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The Lever
• Veronica Riccobene
Amid a spike in detention center deaths, taxpayers gave billions of dollars to private prisons so that Immigration and Customs Enforcement may escape oversight.
The Lever
• Katya Schwenk
Stephen Mandel is bankrolling a new political apparatus built to “redefine” the Democratic Party — but what does he actually want?
The Lever
• David Sirota
Russell Vought rewires the government for a no-limits president.
The Lever
• Reed Galen
Third Way is spending $15 million to crush the Democratic left. Its campaign could produce exactly the insurgency it fears.
The Lever
• Jonathan Easley
Immigration officials are rapidly increasing their collection of genetic material.
The Lever
• The Lever
Trump’s oil giveaway, airlines lobbying for smaller font sizes, FEMA cuts, and more from The Lever this week.
The Lever
• Lyna Bentahar
Abdul El-Sayed battles a pipeline, Eli Lilly goes under the knife, Virginia makes suffrage cool again, and Illinois feasts.
The Lever
• Freddy Brewster
Advertisers trick consumers into paying more by changing the font size of fees. Major airlines want in on the action.
The Lever
• Lyna Bentahar
Test your knowledge of Michigan’s elections, the surveillance state, and other issues that really matter.
The Lever
• Natalie Bettendorf
The pop-up PACs, paid influencers, and new political playbooks reshaping the 2026 midterms.
The Lever
• Veronica Riccobene
Brain drain and workforce cuts at the Federal Emergency Management Agency have left the department high and dry.
The Lever
• Freddy Brewster
As war with Iran drove oil prices higher, Trump gave politically connected oil companies — not taxpayers — the chance to cash in on publicly owned oil.
The Lever
• Veronica Riccobene
The longtime backer of Medicare for All bested a 9-to-1 spending deficit to defeat Rep. Haley Stevens (D-Mich.), who was endorsed by the party establishment.
The Lever
• David Sirota
The party’s establishment and populist factions are fighting over whether the affordability crisis is connected to money in politics.
The Lever
• Veronica Riccobene
Dozens of police officers have been accused of improperly accessing public safety cameras.
The Lever
• David Sirota
The president who promised restraint quietly unleashes a new weapon of executive power.
The Lever
• David Sirota
September 11, 2001 brought chaos and terror to the United States. It also brought an unprecedented opportunity.
The Lever
• The Lever
The fight between Abdul El-Sayed and Haley Stevens is about far more than one Senate seat. It's a battle over who controls the Democratic Party—and whose interests it serves.
The Lever
• Veronica Riccobene
In an exclusive interview days before the Democratic primary, the Michigan Senate candidate says that his party is more concerned with him winning than losing.
The Lever
• Freddy Brewster
Bishop Christopher Martin has faced public scrutiny over his anti-LGBT comments in the past.
The Lever
• The Lever
Shady ICE developers, a health care war in Michigan, and more from The Lever this week.
The Lever
• David Sirota
The U.S. Senate candidate weighs in on Democrats’ biggest liabilities, MAGA’s performative masculinity, and why AIPAC is out to get him.
The Lever
• Lyna Bentahar
Elections run free, problem gamblers get help, the courts take care of careworkers, and dark money gets exposed.
The Lever
• David Sirota
Dick Cheney. Barack Obama. Donald Trump. The story of the all-powerful presidency continues this August.
The Lever
• Freddy Brewster
Markwayne Mullin sold millions in stocks to resolve potential conflicts with the agency he now leads — and received a special tax benefit on the proceeds.
The Lever
• Lyna Bentahar
Test your knowledge of private prisons, military funding, and other issues that really matter.
The Lever
• David Sirota
A lifelong Republican left his party in 2016. Ten years later, he says Democrats are making the same mistakes — and the end result could be worse than Donald Trump.
The Lever
• Veronica Riccobene
As Immigration and Customs Enforcement pours millions into private prison firms, the president is trading their stocks.
The Lever
• Katya Schwenk
As his construction empire collapsed under lawsuits and unpaid debts, James Grossmann found a lucrative new role in ICE’s multibillion-dollar detention buying spree.
The Lever
• Veronica Riccobene
A former Squad member is taking on the Israel lobby to get her seat back.
