Kentucky Politics Insider: Is another '26 Senate campaign announcement coming soon?
A long-rumored candidate for U.S. Senate in Kentucky was spotted recently in Shelbyville alongside all the trappings of a political ad shoot: a large filming crew, a trailer, a sunny day shot of him on an idyllic downtown sidewalk.
It might be just a matter of time before Nate Morris, a tech entrepreneur based in Lexington, lets us in on what that video shoot was all about.
Politicians often announce either just before the quarterly fundraising deadlines — the most recent one closes Monday, June 30 — in order to either show a strong fundraising burst ('we raised $1 million in 5 days,' etc.) or just after to give them a full three months to rake in the donations before going public with the amount they've raised.
Morris should have little problem with the initial funding. In 2022 alone, Morris was compensated more than $40 million by his company Rubicon before it went public. That year he left the company, whose profitability has cratered in recent months.
A healthy amount of initial funding, or at least anticipated funding, seems clear based on the size of the film crew at his Shelbyville shoot. At least nine people were spotted helping out in a photo shot by a tipster.
Should the shoot presage a run for the office, Morris would be joining two Kentucky GOP heavyweights in the race to replace Sen. Mitch McConnell, who earlier this year announced he would not seek reelection in 2026. Sixth Congressional District Rep. Andy Barr and former Attorney General Daniel Cameron both announced bids earlier this year.
Also of note: Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk, a star of the online conservative movement, is set to appear in Shepherdsville for 'a rally' on June 30. Morris has carved out something of a lane among Republicans of a similar generation and posture, like President Donald Trump's son Donald Trump, Jr and Vice President JD Vance.
Don't be surprised if Morris is there — or if his candidacy is the point of the rally.
A spokesperson for Morris has yet to comment on the purpose of the filming.
The headlines have mostly been reserved for Rep. Thomas Massie, whose stance against Trump's actions in Iran have earned him greater fame and fierce ire from the president.
But POLITICO reported a fairly consequential bit of news on Kentucky's junior senator over the weekend: Senate Republicans have sidelined him in discussions over funding portions of Trump's marquee budget bill, known as the 'Big, Beautiful Bill.'
Normally, Paul's perch as chair of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee would allow him to lead talks related to the agencies he helps oversee. Not so, said Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-SC, the senior Republican who is taking Paul's place in those discussions.
It comes as a result of Paul, a deficit and spending hawk, proposing much lower spending on border security than was initially in the massive budget bill.
'Senator Paul usually votes 'no' and blames everybody else for not being pure enough,' Graham told POLITICO in an interview. 'As chairman, you … don't have that luxury sometimes. You have to do things as chairman you wouldn't have to do as a rank-and-file member.'
All Republicans vying for McConnell's seat in 2026 have been singing from the same hymnal: agreeing heartily with Trump.
But it's possible the latest conflict in the Middle East could work to pry the candidates from one another, if only slightly.
We even got a flash of that in the early days of the Iran-Israel war, when Barr's team saw an opportunity to tout their pro-Trump bona fides before Cameron and Morris had weighed in.
A release from last week was titled 'Barr Blasts KY GOP Senate Opponents for Silence on Israel, Pledges to Stand with Trump.' He called his opponents' relative silence at the time 'deafening.'
Later, both Cameron and Morris began making public statements in support of the military action and diplomatic tack the Trump administration oversaw.
'Not a single American soldier lost. No endless war in the Middle East. Just a historic ceasefire agreement,' Cameron wrote recently.
Morris wrote that Trump deserves a Nobel Peace Prize for his maneuvering.
While you've seen more unanimity in recent days, one of the key points of Massie's recent rebellion against Trump's foreign policy is that a big chunk of the GOP is now non-interventionist and didn't like engaging with Iran. If he's right, might one of the three big GOP candidates seek to court that crowd?
On the Democratic side of things, Kentucky House Minority Floor Leader Pam Stevenson, who is also running for McConnell's seat, stood against Trump's action in Iran.
'The American people are deeply opposed to another war. Congress knows it. They would never have approved an escalation this unplanned and geopolitically reckless,' Stevenson wrote in a social media post Saturday.
McConnell may not be GOP leader anymore, but he's still making headlines with his recent comments over potential cuts to Medicaid spending.
According to a report from Punchbowl News, McConnell said Tuesday during a closed-door Senate GOP meeting that voters would 'get over' spending cuts proposed to Medicaid in the proposed budget bill currently in the Senate's possession.
'I know a lot of us are hearing from people back home about Medicaid. But they'll get over it,' McConnell said, according to the outlet, also adding that 'failure isn't an option.'
McConnell's speech came during a debate among GOP senators over the political viability of the cuts, which have not been finalized. North Carolina GOP Sen. Thom Tillis warned that cuts could politically backfire on Republicans.
Kentucky is relatively dependent on Medicaid, with the Eastern Kentucky-centric 5th Congressional District having the 11th-most Medicaid enrollees of all 435 U.S. House districts in the country.
A McConnell spokesperson later clarified the senator's comments, saying that he was speaking about people abusing Medicaid.
'Sen. McConnell was speaking about the people who are abusing Medicaid — the able-bodied Americans who should be working — and the need to withstand Democrats' scare tactics when it comes to Medicaid,' the spokesperson wrote. 'Sen. McConnell was urging his fellow members to highlight that message to our constituents and remind them that we should all be against waste, fraud, and abuse while working to protect our rural hospitals and have safety nets in place for people that need it.'
As GOP leader — a post he held until this year, longer than any senator of either party — McConnell was Democrats' favorite Republican to hate. Several Democrats quickly pounced on his comments Tuesday.
''They'll get over it' is what Mitch McConnell has to say to the 16 million Americans who will have their health care terminated because of this disastrous Republican bill,' Wisconsin Democratic Sen. Tammy Baldwin wrote on social media. 'Republicans might not care if our constituents have health care, but I do.'
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, which has signaled it will get involved in Kentucky's 6th Congressional District race in 2026, chimed in as well.
'The most senior Kentucky Republican in D.C. wants workers and families in Kentucky to just 'get over' him and House Republicans ripping health care coverage away from 170,000 Kentuckians,' spokesperson Madison Andrus wrote in a statement to the Herald-Leader. 'That's not going to happen — and come next November, those Kentuckians will make sure House Republicans lose their majority over it.'
The Democratic primary for the open 6th Congressional District seat in 2026 now has two viable contenders in former Lexington-Fayette Urban County Councilman David Kloiber and former House Democratic Caucus Chair Cherlynn Stevenson.
Stevenson, whose connections are naturally more statewide due to her prominence in Frankfort, just scored perhaps the biggest endorsement of the primary so far: Lt. Gov. Jacqueline Coleman.
While it's certainly a big deal for Stevenson, who is close friends with the lieutenant governor, it may be an even more important test for Coleman.
Coleman is generally believed to be eyeing a run for governor in 2027. Same goes for, at this moment in time, Rocky Adkins, a household name in Kentucky Democratic politics and current adviser to Gov. Andy Beshear.
While Coleman has proven a good Democrat who will show up for her colleagues in a general election, the Stevenson endorsement gives her an opportunity to flex her political muscle in a primary setting — a setting perhaps not so unlike the one she may face if both she and Adkins hop in the gubernatorial election.
On picking Stevenson, Coleman said she spoke with the candidate early in the process before anyone else had decided to run.
She added the race was so important to her because it includes her native Mercer County and she herself had discussions about potentially joining.
'It was an honor for people to try to encourage me to consider this, but ultimately, I decided that D.C. is not where I want to be,' Coleman told the Herald-Leader in an interview.
Does that mean she's ready to run for governor?
'For me, it has to be the right time and situation, and that's why I'm taking a good, hard look at it,' she said. 'None of us can tell the future, but it's going to be a big landscape change in Kentucky, with all of the retirements, moving from one seat to another, and all of the folks who are elected running for other seats now. So it's going to look different, but none of us know how yet.
'This is something that I believe that I should take a serious look at, and so that's what I've been doing — mainly listening, doing less talking and more listening.'
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CNN
a few seconds ago
- CNN
Trump calls on Intel CEO to resign
President Donald Trump on Thursday demanded the resignation of Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan following reports and allegations that he has ties to China. 'The CEO of INTEL is highly CONFLICTED and must resign, immediately. There is no other solution to this problem. Thank you for your attention to this problem!' Trump posted on Truth Social. The call comes just days after Arkansas Republican Sen. Tom Cotton raised concerns and pressed the chair of Intel's board over the CEO's alleged connections to China, questioning the integrity of the company and its impact on US national security. In a letter earlier this week to Intel board Chair Frank Yeary, Cotton pointed to recent reporting on Tan's Chinese investments. Reuters in April reported that Tan has personally and through various venture funds invested in hundreds of Chinese companies, some of which have ties to the country's military. 'The new CEO of @intel reportedly has deep ties to the Chinese Communists. U.S. companies who receive government grants should be responsible stewards of taxpayer dollars and adhere to strict security regulations. The board of @Intel owes Congress an explanation,' Cotton wrote in a post on X, attaching the letter. Intel and Tan did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Shares of Intel (INTC) fell nearly 5% in premarket trading. This is a developing story and will be updated.
USA Today
2 minutes ago
- USA Today
Pro-Trump group wages campaign to purge 'subversive' federal workers
ATLANTA, Aug 7 (Reuters) - In February, federal worker Stefanie Anderson sat at her kitchen table with her husband and asked questions she never imagined having to face: Were their children safe? Should they pull them from school? Should they leave their home? A friend had sent her a link to a 'DEI Watchlist' published by the American Accountability Foundation, a right-wing group with ties to senior officials in U.S. President Donald Trump's administration. It listed Anderson's name, photo, salary and work history, and accused her and other federal employees of pushing 'radical' diversity, equity and inclusion policies in government. 'My heart dropped,' Anderson said. More: From Bibles to prayer groups: What Trump's new religion memo for federal workers means The longtime public health worker spent much of her career at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, specializing in infectious disease outbreaks. Her work included a deployment to Sierra Leone during the Ebola crisis. More recently, she supported HIV prevention programs. After her profile appeared on the site, her phone rang for a month with about 30 calls a day from unknown numbers. Anderson changed her hairstyle to avoid recognition, stayed indoors, rerouted packages from her Atlanta home and reminded her children to lock the doors and check the security cameras. As a Black woman, she said, the experience reminded her of 19th-century fugitive slave ads. 'It made me feel like a criminal on a wanted poster.' Anderson is among 175 federal employees, mostly civil servants, named on 'watchlists' posted online by the American Accountability Foundation, which wants them removed from their jobs for allegedly promoting liberal ideologies. Many are women and people of color with long careers under both Republican and Democratic administrations. Most have little or no public profile and have spent their careers in behind-the-scenes government roles. Reuters spoke with two-dozen people on the lists, all sharing their stories for the first time. Some bolstered home security or avoided going out in public. Others deleted social media accounts or scrubbed personal information from the internet. More than half wrestled with anxiety. Some described a quiet unraveling of their lives, experiencing depression, feeling a need to disappear. Through legal filings, public records and interviews with more than three dozen sources, Reuters traced AAF's evolution from a Biden-focused opposition research outfit to a sharp instrument in the Trump movement's campaign to root out perceived enemies. More: Unemployment among Black Americans can be an early sign of economic strain. It's rising AAF's target is the federal workforce. Half the people on AAF's watchlists – at least 88 – have left government or been forced onto administrative leave. Some were fired amid Trump's mass federal layoffs. Others departed over fears of termination or reassignment. At least two, worried about their safety, have fled the country. Rather than aiming at high-profile political appointees, AAF's lists focus mostly on career civil servants who execute the policy of the administration in power. AAF President Tom Jones and his backers argue that many of these employees lean liberal and could work quietly to undermine Trump's agenda, so the public deserves to know their identities. 'They want to be unaccountable bureaucrats who work in these agencies and never get seen,' he told Fox News in June 2024. 'We're gonna tell you who these people are and what they're about.' Jones did not respond to a detailed list of questions about AAF or the impact of its watchlists on the civil servants it targets, but defended its work in a statement to Reuters. "It's important that anti-Trump civil servants know someone is watching and taking names; we stand by our research and reporting, with our only regret being that more people on our lists haven't left government and handed their jobs over to patriots who will execute on the agenda the American people voted for in November." Since October, AAF has published three watchlists. The first, a 'DHS Watchlist,' named 60 federal employees as 'targets' for their work on immigration policy at the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Justice, including nearly a dozen immigration judges. In January, AAF published two more: one identifying 'political ideologues' at the Education Department, and one featuring staff who worked on diversity initiatives at other federal agencies. Each site includes photos and personal details drawn from public records and social media, along with allegations of 'subversive,' 'divisive' or 'left-wing' transgressions such as donating to Democrats or supporting immigrant aid groups. Federal employees, however, are allowed to engage in such political activity privately under federal laws that prohibit discrimination based on political affiliation. By launching the first list ahead of the 2024 election, the group helped translate Trump's campaign pledge to 'clean out the deep state' into a database of names and faces. After the DHS list went live, one commenter on AAF's X account posted a photo of bullets. X did not respond to questions about the post. As Trump wages a self-described campaign of 'retribution,' federal workers on AAF's lists have paid a price. In Maryland, a mother at a public library with her toddler was confronted by a woman who said she recognized her from the list. 'What you're doing is disgusting,' the stranger said. In Texas, a man shattered a window of an immigration judge's home and called her a 'traitor.' In Georgia, police stationed a patrol car outside a CDC employee's home for a week after she was named for working on initiatives to expand healthcare access in low-income and minority communities. To the people targeted by AAF, its sites are engines of reputational harm and invitations to harassment. AAF, however, stops short of crossing an important line, say free-speech experts: It omits home addresses, phone numbers and other intimate identifiers associated with doxxing – the publishing of personal information online with malicious intent. By that standard, the sites remain just outside the boundaries of potential criminal violations of privacy. But legal experts say the watchlists could deter civil servants from politically sensitive work, creating a chilling effect on public service. 'What is so ominous about these sites is that they're close to the line of illegal, but not crossing the line,' said University of Virginia School of Law professor Danielle Citron, a specialist in online privacy. 'They are designed to silence and intimidate and to inspire other people to hurt' people named on the site. AAF promotes its work as part of a broader effort to defend Trump's 'America First' platform. On its websites, the group says it exposes 'the truth behind the people and groups undermining American democracy' and serves as 'a go-to resource for policy makers and their staffs.' It makes its goal clear to its targets: 'If you see yourself on this list and wish to be removed,' it says on the watchlists, 'please forward us evidence that you've resigned or been fired.' As AAF singles out federal employees for alleged political bias, the Trump administration has moved to loosen restrictions meant to keep partisanship out of government work. In April, it relaxed enforcement of the Hatch Act, a nearly century-old law designed to insulate the civil service from partisan political pressure. The change allows federal employees to openly support the sitting president while at work, wearing 'Make America Great Again' hats at their desks, for instance. AAF received $100,000 last year from the conservative Heritage Foundation to support its work, public records show. Much of its early funding and organizational backing came from groups aligned with Trump, including one run by Russell Vought, now Trump's budget director, and another headed by Stephen Miller, a senior Trump advisor. AAF's Jones was an advisor on the Heritage Foundation's Project 2025, which calls for slashing the federal workforce and marginalizing 'woke culture warriors.' Heritage, Vought, Miller and the White House did not respond to questions, including inquiries about ties between administration officials and AAF or the impact of the watchlists on personnel decisions. More than 200,000 federal employees have left government service since Trump took office. The administration says roughly 154,000 accepted buyout offers, while an estimated 55,000 were fired or laid off, according to the Partnership for Public Service, a nonprofit that tracks federal workforce trends. Reuters could not confirm whether the watchlists influenced staffing decisions. The Justice Department and the Department of Health and Human Services said they did not. The Education and Homeland Security departments did not respond to requests for comment. 'TERRORIST' For those named by AAF, the consequences can be swift. Noelle Sharp had served as chief federal immigration judge in Houston for three years without incident. Immigration judges are employees of the Justice Department and enjoy civil-service protections. Sharp's life was upended last October when her photograph appeared on AAF's 'DHS Watchlist,' which claimed to identify 'America's most subversive immigration bureaucrats.' AAF targeted Sharp on multiple fronts. Her name was posted alongside details of her career and a pointed accusation: She 'made her bones keeping criminal aliens out of jail and away from deportation.' The group questioned her impartiality, citing her decade-long career as a private immigration attorney and her earlier work with Catholic Charities, a nonprofit that provides legal and humanitarian aid to migrants. The organization, affiliated with the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, has long been a target of the far right for its role in refugee resettlement and assisting migrants. AAF accused the group of facilitating 'mass migration,' a claim Catholic Charities denies. AAF also flagged a 2017 social media post in which Sharp, then a private attorney, called Trump an 'embarrassment' and an 'idiot' after he criticized NATO allies for leaving the U.S. with a disproportionate share of Europe's defense costs. Sharp said AAF falsely portrayed her as biased. When she applied with the Justice Department to become a judge, she said she underwent extensive vetting that began during Trump's first administration. Her focus, she said, was on clearing immigration backlogs and ensuring cases were handled 'efficiently, effectively and fairly.' On the day the list was published, the right-wing Gateway Pundit website ran a story amplifying the claims and casting Sharp as among a cadre of left-wing bureaucrats accused of betraying America by "sabotaging border security.' In the comments section, one reader called for Sharp and others on the list 'to hang for treason.' A week later, she said, a stranger appeared at her home, shouting and pounding on the front door until a window shattered. 'Terrorist,' the man called her. He accused her of letting criminals into the country. 'Someone should do something about you,' he yelled. Alone at home, Sharp stepped outside and tried to reason with him. 'A lot of what you read on social media isn't true,' she told him. He kicked her door and left. Sharp said she chose not to report the incident to police, fearing the man might live nearby and retaliate. She informed her supervisors. In late November, she found her car windshield smashed. This time her supervisors alerted the U.S. Marshals Service, which protects federal judges. The Marshals, she said, gave her a phone app to alert authorities in an emergency. The Marshals Service declined to comment on Sharp's case or the watchlist. Reuters was unable to determine whether any suspects were identified or what motivated them. In response to an inquiry from Reuters, the Gateway Pundit said it would remove the comment suggesting people on the watchlist should hang for treason. On February 14, Sharp was fired. Immigration judges, unlike federal judges with lifetime appointments, serve at the discretion of the attorney general and can be reassigned or dismissed, provided there is cause and due process. Sharp said she believes her inclusion on the watchlist contributed to her dismissal. 'If I hadn't been on the DHS Watchlist, I don't believe I would have lost my job,' she told Reuters. Sharp requested that AAF remove her photo from its website but said she received no response. Her profile remains on the site. Citing safety concerns because of the watchlist, she recently moved to Mexico with her husband and now works remotely as an immigration attorney. Her firing coincides with a broader purge. Since Trump took office in January, at least 106 immigration judges have been fired, reassigned or accepted buyouts, according to the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers, which represents most of them. Almost all were dismissed without cause, the union said. The Justice Department declined to comment on Sharp's firing or the broader purge of immigration judges. AAF'S BIRTH AND EVOLUTION AAF was launched in December 2020, weeks after Trump lost his re-election bid to Joe Biden. Its initial mission, as Jones said in a 2021 Fox News interview, was 'to take a big handful of sand and throw it in the gears of the Biden administration.' The group traces its roots to a network of Trump-aligned nonprofits led by the Conservative Partnership Institute, headed by former Senator Jim DeMint and Mark Meadows, who served as chief of staff in Trump's first presidency. CPI provided $335,100, more than half of AAF's first-year funding, according to tax filings. The next year, CPI provided another $210,000, and two other CPI affiliates also chipped in. The Center for Renewing America, led by Trump budget chief Vought, and America First Legal, headed by Trump adviser Miller, contributed $100,000 and $25,000, respectively. Vought, a self-described Christian nationalist, and Miller were fixtures in Trump's first White House and have reemerged as architects of his second-term agenda. At its inception, both CPI and America First Legal identified themselves in tax filings as a "direct controlling entity" of AAF. DeMint, CPI, America First Legal and the Center for Renewing America did not respond to requests for comment. Roughly a decade before AAF launched, Jones, Miller and Vought were congressional staffers aligned with DeMint and other right-wing lawmakers in an insurgency against the Republican establishment. Jones built a reputation for opposition research, said a former DeMint staffer who worked alongside him. 'Jones was one of the harder-edged guys,' the ex-colleague said. In the spring of 2021, AAF launched to target Biden administration nominees. The site, no longer active, featured profiles of nominees accompanied by disparaging and at times misleading commentary. In interviews at the time, Jones said he was inspired by the Democrats' success in undermining some of Trump's first-term nominees to top administration posts. In June 2022, as Trump prepared to run again, the Heritage Foundation named AAF a partner in Project 2025, a transition plan that called for a dramatic rollback of the federal bureaucracy, including DEI initiatives. Two years later, Heritage awarded AAF $100,000 to launch 'Project Sovereignty 2025,' a database of federal employees involved in Biden-era immigration policy. After launching his DEI Watchlist in January, Jones told Fox News, 'We're going to help the Trump administration identify the people they need to get out of these positions.' 'DANGEROUS' AAF's watchlists disproportionately feature women. Although women make up less than half of the federal workforce, they account for more than two-thirds of the 175 federal employees named across the three lists, according to a Reuters analysis. About 50% of those listed are racial and ethnic minorities, compared with 41% of the overall federal workforce. Patricia Kramer, a 43-year-old U.S. Army veteran and Hispanic employment strategist at the National Institutes of Health in Maryland, said that seeing her name and photograph appear on the list in February triggered the same anxiety she felt during her 2009 deployment to Iraq, when she lived under the constant threat of being targeted by enemy soldiers. 'You don't know who you're emboldening by posting a list of people that strangers should focus their attention on,' said Kramer. 'It's dangerous.' After returning from Iraq, Kramer earned a degree in psychology, motivated by the mental health struggles she and other soldiers faced. A daughter of Mexican immigrants, she later joined the NIH, working to improve Hispanic representation in staffing and research. The DEI Watchlist labeled Kramer and 95 others on the site as 'America's Bureaucrats Most Abusing Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.' The watchlist highlighted portions of Kramer's biography that described her collaboration with Hispanic communities, efforts to promote equitable hiring and her work with the Office of Refugee Resettlement during the Biden administration. The group described her record as 'shocking' and incompatible with Trump's policy goals. Kramer sees her biography as a testament to a public service career spent helping underserved communities. After being spotlighted on the site, she became hypervigilant. Kramer avoided leaving home, scanned her surroundings constantly and monitored her street for anything unusual. Her greatest fear was for her 17-year-old son. 'I was afraid that some unhinged individual would make it his duty to confront those of us on the list,' she said. And 'potentially hurt one of us or our family members.' She spent months trying to get her photo removed from the site. In February, she filed a takedown request with the site's hosting platform, Webflow, under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, which prohibits unauthorized online distribution of copyrighted material. Documents related to her takedown request, reviewed by Reuters, show that Webflow initially complied and removed her photo. In March, AAF submitted a counter complaint with the host, arguing that the image was an 'official government portrait,' one of the documents show. AAF also replaced her photo with an illustration of a woman in an office, accompanied by a caption: 'DEI bureaucrats are so ashamed of what they're doing that they don't want to show their faces.' Kramer contacted Webflow again to prevent her image from being reinstated. By April, a new photo – taken from Kramer's LinkedIn profile – appeared on the site. Kramer has not succeeded in having it taken down. A Webflow spokesperson declined to comment on the case but said the law allows users to reinstate content if no legal action is taken within 10 to 14 days by the complainant. To assist others on the watchlist, Kramer wrote a guide explaining how to file takedown requests. At least eight colleagues initially succeeded in removing their photos, she said. But AAF challenged those removals, arguing — as it had in Kramer's case — that the images were 'official government portraits,' according to the document reviewed by Reuters. AAF succeeded in reinstating their photos. 'The length at which they're willing to go to intimidate and scare people is just ridiculous,' Kramer said, who was terminated from her job in July. The Department of Health and Human Services, which includes the NIH and CDC, did not answer questions about Kramer or others fired after appearing on AAF watchlists. In a statement, the agency said the lists were not considered in personnel decisions, but added, 'DEI has no place at HHS in the Trump Administration.' 'We will not apologize for restoring a culture of merit, integrity and neutrality in federal service,' said spokesperson Andrew Nixon. 'I FELT LIKE I HAD TO DISAPPEAR' Shelby Guillen Dominguez, 34, says she felt a wave of fear when she saw her name on the DEI Watchlist in February. The site criticized her work as a diversity program specialist at the Department of Health and Human Services. It featured video of a university speech where she discussed expanding opportunities for students from diverse socioeconomic backgrounds. The site claimed, without evidence, that her remarks excluded 'certain races.' 'I didn't even mention race,' Dominguez said in an interview. 'It felt like they were framing me as an enemy of the state.' AAF shared her information on its X account, which has more than 23,000 followers, accusing her of dropping 'diversity' from her title 'in a sad attempt to keep her job.' One commenter called for her to be 'fired and investigated.' The title change, however, was part of a department-wide reorganization announced a month earlier. Dominguez deleted her social media accounts, locked her credit report and set up alerts to monitor online mentions of her name. She said she stayed indoors, sought therapy, and was prescribed medication for anxiety and depression. She had been at HHS for six months when she was placed on administrative leave in January under Trump's executive order targeting federal DEI programs. In July, she was officially terminated. 'It was always my dream to work for the federal government,' she said. 'Now it's all crumbling.' Kiana Atkins, a longtime federal employee, felt similar stress after landing on the watchlist in January. 'I couldn't sleep,' said Atkins, 46, who worked at the NIH. 'I was afraid to go out by myself.' Atkins joined the agency in 2022 after working for the Census Bureau and the U.S. Navy. Her job focused on reducing employment barriers for Black employees and mentoring students. After being named, she experienced severe anxiety and withdrew from a professional development program. She temporarily disabled her LinkedIn account and tried unsuccessfully to remove her name from AAF's site. No longer feeling safe at home alone, she said she made the difficult decision to leave the U.S. and live with family in Central America. She accepted a government buyout and moved in February. 'I did not feel safe,' she said. 'I felt like I had to disappear.' 'DO PEOPLE HATE US?' Some named on the watchlists are fighting back. Anderson, the CDC worker who altered her appearance and told her kids to lock the doors, is a member of a complaint filed in March with the U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board, an executive branch agency that adjudicates federal employment disputes. The complaint accuses the Trump administration of violating federal workers' civil and constitutional rights by removing employees alleged to be involved in DEI work. The federal Civil Service Reform Act prohibits personnel decisions based on perceived political affiliation and is meant to protect career staff from the politicization of their work. 'You can't mistreat government workers because you assume they do not share your politics,' said Kelly Dermody, one of the attorneys representing the employees. The White House has said its directives to eliminate DEI personnel and programs across the federal government were aimed at ending what it describes as unlawful preferences in federal hiring and ensuring neutrality in government activities. The case is pending. Anderson said the watchlist distorted her work and harmed her reputation without giving her a chance to respond. AAF claimed that Anderson 'discretely (sic) updated' her LinkedIn title — from Advisor on Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility to Public Health Advisor — to evade a Trump executive order and obscure her 'true duties.' Anderson said she changed her title after moving into a new role in December. The group also accused her of supporting efforts to muzzle free speech after she liked a LinkedIn post warning about the dangers of health-related misinformation. Days after her name appeared, Anderson was placed on administrative leave. The Health and Human Services Department declined to comment specifically on her case. Months later, Anderson, 50, still avoids crowds, doesn't go out after dark and flinches when the doorbell rings. She choked back tears as she recalled her 13-year-old daughter asking, 'Do people hate us?' 'I just can't believe that this is my life in 2025,' Anderson said. (Additional reporting: Kristina Cooke, Ted Hesson, David Morgan and Sarah N. Lynch. Edited by Jason Szep)
USA Today
2 minutes ago
- USA Today
Ohio to play key role in national fight for Congress as redistricting battle rages
Across the nation, the redistricting arms race is on to secure control of the U.S. House of Representatives. President Donald Trump has floated using the FBI to retrieve Texas Democrats who fled voting on a Republican-drawn congressional map. Vice President JD Vance is asking Indiana Republicans to consider adding another GOP seat there. Meanwhile, California Gov. Gavin Newsom and other Democratic governors have threatened to redraw their maps to add more Democratic seats if Republicans move forward with their plans. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul recently said: "This is a war. We are at war." More: Trump says FBI 'may have to' force Democratic lawmakers back to Texas Ohio Senate Minority Leader Nickie Antonio said she would be "very concerned" about Democrats' response in a normal world. "This is not normal," said Antonio, D-Lakewood. "It appears we have to do everything we can to fight back." More: Redistricting: Ohio must draw a new congressional map. Republicans hold all the cards In Ohio, the fight over a new congressional map has yet to begin. But it will play out over the next few months under tremendous political pressure from Washington, D.C. Here's what to expect: Why is Ohio drawing a new congressional map? Unlike other states, Ohio's political leaders don't have a choice on whether to redraw the state's congressional map. Ohio Republicans approved the state's current congressional map in 2021. But the map lasted only four years because no Democrats voted for it. Ohio's leaders must now draw a new map for the next three elections. What's the current split on Ohio's congressional map? Ohio's current congressional delegation includes 10 Republicans and 5 Democrats. That means Republicans control 66% of seats even though Trump won 55% of the votes in the 2024 election − a decisive 11-point victory over Democrat Kamala Harris. Which congressional seats could Republicans target to pick up seats in Ohio? Republicans are likely to target two competitive congressional seats held by Democratic Reps. Marcy Kaptur, of Toledo, and Emilia Sykes, of Akron. They could try to rearrange the 1st congressional district in Cincinnati, currently held by Democratic Rep. Greg Landsman. That would be more of a stretch because the city of Cincinnati must be kept whole under anti-gerrymandering rules approved by voters in 2018. What's the timeline for approving a new map in Ohio? Ohio must approve a new congressional map by Nov. 30 to use in the 2026 elections. But there are other deadlines before that final one. Lawmakers have until Sept. 30 to pass a congressional map with support from at least three-fifths of lawmakers in each chamber and half of the Democrats. Legislative Republicans and Democrats each get up to $200,000 to spend on mapmaking. Then, the Ohio Redistricting Commission has until Oct. 31 to pass a map with bipartisan support. That commission includes three Republican statewide officials, two Republican lawmakers and two Democratic lawmakers. The pen returns to lawmakers, who can approve a map with support from three-fifths of members and one-third of Democrats on board. The final option is for Republican lawmakers to pass a map without any Democratic support. If Republicans take that route, they must follow some rules: they cannot "unduly" favor a political party or incumbents or "unduly" split counties, townships and municipalities. Any map approved by lawmakers will be sent to Gov. Mike DeWine for his signature or veto. After that, voters could collect signatures via the referendum process to put the map up for a vote. What have Ohio leaders said about redistricting? Ohio House Speaker Matt Huffman, who was a powerful figure in the last redistricting cycle, said through a spokesperson that he supports "a fair and data-driven redistricting process that accurately reflects Ohio's political landscape and provides consistency for voters." "The Speaker is focused on delivering a durable outcome for Ohio, not on meeting external expectations." Antonio said she wants to take Republicans at their word: "in spite of the national landscape, that Republican leaders are going to do their best for the people of Ohio." Still, Antonio is troubled by how the White House has influenced redistricting across the nation. "This is an authoritarian government that is in control of the United States, and they are dictating, and that's something we should all be concerned about." Obama calls Texas GOP's redistricting plan a 'power grab that undermines our democracy' Former President Barack Obama jumped into the nation's cross-country redistricting fight, calling Texas Republicans' push to add five new GOP congressional seats "a power grab that undermines our democracy." Obama's remarks, made in a statement posted Aug. 5 on X, come as President Donald Trump has pressured Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and Republicans in the GOP-controlled Texas state legislature to approve new congressional maps to help Republicans maintain control of the U.S. House during the 2026 midterm elections. Read more here JD Vance to visit Indiana amid push for redistricting Vice President JD Vance is visiting Indianapolis on Aug. 7 to speak with Gov. Mike Braun and Republican legislative leaders about the possibility of redistricting the state's congressional districts amid the Trump administration's push to increase the GOP majority in the House. Vance plans to meet with Braun, House Speaker Todd Huston and Senate Pro Tempore Rodric Bray. The group expects to discuss several topics, Braun said, but any discussion about redistricting would be "exploratory" and no commitments have been made at this point. Read more on what's happening in Indiana here. USA TODAY and The Indianapolis Star contributed to this article. State government reporter Jessie Balmert can be reached at jbalmert@ or @jbalmert on X.
