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Madison Pauly

@msjpauly.bsky.social
15K followers 847 following 264 posts

Reporter covering gender and politics at @motherjones.com, part of the Center for Investigative Reporting Tips to mpauly at motherjones dot com Signal: madisonpauly.15 www.motherjones.com/author/madison-…

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Reposted by Madison Pauly
Mother Jones @motherjones.com · 07/10/2026
Who is the government holding in its shelters for “unaccompanied” immigrant children? Turns out, a growing number of these kids were taken away from loving parents and other relatives.
motherjones.com
“You kidnapped my son”
ICE is now separating children from their parents and deeming them “unaccompanied.”
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Madison Pauly @msjpauly.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Sandy intro'd me to freelancing 10+ years ago and some of my most lasting lessons about journalism came from him. I bet this class is going to be good.
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Madison Pauly @msjpauly.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
Check out @bmigdon.bsky.social's great work at @19thnews.org! 19thnews.org/2026/08/wnba...
19thnews.org
The WNBA ‘felt like a lifeline’ for LGBTQ+ fans. Anti-trans attacks are testing that refuge.
Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham’s remarks opposing transgender athletes in women’s sports injected political debate into a league with no openly trans women players.
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Madison Pauly @msjpauly.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
Story here, with much gratitude to the trans folks who spoke to me about their personal experience and how it's affected their WNBA fandom. www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
motherjones.com
The woman profiting off the WNBA's trans panic
Sophie Cunningham set off a firestorm. Jennifer Sey was ready to capitalize.
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Madison Pauly @msjpauly.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
Former Levi's exec Jennifer Sey fanned a culture war over trans athletes in a league that has none—to the benefit of her clothing brand, XX-XY Athletics. "I know my mom isn’t that invested" in the WNBA, her son told me. "But...I guess the vultures will circle." www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
motherjones.com
The woman profiting off the WNBA's trans panic
Sophie Cunningham set off a firestorm. Jennifer Sey was ready to capitalize.
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Madison Pauly @msjpauly.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
I’d love to talk to some trans WNBA fans about witnessing the Sophie Cunningham news cycle. If this is you and you’re open to chatting with a reporter, DM me!
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Madison Pauly @msjpauly.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
Never have I felt a lede so deeply. 🫡
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Madison Pauly @msjpauly.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
One author that stood out to me was May Mailman—the author of several of Trump's anti-trans executive orders, who worked for Stephen Miller in the White House until last summer. www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
motherjones.com
Meet the mastermind behind Trump’s definition of "woman"
May Mailman’s anti-trans crusade could threaten gender equality for all.
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Madison Pauly @msjpauly.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
Trump officials referred ~150 orgs to DOJ and HHS OIG for investigation on this issue, based on a report authored almost entirely by employees of right-wing interest groups.
Though it bears the imprimatur of the federal government, much of the “Wolves in White Coats” report contains material recycled from conservative policy groups like the Manhattan Institute and anti-trans activist groups like Do No Harm. Five of its 10 authors—including former White House senior policy strategist May Mailman, a close ally of Stephen Miller and the architect of the Trump administration’s gender-related executive orders—are employees of the Independent Women’s Forum, a faux-feminist conservative advocacy group often behind anti-trans messaging strategy. Another is Quentin Van Meter, past president of an old-school religious-right group of doctors that hold anti-LGBTQ positions and call themselves, misleadingly, the American College of Pediatricians. Also on the author list is Eithan Haim, a Texas doctor who previously faced federal charges for allegedly obtaining and leaking the private information of patients who weren’t under his care. (Once Trump took office, DOJ prosecutors dropped the charges against Haim.)
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Madison Pauly @msjpauly.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
There's been so many Trump administration attacks on trans healthcare lately it's almost hard to keep track, and easy to get exhausted. But I think we're going to be hearing a lot more of this "billing code fraud" line, so I dove in: www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
motherjones.com
The Trump admin launches a new angle of attack against trans healthcare
Federal officials referred over 150 healthcare organizations for investigation into allegations of fraud.
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Madison Pauly @msjpauly.bsky.social · 17/08/2026
A powerful essay. Worth reading.
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Reposted by Madison Pauly
Mother Jones @motherjones.com · 12/08/2026
Residents in a deep red Pennsylvania district were getting fed up with becoming a dumping ground for America’s waste. Reporter Madison Pauly spoke to many of them after they found out they were about to get another thing nobody asked for: a mega ICE detention center.
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Madison Pauly @msjpauly.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
The public comment period is closed. This is the final version of the rule, ostensibly addressing the public comments received.
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Madison Pauly @msjpauly.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
My quick story on the final rule here: www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
motherjones.com
Trump admin releases final rule attacking healthcare for low-income trans kids
It will prevent Medicaid and CHIP dollars from covering gender dysphoria treatments for minors.
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Madison Pauly @msjpauly.bsky.social · 11/08/2026
Correction: The rule will take effect in 60 days, not 6 months, from its final publication date. That means October.
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Madison Pauly @msjpauly.bsky.social · 11/08/2026
This isn't the end of the story. LGBTQ rights groups have been clear that both the Medicaid and the Medicare "nuclear weapon" rule will be challenged in court. From like @gladlaw.bsky.social's press release today:
The rule announced today will face legal challenge. Federal courts have blocked previous efforts by the Trump Administration to use funding threats to override states’ longstanding authority to regulate medical care, including transgender health care. Thus far, Courts have consistently and resoundingly rejected the Administration's efforts to abandon the patients and families who rely on this care.
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Madison Pauly @msjpauly.bsky.social · 11/08/2026
Here's my story from this spring on these two rules and the controversial HHS report—spearheaded by the Manhattan Institute's Leor Sapir—that the administration is using to justify them: www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
motherjones.com
Trump is about to drop a “nuclear weapon” on trans youth health care
How a report led by a right-wing pundit laid the groundwork for upending gender-affirming treatment
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Madison Pauly @msjpauly.bsky.social · 11/08/2026
The final version of the "nuclear weapon" rule—the one that forces hospitals to stop providing gender-affirming care for trans kids, or else lose all Medicaid & Medicare reimbursements—is now scheduled to be issued by December. www.reginfo.gov/public/do/eA...
HHS/CMS	RIN: 0938-AV87	Publication ID: 2026 
Title: ●Hospital Condition of Participation: Prohibiting Sex-Rejecting Procedures for Children (CMS-3481) 
Abstract:
This rule revises the requirements that Medicare and Medicaid certified hospitals must meet to participate in the Medicare and Medicaid programs. These changes are necessary to protect the health and safety of children and reflect HHS’ review of recent information on the safety and efficacy of sex-rejecting procedures (SRPs) on children. The revisions to the requirements prohibit hospitals from performing specified SRPs on children.

 
Agency: Department of Health and Human Services(HHS) 	Priority: Other Significant 
RIN Status: First time published in the Unified Agenda	Agenda Stage of Rulemaking: Final Rule Stage 
Major: No 	Unfunded Mandates: No 
EO 14192 Designation: Other 
CFR Citation: 42 CFR 482   
Legal Authority: 42 U.S.C. 1395hh    42 U.S.C. 1395rr    42 U.S.C. 1302    EO 14187   
Legal Deadline:
Action	Source	Description	Date
Final 	Statutory 	MMA sec. 902 requires Medicare final rules publish within 3 years of a proposed or interim final rule. 	12/19/2028 
Overall Description of Deadline: Per the CMS notice published December 30, 2004 (69 FR 78442), except for certain Medicare payment regulations and certain other statutorily-mandated regulations, we schedule all Medicare final regulations for publication within the 3-year standardized time limit in the current Unified Agenda. We do not intend to delay publishing a Medicare final regulation for 3 years if we are able to publish it sooner.

Timetable:
Action	Date	FR Cite
NPRM 	12/19/2025 	90 FR 59463   
NPRM Comment Period End 	02/17/2026 	
Final Action 	12/00/2026
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Madison Pauly @msjpauly.bsky.social · 11/08/2026
Big update: The Trump admin just issued its final rule banning CHIP and Medicaid from paying for gender-affirming care for minors. The rule will take effect in 6 months, and from then allows a 6-month tapering period for patients already on hormone therapy. www.federalregister.gov/public-inspe...
federalregister.gov
Public Inspection: Medicaid Program: Prohibition on Federal Medicaid and Children's Health Insurance Program Funding for Sex-Rejecting Procedures Furnished to Children
Medicaid Program: Prohibition on Federal Medicaid and Children's Health Insurance Program Funding for Sex-Rejecting Procedures Furnished to Children
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Reposted by Madison Pauly
Abraham Gutman @abgutman.bsky.social · 11/08/2026
I listened last night to @pablo.show’s episode about Riley Gaines with @msjpauly.bsky.social. Hearing the evolution of Gaines’ rhetoric about Lia Thomas — eventually comparing trans athletes to sexual abusers — is really stunning. Here is what Gaines said days after that race (notice pronouns):
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Madison Pauly @msjpauly.bsky.social · 11/08/2026
thank you, Abraham!
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Reposted by Madison Pauly
Rachel Maddow @maddow.bsky.social · 27/07/2026
"But something else has shifted in Tremont. After the [successful] fight against the detention center, 'It doesn’t matter if they’re Democrat, Republican, the town has come together'...” www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
motherjones.com
How the threat of an ICE detention center galvanized a Trump-country coal town
“We do deserve better than a plethora of data centers, detention centers, warehouses, biosolids processing plants, massive landfills.”
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Madison Pauly @msjpauly.bsky.social · 29/07/2026
here's the story from March on the revolt inside DLR Group: www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
motherjones.com
Top architecture firm won’t design more ICE prisons after employees revolt
They thought their firm focused on humane design. Then they learned of the private detention center contract.
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Madison Pauly @msjpauly.bsky.social · 29/07/2026
Well, this had DLR Group written all over it, and sure enough, it's them! Employees who believed in this "humane prison design" PR-speak got a rude awakening this year when they learned DLR Group was working on an ICE detention center:
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Reposted by Madison Pauly
Isabela Dias @isabelaalhadeff.bsky.social · 23/07/2026
“We never went far enough to repair the original sin of the separations at the border. And now we’re perpetrating that same harm all over again.” I wrote about how the Trump administration is violating a landmark settlement agreement for families who were separated at the border years ago.
motherjones.com
Separated at the Border, Torn Apart Again
Years after being split up and reunited, a family gets caught in Trump’s immigration dragnet.
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Madison Pauly @msjpauly.bsky.social · 22/07/2026
The thing about that Heritage Center paper against women's sports is not just the hypocrisy, or even the blatant sexism. A real argument is building in the courts to toss the longstanding rules that have caused schools to expand girls' sports. The story: www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
motherjones.com
The Heritage Foundation only wanted to protect women's sports when it was about trans athletes
Not anymore.
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Reposted by Madison Pauly
Samantha Michaels @samanthamichaels.bsky.social · 21/07/2026
You know the ICE officer who killed someone in Maine and was then accused by two ex-wives of abuse? Turns out he was likely eligible to skip a significant portion of training after ICE hired him, due to a policy change under this administration. www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
motherjones.com
What ICE should have known when it hired David Brouillette
The officer who killed a young father in Maine had been accused of abuse by two ex-wives. He was also eligible to skip weeks of training in Georgia.
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Madison Pauly @msjpauly.bsky.social · 21/07/2026
“We are at a tipping point in Schuylkill County,” one Republican voter testified at a recent county commissioners meeting. “We do deserve better than a plethora of data centers, detention centers, warehouses, biosolids processing plants, massive landfills.” www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
motherjones.com
How the threat of an ICE detention center galvanized a Trump-country coal town
“We do deserve better than a plethora of data centers, detention centers, warehouses, biosolids processing plants, massive landfills.”
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Madison Pauly @msjpauly.bsky.social · 21/07/2026
In June, NYT broke the news that ICE had scrapped its plans for the detention center in Tremont. GOP Rep. Dan Meuser credited "in large part, the extensive due diligence conducted by county and local officials.” But the people of Schuylkill County aren't backing down—this is just one of many fights
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Madison Pauly @msjpauly.bsky.social · 21/07/2026
And, of course, Joe and Lara Wiscount, a pair of retired teachers who led much of the local organizing. For them, the fight was personal. The Wiscount family name is synonymous with Tremont.
An excerpt from the article says: Their reaction also had something to do with family pride. The Wiscount name is synonymous with Tremont: Joe’s mom taught third grade here for 37 years; a veterans’ memorial park on Main Street bears a carving of his late father. On a recent night at the local gun club, 20 out of 23 people at the bar were Wiscounts, Lara recalled. “We were very upset and concerned about the town’s name being attached to it,” Joe said. Besides, Lara added, “You have to do the right thing. I was in education for 30 years, because I care about kids, I care about people.” So they decided to begin organizing their neighbors.
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Madison Pauly @msjpauly.bsky.social · 21/07/2026
Then there was Jennifer Devine, 53, a spitfire and true-blue Dem who works the night shift at an Amazon distribution center. Devine felt powerfully that she had responsibility to fight the detention center. “If that place is functional, I told my husband, I’ll be up there every day protesting.”
An excerpt from the article says: A week later, Joe’s cousin, Jennifer Devine, spearheaded a protest along Main Street. Dozens of people chanted “ICE out” on the sidewalk, despite a downpour. “I’m willing to fight,” swore Devine, who lives down the road from the Wiscounts and works the night shift at the Amazon distribution center. “If that place is functional, I told my husband, I’ll be up there every day protesting.”
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Madison Pauly @msjpauly.bsky.social · 21/07/2026
I met so many generous and thoughtful people on my trip to Tremont, PA, where ICE planned a detention center that would overwhelm the town's water & sewer. One was Brandon Albert, 33, a mechanic who voted for Trump but now sees him as aligned with "corporate America," selling out rural voters.
An excerpt from the article says: Some voters have begun to equate the big corporations that cause environmental hazards and raise the cost of living with the Trump administration. Brandon Albert, a 33-year-old mechanic who rents an apartment in Tremont, sees the ICE warehouse as part of the same overarching trend of exploitation—“corporate America capitalizing on small town USA.” Albert voted for Trump in 2024, but “I do regret it,” he says. To him, Trump’s chosen sides, and he’s with the corporations. “He’s becoming really anti-ordinary people and more big business.”
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Madison Pauly @msjpauly.bsky.social · 21/07/2026
Point taken, though in this case they did do a story on it! www.nytimes.com/2026/04/09/u...
nytimes.com
In a Deep Red Town, Locals Vent Over a Planned ICE Detention Center
The Tremont, Pa., area has roughly 2,000 residents and limited resources. The Trump administration plans to convert a warehouse there to hold nearly four times as many people.
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Madison Pauly @msjpauly.bsky.social · 21/07/2026
I've been joking with journalist friends that I went to a rural diner in Trump country and all I found were secret Democrats and a non-voter. It's true! How Schuylkill County, PA, rose up against an ICE warehouse—and decades of being treated as a "dumping ground" www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
motherjones.com
How the threat of an ICE detention center galvanized a Trump-country coal town
“We do deserve better than a plethora of data centers, detention centers, warehouses, biosolids processing plants, massive landfills.”
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Reposted by Madison Pauly
Abby Vesoulis @abbyvesoulis.bsky.social · 18/07/2026
Rep. Max Miller (R-Ohio) previously denied a report, also alleged in court records, that he pushed a girl down a flight of stairs in high school. But the woman recently told me the alleged incident remains "one of the more traumatic nights of my life." Inside the investigation: ow.ly/8xU450ZpaNp
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Assault, misogyny, verbal threats: Records detail new allegations against Rep. Max Miller
Police reports and filings in a bitter custody dispute raise new questions about the conduct of an Ohio Republican as he campaigns for a third term.
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Madison Pauly @msjpauly.bsky.social · 14/07/2026
However, a second rule—targeting trans kids in low-income families—is still on track to be finalized. That one will ban CHIP and Medicaid from paying for puberty blockers and hormone therapy (as well as surgery) to treat gender dysphoria in minors.
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Madison Pauly @msjpauly.bsky.social · 14/07/2026
The Kennedy Declaration was RFK Jr.'s attempt to unilaterally declare that pediatric gender treatments “fail to meet professional recognized standards of health care" and that HHS could pull federal funding from providers at any time. A federal judge blocked it this spring.
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Madison Pauly @msjpauly.bsky.social · 14/07/2026
👀
A screenshot of the NPR story reads: "That pressure has come in the form of this proposed rule, another rule that would bar federal Medicaid reimbursement for transgender pediatric patients, and a declaration from Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. that aimed to redefine the standard of care. (Interestingly, the press release issued when those actions were unveiled in December is now missing from the HHS website, as is the Kennedy declaration document.)"
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Madison Pauly @msjpauly.bsky.social · 14/07/2026
Huge news: NPR reports that the Trump administration has abandoned its proposed "nuclear weapon" against trans youth care—a rule that would have pulled *all* Medicaid and Medicare funding for *all* patients from hospitals that provided gender-affirming care for minors www.npr.org/2026/07/13/n...
npr.org
Trump's HHS abandons threat to withhold Medicare and Medicaid funding over trans care
NPR has learned that the Department of Health and Human Services will not be finalizing its most aggressive attempt to end gender-affirming care for youth nationally.
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Madison Pauly @msjpauly.bsky.social · 08/07/2026
Both of these things can be true at the same time, and I'm admiring how Julia's story handles that.
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Madison Pauly @msjpauly.bsky.social · 08/07/2026
Publishing this story in this political climate takes ridiculous levels of nerve and nuance. But @julialurie.bsky.social pulls it off. Her investigation into the psychological side effects of hormonal birth control, and the researchers working to improve it: www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
motherjones.com
Did birth control make my depression worse?
What I wish I'd known about my IUD.
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Madison Pauly @msjpauly.bsky.social · 30/06/2026
Today, SCOTUS ruled that states can ban trans girls from girls' sports. To get there, it watered down the way it analyzes Constitutional protections against sex discrimination. My analysis with comments from @maryrziegler.bsky.social and @avaayers.bsky.social: www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
motherjones.com
The Supreme Court's trans athlete ruling is a threat to gender equality
Justice Brett Kavanaugh is "not only creating a bad precedent for trans people, he’s significantly lowering the protection all women get."
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Madison Pauly @msjpauly.bsky.social · 09/06/2026
Riley Gaines was paid at least $6,600 from the private PayPal account of Polymarket's chief marketing officer to hype up the service, per this Politico scoop: www.politico.com/news/2026/06...
politico.com
‘Unbelievable how accurate’: How paid influencers hype Polymarket’s odds
The company’s chief marketing officer, Matthew Modabber, used a personal PayPal account to send money to content creators, according to records reviewed by POLITICO.
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Madison Pauly @msjpauly.bsky.social · 27/05/2026
Had a blast last night at the Sports Emmys with @pablo.show's hilarious and talented crew. Such an honor to be there!
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Reposted by Madison Pauly
Mother Jones @motherjones.com · 14/05/2026
David Venturella, who spent more than a decade as an executive at the private-prison behemoth GEO Group, will be the next acting director of ICE. This has been a banner year for GEO Group, the largest private prison contractor incarcerating immigrants in the US: ICE is its single largest client.
motherjones.com
Trump taps former private prison exec to run ICE
GEO Group's biggest client is ICE—and ICE's new leader helped run GEO Group.
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Madison Pauly @msjpauly.bsky.social · 12/05/2026
I should have clarified: It's a federal grand jury subpoena from the the US Attorney's office for the Northern District of Texas. That implies potential federal, not Texas, criminal charges. I haven't seen an official justification for why there, but N. Texas federal judges are famously GOP-aligned.
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Madison Pauly @msjpauly.bsky.social · 12/05/2026
I should have clarified: It's a federal grand jury subpoena from the the US Attorney's office for the Northern District of Texas. That implies potential federal, not Texas, criminal charges. I haven't seen an official justification for why there, but N. Texas federal judges are famously GOP-aligned.
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Madison Pauly @msjpauly.bsky.social · 12/05/2026
After many failed attempts to subpoena trans kids' private health records, DOJ is now trying to get them via criminal grand jury in Texas. "This is mafia-type behavior," Shannon Minter tells @hurwitz.bsky.social. This will be a new test of blue-state shield laws. www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
motherjones.com
New York hospital faces criminal subpoena in Texas over trans youth care
"This is mafia-type behavior."
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Madison Pauly @msjpauly.bsky.social · 05/05/2026
A mystery donor in Nebraska is spending $1.6 million on a ballot initiative banning trans girls from girls' sports—duplicating an existing state law. Uihlein is spending $800k on the same in Maine. What do these two states have in common? Close Senate races. www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
motherjones.com
Are anti-trans ballot initiatives being used as Republican “ballot candy”?
At least one candidate has admitted his statewide referendum targeting trans kids is intended to drive GOP voter turnout.
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Madison Pauly @msjpauly.bsky.social · 02/05/2026
The ruling does not affect misoprostol, the second medication used with mifepristone to terminate pregnancies—and a powerful abortion drug on its own. “Abortion is too important,” says @greerdonley.bsky.social. “People are going to find ways around the law." www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
motherjones.com
A right-wing court just moved to choke off abortion by mail
A sweeping decision threatens to unravel one of the last remaining pathways to care post-Dobbs.
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