The Conversation -- April 23, 2025
Marc Caputo of Axios: "Elon Musk and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent got into a heated shouting match in earshot of '... [Donald] Trump and other officials in the White House last week during a dispute about the IRS, two witnesses and three sources briefed on the matter tell Axios. 'It was two billionaire, middle-aged men thinking it was WWE in the hall of the West Wing,' one witness said of the argument last Thursday. (Bessent's net worth is actually $520 million.)... 'They were not physical in the Oval, but the president saw it, and then they carried it down the hall, and that's when they did it again, the first witness said. Said a second: 'It was quite a scene. It was loud. And I mean, loud.'"
Marie: Okay, okay, I know Drunk Pete has had his problems adjusting to his new job. But, finally, finally, we learn that he has things on the right track and is taking care of crucial Pentagon priorities: ~~~
~~~ He's Ready for His Close-up! Jennifer Jacobs & Eleanor Watson of CBS News: "Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth recently ordered modifications to a room next to the Pentagon press briefing room to retrofit it with a makeup studio that can be used to prepare for television appearances, multiple sources told CBS News. The price tag for the project was several thousand dollars, according to two of the sources, at a time when the administration is searching for cost-cutting measures. 'Changes and upgrades to the Pentagon Briefing Room are nothing new and routinely happen during changes in an administration,' a Defense Department spokesperson said in a statement to CBS News. The renovation that was initially planned was estimated to cost more than $40,000, but the ideas were scaled back, sources said."
Danielle Kaye of the New York Times: 'A stock market surge on Wednesday was again fueled not by concrete evidence of policy changes, but by off-the-cuff comments from ... [Donald] Trump and other officials, as investors latched onto scraps of information about tariffs, trade and other crucial issues that can shift from day to day. Wall StreeT's drastic swings this week -- a sharp sell-off on Monday, followed by two big daily rallies -- highlight how investors are swayed by the latest headlines amid the confusion and uncertainty about the White House's intentions.... Stocks surged to start the day [Wednesday], before paring back gains after Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent dismissed speculation that Mr. Trump would unilaterally lower tariffs imposed on Chinese goods. The S&P 500, which rose as much as 3 percent in early trading, settled to a gain of 1.7 percent for the day, extending the rally from the day before, when the index jumped 2.5 percent. The initial enthusiasm came from Mr. Trump's remark on Tuesday that he had 'no intention' of firing the Federal Reserve chair, Jerome H. Powell, which helped lift markets on Wednesday. Days before, Mr. Trump had lashed out at Mr. Powell -- 'If I want him out, he'll be out of there real fast,' he told reporters -- which unnerved investors who see the Fed's independence as critical to the health of the U.S. economy." ~~~
~~~ Jeff Stein, et al., of the Washington Post: '... Donald Trump's abrupt shift in rhetoric Tuesday toward Federal Reserve Chair Jerome H. Powell reflected the private lobbying of some of his senior advisers, who had urged the president to back off his incendiary attacks on the central bank.... On Monday, the stock market fell precipitously as Trump attacked Powell as a 'major loser,' fueling speculation that the president would move to fire the Fed chief. But by Tuesday afternoon, Trump appeared to dial back his rhetoric, saying he had 'no intention of firing' Powell and arguing that the 'press runs away with things.' Stock futures jumped overnight, and markets surged Wednesday as trading opened. The president's shift followed the counsel of several administration officials, including Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick....' ~~~
~~~ Marc Caputo & Ben Berkowitz of Axios: Donald "Trump got a scare from CEOs and markets on Monday. On Tuesday, he blunted some of his sharpest threats -- signaling a softer stance on China and retreating from fiery rhetoric targeting the Fed.... The CEOs of three of the nation's biggest retailers -- Walmart, Target and Home Depot -- privately warned him that his tariff and trade policy could disrupt supply chains, raise prices and empty shelves, according to sources familiar with the meeting.... Another official briefed on the meeting said the CEOs told Trump disruptions could become noticeable in two weeks. While that was happening, financial markets were slumping -- stocks, bonds, the dollar -- as investors panicked about Trump's latest threats to oust Fed chair Jerome Powell and step on the central bank's independence. Then on Tuesday, he turned the dial down. His Treasury secretary, and then his press secretary, and then Trump himself all indicated that trade talks with China were imminent, starting on a good foot, and would result in a deal with much lower tariffs than the current 145%."
Luke Broadwater of the New York Times: Donald 'Trump asserted on Tuesday that undocumented immigrants should not be entitled to trials, insisting that his administration should be able to deport them without appearing before a judge. The remarks, which he made in the Oval Office in front of reporters, were Mr. Trump's latest broadside against the judiciary, which he has said is inhibiting his deportation powers. Mr. Trump falsely claimed that countries like Congo and Venezuela had emptied their prisons into the United States and that he therefore needed to bypass the constitutional demands of due process to expel the immigrants quickly. 'I hope we get cooperation from the courts, because we have thousands of people that are ready to go out and you can't have a trial for all of these people,' Mr. Trump said. 'It wasn't meant. The system wasn't meant. And we don't think there's anything that says that.' He claimed that the 'very bad people' he was removing from the country included killers, drug dealers and the mentally ill.... Mr. Trump's remarks have drawn swift backlash.'
Zachary Leeman of Mediaite: "The wife of deported migrant Kilmar Abrego García has revealed she was moved into a safe house after government officials posted her address on social media. Jennifer Vasquez Sura spoke with The Washington Post's María Luisa Paúl after her husband's ongoing case and the depiction by the Trump administration. Sura said her address was shared publicly when the Department of Homeland Security posted an order of protection she sought -- and ultimately abandoned -- against her husband. The order did not have her address redacted." MB: Hard to say if the government's posting the family's address was the result of incompetence or injurious intent.
Akela Lacy of the Intercept: "Most professors at Barnard College received text messages on Monday notifying them that a federal agency was reviewing the college's employment practices, according to copies of the messages reviewed by The Intercept. The messages, sent to most Barnard professors' personal cellphones, asked them to complete a voluntary survey about their employment. 'Please select all that apply,' said the second question in the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, or EEOC, survey. The choices followed: 'I am Jewish'; 'I am Israeli'; 'I have shared Jewish/Israeli ancestry'; 'I practice Judaism'; and 'Other.'' Barnard claims the college provided their phone numbers to the EEOC in order to facilitate an EEOC investigation of whether or not Barnard discriminated against Jewish employees.
Siobhán O'Grady & Steve Hendrix of the Washington Post: 'Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky insisted Wednesday that Russia must accept a full ceasefire before negotiations, thwarting U.S. efforts to gain quick concessions from Kyiv, as ... Donald Trump said the Ukrainian leader's options were either peace now or the eventual loss of his country.... 'He can have Peace or, he can fight for another three years before losing the whole Country,' Trump wrote on Truth Social. 'We are very close to a Deal, but the man with "no cards to play" should now, finally, GET IT DONE.' U.S. officials presented a proposal last week that apparently included leaving Russia with 20 percent of the Ukrainian land it now occupies, while also denying Ukraine NATO membership and security guarantees. It has also offered U.S. recognition of Russia's illegal annexation of Crimea as well as the eventual lifting of sanctions.... Trump's post came soon after Vice President JD Vance warned that the White House could walk away from its own peace process if progress is not made soon.' The AP report is here. ~~~
~~~ Barak Ravid of Axios: "The U.S. expects Ukraine's response Wednesday to a peace framework that includes U.S. recognition of Crimea as part of Russia and unofficial recognition of Russian control of nearly all areas occupied since the 2022 invasion, sources with direct knowledge of the proposal tell Axios.... The one-page document the U.S. presented Ukrainian officials in Paris last week describes this as ... [Donald] Trump's 'final offer.' The White House insists it's ready to walk away if the parties don't make a deal soon." ~~~
~~~ Michael Shear & Mark Landler of the New York Times: "Vice President JD Vance on Wednesday called on Ukraine to accept an American peace proposal that closely aligns with longstanding Russian goals, including a 'freeze' of territorial lines in the three-year war, acceptance of the annexation of Crimea by Russia and a prohibition on Ukraine becoming part of the NATO alliance. It was the first time a U.S. official had publicly laid out a plan to end the war that favors Russia in such stark terms. A peace plan that leaves Russian forces deep inside eastern Ukraine would be welcome news in Moscow." ~~~
~~~ Tom Nichols of the Atlantic writes a firewalled opinion piece titled, "Trump Is Acting as a Proxy for Putin." I get the gist. ~~~
~~~ Update. Here's a gift link to a Nichols piece from laura h. Same topic; different title: "The proposal that Trump, Vice President J. D. Vance, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio are pushing is not a framework for peace, but a rich and bloody reward to Moscow for three years of aggression and war crimes.... [In exchange for the dream deal the Americans are offering Putin,] Ukraine gets basically nothing, except a vaporous security guarantee from an American president who has made clear his hostility to Ukraine and its leaders, an animus that became especially clear when Trump and Vance ambushed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky during a White House meeting last month. The Trump 'peace' plan is no such thing; it is an instrument of surrender, and the Ukrainians are unlikely to accept it.... We need not invoke World War II comparisons to recognize the moral and political vacuity of the Trump-Vance position.' ~~~
~~~ Marie: Europe's diplomats need to muster up some guts and, speaking as one, tell Team Trump to take a hike.
Mark Jacob of Stop the Presses has some good advice for major media on how they can redeem themselves. And they do need redemption. "The mainstream news media have helped bring us to this disaster with both-sidesing, sane-washing, and cheap fascination with Trump's supposed 'entertainment' skills. They had a duty to warn, and they largely failed. If our democracy goes down, legacy news outlets will be a key reason why." So here are Jacob's suggestions, on which he elaborates in his post: "1. Say directly that Trump is overthrowing democracy. Lose the weasel-wording.... 2. Cover the mass protests as major news.... 3. Treat White House briefings as the travesty they are.... 4. Show how Trump's cuts will hurt people.... 5. Emphasize that fascism is bad for the economy." Thanks to RAS for the link.
Carl Hulse of the New York Times: 'Senator Richard J. Durbin of Illinois, the No. 2 Senate Democrat for two decades and a leading liberal voice on Capitol Hill, announced on Wednesday that he would not seek re-election next year, closing out a 44-year congressional career.... The decision by Mr. Durbin, 80, was widely expected and will immediately touch off a crowded competition for a rare Senate vacancy in his solidly blue state. It also intensifies a generational shift in the chamber as he becomes the fifth sitting senator to announce a retirement, all of them over the age of 65.'
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Can one malevolent dictator really mess up the entire world economy? Yes, yes, he can. ~~~
~~~ Alan Rappeport of the New York Times: Donald 'Trump's trade war is expected to slow economic growth across the globe this year, in large part because his aggressive use of tariffs is likely to weigh heavily on the United States, the world's largest economy. The economic projections were released on Tuesday by the International Monetary Fund, in the wake of Mr. Trump's decision to raise tariffs to levels not seen since the Great Depression. The president has imposed a 10 percent tariff on nearly all imports, along with punishing levies of at least 145 percent on Chinese goods that come into the United States. Mr. Trump also imposed what he calls 'reciprocal' tariffs on America's largest trading partners, including the European Union, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan, although he has paused those until July as his administration works to secure bilateral trade deals. Mr. Trump's approach has created paralyzing uncertainty for U.S. companies that export products abroad or rely on foreign inputs for their goods, dampening output just as economies around the world were stabilizing after years of crippling inflation. China and Canada have already retaliated against Mr. Trump's tariffs with their own trade barriers, and the European Union has said it is prepared to increase levies if the United States goes ahead with its planned 20 percent tax.' (Also linked yesterday.)
Colby Smith of the New York Times: "On Tuesday, Mr. Trump said he had 'no intention' of firing [fed chair Jerome] Powell despite having lambasted him over several days, calling the Fed chair a 'major loser' and saying his 'termination cannot come fast enough!'... The clash between Mr. Trump and the Fed is likely to linger. On one side is a Fed now much more hesitant to reduce borrowing costs because of fears that the broad-based tariffs Mr. Trump has announced on virtually all U.S. trading partners will reignite inflation and slow economic growth. On the other side is a White House wanting immediate relief and taking steps to infringe on the central bank's longstanding political independence.... Financial markets have taken notice, whipsawing in what is likely a partial preview of the fallout should Mr. Trump follow through on his earlier threats. The Fed's independence from the White House is seen as sacrosanct across Wall Street.'
Bloomberg reports: "US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told a closed-door investor summit Tuesday that the tariff standoff with China cannot be sustained by both sides and that the world's two largest economies will have to find ways to de-escalate. That de-escalation will come in the very near future, Bessent said during an event hosted by J.P. Morgan Chase in Washington, which wasn't open to the public or media. He characterized the current situation as essentially a trade embargo, according to people who attended the session." Via Krugman. (Firewalled.) ~~~
~~~ Paul Krugman: "First -- and why aren't more people saying this? -- what the hell was the Treasury secretary doing giving a closed-door briefing on a significant policy change that hadn't yet been officially announced? Isn't that a setup for large-scale insider trading? Indeed, attendees at that conference surely made market bets before Bessent's remarks became public.... Was Bessent paid for his appearance? That would have been inconceivable under any previous administration, but now God knows. Or are we now entering an era in which companies that do favors for Trump and co., either in the form of money or support for their policies, get lucrative insider briefings?... [Second,] this is an extraordinary reversal -- a capitulation equivalent to surrender. And bear in mind that the damage being done by Trump's tariffs comes not just from how high they are but from the uncertainty they're creating. That gigantic China tariff was announced just two weeks ago. Now Trump says, 'we will be very nice and they're going to be very nice.' How can any business make plans in this kind of environment?... Oh, and it seems likely that Trump will announce trade 'deals,' possibly with China, probably with other countries, that aren't actually deals -- just 'memorandums of understanding' that offer few specifics."
Chris Megerian & Zeke Miller of the AP: "The infighting and backstabbing that plagued ... Donald Trump's first term have returned as a threat to his second, with deepening fissures over trade, national security and questions of personal loyalty." The reporters cite a number of examples of stupid. (Also linked yesterday.)
Frank Langfitt of NPR: "A survey of more than 500 political scientists finds that the vast majority think the United States is moving swiftly from liberal democracy toward some form of authoritarianism. In the benchmark survey, known as Bright Line Watch, U.S.-based professors rate the performance of American democracy on a scale from zero (complete dictatorship) to 100 (perfect democracy). After ... [Donald] Trump's election in November, scholars gave American democracy a rating of 67. Several weeks into Trump's second term, that figure plummeted to 55.... Steven Levitsky, a professor of government at Harvard who co-authored the book How Democracies Die, said the U.S. has already slid into some form of authoritarianism. 'It is relatively mild compared to some others. It is certainly reversible, but we are no longer living in a liberal democracy,' he said. Kim Lane Scheppele, a Princeton sociologist who has spent years tracking Hungary... [said]: 'We are on a very fast slide into what's called competitive authoritarianism.'... In a competitive authoritarian system, a leader comes to power democratically and then erodes the system of checks and balances. Typically, the executive fills the civil service and key appointments -- including the prosecutor's office and judiciary -- with loyalists. He or she then attacks the media, universities and nongovernmental organizations to blunt public criticism and tilt the electoral playing field in the ruling party's favor."
Jack Ewing of the New York Times: 'Elon Musk, Tesla's chief executive, said on Tuesday that he would spend less time in Washington working for ... [Donald] Trump after the automaker reported a profit drop of 71 percent in the first three months of the year. Mr. Musk told Wall Street analysts in a conference call that he would continue to spend 'a day or two per week' on Washington matters, probably for the duration of Mr. Trump's presidency. The billionaire executive is one of Mr. Trump's closest confidants and has played a leading role in the president's efforts to slash government spending and cut tens of thousands of federal government jobs.... The Cybertruck, Tesla's newest vehicle, which consumed a lot of the company's resources while it was being developed, is looking increasingly like a flop.' MB: Some pundit on the teevee said earlier this week that the Cybertruck was the only Tesla vehicle Musk himself had developed. I don't know if that's true or not. ~~~
~~~ Update. See Akhilleus' commentary below on Musk's Cybertruck. ~~~
~~~ Aimee Picchi of CBS News: "Elon Musk told Tesla investors he's scaling back his work at the Trump administration's Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, saying the amount of time he spends on the task force will 'drop significantly' starting in May.' ~~~
~~~ Hannah Natanson, et al., of the Washington Post (April 21): 'When Elon Musk and ... Donald Trump commanded all federal workers to submit weekly emails listing five accomplishments, they warned of harsh consequences: Failure to comply would count as a resignation.... But records ... [and] interviews ... reveal that officials refused to comply with core aspects of the directive from the beginning.... [In February, the Office of Personnel Management declared] the emails voluntary and [said] noncompliance would not count as resignation.... Further undermining Musk's effort, OPM leaders said ... that the agency did not intend to do anything with the messages that employees did submit.... As of this month, agencies maintain an inconsistent patchwork of policies on the email responses.... [Musk's] status as a special government employee is expected to expire at the end of May. The billionaire is ready to exit because he is tired of fielding what he views as a slew of nasty and unethical attacks from the political left, according to a person familiar with his thinking.
Who needs a musty old State Department when you're planning to totally go it alone? ~~~
~~~ Adam Taylor of the Washington Post: "Secretary of State Marco Rubio unveiled a plan Tuesday to significantly reorganize the State Department, saying the redesign would reverse 'decades of bloat and bureaucracy' within the agency.... The effort targets some human rights programs and others focused on war crimes and democracy, according to internal documents.... At least some of the envisioned reforms and cuts would probably require lawmakers' consent, as they involve directives that have been mandated by Congress.' At 11:30 am ET, this is a developing story. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ The Capture of Marco Rubio. Michael Crowley of the New York Times: 'Human rights, democracy, refugees, war crimes. Those are some of the key responsibilities of a State Department office that Secretary of State Marco Rubio intends to shutter as part of a larger reorganization plan for his agency that he unveiled on Tuesday.... Mr. Rubio's critics ... say the clear message is that those values are being downgraded, breaking with decades of American diplomatic tradition -- not to mention Mr. Rubio's record as a Republican senator from Florida.... Some noted that Mr. Rubio has long been among the strongest supporters in either party of the department's human rights efforts.' MB: Sit, Marco, sit. Now roll over. Roll over and over. Good puppy.
Courtney Kube & Gordon Lubold of NBC News: "Minutes before U.S. fighter jets took off to begin strikes against Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen last month, Army Gen. Michael Erik Kurilla, who leads U.S. Central Command, used a secure U.S. government system to send detailed information about the operation to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. The material Kurilla sent included details about when U.S. fighters would take off and when they would hit their targets -- details that could, if they fell into the wrong hands, put the pilots of those fighters in grave danger. But he was doing exactly what he was supposed to: providing Hegseth, his superior, with information he needed to know and using a system specifically designed to safely transmit sensitive and classified information. But then Hegseth used his personal phone to send some of the same information Kurilla had given him to at least two group text chats on the Signal messaging app....
"The sequence of events ... could raise new questions about Hegseth's handling of the information, which he and the government have denied was classified. In all..., less than 10 minutes elapsed between Kurilla's giving Hegseth the information and Hegseth's sending it to the two group chats, one of which included other Cabinet-level officials and their designees -- and, inadvertently, the editor of The Atlantic magazine. The other group included Hegseth's wife, his brother, his attorney and some of his aides." Update. The New York Times has a related story here. (Also linked yesterday.)~~~
~~~ Marie: We know Drunk Pete rushed out the top-secret stuff to friends & family to show off what a powerful guy he was. But that's an indication that he doesn't even know how to properly show off his new importance. Now, if I wanted to show off my secret for-my-eyes-only knowledge, I would boast, "Have to go. Just got top-secret info only I can address. Can't tell even youse guys what it is. I mean, it's super-duper top secret! Later, dudes!"
Perry Stein, et al., of the Washington Post: 'The Justice Department on Tuesday canceled hundreds of grants to community organizations and local governments, including funding for gun-violence prevention programs, crime-victim advocacy and efforts to combat opioid addiction, according to an email obtained by The Washington Post.'
Ellen Nakashima of the Washington Post: "The Trump administration has been engaged in a concerted effort to undo initiatives aimed at holding Russia and its leaders and allies accountable for alleged war crimes in Ukraine. Since taking office, the administration has moved to withdraw from an international group led by the European Union that was created to punish Moscow for violating international law in its invasion of Ukraine. The White House has also reduced the work of the Justice Department's War Crimes Accountability Team and dismantled a program to seize assets of sanctioned Russian oligarchs.... And in a previously unreported move, it has vacated a coordinator position -- mandated by law -- to gather intelligence from across the government on Russian atrocities committed in Ukraine, according to two people familiar with the matter...." ~~~
~~~ Marie: So it turns out that three guys won the 2024 U.S. presidential election: Trump, Musk & Putin.
Jonah Bromwich & William Rashbaum of the New York Times: "Three Manhattan federal prosecutors who worked on the corruption case against Mayor Eric Adams of New York City said Tuesday that they would resign rather than admit wrongdoing by their office after it refused to abandon the case.... The prosecutors were placed on administrative leave this year after Trump administration officials in Washington ordered the head of the U.S. attorney's office in Manhattan to seek dismissal of the bribery and fraud charges. In [an] email, the prosecutors -- Celia V. Cohen, Andrew Rohrbach and Derek Wikstrom -- said that Todd Blanche, the deputy attorney general, had placed a condition on reinstating them: 'that we must express regret and admit some wrongdoing by the office in connection with the refusal to move to dismiss the case. We will not confess wrongdoing when there was none.'... They wrote that they had worked under Democratic and Republican presidents..., but that conditions had changed during ... [Donald] Trump's second term. 'Now, the Department has decided that obedience supersedes all else, requiring us to abdicate our legal and ethical obligations in favor of directions from Washington,' they wrote.' MB: See, Little Marco? You can be a little flexible, but ultimately you have to stand up for your basic principles. That is, if you have any.
Where Is Ricardo Prada? ICE "Disappears" a Man. Miriam Jordan of the New York Times: "In late January, Ricardo Prada Vásquez, a Venezuelan immigrant working in a delivery job in Detroit, picked up an order at a McDonald's. He was heading to the address when he erroneously turned onto the Ambassador Bridge, which leads to Canada. It is a common mistake.... But for Mr. Prada, 32, it proved fateful. The U.S. authorities took Mr. Prada into custody when he attempted to re-enter the country; he was put in detention and ordered deported. On March 15, he told a friend in Chicago that he was among a number of detainees housed in Texas who expected to be repatriated to Venezuela. That evening, the Trump administration flew three planes carrying Venezuelan migrants from the Texas facility to El Salvador, where they have been ever since, locked up in a maximum-security prison.... Mr. Prada has not been heard from or seen. He is not on the list of 238 people who were deported to El Salvador that day. He does not appear in the photos and videos released by the authorities.... 'He has simply disappeared,' said ... a friend....
"Mr. Prada's disappearance has created concerns that more immigrants have been deported to El Salvador than previously known. It also raises the question of whether some deportees may have been sent to other countries with no record of it. The U.S. authorities have confirmed that he was removed from the United States. But to where?' (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Where Is Leon Rengel. ICE "Disappears' Another Man. Veronica Brito of the Miami Herald: "... Leon Rengel, 27, was admitted into the U.S. in June 2023, after crossing the southern border through a scheduled appointment with immigration authorities -- part of a digital portal created under the Biden administration to manage the flow of migrants entering from Mexico.... On March 13, his birthday..., federal agents detained Leon Rengel in the parking garage of [the] Irving, Texas, apartment [where he lived with Alejandra Gutierrez and her daughter]. 'They didn't have an arrest warrant,' Gutierrez said. 'They asked him to lift his shirt to show his tattoos, and when they saw them, they claimed he was affiliated with the Tren de Aragua gang. They took his documents -- and took him away,' [Gutierrez added].... His alien number, a way to track his whereabouts, vanished two days later from ICE's online system. He disappeared.
⭐ Ayra Sundaram of the Gothamist: "In shelters across New York, migrant children sit in front of computer and TV screens, appearing virtually in real court proceedings.... 'The reason we're here is because the government of the United States wants you to leave the United States,' Judge Ubaid ul-Haq, presiding from a courtroom on Varick Street, told a group of about a dozen children on a recent morning on Webex.... The parties included a 7-year-old boy.... There was an 8-year-old girl and her 4-year-old sister.... None of the children were accompanied by parents or attorneys, only shelter workers who helped them log on to the hearing.... The Trump administration on March 21 terminated part of a $200 million contract that funds attorneys and other legal services for unaccompanied children, who arrived in the United States without parents or legal guardians. While that action is being challenged in court, immigrant advocates say the impact is already being felt, as lawyer groups pull back on services -- leaving some children on their own." ~~~
~~~ Marie: Does anyone want to argue that this is not insane? Who can possibly think a four-year-old child (who may not understand English, much less the law) is receiving due process here? Why would a judge even agree to hear a case against a child who is not represented by an attorney? ~~~
~~~ Lest you think Trump & the Trumpettes limit their abuse & cruelty to immigrant children, oh no. They have it in for U.S.-born kids, too: ~~~
~~~ (1) Eli Hager of ProPublica: "The clear-cutting across the federal government under ... Donald Trump ... has obscured a series of moves by the administration that could profoundly harm ... children. Consider: The staff of a program that helps millions of poor families keep the electricity on, in part so that babies don't die from extreme heat or cold, have all been fired. The federal office that oversees the enforcement of child support payments has been hollowed out. Head Start preschools, which teach toddlers their ABCs and feed them healthy meals, will likely be forced to shut down en masse, some as soon as May 1. And funding for investigating child sexual abuse and internet crimes against children; responding to reports of missing children; and preventing youth violence has been withdrawn indefinitely. The administration has laid off thousands of workers from coast to coast who had supervised education, child care, child support and child protective services systems, and it has blocked or delayed billions of dollars in funding for things like school meals and school safety." ~~~
~~~ (2) Cruelty Is the Point. Julia Lurie of Mother Jones: "The federal government plans to eliminate services for LGBTQ youth who call 988, the national suicide and crisis hotline, according to a Health and Human Services budget draft leaked last week. The budget, first reported by the Washington Post, would go into effect in October if approved by Congress. Since the hotline's launch in 2022, callers have been able to speak with counselors trained to work with specific at-risk populations, including LGBTQ youth, who are four times more likely to attempt suicide than their peers. The service for LGBTQ youth has received 1.3 million calls, texts, or chats since 2022. In February, the program received an average of 2,100 contacts per day."
Evan Bush of NBC News: "The Environmental Protection Agency continued its staffing shake-up Monday, beginning the termination of hundreds of staffers through a 'reduction in force' process as it moved other workers to new roles.... The agency ... will start the termination process for some 280 workers who were involved with environmental justice and diversity, equity and inclusion programs. Another 175 EPA employees were reassigned to new roles."
Fear of "Biodiversity." Katrina Miller & Carl Zimmer of the New York Times: "As of Monday, the National Science Foundation had canceled more tha 400 active awards, according to a list obtained by The New York Times. The decision comes after months of scrutiny of the agency, including a report released by Senator Ted Cruz, Republican of Texas, last October and, in February, an internal review of awards containing words related to diversity, equity and inclusion, or D.E.I.... The National Science Foundation, established in 1950, finances much of the scientific research that takes place in the United States.... Last Thursday, the magazine Nature reported that all new research grants by the agency had been frozen, as ordered by the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE.... On Friday, the N.S.F. went further, canceling grants supporting ongoing research.... Democrats on the Committee on Science, Space and Technology in the House of Representatives released a rebuttal of Senator Cruz's October report last week, noting several flaws, including the misinterpretation of scientific terms, such as 'biodiversity,' as being related to D.E.I." ~~~
~~~ Marie: It would seem that Princeton & Harvard are unconcerned that their graduates do not know how to use a dictionary. AND are dismissive of everybody but straight, White men.
Zach Montague of the New York Times: "Two major law firms fighting ... [Donald] Trump's assault on their business will appear in court on Wednesday with the aim of putting a decisive end to his retribution campaign against them. The two firms, Perkins Coie and WilmerHale, have asked the courts to permanently block executive orders issued by Mr. Trump declaring them a national security risk, which curtails their ability to do high-level legal work. The firms, which have clients and employ lawyers whom Mr. Trump opposes politically, have argued that the orders are so blatantly unconstitutional that no trial is necessary. The judges presiding over their cases, Beryl A. Howell and Richard J. Leon of the Federal District Court in Washington, are under no obligation to act immediately after the hearings.... But the legal community is intensely interested in how these two cases proceed, after the president's executive orders and threats caused a deep rift of the world of elite corporate firms.'
Stephanie Saul of the New York Times: "A day after Harvard sued the Trump administration over its decision to freeze billions in federal funds to the school, more than 220 higher education leaders from around the country signed a joint statement on Tuesday condemning the administration's efforts to control universities. The government's 'political interference' and 'overreach' is 'now endangering higher education in America,' they wrote. The signers come from a variety of colleges and universities from across the country, as well as higher education associations, illustrating the breadth of the threat they say President Trump poses to academia. Joining in the statement were officials from large public research universities like the University of Virginia and the University of Wisconsin-Madison and smaller private colleges such as Amherst and Kenyon.' The statement, with signatories, is here. (Also linked yesterday.)
Michael Grynbaum & Benjamin Mullin of the New York Times: "CBS News entered a new period of turmoil on Tuesday after the executive producer of '60 Minutes,' Bill Owens, said that he would resign from the long-running Sunday news program, citing encroachments on his journalistic independence. In an extraordinary declaration, Mr. Owens -- only the third person to run the program in its 57-year history -- told his staff in a memo that 'over the past months, it has become clear that I would not be allowed to run the show as I have always run it, to make independent decisions based on what was right for "60 Minutes," right for the audience.'... '60 Minutes' has faced mounting pressure in recent months from both ... [Donald] Trump, who sued CBS for $10 billion and has accused the program of 'unlawful and illegal behavior,' and its own corporate ownership at Paramount, the parent company of CBS News. Paramount's controlling shareholder, Shari Redstone, is eager to secure the Trump administration's approval for a multibillion-dollar sale of her company to Skydance.... She has expressed a desire to settle Mr. Trump's case, which stems from what the president has called a deceptively edited interview in October with Vice President Kamala Harris that aired on '60 Minutes.'' (Also linked yesterday.) The Hollywood Reporter's story is here. ~~~
~~~ Max Tani of Semafor: "Paramount owner Shari Redstone in recent days sought to know which upcoming 60 Minutes stories were about ... Donald Trump, according to two people familiar with the situation -- triggering a series of events that ended with the Tuesday resignation of the show's longtime producer [Bill Owens]."
Katie Robertson & David Enrich of the New York Times: "A federal jury on Tuesday ruled against Sarah Palin, the former governor of Alaska and Republican vice-presidential nominee, in her yearslong defamation lawsuit against The New York Times. The jury reached the verdict after two hours of deliberations. Ms. Palin sued The Times in 2017 after the newspaper published -- and then swiftly corrected and apologized for -- an editorial that wrongly suggested she had incited a deadly shooting in Arizona years earlier. The case became a bellwether for battles over press freedoms and media bias in the Trump era, with Ms. Palin's lawyers saying they hoped to use it to attack a decades-old Supreme Court precedent that makes it harder for public figures to sue news outlets for defamation. This is the second time a federal jury has concluded that The Times was not liable for defaming Ms. Palin in its editorial. The case first went to trial in 2022, and both the jury and the judge ruled in favor of The Times. But last year, a federal appeals court invalidated those decisions.... Outside the court after the verdict, Ms. Palin ... declined to say whether she would appeal the verdict.' (Also linked yesterday.) Politico's story is here.
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Israel., et al. Abbie Cheeseman of the Washington Post: "The foreign ministers of three key European allies of Israel issued a strongly worded joint statement Wednesday calling on Israel to end its 'intolerable' aid blockade on Gaza while singling out Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz's recent comments on aid as 'unacceptable' and harmful to 'prospects for peace.' The statement, from the foreign ministers of Germany, France and the United Kingdom, called on Israel to lift its bar on aid from entering the war-decimated enclave since March 8, warning of 'an acute risk of starvation, epidemic disease and death' for Palestinian civilians.... The three European foreign ministers said that Katz has politicized humanitarian aid in recent comments.... Katz last week said that no aid would enter the Gaza Strip under the current circumstances. 'Preventing such aid is one of the central tools of pressure that denies Hamas the ability to use it to control the population,' he said in a statement last Wednesday.' ~~~
~~~ Marie: This is the sort of statement one might expect the United States to join. Oh. Wait. Marco Rubio.
Ukraine, et al. Mark Landler of the New York Times: "Britain has scaled back a high-level meeting on ending the war in Ukraine, according to European officials, after Secretary of State Marco Rubio decided to pull out on Tuesday. That prompted the British foreign secretary, David Lammy, to decide that he, too, would not attend, though he will meet separately with Ukraine's foreign minister in London. Lower-level diplomats from Britain, France, Germany, Ukraine, and the United States will still meet on Wednesday to hold technical talks, according to the officials from Britain and France. But the sudden downgrading of what was meant to be a significant diplomatic gathering raises questions about efforts to negotiate a cease-fire in the war between Russia and Ukraine.' ~~~
~~~ Stefan Boscia, et al., of Politico: "British plans to host a summit Wednesday on Ukraine were thrown into disarray after top U.S. representatives pulled out at the eleventh hour and Ukraine pushed back at proposals from Donald Trump's administration to recognize Russia's illegal 2014 annexation of Crimea.... Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Steve Witkoff, a key American player in negotiations with Moscow, withdrew from talks..., underscor[ing] tensions between the Trump team and its European allies over the fate of the Ukraine-Russia war.... The Trump administration instead wants to focus on the president's peace deal plan, presented to Ukraine as a take-it-or-leave-it option.... Trump's peace proposal involves a potential lifting of sanctions and U.S. informal recognition of Russia's control over Crimea. The latter is a nonstarter for Kyiv -- and unlikely to fly with its Western allies."
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