Shutdown Looms As Senate Democrats Weigh Options
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Boston Globe
5 minutes ago
- Boston Globe
‘No parent should have to go through this.' Mother of slain UMass student backs Trump's federal takeover of D.C. police.
'My son was murdered,' his mother said. 'I can never see him again. I can never talk to him again. I just stare at his ashes, at his picture ... No parent should have to go through this, or any family. And that's the goal— I don't want another kid to be shot or killed.' Tarpinian-Jachym's intensely personal goal coincides with Advertisement 'I think he understands how bad it is,' she said of Trump, adding that she does not believe he is using her son's death for political purposes. 'This is our nation's capital, and I have to agree with [Trump], it should be the safest place in the country, the cleanest place in the country, and safe for everybody in America or anybody from all over the world to come visit.' Advertisement Tarpinian-Jachym stressed that her goal is improved public safety and said that she and her husband, a retired postal worker, are both registered as independents. She said she was drawn to Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s brief pursuit of the Democratic presidential nomination and has not been a MAGA supporter. A retired occupational therapist who practiced for many years in Springfield and Holyoke, Tarpinian-Jachym noted that Trump has indicated the federal takeover will be short-term. The deployment of National Guard troops should be given a chance to help local police, she said. Eric Tarpinian-Jachym grew up in Granby, about 15 miles north of Springfield, where he graduated from Pope Francis Preparatory School. He was seeking a degree in finance with a minor in political science at UMass Amherst. While her son wound up interning for a Republican, Ron Estes of Kansas, he was politically independent, she said. 'He was not this staunch Trumpster, like people are trying to make him out. He's an independent voter in Massachusetts, like all of us are,' she said. 'He was an independent, and he went to [Washington] to go and learn from both sides of the aisle.' Compounding the family's grief is the long, painful road Eric traveled in recent years. From 2020 until last year, he faced a number of health challenges — his mother declined to be specific — that required multiple surgeries, long and difficult rehabilitation, and accommodations at college when health problems derailed his class schedule. 'It was four years of hell' that included long stays at Boston's Children Hospital, his mother recalled. Advertisement But by January, his health had improved and Eric was 'The poor kid was having a good run for six months without being in a hospital, without complaining about pain,' she said. 'And on day 30 — he was there 30 days to the day — he got shot on that street and died the next day. That's why I am so angry." Around 10:30 p.m. on June 30, multiple people got out of a car at the intersection of 7th and M Street and began firing at a group of people, police said. Tarpinian-Jachym, a 16-year-old boy, and a woman were shot. Police believe the 16-year-old may have been the target and that Tarpinian-Jachym was an innocent bystander. A black Acura police believe was used in the shooting was later recovered, officials said. No arrests have been made and police have Tamara Tarpinian-Jachym said police have not returned any of her son's effects, including his phone that she keeps texting. 'Hopefully the case will be solved,' she said. Her son loved fishing, she recalled, especially with his father. In late May, they went to Block Island together and had an excellent day catching and releasing stripers. Advertisement Her husband worked part-time at the dining hall at Amherst College and would meet Eric for coffee at 4 p.m. in town nearly every day, she said. Those fishing trips, the meetings over coffee, and so much more are now gone, she said. 'Homicide is the worst thing a parent can experience, and my heart goes out to all parents of homicide victims,' she said. 'I wish it was me. My husband wishes it was him. So he could have lived his life." John R. Ellement can be reached at
The Hill
5 minutes ago
- The Hill
Dems finally lacing up their gloves, settle on midterm strategy?
Most people are soaking up the last days of summer — barbecues, beach trips, a little bit of 'out of office' energy. But Democrats? They're in no mood for lawn chairs and lemonade. They're finally lacing up their gloves. Take California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who decided to fight fire with fire this week. He took to X and trolled President Trump in a post that looked like it could have come straight from Trump's own Truth Social feed — caps lock and all — warning about Texas redistricting while mocking Trump's style: DONALD TRUMP, THE LOWEST POLLING PRESIDENT IN RECENT HISTORY, THIS IS YOUR SECOND-TO-LAST WARNING!!! (THE NEXT ONE IS THE LAST ONE!). STAND DOWN NOW OR CALIFORNIA WILL COUNTER-STRIKE (LEGALLY!) TO DESTROY YOUR ILLEGAL CROOKED MAPS IN RED STATES. PRESS CONFERENCE COMING — HOSTED BY AMERICA'S FAVORITE GOVERNOR, GAVIN NEWSOM. FINAL WARNING NEXT. YOU WON'T LIKE IT!!! THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION TO THIS MATTER. And then there's former Texas Rep. Beto O'Rourke, who put it— well, a little less delicately: 'We're in basketball game right now, if you'll excuse the metaphor, where the refs have left the arena and the other side is just clobbering the s–t out of us, punching us in the face, kicking us in the n—ts, and we're kind of throwing our hands up and we're asking the crowd, the people of America, 'hey do you see what's going on here?! This is unfair, this isn't the rules we agreed to play by,' well who cares about the f–king rules right now? Punch back, kick back, dunk over their heads and win some f–king power!' So, yeah — Democrats are starting to fight back. And a lot of people are saying, 'finally!' Don't just take my word for it. A recent Associated Press poll found that about 15 percent of Democrats describe their leaders as 'weak' or 'apathetic.' After years of warning that Trump was 'assaulting democracy,' some Democrats have decided the warning labels aren't enough — it's time for action. Axios reports Senate Democrats held more than 100 events in the first week of summer recess — town halls, hospital visits, small-business roundtables, food bank tours — all aimed at hammering Republican policies before the 2026 midterms. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer wants to localize the impact of what Trump and the GOP Congress are pushing: cuts to health care, tariffs, rising energy costs, and tax breaks for the wealthy. It's exactly the kind of retail politics voters have been begging for — less D.C. bubble, more Main Street reality. Meanwhile, Republicans have been steering clear of town halls. Earlier this year, Rep. Richard Hudson, who runs the GOP's House campaign arm, advised members to skip them entirely. Maybe that's because when they do show up, the reception isn't exactly warm. Just ask Nebraska Congressman Mike Flood, who got heckled last week when he tried to tout 'the big beautiful bill' as the room screamed back at him, 'Tax the rich! Tax the rich!' A Wall Street Journal poll shows 52 percent of Americans oppose that bill, a warning sign for Republicans heading into the midterms. So here's the bottom line: If Democrats keep showing backbone, meeting voters where they are, and making the case that Trump's policies hurt everyday Americans, they might actually turn 2026 into a comeback season. And if they don't? Well, they'll be back on the sidelines, wondering why the refs left the game in the first place.
Time Magazine
6 minutes ago
- Time Magazine
Trump Reveals Kennedy Center Honors Recipients
This article is part of The D.C. Brief, TIME's politics newsletter. Sign up here to get stories like this sent to your inbox. In his first turn as the chief of the Kennedy Center, President Donald Trump decided to honor the Queen of Disco, the King of Country Music, the original Phantom of the Opera, Rocky, and Kiss. The choices of Gloria Gaynor, George Strait, Michael Crawford, and Sylvester Stallone—plus Gloria Gaynor and Kiss—as the recipients of this year's prestigious Kennedy Center Honors signal yet the latest example of Trump putting his thumb on the scale of American culture. Earlier this year, Trump fired the Kennedy Center's board and its chairman and forced out its day-to-day leader. In their place, Trump appointed loyalists, who in turn declared him the chair of the nation's temple to the performing arts. And since then, performers and tours have canceled stops there in protest, and some marquee artistic partners have resigned their roles advising the center on programming choices. And other events, including those around World Pride, saw the curtain coming down before opening night. The result has been what typically was seen as a tribute to the slain 35th President worthy of bipartisan support becoming the latest flashpoint in Trump's never-ending stream of culture-war spats, going so far as to suggest the complex on the Potomac might be better called the 'Kennedy/ Trump Center.' After all, the President and Vice President J.D. Vance have giant portraits hanging at the entrance of the building, along with those of their wives. House Republicans, meanwhile, have proposed renaming the giant Opera House for First Lady Melania Trump. This is a breaking news story and will be updated. Make sense of what matters in Washington. Sign up for the D.C. Brief newsletter.
