serve the people.

We will not cower. We will not look away.

Keep showing up. Keep demanding the receipts. Keep building people power.

Laurie Woodward Garcia
(paid with hugs and kisses, not bought by special interests)
Leader, People Power United

This is our moment to rise, resist, and reclaim our rights, freedoms, rule of law, and democracy. Millions of Americans are already refusing to back down — in the streets, at the ballot box, and in their communities.

The future is not lost. It is being built — by us, right now.

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🔥 What’s Happening This Week as We Resist Trump and Republican Fuckery

Follow the money. Follow the power. Demand the receipts.

This week’s reporting raises serious questions about how public money, federal law enforcement, and presidential influence are being used under the Trump administration.

A politically connected defense company is receiving billions in federal support. Investigative reporting describes pressure on FBI personnel to pursue election-related allegations. And taxpayer-funded advertisements promoting Trump have prompted scrutiny of government spending and campaign-related messaging.

These are different stories, but they raise a common question: Are public institutions serving the American people, or are political relationships shaping decisions that should be governed by law, evidence, and the public interest?

Here is what the records and reporting show, what remains disputed, and what deserves closer examination.

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💰 Billions for a Defense Company With Powerful Political Connections

On October 6, Trump announced a $6.6 billion shipbuilding initiative in Sparrows Point, Maryland, involving Anduril Industries, a defense technology company founded by major Republican donor Palmer Luckey.

The proposed project includes $2.9 billion in Navy funding and $3.7 billion in private investment, raising questions about how taxpayer dollars will be allocated and protected. The Guardian

Luckey has contributed millions to Republican causes and hosted fundraisers for Republican politicians, including Trump. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth also recently appointed Luckey as an adviser to a Pentagon initiative examining future warfare.

Trump described Luckey as a personal friend during the announcement.

The planned facility would manufacture submarine components, including parts for Virginia-class nuclear-powered submarines. Anduril says production is not expected to begin until 2030.

Trump also claimed taxpayers would receive a 40% stake in the shipyard, but the precise ownership arrangement remains unclear.

The accountability check: Political contributions and government contracts do not, by themselves, establish corruption. But billions in public commitments warrant transparent procurement records, independent oversight, clear ownership disclosures, and measurable performance requirements.

Who determined the federal funding structure? How will taxpayers’ interests be protected? What safeguards address potential conflicts involving donors who also advise the Pentagon?

When public resources support private industry, the public deserves the receipts.

🗳️ Is the FBI Being Redirected Toward Trump’s Election Claims?

An October investigation raises serious questions about potential political pressure on the FBI, including concerns expressed by current and former federal law enforcement personnel about Director Kash Patel’s handling of election-related investigations. The Atlantic

Based on interviews with more than 40 people, the reporting describes White House interest in investigations involving the 2020 election, pressure to revisit allegations, and the reassignment of personnel to election-related work.

One reported effort involved approximately 260 FBI employees assigned to review Fulton County, Georgia, voting records. People familiar with that work told the publication it produced no substantive findings.

The FBI disputes the characterization of its work. Officials maintain that election security is a legitimate national security priority and that investigations follow authorized procedures. The White House denies directing charging decisions.

There is an important distinction between investigating credible election crimes and pursuing claims without sufficient evidence. The former protects democratic institutions. The latter raises questions about resource allocation and institutional independence.

The accountability check: What evidence justified these investigations? How much staff time and taxpayer money have been committed? Were ordinary investigative standards followed? Were employees subjected to improper pressure?

Those questions deserve documented answers, not assumptions about guilt or innocence.

📺 Taxpayer-Funded Trump Ads Spark Questions About Public Spending

Federal money used for advertisements promoting Trump’s administration is now receiving scrutiny from lawmakers and government ethics advocates.

The government reportedly spent at least $10 million airing the advertisements. Critics questioned whether the messaging crossed the line between legitimate public communication and political promotion.

Public Citizen has also challenged broadcasters’ decisions to air the advertisements and raised questions about applicable political advertising requirements. Democracy Now

The White House has defended the advertisements as government communications, and Trump has said that similar promotional messages have been used by previous presidents.

The proposed shift to privately funded advertising does not, by itself, resolve questions about spending that has already occurred.

The accountability check: Which agency authorized the advertisements? What appropriations supported them? Did federal officials obtain legal and ethics reviews? Will any public funds be reimbursed?

A government can inform people about its work. Whether these particular advertisements met legal spending requirements remains a question for oversight and appropriate review.

Taxpayer money must be accounted for, regardless of which political party controls the White House.

💚 Good News Worth Carrying With You

A Federal Court Stops Border Construction in Big Bend

On October 2, U.S. District Judge Kathleen Cardone issued a preliminary injunction halting border barrier and related construction in Texas’s Big Bend region.

Conservation advocates and local residents challenged federal waivers of environmental protections that had allowed border construction to move forward in Texas’s Big Bend region, raising concerns about the potential harm to protected landscapes, wildlife, and surrounding communities. Inside Climate News

The court found sufficient grounds for preliminary relief while the lawsuit continues.

Why this matters: The injunction shows that communities can use the courts to challenge federal actions and obtain meaningful review before further potentially irreversible harm occurs.

It is not a final ruling resolving every issue in the case. But it demonstrates that judicial oversight remains an important check on executive authority.

🔍 Our Government. Our Right to Know. We Have The Power to Demand Answers.

Accountability begins with evidence.

Public contracts should disclose who receives taxpayer money, how recipients were selected, what they promised to deliver, and what protections exist against conflicts of interest.

Federal law enforcement must remain accountable to legal standards, documented evidence, and constitutional protections, regardless of political pressure.

Government advertising should be subject to the same financial transparency and legal scrutiny regardless of which administration is spending the money.

The questions are straightforward: Who authorized the decision? Who benefits? Who pays? Where are the records? And who is responsible for independent oversight?

👀 What We’re Watching

Defense contracting: Whether additional agreements explain the government’s financial stake in the Anduril shipyard, procurement terms, performance milestones, and oversight safeguards.

FBI independence: Whether congressional oversight or further reporting clarifies the scope, costs, legal basis, and leadership direction of election-related investigations.

Government advertising: Whether lawmakers, watchdogs, or relevant agencies obtain expenditure records and determine if existing federal advertising requirements were followed.

Big Bend litigation: Whether the injunction remains in effect and how the broader constitutional and environmental claims proceed.

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📣 Take Action This Week

📞 Take Action» Find your representative and request congressional oversight

Ask for transparent reporting on federal defense spending, safeguards for independent law enforcement, and review of taxpayer-funded government advertising.

📋 Take Action» Find your senators and congressional contacts

Request clear answers about federal contracts, expenditure records, and the standards governing investigations involving elections.

A Complete Guide: No Kings Vote Early is now available

Get the information you need to make your No Kings Vote Early voting plan, understand early voting options, and know what to expect before you cast your ballot. Make a plan, check the details, and be ready to vote early.

📢 Check out A Complete Guide: No Kings Vote Early - October 17, 2026

📍 Find a No Kings: Vote Early event near you

🙋 Host a No Kings: Vote Early event

Can’t find an event near you? Bring one to your community. Gather your neighbors. Help make sure every voice is heard.

❤️ One Thing to Carry With You

Public service is a duty, not a personal entitlement.

Every taxpayer dollar comes from someone’s hard work. Every public institution exists because the people entrusted it with authority. Every constitutional protection belongs to all of us, not to whichever administration happens to hold power at the moment.

That is why transparency matters. That is why evidence matters. And that is why independent oversight matters.

We do not have to assume wrongdoing to demand answers. We do not have to give up our freedoms to insist that government follow the law.

Keep asking questions. Keep examining the records. Keep showing up.

Power belongs to the people, and accountability belongs in every corner of government.

Freedom over fascism. Power to the people.

Laurie Woodward Garcia
(paid with hugs and kisses, not bought by special interests)
Leader, People Power United

This is our moment to rise, resist, and reclaim our rights, freedoms, rule of law, and democracy. Millions of Americans are already refusing to back down — in the streets, at the ballot box, and in their communities.

The future is not lost. It is being built — by us, right now.

Subscribe now

🔥 What’s Happening This Week as We Resist Trump and Republican Fuckery

The fuckery this week is not subtle.

Federal election-security systems meant to protect election workers and detect foreign interference have been hollowed out while the administration pours energy into claims of noncitizen voting. The Supreme Court has agreed to review a Trump administration policy that can keep immigrants locked up for months without a bond hearing. And Pete Hegseth is pushing a Pentagon overhaul that mixes culture-war politics, fewer internal restraints, and a new defense-tech project built around hand-picked private-sector power brokers.

Different institutions. Same question:

Who benefits when the guardrails disappear?

This week, we are following what happens when government stops acting like a public institution and starts behaving like a vehicle for ideological power, political advantage, and private influence.

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🗳️ Trump Officials Quietly Gutted Election-Threat Protections

Federal programs created to investigate threats against election workers and foreign interference have largely gone dormant under the Trump administration.

The Justice Department’s election-threats task force prosecuted 21 cases between 2021 and 2024, including threats and violence aimed at election officials. Former election-security officials now say the task force appears effectively inactive. At the same time, the FBI’s foreign-influence task force was dismantled and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency lost parts of the information-sharing infrastructure that helped state and local officials identify election threats. The Guardian

Meanwhile, federal attention has shifted heavily toward alleged noncitizen voting. More than 90 voting-fraud-related prosecutions have reportedly been brought recently even as officials have produced little evidence supporting broader claims of widespread foreign or noncitizen interference.

The accountability check: Election integrity means protecting the election itself, not merely investigating the kinds of alleged misconduct politically favored by the people currently in power.

Threats against election workers do not become less dangerous because they are inconvenient to a political narrative. Foreign interference does not disappear because federal officials would rather talk about something else.

When the government dismantles one set of election protections while aggressively pursuing another, the public deserves to know who made those decisions, what threat assessments supported them, and what safeguards remain before November.

🚨 Supreme Court Will Review Trump’s No-Bond ICE Detention Policy

The Supreme Court has agreed to review a Trump administration policy that denies bond hearings to certain immigrants detained while deportation proceedings move forward.

Before the change, many immigrants arrested after living in the United States could ask an immigration judge for release on bond by showing that they were neither dangerous nor likely to flee.

Under the administration’s policy, people can instead remain detained for months without that opportunity.

Numerous lower courts have rejected the policy, with nine federal appeals courts ruling against the administration’s interpretation while two have supported it. The Supreme Court will now decide whether federal immigration law permits the mandatory detention policy. The Washington Post

This is not a technical paperwork dispute.

This determines whether the government can take someone into custody and keep them there without giving them the basic opportunity to argue before a judge that continued detention is unnecessary.

Why this deserves attention: Due process is supposed to restrain government power precisely when the government claims extraordinary authority over an individual.

A bond hearing does not guarantee release. It guarantees a hearing.

If the administration can eliminate that safeguard for one group, the larger question is what happens when detention becomes easier, review becomes harder, and executive power becomes the default.

Government power needs a referee.

🪖 Hegseth’s Pentagon Overhaul Puts Politics and Private Power in the Same Room

Pete Hegseth used a September 30 address at Quantico to outline a sweeping cultural and organizational shift inside the Pentagon.

His speech attacked diversity programs, transgender service members, identity initiatives, and what he described as a weakened military culture. He also announced Project Meridian, a defense-technology initiative involving Elon Musk, Palmer Luckey, Newt Gingrich, and other hand-picked private-sector participants who would help shape the development and deployment of future military technology. PBS

The initiative is being presented as a way to move weapons development faster and prepare the military for new forms of warfare.

But speed is not the same thing as accountability.

Defense contracting already involves enormous sums of public money. Moving more decisions toward politically connected technology executives and private-sector insiders makes transparency, contracting rules, ethics safeguards, and congressional oversight even more important.

At the same time, Hegseth’s broader message was unmistakably political. He described the military in culture-war terms and demanded a force stripped of policies he associates with the political left.

Why this deserves attention: The United States military belongs to the country, not a political movement.

Its procurement system should not become a shortcut for well-connected technology billionaires. Its personnel policies should not become campaign applause lines. And service members should never be placed in a culture where loyalty to political leadership is confused with loyalty to the Constitution.

When billions of dollars, military authority, ideological purges, and private-sector influence start converging, congressional oversight should get stronger, not weaker.

🔎 Let’s Hold Them Accountable

Three stories. Three different institutions.

Election security. Immigration detention. The Pentagon.

The common thread is concentrated power paired with weaker guardrails.

That is exactly when people have to pay closer attention.

📊 Check what changed. When an agency ends a task force, rewrites a detention policy, restructures oversight, or shifts billions of dollars, ask who made the decision and what evidence justified it.

💡 Ask who benefits. When public programs disappear or private companies gain new access to government contracts, follow the money and the relationships.

☎️ Demand consistent oversight. Constitutional protections, ethics rules, inspector generals, congressional investigations, and judicial review should not depend on which party controls the White House.

🔎 Keep demanding the receipts. Court filings, contracts, congressional testimony, agency directives, campaign-finance reports, public records, and inspector-general findings help separate outrage from evidence.

Accountability begins with evidence.

We do not resist Trump and Republican fuckery by accepting every allegation as fact.

We resist by documenting what they are doing, checking the records, understanding who holds the power, and refusing to allow extraordinary government actions to become ordinary simply because they happen every week.

Government belongs to the people.

Not presidents.
Not political parties.
Not billionaires.
Not defense contractors.
Not corporations.

The people.

A Complete Guide: No Kings Vote Early is now available

Get the information you need to make your No Kings Vote Early voting plan, understand early voting options, and know what to expect before you cast your ballot. Make a plan, check the details, and be ready to vote early.

📢 Check out A Complete Guide: No Kings Vote Early - October 17, 2026

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🙋 Host a No Kings: Vote Early event

Can’t find an event near you? Bring one to your community. Gather your neighbors. Help make sure every voice is heard.

📢 What You Can Do

Every movement that was ever won started with people who refused to quit. We are those people.

🚨 Know what’s happening. Pass along verified information that helps your community see clearly.

🗳️ Protect the vote. Push back on corruption and help every eligible voter participate.

📣 Make noise for accountability. Ask hard questions, speak up, and remind public officials who they serve.

This is our moment to rise, resist, and reclaim our rights, freedoms, rule of law, and democracy. Millions of Americans are already refusing to back down — in the streets, at the ballot box, and in their communities.

The future is not lost. It is being built — by us, right now.

Subscribe now

🔥 What’s Happening This Week as We Resist Trump and Republican Fuckery

More than 1,100 stock transactions disclosed in a single month. A Republican senator asking Congress to examine whether the president’s son used proximity to the White House for financial benefit. A new Senate report tracing cam…

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🔥 What’s Happening This Week as We Resist Trump and Republican Fuckery

Billions in public investments challenged. Healthcare changes affecting millions. A fight over access to the White House press corps. Federal programs reshaped through executive action. And questions about who benefits when gove…

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🔥 What’s Happening This Week as we Resist Trump and Republican Fuckery

Journalists shut out of the White House. Foreign money reaching the president’s family. Voter investigations raising alarm. Courts pushing back on deportation powers. And billions in medical research facing new political scruti…

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🔥 What’s Happening This Week as we Resist Trump and Republican Fuckery

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They’re Counting on You to Look Away from Project 2025. Don’t.

The pattern is getting harder to ignore. This week, reporting showed immigrant deaths rising in ICE custody even as the agency shortened the public reports it releases after detainee deaths. A major lawsuit in Maine challenged the violent detent…

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They’re Counting on You to Look Away from Project 2025. Don’t.

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They’re Counting on You to Look Away from Project 2025. Don’t.

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They’re Counting on You to Look Away from Project 2025. Don’t.

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They’re Counting on You to Look Away from Project 2025. Don’t.

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They’re Counting on You to Look Away from Project 2025. Don’t.

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They’re Counting on You to Look Away from Project 2025. Don’t.

Project 2025 is no longer a blueprint — it is the active policy of the United States government. This week’s stories confirm what millions of Americans have been warning: big donors are collecting their return on investment in pardons and regula…

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💥Your Power in Action: What You Can Do Today

• 🔊 Tell Congress: Block Trump’s Election Denier Pick to Lead DHS,

  👉 Power up: Reject Markwayne Mullins Confirmation, ☎️ Call your Senator at (202) 224-3121 and tell them to vote NO on Mullin for…

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💥Your Power in Action: What You Can Do Today

• 📢 Be the change Tell State AGs: Block the Warner-Paramount Mega-Merger

• 📋 Sign the petition: Tell Congress: Stop Trump’s Illegal War in Iran

• 🎬 Make your voice heard Stop Burning Fossil Fuels Now

• …

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Most people hear “Project 2025” and picture a policy debate. A think-tank document. A political argument to be had somewhere down the road. But if you have been paying attention to the news this week — really paying attention …

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