Good afternoon,

Over the weekend, the New York Attorney General sued the Trump administration over its halt on two offshore wind projects. Last month, the Interior Department suspended several offshore wind projects on the East Coast, claiming that turbines can '<a href='[link removed]'>cause radar interference</a>.' Trump, who has opposed wind turbines since a project was installed near one of his golf courses, has also referred to wind turbines as '<a href='[link removed]'>ugly, expensive threats to wildlife</a>.' The wind projects referenced in the New York lawsuit were expected to power over a million homes across the state.

Last night, a <a href='[link removed]'>federal judge ruled</a> that construction on the $6.2 billion project could resume. The decision is a temporary victory for the offshore wind industry, and the latest of the Trump administration's losses in court.

Here are a few important updates...

ICE'S DEADLY IMPACT

Across the country, Americans are taking to the streets to protest the violent presence of ICE. Following the killing of Renee Nicole Good by an ICE agent in Minneapolis last week,<a href='[link removed]'>more than 1,000 protests</a> were planned across the country. The protests in both major cities and small cities alike have been nonviolent and community-led, honoring Renee Nicole Good, as well as the other people who have died at the hands of ICE.

It has been nearly a year since the president ramped up ICE's deportation efforts, and ICE agents have become increasingly violent. 2025 proved to be ICE's most deadly year since just after it was created.<a href='[link removed]'>32 people</a> died in the custody of ICE throughout the year as the administration sought to detain a record number of people. As detention centers across the U.S. became more crowded, the conditions inside the facilities rapidly deteriorated.<a href='[link removed]'>Unsanitary conditions, inadequate food, and poor medical care</a> contributed to the extremely high number of deaths of people in ICE's custody. These deaths are not random tragedies; they are the predictable outcome of a system designed to remove people from their communities and hold them in inhumane conditions.

Americans are not just mourning – they are demanding the removal of violent ICE agents from communities, the closure of deadly detention centers, cuts to ICE's inflated budget, and independent investigations into every death at the hands of ICE. Though it is the middle of winter, it is important to remember that ICE will melt.

FUTURE OF THE FEDERAL RESERVE

Since the beginning of his second stint in the White House, Donald Trump has been antagonizing Federal Reserve Board Chair Jerome Powell over Powell's refusal to lower interest rates for political optics. That confrontation has slowly heated up over the past year as Trump has lobbed unfounded accusations of fraud at Powell due to some cost overruns in the renovation of 2 different hundred-plus-year-old Federal Reserve office buildings. Those tensions boiled over in recent days as Trump's Department of Justice filed charges against Powell. Powell responded with a video posted to the official Federal Reserve social accounts labeling the prosecution as a political exercise based on Trump's raging over interest rates not being set to his preferred level.

Powell is slated to step down from his post on January 31, 2028, at which time Trump, or whomever is in office at that time, would appoint a replacement. Trump's vicious attacks on Powell – who was nominated to the Federal Reverse by Trump in 2017 – are the latest in a long line of attacks on his nominees who have chosen fidelity to the constitution over loyalty to Trump's whims.

If Trump succeeds in forcing Powell out of office early, and successfully replaces him on the Federal Reserve with a political sock puppet that will vote as instructed, the repercussions for rural communities will be particularly sharp. Holding interest rates at artificially low levels will supercharge the inflation Trump's tariffs are already causing.

The interest rate on mortgages, business loans, and other financial instruments are set by trading markets, and those rates will rise significantly, increasing the stress on homeowners, farmers, and small businesses. The market demands will also cause long-term rates on U.S. Treasury Bonds to significantly increase, making borrowing costs for the federal government balloon and exploding the national debt (even more than Trump's profligate spending has already). Foreign investment will decline as investors seek markets with more stability and transparency, reducing opportunities for growth and stalling construction projects.

Before the U.S. created an independent Federal Reserve to effectively manage the flow of money within the economy, there were regular and devastating economic panics, recessions and prolonged depressions – frequently hitting rural communities the hardest. Allowing Trump to eviscerate the Federal Reserve would drag the U.S. back to a <a href='[link removed]'>1800s style economy</a>. One in no way equipped to compete on the modern world stage, and one that would only serve to exacerbate inequality and financial distress amongst working people.

NUMBER OF THE WEEK

<a href='[link removed]'>57</a>: The total number of members of Congress not seeking re-election in 2026.

As of today, 11 senators and 46 house members have announced they will not seek re-election. This would mark one of the largest turnovers between Congresses in U.S. history. Traditionally, January and February of the election year mark the last major round of retirement announcements, so this total may rise further over the next few weeks.

DATES TO WATCH

January 14, 2026

<li aria-level='2'>What to watch: The <a href='[link removed]'>Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship</a> will hold hearings to examine growing the small business agricultural economy.

<li aria-level='2'>Why it matters: Rural small businesses have struggled under the weight of Trump's tariffs, ICE raids, and overall economic stagnation.

January 26, 2026

<li aria-level='2'>What to watch: Former Special Counsel Jack Smith will testify before Congress on his investigation into January 6th and Donald Trump's role in directing the attack on the Capitol.

<li aria-level='2'>Why it matters: This might be the last opportunity for some form of accountability for Trump's crimes after the Supreme Court invented the concept of presidential immunity.

February 28, 2026<li aria-level='2'>What to watch: The President and First Vice Presidents of the 12 regional Federal Reserve Board Banks <a href='[link removed]'>five-year terms expire</a> on this date.

<li aria-level='2'>Why it matters: The new term begins on March 1, 2026 for a list of pre-approved Presidents and First Vice Presidents. If Trump wants to escalate his war on the Federal Reserve, he could attempt to block these orderly appointments.

WHAT WE'RE READING

Medicare Rights Center:<a href='[link removed]'>Rural Health Fund Awards Cannot Compensate for Enormous Medicaid Cuts that Threaten Home Care</a>The Denver Post:<a href='[link removed]'>Colorado to receive $1 billion to 'transform' rural health care</a>The Hill:<a href='[link removed]'>Sen. Chris Murphy criticizes ICE operations as inhumane, illegal</a>The Daily Yonder:<a href='[link removed]'>A Map of Rural Superfund Sites</a>Morning Ag Clips:<a href='[link removed]'>2026 Could See the End of the Farm Bill Era of American Agriculture Policy</a>MS Now:<a href='[link removed]'>Trump administration to send 'hundreds more' federal agents to Minneapolis</a>Fox 13:<a href='[link removed]'>Rural Utah residents face crisis as Affordable Care Act benefits expire</a>Patch:<a href='[link removed]'>Trump Administration Freezes Food Stamps To MN Amid Fraud Investigation</a>The New York Times:<a href='[link removed]'>Minnesota and Illinois Sue Trump Administration Over ICE Deployments</a>Roll Call:<a href='[link removed]'>Spending bills, prices, health care top 2026 agenda for Congress</a>The Daily Yonder:<a href='[link removed]'>Soybean Wars: When a Commodity Becomes a Political Weapon</a>

Be sure to follow the One Country Project on <a href='[link removed]' target='_blank'>Bluesky</a>, <a href='[link removed]' target='_blank'>Twitter</a>, <a href='[link removed]' target='_blank'>Facebook</a> and <a href='[link removed]' target='_blank'>Substack</a>, and listen to&nbsp;<a href='[link removed]' target='_blank'>The Hot Dish</a> podcast.

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