The Gov Hub Newsletter: June 2, 2025

Elon's Black Eye, Trump's TACO fit, and Katie Miller's exit

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Gov Hub
June 02, 2025

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Welcome to The Gov Hub Newsletter by Girl and the Gov® – a Dem tent weekly that shares action items you can do from your phone, good political news, civic engagement tools and topics, and a little dose of political goss too, right to your inbox.  

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GOOD NEWS BEARS

Positive political wins [yes, those do exist]

NY AG TISH JAMES DELIVERS ON PRICE GOUGING WIN SECURED AGAINST BABY FORMULA SUPPLIER: Circa 2022, which admittedly feels like an entire century ago at this point, there was a major baby formula shortage. And during that shortage, the supplier Marine Park price gouged to the moon, which led New York State’s Attorney General Tish James’ office to investigate the what/why/when on how the massively increased prices violated the state’s price gouging laws. The investigation found that Marine Park raised prices 60% more than legally allowed during a shortage. The findings led to the now – which require the company, Marine Park to donate $675K worth of baby formula to New Yorkers by November 2025. As part of that settlement, and most recently, the AG’s office has secured $90K worth of the formula and has distributed it to the Regional Food Bank in Latham, NY, helping families in need.

MA GOV. MAURA HEALEY CUTS DUPLICATIVE BIZ REGULATIONS THAT HAVE HINDERED GROWTH: With the goal of saving Massachusetts businesses time and money, Gov. Maura Healey directed the Office of Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation [that’s a mouthful], to audit regulations that may be keeping businesses in the state back and/or are hindering the state’s economic competitiveness. Dubbed the Massachusetts Means Business Initiative, the audit put a spotlight on 150 sets of regulations, looking specifically for those that are either duplicates, more dated than skinny jeans with vans, or create significant, unnecessary hurdles. The regulatory changes made as a result, move across industries, and include updates to cumbersome tramway signage requirements for ski areas, barriers to licensure for hoisting engineers, rule-making on utility pole attachments, and much more.

ILLINOIS CREATES THE PUBLIC UNI DIRECT ADMISSION PROGRAM TO REDUCE BARRIERS TO HIGHER ED: Passing as the Public University Direct Admission Program Act, Illinois’ new bill turned law turned system, is tasked with rolling out a streamlined program that will make it easier for Illinois high school and community college transfer students to tap into the admission process at public universities. Starting in the 2027-2028 academic year, general admission will be available to qualifying Illinois-based students, which will be determined based on the GPA of the students compared with the GPA admission standard of the school; the Illinois Student Assistance Commission will be the intermediary that will determine eligibility. With parental consent, student data will be provided for the program and those participating will not be charged application fees, reducing the cost barrier that often impacts students when considering their higher education options.

FULL SEND…TO A FRIEND

Stories that are guaranteed to make it to the group chat

  • The rumor mill on the Hill has been working OVERTIME the last few days, with Elon at the center of it all, starting with his black eye. The shiner that made its debut at a White House Oval Office presser, has been attributed to Elon’s son “X” who he claims has a helluva punch. As for the quiet whispers around the sitch, there are alleged claims that the black eye stems from an alleged altercation with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. 

  • The President of the United States had a fit about an acronym floating around Wall Street - TACO - which stands for “Trump always chickens out” when it comes to tariffs, throwing delays, pauses, and outright reversing decisions on them. To get more technical, according to ABC News, “TACO trade” is the strategy of “buying stocks at lower costs after Trump announces new tariffs or increases them, then reaping the benefits when the markets rebound as he delays or backs off them. Either way, everyday is now Taco Tuesday, especially when this CasaDi remix is playing on TikTok.

  • The podcast bro turned Deputy Director of the FBI, Dan Bongino went on Fox News to complain and whine about having to work all the time, like even sometimes to 7PM! Maybe Kim had a point, does anyone even want to work anymore?

  • Congresswoman Nancy Mace [R-SC] is once again in the news for rather bizarre behavior. This time it’s because former staffers of hers allege that she had them create burner social media accounts to “hype her up” and boost her image on socials. Regardless of what went down fully behind closed doors, these takeaways from the sitch are clear as day.

  • Pennsylvania Republicans have their eyes on THREE state supreme court seats that will be on the ballot this November [2025]. The outcome of these races will determine the partisan swing of PA’s highest court. The Dems running for re-election, who need to protect their seats are: Justices Christine Donohue, Kevin Dougherty, and David Wecht.

  • Virginia’s 2025 Governor’s race just got a bit spicier, after this leaked audio of Republican candidate and current Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears made its way to the airwaves. In the audio, she highlights her anti-abortion views, sharing that ‘women need to make choices before they’re pregnant not after.’

  • Apparently National Intelligence Director Tulsi Gabbard is vetting creative ideas for how to get Trump to pay attention to his PDB’s [President’s Daily Brief] because reading is hard, reading is boring, and well it’s not a Big Mac. One idea being thrown around is to create Fox News-like broadcasts to deliver the deats.

  • If a dating app was mixed with profiles on candidates to be New Jersey’s next Governor, you’d get this Politico run-through, that gives the 411 on each candidate’s quick deats, strengths, weaknesses, and….bobblehead style Bitmojis?

HEALTH & WELLNESS

In the club, we’re all sick

  • MAHA’s brain-worm-in-chief, RFK Jr’s recently released report cited NON-EXISTENT studies – yes, that’s correct many of the studies cited do not exist. And the purpose of including studies in a report like this? To prove a point or an argument. 

  • Cops in Texas spent over a month surveying 83K license plate cameras in an attempt to track down a woman who got an abortion – and yes, even cameras located in pro-choice states. For context, the state where these cops have their jobs, operates in a state where many facets of receiving or assisting with reproductive care is criminalized. The PR they’re giving to the sitch is that they “were looking out for the women’s well-being.” Sounds like a crock o’ bullsh*t doesn’t it? 

  • A four-year old Mexican girl could die within days if she’s deported as a result of her and her mother’s humanitarian parole immigration status being suddenly revoked. The two had legal status in the U.S. that enabled the four-year old to receive continual life-saving care for Short Bowel Syndrome and for her mother to work in the States. The equipment used to treat the girl i.e. keep her alive cannot leave the United States.

  • A new study was published in JAMA Internal Medicine Journal focused on the mental and physical health of mothers in the U.S. The study included ~200K participants, surveying mothers between 2016-2023. The results found that mental health rankings fell, which it attributed to an increase in stress level and limited access to care.

  • Circling back to the brain-worm-in-chief of America’s health, RFK Jr. hosted Paul Saladino in the White House for a media moment where they took shots of raw milk in front of a staged line-up of beef tallow products. Very Salmonella chic.

EXTREMISM

…that’s the tweet [or the x]

  • A terrifying scene emerged out of Boulder, Colorado on Sunday, where a man launched Molotov cocktails at a gathering of Jewish community members that were peacefully advocating for the release of Israeli hostages. The firebombing attack that injured eight, including a Holocaust survivor, comes not even two weeks after a couple was gunned down in D.C. outside of the Capital Jewish Museum, where an interfaith gathering was being held. Authorities in Colorado have taken a suspect into custody.

  • ICYMI, DHS officers [Department of Homeland Security] handcuffed a staffer at Dem Congressman Jerry Nadler’s NY office, accusing her and the office of “harboring rioters” despite there being no rioters and failing to produce a warrant. The Gothamist broke the story with this video account of the incident.

  • There are reports out of Tucson, Arizona that the ICE agents are posing as electrical company employees to go after, find, and deport immigrants. The use of deception in this form brings fourth amendment questions to the forefront of the immigration conversation yet again.

CHRONICALLY ONLINE

Politics meets social media

  • Senator Joni Ernst [IA-R] responded to her constituents' worries about how cutting Medicaid and SNAP would kill people with “Well, we are all going to die.” And then after, she doubled down, putting out a video on social mocking the people that were reacting to her callous care for her constituents’ well-being.

  • Could Romeo & Juliet be banned in the state of Texas? It appears so, per Texas State Rep. James Talarico [D] questioned his GOP colleagues on the potential impacts of the bill. Others that could be on the chopping block with the way this bill is written? Catcher in the Rye because it includes the word “fuck” somewhere in its pages.

  • Also out of Texas, is Texas state Rep. Senfronia Thompson who went viral when she said “I told y’all I was coming for the pimps. I’m ready for them. I’m going to take their money” when describing what she’s doing with an amendment on a bill that would go after human traffickers. 

  • The Recount asked Congressman Jared Moskowitz [FL-D] and Congressman Mike Lawler [NY-R] who they would poach from the other party to join their ranks. This is who they picked.

  • Property Brother’s star Drew Scott dropped the tea on why Trump’s big beautiful bill is bad for Americans, their energy costs, the health of their children, the grid, and more – as well as what you should do to stop this bill from getting to Trump’s desk.

CATACLYSMIC CORRUPTION

Mostly stories that involve Elon and his besties

  • Congressman Andrew Clyde [GA-R] did not try to hide the fact that he – a gun shop owner – is responsible for a provision in Trump’s “big beautiful budget bill” that gets rid of taxes and regulations on gun silencers. The other interesting bullet here is that Rep. Clyde’s shop not only sells silencers, but the shop’s sales have allegedly been connected back to gun-related crimes.

  • Trump pardoned reality TV couple Todd and Julie Chrisley for their white collar crimes [and no, we’re not talking about the over bleached hair they both have dyed and fried into oblivion]. And if you’re wondering how this pardon came to be, the Instagram of their daughter, Savannah Chrisley will tell you all you need to know and who is actually purchasing the MAGA hats in every color.

  • According to reporting from NPR, lawyer’s phones are ringing off the hook with calls from international clients that are interested in purchasing a $5M gold card to get a fast tracked, status-driven way to get residency in the U.S. But DACA recipients? Refugees? Those on Humanitarian Parole? No dice.

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BACK ON OUR BILLSH*T

Bills, bills, bills

FEDERAL, DC PUBLIC TRANSIT: Far from a first, but another Republican member of Congress has introduced a bill that aims to rebrand D.C.’s mass transit system [think their version of the Subway] as the “Trump Train” and the agency that runs its name to “WMAGA”. The bill also proposes blocking federal funding for D.C.’s metro if the rebrand doesn’t happen. The Florida Man behind the bill announced its introduction with a tweet and an AI-generated pic of Trump in a conductor hat.

FEDERAL, SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION: A bill named the Save SBA from Sanctuary Cities Act was introduced by a Republican Rep. Brad Finstad with the goal of relocating locations of the Small Business Administration to cities that cooperate with federal immigration authorities. If you’ve ever moved, and know how much even one moving truck costs, you can imagine what a decision like this might cost taxpayers, all in the name of GOP tears.

THE ACTION ITEMS

Get ‘em done from your phone

ACTION 1 - SOLAR & RENEWABLE ENERGY

The Ask: Tell your Senators to protect affordable energy options and nix the “Big Beautiful Bill.”

The Background: Solar and renewables provide jobs, boost the economy, and protect the grid. Nixing laws that support this vertical puts all of these things at risk. 

ACTION 2 - MEDICAID

The Ask: Tell your Senators to protect Medicaid.

The Background: The “Big Beautiful Bill” headed to the Senate. The cuts to Medicaid and SNAP cannot stand. 

KEY READS

Important stories from around the USA

  • Missouri Independent: Missouri will hand over personal data of food aid recipients to feds

  • NY1: NYPD: At least 20 arrested during anti-ICE Protest

  • Politico: ‘That’s What Solid It’: Why the Court Ruled Against Trump’s Tariffs

  • The Hill: Law firms targeted by Trump are on a winning streak against him

  • EDNC: Governor’s Educator Discovery Award invests in the professional development of educators

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