In Episode 262 of the CounterVortex podcast, Bill Weinberg contrasts the intransigent resistance to the attempted power-grab by would-be right-wing strongman Yoon Suk Yeol in South Korea (and Robert Fico in Slovakia) with the craven capitulation to the consolidating Trump regime in the US—despite the unconstitutionality of his very presidency, the fascist stench from his team of oligarchs, and despite the emergence of evidence that points to actual hacking of the vote to effect his victory.

During his first days back in office, Donald Trump rapidly started implementing his hardline migration agenda, including by declaring a state of emergency at the US southern border. The move allows his administration to access billions of dollars to expand the building of a border wall and to deploy the military and national guard to the area. Around 1,500 active duty soldiers are already being deployed. Trump also reinstated the controversial "Remain in Mexico" program from his first administration. This policy, which requires people to wait for asylum appointments in Mexico, helped to create a now-perennial humanitarian crisis in northern Mexico. The Trump administration has also shut down CBP One—a cell phone app for scheduling asylum appointments—leaving thousands of people stranded in Mexico, and suspended the US refugee resettlement program, as well as cancelling travel plans for refugees who had already been approved to enter the country. Trump's promised mass deportation of millions of undocumented people has yet to get underway, but his administration has begun laying the groundwork for expanded immigration raids—potentially including on schools, churches, and hospitals—and has threatened to prosecute any local officials who don't comply.

Attorneys general from 22 states filed a lawsuit Jan. 21 challenging US President Donald Trump's executive order aimed at ending birthright citizenship. Central to the lawsuit is the Fourteenth Amendment to the US Constitution, which states that "[a]ll persons born or naturalized in the United States...are citizens of the United States..." The clause was interpreted by the Supreme Court in 1898 in United States v. Wong Kim Ark as granting citizenship to all babies born in the country. The US follows the jus soli (right of the soil) principle, conferring citizenship based on birth within the country's territory, as opposed to the jus sanguinis (right of blood) principle, which confers citizenship based on whether at least one parent is a citizen. Trump's order would end birthright citizenship for babies born in the US to parents who entered the country illegally or temporarily.

Outgoing President Joe Biden informed Congress Jan. 14 that he would lift the US designation of Cuba as a State Sponsor of Terrorism (SSOT), as part of a deal facilitated by the Catholic Church to free political prisoners on the island. The followiing day, the Cuban government announced it would release 553 prisoners who had been jailed for "diverse crimes." The agreement also eases some economic pressures on Cuba, including lifting sanctions on companies run by the Cuban military and the suspension of a legal provision that had enabled Cuban Americans to sue the Cuban government for confiscated property. The Cuban government responded by saying that the United States was taking "steps in the right direction" but emphasized that "the economic war remains."

With the sounds of war starting to fall silent in the Gaza Strip after 470 days of brutal Israeli military assault and siege, a tiny crack of hope has opened for the Palestinian residents of the enclave that they will be able to gather the shattered pieces of their lives and begin the daunting task of rebuilding. But whether the deal reached by Israel and Hamas on Jan. 15 will lead to a decisive end to the war remains entirely unclear.

In Episode 261 of the CounterVortex podcast, Bill Weinberg urges that Donald Trump is an illegitimate president under the 14th Amendment, and that any propaganda exploitation of the Gaza ceasefire to sell his fascist agenda to progressives must be rejected. All political signs indicate that his white-supremacist rule will ultimately mean a disaster for the Palestinians, and it is imperative that progressives do not take the pseudo-peacenik bait—but, on the contrary, urgently mobilize to build resistance to MAGA-fascism. 

Mere days before Donald Trump is to be inaugurated, Bill Weinberg continues to raise the demand for nullification of his election on 14th Amendment grounds. As Congress certified his victory last week, a demonstration calling for this was held in Washington, organized by podcaster (and former Trump campaign worker) Jessica Denson. But the centrist establishment—including Kamala Harris, who presided over the certification—is utterly capitulating to the fascist takeover of the country. In vivid contrast, protesters courageously take to the streets and politicians refuse cooperation to defend democracy from authoritarian power-grabs in South Korea, Georgia, Romania, Slovakia and Mozambique. In Episode 260, the CounterVortex podcast urges a last-ditch line of defense: pressure on Chief Justice John Roberts to refuse to administer the oath of office.

The US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit ruled Jan. 2 that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) did not have legal authority when it reinstated net neutrality rules last May, striking a blow to President Joe Biden's telecommunications policy. Net neutrality is the idea that internet service providers (ISPs) must provide access to all content without favoring or blocking particular websites or services. In May, the FCC voted to classify ISPs as "telecommunications services" as opposed to "information services," thereby subjecting them to net neutrality rules. Several telecommunications companies challenged the decision.