Welcome to The Gov Hub Newsletter by Girl and the Gov®, which shares the latest from the wild west of political landscapes, highlighting news that fits the qualifications of the good, the bad, the ugly, and the downright absurd.

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GOOD NEWS BEARS

Positive political wins [yes, those do exist]

Editor’s Note: Good News Bears got its very own IG account. Make sure to pop on over here to follow along and add a bit of good news to your feed.

PA GOV. SHAPIRO DIRECTS STATE RESOURCES TO PROVIDE LGBTQA+ CRISIS CARE TRAINING FOR CALL CENTER COUNSELORS: In the wake of the Trump Admin axing a LGBTQA+ Suicide and Crisis Lifeline - a press 3 option when someone in crisis called the national 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline number - PA Gov. Josh Shapiro has responded by directing the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services to train 988 operators in the state to serve LGBTQ+ callers and fill the gap left by removal of the press 3 option. Per reporting from WITF, calls to the 988 switchboard that come from within the state, will be directed to one of 14 call centers that will be staffed with counselors that received specialized training so that they can best help callers. Additionally, operators will be able to connect callers with the Trevor Project to assist as well.

MA GOV. HEALEY AWARDS $2.3M IN GRANTS TO IMPROVE WATER TRANSPORTATION ON BOSTON HARBOR: Ferry and water transportation services in Boston Harbor are getting a boost with a $2.3M investment being made to support six projects that will make services more accessible and more affordable. The projects include:

• $1M for redesigning the Winthrop/Quincy commuter ferry route in a way that will save riders 45+ mins round-trip, 3x-ing its daily passenger capacity, and adding separate routes with convenient stops like Logan Airport.

• $250K for repairs and upgrades for the Cathleen Stone Island Outward Bound School’s ferry.

• $400K to support the Save the Harbor/Save the Bay’s free cruise program, which provides educational trips.

• $200K to support the Boston Harbor Now’s Community Cruise program [edu meets climate].

• $400K to support free or subsidized tickets for service workers commuting to the Seaport and operations costs for the Eat Boston-to-Seaport Ferry route.

• $81K for dock improvements in the Charleston Navy Yard [signage + public seating].

NJ GOV. MURPHY SIGNS BIPARTISAN BILL TO PROVIDE $500M IN MANUFACTURING TAX CREDITS: Gov. of the Garden State, Phil Murphy, signed a bipartisan bill that establishes a new $500M tax credit program designed to incentivize investment in manufacturing and related job creation. The resulting program, the Next New Jersey Manufacturing Program, will work in the following capacity: “eligible businesses in manufacturing industries including advanced manufacturing, non-retail food and beverage, defense, clean energy, and life sciences can receive a tax credit award equal to the lesser of 0.1 percent of the eligible business’s total capital investment multiplied by the number of new full-time jobs or 25 percent of the eligible business’s total qualified investment, subject to a total cap of $150 million per project.” Importantly, for the first two years, $100M in tax credits will be reserved specifically for clean energy product manufacturers [solar, thermal, etc]. Following those two years, unused proceeds will roll over into the general manufacturing bucket.

EXTREMISM

…that’s the tweet [or the x]

• At the intersection of weird and creepy, you’ll come across what the Texas GOP has done in their effort to gerrymander the state further – they’ve locked a Dem representative on the legislative floor and will not allow her to leave unless she signs a Republican permission slip and has an escort that ensures she comes to vote for their bull. Translation: they’re holding a state representative hostage. Two fellow Dems joined Rep. Nicole Collier on the floor, sleeping there overnight, Rep. Gene Wu and Rep. Vince Perez.

• Indiana Gov. Mike Braun [R] said on record that he would be okay with the Supreme Court leaving the question of interracial marriage up to the states.

• The White House is keeping score of how loyal [or not] companies and trade associations are to the Trump Admin, by literally using scorecards to keep tabs on actions that run the gamut, from press releases and social media posts, and beyond.

• A pic making its rounds of Trump’s nominee to be the next commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, E.J. Antoni has people raising alarm bells – and no, not because of his receding hairline [understandable guess though]. The alarm bells are because behind him is a painting of a Nazi warship. Oh, and then there’s also this pic of him making the rounds that shows him j-chillin’ at the j-6 insurrection.

• A U.S. citizen was kidnapped by ICE in DTLA and held for over 24 hours without anything to drink. She was held for two days by ICE despite proving her citizenship upon booking.  

• The White House is conducting a shakedown top to bottom review of the Smithsonian's exhibits, materials, operations, curatorial process, exhibit plannings, artist grants, messaging, and all-things that matter in the field of preserving and teaching accurate history. The review activity and specific directive given to 8 museums in the Smithsonian family came by way of a letter to the institution’s secretary, Lonnie Bunch, and leans on the details of Trump’s executive order called “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History.”

• Trump started his week by vowing to ban mail-in voting [hi, voter suppression how are you] and claimed to be working on an executive order to do so. Minor problem [for him]: the Constitution doesn’t give him the power to be able to do that – he’s banking on people not knowing that and being intimidated by his vow.

• Trump’s takeover of D.C. continues to evolve. Recent updates, as captured by Axios, feature a change in tone from Mayor Bowser, a lawsuit filed by DC AG, Schwalb, and acts of resistance across the district that should be a state. The on-the-ground angles can be viewed via this runner and the play-by-play being added to the Washingtonian Problems feed.

IT’S THE ECONOMY, STUPID

That money though

• D.C. restaurant reservations have plunged by 25% since Trump federalized the District’s police and brought in the National Guard to distract from the heat he’s been getting for not releasing the “Epstein Files.” Nothing says bad for biz like the streets being filled with military equipment and dudes in tactical gear taking propaganda videos.

• The continual climb in prices at the grocery store has the majority of U.S. adults stressed and pressed according to a new AP-NORC poll.

• Veggies are going up faster than Jack in the Beanstalk could ever, with the wholesale price of both fresh and dry veggies rising by 38%. With that, the Producer Price Index [measures cost of items before they reach consumers] soared to new heights at the fastest rate seen in three years. Given that a third of all veggies are imported to the U.S., Trump’s tariffs are playing a considerable role in the price increase.

FULL SEND…TO A FRIEND

Stories that are guaranteed to make it to the group chat

• Filed under ways the Trump Admin has wasted taxpayer dollars, is this revelation, that the Admin spent $560K to gussy up SUVs with ICE stickers and wraps for “hype-content.” The style of the stickers was inspired by Trump’s private jet, so yes the stickers are gold and gaudy.

• The concept of a food fight is often associated with grade school chaos in a cafeteria, but it actually has a long history as a weapon of dissent, or rather the act of throwing food in protest. Following an incident in D.C. where a man threw a Subway sandwich at law enforcement, WashPo has compiled some of the many historic food-protest throws in history - it’s delectable. 

• Fox News reported that Trump was “steamrolled by Putin” in his failed attempt to negotiate a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine, something that Trump said he would make happen on day one of his presidency. He also, following the embarrassment-a-thon, appeared to forget that Alaska is a part of the United States.

• In Oklahoma, where the public school superintendent has made multiple efforts to bring Trump bibles to schools, and was caught with alleged porn on his computer during a meeting, he has now introduced a requirement for any teachers looking to work in the state. If the teacher is moving from California or New York to Oklahoma, they will be required to take a test to “safeguard against radical leftist ideology.” And if you’re asking yourself “are there really that many people moving from those states to…Oklahoma???” yea, that would be the right question to ask.

• It’s a big era for grifters, and the FDA Commissioner Marty Makary is giving them another home, launching a series of informal panels with people that consider themselves “researchers” on topics like anti-depressants use during pregnancy, talc powder, and so on. The panels, besides missing a key component known as science, also are allegedly failing to operate within the FDA’s strict disclosure and transparency rules.

CHRONICALLY ONLINE

Politics meets social media

• Gov. Gavin Newsom’s digital team came out swinging with petty perfection [and continues to do so], with posts announcing Newsom’s plans to gerrymander California [pick up seats to push back on Texas] in Trump’s signature all-caps, absolutely bonkers delulu format. The move has inspired others to tap in, like Mapquest.

• Gov. Newsom also dropped banger after banger with his presser last week, along with this Reel, sharing his plan of putting the prospect of gerrymandering California to save Democracy in front of voters in November. The name of the initiative is the “Election Rigging Response Act.” 

• Congresswoman Terri Sewell [D-AL] took a trip to the grocery store and showed item by item how prices for every day basics have continued to skyrocket, and how those increases are in direct opposition of Trump’s campaign promises to bring down costs for American families. 

• The DE-PA rivalry continues [which seems to be a one-sided rivalry] with these three Congresswomen taking a trip to Wawa [an institution in both states and the home to great mac & cheese] to pick-up their go-to orders.

• Congresswoman Nicole Malliotakis [R-NY] was caught in 4K forgetting the words to the pledge of allegiance. 

• A mural of current VP JD Vance in meme-form has been painted on a wall in Philly with stare-into-your soul accuracy. 

• WTF is a pocket rescission? Senator Jeff Merkley [D-OR] gave the 1-2-3 on what it is and how it’s being used.

LEGAL BEAGLE

Lawsuits & legal tings to know about

• 21 state AGs + DC are suing the Trump Admin for illegally conditioning congressionally-approved funds for Victim of Crime Act grants. Tl;dr: $14.5M in grants are being held hostage by the Trump Admin with the goal of getting states to yield to the Admin’s extreme [and inhumane] immigration enforcement. 

• Russia in large-part is suspected to be one of the leading culprits in a multi-nation state hack of the federal court filing system in at least a dozen district courts since July 2025. According to reporting from Politico, the hack pulled sealed case data and mirrors another breach that happened in 2020 under Trump 1.0; whether the hacks are connected is still a question mark.

• The chair of the Tennessee Senate GOP caucus, Ken Yager, who gained national notoriety for his hit-and-run in Georgia, where during his sobriety test, he peed his pants, pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor DUI charge associated with the incident. 

• Newsmax, the uber-conservative network is on the hook to pay out $67M to settle a lawsuit for defaming Dominion Voting Systems [voting equipment company] by spreading mega-sized lies about Trump’s 2020 election loss. 

• Hardcore Trump loyalist and now former GOP AG of Missouri, Andrew Bailey is apparently going to be appointed to share a second-in-command role at the FBI with Dan Bongino – the guy who complained about working too much.

WEATHER REPORT

Climate & enviro-related deats

• Elon Musk still has his hands in politics – especially in Tennessee, where his company “The Boring Company” has been “leased” a building for free by the State Building Commission. The non-lease lease comes in tandem with Elon’s proposed Tesla tunnel in Nashville, a ten-mile tunnel that would connect the city’s airport to the downtown area, which is an idea that hasn’t been supported by any environmental or other impact studies because they literally haven’t been conducted.

• Florida is home to two nuclear power plants that share the same claim to fame – they both have had more emergency shutdowns than the national average. Per reporting by The Tributary, the connecting key is that workers have been too scared of retaliation to report issues to upper management. The failure to report means delayed resolution, and are being looked at as part of the reason the owners of the plants, Florida Power & Light are seeking permission to raise utility costs to insane numbies for consumers.

• This type-your-address-in map tool from USA Today lets you see if the water in your neck of the woods has PFAS aka forever chemicals and at what amount [yum].

BACK ON OUR BILLSH*T

Bills, bills, bills

FEDERAL, WORKER PROTECTIONS: Intro’d in both the Senate and House is the Farmworker Smoke & Excessive Heat Protection Act. The bill has two central components: 1. It would require employers to provide N95 masks and safety training to farmworkers that are exposed to wildfire smoke 2. Direct the Occupational Safety & Health Administration to create nation-wide standards to protect workers from two climate change related issues that are increasing in issue, extreme heat and wildfire smoke 

FEDERAL, ICE: The CLEAR ID Act, intro’d by Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett [D-TX] and Congresswoman Maxine Dexter [D-OR] aims to address ICE agents failing to disclose their identity and hiding behind masks. If passed, the legislation would ban the use of taxpayer dollars for immigration enforcement operations where the officers hide their identity, requiring officers to identify themselves visually and verbally.

KEY READS

Important stories from around the USA

• Nashville Banner: Low Turnout for Tennessee’s District 7 Special Election Creates Uncertainty, Opportunity 

• The Tributary: Extreme Florida heat increasingly dangerous for maternal, infant health

• The Atlantic: Kari Lake’s Attempt to Deport Her Own Employees

• The 19th: ‘Pink-collar profession, pink-collar pay’: Why Philly teachers are ready to strike

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