The Gov Hub Newsletter: June 23, 2025

GOP Co-Chair of the Pro-Life Caucus receives reproductive care for ectopic pregnancy [then blames Dems for not being able to access it faster]

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Gov Hub
June 23, 2025

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 GOV. HOCHUL SIGNS BILL ALLOWING REFRESHMENTS IN VOTER LINES: It’s often the little things that make the difference, and the allowance of refreshments [food & bev] in line while waiting to vote is one of those little things that can determine whether someone stays in line or says nvm to exercising their right to vote. With that in mind, NY Gov. Kathy Hochul signed a bill that says toodles to section 17-140 of the state’s election law. Per the fine print, the section had “allowed for criminal penalties against individuals who provided items of small value to voters at polling sites, including food and water.” The bill signed, repeals this bologna, and now allows food & bev to be provided to voters waiting in line. Translation: you shouldn’t have to decide between voting or ptfo-ing from a 90-degree day because of not being allowed to accept a bottle of water – and now, starting with this election szn, if you’re a NY voter, you don’t have to.

HAWAII GOV. GREEN, M.D. SIGNS PROTECTING EARNINGS OF PERFORMERS UNDER 18: As influencer families have increasingly put their kids on camera [and made money from doing so], there has been a legislative push across states to protect the earnings that those children make for those children – and children in the entertainment industry at-large. In Hawaii the legislative push turned into a bill – HB 874 – that was just signed into law by Gov. Josh Green, M.D. The new law or Act 173 rather, mandates that a child’s parent or legal guardian has to set-up a trust fund for the child before that child participates in any entertainment industry employment if they’re expected to make at least $5K/job or $20K+ in a calendar year. Anyone that employs the child is required to deposit at least 15% of the child’s gross earnings into the trust, and the trust must be maintained for the child by their parent/LG. The law applies beyond actors/actresses and encompasses a large scope of entertainment roles, and includes social media influencing.

DE GOV. MEYER SIGNS EXECUTIVE ORDER TO PROTECT GENDER AFFIRMING CARE PROVIDERS AND PATIENTS: Following in the footsteps of 14 other states and D.C., Delaware Gov. Matt Meyer issued and signed Executive Order 11 to protect both patients who receive gender affirming care and their providers. The EO bans state agencies from: “cooperating with investigations, subpoenas, or legal actions initiated in other states against individuals or providers involved in gender-affirming care that is legal in Delaware.” And to boot, it also puts the kabash on profesh licensing boards in the state from penalizing providers on the abscess of providing gender-affirming care. The EO makes Delaware a “shield state,” with the goal of protecting its patients and providers – their access to care and their privacy.

FULL SEND…TO A FRIEND

Stories that are guaranteed to make it to the group chat

  • Putting your phone down even for a minute in this era could mean that you miss the news notification that Trump hit the green light on using B2 bombers to strike IRGC nuclear facilities. It also means you could miss that the operation was named Midnight Hammer [sounds like a porno, like be so FR with that name] and how now Trump is in a full on tit-for-tat war on the home front with GOP Congressman Thomas Massie [KY] who has accused the president’s bombing decision unconstitutional [to note: Massie is finding in an ally in Congressman Ro Khanna [D-CA] as well as other Dems]. Another Dem of note in this moment is Congressman Jim Himes [D-CT] who found out about the strikes on Twitter, like instead of being informed or briefed by the President.

  • The Los Angeles Dodgers stepped up to the plate, announcing a $1M commitment in financial assistance to help immigrant families impacted by the events unfolding in the region courtesy of the Trump Admin. The announcement follows an incident late last week, where people dressed in masks claiming to be ICE agents were blocked from entering the Dodger stadium facility. To note, ICE responded to that incident saying that they were never there…so who were the masked dudes? We’ll be taking guesses in the DMs.

  • Giving new meaning to ‘sibling rivalry’ and the phrase ‘favorite child,’ two siblings are running for the same Florida state Senate seat in a special election primary. The kicker: the sibling’s mom has endorsed ONE of the two.

  • Elon’s not a vegetarian when it comes to the number of beefs he’s collecting rn, and that includes one that’s bubbled to the media surface with a dude named Sergio Gor. Sergio is a Trump advisor, and the reason that Elon’s pick for the top dog role at NASA was axed – and now he’s been labeled a snake by Elon. 

EXTREMISM

…that’s the tweet [or the x]

  • A SoCal man [U.S. citizen, mind you] was dragged out of his work van and arrested for filming federal agents arresting day laborers outside of a Lowe’s store. He was later released, but the video of the incident is Disturbing with a capital D.

  • Police have apprehended a 25y/o nutball and charged him with stalking, attempted kidnapping, and aggravated criminal trespass, after he was allegedly caught scaling a wall and then knocking on the door of Memphis, TN Mayor, Paul Young. Per CBS News, the Memphis Police Department found a taster, glove, rope, and duct tape in the nutball’s car. 

  • A tidbit that almost flew below the radar amongst the many WTF is this timeline stories of this news-cycle, is the Appeal to Heaven flag – a flag associated with far right groups – being flown atop the Small Business Administration building on June 11, 2025. The flag’s name may ring a bell because circa 2023, Supreme Court Justice Alito’s shore house flew the Appeal to Heaven flag.

  • A 36-year old man turned himself into police following a warrant for his arrest was issued for aggravated menacing via an incident where he allegedly harassed, threatened, and tried to run off the road, Congressman Max Miller [R-OH] in Rocky River, Ohio. There has been bipartisan condemnation of the incident.

  • In Texas, a new law will require that public school classrooms display the 10 commandments. And if you’re thinking, hmm that’s odd, I thought we already found that this isn’t constitutional [cough Louisiana cough], you’d be correct. The failure to separate church and state in the classroom is expected to open the floor to another legal battle on the issue.

  • Immigration detention centers are traumatizing children and adults, with reports from AP sharing that people are being held in terrible conditions, being denied medical care, and fighting for water.

HEALTH & WELLNESS

In the club, we’re all sick

  • GOP Congresswoman Kat Cammack [FL] is – hold on, you’re going to want to buckle up for this one – had an ectopic pregnancy [that’s nonviable btw] and doctors in Florida at-first refused to treat her because they were worried that state’s six week abortion ban puts them at risk legally. She is now blaming Democrats for the implementation of the Republican majority state’s law, somehow twisting in her mind that Democrats’ were “fear mongering” on the law’s implementation and that’s what “caused” her delay in treatment…not the literal, actual, abortion ban law and its gray areas, run, supported, and made possible by her party. Oh, and did we mention she’s the co-chair of the pro-life caucus?

  • SCOTUS has ruled in favor of the state of Tennessee in upholding its gender-affirming care ban for minors. The court, in a 6-3 decision, did not find that the ban violates the 14th Amendment. Amongst the dissenters was Justice Sonia Sotomayor who said this.

  • The CDC keeps data on how Americans accidentally die – think anything from drowning incidents to a dog bite. That data, which informs how to prevent those deaths [and understand what increases or decreases them] is at risk following major CDC staff cuts this spring, and even more so with its funding facing a cut as well in the Trump Admin’s 2026 budget.

  • A new report from the WeCount project has found that the number of abortions in the U.S. has risen again since the overturn of Roe v. Wade. The report also found that abortion pills are used in the majority of abortions and that tele-health has been vital and central to care access.

  • Instead of looking to the future, the Biden-obsessed GOP [there are some Dems that fit this qualifier too, btw], are “investigating” Biden’s health while in office, with the House Oversight Committee deposing Biden’s former personal doctor. They’re so obsessed with a guy that’s not even president anymore, it’s potentially giving fan behavior.

CHRONICALLY ONLINE

Politics meets social media

  • Senator Elissa Slotkin [D-MI] told SecDef Hegseth [the one with the weird America pocket square that always clashes with his ‘fit] that his predecessor [Mark Esper] “had more guts and balls” than him in a spectacularly accurate take-down.

  • Michelle Obama revealed the number one thing she can’t stand about D.C. and it’s… segways [hard agree, you look ridiculous – but meme-able].

  • JD Vance went to California feels about as natural as a Kraft American Cheese slice, but alas he did – but before he landed Gov. Newsom hit ‘em with a diss ‘Tok. And while there, his top-line moments included acting at the maturity level of a middle schooler post-sugar rush, calling Senator Alex Padilla, “Jose”. 

  • Big bus reveal loading… Abigail Spanberger, the Democrat running to be Virginia’s next Governor [election is this fall, 2025] got to tour her campaign bus that will be making its rounds across the state.

  • Republicans are trying to sell off 250 million acres of public lands behind closed doors aka buried in the Senate variation of the “big beautiful bill”. Congresswoman Kelly Morrison [D-MN] has this to say about it.

  • There’s bipartisan support for banning members of Congress from banning stocks, but there’s a gatekeeper stopping it from happening – Congressman Seth Magaziner [D-RI] shares who that gatekeeper is.

BACK ON OUR BILLSH*T

Bills, bills, bills

WISCONSIN, DELIVERY WORKERS: In Wisconsin, a first of its kind bill is headed to the Governor’s desk after passing in both chambers. The bill, if signed into law, would allow drivers at delivery and ride share companies [ex: Uber/Uber Eats] to be eligible for company incentives and benefits. Specifically, it would give companies the thumbs up to not just offer benefits to these workers, which are considered independent contractors, but  allow them to contribute up to 4% of quarterly earnings into health care and retirement savings accounts. These workers in Wisconsin have been excluded from being able to tap into benefits because current laws on the books require those that are eligible for benefits to be categorized as full-time employees.

RHODE ISLAND, ASSAULT WEAPONS: In the Ocean State, a ban on the sale of assault weapons is headed to the Governor’s desk for consideration as well [he’s said he plans on signing it]. The bill, if turned into law, would take effect in July 2026, and ban the sale and manufacture of semiautomatic rifles [assault weapons] in the state.

IT’S THE ECONOMY, STUPID

That money though

  • In LA, produce is rotting and business is down significantly, as both employees and customers are staying away from downtown’s market out of the fear of being detained by ICE. Quick equation: ICE = bad for biz.

  • The company behind Truth Social aka Trump’s Trump Media and Technology Group has lost 46% of its value this year according to AP. As a result, the company has decided to do a buyback, buying back $400M of its own stock.

  • The Congressional Budget Office has reported that it estimates that Trump’s “big beautiful bill” will result in 16M Americans losing health coverage and vastly increase the number of Americans carrying medical debt; their estimates put possible debt increases in the orbit of $22K+.

THE ACTION ITEMS

Get ‘em done from your phone

ACTION 1 - THE RECONCILIATION BILL

The Ask: Tell your Senators to vote NO on the Senate version of the reconciliation bill.

The Background: ICYMI above, the Senate variation of the bill is loaded with bad sh*t, including a move to sell off 250 million acres of public lands. Who benefits from this sale in the short-term? Developers, Oil and gas, and so on.

ACTION 2 - CANCER RESEARCH

The Ask: Tell your federal reps NO on cuts to cancer research.

The Background: Cancer research saves lives – finding remedies, prevention methods, and more. Trump’s big beautiful bill aka budget proposes making major cuts to cancer research, putting the ability to save lives at risk.

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KEY READS

Important stories from around the USA

  • The Hill: Health care workers on alert of ICE raids in hospitals

  • NPR: Questions remain about the Minnesota rampage. Anti-abortion extremism may shed light

  • AP: GOP’s food stamp plan is found to violate Senate rules. It’s the latest setback for Trump’s big bill

  • Reuters: Senate Republicans cannot force US Postal Service to scrap EVs, parliamentarian says

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