Madeleine Dean

President Donald Trump on Monday once again came to the aid of murderous Russian dictator Vladimir Putin, cutting off over $1 billion in military aid the United States was set to provide Ukraine to help the country beat back Russia's violent invasion.Trump halted the aid even though the money had been appropriated by Congress—adding to the trend of him ignoring Congress' power of the purse.Trump's move unequivocally benefits Putin, whose incursion into Ukraine threatens all of Europe.Ukrainian servicemen collect damaged ammunition on the road at the front line near Chasiv Yar town, in the Donetsk region of Ukraine, on Jan. 10, 2025.“I feel betrayed, but this feeling is not really deep for some reason. I was expecting something like that from Trump’s side,” a Ukrainian soldier fighting in Russia’s Kursk region told the Associated Press of Trump’s aid pause.Trump paused the aid because he is angry at Ukraine for not rolling over and letting Putin take over its land, which is what Trump has been advocating for in his demand for "peace." His rage at Ukraine took an ugly turn on Friday, when Trump berated Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the Oval Office. Trump paused the aid because he wants Zelenskyy to apologize for the Oval Office spat, even though it was Trump and Vice President JD Vance who were the instigators.But abandoning Ukraine and helping Russia could be politically disastrous for Trump, according to a new poll conducted by Civiqs for Daily Kos.While Trump has blamed Ukraine for starting the war, the poll found an overwhelming 76% of registered voters say Russia is responsible for starting the conflict. Even a majority of Republicans (62%) say Russia is responsible for starting the war.What's more, a plurality of voters (49%) say that it’s "very important" for the security of the U.S. that Ukraine wins the war, with another 13% saying it's “better” for Ukraine to win. Only 1% of voters think it's important for U.S. security that Russia wins.xDatawrapper ContentRussia, meanwhile, is cheering Trump’s moves, a sign they feel his decisions are helping them in the conflict. Putin spokesman Dmitry Peskov even said that Trump’s decisions “largely coincides with our vision.”Democrats are slamming Trump for ignoring Congress and siding with Putin over an American ally."This is *illegal,*" Democratic Rep. Madeleine Dean of Pennsylvania wrote in a post on X of Trump's pause on aid to Ukraine. "Congress appropriated these funds to support our allies in Ukraine who are fighting for their lives[.] Every dollar of aid must be released immediately. Trump’s disrespect for the rule of law is disgraceful and un-American."Others sought to remind Americans that it's not the first time Trump has paused aid to Ukraine.In fact, Trump paused military assistance to Ukraine in his first term, after the country refused to follow his orders to launch a politically motivated investigation into then-presidential candidate Joe Biden. That pause is what led to Trump’s first impeachment.Democratic Sen. Adam Schiff of California"Some of us remember the last time Trump paused aid to Ukraine ..." Democratic Sen. Adam Schiff of California, who ran the first impeachment effort against Trump, wrote in a post on X.However, Republicans are cheering Trump for cutting off aid."By cutting military aid to Ukraine, President Trump is driving a knife right through the foreign policy UniParty. We should all be thankful for that," Rep. Brandon Gill, Republican of Texas, wrote in a post on X.The Republican response is angering Democrats, who are not optimistic that GOP leaders will push Trump to do the right thing and assist Ukraine in its existential battle."Let's remember—congressional Republicans held up Ukraine aid for over six months, allowed for Russia to go on the offensive. So even before Donald Trump was president, congressional Republicans were not doing the things necessary to support the most vital fight in defense of democracy in the world today," Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut said in an appearance on MSNBC. "So I'm just gonna be honest with you—I don't have a lot of faith that Republicans are gonna do anything except just offer some mild criticism of Vladimir Putin."Murphy added, “We’re going to need for them at some point to support additional defensive aid for Ukraine—more weapons, more economic aid—and they weren’t willing to do that before Donald Trump was president, I’m not sure why they’d be willing to do it now, when Donald Trump is literally taking Russia’s side in this conflict.”Thank you to the Daily Kos community who continues to fight so hard with Daily Kos. Your reader support means everything. We will continue to have you covered and keep you informed, so please donate just $3 to help support the work we do.

U.S. Reps. Jeff Van Drew, R-2nd, and Madeleine Dean, D-Pa., have reintroduced the Stopping Harmful Image Exploitation and Limiting Distribution (SHIELD) Act, Van Drew said Tuesday.

U.S. Rep. Jeff Van Drew, R-2nd, co-sponsored the Stopping Harmful Image Exploitation and Limiting Distribution, or SHIELD, Act, which was introduced Monday and is intended to strengthen laws to protect children and adults from having personal images shared publicly by...

Rep. Mark Alford, R-Mo., says he wants to bring communications skills he honed as a TV news anchor to the powerful spending panel. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call file photo)

Democratic incumbent U.S. Rep. Madeleine Dean and Republican challenger David Winkler are competing for the seat.

Congressional leaders on Monday named Colorado's U.S. Rep. Jason Crow to a bipartisan House task force charged with investigating the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump.

There was bipartisan agreement in getting to the bottom of the failures and negligence that led to the attempted assassination of former President Trump upon the naming of a new task force.

The task force will be probing the attempt to kill former President Donald Trump.

The 13 lawmakers appointed to the task force by House leaders have backgrounds in law enforcement, legal affairs and the military.

Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) and Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) announced the members tapped to serve on the bipartisan task force set to investigate the attempted assassination of former President Trump during a campaign rally in Pennsylvania earlier this month. Why it matters: The task force will have jurisdiction of the investigation going forward, after multiple House committees launched individual probes after Trump was shot on July 13. Johnson selected Rep. Mike Kelly (R-Pa.), who was in attendance at the rally, to serve its chair, and Reps. Mark Green (R-Tenn.), Dave Joyce (R-Ohio), Laurel Lee (R-Fla.), Michael Waltz (R-Fla.), Clay Higgins (R-La.) and Pat Fallon (R-Texas) to sit on the panel. Jeffries appointed Rep. Jason Crow (D-Colo.) to serve as ranking member, with Reps. Lou Correa (D-Calif.), Madeleine Dean (D-Pa.), Chrissy Houlahan (D-Pa.), Glenn Ivey (D-Md.) and Jared Moskowitz (D-Fla.) set to be on the committee. "We have the utmost confidence in this bipartisan group of steady, highly qualified, and capable Members of Congress to move quickly to find the facts, ensure accountability, and help make certain such failures never happen again," Johnson and Jeffries said in a joint statement. Driving the news: The names come after days of talks between leaders, with the House having voted to create the task force last Wednesday.The lawmakers will be tasked with looking into what went wrong and making recommendations on legislation aimed at making necessary reforms to prevent similar instances moving forward. The shooting led to strong concerns on the Secret Service's failures on the day of the rally, with the agency's director ultimately stepping down after both sides of the aisle sounded the alarm on her handling of the matter. The big picture: Both leaders have called for a swift and serious investigation, with the task force set to have subpoena authority to conduct its probe.

Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) on Monday announced the seven Republicans and six Democrats who will sit on the task force to investigate the assassination attempt against former President Trump. The Republican chair of the panel will be Rep. Mike Kelly (Pa.), who represents Butler, Pa., where the shooting [...]

Congressional Democrats in Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania and beyond are seeing an outpouring of volunteers to help Vice President Kamala Harris and counter Republican Donald Trump

Vice President Kamala Harris has had a busy 24 hours. Since President Joe Biden stepped down from the presidential race and endorsed his VP, she has secured the delegates she’ll need to earn the party’s nomination and raised more than...

By The Associated Press Vice President Kamala Harris flew to her first battleground state Wisconsin after locking up enough support from Democratic delegates to earn the party’s nomination. Democratic leaders Charles Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries endorsed Harris on Tuesday, capping off their party’s swift embrace of her 2024 candidacy. Meanwhile, Kimberly Cheatle, the director of [...]

By The Associated Press Vice President Kamala Harris flew to her first battleground state Wisconsin after locking up enough support from Democratic delegates to earn the party’s nomination. Democratic leaders Charles Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries endorsed Harris on Tuesday, capping off their party’s swift embrace of her 2024 candidacy. Meanwhile, Kimberly Cheatle, the director of [...]