Erica Green & Zolan Kanno-Youngs of the New York Times: "President Biden announced on Friday that he would commute the sentences of nearly 2,500 inmates serving long prison terms for nonviolent drug offenses, the broadest commutation of individual sentences ever issued by a U.S. president. The commutations are for offenders who received harsher sentences for drug crimes than they would under current practices, a move aimed at reversing longstanding criminal justice disparities, Mr. Biden said. Those disparities disproportionately affected Black people and fueled mass incarceration, many experts say.... Mr. Biden said his latest commutations would help those who received sentences based on now-discredited distinctions between crack and powder cocaine, or faced inflated charges for drug crimes. Mr. Biden said in his statement that he was following the lead of Congress, which over the past two decades has passed legislation to remedy decades-long disparities spurred by tough-on-crime laws, such as mandatory minimum sentences." An NBC News story is here. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ President Biden's statement, via the White House, is here. (Also linked yesterday.)
Peter Baker, et al., of the New York Times: "President Biden declared on Friday that he believes that the Equal Rights Amendment has met the requirements of ratification and therefore is now part of the Constitution, but he declined to order the government to finalize the process by officially publishing it. 'In keeping with my oath and duty to Constitution and country, I affirm what I believe and what three-fourths of the states have ratified: The 28th Amendment is the law of the land, guaranteeing all Americans equal rights and protections under the law regardless of their sex,' Mr. Biden said in a statement. Under the Constitution, however, the president has no direct role in approving amendments and his statement has no legal force by itself. The archivist of the United States, a Biden appointee, has refused to formally publish the amendment on the grounds that it has not met the requirements to become part of the Constitution.... Even so, advocates maintained that Mr. Biden's imprimatur gave the amendment additional credibility for any future court battle over whether it actually had the force of law. In effect, Mr. Biden and his allies are daring opponents to go to court to argue that women do not have equal rights." Politico's story is here. ~~~
~~~ Here's President Biden's statement, via the White House. ~~~
~~~ Marie: One thing is certain: under a Trump administration, or any time the government is controlled by Republicans, women do not have equal rights. The underlying rule, as expressed by many a MAGA dude is, "your body, my choice." ~~~
~~~ Aaron Blake of the Washington Post writes quite a useful explanatory post. He pooh-poohs Biden's statement, but he admits the idea is not entirely crazy: "Even the American Bar Association has taken the position that the Equal Rights Amendment has cleared all the necessary hurdles and should be implemented. It passed a resolution last year stating that the deadline isn't legally binding and that states can't rescind their ratifications, because neither power appears in Article V of the Constitution.... I won't walk through all the legal ins and outs -- my colleague Glenn Kessler did a nice job of that here -- but suffice it to say that these issues are far from being settled enough for a president to claim an amendment is law." ~~~
~~~ Andrew Prokop of Vox is equally helpful. ~~~
~~~ The Associated Press provides an ERA timeline that begins December 10, 1923.
Annie Karni & Luke Broadwater of the New York Times: relate how Chuck Schumer finally got around to urging President Biden not to run for re-election. "The roughly 45-minute conversation, which took place on [] July 13, 2024, on] a screened-in porch overlooking a pond, was more pointed and emotional than previously known, and helps to explain how Mr. Biden came to the decision just over a week later to end his campaign. It is a central piece of the untold story of how Mr. Schumer and congressional Democrats, who spent years batting away suggestions that Mr. Biden was too old and mentally frail to be president, ultimately led the effort to pressure him to step aside." Read on. As we all know, it was too little, too late. (Also linked yesterday.)
Marie: Trump is not president* yet, but the new Republican Congress is in session, so it has ensured that the U.S. economy is already in danger of being, well, "extraordinarily" messed up: ~~~
~~~ Alan Rappeport of the New York Times: "Treasury Secretary Janet L. Yellen told Congress on Friday that on Jan. 21 the Treasury Department will have to begin using 'extraordinary measures' to prevent the United States from defaulting on its debt.... The debt limit -- which caps the amount of money that the United States is authorized to borrow to fund the government and meet its financial obligations -- will now be the problem of the next Treasury secretary, along with ... Donald J. Trump and the lawmakers who must decide its fate.... 'The United States is not going to default if I'm confirmed,' [Trump's treasury secretary nominee & billionaire hedge-fund manager Scott] Bessent said [during his confirmation hearing this week]."
Eric Lipton of the New York Times: After Elon Musk's "Starship spacecraft blew up as it was still climbing into space..., the F.A.A. on Friday suspend[ed] any additional liftoffs by SpaceX's Starship, the largest and most powerful rocket ever built. The incident raises new questions about both the safety of the rapidly increasing number of commercial space launches, or at least the air traffic disruption being caused by them. It also is the latest incident highlighting the conflicts that Elon Musk's new role in the Trump administration will bring. He will have the remit to recommend changes, and potentially budget cuts, to government agencies including the F.A.A. That tension could hamper investigations like the one announced on Friday.... Mr. Musk also made fun of the spectacle the explosion created, as the debris fell toward Turks and Caicos Islands. 'Success is uncertain, but entertainment is guaranteed!' he wrote atop a video of the fiery debris falling toward earth."
Ellie Silverman of the Washington Post: "Thousands of people are expected to rally Saturday in Washington and in cities across the country as part of the People's March, a protest of President-elect Donald Trump and GOP trifecta policy priorities that they say will undermine the rights of women, immigrants, the LGBTQ+ community, and racial and religious minorities.... A complete list of sponsors and partners can be found here.... In Washington, participants plan to gather at 10 a.m. at either Farragut Square, McPherson Square or Franklin Park, with each location focused on specific issues."
Marie: Now I'm having a genuine sad: ~~~
~~~ John Santucci & Katherine Faulders of ABC News: "... Donald Trump said he is moving his inauguration indoors Monday due to the freezing weather expected in Washington, D.C. Trump said he'll be sworn in and deliver his inauguration address inside the Capitol Rotunda.... 'We will open Capital One Arena on Monday for LIVE viewing of this Historic event, and to host the Presidential Parade, Trump [said]. 'I will join the crowd at Capital One, after my Swearing In.' Due to this change, the 'vast majority of ticketed guests will not be able to attend the ceremonies in person,' according to the Joint Inaugural Committee. 'Those with tickets for the Presidential Platform and members of Congress will be able to attend in person.'" MB: Sadly, the Capital One Arena is an indoor facility, too. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Marie: Wait, they're having a parade inside the arena? Weird. Here's a list of the groups slated to march around in circles. ~~~
~~~ Trumpity-Doo-Dah. The New York Times has live updates of Trump stuff here. The updates include entries about the inauguration. ~~~
~~~ Chaos from Day One. Emily Davies, et al., of the Washington Post: The "sudden weather-induced change ... forced a scramble for hundreds of thousands of people who had spent months planning for the swearing-in.... Law enforcement officials called emergency meetings. Members of Congress learned about the change in the media, then fielded hundreds of calls from confused constituents who had tickets to the festivities. Workers inside the Capitol Rotunda, where Trump will now take the oath of office, quickly got to work assembling a new podium. And scores of people from across the country who had bought flights and booked hotels reconsidered their trips to the nation's capital.... The 220,000 tickets distributed by the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies, a bipartisan group responsible for planning the event, will now be 'commemorative,' the House Sergeant at Arms said in an email Friday to lawmakers and Hill staff, adding that 'th majority of ticketed guests will not be able to attend the ceremonies in person.' The Capital One Arena, where Trump said supporters could watch the swearing-in, can seat up to 20,000." ~~~
~~~⭐ "Trump to Take Oath of Office in Chamber Jan. 6 Rioters 'Desecrated'." Kyle Cheney & Ali Bianco of Politico: "At noon on Monday..., Donald Trump will be inaugurated in the Capitol rotunda where four years earlier, a wayward supporter named Brian Kelly ... filmed a horrific scene: Rioters seeking to prevent the transfer of power to President Joe Biden clashing with Capitol police and vandalizing artwork and statues, as the halls of Congress choked with tear gas. On Friday, Kelly was one of a handful of Jan. 6 defendants sentenced for his role in a riot that Trump has made clear he hopes to erase from history -- while federal judges plead with the world to never forget it. 'I only wish the rest of the country could see some of the things I see,' U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan said before sentencing Kelly to 10 days in prison. 'This may be, based on what happens outside these courthouse walls, the last one of these. I don't know.' Chutkan said she had never been in the Capitol until she visited to pay her respects to President Jimmy Carter earlier this month. Her visit, she said, after presiding over so many Jan. 6 cases, was a reminder that 'people came in and desecrated that beautiful space.'"
⭐ Marie: Donald Trump's Cabinet picks suggest he (a) doesn't give a flying fig about what happens to the country & the world and/or (b) is aware of his own mortality. In either event, he will take millions of people to their deaths with him. Some of those who perish will be the Congressional Republicans who rubber-stamped his plans. ~~~
~~~ Christina Jewett of the New York Times: "Robert F. Kennedy Jr...., Donald J. Trump's choice to lead the nation's health agencies, formally asked the Food and Drug Administration to revoke the authorization of all Covid vaccines during a deadly phase of the pandemic when thousands of Americans were still dying every week. Mr. Kennedy filed a petition with the F.D.A. in May 2021 demanding that officials rescind authorization for the shots and refrain from approving any Covid vaccine in the future. Just six months earlier, Mr. Trump had declared the Covid vaccines a miracle.... Estimates had begun to show that the rapid rollout of Covid vaccines had already saved about 140,000 lives in the United States. The petition was filed on behalf of the nonprofit that Mr. Kennedy founded and led, Children's Health Defense. It claimed that the risks of the vaccines outweighed the benefits and that the vaccines weren't necessary because good treatments were available, including ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine, which had already been deemed ineffective against the virus." The ABC News story is here. ~~~
~~~ William Broad of the New York Times: "... Donald J. Trump has picked Brandon Williams, a former Navy officer and one-term congressman, to become the keeper of the nation's arsenal of thousands of nuclear bombs and warheads. Mr. Trump's selection is a shift from a tradition in which the people who served as administrator of the National Nuclear Security Administration typically had deep technical roots or experience in the nation's atomic complex. What's unknown publicly is the extent of Mr. Williams' experience in the knotty intricacies of how the weapons work and how they are kept reliable for decades without ever being ignited. Terry C. Wallace Jr., a former director of the Los Alamos weapons laboratory in New Mexico, expressed surprise at Mr. Trump's pick. Dr. Wallace ... characterized [Mr. Williams] as having 'very limited experience' with the N.N.S.A.'s missions.... The credentials and credibility of whoever becomes N.N.S.A.'s new leader may face close scrutiny because advisers to Mr. Trump have suggested that the incoming administration may propose a restart to the nation's explosive testing of nuclear arms. That step, daunting both technically and politically, would end U.S. adherence to a global test ban...."
David Nakamura & Maria Sacchetti of the Washington Post: "South Dakota Gov. Kristi L. Noem (R) on Friday pledged that if confirmed to lead the Department of Homeland Security she would halt a border control program that the Biden administration has credited for helping bring a sharp reduction in illegal crossings. At her confirmation hearing before the Senate's Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, Noem reiterated a promise from ... Donald Trump to put an end to CBP One, which allows migrants outside the country to use a free mobile app to request an appointment at an official port of entry on the U.S. southern border so that they can apply for asylum. The number of migrants arrested at the border has dropped in recent months to the lowest level of President Joe Biden's tenure after rising to all-time highs in 2023. More than 930,000 people have used the CBP One app to schedule appointments since its introduction in January of that year, according to federal officials." ~~~
~~~ Marie: You can see where Trump & Noem would want to eliminate a program that greatly reduced illegal immigration. The CBP One program is just too damned humane. Cruelty, after all, is of the essence of their scheme.
Nick Miroff of the Washington Post: "As the incoming Trump administration prepares to install a political appointee to run the U.S. Border Patrol for the first time in the agency's 100-year history, retiring chief Jason Owens said in an interview Friday that he hopes the top leader will remain a nonpartisan figure who has served in uniform. 'I don't think that politics should get into the law enforcement arena, because we have to be impartial and focused on the mission no matter who is in charge,' Owens said.... Donald Trump is preparing to replace Owens with Mike Banks, a former Border Patrol agent who Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) appointed to run Operation Lone Star, the state's border crackdown, the New York Post first reported Thursday. The move is a break with tradition.... In an email Thursday, Owens told the Border Patrol's nearly 20,000 agents and staff that he plans to remain until April 30. CBP officials say they aren't sure when Banks will assume the top job since Border Patrol leadership has never been appointed by the White House."
Zolan Kanno-Youngs & Hamed Aleaziz of the New York Times: "The incoming Trump administration intends to carry out 'post-inauguration' immigration raids in Chicago next week, according to two people familiar with the planning and correspondence reviewed by The New York Times, an opening step in ... Donald J. Trump's goal to oversee the largest deportation operation in American history. The plan ... would start on Tuesday, the day after Mr. Trump is inaugurated, and last until the following Monday.... The dates were still being finalized, however, and could change." ~~~
~~~ Camilo Montoya-Galvez & Fin Gómez of CBS News: "Asked on Fox News about a potential ICE operation in Chicago next week -- a plan first reported by The Wall Street Journal -- incoming White House 'border czar' Tom Homan said 'there's gonna be a big raid all across the country.'"
Another Meet-the-Billionaires Dinner at Mar-a-Lardo. Kevin Perry of the Independent: "Bill Gates has revealed he had a lengthy dinner with Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago, where the pair discussed global health. The Microsoft co-founder, 69, told The Independent he met with ... Trump at his Florida residence shortly after Christmas to discuss the work his Gates Foundation is doing to prevent the spread of HIV and polio, and to urge Trump to continue U.S. funding for research in those areas.... 'I felt like he was energized and looking forward to helping to drive innovation,' Gates told the Journal. 'I was frankly impressed with how well he showed a lot of interest in the issues I brought up.'"
Adam Liptak of the New York Times: "The Supreme Court ruled against TikTok on Friday, rejecting the social media company's First Amendment challenge to the law that effectively bans it in the United States starting on Sunday. The unanimous decision may deal a death blow to the U.S. operations of the wildly popular app, which serves up short-form videos that are a leading source of information and entertainment to tens of millions of Americans, especially younger ones.... The Biden administration has said that given the timing, it would fall to the incoming administration to enforce the law.... Donald J. Trump, who has signaled his support for the app, had explored the possibility of an executive order that could allow TikTok to keep operating despite the pending ban. It is unclear whether the tactic would withstand legal challenges or even how such an order would work." This is a liveblog. Thanks to Ken W. for the link. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Marie: Oh, don't worry, kids. Pam Bondi, Trump's choice for AG, who is most likely to be confirmed, would not say in her confirmation hearing yesterday whether or not she would enforce a TikTok ban. And as we know, the Supremes do not have their own enforcement arm. ~~~
~~~ Update. As the Clock TikToks. David McCabe of the New York Times: "Tiktok ... said in a statement [late Friday] that 'unfortunately TikTok will be forced to go dark on January 19' unless the Biden administration assures Apple, Google and other companies that they would not be punished for delivering TikTok's services in the United States. The statement was TikTok's latest attempt to pressure the administration to grant it a reprieve from a law, upheld by the Supreme Court on Friday, that would effectively ban its service starting Sunday. The law says that app stores and major cloud computing providers cannot deliver TikTok to U.S. consumers unless the company is sold by its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, to a non-Chinese owner."
Marie: Betrayal, Magnified. About that guy you thought was the love of your life: First, he knocked you up. Then, when you told him you were pregnant, he abandoned you, leaving you unable to start a family. Now, he's going to sue your friends. ~~~
~~~ Caroline Kitchener of the Washington Post: "... antiabortion advocates ... are increasingly turning to one group with uniquely intimate and specific information to help them find [abortion] cases: male sex partners of women who decided to end their pregnancies.... This partner-focused approach will shift to a more public phase next month when Texas's largest antiabortion organization launches an advertising campaign on Facebook and X to reach the husbands, boyfriends and sex partners of women who have had abortions in the state -- with the goal of recruiting them to file lawsuits against those who assisted the women in ending their pregnancies."
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Ohio. Patrick Svitek & Maegan Vazquez of the Washington Post: "Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine (R) on Friday named his lieutenant governor, Jon Husted, to fill the state's Senate seat left vacant by Vice President-elect JD Vance." Politico's story is here. ~~~
~~~ Jonathan Swan, et al., of the New York Times: "Vivek Ramaswamy intends to run for governor of Ohio, according to a person with knowledge of his thinking, but does not immediately plan to leave his high-profile role in Donald J. Trump's government efficiency project. Mr. Ramaswamy told Ohio allies of his plan on Friday after the state's Republican governor, Mike DeWine, named Ohio's lieutenant governor, Jon Husted, to fill the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Vice President-elect JD Vance.... At times, Mr. Ramaswamy's role in the incoming administration had appeared tenuous to some in Mr. Trump's circle. There have been repeated complaints about Mr. Ramaswamy from people close to Mr. Trump, and, at times, from Mr. Trump himself." The Hill has a story here. ~~~
~~~ Marie: Let's see how much Ohio like a guy who said they favored "mediocrity over excellence" and "celebrate the prom queen over the math olympiad champ, or the jock over the valedictorian"? Vivek was writing about Americans in general, but that characterization surely applies to Ohio Republicans, if to any American. Vivek seems to have missed out on at least one lesson in The Art of the Pander.
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Never underestimate Canadians. We fight very hard, and we're very courageous. We are willing to be surgical and appropriate to have an impact on American jobs. -- Mélanie Joly, Canada's foreign minister, Thursday, in an interview with the New York Times ~~~
~~~ Canada Has a Plan. Matina Stevis-Gridneff of the New York Times: "Canadian officials are preparing a three-stage plan of retaliatory tariffs and other trade restrictions against the United States, which will be put into motion if ... Donald J. Trump makes good on his threat to impose a blanket 25 percent tariff on all Canadian goods imported into the United States. Canadian officials will wait until Mr. Trump has made his move -- which he has said will be on his first day in office, Monday -- and then start with imposing tariffs. They would mostly affect consumer goods worth 37 billion Canadian dollars ($25.6 billion), according to two senior government officials familiar with the plans.... They specifically want to focus on goods made in Republican or swing states, where the pain of tariffs, like pressure on jobs and the bottom lines of local businesses, would affect Trump allies." ~~~
~~~ Marie: Oh why, oh why, can U.S. Democrats be as courageous as Canadians?
Israel's Wars. The New York Times' live updates of developments Saturday in Israel's wars are here: "Israel's cease-fire agreement with Hamas will go into effect on Sunday, according to Qatar's Foreign Ministry and the office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel. A ministry spokesman said the truce would begin at 8:30 a.m. local time.... The Israeli security cabinet approved the deal on Friday morning, two days after it was announced, and the full cabinet followed with final approval during a meeting that continued into the Jewish Sabbath. Israeli civilians will have a short window to file objections, but the courts are widely expected to allow the agreement to go forward.... The Palestinian Civil Defense, an emergency service organization, said Friday that Israeli strikes had killed more than 100 people since the cease-fire deal was announced, a figure that could not be independently verified." ~~~
~~~ The Washington Post's live briefings for Saturday are here. ~~~
~~~ Patrick Kingsley, et al., of the New York Times: "The truce that was ultimately announced ... hours after Israel's [latest] demand, was little different to versions promoted for most of the past year by mediators from Egypt, Qatar and the Biden administration, whose representatives met frequently with the warring parties in Cairo, Doha and several European capitals throughout 2024. What pushed the deal over the line this past week was the unlikely partnership between the envoys of America's current and future presidents, working in tandem with the Qatari prime minister in marathon late-night meetings. While Mr. Biden and Mr. Trump have competed for credit, the reality is that their representatives were both crucial to the final push, each using different approaches to push the Israeli leadership toward a deal while [the Qatari prime minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani,] focused on Hamas.... The delegations, which do not speak directly to each other, sat in different rooms on different floors, with Qatari and Egyptian officials passing messages between the two sides."
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