On my way home from a gathering on Catholics, community organizing, & supporting democracy, I got to stop by the burial site of Mother Jones. I've driven past many times, but never gotten to pay my respects to her & the workers buried at the only union-dedicated cemetery in the country. #UnionStrong

Republicans need to cut Medicaid to hit budget savings target, CBO finds thehill.com/homenews/hou...

Pentagon prepares to fire thousands of civilian employees in dramatic culling - POLITICO www.politico.com/news/2025/02...

President Donald Trump’s administration said it was placing all personnel at the foreign assistance agency USAID, except leaders and critical staff, on paid administrative leave and eliminating 1,600 positions in the United States reut.rs/4hVgJk0

You’re about to hear all kinds of things about a bill called the SAVE Act. 

Congressional Republicans are using it as a cover to take away voting rights from thousands of Americans—all while claiming it’s about stopping non-citizens from voting.

5 things to know 🧵👇🏻

Fellow book lovers! There is a better way to buy our books than Amazon. Instead of putting $ in Bezos' pocket, every purchase on @bookshop-org.bsky.social financially supports independent bookstores. You can even select the bookstore you'd like to support.

The places we’re pulling foreign aide dollars from now are the places we’ll be forced to send American soldiers to risk their lives in ten years.

NBC: Trans people who have X as their gender marker on their passport should exercise caution when leaving the country, as they could have challenges re-entering the United States and could even be held in detention by border agents.

www.nbcnews.com/nbc-out/out-...

👏

Tens of millions of American Christians are embracing a charismatic movement known as the New Apostolic Reformation, which seeks to destroy the secular state, @mccrummen.bsky.social reports. Now their war begins.

My latest Springfield Daily Citizen column argues that diversity initiatives, done the right way, create a positive welcoming culture, are not discriminatory and should continue. sgfcitizen.org/voices-opini...

Happy New Year! If you are seeking a new professional chapter, please do not hesitate to reach out if I can be of help. It has been my pleasure to mentor and encourage many new and experienced professionals in the fields of public affairs, journalism, non-profit management and the private sector.

Love that she’s from SW Missouri and has such supportive, loving parents.

The OSCE/ODIHR published its final report on the Georgian Parliamentary Elections, highlighting systematic voter intimidation, vote-buying, and significant violations of vote secrecy. All of this calls into question the legitimacy and transparency of the elections. 1/2

For those interested in the OSCE and my recent deployment to Georgia on behalf of the US Department of State, our report is in today's NYT article. OSCE is the world's largest security organization with members ranging from the US in the west to Russia in the east.

www.nytimes.com/2024/12/10/w...

God i love @propublica.org so much

In or out of public office, Jason Kander continues to inspire. I can’t wait to watch 60 Minutes tomorrow night about how he pulled off the impossible.

Georgia on my mind.