Lawmakers Are Rolling Back Food Safety Rules
In the deal to end the government shutdown, lawmakers added clauses that would temporarily bar states from regulating which foods manufacturers can label “healthy” and suspend new listeria regulations.
85 Article(s) by: Freddy Brewster
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Freddy Brewster is a reporter with the Lever. He has been published in the Los Angeles Times, NBC News, CalMatters, the Lost Coast Outpost, and more.
The Government Shutdown Deal Is Endangering Food Safety
After intense lobbying and major campaign donations, the emergency spending bill intended to end the federal government shutdown is including language abolishing rules designed to prevent food contamination and foodborne illnesses at farms and restaurants.
Americans Are Being Crushed by Health Care Premiums
Millions of Americans with Affordable Care Act plans are facing devastating health care costs after Republicans failed to renew pandemic-era extended insurance tax credits. Meanwhile, major insurers are raking in extravagant profits.
Alito Has a Financial Stake in a Supreme Court Climate Case
Samuel Alito has a financial stake in a pending Supreme Court case that could affect whether states can hold federal contractors accountable for environmental damage and other corporate malfeasance. Alito has so far ignored calls to recuse himself.
Americans Are Defaulting on Car Loans at an Alarming Rate
Across the US, people are increasingly defaulting on their car loans — a dire economic indicator because these loans are usually the last payment Americans are willing to miss. Meanwhile, auto insurers are raking in record profits after hiking rates.
Stephen Miller Against Voting Rights
The Supreme Court, urged on by well-funded far-right ideologues like Stephen Miller, is set to curtail important provisions of the Voting Rights Act, opening the door to aggressive, racially based disenfranchisement.
Silicon Valley’s War Profiteers
After years of pushing sensationalized claims about foreign threats, Silicon Valley’s military start-ups are set to score billions in funding for drones and AI-powered weapons in the nearly $1 trillion defense budget.
The GOP Is Refusing to Interrogate Trump’s Big Tech Allies
GOP lawmakers recently ordered social media companies to testify before the House Oversight Committee to “examine radicalization of online forum users” — while notably excluding companies led by Donald Trump’s closest Big Tech allies, Meta and X.
A New Housing Marketplace That’s Keeping Homes Unaffordable
Homebuilding giant Lennar has a large stockpile of houses it can’t sell at current asking prices. Instead of lowering home prices for the public, the company has launched an e-marketplace catering to wealthy investors and corporate landlords.
Corporate Media Doesn’t Want to Talk About Greedflation
Corporate media has routinely downplayed the role of corporate profiteering in driving inflation, often citing industry talking points or providing no explanation at all for crippling inflation over the past few years.
Donald Trump May Give Free Rein to Right-Wing TV Giants
Conservative news broadcast giants that have curried favor with President Donald Trump are now urging the administration to eliminate rules holding back their monopolization of local and national TV stations.
The Feds Keep Changing Their Story About the Epstein Files
The Department of Justice keeps changing its story about documents related to the politically connected sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, offering contradictory reasons for refusing to release the files.
The US Government Is Underfunding Flood Warning Systems
Despite the rising threat of climate disasters like last week’s deadly flash flood in Texas, US lawmakers continue to underfund the federal government program supporting a nationwide flood warning system.
Dems Are Being Pushed to Support Crypto for Political Gain
Despite their reservations about the impacts of crypto on consumers and the financial system, Democratic Party operatives and crypto industry advocates are secretly coordinating to push Democratic senators to back the pro-crypto GENIUS Act.
Crypto Owners May Get Priority in the Event of Bank Failures
The US Senate is poised to pass a financial deregulation bill ensuring that when a bank goes out of business, the savings of cryptocurrency owners would be made whole before those of other bank customers.
A Whistleblower Lawsuit Has Unveiled a Secret Trump ICE Plot
A new whistleblower lawsuit is accusing the Trump administration of using a secret subpoena to force Colorado officials to ignore state laws and hand over the private financial information of residents who are sponsoring unaccompanied immigrant children.
Trump’s IRS Pick Promised Tax Benefits to Finance CEO
Trump’s pick to head the IRS, Billy Long, was invited to attend Donald Trump’s inauguration as the guest of an executive who said Long promised him benefits for his financial services company.
Tech-Backed Dems May Endanger California’s Clean Energy Laws
In the California legislature, Democrats are pushing a bill that could hand control of the state’s energy markets to the pro–fossil fuel Trump administration. Expert analyses suggest the bill could jeopardize California’s trailblazing clean energy laws.
Big Tech Wants Free Rein to Sell Your Data
Tech companies accused of exposing consumers to fraud want the Trump administration to let them freely buy and sell your personal information.
Biden Paved the Way for Trump’s Leniency on Corporate Crime
The federal government under Joe Biden prosecuted fewer corporate crime cases than at any point in the last 30 years. Now the Trump administration is set to drop or pause more than 100 enforcement actions against corporate misconduct.