The Lever @levernews.com · 7hClarification: the SEC adopted the quorum change itself without a public comment period, calling it an administrative rule. 0207
The Lever @levernews.com · 8hSCOOP: The SEC just quietly rewrote its own rules so ONE Trump appointee can make decisions for the entire agency, no public comment required. This is right as the SEC preps rules on crypto and AI mega-IPOs like Anthropic’s. www.levernews.com/sec-quorum-r...levernews.comTrump SEC Quorum Rule Lets One Commissioner Act AloneA quiet rule change could signal “the end of independent financial regulators” just as the SEC prepares to deregulate crypto, mega-IPOs, and corporate governance. 810999
The Lever @levernews.com · 14hThe Lever has been documenting the larger fight behind it: a well-funded effort by party operatives and billionaire-backed groups to beat back the Democrats’ growing populist left: www.levernews.com/the-new-demo...levernews.comThe New Democratic Machine — And The Billionaires Behind ItMajority Democrats has assembled a “party within the party” of PACs, wealthy donors, and consultants pushing Democrats to the center — and testing the limits of campaign finance law. 11310
The Lever @levernews.com · 14hSixty Democratic candidates and officials have now signed a pledge declaring: “We are capitalist, not socialist,” according to new Reuters reporting. 9135
The Lever @levernews.com · 19hReporter Maia Siegel grew up drinking water from the Cape Fear River. So she followed the trail — from North Carolina across the world. What she found was a global shell game moving toxic waste across three continents. www.levernews.com/the-global-s...levernews.comHow Chemours Moves Toxic PFAS Waste Around The WorldA landmark settlement confronts decades of PFAS pollution — but not the corporate system that keeps moving the toxic waste elsewhere. 01711
The Lever @levernews.com · 19hNorth Carolina just secured a historic $590 million settlement over PFAS pollution. But Chemours is still making forever chemicals. And when regulators clamp down, the pollution doesn’t just vanish - it gets moved somewhere else. 12713
The Lever @levernews.com · 30/09/2026If you’ve listened, shared an episode, argued with us in the comments, or just appreciate independent journalism willing to follow the money, we’d love your vote. Winners will be announced October 20. 073
The Lever @levernews.com · 30/09/2026🎙️ BIG NEWS: Lever Time is up for the 2026 Signal Listener’s Choice Award. 🗳️ Vote for Lever Time by October 15: vote.signalaward.com/publicvoting/ The podcast was named one of the year’s best in Activism, Public Service & Social Impact.vote.signalaward.comThe Signal Listener's Choice Award needs YOUI just voted for this finalist to win a Signal Listener's Choice Award. You should too. 1134
The Lever @levernews.com · 29/09/2026David Sirota: "If every household used AI agents to optimize the return on their cash balances, banks could lose a large share of the cheap deposits they rely on to make loans, which would be a problem for the entire financial system.” www.levernews.com/the-financia... 23117
The Lever @levernews.com · 29/09/2026🚨 TODAY at 2 PM ET: The Lever’s David Sirota is live on r/politics for an AMA. Ask him anything about the midterms, corruption, corporate power, journalism, Washington — or what’s really shaping politics behind the scenes. 👇 www.reddit.com/r/politics/c... 0114
The Lever @levernews.com · 29/09/2026The White House is spending taxpayer money to put Trump back on television. More than $300,000 was spent airing a government-funded “public service announcement” during SNL, Fox News Sunday and football games this weekend — using rhetoric and imagery pulled from Trump’s own campaign playbook. 3267
The Lever @levernews.com · 28/09/2026Read the full story: www.levernews.com/you-just-pai...levernews.comYou Just Paid To Re-Run A Trump Campaign AdThe White House has issued a taxpayer-funded “PSA” that looks a lot like a repurposed MAGA campaign advertisement. 3136
The Lever @levernews.com · 28/09/2026Banks make billions by paying depositors as little as possible. Now Wall Street fears AI could disrupt that model by helping people find better savings rates — potentially creating “a problem for the entire financial system,” according to Apollo’s chief economist. 13311
The Lever @levernews.com · 28/09/2026We followed the money: www.levernews.com/trumps-ai-de...levernews.comTrump’s AI Deregulator Has A Billion-Dollar Side BetAs David Sacks pushed Trump to reject AI safeguards, his venture capital firm invested in AI startups and is now raising a new $1 billion fund. 12516
The Lever @levernews.com · 28/09/2026NEW: @DavidSacks pushed Trump to reject new AI safeguards. At the same time, his venture capital firm was investing in AI startups positioned to benefit from looser rules. Now, that firm is raising a new $1 billion fund. 11714
The Lever @levernews.com · 28/09/2026Read the full story: www.levernews.com/the-machines...levernews.comThe Machines Escaped. Their Masters Did So First.The most frightening thing about rogue AI agents may be how faithfully they mirror the powerful humans who created them. 2178
The Lever @levernews.com · 28/09/2026“The apocalyptic threat we now face is as much the prospect of out-of-control AI agents as it is the already out-of-control humans who created them.” David Sirota on the unsettling question at the heart of the AI panic: What if the machines aren’t malfunctioning at all? 54219
The Lever @levernews.com · 27/09/2026NEW FROM @davidsirota.com: Maybe the scariest thing about AI is how well it learned from us. The rogue AI agents in the Hugging Face hack colluded to evade rules and hide info from their overseers. OpenAI did something similar in its own incident investigation. www.levernews.com/the-machines...levernews.comThe Machines Escaped. Their Masters Did So First.The most frightening thing about rogue AI agents may be how faithfully they mirror the powerful humans who created them. 63119
The Lever @levernews.com · 26/09/2026Read the full investigation from @freddy-brewster.bsky.social: www.levernews.com/ai-regulatio...levernews.comAI Regulation Was Coming. Then Trump Killed It.After a flood of tech industry cash, President Donald Trump killed a requirement that AI giants disclose their riskiest experiments to national security officials. Now lawmakers are scrambling to catc... 32814
The Lever @levernews.com · 26/09/2026This is the actual letter OpenAI sent regulators in Oct. 2024, asking to cut back a rule requiring disclosure of its riskiest AI experiments. Two years later, OpenAI is handling the Hugging Face incident with voluntary, self-paced disclosure on its own terms and timeline. 14226
The Lever @levernews.com · 25/09/2026Read the full story: www.levernews.com/iran-war-vic...levernews.comIran War Victims Put Trump’s Power Grab On TrialAn unprecedented lawsuit from Iranian-American families challenges Trump’s ability to wage war without Congress. 1258
The Lever @levernews.com · 25/09/2026NEW: For the first time, Iranian-American families whose relatives were killed, injured or displaced by an unauthorized U.S. war are skipping the War Powers Resolution and asking judges to declare the war itself unconstitutional — a case that could reshape presidential war power. 13919
The Lever @levernews.com · 25/09/2026Join us here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=jE3q...youtube.comAI Regulation Was Coming. Then Trump Killed It.Thanks for joining our exclusive live broadcast. Feel free to share your questions and interact with other participants in the chat. 084
The Lever @levernews.com · 25/09/2026🚨 Going live at 1:30pm PT / 4:30pm ET — David Sirota & Freddy Brewster, drinks in hand, unpacking how $25 million in Trump donations killed a federal AI safety rule. Join us for 2 reporters talking shop on the potential connection between Trump, his Big Tech donors, and AI safety rules. Pull up. 🍹 1105
The Lever @levernews.com · 25/09/2026We dug through federal rulemaking records, industry comment letters and campaign-finance filings to reconstruct how AI companies fought the rule — and how it ultimately disappeared. Get the full timeline—and the scoop—at The Lever: www.levernews.com/ai-regulatio...levernews.comAI Regulation Was Coming. Then Trump Killed It.After a flood of tech industry cash, President Donald Trump killed a requirement that AI giants disclose their riskiest experiments to national security officials. Now lawmakers are scrambling to… 23322
The Lever @levernews.com · 25/09/2026EXCLUSIVE: OpenAI’s president and his wife gave $25 million to Trump’s super PAC — and three months later, a federal rule requiring AI companies to disclose their most dangerous experiments was withdrawn. 46145
The Lever @levernews.com · 25/09/2026This federal AI safety rule would have forced the world’s most powerful AI companies to tell the government what they were building — and when it started behaving dangerously. Read the scoop in The Lever: www.levernews.com/ai-regulatio...levernews.comAI Regulation Was Coming. Then Trump Killed It.After a flood of tech industry cash, President Donald Trump killed a requirement that AI giants disclose their riskiest experiments to national security officials. Now lawmakers are scrambling to… 03018
The Lever @levernews.com · 25/09/2026After Big Tech fought a federal AI safety rule - and funneled millions into Trump's political operations - Trump killed the rule. Now, after a string of alarming AI incidents, some of those same companies who fought against the rule are calling for regulation. 35127
The Lever @levernews.com · 25/09/2026We covered the fight: www.levernews.com/hawaii-is-ov...levernews.comHawaii Is Overthrowing Citizens UnitedHow an innovative new law is challenging the rules that transformed money into the most powerful force in American politics. 24411
The Lever @levernews.com · 25/09/2026🚨 UPDATE: The U.S. Chamber of Commerce just sued Hawaii over its new challenge to Citizens United. Hawaii’s law bars corporations and other organizations from spending to support or oppose state candidates. The Chamber says that violates the First Amendment. 24530
The Lever @levernews.com · 25/09/2026www.levernews.com/the-ellisons...levernews.comThe Ellisons Have Made This Movie BeforeWith Paramount, you don’t need a catalog of failed consent decrees to understand what is to come. You only need the record of the family making the promises. 1188
The Lever @levernews.com · 25/09/2026A former U.S. Senate candidate is raising alarms about the promises David Ellison made to secure Paramount’s Warner Bros. takeover — including a pledge to protect CNN’s editorial independence through an oversight structure his company controls. 12212
The Lever @levernews.com · 24/09/2026Read the analysis: www.levernews.com/the-ellisons...levernews.comThe Ellisons Have Made This Movie BeforeWith Paramount, you don’t need a catalog of failed consent decrees to understand what is to come. You only need the record of the family making the promises. 52217
The Lever @levernews.com · 24/09/2026A former U.S. Senate candidate is raising alarms about the promises David Ellison made to secure Paramount’s Warner Bros. takeover — including a pledge to protect CNN’s editorial independence through an oversight structure his company controls. 32920
The Lever @levernews.com · 23/09/2026NEW: Only 38% of Americans support tariffs associated with a $100 annual increase in household costs. (Source: Cato Institute) 22410
The Lever @levernews.com · 23/09/2026Full story: www.levernews.com/the-youth-ho...levernews.comThe Youth Hockey Giant That Can’t Quit Private EquityAfter denying its Wall Street ties, Black Bear quietly installed a private equity executive as CEO. 072
The Lever @levernews.com · 23/09/2026Days after The Lever questioned Black Bear Sports about hiring a private equity veteran as CEO, the company’s claim that it had “nothing to do with Wall Street” disappeared from its website. The nation’s largest youth hockey operator had repeated that denial for months. 12613
The Lever @levernews.com · 23/09/2026More in today's newsletter: www.levernews.com/ai-lending-i...levernews.comAI Lending Is Risky LendingBanks that adopt artificial intelligence average more “problem” loans and less small business lending. 0117
The Lever @levernews.com · 23/09/2026Susan Collins is fighting to keep her seat against @troyjackson207.bsky.social, Graham Platner’s Democratic replacement. Jackson’s out-of-state party advisers are reportedly frustrated by the Sanders ally’s “backwoods cadence” and progressive stances — and want him to move to the center. 105726
The Lever @levernews.com · 23/09/2026Listen to the episode: www.levernews.com/bari-weiss-c...levernews.comBari Weiss, CBS News, And The Conservative Media TakeoverThe billionaire-backed overhaul of CBS News is the culmination of a decades-long master plan. 075
The Lever @levernews.com · 23/09/2026Last year on The Lever’s podcast, Sen. @chrismurphyct.bsky.social raised concerns that the merger could put two major newsrooms under the control of Trump allies, pointing to the Ellison family’s relationship with the president and the administration’s confrontations with major media outlets. 22816
The Lever @levernews.com · 22/09/2026The latest: www.levernews.com/the-youth-ho...levernews.comThe Youth Hockey Giant That Can’t Quit Private EquityAfter denying its Wall Street ties, Black Bear quietly installed a private equity executive as CEO. 0112
The Lever @levernews.com · 22/09/2026Earlier this year, we told you how Black Bear Sports banned parents from filming their own kids’ hockey games — then backed down after our reporting. Now there’s more: the company quietly named a private equity veteran CEO, and its “nothing to do with Wall Street” denial has vanished. 13217
The Lever @levernews.com · 22/09/2026The Paramount deal would put CBS and CNN under one roof—the kind of concentrated media power Lewis F. Powell Jr.'s 1971 memo urged corporate America to build around institutions shaping public opinion. CBS executives later joined the Chamber effort to act on it. 1128996
The Lever @levernews.com · 22/09/2026🎧 Watch the full story and listen to Master Plan: The Kingmakers: www.levernews.com/the-kingmake...levernews.comTHE KINGMAKERS, Ep 1: After The Fall Of The Imperial PresidentSeason 2 of the Master Plan podcast begins fifty years before today’s fears about a kinglike president. 075
The Lever @levernews.com · 22/09/2026NEW: JD Vance says Watergate would be a “12-hour news story” today. He may have a point — but only because conservatives spent decades fighting the reforms Watergate produced, rebuilding presidential power, and recasting Nixon as a victim rather than a warning. Jared Jacang Maher explains ⬇️ 56529
The Lever @levernews.com · 21/09/2026Full episode: www.levernews.com/bari-weiss-c...levernews.comBari Weiss, CBS News, And The Conservative Media TakeoverThe billionaire-backed overhaul of CBS News is the culmination of a decades-long master plan. 0115
The Lever @levernews.com · 21/09/2026Last year on The Lever's podcast, Sen. @chrismurphyct.bsky.social warned that the consolidation could leave allies of President Trump controlling both major newsrooms, pointing to the Ellison family’s ties to Trump and recent clashes between the administration and the press. 12510
The Lever @levernews.com · 21/09/2026BREAKING: Paramount’s $110 billion Warner Bros. takeover moved closer to completion after California and 11 other states settled their antitrust challenge — a deal that would put CBS News and CNN under the same corporate owner. 13315
The Lever @levernews.com · 21/09/2026Read the full story: www.levernews.com/p/eed7534d-0...levernews.comYou Love To See It: The Kids Are AI-RightAI gets detention, voting rights get legal enforcement, court power stops coal power, and the kid who took on Big Hospital. 062