⁉️ WHAT DID I JUST VOTE ON? – There’s understandably some blowback to the bill House Republicans passed recently that makes massive cuts to important programs, but who expected it would come from GOP lawmakers who voted for it and now say they didn’t know what was in it?

A Nebraska congressman admitted not knowing the budget bill includes language that would make it harder for judges to hold people in contempt of court, a provision helpful to President Donald Trump. And Georgia US Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene said she wouldn’t have voted for the bill had she known it would limit states from regulating artificial intelligence (AI) to protect people from misuse and harm.

US Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Black Earth) visited our daily radio show to say his Republican colleagues should have known better—and this might explain why so many of them aren’t holding public events.

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Wisconsin Democrats introduced bills in the state Legislature meant to show how it could avoid some of the massive, possibly illegal cuts President Donald Trump is making to federal funding.

Some of what Trump is doing is known as impoundment, a trick President Richard Nixon tried in 1974, where a president claws back federal money that was already allocated by Congress, either in the current budget or a past one. Courts made clear that Congress has the power of the purse and presidents cannot act unilaterally to undo their work.

One of the bills’ sponsors, State Sen. Chris Larson (D-Milwaukee), said on our radio show that Democrats want the state to withhold payments to the federal government if needed to offset attempts at federal cuts.

Another bill in the package would limit how the state shares sensitive personal data with the federal government, to ensure it’s done through a legal request.

Wisconsin Republicans had ONE JOB 📋
Pass a budget. Work with the Governor. Invest in our communities.

Instead? They took their marbles and went home 🏃‍♂️

While politicians play games, Wisconsin families need:
✅ Better schools
✅ Fixed roads
✅ Affordable healthcare
✅ Good-paying jobs

We deserve leaders who show up and do the work - not partisan politicians who refuse to compromise.

What should Governor Tony Evers do?

Let us know in the comments 👇

Congressman Derrick Van Orden remains a perpetual presence on social media, frequently lashing out at anyone who dares to criticize him. Occasionally, the Prairie du Chien Republican likes to single out some of his own constituents for scorn. On Monday, Van Orden posted employment information about a woman who criticized him.

UpNorthNews Founding Editor Pat Kreitlow offers up another reminder that members of Congress have better things to do than post dozens of times per day, sling mud in social media comment sections, insult their own constituents, and spread false information.

Sen. Ron Johnson is squarely on the side of President Donald Trump in wanting to see a Milwaukee County judge put in prison for the way she handled efforts by federal immigration officers to disrupt her court.

Long before any kind of a trial is held to weigh the evidence, Johnson told WISN-TV he thinks Judge Hannah Dugan should be convicted and given the maximum prison sentence to “set an example.”

Dugan was indicted by a grand jury after sending an undocumented man out a different exit of her courtroom, having expressed to ICE officers her unhappiness that they had gathered outside her court to arrest a defendant in one of her cases.

The man was followed by officers down the hall and arrested outside after a brief foot chase.

Her legal team — and nearly 140 retired judges — are pushing to have the case dismissed, citing immunity for acts taken as an official, the same claim made by Trump in his felony cases last year.

Johnson said that defense is “outrageous” and accuses Dugan of obstructing justice.

Two out-of-state residents with property on a lake up north are suing a Burnett County town over a ban on wake boats—vessels designed to make waves that are large enough to surf.

The pair say the town board in Scott rushed to pass a ban last November before they could make their case.

Wake boats are an unwelcome addition to some lake residents, who are concerned about the noise and the impact on shoreline erosion and the bottoms of shallow lakes.

Founding Editor Pat Kreitlow says small towns trying to protect their natural resources run the risk of large legal bills unless the state legislature steps in and puts rules in place to establish where and how these large-impact boats can operate.

A whole lot of Wisconsinites are cheesed off over how the state budget is coming together.

Here’s the deal:

The Legislature’s Joint Finance Committee — made up of the senators and representatives who will write a state budget bill — recently held four, day-long public hearings across Wisconsin.

The overwhelming amount of public comments supported funding for programs that have bipartisan support, but are not likely to be included by majority Republicans in the final bill.

In response, a coalition of groups sponsored a lobbying day at the Capitol to remind lawmakers of what they should be supporting and to ask Gov. Tony Evers to veto the full budget bill if the GOP version fails to provide adequate support for things like public schools, health care, child care, and more.

“Stop playing political games” — that’s the message Heather DuBois Bourenane delivered to the Wisconsin Legislature on our radio show this week.

DuBois Bourenane spoke to us after a few hundred citizen-lobbyists roamed the state Capitol on Tuesday with messages of support for public schools, health care, child care, and other priorities that were repeatedly mentioned during last month’s public hearings before the Joint Finance Committee.

A coalition of groups organized the event, centered on a request of Gov. Tony Evers: If the Republican version of a state budget bill doesn’t adequately fund these important public services, veto the entire budget bill instead of trying to fix it with partial vetoes.