In a blistering opinion, a Federal Court judge ruled that President Donald Trump improperly used a $10 billion lawsuit he filed against the IRS to extract personal benefits from the government and prevented the terms of a settlement agreement from taking legal effect.
71 Wyoming attorneys signed onto the letter. Lummis and Barrasso will ignore it.
August 1, 2026
Charges against an Olympic kayaker for vandalizing the reflecting pool have been dropped.
That was predictable, but what the Justice Department admitted was not. It admitted the damage was the result of "flawed installation by the contractor" as well as "the rush to complete the project prior to events associated with the America 250 celebration in the weeks surrounding Independence Day 2026."
Every lawyer associated with this should be dismissed and disbarred. Trump should be impeached. The victim of these false charges should sue for malicious prosecution.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office dismissed all charges against David Hearn, Justin Carreno, Sophie Dennison-Gibby and Cameron Thiers for the pool vandalization that never occured. Donald Trump had previously described these people as “SICK, DERANGED PEOPLE". He's the sick deranged people, but people who aren't victims of Trump Derangement Syndrome and think he's something other than a rampaging deranged narcissist know that.
Now, even after the Toddler's tantrums, no charges are pending at all. They never should be.
Lawsuits should, and I predict will, be filed against the government over this.
August 8, 2026
The DC Circuit ordered Trump to halt his illegal ballroom construction but, in a wussy move, stayed its decision for fourteen days in order to allow Trump to appeal, which he, or rather his administration, will.
The Court, in its decision, noted:
Whether or not a massive ballroom should be constructed is for Congress to decide and is not a matter for Executive self-help.
August 11, 2026
It's not that there aren't some really issues here.
Gray violated the law on this and needs to be held fully accountable. Courts looking at this issue have uniformly supported the states that refused to provide the information.
Gray should be made to recover the information he supplied. This was illegal.
But coming when it does, it may very well be the law in a practical sense this election cycle, and impact the election. It's specifically designed to frustrate Democratic voting. However, as Amy Howe reports:
A separate ruling by the same judge, in a case filed by a different set of plaintiffs, temporarily prohibits the U.S. Postal Service from implementing one provision of the executive order anywhere in the United States. That ruling remains in effect, at least for now.
The decision is flat out wrong and the Supreme Court will regret it. The Democrats are increasingly like to win both houses of Congress this Fall and they will begin to work on major Supreme Court reform. Trump can prevent that while he's in office, but he's becoming the political kiss of death for GOP candidates and when a new Democratic President comes in, this order will come off and the Supreme Court will be radically reformed. Perhaps first up will be age limitations, likely 70 years of old, which will wipe out the conservative majority on the court.
A decision like this one will help bring about that downfall. So does stuff like this:
The mail in voting one at least has some think judicial reasoning Staying ballroom construction was the obvious choice here and the Court didn't do it. That probably signals that they'll let this insane project go forward.
One of Rasner's previous suits is in the CST today on the pending summary judgment motion.
August 31, 2026
The Supreme Court sealed its fate today in holding that the Plaintiffs in a case challenging the legality of Trump's illegal construction of a giant garden shed on White House Grounds lacked standing.
Bullshit.
Justice Roberts, who dissented in the 5 to 4 decision, noted that the construction was likely illegal. It is. This was a standing decision.
So construction will commence and may well get completed. The legality will be ruled upon in the future, and then the heaping pile of shit hopefully blown to the ground by a future administration that will rely on this decision. The Supreme Court will go to 13 members, and an age limitation will be put on the justices guaranteeing a liberal majority on the court for a century.
September 10. 2026
Twenty states filed two separate lawsuits against the government alleging the Trump administration illegally weakened the Endangered Species Act.
September 11, 2026
The 1st Circuit Court of Appeals refused to lift an injunction on the USPS prohibiting the implementation of crybaby's attempt for a fall coup by banning mail in voting.
September 15, 2026
The US Supreme Court decided in a 7 to 2 vote to block the Trump USPS rule prohibiting mail in voting. Alito and Thomas were the two dissenting votes.
Wyoming is one of the few states where Trump has a positive approval rating, probably mostly attributable to the importance of the extractive industries to the economy, and due to agriculture. Trump actually has farmers and ranchers upset now and as he's set to import foreign beef and hasn't really made any immediate actions addressing agriculture's concerns, this trend may continue.
Trump's endorsement of Megan Degenfelder fell flat in the state, and hardcorse Freedom Caucus rank and file were actually upset with his endorsement of Degenfelder followed by Hageman's endorsement of her as well. So some cracks are actually appearing.
And now Trump's at odds with his Wyoming voters over data centers.
We don't see these statistics for Wyoming very often, which is no surprise given the low population of the state, but it will be interesting to see how this develops. If he falls below 50%, and that's close to being the case, it may start a sort of freefall.
Trump only has a positive approval rating in 13 states. Most of these states are ones in which he barely has a positive rating. Wyoming has the highest approval rating of any state, which shows the extent to which Trump's really in trouble. All of Wyoming's neighbors also have positive Trump approval ratings except for Colorado.
I've long thought that most of the Trump "supporters" are just followers. When things begin to fade, and paying high prices at the pump and supporting data centers is creating fading, a lot of former supporters will claim to have never supported him. We see stuff like that all the time.
Just wait for the upcoming toilet paper shortages due to Trump tariffs on Canada.
Suffering privation
One thing about all of this is how absolutely tone deaf the Administration is to the suffering its causing, both here and abroad.
He's cutting off access to foreign good that Americans use (Bombardier also makes snow machines) and wiping out foreign markets for US products (Canadians used to buy a lot of American bourbon). At the same time, he's telling fairy tales about how you shouldn't mind, with the most recent example being that while you are paying a little more at the pump, it's not a big inconvenience and your sacrifice is worth it so Iran doesn't get the bomb.
Whether or not Iran was close to getting a bomb at any point during the Trump administration is an open question. But beyond that, Americans, in spite of what we may collectively choose to imagine about certain eras, don't do sacrifice on the home front very well. World War Two was the biggest example of restrictions for a national effort and people hated it. Cheating and the black market was absolutely rampant. The whole concept that the nation all pitched in and glady endured shortages is complete crap. Even one of the most patriotic demographics, farmers and ranchers, notoriously evaded rationing illegally by selling livestock under the table. And that was in a big national effort.
Americans aren't keen on high prices on anything. Protectionist efforts only really work well in an economy if they're introduced really early, or they cause resentment. If you are going to put up restrictive trade barriers, including tariffs, you need to do it nearly immediately, and you better have a really good reason for doing it.
We're doing it because Peter Navarro has Trump's ear and Trump has always liked the concept. Trump's mind on this is rooted in the 1970s when the US was worried about Japanese imports. Navarro is 77 years old. Pining for the economy of the post World War Two world won't work, and making Americans suffer for a pipe dream won't either.
It particularly will not when a rich guy like Trump doesn't join in the suffering. His fans like to note that he's not taking his pay. . . but not that he flies everywhere, including on golf trips, on the government dime.
We are a democracy, dumbass.
The moronic line "we're a republic, not a democracy" has been around for years. I've heard it many times myself and corrected the speaker, usually with the speaker then looking deflated. Democracy and republic are not only not mutually exclusive, they don't even describe the same thing.
Ancient Athens was a pure democracy, everything could be voted on by its citizens. The United Kingdom is a parliamentary democracy, people vote for the House of Commons and the Parliament then functions as the government. We're a democratic republic, which isn't actually all that difference but which does make for problems if the elected representatives won't do their jobs, as they won't right now. In a parliamentary democracy, they have to.
People who spout the "republic not a democracy" line have not thought out what they're saying at all. Recently, in the MAGA crowed, it's "constitutional republic". I've heard that from MAGAs great and small, including one Harriet Hageman.
It's frankly a stupid comment.
It's been going around the last week, however, so somebody is feeding it out as a talking point for idiots.
And then there's this:
I guess it's humorous, sort of, but then, sort of not.
Miley
Miley Cyrus is provoking outrage as she's put out her last album as "Miley", which apparently somehow upsets fans of Dolly Parton. As I don't care for Cyrus' music or Parton's, it doesn't mean much to me, but what struck me is that when I hit on the news story Cyrus was there wearing see through everything so you can see all of her really horrible tattoos.
They are truly bad.
They're the sort of tattoos that people who are junkies get from other junkies. What the heck?
One thing I would note is that in the 1920s, none of the roads depicted here would have been paved. Teton County's highways wouldn't have been paved until the 1930s, at the earliest.
The camp stove shown in this is quite interesting.
By Self-created photograph by Jonathunder - Own work, GFDL, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=64543672
If this is a match of intellects, and it likely is, Canada has already won the trade war.
Carney is undoubtedly a genius and the only international leader currently in office, maybe ever in office, to have run the economies of two different countries. Trump is increasingly obvious of rather low intellect and a real estate developer with a very narrow understanding of the economy, who is in turn heavily influenced by Peter Navarro, a 77 year old economic theorist who uniquely champions tariffs. To make matters worse, Trump is suffering a rapid dementia related mental decline.
The US right now is destroying its own economy.
August 26, 2026
Canada imposed retaliatory tariffs on U.S. steel, aluminum, furniture and clothing (50%), cheese, appliances and some seafood, (25%) and on electronics and tools (15%), effective September 8.
It also pledged aid to Canadian workers.
It was a dollar per dollar match on US tariffs, which it basically offsets.
As a side effect of this, the price of household paper products, toilet paper and paper towels, is climbing.
Thanks Don.
On the contest of intellects, the petulant baby in the Oval Office threatened to rename Lake Ontario the Lake of America or something. Trump actually thinks he renamed the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America, even though it remains the Gulf of Mexico in reality. The Lake Ontario thing is incredibly stupid. Nobody reacted positively to it, although I'm sure that administration flunkies will pretend it's a great idea. Curtis Hertel Jr., chairman of the Michigan Democratic Party, stated:
Donald Trump has been America first in name only his entire presidency. He promised lower prices, higher wages, and no foreign wars … all of that is bull shit. Renaming th fourth best Great Lake isn’t going to change that.
Americans aren't impressed with the latest Trump stupidity.
On Trump dumping American cattlemen, John Barrasso, Senator from Trump, oh, um, Senator allegedly from Wyoming, posted this on Twitter:
Americans want US beef on the table – not foreign imports. Wyoming ranchers produce the highest quality beef in the world. Our ranchers don't ask for special treatment. They simply want a fair marketplace. It needs to be easier – not harder – for Wyoming ranchers to feed America. I will continue to fight for policies that strengthen Wyoming beef producers and invest in the American cattle herd.
Barrasso is a Trump suck up and hasn't really done much for Wyoming in years. During election cycles he's for whatever he thinks Wyomingites are for and is otherwise a rank cowards pretending he thinks Trump is brilliant when he knows that he's not. Last time he ran he became worried about gadfly candidate Reid Rasner and accordingly pulled to the hard right.
Barrasso must regard the Wyoming livestock industry as sufficiently powerful enough to actually hurt the GOP, or this an issue near enough to the hearts of Wyomingites, that he needs to speak up. He didn't do that when public lands were on the table. It's interesting in part because the Wyoming range cattle industry in particular, and agriculture in general, have been so pro Trump and pro GOP that it's quite literally actually stupid. We posted on this the other day.
Hageman, of course, has incentive not to. She's a Trump endorsee and is now running against James Byrd tof Lummis' seat. This makes her exposed on this issue. If she speaks up, and she's going to have to, it puts her between somebody that supports here that she probably thinks is a heaping bowl of stupid in reality, but then exposing her to voters who she probably figures are more heaping bowls of stupid. Byrd is perfectly suited to exploit this as Hageman comes from a farm/ranch and can't stay silent before she looks like a traitor.
Lummis, of course, comes from a ranch too, but as she's nto running, she doesn't have to say anything. She seems to be bucking for a Trump cabinet post, anticipating that people will jump the Trump ship post election.
On other economic fronts, the US came out with its "Economic D-Day" against Iran, which are really sanctions against Iranian trading partners, but not really. It delayed the imposition of them to January 1, 2027, which means they won't happen at all.
Mexico normally imports 1,000,000 head of cattle into the US every year.
This is actually the resumption of importation that had been occurring until the screwworm outbreak. The Trump administration blamed that on the Biden administration, like it does everything else.
Closer to home, yet another Casper restaurant is biting the dust.
There's been a real rash of these recently. Something is going on. An article in Oil City notes that the list includes Little Shop of Burgers, Benny Montanaro’s Pizza (which I'd never even heard of), and Outback Steakhouse.
GiGi’s consignment store in Casper is also closing.
Next to House of Sushi it appears an entity called Jae's Place is opening in the old Wonder Bar space.
I don't really understand Jae's Place, but apparently its a wester wear store that supports a charitable mental health foundation. That's admirable but frankly opening in that location is desecrating a Casper landmark. The space had been the Wonder Bar more or less continually since 1937, having originally been located in another space. It became a steakhouse under the name C85 a decade or more ago that sold out to Wyoming Rib and Chop which became, you guessed it, another Casper restaurant that closed.
I understand that Jae's Place is a charity so I should not have a non charitable attitude about it, but there's a really old Western Wear store just a block away that I hope is not hurt by this multi state entity and for a long time Casperite seeing this converted into retail is disappointing. Workmen have been busy for weeks molesting the interior so the damage will likely be permanent.
This is the sort of thing that happens when a place has no sense of itself.
These photographs are of the "World Famous" Wonder Bar. The Wonder Bar has operated on Center Street for decades, although it has had short periods of time in recent years in which it operated under a different name (Tommy Knockers, Dillingers, and very briefly, "Sludge and Eddies"). Still, the bar has been around so long that even efforts to operate it under a different name do not deter the locals from continuing to refer to it as the Wonder Bar.
Downtown Casper once had a vast number of bars. This are of downtown had multiple bars on a single block. Only the Wonder Bar survives as a bar.
At some point in time, decades ago, Lee Riders paid to paint an advertisement on the side of the bar. The sign is still there, although an effort to paint over it was made at some point. This reflects the stockman heritage of central Wyoming, and indeed at one time quite a few cowboys and sheepherders spent time in the Wonder Bar.
As an aside, it's hard to see how a town that has a microbrewery every other door can't keep a legendary bar open.
September 2, 2026
The House passed another stopgap budget bill to keep the government running.
Frankly, I"m not a big fan, meaning not a fan at all, of the big expansion of data centers and I'm absolutely opposed to them being constructed on vacant agricultural land.
This was a hearing in front of the County Commissioners. It looked like each of the current sitting commissioners made some sort of comment at the end, as the Oil City News reports:
Of the five sitting commissioners, only Laird is on the ballot this election. Laird is correct on Donald Trump's position. Trump basically called communities that don't want data centers stupid as life is all about money and he loves money and you should love money because Trump loves money and you should love Trump, and money, but Trump most of all.
This must be a nightmare of Chuck Gray, who has been trying to hate things Wyomingite's claim to hate, and they seem to hate data farms, but Trump, who Gray loves, loves them.
On something Trump and Gray presently hate, wind farms:
And so we're off and running for the General Election, which in Wyoming's case means the election is pretty much over for the statewide races. Sure, the contest officially carries on, but chances are that the Republican nominees will take everything.
Still, this year, there's a chance, here and there. . .
So, our early predictions.*
Governor:
Republican. Eric Barlow
Barlow is a rancher, veterinarian, and long time legislature.
He's won this race and the General Election in this case is a mere formality.
Democrat. Kenneth Casner
75 year old making his third pointless bid for the Governor's office. He won't win, everyone knows he won't win, and he shouldn't be running.
Casner's appearance says something, however, about the state of the Democratic Party in Wyoming, and it's the opposite of what's happening in much of the rest of the country. In much of the country Democratic voters are rising up and tossing out geezer candidates, but in Wyoming the Democratic ranks are so depleted the Democrats are falling back on them, which is not a good sign.
Casner would have done his party a favor if he hadn't run.
Constitution Party: Rebecca Bextel.
The Constitution Party is a gadfly far right political party which was once the home of people who now populate the Wyoming Freedom Caucus. Indeed, it's their proper home, which shows in the one candidate of theirs which we know to exist, Rebecca Bextel.
The central figure in CheckGate, Bextel is flat out delusional and is running as she feared that Brent Bien would lose and there would not be any candidates running for the true interpretation of the Double Secret Constitution known only to the Wyoming Freedom Caucus. Bextel appears to seriously believe that Barlow could only win if vast hoards of Democrats, which don't exist in Wyoming crossed over to vote for Barlow and that in the general election the great mass of MAGA/WFC true believers will carry the day.
With the WFC having received a titanic dope slap in the primary, a rational person in her position would drop out. But then, running as a Constitution Party candidate shows demonstrated irrationality.
Endorsement: Barlow by far.
Secretary of State
Republican: Robert Short.
Short is an excellent choice and will take the office.
Democrat: Bryan McCarthy.
McCarty actually has an impressive business background and has worked as an auditor. He should be given credit for running, although he probably should have run for State Auditor.
He's going to lose and it's not even going to be close.
Endorsement: Robert Short.
State Auditor
Republican Kristi Racines won an uncontested Republican primary race and no Democrats ran.
State Treasurer
Curt Meier won his bid to run again in the primary for the Republicans and no Democrats ran.
Senator
Republican: Harriet Hageman.
63 (soon to be 64) year old incumbent Congressman with a terrible record on public lands who came up due to the "hate Cheney" wave two years ago. If she wins, she'll be 70 at the end of her first term.
Democrat: James Byrd.
72 year old former legislator, geophysicist, and businessman. Really impressive overall, but he is in his 70s.
This race features two candidates who are pushing what we regard age limits. Hageman is a nightmare of a candidate however.
Byrd actually stands a chance in this race, but it's a real uphill battle.
Endorsement: We won't vote for Hageman, which leaves Byrd the only realistic choice, and by and large he's a good one, but we aren't doing an endorsement yet.
House of Representatives
Republican: Chuck Gray
Gray is a carpetbagger about whom Wyomingites know utterly nothing, other than he's an adoring sycophant of Donald Trump, he sent Wyoming's voter rolls to the Federal Government illegally, he has a nasty public personality, and he's a Californian who went to Wharton. About him personally, we know utterly nothing.
Having received only 25% of the primary vote, his election to the House can't be assured.
Democrat: Lisa Kinney
About the worst candidate the Democrats could have chosen for this position, 75 year old Kinney can't win the office and is a remnant of an earlier era in more ways than one. Her being the nominee is a sign of the absolutely pathetic state of the Wyoming Democratic Party.
Libertarian: Shaun Johnson
Like the Constitution Party, the Libertarian Party has become so obscure their state's organization doesn't even list their candidates. This is the only one we know to exist.
Johnson is a lawyer presently in Thermopolis. I don't think he stands a chance, but I'll note that former Wyoming legislator Tim Stubson, who once ran for Congress, has endorsed him, which shows the depth to which a lot of Republicans despise Chuck Gray.
Write In: Kevin Christensen?
A building movement to mount a write in campaign for Christensen, who ran in the GOP primary, exists. He came up late in the primary election and got 21,632 to Chuck's 31,222. While that's about 9,000 more votes, both Balow and Gilat, both seen as early possibilities for defeating Chuck, received over 10,000 votes. Even gadfly Reid Rasner received a little over 10,000 votes.
If we had Alaska's system, Christensen, along with Friess and Balow, would be on the election in the Fall. If we had the system in which the top two vote getters were on the ballot, Gray and Friess would be. Given all of this, there's a really strong indicator that many of those who voted for a candidate other than Gray would vote for Christensen.
Overall, therefore, this race remains in a state of flux while its seen if enough momentum can build up to create a write in campaign for Christensen against a well funded Chuck.
Endorsement: Kevin Christensen. I'm early in doing this, and I note that some disaffected Republicans are saying they'll vote for Kinney. But Kinney is at best a lesser of two evils.
Superintendent of Public Instruction
Republican: Steve Harshman
Harsham is a long time Wyoming educator from Natrona County who was in the legislature for many years. He's an excellent choice for this office.and he will win it.
Democrat: Ana Cordova.
Cordova won the contested Democratic primary. She's a Wyoming native and extremely well educated. She only returned to the state recently, however, and really has no chance in this race.
Endorsement: Harshman.
Other races:
We'll no doubt comment on some as time goes by, but will hold off for the most part right now.
Well, as of this morning, I've seen the first disaffected far right local candidate express support for a Bien write in campaign, based on the delusion that there's a lot of Bien support out there (there isn't, he came in third).
The same person, I note, tried to run for County Commissioner and fell far short of the necessary numbers to get on the ballot, so I doubt that they have much influence.
Anyhow, what's surprising is that this person expressed disdain for Bextel and even more disdain for Harriet Hageman, stating that Hageman is just a reliable flunky for Trump. The outrage seems to be inspired by Hageman supporting Degenfelder as Trump did. The Wyoming GOP in fact endorsed Bien, Gray and Hageman, with Hageman showing independence from Trump late in the race, but endorsing Degenfelder.
It's hard for these people to accept that people just don't want to elect far right person like Bien. They don't. But imaging that they do is some sort of salve.
Having said all of that, there's definitely a movement amongst the ignorant far right to write Bien in. They're infighting right now with the Bextel supporters. Both groups are throwing around Wyoming's "sore loser" law as if they know what it means, but they don't .There's nothing whatsoever that keeps a voter from writing in any name. What the law prohibits is a candidate who has already lost a primary to then run as the nominee of another party.
Anyhow, it's interesting in that far right fanatics are already indicating that they're supporting a defeated Bien, and not Bextel, in the Governor's race, with some screaming for Bextel support. Neither of those candidates is going to win that race, but we are seeing the casting about for alternatives going on.
All that serves as a reminder that the Common Sense Republicans still have a lot of work to do, as they need to take back the party organization. The Sturmabteilung is still in control of the party and is reeling. It needs to be tossed out.
August 25, 2026
The WFC radicals just can't get it through their skulls that people don't like them.
Bien, at least, is more realistic about what a write in campaign against Barlow would mean, which would just be an embarrassment to him.
This entire story is a fart in a windstorm. No serious number of people are going to write Bien in, or vote for Bextel. This race is over. It is interesting, however.
The state GOP is controlled by WFC members and endorsed Bien, Hageman, and Gray. Trump endorsed Gray, Hageman and Degenfelder. Ultimately, Hageman followed Trump, thumbed her nose at the state GOP, and also endorsed Degenfelder. For that reason, the WFC, including its members on committees, revolted against Hageman, but to no effect. Now they're miffed at Trump as well, seemingly not realizing that without their dear leader, they are nothing whatsoever but a bunch of extreme right wing nuts.
A more interesting event would be a Christensen write in campaign against Gray, which would have a real chance of success.
Drake is correct. The Bien endorsement was not very smart. The ongoing pouting by the far right, which still controls most of the county and state GOP organization, is also not very smart. Voters need to take that on next.
On other matters, Byrd and Kinney made a second appearance together, emphasising dinner table topics.
The topics probably aren't bad, but Byrd needs to decouple himself from Kinney. Kinney has no chance of winning whatsoever and just isn't a good look for Byrd, who could easily pass for a traditional Wyoming Republican. Kinney can't. Linking his campaign to her's isn't going to help her, and it will hurt him.
While Romtvedt was panned on Facebook for this article, he's not the only one thinking in this fashion by any means. To my surprise a hardcore right wing Republican announced he's voting for the Democratic candidate for Wyoming's House District 58 rather than vote for Bill Allemand. While that brought shock from some of the people who know him, and it was pointed out that the Democrat supports abortion, which the Dems would be very well advised to abandon as a position in Wyoming, he also drew praise as Allemand is such a bad candidate. I doubt the Democrat will win, but I bet he does far better than would otherwise be the case.
Frankly, at this point, with Trump now going so far as to attempt to rename Lake Ontario, a lot of Republicans, including myself, are at the point where they're questioning for any Republicans. We have a unqualified octogenarian child in the White House and Hageman, Lummis and Barrasso are sitting around with their thumbs up their asses doing nothing.
August 30, 2026
And today, Rep. Hageman sent out her list of "accomplishments"
This year has been one for the history books as America’s 250th anniversary inspired celebrations from coast to coast. In the final newsletter of August, I want to reflect on all accomplished thus far in 2026:
Constituents First
One of the duties my office performs on your behalf is working as a liaison between individual Wyomingites and federal agencies. An example is helping people who have yet to receive their tax return from the IRS or their benefits from the VA. I am proud to report that my office has resolved nearly 1,200 cases this year, returning roughly $2.5 million to constituents from various federal agencies.
If you are facing issues with a federal agency, whether it is the VA, Social Security, the IRS, or another department, my office may be able to help. We can assist with paperwork, follow up on stalled cases, and make sure your concerns are heard and resolved as quickly as possible. Visit my website to submit your request here.
Investing in Wyoming's Infrastructure
Each year, community project funding gives me the opportunity to request federal dollars for specific infrastructure projects that directly benefit Wyoming communities. For fiscal year 2027, I am proud to report that appropriators included over $11 million of my community project funding requests across various fiscal year 2027 appropriations bills. This adds to the $40 million I have already secured throughout my time in Congress, and I am hopeful to get this year’s funding across the finish line.
A list and explanation of each project is on my website here.
14 Bills introduced
One of my core roles as your lawmaker is introducing legislation that benefits Wyoming. I arrived on Capitol Hill after more than 30 years in courtrooms, often litigating federal statutes. Understanding the fine details of the legislative process, how agencies design rules, and most importantly, what Wyoming needs from the federal government has driven me to introduce a wide range of legislation during my time in Congress. Below are the 14 bills and resolutions I sponsored this year, which brings me to a total of 56 pieces of legislation introduced to date in the 119th Congress.
H.R. 7286 – Revokes the tax-exempt status of organizations performing or funding abortions. (NOTE, THIS ONE I ACTUALLY AGREE IS A GOOD BILL)
Domestic ORE Act – Cuts red tape for mineral exploration on public lands by raising the acreage companies can explore under a simple notice from 5 to 25 acres. A BAD BILL.
SAFE Act – Enhances detection capabilities to combat chameleon carriers. A HORRIFICALLY BAD BILL.
H.R. 7695 – Nullifies the 2001 Clinton Roadless Rule and restores active, responsible forest management on National Forest System Lands. ANOTHER HORRIFICALLY BAD BILL.
H.R. 7872 – Reforms bonus bids for coal producers on federal leases designed to cut upfront costs in half. A BAD BILL.
Research and Oversight of AI in Courts Act of 2026 – establishes a task force of judicial experts to examine the integration of AI speech-to-text and automatic speech recognition (ASR) technologies in American courts.
Stop Climate Shakedowns Act of 2026 – Prohibits retroactive climate liability lawsuits and other proceedings to implement or enforce an energy penalty law. A MORONIC CLIMATE CHANGE DENYING BILL.
H.R. 9277 – Prohibits courts from considering agency evidence that isn't based on reliable scientific principles and methods, cracking down on regulations built on flawed or cherry-picked data. A HORSESHIT ANTI SCIENCE BILL.
H.R. 9278 – Requires courts to conduct an independent, de novo review of the facts whenever a federal agency imposes a sanction, rather than deferring to the agency's own fact-finding.
Preventing AI Censorship Act – Gives American citizens the right to sue federal employees who violate their First Amendment rights through the use of Artificial Intelligence.
H. Res. 1374 – Calls on the Federal Communications Commission to modernize America's television content ratings system, so parents have the information they need to make informed viewing decisions for their children.
H.J. Res. 202 – Nullifies the EPA’s California waiver to enforce strict greenhouse gas standards on cars. A BAD BILL.
H.R. 10090 – Implements a new excise tax on private colleges and universities that allow males to compete in women’s sports.
Strengthening Transportation Oversight and Preventing (STOP) Improper Licensing Act – Requires federal safety regulators to audit states issuing non-domiciled commercial driver’s licenses to illegal aliens and unqualified drivers. EH?
Hageman needs to go.
Wyoming is investigating the Attorney General's Office for election interference, based on the presence of aggressive Federal AG's at the polls.
What sort of person served in the Department of Justice anymore?
September 1, 2026
The Tribune ran an article on the Libertarian Party's candidates and the Constitution Party's today.
The article highlighted Shaun Johnson, Libertarian, who imagines himself to have a chance against Chuck Gray.
Somebody would have a chance against the much disliked Gray, but I doubt it's Johnson. Kevin Christiansen has rejected supporting a write in campaign against him, unfortunately.
Christensen appears to be positioning himself to run against Gray in two years, figuring the disliked Californian is likely to be even more disliked by then, a pretty good bet.
Perhaps standing a bitter chance, the article revealed that a Libertarian, Joe Porambo, is running against WFC member Bill Allemand and Democrat Keenan Morgan in House District 58. Morgan and Porambo will draw more votes that might be expected, and in the conservative district, Porambo might actually have a chance.
Somebody who doesn't is Rebecca Bextel of the delusional Constitution Party. She's also written up in the article. The far right wing party that backs a double secret constitution that nobody has ever read is also running Tamara Trujillo for Secretary of State. She will lose.
Rod Miller is featured in a hilarious campaign ad for Democrat Karlee Provenza.
And for September 2, 2026, a reminder that all politics is local:
September 2, 2026
The House passed another stopgap budget bill to keep the government running.
Frankly, I"m not a big fan, meaning not a fan at all, of the big expansion of data centers and I'm absolutely opposed to them being constructed on vacant agricultural land.
This was a hearing in front of the County Commissioners. It looked like each of the current sitting commissioners made some sort of comment at the end, as the Oil City News reports:
Of the five sitting commissioners, only Laird is on the ballot this election. Laird is correct on Donald Trump's position. Trump basically called communities that don't want data centers stupid as life is all about money and he loves money and you should love money because Trump loves money and you should love Trump, and money, but Trump most of all.
This must be a nightmare of Chuck Gray, who has been trying to hate things Wyomingite's claim to hate, and they seem to hate data farms, but Trump, who Gray loves, loves them.
On something Trump and Gray presently hate, wind farms:
Driskill is in the legislature and has been consistently clear thinking.
We have to note that the data center story must be a living nightmare for Chuck Gray. Gray was for windfarms and gravel pits until it gave him a way to try to make himself to be a champion of the common people. Then he switched and made it a plat form for his fairly unsuccessful campaign. Yes, he won, but only 25% of the vote. There's a lot of chatter right now, and it's probably just chatter, but Lisa Kinney and maybe even Shaun Johnson have a chance of derailing him. For that matter, with three of them in the race, and disdain of Gray high, we may very well be getting a minority vote Congressman in the state for the first time ever. I.e, whoever wins may have less than 50% of the vote.
Now comes the data center story.
Gray campaigned on loving Trump more than Trump loves Trump. And he figures you love Trump almost as much as he does. But now it's clear that average Wyomingites hate data centers. Windmills were an easy target as Trump think windmiss are bad and evil and that whales don't like them, but Trump loves data centers and feels that people who do not are stupid.
Oh oh.
It also seems that in the backrooms of the Pentagon the Chiefs may have had enough of Trump's conspiratorial plotting.
Here we have a letter from Gen. Caine:
There's a lot of reading between the lines on this, but it basically says:
1. The military doesn't do politics.
2. The military won't do anything illegal.
3. Any element of the military deploying to the polls, including the National Guard, is illegal.
It seems like Caine got out in front of the Administration on this, perhaps removing one of the legs on an attempt to mount a coup.
September 4, 2026
The Missouri Supreme Court tossed out the bogus Missouri gerrymandering redistricting.
The administration appealed a block of an injunction on the USPS messing with mail in balloting to the Supreme Court.
Footnotes
*We steadfastly refuse to adopt the moronic "red=Republican" standard used only in the U.S. Red=Political Left, Blue=Political Right.
