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The 69th Legislative Assembly has come to an end! Please help us improve our newsletter with your feedback! If you would like to have something added to the newsletter, email us at laura.dronen@demnpl.com. Spread the word about our newsletter by sharing our sign-up link today: https://demnpl.com/join-our-newsletter/.
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Cass County Dem-NPL Summerfest
Lindenwood Park
1905 Roger Maris Dr, Fargo
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It's always a great time at Summerfest with food, friends, and fun!
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Souris Valley Dem-NPL August Monthly Meeting
Parker Center
21 1st Ave SE, Minot
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Join the Souris Valley Dem-NPL at our August Monthly Meeting!
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All Democrats and Nonpartisan Leaguers in Minot and the surrounding area are welcome as we discuss news and upcoming events.
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We will be meeting at the Parker Center (21 1st Ave SE, Minot, ND) on Tuesday, August 12th. There will be a social from 6PM - 6:30PM followed by the meeting from 6:30PM - 7:30PM.
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We look forward to seeing you there!
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How to Democrat in the Age of Trump Book Study
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Wed, Aug 13, 7:00pm-8:30pm CDT
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Fargo Public Library – Main Library
101 4th St N, Fargo
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The District 44 & 45 Dems are hosting a book study and all are welcome to join! We’ll be reading How to Democrat in the Age of Trump by Mike Lux. It’s a short but impactful book to guide where we go from here.
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RSVP here: https://forms.gle/fLSE73zKxLbekphy5
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District 22 Summer Supper Club/Monthly Meeting
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Wed, Aug 13, 6:00 pm - 7:30 pm CDT
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Davenport Supper Club and Lounge
45 1st Ave. Davenport
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See you at the Davenport Supper Club…I hear the ribeyes are the best in Dist 22😉
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Mandan Community Picnic
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Thu, Aug 14, 5:30pm-7:30pm CDT
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Legion Park, Shelter 1
1111 10th Ave SW, Mandan
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It's picnic time! Join the Bismarck-Mandan Dem-NPL for our Mandan Community Picnic at Legion Park, Shelter 1 on Thursday, August 14!
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Drinks and Discussion with Dems
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Wed, Aug 20, 5:00pm-7:00pm
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El Zagal Shrine Fargo
1429 3rd St N, Fargo
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Our informal get-together to talk about current events, brainstorm on activities we can do together as a two district partnership, and just enjoy each others’ company in general.
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hosted by District 45 Dems!
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Locally Grown, Nationally Strong - An Evening With Malcolm Kenyatta
Join us on Friday, August 22nd in Manvel, ND for an energizing evening of community, conversation, and action! Enjoy dinner, a cash bar, and exciting raffle items as we hear from keynote speaker DNC Vice Chair Malcolm Kenyatta.
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- VIP Reception begins at 5:30 PM
- General Admission starts at 6:00 PM
- Programming begins at 6:30 PM (Open house style until 8:00 PM)
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Guests will leave engaged, energized, and equipped with tools and next steps to help create change heading into the 2026 elections.
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Battle of the Brats!
Sertoma Park, Shelter #10
Riverside Park Rd, Bismarck
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Mark your calendars. August is picnic time. Join the Bismarck-Mandan Dem-NPL at Sertoma Park Shelter 10 for Battle of the Brats!
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Burdick Dinner 2025 with Jess Piper
Radisson Blu Fargo
201 5th St N, Fargo, ND 58102
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The Burdick Dinner 2025 will be held on October 4th, 2025, at the Radisson Blu located in downtown Fargo! The fun-filled event will begin with a reception at 5:30pm followed by the dinner and program beginning at 6:30pm. Our featured speaker is Jess Piper, the Executive Direcor for Blue Missouri. We look forward to seeing you there!
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Purchase your tickets before September 12 for a $25 early bird discount!
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Help us spread our message—share these recent posts!
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From freeze to whiplash: The uncertainty facing rural schools
Rural schools don’t run on “maybe.” We plan carefully and rely on these federal funds to provide essential services, from migrant education to after-school programs. But when we’re told to wait, then suddenly rush to use funds months late, it only makes the work harder and more uncertain. We need stability. It’s time for the federal government to recognize that rural schools can’t function on last-minute decisions and delayed promises. Our kids deserve better than this.
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Trygve Hammer to host in-person, People’s Town Hall in Minot on July 31
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Joel Heitkamp is joined on "News and Views" by Trygve Hammer to cover the details of his town hall tomorrow.
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Trygve is a retired Marine Corps officer and a veteran of the Global War on Terror. In his civilian life, he’s taught 7-12 grade science in a rural school, worked as a roughneck on oil rigs in the Bakken, as a freight rail conductor, and as a counselor for Job Corps in Minot, aiming to give young people a hand up in starting their lives. He currently serves as a Regional Representative on the North Dakota Democratic-NPL Executive Committee.
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North Dakota Mill reports record profits for fiscal year 2025
“It all starts with North Dakota farmers again delivering superior quality spring wheat and durum to the mill. Profits were driven by an increase in shipment volumes of 7%. Our dedicated employees remain focused on providing consistent quality products delivered with the highest level of customer service,” Vance Taylor, president and CEO of the mill, said in a statement.
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Funding for tribal services threatened by ‘Big Beautiful Bill’
President Donald Trump’s new “Big Beautiful Bill” endangers government funding used to provide services and organization training.
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O’Leary said the Office of Violence Against Women will be losing $208 million in fiscal year 2026 as a result of the bill. The office is responsible for providing funds to VAWA, which funds the tribal programs.
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“Our women and children are going to hurt if this funding is cut even more than it already is,” Native Women’s Society of the Great Plains Chairwoman Sadie Young Bird said. “Abuse isn’t going to stop because there isn’t funding. How are we going to do our work? These are some of the most vulnerable people in the country, and we’re just going to cut services to them?”
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Letter: Cruelty is the point
Nearly 500 tons of food was incinerated, rather than to allow it to be distributed to feed these starving children. This was no accident...they knew for 2 months that this food was going to be wasted rather than feeding children. And they chose not to feed these children.
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Grandmas group stands against legislative measures, asks for Ethics Commission support
Butcher said she believes the Governor’s Office and Attorney General’s Office are undermining the commission.
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“The opposition that we’re facing now from both the governor’s office and the attorney general, recently maligning our present executive director … is really, really irritating,” Butcher said.
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Trump administration delivers blow to Native media
But in an NPR report, Native Public Media’s CEO, Loris Taylor, described Rounds’s compromise as “structurally impractical,” saying that climate funds aren’t a dedicated funding source for communication or media services.
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Over the past two decades, NPM has supported the creation and expansion of Native media across the U.S. It’s developed a network of 57 Native radio stations and four television stations that stand to suffer from the loss of federal money.
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NPM’s Chief Operating Officer, Brian Wadsworth, told Buffalo’s Fire in an email that funding from CPB covers half of its operating budget, which in turn lets it provide one-on-one technical support for 36 tribally licensed radio stations that are in the Community Service Grant Program.
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“Without funding from the CPB, we fear a lot of the Tribally-licensed radio stations will go dark,” added Wadsworth.
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Letter: Shame on you Hoeven and Cramer
I believe rural states will have much more harm done by these cuts in federal dollars because of fewer people in rural areas and our vast distance factors in the state of North Dakota.
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Many young kids, families and senior adults have had tremendous educational programming because of NPR that now could be in jeopardy even though the federal government was seen in the past as a proud partner with NPR.
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Zach Ducheneaux, formerly with the FSA, talks about changes to the USDA
Joel Heitkamp is joined on "News and Views" by Zach Ducheneaux, Administrator for USDA's Farm Service Agency under the Biden Administration. Zach previously served as the Executive Director of the Intertribal Agriculture Council, and served as tribal council representative for the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe. He and Joel talk about the cost-cutting relocations within the USDA by the Trump Administration.
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A Building Dilemma for Local Home Builders
Tariffs on Canadian imports are creating new worries for the local home building industry as its leaders anticipate having to pass increased costs on to consumers.
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They’re estimating the tariffs could add ten thousand dollars more to the cost of building a new home in the region over the next year or so.
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North Dakota to roll out new emergency alert systems to combat high rates of missing Indigenous people
“The feedback that I’ve gotten and what I have heard is messages and comments on social media of people just saying, 'Thank you, maybe now my sister, my loved one, will get the attention they deserve. Thank you for putting a spotlight on MMIP (missing and murdered Indigenous people),'" Davis said.
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Speaking out: Cramer, Hoeven, Fedorchak not honest about so-called 'Big, Beautiful' bill
We don’t need more sound bites or editorials coming from our congressional delegation about the bill’s benefits for this or that industry. We need honest acknowledgement that life is going to get worse for certain people. Our congressional delegation needs to explain what is so beautiful about enriching the “haves” at the expense of the “have-nots.”
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Hiding behind the banners of ag and energy to shift attention away from economic brutality is not transparency; it’s a sleight of hand.
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Port: With new logo, North Dakota Young Republicans align with notorious white supremacist
The logo has been raising eyebrows, because it's almost identical to one used by Nick Fuentes, a virulently homophobic, antisemitic, white supremacist who has, despite his extreme views, been getting traction with young conservatives.
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You may recall the uproar that ensued when Fuentes and disgraced rapper Kanye West dined with Donald Trump. Trump claimed to know nothing about Fuentes' views, which include Holocaust denial and the belief that the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel was staged.
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Speaking out: Rethinking deportation
Trump’s deportation plan is a costly, cruel and tragic mistake that never needs to happen. Congress has the power to protect millions of people. Congress should put 538,000 DACA recipients on a path to citizenship. And 240,000 Ukrainian humanitarian parolees in the United States should be granted guest status and the right to work until they can return home. The millions of people who have been here for 10 years or more with no criminal history should be put on a path to citizenship. The 1,125,690 foreign students at our universities and colleges deserve protection from deportation.
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Trump’s executive orders have created a nightmarish struggle for dignity and respect. This administration’s effort to deport millions of people without due process or compassion for their circumstances is nonsensical. Like slavery and the treatment of Native Americans, it is creating a subclass of people who must live in the shadows and fear the cruelty of the United States government. Lincoln freed the slaves by executive order. Congress should likewise free 13.7 million Americans from government oppression. America has promised liberty and justice for all.
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State suicide prevention efforts are lacking amid federal cuts
Only a dozen states have laws establishing suicide prevention offices or coordinators, and just 11 have task forces or committees dedicated to suicide prevention efforts, according to a new report.
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The report comes amid sweeping cuts at federal agencies that offer mental health support. They include significant slashes in staffing and funding at the nation’s largest mental health and substance use agency, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, or SAMHSA. U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. wants to fold SAMHSA into his new Administration for a Healthy America.
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Released last week, the report was conducted by the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials with support from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The analysis is part of an online resource breaking down details of suicide prevention efforts at the state level.
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Check out these messages from national Democrats
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US employers slash hiring as Trump advances a punishing trade agenda
U.S. hiring is slowing sharply as President Donald Trump’s erratic and radical trade policies paralyze businesses and raise doubts about the outlook for the world’s largest economy.
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U.S. employers added just 73,000 jobs last month, the Labor Department reported Friday, well short of the 115,000 expected.
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Worse, revisions shaved a stunning 258,000 jobs off May and June payrolls. And the unemployment rate ticked higher to 4.2% as Americans dropped out of the labor force and the ranks of the unemployed rose by 221,000.
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Trump responds to his failure to create jobs by firing the U.S. labor statistics chief
Trump, in true authoritarian fashion, fired the labor statistics chief for doing her job and telling the truth — which the president didn’t want to hear. He’ll now seek out someone new who’ll deliver job statistics that make him happy, knowing full well that McEntarfer’s successor must understand that failure to satisfy Trump will lead to their ouster, too.
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The result will be an untenable dynamic: No one — from business owners to investors, economists to financiers — will be able to have confidence in the U.S. employment statistics. Everyone has been able to trust this data for generations, and Trump, frustrated by his own failures, has decided to set that trust on fire. The harm to the credibility of government data in general, and to the Labor Department in particular, is incalculable.
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An FDA panel spread misinformation about SSRI use in pregnancy, alarming doctors
"As experts in high-risk pregnancies, the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine (SMFM) and its members are alarmed by the unsubstantiated and inaccurate claims made by FDA panelists concerning maternal depression and the use of SSRI antidepressants during pregnancy," according to the statement from SMFM.
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"Robust evidence" illustrates the safety of SSRI use in pregnancy, according to the ACOG statement, which added that most of these medications "do not increase the risk of birth defects."
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Congressional stock trading ban gets Senate panel’s OK
In conjunction with Sen. Gary Peters of Michigan, the top Democrat on the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, Hawley offered an alternative to the panel that would ditch the contentious name and expand the prohibitions to the president and vice president — but only for future administrations.
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Trump’s Big, Hideous Ballroom
Donald Trump wants to knock down the fine old East Wing of the White House and replace it with a giant ballroom. That’s too kind. Really, he’s turning the stately White House into Mar-a-Lago North! It should be called the Juan and Eva Peron Ballroom! As a friend remarked, it looks like Versailles took a giant dump on Pennsylvania Avenue.
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Here in America, ballrooms should be in hotels, not in the People’s House! Oh, for the good old days of democratic dignity and republican restraint!
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An MMA fighter Trump hosted at the White House loses appeal in his rape case
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The mixed martial arts fighter Conor McGregor — who's from Ireland and visited President Trump at the White House for St. Patrick's Day this year — has lost his appeal in a rape case.
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Ireland's Court of Appeals ruled against him Thursday, meaning a lower court ruling in a civil case still holds, and McGregor will have to pay damages to his accuser.
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Flat federal funding stymies Head Start as state child care resources diminish
But Ober insisted that “child care is infrastructure,” especially for the businesses reliant upon employees who are parents. Changing funding is “going to just exacerbate underlying problems,” he added.
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“Those numbers are pretty stark,” Ober said. “And then when you add in changes at the state and the federal level, it creates new problems that we all have to come together and work on,” he concluded.
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Decision to unfreeze migrant education money comes too late for some kids
The funding freeze forced the office to lay off around 400 workers statewide, according to spokesperson Travis Souders. Despite Friday’s announcement, the organization is waiting for official word — in writing — before reversing layoffs.
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“There’s going to be many students out there who are just going to have another disadvantage to the disadvantages that we already have,” Medina said.
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Medicare and Medicaid turn 60 – and face historic cuts decades in the making
Republicans could face further backlash when cuts to Medicaid start to hit rural hospitals around 2026. A June analysis by the University of North Carolina’s Sheps Center for Health Services Research found that 338 rural hospitals, including dozens in states such as Louisiana, Kentucky and Oklahoma, could close as a result of the spending bill. There are nearly 1,800 rural hospitals nationally, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF), a healthcare research non-profit.
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“While we’ve tried to chip away at Medicaid for many, many decades this is the first time Congress has really gutted the program,” said Gostin. “People will die, a lot of people will die. A lot of people will get very, very sick, have preventable illnesses, and so to me this is just simply historic and unconscionable.”
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Corporation for Public Broadcasting says it's shutting down
"Despite the extraordinary efforts of millions of Americans who called, wrote, and petitioned Congress to preserve federal funding for CPB, we now face the difficult reality of closing our operations," CPB President and CEO Patricia Harrison said in a statement. "CPB remains committed to fulfilling responsibilities and supporting our partners through this transition with transparency and care."
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"Public media has been one of the most trusted institutions in American life, providing educational opportunity, emergency alerts, civil discourse, and cultural connection to every corner of the country," Harrison said.
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Forensics expert analysis of Jeffrey Epstein jail video contradicts government's claims
CBS News analysis of the newly released Jeffrey Epstein jail video finds inconsistencies with the government's claims about what the footage shows, raising questions about the credibility of the federal investigation. CBS News Justice correspondent Scott MacFarlane breaks down the findings. The FBI declined to comment on the CBS News report.
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Counter the Spread of ‘Redpill’ Masculinity by Guiding Men to Grow
In 2022, I tested ads for a client trying to move male voters on abortion. Our ads told men the Dobbs decision meant they had a duty to stand up for the women in their lives, and those women needed the men in their lives now. We moved those men 5 points toward the Democratic candidate.
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This appeal to duty satisfies the craving men feel for meaning, significance, and purpose as well as anything redpill offers. It takes more bravery to stand up for a harassed female colleague than to do another set of bench presses. And the former will make women actually like and respect a man, helping solve the interpersonal disconnection so many men report.
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Epstein abuse survivor Virginia Giuffre wanted files released before her death, family says
"She was fighting for that to happen right up until the very end," Roberts said. "She wanted the public to know the crimes that they had committed."
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In recent weeks, Giuffre has been in the headlines amid a renewed push for the release of a trove of documents that allegedly detail the years of abuse by Epstein and his longtime partner Ghislaine Maxwell.
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"We've constantly had to relive, since my sister's passing, these things from her past," said Danny Wilson, one of Giuffre's brothers.
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Trump Has “Accomplished” a Lot. It’s Just That America Hates It.
Things didn’t get much better Thursday night. Steil was booed repeatedly, particularly on immigration, with one woman saying, with reference to Alligator Alcatraz: “The difference between a prison or a detention center and a concentration camp is due process.” Asked another, about ICE agents, to robust applause: “Why are they wearing masks, and why are they unidentified?”
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Trump Super PAC Raises $200 Million From Elon Musk and People Who Want Stuff From Him
Health care entrepreneur Elizabeth Fago contributed $1 million to MAGA Inc. in April. Weeks later, Trump granted her son, who had pleaded guilty to tax crimes, a full and unconditional pardon.
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Tools for Humanity, an eyeball-scanning company co-founded by OpenAI’s Sam Altman, is another major donor to MAGA Inc., giving $5 million. Tools for Humanity has reported lobbying the Trump administration on issues related to digital identification, artificial intelligence, privacy, and cybersecurity.
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Study finds money poured into rural Oregon under Biden-era programs recently cut by Republicans
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The share of that money benefiting rural counties and economically distressed counties nationwide more than tripled in the last decade, the researchers found, and accelerated dramatically after former President Joe Biden issued an executive order creating the Justice40 Initiative to direct 40% of new federal climate and clean energy spending to underserved communities.
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Historic investments in clean energy, infrastructure and environmental protection projects followed under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act that passed in 2021 and the Inflation Reduction Act that passed in 2022.
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“I would say that if you look at the change of proportional investment in rural communities and tribes over time, in particular the last couple years, what the federal programs were doing was working,” said Bobby Cochran, a senior project manager at Portland State University’s Hatfield School of Government and one of the co-authors of the report.
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But in March, President Donald Trump terminated the Justice40 Initiative. And Lee Zeldin, head of the federal Environmental Protection Agency, cancelled more than a billion worth of grants related to environmental justice.
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Six things that may cost Americans more after Trump's tariffs
Almost all of the coffee consumed in the US comes from outside the country, meaning it could soon become a bigger burden on Americans' wallets.
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Coffee from Brazil is facing 50% tariffs, Vietnamese coffee is likely to be subject to a 20% tariff.
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With 15% tariffs in place on products from European Union nations, the prices of shelf staples such as Italian, Spanish or Greek olive oil could rise.
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Trump has separately raised tariffs against Mexico, a major supplier of items such as tomatoes and avocados, though he has granted some key exemptions to those levies.
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Still the Budget Lab at Yale estimates that food prices will rise 3.4% in the short-run, with fresh produce seeing a particularly sharp jump initially.
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The Century Club supports our year-round work to build party infrastructure supporting candidate recruitment, local district and regional leadership, issue-based education, and tools for Dem-NPL success.
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Help us elect great Democrats up and down the ballot!
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The North Dakota Democratic-NPL is launching a new grassroots program called “Neighbor to Neighbor” where volunteers will connect with voters in your community to elect Democrats up and down the ballot. As a volunteer, you will be responsible for connecting with voters in 25 homes in your neighborhood or friends and family to help elect Democrats up and down the ballot about 3-4 times this year.
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Grassroots organizers are the lifeblood of the Dem-NPL! Sign up to volunteer with the Dem-NPL!
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