Optimism lives despite Trump's ‘arson of our public infrastructure'
A former employee of all three federal branches who worked for Democrats and Republicans, Stier is the founding president and CEO of the Partnership for Public Service, a nonprofit that promotes good governance. Among its projects are the annual Best Places to Work in the Federal Government rankings and the Service to America Medals, a.k.a. the Sammies, which honor federal workers.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
7 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Democratic state Rep. Josh Turek preparing to launch US Senate campaign, colleagues say
Democratic Iowa state representative and former Paralympian Josh Turek is preparing to launch a campaign for U.S. Senate this month, according to three of his current and former Iowa House colleagues. Turek, 46, of Council Bluffs, has won two gold medals in wheelchair basketball representing the United States at the Paralympic Games. He was first elected to the Iowa House in 2022 and is serving his second term representing parts of Council Bluffs and Carter Lake. He would join a growing field of Democratic candidates vying for their party's nomination in 2026. State Sen. Zach Wahls of Coralville, state Rep. J.D. Scholten of Sioux City and former Knoxville Chamber of Commerce Director Nathan Sage of Indianola have all announced campaigns. Des Moines School Board Chair Jackie Norris says she is also seriously considering a bid. Turek declined to comment. But state Reps. Austin Baeth, D-Des Moines, and Timi Brown Powers, D-Waterloo, and former state Rep. Sami Scheetz told the Des Moines Register they have spoken to Turek about his plans and say he will announce his campaign in August. "He and I, I think have a shared vision of what needs to be done for the state and our country, so I'm going to be supporting his candidacy because I really do think that he is Democrats' best chance of winning the general election next November," Baeth said of Turek. Republican U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst is up for reelection next year. She has hired a campaign manager but has not formally announced that she will seek a third term in 2026, prompting speculation about her plans. Turek has experience winning difficult races for the Iowa Legislature. In 2022, he won his first term by six votes and won reelection last fall by about 5 percentage points in a race heavily targeted by Republicans. "Josh has been one of the highest-performing Democrats in the state," Baeth said. "He has won twice in a district that Trump won. And if you drive around Council Bluffs this last October and November, you'll see yards that have a Trump sign and a Turek sign next to each other because people see him as more than a politician." Baeth said he believes Turek has the ability to compete with the other Democrats in the race, even though he's announcing a campaign later than his competitors. "He's somebody who has been doing the planning behind the scenes and I think will make up ground pretty quickly," Baeth said. "And I think the reason for that is his candidacy is unique. He's not the typical cookie cutter politician." Brown-Powers said she believes Turek's work ethic is one of his biggest assets in a race where "to win this you have to give 100%." "This is a guy who gets out of his wheelchair and crawls up steps to knock on a door, so there's some grit and work ethic there," she said. "He's not going to be easily turned away by anything." Turek, who was born with spina bifida, has said his success has been possible because of the Americans with Disabilities Act, which was led in Congress by former U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin. His colleagues said Medicaid and health care access will be central pillars of his campaign because of his own experience. Medicaid will also be a major feature of the campaign because of Ernst's vote to pass President Donald Trump's "big, beautiful bill" which includes tax cuts and cuts to spending on Medicaid and food assistance programs. The legislation extends and deepens tax cuts signed by Trump in 2017 while cutting Medicaid spending by nearly $1 trillion over a decade. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office says 10 million people are expected to become uninsured over a decade as a result of the bill. "The big, beautiful bill or the reconciliation bill is going to be a huge focus of this upcoming campaign," Scheetz said. "And I think there's definitely not a better messenger on Medicaid and the cuts to Medicaid in our state than Rep. Turek." Stephen Gruber-Miller covers the Iowa Statehouse and politics for the Register. He can be reached by email at sgrubermil@ or by phone at 515-284-8169. Follow him on X at @sgrubermiller. This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Democratic state Rep. Josh Turek preparing to mount US Senate campaign
Politico
8 minutes ago
- Politico
Musk-linked PAC spends big to promote newly enacted megabill
President Donald Trump pounds a gavel presented to him by House Speaker Mike Johnson after he signed his signature bill at the White House on July 4, 2025. | Evan Vucci/AP By Gregory Svirnovskiy 08/04/2025 05:55 AM EDT Building America's Future, a PAC that has been supported by Elon Musk, is shelling out more than a million dollars to promote recent White House wins, including a GOP domestic policy package the Tesla CEO and former Trump administration employee once called 'a disgusting abomination.' The 30-second ad, titled 'Independence,' is set to run nationally on Fox News and will congratulate President Donald Trump on the passage of Republicans' 'One Big, Beautiful Bill,' which extends his 2017 tax cuts alongside other GOP wins at the expense of nearly $1 trillion in coming Medicaid cuts. 'This Independence Day, President Trump and Congress made the working family tax cuts law,' the spot, which is to debut Monday, will say. 'Freeing Americans from taxes on their tips and overtime, doubling the child tax credit, and cutting taxes for seniors. Republicans know that our country is better off when working families keep more of what they earn. Now, they will.'
Boston Globe
9 minutes ago
- Boston Globe
Former Tennessee coach Derek Dooley announces 2026 Senate bid in Georgia
'Professional politicians like Jon Ossoff are the problem,' Dooley said in a two-minute launch video 'Lawlessness, open season on the border, inflation everywhere, woke stuff, that's what they represent. We need new leadership in Georgia. That's why I'm running for Senate.' Advertisement Kemp and Trump met and said they would try to agree on a preferred candidate. Anyone anointed by both would be stamped as the Republican front-runner. Kemp told Collins and others on July 24 that he would support Dooley, leading Georgia Insurance Commissioner John King to drop out of the race. But Trump isn't ready to endorse yet and Dooley is moving forward without Trump's blessing, an indication the joint effort may be faltering. Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up Dooley has never held elective office before. He says he'll run as a political outsider, a lane David Perdue traveled in Georgia to win election to the Senate in 2014. Dooley said he would bring 'good, old fashioned Georgia common sense,' and 'work with President Trump, fight for you and always put Georgia first.' Advertisement Dooley is the son of legendary University of Georgia coach Vince Dooley and was a lawyer before he went into coaching. Derek Dooley was widely seen as a failure during his three years as head coach at Tennessee, compiling a 15-21 record with the Volunteers before he was fired in 2012. Since then, he has been an assistant coach with the Dallas Cowboys, the University of Missouri, the New York Giants and the University of Alabama. As a teenager, Kemp was a frequent guest in the Dooley home, and he roomed with Derek's older brother, Daniel Dooley, at the University of Georgia. Kemp has the most effective Republican political organization in Georgia, and Dooley has hired Kemp aides to run his race, including political strategist Cody Hall and fundraiser Chelsey Ruppersburg. But a number of Republicans endorsed Collins after he entered the field last week, including former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich. Also backing the congressman are state senators including state Senate Majority Leader Jason Anavitarte. Even one of Kemp's official floor leaders in the state House, Rep. Matthew Gambill, parted ways with the governor to endorse Collins. Opponents have already lampooned Dooley for failing to publicly support Trump before now. Someone launched an anonymous University of Tennessee-themed website called 'Dooley's Volunteers' that criticizes Dooley for a lack of conservative credentials, interspersed with quotes from sports reporters panning Dooley's coaching tenure. It's the latest high impact move to back a political novice for Kemp, who tapped Kelly Loeffler as a U.S. senator before she lost to Democrat Raphael Warnock in a 2021 runoff. Her campaign was plagued by conflict between Kemp and Trump, who preferred another candidate. Losses by Perdue and Loeffler to Ossoff and Warnock, respectively, handed control of the U.S. Senate to Democrats. Advertisement Then in 2022, Trump anointed Georgia football legend Herschel Walker as the Republican nominee. Walker's candidacy proved flawed and Kemp only swung in to help in the runoff, which Warnock won. Their effort to jointly screen 2026 candidates produced some results — U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene declined a Senate run after pressure from other Republicans. Dooley would be far from the first football coach to run for office. His late father was frequently discussed as a possible candidate and his mother, Barbara Dooley, lost a Republican primary for Congress in 2002. Former Auburn University football coach Tommy Tuberville was elected to the Senate in 2020 from Alabama and is now running for governor. University of Nebraska coaching legend Tom Osborne served three terms in the U.S. House. Dooley walked on at the University of Virginia and earned a scholarship as a wide receiver. He earned a law degree from the University of Georgia and briefly practiced law in Atlanta before working his way up the college coaching ladder, becoming head coach for three years at Louisiana Tech before Tennessee.
