Trump’s plan to extort Minnesota, briefly defined

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<img alt="Attorney General Pam Bondi is seen in profile, facing to the right and sitting along one side of a long table in a high-backed chair." data-caption="Attorney General Pam Bondi is seen at a Cabinet meeting at the White House on December 2, 2025. | Yuri Gripas/CNP/Bloomberg via Getty Images" data-portal-copyright="Yuri Gripas/CNP/Bloomberg via Getty Images" data-has-syndication-rights="1" src="https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/gettyimages-2249021900.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0,0,100,100" /> Lawyer Common Pam Bondi is seen at a Cupboard assembly on the White Home on December 2, 2025. | Yuri Gripas/CNP/Bloomberg by way of Getty Pictures This story appeared in The Logoff , a day by day publication that helps you keep knowledgeable concerning the Trump administration with out letting political information take over your life. Subscribe here .

Welcome to The Logoff: Minnesota’s secretary of state stated over the weekend that the Trump administration is attempting to “ransom” Minneapolis’s freedom from an more and more violent federal presence.

What’s taking place? In a Saturday letter to Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, Lawyer Common Pam Bondi wrote that there have been “frequent sense options” to “convey an finish to the chaos in Minnesota”: share Minnesota’s voter rolls and Medicaid and meals help information with the Trump administration and repeal “sanctuary insurance policies” in Minnesota.

Bondi tied the calls for to what she described as “uncontrolled fraud” in Minnesota — a reference to a sweeping, years-old welfare fraud scandal within the state that additionally precipitated the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown in Minneapolis that started in early January. Vice President JD Vance has also said the administration needs to make use of Medicaid and SNAP information for immigration enforcement.

What’s the context? Federal immigration brokers killed a second US citizen in Minneapolis on Saturday, capturing 37-year-old Alex Pretti a number of instances after beating him and forcing him to his knees. Pretti’s demise has pushed tensions within the metropolis even greater, after weeks of out-of-control conduct by federal brokers.

Why does this matter? Tying a request for voter information to the Trump administration’s Minneapolis crackdown is an alarming step from the DOJ, which has beforehand sued Minnesota and different states to acquire their voter rolls. The quid-pro-quo behind Bondi’s request would characterize a brand new degree of politicization for the division, with potential penalties for the midterm elections.

“Although I’m not essentially predicting direct federal interference with elections, I'm planning for it,” Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon told the New York Times .

What’s the large image? Bondi’s letter may create issues for the Trump administration in federal district courtroom, the place its continued presence in Minnesota is at present being litigated. On Monday, Decide Kate Menendez asked whether or not the administration may be “attempting to realize a objective by way of power that it could’t obtain by way of the courts.”

And with that, it’s time to sign off…

Relying on the place you might be proper now, the probabilities are good you’re at present blanketed underneath many inches of snow (or “cement-like” snow and ice, in the event you’re within the Washington, DC, space). In observance of that truth, right here’s a gift link for an excellent story from the Vox archives on why snow days are good for youths. Thanks for studying, keep heat, and we’ll see you again right here tomorrow!