Democratic Underground: Forums for U.S. Liberals and Democrats

This July 4th could be hottest ever in parts of U.S., forecast expected to break records

(CBS News) This July Fourth could be the hottest on record for millions of Americans as a massive heat wave traps more than half of the United States under a heat dome through the holiday weekend. Dangerously high temperatures continued to ramp up Thursday from the Midwest to the East Coast, forecasters said. Between daily high temperatures and warm overnight lows — which won't be low enough to offer much relief — more than 300 records are expected to be set by Saturday.

Zorro

Top Doctor Warns Trump Is Endangering Lives With July 4 Rally

(Daily Beast) A top doctor has warned that President Donald Trump’s much-hyped July 4 rally is potentially fatal. Dr. Jonathan Reiner, a cardiologist and CNN medical analyst, urged the cancellation of Trump’s Washington, D.C. rally for America’s 250th birthday, citing sweltering temperatures that could put attendees at risk. “The same way the outdoor inauguration was canceled last year because of the cold, the rally on the Mall this July 4 should be canceled because of the intense heat (> 100 degrees),” he wrote in an X post on Thursday.

634-5789

Ranking Member Huffman Releases Report on How Trump Hijacked America's 250th Birthday to Enrich Himself, Sell Access

(Jared Huffman) House Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member Jared Huffman (D-Calif.) released a new 55-page report following months of investigative work by Committee Democrats exposing how Donald Trump hijacked what was supposed to be a unifying, non-political celebration of our country's 250th birthday and made it all about him – his vanity projects, his political and religious agenda, his business ventures, and his cronies who gorged on public funds under cover of a shadow corporation shielded from public scrutiny.

Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin

Trump's Freedom 250 stage falls apart while dancers rehearse on it

(The Independent) A portion of the main stage built for President Donald Trump’s upcoming July 4th Freedom 250 celebration collapsed during a rehearsal session, nearly striking a performer. Footage circulating on social media shows a group of dancers rehearsing their routine to music, then abruptly stop as a piece of the overhead structure breaks off from the top and falls onto the stage below. As reported by @AaronParnas on X, the dancers managed to move out of the path of the falling debris, and no injuries were reported during the incident.

KS Toronado

Friday's Condensed News Cartoons & Memes

BumRushDaShow

'A Grave Miscalculation': Jack Smith Insists There Is 'No Way' He Could Be Silenced by Trump

(Mediaite) Former Special Counsel Jack Smith told MS NOW’s Nicolle Wallace on Thursday there is “no way” he will be intimidated by President Donald Trump’s apparent attempts to silence him. Smith added it would be a “grave miscalculation” to believe “going after me” will inhibit him from speaking up. Wallace asked Smith about Trump’s ability to be elected for a second time, even though “the facts showed he’d committed multiple felonies.”

riversedge

DOJ declines to turn over additional Epstein files, says redactions were appropriate

(ABC News) The Department of Justice on Thursday declined to turn over additional information from the Epstein files as ordered by a judge, arguing the materials include sensitive victim information or were appropriately redacted as required by law. Hours ahead of the deadline to turn over the materials or explain why they were properly withheld, Associate U.S. Attorney General Stanley Woodward asked the judge to delay the deadline by 60 days or disregard it entirely by accepting the DOJ's reasons for withholding the materials.

BumRushDaShow

Appeals court rules ICE cannot detain migrants beyond 90 days without bond hearing

(The Independent) A federal appeals court has delivered a significant blow to the Trump administration's immigration policies, ruling that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) cannot detain individuals for more than 90 days without providing them an opportunity for release on bond. This decision, issued by a divided 2-1 panel of the New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, could impact thousands of people held in states like Texas and Louisiana, which fall under its jurisdiction and have been central to President Donald Trump's immigration crackdown.

Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin

Buckle up! We just entered the next phase of Trumpflation

(Motley Fool) It's shaping up to be another sensational year for equities. In early June, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJINDICES: ^DJI), S&P 500 (SNPINDEX: ^GSPC), and Nasdaq Composite (NASDAQINDEX: ^IXIC) romped to record highs on the heels of artificial intelligence (AI) euphoria. But this rally may be more fragile than Wall Street's major indexes suggest. Inflation is the proverbial torpedo that can sink Wall Street's ship, and we appear to have entered the next phase of Trumpflation.

groundloop

Trump designated disaster aid to 9 Republican-leaning states while plugging GOP candidates

(ABC News) President Donald Trump announced he approved more than $846 million in disaster relief funds for Republican-leaning states in a series of posts on his social media platform, combining the announcements with praise for candidates he endorsed in those states' upcoming elections. The president has repeatedly approved a higher percentage of aid requests for Republican-leaning states than for Democratic-leaning ones in his second term, according to the nonpartisan think tank Urban Institute.

Expand Featured Stories

Issue Forums

Alliance Forums

Region Forums

Latest Breaking News

Trump administration gets final legal OK to install own panels at President's House, city appeals

19 min ago - Updated July 3, 2026, 2:51 p.m. ET | Published July 3, 2026, 2:09 p.m. ET A Philadelphia-based federal appeals court gave President Donald Trump’s administration the final go-ahead to install its own exhibit at the President’s House. The n ... (Philadelphia Inquirer)

Over 100 vintage train fans fall ill seeing locomotive roll through their Pennsylvania town

1 hr ago - Friday 03 July 2026 15:54 EDT More than 100 people received medical attention due to heat-related illness Thursday at a train show in Reading, Pennsylvania, declaring it a “mass casualty incident.” Crowds gathered at Reading Outer Station ... (The Independent)

US residents angry at datacenters 'being shoved down our throats' are recalling officials

1 hr ago - Fri 3 Jul 2026 07.00 EDT Last modified on Fri 3 Jul 2026 07.01 EDT Lenoxdatacenter.com went live in May, promoting what it called a “proposed advanced technology and data center campus” in Michigan. The site did not state who wanted to buil ... (The Guardian)

Rescue mission launches to save NASA telescope that's falling back to Earth

2 hrs ago - By MARCIA DUNN Updated 12:18 PM CDT, July 3, 2026 Leer en español CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — A three-armed spacecraft rocketed into orbit Friday to rescue a NASA telescope that’s in danger of crashing back to Earth. Northrop Grumma ... (AP)

Largest US power grid PJM escalates emergency actions to avoid blackouts

2 hrs ago - July 3, 2026 2:46 PM EDT Updated 36 mins ago July 3 (Reuters) - Largest U.S. power grid operator PJM said ‌on Friday it was under a federal alert to cut electricity consumption across its territory as it battled generator outages, ... (Reuters)

Air Force major cuffed in uniform on Capitol steps demanding Trump and Vance's removal

3 hrs ago - By Daniel Hampton Published July 3, 2026 3:16 PM ET An active-duty Air Force major was arrested in uniform on the steps of the U.S. Capitol this week after he stood before cameras and demanded that President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance b ... (Raw Story)

Quakers, one of the 1st abolitionists, renew their call for resistance as America turns 250

3 hrs ago - July 3, 2026, 5:04 AM Quakers are joining with national advocacy groups on July 4 in Philadelphia to protest what they say are unjust policies by President Donald Trump’s administration. The faith group, formally known as the Religious Society ... (ABC News)

Hakeem Jeffries addresses Democratic Party divisions, says Trump is the bigger issue

3 hrs ago - Updated July 3, 2026 8:53 AM ET House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries is making the case for party unity as this year's primary season exposes ideological divisions among Democrats. Speaking with Morning Edition on Friday, Jeffries was asked twice ... (NPR)

Trump's Great American State Fair shuts down until 5 p.m. as temperatures climb to triple digits

4 hrs ago - Updated Jul 3, 2026, 1:10 PM ET PUBLISHED Jul 3, 2026, 3:01 AM ET The dangerous, multi-day heat wave is tightening its grip on the eastern United States, shattering records, straining the electric grid and raising the risk for millions of people prep ... (CNN Weather)

Democratic governors press US Postal Service to drop plan tied to Trump's election order

5 hrs ago - PUBLISHED: July 2, 2026 at 6:34 PM PDT | UPDATED: July 3, 2026 at 8:34 AM PDT A group of Democratic governors asked the U.S. Postal Service on Thursday to withdraw its proposed rule seeking to implement an executive order from President Donald Trump ... (Santa Rosa Press Democrat/AP)

'Send them to Cuba. Send them to Iran': Trump spokeswoman issues ominous warning to 'lazy' Gen Zers

5 hrs ago - Watters then asked Leavitt, who earns a salary of $195,200, whether it was “laziness” and suggested that liberal professors and teachers were to blame for Gen Z’s work ethic. “It’s laziness and it’s liberal indoctrinatio ... (Independent)

Louisiana high court issues stay in case against Attorney General Liz Murrill

6 hrs ago - 07/03/26 9:08 AM ET The Louisiana Supreme Court issued a stay Friday morning in the indictment of state Attorney General Liz Murrill (R), less than a day after a New Orleans grand jury handed up the charges. Murrill was charged with 16 counts of malf ... (The Hill)

Freedom 250's Fourth of July Stage Comes Apart During Rehearsal as Falling Chunk Nearly Crushes Dancers

7 hrs ago - Dancers rehearsing for the Trump-backed Freedom 250 celebration experienced a scary incident on the National Mall on Thursday, July 2. In a video shared by independent journalist Aaron Parnas and later verified by CNN and NBC News, a large piece of ... (People)

As Trump commands 250th stage, Democrats offer their vision of patriotism

7 hrs ago - This weekend’s 250th anniversary celebrations have taken on the overtones of a partisan fight, with President Donald Trump placing himself at the center of the capital’s events by touting military displays, patriotic music and fireworks ado ... (Washington Post)

Coast Guard surges resources to DC and elsewhere to protect July 4 celebrations

7 hrs ago - July 3, 2026, 5:06 AM The U.S. Coast Guard is surging resources to help secure July Fourth celebrations in Washington, D.C., and around the country, the head of the agency said. "We've surged over 1,000 additional people, in addition to our regular C ... (ABC News)

Trump heads to Mount Rushmore, where efforts to impose his likeness have stalled

8 hrs ago - PUBLISHED Jul 3, 2026, 6:00 AM ET President Donald Trump returns to Mount Rushmore on Friday, and though the president has openly mused about adding his likeness to the storied national monument, it’s unclear if he can move the mountains necessa ... (CNN Politics)

This July 4th could be hottest ever in parts of U.S. Maps show the forecast expected to break records.

9 hrs ago - Updated on: July 3, 2026 / 8:34 AM EDT This July Fourth could be the hottest on record for millions of Americans as a massive heat wave traps more than half of the United States under a heat dome through the holiday weekend. Dangerously high tempera ... (CBS News)

Man with Tibetan flag dies after setting himself on fire in front of UN's New York headquarters

10 hrs ago - A man holding a Tibetan flag has died after setting himself on fire outside the United Nations headquarters in New York on Thursday in an apparent protest against Chinese rule over Tibet. The government-in-exile of Tibet - and an activist in New York ... (CNN)

Secret Service missed opportunities to prevent Trump shooting: watchdog

10 hrs ago - Updated July 2, 2026, 9:08 p.m. ET WASHINGTON – The Secret Service missed several opportunities to detect, prevent and disrupt a 2024 assassination attempt on President Donald Trump, who was then a candidate, and the agency was significantly und ... (USA Today)

Man fatally shot in Walmart parking lot following dispute over parking space: Authorities

10 hrs ago - A man was shot and killed in the parking lot of a Walmart in Florida following a dispute over a parking space, according to authorities. The woman who pulled the trigger is claiming self-defense, according to the Broward County Sheriff's Office, whic ... (ABC News)