Welcome to the Media Round Up! This week we’re collecting and sharing our favorite gender + politics stories.

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This 2028 possibility is Trump’s favorite Democrat
POLITICO, Dasha Burns

According to two White House officials, President Donald Trump has developed a “surprisingly productive and affable” relationship with Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D). An anonymous White House official stated that Whitmer is “one who we have spent the most time with, who has reached out to us the most, who has wanted to work with us.” Whitmer’s decision to work with the Trump administration stands in stark contrast to other potential 2028 rivals, such as Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker (D) and California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D). The cordial relationship allows Whitmer an opportunity to “bring in crucial federal investments” while avoiding Trump’s wrath, but her rapport with the administration does come at a cost: other Democrats have criticized her collaborative nature, claiming that working with the White House could be a liability if she decides to run for president.

Sen. Susan Collins Discusses Gov’t Funding & Legislative Priorities
C-SPAN

Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Susan Collins (R-ME) discussed government funding and legislation to expand screening for Alzheimer’s disease during a conversation hosted  by Punchbowl News. Sen. Collins has seen first hand the harm from Alzheimer’s disease, losing her father, grandfather, both uncles, and most recently, her brother in law to the disease. Alzheimers is also one of the country’s most expensive diseases, costing 360 billion dollars in 2024 alone. Collins recently introduced the Alzheimer’s Screening and Prevention Act which allows Medicare to cover newly developed early detection blood tests for Alzheimer’s. Increasing access to this blood test will allow people to detect the disease, and get treatment sooner.

Republican Anger Erupts at Johnson as Party Frets About Future
The New York Times, Annie Karni

With less than a year left until the midterm elections, Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) has begun to encounter frustration from others in the Republican Party. Notably, Republican women, like Reps. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) and Nancy Mace (R-SC), have been publicly challenging the Speaker and taking issue with his policy priorities and approach to leadership. GOP lawmakers are particularly unhappy with Speaker Johnson’s passive approach to the redistricting race occurring across the country and his decision to send House members home before and during the eight-week government shutdown. In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Rep. Stefanik stated that Speaker Johnson would not have enough support to remain speaker if a vote were held tomorrow. Republican women have also expressed frustration with Speaker Johnson’s lack of attention towards conversations on policy issues such as federal funding and the Epstein files.

GOP Rep. Anna Paulina Luna Moves to Force Vote on Banning Stock Trading by Members of Congress
CBS, Caitlin Yilek

On Tuesday, Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL) introduced a discharge petition to force a floor vote on her stalled bill, the Restore Trust in Congress Act. If the petition receives 218 signatures, Luna promised to utilize this tactic to gain momentum for her bill to ban members of Congress and their spouses, dependent children and trustees from owning, buying, or selling individual stocks, securities, commodities or futures. While the House Administration Committee conducted a hearing about congressional stock trading in November, Representative Luna has called the hearing “for show.”

Ayanna Pressley Won’t Challenge Markey for Senate in Massachusetts
The New York Times, Shane Goldmacher

On Tuesday, Democratic Representative Ayana Pressely of Massachusetts announced that she would not run for Senate next year. With this decision, Pressley is passing up the opportunity to challenge Senator Ed Markey, who is already facing a primary challenge by Representative Seth Moulton. Pressely expressed that she felt “called to fight” for her current seat, but she did not close the door to a potential Senate bid in the future. Massachusetts’ primary race is scheduled for late September 2026. The election is expected to test many of the current divisions in the Democratic party.

Despite Loss, Democrats Overperformed in Bright Red Tennessee House Race
POLITICO, Andrew Howard

On Tuesday night, Democrats obtained an electoral achievement, despite losing Tennessee’s 7th House District. Tennessee state lawmaker Aftyn Behn reduced President Trump’s double-digit victory in a deep-red district. In 2024, President Trump won TN-07 by 22-points, however, with 95% of the vote in Behn was closely behind Republican candidate Matt Van Epps. The special-election’s unusual timing boosted its relevance and the national money invested. In total, GOP PAC groups spent $3.1 million, while Democratic PAC groups spent $2.3 million. While Republican ads attempted to tie Behn to culture war issues, her ads typically focused on affordability and healthcare. High-level politicians on both sides of the political aisle got involved in the race, including President Trump and former Vice President Kamala Harris. Behn’s overperformance was historic, leaving some Republicans on edge.

Soon to lead Virginia, Spanberger talks Trump, economy, hard choices
Washington Post, Gregory S. Schneider

In a wide-ranging interview with The Washington Post, Virginia Gov.-elect Abigail Spanberger (D) discussed her upcoming governorship, including her pragmatic agenda and possible challenges that she may face. Spanberger, a former three-time member of Congress who will take office in January, said that she is excited to work across the aisle during a period of bitter divisiveness and wants to solve “practical problems” to help improve Virginians’ lives. She acknowledged, however, that the state is facing a set of fiscal challenges, noting that the federal dollars that once came to Virginia are “gone” and that “our fiscal outlook looks different.” Despite the challenges that may lie ahead, Spanberger intends to focus on health care, Virginia’s colleges and universities, and standing up to the Trump administration.

College essay on gender puts focus on religious freedom
USA Today, BrieAnna J. Frank, Alex Gladden, Alexia Aston

A university student in Oklahoma is at the center of controversy over an essay for her psychology class. Students were asked to write a 650 word essay in response to an article discussing the role societal gender norms play in how people are perceived. Samantha Fulnecky, a junior majoring in psychology at the university, argued that moving away from such norms “pulls us farther from God’s original plans for humans” and added that God intentionally created differences between men and women. Fulnecky received a zero, she felt this grade was due to discrimination based on her religious beliefs, and that it was a violation of her freedom of speech. She sent it to her university’s Turning Point USA chapter, who posted about the incident on X, garnering more than 35 million views in less than a week. The instructor’s comments, according to a screenshot posted by the school’s Turning Point USA chapter, said they were “not deducting points because you have certain beliefs” but rather because the paper “does not answer the questions for this assignment, contradicts itself, heavily uses personal ideology over empirical evidence in a scientific class and is at times offensive.”  The instructor was put on leave until the issue is resolved.

Reproductive Care in Hospital Rooms and Courtrooms 

In the span of just one week, two very different but deeply interconnected stories captured the current reality of reproductive rights in America. In 2022, at 18 weeks pregnant, Amanda Zurawski learned she would not be able to safely deliver her wanted child. Under Texas’s strict abortion ban, she was denied medical care until she went into septic shock. Due to the delay in medical care, Zurawski spent three nights in the ICU and nearly died. This same week the U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments in a case involving First Choice Women’s Resource Centers, a network of anti-abortion crisis pregnancy centers in New Jersey that received a subpoena from the state attorney general requesting donor names, contact information, and other records. The records were subpoenaed due to the belief that the center was misrepresenting their services and misleading donors to support an abortion clinic. Together, these stories reveal how the fight over reproductive freedom is unfolding simultaneously in hospital rooms and courtrooms, shaping both the lived experiences of patients and the legal landscape that governs their care.

Rest and resistance are intertwined. Rosa Parks understood that.
The 19th News*, Gabriella Gladney

Long before the term was popularized, several Black women activists used self-care practices to ground their political work. Civil Rights trailblazer Rosa Parks used self-care as a tool during her later years, practicing yoga to support her body and mind to recover from “decades of physical and emotional strain.” Other Black activists such as Audre Lorde and Fannie Lou Hamer also turned toward self-care practices to resist burnout during their careers, focusing on journaling and prayer. For many of these women, caring for themselves “was not indulgence, it was strategy.” Their dedication to self-care in the midst of grief highlights the “depth of the endurance required of Black women activists and the ways they have found to restore themselves in order to continue the work.”