The Montana Republican Party continues to fracture

By DARRELL EHRLICK | Editor-in-Chief

"The Fourth Amendment is not an inconvenience, it’s a requirement embedded in our Constitution that everyone should follow.” – U.S. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, on what Democrats expect from The Department of Homeland Security moving forward.

The Montana Republican Party continues to draw a line between itself and nine state Senators who came together with Democrats during the 2025 Legislature. State GOP Chairman Art Wittich calls the group “The Nasty Nine” and has promised to primary all of them, while a district court judge says that the party can associate with whomever it wants, rejecting a lawsuit by three of the Senators to challenge the party leadership.

Montana’s economy will look similar in 2026 to the state’s economy in 2025, according to economic leaders. While Montana’s wage growth continues to outpace the national average, high inflation and high housing, coupled with uncertainty about tariffs, make this year more of the same.

Fueled by the recent arrest of a longtime resident and business owner of Froid by federal agents and an immigration resolution in Helena, the residents of Great Falls are asking their city commission to adopt a measure that curbs aggressive federal law enforcement actions in their city.

For the third time in a week, President Donald J. Trump renews a call to have the federal government take over elections, saying that some states cannot be trusted, and renewing his debunked concerns about election fraud in 2020.

The Trump administration has said that it will be removing 700 immigration and customs officers from the Twin Cities. That’s roughly the same number of uniformed police officers that Minneapolis employs. 

Though the federal government shutdown remained brief, the top two Democratic leaders in Congress have presented their list of policy changes they would like to see made for the Department of Homeland Security in order to pass a more permanent funding solution. Meanwhile, the Republicans’ top negotiator, Sen. Katie Britt of Alabama, said that the GOP may need more than two weeks, making another stopgap measure likely.

The man accused of traveling across the country and fatally shooting a National Guard member has pleaded not guilty while prosecutors in the case mull the death penalty.

The family of Renee Good, one of two people shot by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials, had hoped that her death might bring about positive changes, but so far, they’ve told members of Congress the response to her killing has been muted.

U.S. Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona went to federal court to fight the Trump administration’s attempt to strip him of rank and pay for appearing in a video where he and other Democrats in Congress urged members of the U.S. Armed Forces to disobey unlawful orders. His attorneys have argued that both the First Amendment and legislative privilege protect his speech, but an attorney for the federal government said that members of the military have an exception to the First Amendment, something the judge appeared skeptical of.

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There’s no doubt that President Donald Trump is reshaping the presidency, and it still remains to be seen how permanent any of those changes will be. However, there can be even less doubt about Trump reshaping the actual look of Washington, D.C. Two stories by The Washington Post chronicle those changes. The first is from the fallout over abruptly announcing that he, as the chairman of the Kennedy Center board, would be closing the facility for two years for renovations, taking staff and artists by surprise, and leaving many unemployed.

The other story The Post reported on Wednesday was a new plan by Trump to place a statue of explorer Christopher Columbus outside the White House. He told the media that Columbus has been forgotten and hoped that Italian-Americans would be gratified.

A story The Daily Montanan published last week detailed changes that the Trump administration was making to signs and information available at national parks and national historic sites around Montana. Those changes included changing the narrative about Glacier National Park and the Battle of The Little Bighorn site. Trump officials claim that it’s to remove history that doesn’t promote America’s greatness or smacks of “woke ideology.” However, we present this message from the Blackfeet Nation’s Facebook page that addresses the historic revisionism:

Blackfeet people no longer have control of our own story.

U.S. National Parks Ordered to Remove Signs Addressing Native American Mistreatment and Climate Change

As of January 2026, the Trump administration has directed the National Park Service (NPS) to remove or revise signs, exhibits, and educational materials across numerous U.S. national parks that address the mistreatment of Native Americans, climate change, and other contested historical realities. Parks impacted include Glacier National Park and the Little Big Horn.

At Glacier National Park, materials documenting the mass slaughter by the U.S. Army’s 1870 Baker (Marias) Massacre of the Piegan Blackfeet have been specifically targeted for removal. This includes both a brochure and a physical sign that acknowledged this history.

According to a Washington Post report cited by Reuters, interpretive materials in at least 17 national parks have been flagged for removal or editing. The National Park Service is implementing an executive order titled “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History,” which requires federal agencies to review public-facing materials to ensure alignment with what the administration describes as “shared national values.” The U.S. Department of the Interior has confirmed that signage across the entire national park system is under review.

Civil rights, Indigenous, and environmental organizations warn that these actions undo decades of progress toward honest historical acknowledgment. In Glacier National Park—Blackfeet’s homeland is where climate change is visibly reshaping glaciers, ecosystems, and lifeways—the removal of this information risks erasing essential context about the park’s past, present, and future.

This is not merely a change in signage. It is a narrowing of whose history is allowed to be told—and who gets to tell it.

Well, this is an exciting day for those of you who keep close tabs on “The Hook.” One of our longest-serving and most prolific contributors, Robyn Schanzenbach, is back at the helm from a brief hiatus. She is a great eDJ and friend, and she has today’s featured song.

Now Robyn, over to you:

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I am in an email group with about 10 friends. We have known each other for 50-plus years.  Our exchanges usually center on news events, politics or music.  One group member, who tries to keep the discussions on the rails (and is himself a contributing Hookster), had a birthday yesterday. As a gift, we all sent him a song of our choice. Lots of great stuff floated around, but this one feels very striking for the here and now. (Thank you, Tom B, for sending the song.)

Stephen Stills wrote "For What It's Worth (Stop, Hey, What's That Sound)" in November 1966 in response to Los Angeles' Sunset Strip curfew riots. Stills was part of Buffalo Springfield, then the house band at Whisky a Go Go on the strip. Rock history has it that Stills handed the demo to Atlantic's CEO, Ahmet Ertegan, a few days after the song was recorded in December 1966. Stills told Ertegun that he could use it, "for what it's worth."

As you all know, "For What It's Worth" became one of the most well-known protest songs of the 60's and 70's and is still starkly associated with the Vietnam War and the Kent State shootings.  

The song is now 60 years old, and, sadly, it is still relevant. Dave Matthews covered it in 2020 (in the wake of George Floyd's death, I imagine, but I don't know that for sure). Matthews' chilling interpretation is mournful and bleak. Just like now.

If you have a song that you’d like to share, or would like to get in touch with us, please send us a note at [email protected]

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