The Morning Digest is compiled by David Nir, Jeff Singer, and Stephen Wolf, with additional contributions from the Daily Kos Elections team. Subscribe to The Downballot, our weekly podcast Embedded Content Leading Off ● AZ Ballot, AZ Supreme Court: Progressive activists in Arizona have launched a two-pronged effort to unseat a pair of conservative Supreme Court justices and preserve voters' right to do so. Progress Arizona is targeting Kathryn King and Clint Bolick, two appointees of former Republican Gov. Doug Ducey who voted earlier this month to ban nearly all abortions in the state by ruli ..read more

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Abbreviated Pundit Roundup is a long-running series published every morning that collects essential political discussion and analysis around the internet. We begin today with Yvette Wingett Sanchez of The Washington Post writing about the indictment of Republican “fake electors” in Arizona and Trump 2020 campaign officials that participated in the plot to overturn the 2020 presidential election in Arizona. Those indicted include former Trump White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, attorneys Rudy Giuliani, Jenna Ellis, John Eastman and Christina Bobb, top campai ..read more

The Supreme Court is hearing another abortion case. What could go wrong? It’s just people’s lives on the line. GOP lawmakers vote to arm teachers a year after Nashville shooting Protesters in the galleries chanted “blood on your hands!” Cartoon: Cell-a-Lago Some things change, but others stay the same. Missouri lawmaker caught on video cursing out fellow Republican You’ll never guess what his defense is. New ad: Trump couldn’t get hired at a mall—not with his legal baggage As much as we’d love to see Trump working at Cinnabon … QAnon nuts muse about what happens if Trump is found guilty  ..read more

Eleven Republicans who submitted a document to Congress falsely declaring that Donald Trump beat Joe Biden in Arizona in the 2020 presidential election were charged Wednesday with conspiracy, fraud and forgery, marking the fourth state to bring charges against “fake electors.” The eleven people who had been nominated to be Arizona’s Republican electors met in Phoenix on Dec. 14, 2020, to sign a certificate saying they were “duly elected and qualified” electors and claimed Trump had carried the state. The document was later sent to Congress and the National Archives, where it was ignored. Seven ..read more

Last week, the USDA released the genetic sequences of a strain of influenza that originated in birds and has now spread to dairy cattle in at least eight states. While scientists welcomed the information, there has been growing concern that the USDA isn’t moving fast enough to address a threat to the nation’s food supply and the potential source of a new pandemic.  Stories about the danger of Avian Influenza Type A, also known as bird flu or H5N1 flu, have made their way into the news for years. The flu was blamed for a spike in the price of eggs in 2022 when about 10% of the nation’s lay ..read more

Following Donald Trump’s example is typically a very bad idea. This is the same guy who stared at an eclipse, thought it might be a good idea to inject disinfectant, and insists on flushing toilets 10 to 15 times, even though the government recommends stolen top secret nuclear documents be flushed no more than three times in order to conserve water. And while listening to Trump is equally as bad—Truth Social investors are discovering that now—it might, ironically, end up saving the country. You may recall when several starry-eyed Republicans ran for president based largely on the notion t ..read more

While Donald Trump was tied up in court Tuesday, President Joe Biden campaigned in Florida, Trump’s home state, blasting him for foisting this abortion “nightmare” on the U.S. "Let’s be real clear. There’s one person responsible for this nightmare, and he’s acknowledged and he brags about it: Donald Trump," Biden told a Tampa crowd of some 200 people. Florida's six-week abortion ban is set to take effect next week, and a recurring theme throughout Biden’s speech was the importance of voters holding Trump "accountable." "He should be accountable for states enacting extreme laws that put IVF tre ..read more

A cartoon by Jeff Danziger. Campaign Action ..read more

The Federal Trade Commission issued a new rule Tuesday imposing a nationwide ban on noncompete agreements that prevent employees from quitting their jobs and going to work for “competitor” companies. The rule doesn’t go into full effect for 120 days, but existing noncompetes are now unenforceable for most workers. Also on Tuesday, the Department of Labor issued a new rule requiring mandatory overtime pay for an estimated 4 million salaried workers. Employees earning under $58,700 a year will now collect overtime when they work more than 40 hours a week. Both rule changes illustrate how the Bid ..read more