Recent presidents have repeatedly ordered military attacks on other countries despitequestions over whether congressional approval was needed.
The latest was Republican Donald Trump’s June 21 bombing of Iran’s nuclear facilities. His administration said he had authority to limit nuclear proliferation.
Trump in 2017 cited national security interests for a missile strike on a Syrian base that was used to launch chemical weapon attacks on Syrian civilians.
In 2021, Democrat Joe Biden ordered an airstrike on Iran-backed militia groups in Syria, citing “self-defense.”
In 2011, Democrat Barack Obama ordered “limited” airstrikes on Libya. He said he was trying to protect pro-democracy protesters targeted by Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi.
The Constitution saysonly Congress has the power to declare war.
But that provision “has never been interpreted — by either Congress or the executive branch — to require congressional authorization for every military action that the president could initiate,” a Council on Foreign Relations legal expert wrote.
This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.
Unauthorized immigrants arenoteligible for traditional, federally funded Medicaid, which helps cover medical costs for low-income people.
They havenever been eligible. A 1996 welfare reform law signed by Democratic President Bill Clinton also requires most authorized immigrants to waitfive years for eligiblity.
President Donald Trump has proposedreducing federal Medicaid funds to those states. That would cause 1.4 million people to lose coverage, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimated.
Medicaid costs nearly $900 billion annually, two-thirds from the federal government and one-third from the states.
In Wisconsin, Medicaid serves 1.28 million people, more than a third of them children. Among adults, 45% work full time, 28% part time. The annual cost is $12.1 billion, $4.2 billion of it in state spending.
While unauthorized immigrants can’t get Medicaid in Wisconsin, they can apply to receive emergency care covered by state Medicaid.
This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.
In April, 2,004 residents of Menominee County in northeast Wisconsin received benefits from the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).
SNAP, formerly known as food stamps and called FoodShare in Wisconsin, provides food assistance for low-income people.
Other reports show similar rates.
As of March 2024, 51% of residents in the Menominee tribal nation received SNAP, according to the nonpartisan Wisconsin Policy Forum.
The latest U.S. Census data, for 2022, showed the rate for Menominee County was 49%.
American Indians constitute nearly 80% of the county’s population.
Menominee County’s rate was cited June 14 by U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock, D-Ga., at the Wisconsin Democratic Party convention. He commented on President Donald Trump’s tax cut bill pending in Congress. It would remove an estimated 3.2 million people from SNAP, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.
On a day of high drama and chaos — Donald Trump’s military parade, nationwide street protests and a political assassination in Minnesota — Wisconsin Democrats convened in Lake Delton to try to forge a way forward.
The theme of the party’s state convention was “the road to 2026,” with elections for governor, the Legislature and Congress at stake.
But how to counter Trump and his ascendant brand of smash-mouth politics was front and center for attendees interviewed Saturday at the Chula Vista Resort.
“When you’re dealing with a ruling party that is not interested in actual governance, that’s a problem,” said Victor Raymond of Madison, referring to Republicans controlling the White House and Congress. “So, there needs to be more efforts made to establish an actual resistance.”
Raymond, who was not a delegate, said he was attending his first state party convention “because I’m concerned about the encroaching fascism in this country.”
He said more Democrats must resist the Trump administration the way U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla did last week because “what the right wing wants is for everyone to be intimidated.”
Padilla, a California Democrat, interrupted a news conference Thursday held by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to try to ask a question. He was forcefully removed and handcuffed by officers as he tried to speak up about the administration’s immigration raids.
“There’s a need for the Democrats to show just how extreme the Republicans are and how it’s not even close to the values that they say they’re supposedly upholding,” Raymond said.
Gov. Tony Evers did not tip his hand on whether he will run for a third term in 2026 at the Democratic Party of Wisconsin convention in Lake Delton on June 14, 2025. (Patricio Crooker for Wisconsin Watch)
Another first-time attendee, Dane County delegate Christie Barnett, said she is becoming politically active for the first time because she believes the country is sliding into autocracy.
Barnett acknowledged that the day felt heavy, particularly after a gunman shot and killed one Democratic Minnesota state lawmaker and wounded another in separate incidents. But her focus was on trying to counter Trump.
“If people like me are getting involved, who haven’t been, maybe that’s the hope right there. I don’t know,” she said.
Eleven Wisconsin Democratic lawmakers were named in a list police obtained from the suspected gunman’s vehicle, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported. Police officers were stationed outside the convention center, and they periodically walked through the halls. After a manhunt, the gunman was arrested and charged with murder on Sunday.
At the state GOP convention last month, rank-and-file Republicans cheered the sheer speed of Trump’s actions since starting his second term and yearned for further moves to the right.
Last week, Republican U.S. Rep. Tony Wied, who represents the Green Bay area, introduced legislation that would direct the Justice Department to publish a list of state or local governments that are “anarchist jurisdictions.”
That’s the mood in Waupaca County, which voted for Trump by a 2-to-1 margin in November, said Democratic delegate Wendy Skola. “You bring up anything to do with Democrats, you’re shot down,” she said.
Skola said Trump’s presidency led her to participate in a recent protest and attend her first state party convention. She said she feels the need to stand up because, the way Trump has governed, people feel “we can all do whatever the hell we want.”
More than 700 delegates and about 150 guests attended the convention. That included delegate David Shorr, a former Stevens Point alderman who also voiced fears about autocracy.
“The country’s in trouble, very, very dangerous, dark times,” he said. “You have a president who demonizes a lot of people …. He’s been very comfortable for many, many years talking about violence should be used against these people.”
But how to counter Trump is unclear, Shorr said.
“There is no easy answer,” he said. “I don’t have any easy answer, except that we can’t give up.”
Delegates at the Democratic Party of Wisconsin convention in Lake Delton on June 14, 2025, were galvanized by increasing worries about the direction of the country. (Patricio Crooker for Wisconsin Watch)
In reflecting on the weekend’s events, including Trump’s military parade in Washington, D.C., the “No Kings” protests that drew millions of demonstrators across Wisconsin and the U.S., and the Minnesota shootings, delegate Sophie Gloo of Racine said the antidote is kindness and taking care of each other.
“I don’t think we should kid ourselves into saying that everyone’s getting along really well because clearly there’s a lot of clashing,” Gloo said. “I think the best way to continue to do good work is to stick together and just make sure that you’re supporting one another.”
That extends to elections, said Gloo, who has worked on state legislative campaigns. The Democratic Party needs to be visible away from campaign season by attending events and knocking on doors year round, she said.
“I think, as a party, you have to be consistent about showing up for people. People who lean one way or the other might not feel like the Democratic Party has been listening to them,” she said. “They’re upset that we only come around when the elections happen.”
More outreach was a theme of the three candidates who ran to succeed Ben Wikler, who stepped down after six years as party chair.
Delegates chose senior state party adviser Devin Remiker of Reedsburg, who was endorsed by Wikler, over Milwaukee-area communications consultant Joe Zepecki and La Crosse-area party leader William Garcia in Sunday’s election.
“I think we have a lot of trust building to do, and that is going to be a major focus of mine, is showing up,” Remiker told Wisconsin Watch last week. “Not to ask people to vote for us, but just to ask them to keep an open mind and rebuild those relationships of trust that have been damaged.”
Wisconsin Watch is a nonprofit, nonpartisan newsroom. Subscribe to our newsletters for original stories and our Friday news roundup.
The median stay in public housing in the U.S. is four years, a 2024 study of U.S. Housing and Urban Development Department data found.
Median means half the tenants in public housing projects stayed more than four years, half stayed less.
The study, by researchers from the universities of Illinois and Kansas, covered 2000 to 2022 and 1 million public housing units.
The average stay was 14 years, pulled higher by elderly and disabled residents, who tend to stay longer.
Republican U.S. Rep. Glenn Grothman, who represents part of eastern Wisconsin, said in May the average is 12 years.
HUD’s dataset on June 12 showed the average is 12 years. Median was not available.
President Donald Trump hasproposed a two-year limit on federal rental assistance for “able-bodied adults.”
Democratic Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers proposed more than doubling to $100 million credits available annually for Wisconsin low-income housing developments. Republicans drafting the state budget June 12 excluded that provision.
This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.
Republican President Donald Trump may have won Wisconsin in November, but Badger State Democrats see a pathway to winning a “trifecta” in state government in 2026.
How they get there will be at the heart of the party’s state convention this upcoming weekend in the Wisconsin Dells.
Winning a trifecta means holding onto the governor’s seat, whether or not Gov. Tony Evers seeks a third term — and winning majorities in the state Assembly and Senate, both of which Republicans have controlled since 2011. Democrats flipped 14 seats in November after the Supreme Court tossed out Republican-tilted legislative maps, and 2026 is shaping up to be an even more favorable year for the party out of power in Washington.
A key step will be choosing a successor to Ben Wikler, who is stepping down after six years as the state party chair. Under Wikler, the party raised $63 million in 2024 — more than any state party, Democratic or Republican, in the country. In April, it helped Dane County Judge Susan Crawford cement a liberal majority on the state Supreme Court race until at least 2028.
The three candidates vying for the two-year term as chair are Devin Remiker, Joe Zepecki and William Garcia.
Remiker served as the party’s executive director under Wikler and has his endorsement. Zepecki is a communications veteran with extensive election campaign experience and big-name endorsements of his own. Garcia is a dark-horse candidate — but with the party using ranked-choice voting for the first time to choose a chair, there’s a new election dynamic. In ranked-choice voting, the votes for the last place candidate are distributed to those voters’ second choice until a candidate gets a majority of the total vote.
Reaching out to Democrats around the state, not just in population centers, and shoring up the party’s reputation are common priorities of the candidates.
“I think fundraising is a really important task,” state Sen. Kelda Roys, D-Madison, said about the next chair. “But we are a grassroots party and the reality is, money doesn’t mean much if you’re not on the ground in every community.”
The insider
Remiker, 32, now a senior adviser to the state party, lives in the Reedsburg area, about an hour northwest of Madison. He said the state party needs more focus on rural areas and voters of color, in part to repair its image.
“I think that we have fallen short, and not just the state party, but also the national Democratic Party and how people perceive us,” Remiker said. “I think we have a lot of trust building to do, and that is going to be a major focus of mine, is showing up, not to ask people to vote for us, but just to ask them to keep an open mind and rebuild those relationships of trust that have been damaged.”
At a WisPolitics event last week, Wikler said he’s been making phone calls on behalf of Remiker and described him as the architect of Crawford’s successful Supreme Court strategy of turning the race into a referendum on billionaire and Trump efficiency czar Elon Musk, who heavily backed her conservative opponent.
Remiker described more engagement at events such as festivals and farmers markets, even away from election campaign season, as the way to maintain the momentum from the Supreme Court election.
“People take for granted that if we just show up and start talking about issues, issues that the vast majority of voters agree with us on,” that Democratic candidates will win votes, Remiker said. “But if they don’t trust the messenger, if they think that they can’t trust the Democratic Party to actually deliver or actually focus on these issues, we’re not actually able to break through.”
Remiker also has endorsements from former state Democratic Party chairs Martha Laning, Martha Love and Jeff Neubauer; U.S. Rep. Gwen Moore of Milwaukee; state Senate Minority Leader Dianne Hesselbein and state Assembly Minority Leader Greta Neubauer.
The communicator
Zepecki, 43, lives in the Milwaukee suburb of Shorewood and runs his own communications firm. His election campaign experience includes serving as communications director for Mary Burke’s 2014 gubernatorial campaign and Barack Obama’s 2012 Wisconsin presidential campaign.
Zepecki said he wants to “fine-tune” party mobilization and get-out-the-vote efforts.
“I think over the last six years, the approach has become a little too top-down, a little too one-size-fits-all,” he said. “We need to have a system that is flexible enough for local leaders to have a voice in the strategy because they’re the ones doing the work at the local level.”
Zepecki also said the party needs to improve communication to increase trust.
“This is not unique to Wisconsin. The Democratic Party nationally has a brand problem. Our communications and messaging are not landing,” Zepecki said.
“We have to try stuff, we have to innovate,” he added. “It might not all work, but shame on us if we don’t try and we don’t listen to the voters who are telling us they don’t believe us and they’re not hearing enough from us. That’s on us, not on the voters.”
Zepecki’s endorsements include former state party chair Linda Honold; the party chairs in Milwaukee, Racine, Waukesha, Marathon and Rock counties; and Tina Pohlman, who is co-chair along with Garcia in La Crosse County.
The dark horse
Garcia, 52, of La Crosse is a Western Technical College instructor. He is party chair for the 3rd Congressional District in western Wisconsin.
Garcia said he’s running because the county parties have been “left behind,” lacking enough resources from the state party on things such as party members, voters and communications.
“Because at the end of the day, commercials are really important, social media is really important, but it’s really the one-on-one in-person contacts that emanate from the county parties that persuade and flip voters,” he said.
Garcia, who lacks big-name endorsements, said his position as a county party leader positions him well in the election.
The state party “does so much really well, this is the blind spot right now, and that’s why I think I’m the best choice to fix it, because I’m the one that’s kind of lived in that blind spot for years,” he said.
Wisconsin Watch is a nonprofit, nonpartisan newsroom. Subscribe to our newsletters for original stories and our Friday news roundup.
Nonpartisan analysts estimate that President Donald Trump’s megabill would add at least $2 trillion to the national debt over 10 years.
The Congressional Budget Office’s preliminary estimate says the tax-and-spending bill now in Congress will add $2.3 trillion.
Other estimates are higher: Tax Foundation: $2.56 trillion; University of Pennsylvania’s Penn Wharton Budget Model: $2.79 trillion; Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget: $3.1 trillion, including interest payments.
Some estimates under $2 trillion account for projected economic growth, while other estimates over $5 trillion note some provisions in the bill are temporary and will likely be extended.
The debt, which is the accumulation of annual spending that exceeds revenues, is $36 trillion.
U.S. Rep. Gwen Moore, D-Milwaukee, and U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., claimed the bill would add trillions.
Among other things, the bill would make 2017 individual income tax cuts permanent, add work requirements for Medicaid and food assistance, and add funding for defense and more deportations.
This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.
The percentage of Wisconsin schoolchildren not receiving state-mandated vaccinations because of their parents’ personal beliefs is four times higher than it was a generation ago.
That rise in personal conviction waivers has driven a decrease in all immunizations among Wisconsin children ahead of new measles outbreaks hitting the U.S. that are linked to three deaths.
Wisconsin’s measles vaccination rate among kindergartners was the third-lowest in the nation in the 2023-24 school year, behind Idaho and Alaska. (Montana didn’t report data.)
Here’s a look at how we got here.
Vaccine laws in all 50 states
Immunizations are so common that all 50 states have laws requiring them for schoolchildren. Wisconsin was among the first, in 1882.
In the 1950s, the child mortality rate was 4.35%, largely due to childhood diseases. That rate dropped to 0.77% by 2022, according to the nonpartisan Wisconsin Legislative Fiscal Bureau.
“Vaccines have brought about one of the largest improvements in public health in human history, making diseases that once caused widespread illness and many deaths, such as measles, mumps, and rubella, rare in the United States,” the agency reported.
For the 2024-25 school year, Wisconsin required seven immunizations (18 doses) for children to enter school. That included shots for measles (MMR), polio and hepatitis B. COVID-19 and influenza vaccines are not included.
Overall, the vast majority of Wisconsin students, 89.2%, met the minimum immunization requirements in the 2023–24 school year, according to the state’s latest annual report.
That’s essentially unchanged from the previous two school years.
But it’s down more than three percentage points from 92.3% in 2017-18.
For highly communicable diseases such as measles, a threshold above 95% is needed to protect most people through “herd immunity.”
More parents refusing to get kids vaccinated
Wisconsin had been a nationalleader in childhood immunizations.
But increasingly, Wisconsin parents are opting out:
For all childhood immunizations, vaccination rates statewide were lower in almost every quarter from 2020 through 2024, in comparison with the average rate in the three years before COVID-19.
Wisconsin was one of the states with the largest drops in the measles vaccination rate for kindergartners between the 2022-23 and 2023-24 school years, and no county had an MMR vaccination rate above 85%, The Economist reported.
By a different measure, the measles vaccination rate for 2-year-olds in 2024 was as low as 44% in Vernon County and under 70% in 14 other counties.
On exemptions, Wisconsin differs from most states
All states have exemptions that allow parents not to have their children vaccinated. Medical and religious reasons are the most common.
In Wisconsin, there’s also a third waiver.
Wisconsin regulations say the Wisconsin Department of Health Services shall provide a waiver for health reasons if a physician certifies that an immunization “is or may be harmful to the health of a student”; or, if the parent of a minor student, or an adult student, submits a signed statement that “declares an objection to immunization on religious or personal conviction grounds.”
That philosophical exemption, based on personal beliefs, exists only in 15states, including Wisconsin, Michigan and Minnesota.
“The bottom line is: If you don’t want your child vaccinated, you don’t have to,” said Kia Kjensrud, interim director of Immunize Wisconsin, which supports vaccination organizations.
In 2023-24, 6.1% of Wisconsin students used a waiver.
That includes 5.2% who had a personal conviction waiver — a rate more than four times higher than the 1.2% in 1997-98.
Waiver use has increased because the number of required vaccines and the legal protections given to vaccine manufacturers have “fueled skepticism about vaccine safety and testing rigor,” Wisconsin United for Freedom said in an email. The De Pere-based group works to protect “rights to medical freedom” and promotes vaccine skepticism.
Rep. Lisa Subeck, D-Madison, one of the lawmakers who introducedlegislation in 2023 to repeal the personal conviction waiver, said she believes some parents have genuine convictions against vaccinations. But “many of the folks who are choosing this exemption are doing it because of misinformation” claiming that vaccines are dangerous, she said.
Groups that registered to lobby in favor of Subeck’s bill included associations of physicians, nurses and local health departments. Wisconsin Family Action, which works to advance Judeo-Christian values, opposed it. The bill did not pass.
Kjensrud also blamed Wisconsin’s declining immunization rates on misinformation. But she said that rather than legislation, her group wants to improve “messaging the safety, efficacy and lifesaving importance of vaccines, and increasing vaccination rates however we can.”
Bipartisan support for personal exemption
Wisconsin’s modern student immunization law was passed in 1975 with only the medical and religious waivers. In 1980, the Legislature added the personal conviction waiver.
The waiver was included in a broader amendment proposed by 10 Democratic members and 11 Republican members of the Assembly.
The lead sponsor was the late Richard Flintrop, who represented Oshkosh and was known as a child welfare advocate. He also was a former staff member to maverick Democratic U.S. Sen. William Proxmire.
Wisconsin United For Freedom said the recent measles outbreaks “raise valid concerns,” but that “the focus should be on balanced public health strategies that prioritize sanitation, nutrition, and informed choice alongside vaccination, rather than relying solely on mandates.”
Wisconsin Watch wants to hear your perspective on vaccinations. Do you have questions about measles, its vaccine or how to keep your family safe? Or do you have perspectives to share about prevention efforts in your community?
If so, fill out this brief form. Your submissions will shape the direction of our reporting and will not be shared publicly.
In the latest assessment, Mississippi’s fourth grade public school students scored higher than Wisconsin’s in reading proficiency, though the ratings “were not significantly different.”
The National Assessment of Educational Progress ratings, issued every two years, are administered by the U.S. Education Department.
In 2022, 33% of Wisconsin fourth graders rated “at or above proficient” in reading, vs. 31% in Mississippi.
In 2024, Wisconsin dropped to 31%; Mississippi rose to 32%.
NAEP said the states’ scores were “not significantly different.”
U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany, who represents most of northern Wisconsin, claimed May 17 at the Wisconsin Republican Party convention Wisconsin had “fallen behind” Mississippi in reading. His office cited 2024 fourth grade scores.
Mississippi’s fourth grade scores surged in the past decade.
Among eighth graders, Wisconsin outperformed Mississippi in 2024 (31%-23%) and 2022 (32%-22%).
The Wisconsin Supreme Court is weighing a dispute between Democratic Gov. Tony Evers and the Republican-controlled Legislature over releasing $50 million in literacy funding.
This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.
Sources
National Assessment of Educational Progress: About NAEP
Most Americans would not face a tax increase near 65% if President Donald Trump’s tax cut extension does not become law.
The bill would extend income tax cuts set to expire Dec. 31. It would offset some costs with Medicaid and food stamp cuts.
The Tax Foundation estimates that if the cuts expire, 62% of taxpayers would see a tax increase in 2026. The average taxpayer’s increase would be 19.4% ($2,955).
House Republicans estimated 22%, a figure cited by the White House.
GOP U.S. Rep. Derrick Van Orden, who represents western Wisconsin, claimed May 17 at the Wisconsin Republican Party convention that “the vast majority of Americans” would see a 65% increase.
His office did not respond to requests for information.
Tax Policy Center expert Howard Gleckman said “there is no income group that would get anything like a 65% tax hike.”
University of Wisconsin-Madison economist Andrew Reschovsky also said the 65% claim is far from accurate.
This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.
As of May 21, all Milwaukee County teens who are the responsibility of the county and held in Wisconsin’s youth prisons were Black or Hispanic.
There were 28 teens (96.4% Black) under “non-serious juvenile offender” court orders.
That includes teens age 17 and under sentenced to the state-run Lincoln Hills or Copper Lake schools – where costs approach $500,000 per year per youth – or the Mendota mental health facility.
Milwaukee County official Kelly Pethke said the county pays for non-serious juvenile offenders; the state pays for juveniles who are sentenced for more serious felonies. Pethke said in early May there were 35 Milwaukee County teens under serious orders, but she didn’t have a racial breakdown.
The Wisconsin Department of Corrections said May 22 it tracks racial data by region. Nine of 66 youths (13.6%) in the southeast region were white.
Researcher Monique Liston cited the racial disparity in a social media post.
This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.
Transgender people – those who have a gender identity that differs from the sex assigned to them at birth – are not considered by medical authorities to have mental illness simply because they are transgender.
In 2013, the American Psychiatric Association revised its mental disorders manual and no longer listed being transgender as a mental disorder.
“Gender identity disorder” was eliminated and replaced with “gender dysphoria.”
Gender dysphoria is a diagnosis for the distress experienced by some whose gender identity conflicts with their sex assigned at birth.
Numerous medical groups, including the World Health Organization, have stated that being trans is not a mental disorder.
U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., suggested May 17 at the Wisconsin Republican Party convention that being trans is a mental illness. She said “women shouldn’t be forced to share” facilities such as bathrooms “with mentally ill men.”
Her campaign spokesperson did not provide information to support Mace’s reference to mental illness.
This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.
Studies have found some evidence of liberal leanings among journalists, but not radical viewpoints.
Harvard’s Nieman Journalism Lab said everyone has a different idea about what constitutes news.
Media Biasrates most media in a range of “strong left, skews left, middle, skews right or strong right.”
Of the remainder, media rated “hyper-partisan right” or “most extreme right” outnumber those rated “hyper-partisan left” or “most extreme left.”
AllSides, which rates online U.S. political content, rates most media as “lean left,” “center” or “lean right.”
A 2022 Syracuse University survey said 52% of 1,600 U.S. journalists identified themselves as independent, 36% Democrat, 3% Republican.
A 2020 study by researchers from three U.S. universities concluded that “a dominant majority of journalists identify as liberals/Democrats,” but exhibit “no bias against conservatives” in what they cover.
The office of U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., didn’t provide evidence to back his May 9 claim that “most” American news media are “radical leftists.”
This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.
ROTHSCHILD — Far from the liberal capital, Republicans gathered over the weekend to assess the state of a party in full control of the federal government, but showing signs of continued collapse in Wisconsin.
There were plenty of middle-aged white guys, one towing “Trump” the service dog and one in a Carhartt polo talking about conspiracist Alex Jones. Among the handful of African American attendees was a man sporting a “Black Guns Matter” T-shirt. An Appleton 25-year-old in a suit and tie talked up the need for more young people in leadership. A Dane County woman shared her thoughts on clamping down on illegal immigration and onshoring manufacturing jobs, as another attendee walked past in an American flag dress.
What many of these rank-and-file Republicans shared, as they gathered for the Wisconsin Republican Party’s annual convention, was applause for the sheer speed of President Donald Trump’s actions in office — and a desire for more moves to the right in the 2026 elections.
In purple Wisconsin, that film has played out before, and it didn’t go so well for Republicans. After Trump’s first election in 2016, the party lost control of the governor’s office and the state Supreme Court. April’s Supreme Court victory for Dane County Judge Susan Crawford means liberals will control the court through at least 2028 and could reshape the state’s congressional maps to help Democrats retake Congress in the midterms.
While there was some talk of blaming GOP state chair Brian Schimming for the poor April showing, none of that materialized in Rothschild. Instead, the party talked up the November victory and how to double down on the same Trumpian rhetoric heading into 2026.
Here’s how several of the 500 convention attendees at the Central Wisconsin Convention & Expo Center near Wausau assessed the first four months of Trump’s second term and what they want to see from GOP leaders going forward.
How state Republicans view Trump 2.0
Delegates were animated in their praise of Trump for keeping his campaign promises.
“It gets better every day,” said Rock County delegate Michael Mattus, accompanied by his Belgian service dog. “I’m happy every day. Wake up and thinking, what’s he gonna do today?”
Adams County GOP chair Pete Church, who was elected chair of the state party’s county chairs at the convention, said he only wishes the U.S. House and Senate picked up the pace.
“It would be great if we could get Congress to actually put some of these things into law,” he said. “None of us really wants to see a government run by executive order, but that’s where we’re at.”
Delegates lauded Trump’s visit last week to the Middle East and his crackdown on illegal immigration.
“I have uncles, I have aunts that came over here illegally. I don’t associate with them,” said Martin Ruiz Gomez, 39, a one-time Milwaukee-based MMA fighter attending his first state GOP convention. “It’s not nothing against them, but they’re not doing things right.”
The delegates even backed Trump initiatives that have less public support, such as tariffs. The on-again, off-again measures are viewed by some as making international trade fair and encouraging companies to create manufacturing jobs in the U.S., but recent polling has found more than 60% of Americans oppose them and worry they will raise prices. Rising prices was an issue that fueled Trump’s victory in November.
“Well, I was a little nervous about the tariffs when my (retirement savings account) went (down), but he’s doing what he set out to do,” said Calumet County delegate Linda Hoerth.
Portage County delegate Michael Zaremba agreed, saying the tariffs will eventually return more manufacturing jobs to the U.S.
“Just like with a pregnancy, you have to grow it, and then you have to experience the pain,” said Milwaukee County delegate Cindy Werner, who ran for the GOP nomination for lieutenant governor in 2022. “But then there’s joy that comes after that.”
Delegates happy with Trump’s performance were mild with any criticism.
“Trump hasn’t always been a big supporter of the Second Amendment. I mean, he is, but he also isn’t super firm on that,” said 25-year-old Reive Pullen, a gun-rights supporter from Outagamie County.
Dane County delegate Tya Lichte could have done without Trump’s talk of taking control of Greenland or making Canada the 51st state.
“I understand he always likes to lead big and then heel back,” she said.
What more they want from GOP leaders
Soon, attention will turn to 2026 and the election for governor. Democratic Gov. Tony Evers hasn’t said whether he’ll seek a third term. His 2018 win over Republican Gov. Scott Walker marked the end of eight years of GOP rule in Wisconsin and came as Democrats flipped 41 seats to take back control of the U.S. House.
Hoerth, a board member of the Calumet County GOP, wants the next governor to “get rid of all this DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion)” and push for a state referendum on at what stage of pregnancy abortion should be legal in Wisconsin.
Hoerth likes the background of military veteran and Washington County Executive Josh Schoemann, the only announced Republican candidate for governor, based on Schoemann’s recent visit with her and other Calumet County Republicans.
“He got the entire group wound up looking at their phones, checking some different websites that he was telling us about,” she said. “It was great.”
Another Republican mentioned as a potential gubernatorial candidate, northern Wisconsin U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany, sounded like one. He used much of his convention speech to criticize Evers, but not to make any big announcements.
Wisconsin Congressman Tom Tiffany addresses the audience in his speech during the Republican Party of Wisconsin state convention on Saturday, May 17, 2025, at the Central Wisconsin Convention & Expo Center in Rothschild, Wis. “Isn’t it great inflation is going down here in the United States of America and jobs are going up?” Tiffany said as he held up an egg carton and the audience applauded. (Joe Timmerman / Wisconsin Watch)
Lichte, of Dane County, said she wants the next governor to follow Trump’s lead on reshoring jobs and to try to make Milwaukee a technology hub.
Milwaukee County GOP chair Hilario Deleon said reducing crime, taxes and the size of state government are top priorities.
Rock County’s Mattus, who called abortion “pro-murder,” said he became more active because “this world (is) becoming more communist and I’m not for that.”
In the name of election integrity, Portage County’s Zaremba wants Republicans to get rid of the state Elections Commission and return to hand-counting paper ballots.
Some delegates expressed hope that their party can mend fences with nonprofits such as Turning Point USA in their efforts to elect Republicans. During the recent Supreme Court race there were disputes about how to campaign that went public and exposed rifts among conservatives.
“It’s all right that we don’t always agree, but when we’re taking those arguments to social media for the whole world to see, that’s where I don’t like it,” said Church, the new head of the county chairs. “The only way it can be fixed is through cooperation.”
Wisconsin Watch is a nonprofit, nonpartisan newsroom. Subscribe to our newsletters for original stories and our Friday news roundup.
Wisconsin has just one nuclear power plant. Republican legislation, along with an initiative from Democratic Gov. Tony Evers, could move the state toward more nuclear power.
The GOP-led Senate Bill 125, introduced in March, would require the state Public Service Commission, which regulates electric and gas utilities in Wisconsin, to conduct a nuclear power siting study.
The study would identify nuclear power generation opportunities on existing power generation sites, as well as on sites not now used for power generation.
It would help Wisconsin “catch up with other states that have already made important strides in exploring new nuclear energy,” said Paul Wilson, chair of the Department of Nuclear Engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
State Sen. Julian Bradley, R-New Berlin, who introduced the bill, did not respond to requests for comment.
Groups registered in favor of the legislation include the Wisconsin Utilities Association and several employee unions. The PSC also supports the bill, noting that an amendment to the bill keeps the current timeline for the commission to review applications for such electricity generation.
Opponents include Sierra Club Wisconsin, which says nuclear power “poses significant risks due to its high costs, long construction timelines, unresolved radioactive waste issues and the potential for catastrophic accidents.”
The environmental group Clean Wisconsin says the nuclear industry, not taxpayers, should fund siting studies.
The effort to explore more nuclear energy is bipartisan in that, separately, Evers proposed in his 2025-27 state budget spending $1 million to do a nuclear power plant feasibility study.
Evers, calling nuclear energy clean, said in a statement to Wisconsin Watch that “with new advanced nuclear technology and the increasing need for energy across Wisconsin, it is long past time that we invest in new, innovative industries and technologies.”
Wisconsin’s only operating nuclear power plant, Point Beach, is near the Manitowoc County community of Two Rivers.
Just six months ago, the Wisconsin Republican Party was flying pretty high.
Despite an unsuccessful attempt to jettison U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, the GOP held its Wisconsin seats in the U.S. House and its majorities (albeit smaller) in the state Legislature. Donald Trump’s win in the Badger State put him over the top for a second term in the White House.
Soon after, Brian Schimming was re-elected to a second two-year term as the party’s state chairman.
But, like a sudden drop in cabin pressure, things in politics can change quickly.
There is unrest among some Republicans as they prepare to gather for the state party’s annual convention on Saturday.
The meeting comes some six weeks after a stinging loss in the state Supreme Court election, in which Dane County Judge Susan Crawford defeated GOP-backed Waukesha County Judge Brad Schimel by 10 points, cementing a liberal court majority until at least 2028.
A few vocal critics blamed Schimming, who has promised an ”investigation” into what went wrong. Schimming declined an interview request.
The party will meet in Rothschild, a village south of Wausau in Marathon County. One of the county’s leading Republicans, state Rep. Brent Jacobson of Mosinee, doesn’t blame Schimming for Schimel’s loss.
“That Supreme Court race was a reaction to Trump’s victory in November,” said Jacobson, who was elected to his first term last fall. “Democrats were super energized, and they simply turned out in far greater numbers than Republicans did.”
Jacobson said he is satisfied with Schimming’s performance and wants his fellow Republicans to turn the page. He credited Schimming with encouraging Republicans to embrace early voting during the November election, which Jacobson called “a difference maker,” and getting Trump to visit Dane County during the campaign.
“In politics, you have to have a short memory about losses,” he said.
Rep. Brent Jacobson, R-Mosinee, leaves the 2025 state budget address Feb. 18, 2025, at the Wisconsin State Capitol in Madison, Wis. (Joe Timmerman / Wisconsin Watch)
Julia Azari, a political science professor at Marquette University, said Schimming has a difficult job because Wisconsin “has a very unclear relationship with Trump and Trumpism.”
On the one hand, she said, Wisconsin helped Trump to victory in 2016 as well as 2024, but policies such as tariffs in his second term have met with pushback.
Azari also pointed to factors other than Schimming’s leadership for the Supreme Court outcome. She cited the involvement of billionaire Elon Musk in pushing Schimel’s candidacy as more important.
“A lot of it is related to resentment about Musk coming in from on high,” Azari said of Schimel’s loss. “I think Wisconsin voters are resistant to nationalization, and that the nationalization of party politics has had a limited impact here.”
For his part, Jacobson is looking ahead to the governor’s race in 2026, hoping for party unity.
Democrat Tony Evers has not said whether he will seek a third term; so far one Republican, Washington County Executive Josh Schoemann, is in the race.
Jacobson said he expects more Republican candidates, but hopes not to see a repeat of 2022. He said that year’s GOP primary battle between businessman Tim Michels, who defeated former Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch for the nomination, left the party hobbled against Evers.
“We can always learn from history and I would hope that we did that from 2022, so that we can not only be united but come out of the primary process with a lot more resources” in 2026, Jacobson said.
Wisconsin Watch is a nonprofit, nonpartisan newsroom. Subscribe to our newsletters for original stories and our Friday news roundup.
The federal Medicare program spends more per beneficiary for a person on Medicare Advantage than if the person were on traditional Medicare.
The difference is projected at 20% higher, or $84 billion, in 2025, compared with 22% and $83 billion in 2024, according to the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission.
The independent congressional agency says a key reason is Medicare Advantage uses a fixed monthly payment per beneficiary, rather than fee-for-service.
Medicare is federal health insurance mainly for people age 65 and over. Medicare Advantage is a private alternative paid for by Medicare. Advantage enrollees can get more benefits, but are restricted on providers they can see.
Advantage enrollment has been increasing, but some enrollees find it difficult to switch to traditional Medicare when they get older and sicker.
Democratic U.S. Rep. Mark Pocan, who represents the Madison area, claimed in April that Medicare Advantage was created to save money but costs more than Medicare.
This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.
The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 2025 general recommendations are that children receive about 19 vaccinations and other immunizations.
Those include vaccines against polio, measles, mumps, rubella, hepatitis, tetanus and diphtheria. The range is from one to five doses from birth through age 18.
Total doses could exceed 70. That’s mainly from annual recommended doses of the COVID-19 and influenza vaccines.
Wisconsin requires seven immunizations (19 doses) for schoolchildren. COVID-19 and influenza vaccines are not included.
Before vaccines, many children died from diseases such as measles and pertussis (whooping cough), according to the Wisconsin Department of Health Services.
The viruses and bacteria that cause these diseases still exist, and some are deadly, the department says.
Attorney Mary Holland, head of Children’s Health Defense, an organization founded by U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr. that questions vaccines, said May 1 on Wisconsin radio the federal recommendation is for “at least 77 vaccines.”
This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.
Wisconsin’s constitution gives the Legislature two methods for removing judges from office.
Impeachment starts with a majority Assembly vote based on “corrupt conduct in office” or commission of a crime. A two-thirds Senate vote following a Senate trial would result in removal.
“Removal by address” occurs through a two-thirds vote of each chamber, based on misconduct. The judge would have an opportunity to make a defense.
Wisconsin judges run in nonpartisan elections. Bothchambers of the Legislature have a simple Republican majority.
Republicans called for the Legislature to remove Milwaukee County Judge Hannah Dugan after the FBI arrested her April 24. She is charged with two crimes for allegedly obstructing Immigration and Customs Enforcement from arresting a criminal defendant in her courtroom.
The Wisconsin Supreme Court temporarily suspended Dugan. The Supreme Court can also remove judges for misconduct, based on a state Judicial Commission investigation.
A memo issued by Democratic Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers’ administration directs state employees to contact an attorney before offering any cooperation if they are encountered in the workplace by a federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent.
ICE enforces immigration laws, including seeking and deporting individuals in the U.S. illegally.
Not give consent for the agent to enter a nonpublic area.
Call the attorney who represents their office and, if that fails, ask the agent to return later.
Not give the agent data without approval from the attorney.
Republican U.S. Rep. Bryan Steil of southern Wisconsin criticized Evers after the April 25 arrest of Milwaukee County Judge Hannah Dugan. She is charged with obstructing immigration authorities from arresting a criminal defendant in her courtroom. Evers said he did not encourage state employees to break the law.
Login
