This afternoon on Capitol Hill, as the federal government entered its 37th straight day of shutdown, I met with members of Congress who are reaching a breaking point with House leadership’s refusal to act. The frustration is palpable, and today it was on full display.
I also met with former President Obama during a roundtable discussion—a room I could only be with because of you and your support.
I want to take a moment this evening to walk you through what I witnessed on Capitol Hill—and to address some of the major misinformation now circulating from the White House. The administration has turned its attacks on the free press into a deliberate political tactic. But I’m not going anywhere. My responsibility is to you, not to the people in power, and I will continue reporting the truth no matter how loud the pressure becomes. If you value this work, I hope you’ll consider subscribing so I can keep doing it.
Subscribe
One of the lawmakers I spent time with today was Rep. Yassamin Ansari of Arizona, who positioned herself directly outside Speaker Mike Johnson’s Capitol office, demanding a meeting she ultimately never received. Ansari was seeking answers—about the prolonged shutdown, about stalled negotiations, about transparency. Johnson did not come out. No dialogue. No accountability. Only more silence from the Speaker’s suite as the consequences of the shutdown deepen by the day.
Ansari pressed for two answers the public has been asking for:
Johnson offered no meeting and no explanation, emblematic of the broader paralysis gripping Washington.
Subscribe
Meanwhile, President Donald Trump has begun aggressively repositioning himself as the “Affordability President,” a strategic pivot arriving just days after major Republican losses in the 2025 elections. Democrats won key races by campaigning on rising prices, healthcare costs, and everyday economic pressures.
Now Trump is attempting to seize that message for himself.
This morning, the president posted that Walmart had lowered the cost of Thanksgiving dinner by 25% in 2025 compared to 2024, framing it as proof that inflation is falling under his leadership.
But the comparison is misleading.
Here’s what Trump didn’t mention:
In short: the president compared brand-name groceries in 2024 with generic, lower-cost alternatives in 2025, not the same products, not the same quantities, and therefore not a real 25% price drop.
The claim is part of Trump’s broader effort to rebrand after electoral setbacks — but it highlights how easily data can be manipulated to fit a political message.
The consequences of the shutdown will hit Americans even harder on Friday, when the Trump administration plans to cut 10% of all flights at 40 of the nation’s busiest airports, including:
The reduction is being framed on the White House website and official social media as the fault of Democrats.
But FAA operations reports tell a more straightforward story:
Airlines have already begun canceling hundreds of flights in anticipation. With Thanksgiving two weeks away, this disruption has the potential to cascade into one of the worst holiday travel seasons in modern memory.
Tonight, three different but interconnected crises are unfolding simultaneously:
These developments aren’t abstractions. They’re shaping everyday life: your groceries, your flights, your paychecks, your government services.
This is why critical thinking and verification are essential. Claims, even those coming from official channels, must be scrutinized.
I’ll continue providing updates as the situation evolves, and I encourage everyone to fact-check, dig deeper, and challenge misinformation whenever it appears.