The Conversation -- June 30, 2024

Presidential Race

Fritz Farrow, et al., of ABC News: "President Joe Biden's campaign on Saturday night, in a fundraising appeal to supporters, said the president dropping out would only 'lead to weeks of chaos' and leave the eventual replacement weakened ahead of a November faceoff with ... Donald Trump. 'The bedwetting brigade is calling for Joe Biden to "drop out." That is the best possible way for Donald Trump to win and us to lose,' Biden deputy campaign manager Rob Flaherty argued in the email to supporters." MB: An ignorant, partisan, shortsighted POV. The Democratic convention could be the most exciting party convention in our lifetimes, and it would turn into "chaos" only if Biden and other party leaders and convention organizers planned it to be chaotic. The eventual winner should be ushered in like a hero on a white horse, saving the country from disaster. If Democrats can do anything right.

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Carol Lee, et al., of NBC: News: "President Joe Biden is expected to discuss the future of his re-election campaign with family at Camp David on Sunday, following a nationally televised debate Thursday that left many fellow Democrats worried about his ability to beat ... Donald Trump in November, according to five people familiar with the matter. Biden's trip was planned before Thursday's debate. He and first lady Jill Biden are scheduled to join their children and grandchildren there late Saturday.... One Democratic House member who believes Biden should drop out of the race -- but has yet to call for that publicly -- told NBC News that three colleagues expressed the same sentiment to him during votes on the House floor Friday."

Lisa Lerer, et al., of the New York Times: "The 48 hours after the debate were a frenzied campaign within a campaign to save [President] Biden's suddenly teetering candidacy, a multiday damage-control effort to pressure and plead with anxious Democratic lawmakers, surrogates, activists and donors to stand by the president.... His campaign has been criticized as insular and insistent, so the burst of activity signaled that the debate fallout had turned into a real crisis that spun those in his orbit into a frantic battle mode.... After a frenetic run of seven campaign events across four states since the debate, Mr. Biden himself is taking a pause for a preplanned family gathering at Camp David. He arrived late on Saturday and will be joined by his wife, Jill Biden..., as well as the Biden children and grandchildren, according to two people familiar with the scheduling.... But the timing and circumstances of Mr. Biden being surrounded by the very family members who have been crucial in his past decisions to run for the presidency -- or to sit out a race -- have heightened the stakes and scrutiny surrounding the Camp David retreat"

Toluse Olorunnipa & Matt Viser of the Washington Post: "... after a debate performance where his stumbles and meandering responses sent shock waves through the Democratic Party, [President] Biden's enormously consequential decision to run as an 81-year-old after initially saying he would be a transitional figure has come under harsher scrutiny, raising fresh questions about his small circle of advisers and the Democratic leaders who facilitated his unprecedented push to remain in office until age 86.... There were always warning signs. A Washington Post-ABC News poll in September 2022 showed that 56 percent of Democrats and Democratic-leaning Independents said the party should pick someone else as their nominee.... 'Obviously that debate was a [f----ing] disaster,' Jon Favreau, a former Obama speechwriter and podcast host, wrote on X afterward, suggesting that Democrats needed to have a 'serious discussion' about replacing Biden as their nominee." (Also linked yesterday.)

Kara Voght of the Washington Post: Jill Biden is still backing her husband's candidacy -- and providing cover. MB: Sounds like an intervention is required here, too.

Gregory Krieg, et al., of CNN: "... the Democratic donor class is in crisis, racked by anxiety over what -- if anything -- the party's wealthiest backers can do to reinvigorate or replace [President] Biden, whose campaign has commissioned new polling to assess the damage. The vast universe of wealthy Biden backers and their political whisperers has split along three lines. One faction is arguing that a pressure campaign urging the president -- who has been adamant he will not step aside -- to drop out would be a self-defeating nonstarter. Another is calling for a middle-of-the road approach, saying party leaders should consider drastic steps only after the fallout from Thursday night is more closely examined.... A third group of donors and advisers, with fewer direct ties to Biden world and less influence within it, is proactively calling on Democrats to quit wasting time and immediately begin the process of seeking out a new nominee...."

David Remnick of the New Yorker: "For the President to insist on remaining the Democratic candidate would be an act not only of self-delusion but of national endangerment.... At this point, for the Bidens to insist on defying biology, to think that a decent performance at one rally or speech can offset the indelible images of Thursday night, is folly.... So much -- perhaps too much -- now depends on one man, his family, and his very small inner circle coming to a painful and selfless conclusion. And yet Joe Biden always wanted to be thought of as human, vulnerable, someone like you and me.... There is no shame in growing old. There is honor in recognizing the hard demands of the moment." Firewalled.

Maureen Dowd of the New York Times: "In Washington, people often become what they start out scorning. This has happened to Joe Biden. In his misguided quest for a second term that would end when he's 86, he has succumbed to behavior redolent of Trump. And he is jeopardizing the democracy he says he wants to save.... Jill Biden, lacking the detachment of a Melania and enjoying the role of first lady more, has been pushing -- and shielding -- her husband, beyond a reasonable point.... He has age-related issues, and those go in only one direction.... James Carville, who also said awhile back that the president should renounce a second term, told me Biden should call former Presidents Clinton and Obama to the White House and decide on five Democratic stars to address their convention in August." (Also linked yesterday.)

Paul Kane of the Washington Post: "Democratic voters and lawmakers keep backing much older candidates for president and congressional leadership posts, even though there are plenty of youthful up-and-comers." (Also linked yesterday.)

digby: "... it must be noted ... that as much as Biden blew the debate and missed his opportunity to dispel the concerns about his age, Donald Trump blew it too. He may have appeared more vigorous but he couldn't control himself and behaved once again like the undisciplined, lying, vulgarian who half the country already hates.... He spewed a torrent of lies, was rude and insulting and delivered what was probably the most memorable line in any presidential debate in history: ... 'I didn't have sex with a porn star.'... That's the least of his various crimes and sexual misbehavior but it's the one he felt compelled to deny.... He made faces and insulted Biden to his face, at one point calling him a criminal and a Manchurian candidate. If anyone had said 10 years ago that this would happen at a presidential debate they would have been laughed out of the room....

"Biden has been a successful president in my book and I have every expectation that his administration will continue on that path in a second term. But if he becomes convinced that this debate has ruined his chances and he decides to drop out, I just hope that the party can resist the temptation to devolve into a bloodletting free-for-all that empowers Trump even more. If there was ever a time to keep calm and carry on it's now." ~~~

~~~ Philadelphia Inquirer Editors: "... lost in the hand wringing [over President Biden's disastrous debate performance] was Donald Trump's usual bombastic litany of lies, hyperbole, bigotry, ignorance, and fear mongering. His performance demonstrated once again that he is a danger to democracy and unfit for office.... The only person who should withdraw from the race is Trump. Trump, 78, has been on the political stage for eight years marked by chaos, corruption, and incivility. Why go back to that?... He dodged the CNN moderators' questions, took no responsibility for his actions, and blamed others, mainly Biden, for everything that is wrong in the world. Trump's response to the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection he fueled was farcical. The debate served as a reminder of what another four years of Trump would look like. More lies, grievance, narcissism, and hate. Supporters say they like Trump because he says whatever he thinks. But he mainly spews raw sewage.... During his last term..., Trump spent chunks of time watching TV, tweeting, and hanging out at his country clubs.... Trump didn't read the daily intelligence briefs. He continued to use his personal cell phone, allowing Chinese spies to listen to his calls.... Trump didn't read the daily intelligence briefs. He continued to use his personal cell phone, allowing Chinese spies to listen to his calls." ~~~

     ~~~ Cheryl Rofer in LG&$ is of the impression that this Inquirer editorial is not firewalled. MB: I was able to access the editorial. If you cannot, Rofer has a bit more of it here. The editorial is a summary of the Trump's Greatest Hits.

Shane Goldmacher of the New York Times: "Donald J. Trump's top advisers are planning to drastically scale back and simplify the official platform of the Republican Party, according to a memo sent to the party's platform committee.... The memo -- signed by Chris LaCivita and Susie Wiles, the former president's two lead advisers -- described their efforts to pare down the platform 'to ensure our policy commitments to the American people are clear, concise and easily digestible.' It dismissed past platforms as needlessly 'textbook-long' documents shaped by 'special interest influence' that had left the party and its nominee open to attacks from Democrats." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: The follow-up memo -- which I have obtained in a Reality Chex Exclusive -- lays out the full text of the new platform: "Trump alone can fix it."

Maxiine Joselow of the Washington Post: "The Biden administration moved Friday to protect 28 million acres of public lands in Alaska from oil and gas drilling, mining and other industrial activities that could threaten Alaska Native communities, vulnerable wildlife and pristine ecosystems. The move bolsters President Biden's conservation record..., and it may help him court climate activists.... But his latest decision is certain to anger Alaska lawmakers, including Rep. Mary Peltola, a popular Democrat who faces a tough reelection race.... In a final environmental impact statement released Friday, the Interior Department's Bureau of Land Management outlined several options for managing 28 million acres of public property across Alaska. The 'preferred alternative' calls for retaining protections for these lands that the Trump administration had proposed revoking. In a separate announcement Friday, the Bureau of Land Management finalized its decision to block a controversial road in northern Alaska. Although Ambler Road would be crucial to operating a planned copper and zinc mine, the agency determined that its construction would cause irreparable harm to Alaska Native communities and the already declining Western Arctic caribou herd." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: No need to fret, Alaskans. With a new Trump presidency* on the horizon, "Drill, Baby, Drill" is just around the corner -- assuming potential miners sufficiently grease Trump's palms. I'm thinking a Trump-licensed fishing resort on federal lands. Featuring maybe an Alito Bar & Grill and a Clarence & Ginni Ballroom to make sure there are no Article III hiccups.

Scott Dance of the Washington Post: "The torrent of water pushing the Rapidan Dam to the brink of failure this week came from one of southern Minnesota's wettest stretches on record. For the second time in five years, near-record floods pounded the century-old structure and clogged it with trees that died during intervening years of drought.... Though this crisis didn't live up to [realistic] worries, it underscored ways that extreme precipitation could overwhelm infrastructure not designed to endure it -- and how other environmental, economic and social problems can cascade from there, experts said.... 'We're not prepared for this new climate regime,' said Whitney Clark, executive director of Friends of the Mississippi River.... Around the country, infrastructure is being tested by new precipitation extremes." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Not to worry. Trump alone can fix it. When he's president* again, we'll have Infrastructure Week every week, just like before. There's nothing quite like a Trump Infrastructure Week. Well, except for all the other Trump Infrastructure Weeks, when, on account of Article II, he does whatever the hell he wants. ~~~

** The Verge: "Since the New Deal era, the bulk of the functioning US government is the administrative state.... Even when Capitol Hill is not mired in deep dysfunction, the speed at which Congress and the courts operate no longer seems suitable for modern life. Both industry and ordinary people look to the administrative state, rather than legislators, for an immediate answer to their problems. And since 1984, the administrative state largely ran on one Supreme Court precedent: Chevron USA, Inc. v. Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC).That decision has now been overturned.... The administrative state touches everything around us: net neutrality, climate change, clean air and water, and what scant consumer protections we have." Read on. Various Verge staff report on how the Court has weakened the administrative state and speculate on how overturning Chevron will further undermine federal government protections of American life. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Bear in mind that the new "deciders" will be federal judges with no expertise on the matters before them. Some are intelligent enough to recognize their ignorance, of course, and will go right ahead and defer to the agencies. But others, like some of those Trump appointees deemed unqualified by the ABA even to be judges at all, are ideologues whose judgments will always oppose any sort of effective regulation of business & industry or any sort of "meddling" by medical, scientific or safety experts. And the final arbiters will be those six winger Supremes who reckon the best analyses are to be found in friend-of-the-court briefs submitted by biased, corrupt, right-wing zealots.

** Dave Philipps of the New York Times: "At least a dozen Navy SEALs have died by suicide in the last 10 years, either while in the military or shortly after leaving. A grass-roots effort by grieving families delivered eight of their brains to the lab, an investigation by The New York Times has found. And after careful analysis, researchers discovered blast damage in every single one. It is a stunning pattern with important implications for how SEALs train and fight. But privacy guidelines at the lab and poor communication in the military bureaucracy kept the test results hidden. Five years after Lieutenant [David] Metcalf's death [by suicide], Navy leaders still did not know. Until The Times told the Navy of the lab's findings about the SEALs who died by suicide, the Navy had not been informed, the service confirmed in a statement.... The vast majority of blast exposure for Navy SEALs comes from firing their own weapons, not from enemy action. The damage pattern suggested that years of training intended to make SEALs exceptional was leaving some barely able to function." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: This might be the most shocking instance of "failure to communicate" that I have ever read. My best guess is that this inexcusable failure is the result of rigid chain-of-command rules, wherein reports from "random agencies and facilities" have almost no way of reaching leadership. This is the great flaw in the testosterone-heavy top-down org chart and a military code that eschews rocking the boat. Here lives were lost, others ruined or diminished and families shattered because of it. And for no good reason.

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Oklahoma. Kate Selig of the New York Times: "A federal judge on Friday temporarily blocked Oklahoma from enforcing its new immigration law that would make it a crime to enter the state without legal authorization to be in the United States. The ruling, issued just days before the law was set to go into effect on Monday, is the latest legal setback for Republican-controlled states that have tested the limits of their role in immigration by passing their own legislation meant to crack down on people who crossed the border illegally. The Justice Department maintains that only the federal government can regulate and enforce immigration." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Don't worry, Oklahomans. The Supremes will fix that right up for ya. They are totally into letting local communities decide whose very existence is criminal. You will soon be rid of the masses yearning to breathe free.

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Iran. Farnaz Fassihi, et al., of the New York Times: "A reformist candidate critical of many of the Iranian government's policies, including the mandatory head scarf law, will compete next week against a hard-line conservative in a runoff election for the country's presidency, Iran's interior ministry announced on Saturday. The runoff follows a special vote called after the death last month of the previous leader, Ebrahim Raisi, in a helicopter crash. A second round of voting, which will pit the reformist, Masoud Pezeshkian, against Saeed Jalili, an ultraconservative former nuclear negotiator, will take place on July 5."

The Conversation -- June 29, 2024

Presidential Race

Maureen Dowd of the New York Times: “In Washington, people often become what they start out scorning. This has happened to Joe Biden. In his misguided quest for a second term that would end when he’s 86, he has succumbed to behavior redolent of Trump. And he is jeopardizing the democracy he says he wants to save.... Jill Biden, lacking the detachment of a Melania and enjoying the role of first lady more, has been pushing — and shielding — her husband, beyond a reasonable point.... He has age-related issues, and those go in only one direction.... James Carville, who also said awhile back that the president should renounce a second term, told me Biden should call former Presidents Clinton and Obama to the White House and decide on five Democratic stars to address their convention in August.”

Toluse Olorunnipa & Matt Viser of the Washington Post: “... after a debate performance where his stumbles and meandering responses sent shock waves through the Democratic Party, [President] Biden’s enormously consequential decision to run as an 81-year-old after initially saying he would be a transitional figure has come under harsher scrutiny, raising fresh questions about his small circle of advisers and the Democratic leaders who facilitated his unprecedented push to remain in office until age 86.... There were always warning signs. A Washington Post-ABC News poll in September 2022 showed that 56 percent of Democrats and Democratic-leaning Independents said the party should pick someone else as their nominee.... 'Obviously that debate was a [f----ing] disaster,' Jon Favreau, a former Obama speechwriter and podcast host, wrote on X afterward, suggesting that Democrats needed to have a 'serious discussion' about replacing Biden as their nominee.”

Paul Kane of the Washington Post: “Democratic voters and lawmakers keep backing much older candidates for president and congressional leadership posts, even though there are plenty of youthful up-and-comers.”

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Michael Shear of the New York Times: “Millions of Americans saw one Joe Biden on Thursday night: halting, hesitant, meandering and looking burdened by every one of his 81 years. Democrats were aghast. Fourteen hours later, a smaller number of television viewers saw a different Joe Biden: forceful and confident, landing political punches on ... Donald J. Trump with ease. Democrats in the room cheered.... The differences in the two appearances could not have been more stark.... The afternoon appearance in a fairground warehouse in North Carolina was seen by far fewer people, and seemed unlikely to immediately quell the hand-wringing among Washington consultants, media pundits and ordinary voters.” An NBC News story is here. ~~~

~~~ In North Carolina Friday, President Biden addressed his debate performance:

Marie: Do you remember how laughable we found it when Trump claimed, "I alone can fix it"? Well, it's just as laughable when Biden implies, "I alone can beat him."

Jonathan Allen of NBC News: “Some Democrats began calling for President Joe Biden to step aside so the party can nominate another candidate after he stumbled badly in Thursday's debate against ... Donald Trump.... It's 'time to talk about an open convention and a new Democratic nominee,' said a ... Democratic lawmaker who has been a solid Biden supporter.... Even those who want a replacement candidate doubt that the party can move Biden aside, aren’t certain who could win the party’s nod in his absence and don’t know whether a substitute could beat Trump in November.”

** New York Times Editors: “The president appeared on Thursday night as the shadow of a great public servant. He struggled to explain what he would accomplish in a second term. He struggled to respond to Mr. Trump’s provocations. He struggled to hold Mr. Trump accountable for his lies, his failures and his chilling plans. More than once, he struggled to make it to the end of a sentence. Mr. Biden has been an admirable president.... But the greatest public service Mr. Biden can now perform is to announce that he will not continue to run for re-election. As it stands, the president is engaged in a reckless gamble.... Mr. Biden challenged Mr. Trump to this verbal duel.... The truth Mr. Biden needs to confront now is that he failed his own test.... Mr. Trump’s own performance ought to be regarded as disqualifying. He lied brazenly and repeatedly about his own actions, his record as president and his opponent. He described plans that would harm the American economy, undermine civil liberties and fray America’s relationships with other nations. He refused to promise that he would accept defeat.... The clearest path for Democrats to defeat a candidate defined by his lies is to deal truthfully with the American public: acknowledge that Mr. Biden can’t continue his race, and create a process to select someone more capable to stand in his place to defeat Mr. Trump in November.” (Also linked yesterday.)

The following two opinion pieces are in the same thread. Kristof's follows Krugman's: ~~~

     ~~~ ** Paul Krugman of the New York Times: “Joe Biden has done an excellent job as president. In fact, I consider him the best president of my adult life. Based on his policy record, he should be an overwhelming favorite for re-election. But he isn’t, and on Thursday night he failed to rise to the occasion when it really mattered.... Given where we are, I must very reluctantly join the chorus asking Biden to voluntarily step aside, with emphasis on the 'voluntary' aspect.” (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Nicholas Kristof of the New York Times: “President Biden is a good man who capped a long career in public service with a successful presidential term. But I hope he reviews his debate performance Thursday evening and withdraws from the race, throwing the choice of a Democratic nominee to the convention in August.... Mr. President, one way you can serve your country in 2024 is by announcing your retirement and calling on delegates to replace you, for that is the safest course for our nation.” (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Recently added to the thread above (so currently at the top of the page) ~~~

     ~~~ Jonathan Alter of the New York Times: “... now panicking senior Democrats have a decent shot at prevailing upon the president to withdraw. He should do so gracefully and instruct his delegates to vote for whoever is chosen in Chicago, where the Democratic convention opens on Aug. 19. That move would have the short-term advantage of wrecking the Republican convention, which opens in Milwaukee on July 15. The G.O.P. plans to spend four days savaging [President] Biden. If he dropped out, Republicans would have to explain what they want to do for the country, and the public would realize the only answer is: nothing but harm it in unpopular ways.” Alter lays out the way Democrats could go about nominating a different candidate.

David Ignatius of the Washington Post: “If [President Biden] has the strength and wisdom to step aside, the Democrats will have two months to choose another candidate. It will be a wide-open and noisy race, but that will be invigorating for the country. It’s never too late to do the right thing.”

Marie: If, like me, you who were dismayed but not surprised by President Biden's debate performance, bear in mind that's largely because you've been keeping up. You've heard many a verbal slip-up, you've seen his shuffling walk. But most voters aren't paying much attention. It's likely they haven't really seen him for maybe three or four years ago, back when he spoke more clearly and loped confidently onto a stage. They had to be shocked by the difference between then and now. And we're not talking about how much his manner and affect have deteriorated in the past four years; we're talking about how much his health will flag in the next five years. We nearly had one 25th Amendment crisis in 2021. In re-electing either Biden or Trump, we're asking for such a crisis to occur during the next presidential term.

Jill the Decider. Katie Rogers of the New York Times: “If [President] Biden were to seriously consider departing the race, allowing a younger candidate to replace him, the first lady would be the most important figure — other than the president himself — in reaching that decision.... Indeed, as major Democratic Party donors connected Friday, by text, by phone or in person, one of the most immediate questions they asked one another was whether any of them knew how to get a meeting or a conversation with the first lady.... In front of supporters on Friday, the first lady embraced the talking points espoused by Democratic Party leaders ... that Mr. Biden’s bad performance did not erase years of successful legislating.... [But] Suddenly, a first lady who had skirted major controversies over the past three and a half years found herself in the cross hairs of people who believe she has been trying to hide his diminished faculties.”

Erica Green, et al., of the New York Times: “Less than 24 hours after President Biden’s faltering performance at a debate in Atlanta, Vice President Kamala Harris was standing before a crowd of supporters in a crucial battleground state [Nevada] on Friday, defending his record and his fitness for office. But with Democrats openly discussing replacing Mr. Biden on the ticket, Ms. Harris was also effectively making a case for herself.... Although the prospect of removing Mr. Biden from the ticket remains far-fetched, Ms. Harris would most likely be one of a half-dozen candidates vying for the presidential nomination if Mr. Biden pulled out.... With the Biden campaign in crisis, there is a renewed focus on Ms. Harris as she tries to calm a panicking Democratic Party. On Friday in Nevada, she made her loyalty to Mr. Biden clear.”

Abha Bhattarai of the Washington Post: “In a fiery exchange during [the] presidential debate..., Donald Trump claimed that an influx of immigrants from the U.S.-Mexico border were 'taking Black jobs.' But economic data shows that Black workers are faring exceptionally well: The Black unemployment rate remains near historic lows and wage gains are at all-time highs. Meanwhile, the share of Black Americans with jobs — at 59.1 — is near a peak of 60.4 percent set last year. 'There is no indication anywhere that Black workers are losing out in this economy,' said Valerie Wilson, a labor economist at Economic Policy Institute Action.” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: News flash for the President of the Confederacy there: slavery is kind of passe and even good old-fashioned racism is best left in Mitt Romney's "quiet rooms." So, at least officially, there are no longer any "Black jobs." ~~~

     ~~~ Matt Brown of the AP: “Donald Trump warned during his debate with Joe Biden and again at a Friday rally that migrants were taking 'Black jobs' and 'Hispanic jobs' from Americans, angering critics who called it a racist and insulting attempt to expand his appeal beyond his white conservative base.... 'There is no such thing as a Black job. That misinformed characterization is a denial of the ubiquity of Black talent. We are doctors, lawyers, school teachers, police officers and firefighters. The list goes on,' said Derrick Johnson, president and CEO of the NAACP. 'A “Black job” is an American job....'”

Tommy Christopher of Mediaite: “President Joe Biden’s campaign hit back after a widely-panned debate performance by listing a whopping 50 'lies' ex-President Donald Trump 'told from the debate stage.'”

     ~~~ If you listen to Daniel Dale's critique, what you'll find is that not only did President Biden make far fewer porkies than Trump, Biden's misstatements were mostly in the realm of misremembering numbers -- e.g., $15 instead of $35 on the insulin cap he imposed -- whereas Trump's lies were whoppers; e.g., “We had the greatest economy in the history of our country. We have never done so well, and everybody was amazed by it.”

The Extreme Supremes Speak

Chief Justice Roberts announced that Monday would be the last day of the Court's term, so the grand poobahs will have to drop the last of their decisions, including a ruling on presidential* immunity.

Supremes Let Some Insurrectionists Skate. Ann Marimow of the Washington Post: “Federal prosecutors improperly charged hundreds of Jan. 6 defendants with obstruction, the Supreme Court ruled on Friday, upending many cases against rioters who disrupted the certification of the 2020 presidential election. After the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol, federal prosecutors charged more than 350 participants in the pro-Trump mob with obstructing or impeding an official proceeding. The charge carries a 20-year maximum penalty and is part of a law enacted after the exposure of massive fraud and shredding of documents during the collapse of the energy giant Enron. Writing for the majority, Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. said the government must establish that a defendant 'impaired the availability or integrity' of records, documents or other objects used in an official proceeding. The decision returns the case to the lower courts for additional proceedings. Justices Amy Coney Barrett, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan dissented.” The NBC News report is here. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

    ~~~ The opinion & dissent are here, via the Court. Marie: In case it slipped your notice, the husbands of insurrectionist cheerleaders Ginni & Martha-Ann were proud to sign on to the majority opinion cutting the insurrectionists a break. ~~~

~~~ January 6 was an unprecedented attack on the cornerstone of our system of government — the peaceful transfer of power from one administration to the next. I am disappointed by today’s decision, which limits an important federal statute that the Department has sought to use to ensure that those most responsible for that attack face appropriate consequences. The vast majority of the more than 1,400 defendants charged for their illegal actions on January 6 will not be affected by this decision. -- Attorney General Merrick Garland ~~~

~~~ Because of Course He Did. Irie Sentner of Politico: "... Donald Trump called on Friday for those arrested in connection to the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol to be released, responding to the Supreme Court’s ruling earlier in the day that prosecutors in at least one case improperly charged a defendant."

** Adam Liptak of the New York Times: “The Supreme Court on Friday reduced the authority of executive agencies, sweeping aside a longstanding legal precedent that required courts to defer to the expertise of federal administrators in carrying out laws passed by Congress. The precedent, Chevron v. Natural Resources Defense Council, is one of the most cited in American law. There have been 70 Supreme Court decisions relying on Chevron, along with 17,000 in the lower courts. The decision threatens regulations in countless areas, including the environment, health care and consumer safety. The vote was 6 to 3, dividing along ideological lines. The conservative legal movement and business groups have long objected to the Chevron ruling, partly based on a general hostility to government regulation and partly based on the belief, grounded in the separation of powers, that agencies should have only the power that Congress has explicitly given them.” (Also linked yesterday.) The AP's report is here. ~~~

In one fell swoop, the majority today gives itself exclusive power over every open issue — no matter how expertise-driven or policy-laden — involving the meaning of regulatory law. As if it did not have enough on its plate, the majority turns itself into the country’s administrative czar.... A longstanding precedent at the crux of administrative governance [-- Chevron --] thus falls victim to a bald assertion of judicial authority. The majority disdains restraint, and grasps for power. -- Elena Kagan, dissent ~~~

     ~~~ Ed Pilkington of the Guardian: “Elena Kagan issued a devastating dissent to the decision of her hard-right fellow supreme court justices to overturn the Chevron doctrine that has been a cornerstone of federal regulation for 40 years, accusing the majority of turning itself into'the country’s administrative czar'. Kagan was joined by her two fellow liberal-leaning justices, Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson, in delivering a withering criticism of the actions of the ultra-right supermajority that was created by Donald Trump.” ~~~

     ~~~ The decision, concurrences & dissent, via the Court is here. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Too bad the case wasn't captioned Ignorant Hubris v. Expertise. Update: I just read Kagan's dissent; she wrote, "If opinions had titles, a good candidate for today’s would be Hubris Squared." Maybe you're thinking, oh, well, judges -- who will now be the interpreters of any potentially ambiguous statutory language -- are a kind of expert, too. Let me call your attention to a New York Times story also linked earlier today:

“Last year, the Supreme Court sharply restricted the federal government’s ability to limit pollution in small streams that sit dry for much of the year and fill up only after rainfall or snowmelt. Now, a new study ... estimates that 55 percent of the water flowing out of America’s river basins can be traced back to millions of ephemeral streams that flow only periodically. The findings suggest that the Supreme Court ruling, which rolled back protections for those streams, could leave large bodies of water vulnerable to pollution.” (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Elie Mystal, appearing on MSNBC Friday, said that in an opinion released yesterday, expert justice Neil Gorsuch mixed up nitrous oxide (laughing gas) and nitrogen oxides (environmental pollutants). And as Dahlia Lithwick, also on MSNBC, more or less put it yesterday, this is a "wholesale transfer" of regulatory power from the executive branch to the judiciary. Lithwick notes that this is the same Court that this week demonstrated it is so "expert" it can't even manage its own Website. ~~~

     ~~~ Matthew Daly of the AP: “Executive branch agencies will likely have more difficulty regulating the environment, public health, workplace safety and other issues under a far-reaching decision by the Supreme Court.... With a closely divided Congress, presidential administrations have increasingly turned to federal regulation to implement policy changes. Federal rules impact virtually every aspect of everyday life, from the food we eat and the cars we drive to the air we breathe and homes we live in. President Joe Biden’s administration, for example, has issued a host of new regulations on the environment and other priorities, including restrictions on emissions from power plants and vehicle tailpipes, and rules on student loan forgiveness, overtime pay and affordable housing. Those actions and others could be opened up to legal challenges if judges are allowed to discount or disregard the expertise of the executive-branch agencies that put them into place. With billions of dollars potentially at stake, groups representing the gun industry and other businesses such as tobacco, agriculture, timber and homebuilding, were among those pressing the justices to overturn the Chevron doctrine and weaken government regulation.”

     ~~~ Alex Guillén & Josh Gerstein of Politico: The decision's “fallout will make it harder for President Joe Biden or any future president to act on a vast array of policy areas, from wiping out student debt and expanding protections for pregnant workers to curbing climate pollution and regulating artificial intelligence.” (Also linked yesterday.)

Abbie VanSickle of the New York Times: “The Supreme Court on Friday upheld an Oregon city’s laws aimed at banning homeless residents from sleeping outdoors, saying they did not violate the Constitution’s prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment. The ruling, by a 6-to-3 vote, split along ideological lines, with Justice Neil M. Gorsuch writing for the majority. The laws, enacted in Grants Pass, Ore., penalize sleeping and camping in public places, including sidewalks, streets and city parks.” (Also linked yesterday.) The AP report is here. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Well, now, see, John Roberts does have a sense of humor. Assigning the Cruelest Justice to write an opinion criminalizing Being Without Shelter is kind of perfect.

It is a bad day for democracy and a threatening day for the rule of law. -- Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Member of the Judiciary Committee ~~~

~~~ Carl Hulse of the New York Times: “Democrats confronted a nightmare scenario on Friday as they surveyed the wreckage of major political, policy and legal disasters piled atop one another with elections for control of the White House and Congress less than five months away. Even as they reeled from President Biden’s poor performance on Thursday night in a make-or-break debate with ... Donald J. Trump, Democrats were slammed anew on Friday by the Supreme Court.... It was a day that encapsulated the party’s worst fears about the coming elections and the rightward tilt of the Supreme Court. And it drove home how Republicans and Mr. Trump are within reach of victory in November — putting them in position to achieve a host of policy objectives vehemently opposed by Democrats — even with a presumptive nominee who is a convicted felon and a party that has been in deep disarray and shown little ability to govern.”

Kate Zernike of the New York Times: Idaho resident Nicole Miller “needed an emergency abortion. Doctors ... put her on a plane.... 'I couldn’t comprehend: I’m standing in front of doctors who know exactly what to do and how to help and they’re refusing to do it,' Ms. Miller said in an interview.... On Thursday, the United States Supreme Court declined to decide whether states that ban abortions, like Idaho, must comply with a federal law that requires emergency room doctors to provide abortions necessary to protect the health of a pregnant woman. The justices sent the question back to the lower courts for trial, and in the meantime reinstated a lower-court order saying that the federal law, the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act, did apply.... But doctors in Idaho and other states with near-total bans say that even with the renewed protection of federal law, they have little clarity about what medical emergencies are covered, and little reassurance that they will not face charges, jail time, large fines and loss of their medical licenses if they provide care a prosecutor says was not necessary.” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Yes But. All you people are failing to appreciate 17th-century English common law. (The linked article by Lynn Parramore, published May 2022, is an excellent read on the history of abortion: in his Dobbs opinion, striking down Roe v. Wade, “Alito ignores societal practices on a large scale.... Certainly, many lawmakers in England and America wanted to restrict abortion, but their reasons were often highly questionable, including concern about female immorality and the assumption that wombs and fetuses were male property. Journalist and academic Emily Bell writes on Twitter that the 17th century jurist whom Alito cites to bolster his position 'had at least two women executed for witchcraft and wrote a treatise supporting marital rape.' Some precedent!”)

Roni Rabin, et al., of the New York Times: “The Biden administration said this week that it opposed gender-affirming surgery for minors, the most explicit statement to date on the subject from a president who has been a staunch supporter of transgender rights. The White House announcement was sent to The New York Times on Wednesday in response to an article reporting that staff in the office of Adm. Rachel Levine, an assistant secretary at the Department of Health and Human Services, had urged an influential international transgender health organization to remove age minimums for surgery from its treatment guidelines for minors.”

National Crime Blotter

Wayne Parry of the AP: “New Jersey regulators will hold a hearing next month on whether two golf courses owned by ... Donald Trump should have their liquor licenses renewed following his felony convictions in May in New York.... The licenses for Trump golf courses in Colts Neck and Bedminster expire on Sunday. The state Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control said Friday it is not renewing the licenses, but it is issuing temporary 90-day permits to allow them to continue serving alcohol until a hearing on the licenses is held on July 19 in Trenton. The hearing is scheduled for after Trump’s sentencing on July 11.... At issue is whether Trump’s conviction on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records to hide payments of hush money to a porn star violate New Jersey’s prohibition on anyone holding a liquor license who has been convicted of a crime involving 'moral turpitude.'” MB: Oh, there's hardly a soul more turpitudious than Donald.

Supremes: “Lock Him Up.” John Fritze of CNN: “The Supreme Court on Friday rejected former Trump adviser Steve Bannon’s effort to avoid prison while he appeals his contempt of Congress conviction. The court dispensed with the case in a brief [MB: unsigned] order. There were no noted dissents.” (Also linked yesterday.)

Ry Rivard of Politico: “Federal prosecutors rested their case Friday against Sen. Bob Menendez [D-N.J.] and two men accused of bribing him as they began it — focusing on the fishy amounts of cash and gold bars they found in his home stuffed almost comically into bags, boots and jackets. Defense attorneys are expected to call their own witnesses and the trial is unlikely to end until mid-July.”

Annals of “Journalism,” Ctd. But the Emails! Aaron Davis, et al., of the Washington Post: When he was an executive at Rupert Murdoch's U.K. publishing business, William Lewis ordered technicians to delete some 30 million company emails. “Victims of phone hacking claim that those deletions were part of an effort to cover up executives’ awareness that Murdoch journalists had illegally obtained voicemails of thousands of people, including politicians, royals and even a murdered teenager.... A Washington Post review of documents and interviews with key players found that News International’s actions in response to the hacking scandal left some police investigators and IT workers concerned that the company was obstructing the investigation. Some now say their concerns have only grown with time.... Former British prime minister Gordon Brown, himself a victim of alleged hacking, last month urged ... Scotland Yard — to reopen its criminal investigation.... [Lewis] last year was named CEO and publisher of The Washington Post.”

~~~~~~~~~~

Iowa. Annie Gowen of the Washington Post: “Iowa’s Supreme Court on Friday allowed a six-week ban on abortion to take effect, one of the latest rulings to restrict abortion access since the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2022 decision ending federal protections for the procedure. The measure restricts the procedure after six weeks of pregnancy, the point when fetal cardiac activity can be detected.... The judges ruled 4-3 that the law — passed by the Republican-led legislature in 2023 — is constitutional, reversing a temporary restraining order put in place by a district court last year while allowing the ongoing litigation at that level can proceed.” (Also linked yesterday.) 

Texas. David Goodman of the New York Times: “The Texas Supreme Court upheld a state law on Friday that bans gender-transition medical treatment for minors, overturning a lower-court ruling that had temporarily blocked the law and dealing a blow to parents of transgender children. The court, whose nine elected members are all Republicans, voted 8 to 1 in favor of allowing the law, which passed last year, to remain in effect. It bars doctors from prescribing certain medications to minors, like hormones and puberty blockers, and forbids them from performing certain surgical procedures, like mastectomies, on minors.”

~~~~~~~~~~

The Conversation -- June 28, 2024

In North Carolina Friday, President Biden addressed his debate performance:

Supremes: "Lock Him Up." John Fritze of CNN: "The Supreme Court on Friday rejected former Trump adviser Steve Bannon's effort to avoid prison while he appeals his contempt of Congress conviction. The court dispensed with the case in a brief [MB: unsigned] order. There were no noted dissents."

Marie: Do you remember how laughable we found it when Trump claimed, "I alone can fix it"? Well, it's just as laughable when Biden implies, "I alone can beat him."

The following two opinion pieces are in the same thread. Kristof's follows Krugman's: ~~~

     ~~~ ** Paul Krugman of the New York Times: "Joe Biden has done an excellent job as president. In fact, I consider him the best president of my adult life. Based on his policy record, he should be an overwhelming favorite for re-election. But he isn't, and on Thursday night he failed to rise to the occasion when it really mattered.... Given where we are, I must very reluctantly join the chorus asking Biden to voluntarily step aside, with emphasis on the 'voluntary' aspect." ~~~

     ~~~ Nicholas Kristof of the New York Times: "President Biden is a good man who capped a long career in public service with a successful presidential term. But I hope he reviews his debate performance Thursday evening and withdraws from the race, throwing the choice of a Democratic nominee to the convention in August.... Mr. President, one way you can serve your country in 2024 is by announcing your retirement and calling on delegates to replace you, for that is the safest course for our nation."

Chief Justice Roberts announced that Monday would be the last day of the Court's term, so the grand poobahs will have to drop the last of their decisions, including a ruling on presidential* immunity.

Supremes Let Some Insurrectionists Skate. Ann Marimow of the Washington Post: "Federal prosecutors improperly charged hundreds of Jan. 6 defendants with obstruction, the Supreme Court ruled on Friday, upending many cases against rioters who disrupted the certification of the 2020 presidential election. After the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol, federal prosecutors charged more than 350 participants in the pro-Trump mob with obstructing or impeding an official proceeding. The charge carries a 20-year maximum penalty and is part of a law enacted after the exposure of massive fraud and shredding of documents during the collapse of the energy giant Enron. Writing for the majority, Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. said the government must establish that a defendant 'impaired the availability or integrity' of records, documents or other objects used in an official proceeding. The decision returns the case to the lower courts for additional proceedings. Justices Amy Coney Barrett, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan dissented." The NBC News report is here. ~~~

     ~~~ The opinion & dissent are here, via the Court. Marie: I see where the husbands of insurrectionist cheerleaders Ginni & Martha-Ann were proud to sign on to the majority opinion cutting the insurrectionists a break.

** Adam Liptak of the New York Times: "The Supreme Court on Friday reduced the authority of executive agencies, sweeping aside a longstanding legal precedent that required courts to defer to the expertise of federal administrators in carrying out laws passed by Congress. The precedent, Chevron v. Natural Resources Defense Council, is one of the most cited in American law. There have been 70 Supreme Court decisions relying on Chevron, along with 17,000 in the lower courts. The decision threatens regulations in countless areas, including the environment, health care and consumer safety. The vote was 6 to 3, dividing along ideological lines. The conservative legal movement and business groups have long objected to the Chevron ruling, partly based on a general hostility to government regulation and partly based on the belief, grounded in the separation of powers, that agencies should have only the power that Congress has explicitly given them." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Too bad the case wasn't captioned Ignorant Hubris v. Expertise. Maybe you're thinking, oh, well, judges -- who will now be the interpreters of any potentially ambiguous statutory language -- are a kind of expert, too. Let me call your attention to a New York Times story also linked earlier today:

"Last year, the Supreme Court sharply restricted the federal government's ability to limit pollution in small streams that sit dry for much of the year and fill up only after rainfall or snowmelt. Now, a new study ... estimates that 55 percent of the water flowing out of America's river basins can be traced back to millions of ephemeral streams that flow only periodically. The findings suggest that the Supreme Court ruling, which rolled back protections for those streams, could leave large bodies of water vulnerable to pollution." ~~~

     ~~~ Elie Mystal, appearing on MSNBC Friday, said that in an opinion released yesterday, expert justice Neil Gorsuch mixed up nitrous oxide (laughing gas) and nitrogen oxides (environmental pollutants).

     ~~~ Alex Guillén & Josh Gerstein of Politico: The decision's "fallout will make it harder for President Joe Biden or any future president to act on a vast array of policy areas, from wiping out student debt and expanding protections for pregnant workers to curbing climate pollution and regulating artificial intelligence."

Abbie VanSickle of the New York Times: "The Supreme Court on Friday upheld an Oregon city's laws aimed at banning homeless residents from sleeping outdoors, saying they did not violate the Constitution's prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment. The ruling, by a 6-to-3 vote, split along ideological lines, with Justice Neil M. Gorsuch writing for the majority. The laws, enacted in Grants Pass, Ore., penalize sleeping and camping in public places, including sidewalks, streets and city parks." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Well, now, see, John Roberts does have a sense of humor. Assigning the Cruelest Justice to write an opinion outlawing Being Without Shelter is kind of perfect.

Iowa. Annie Gowen of the Washington Post: "Iowa's Supreme Court on Friday allowed a six-week ban on abortion to take effect, one of the latest rulings to restrict abortion access since the U.S. Supreme Court's 2022 decision ending federal protections for the procedure. The measure restricts the procedure after six weeks of pregnancy, the point when fetal cardiac activity can be detected.... The judges ruled 4-3 that the law -- passed by the Republican-led legislature in 2023 -- is constitutional, reversing a temporary restraining order put in place by a district court last year while allowing the ongoing litigation at that level can proceed."

~~~~~~~~~~

Presidential Race

Always look on the bright side. We no longer have to worry about Trump's claiming the election was rigged and leading another bloody coup attempt. So, you know, saving the appearance of democracy. For a little while. -- Marie

Two Words: Brokered Convention. Release your delegates, Joe.

Peter Baker of the New York Times: President Biden's "halting and disjointed performance on Thursday night prompted a wave of panic among Democrats and reopened discussion of whether he should be the nominee at all. Over the course of 90 minutes, a raspy-voiced Mr. Biden struggled to deliver his lines and counter a sharp though deeply dishonest ... Donald J. Trump, raising doubts about the incumbent president's ability to wage a vigorous and competitive campaign four months before the election. Rather than dispel concerns about his age, Mr. Biden, 81, made it the central issue. Democrats who have defended the president for months against his doubters — including members of his own administration -- traded frenzied phone calls and text messages within minutes of the start of the debate as it became clear that Mr. Biden was not at his sharpest. Practically in despair, some took to social media to express shock, while others privately discussed among themselves whether it was too late to persuade the president to step aside in favor of a younger candidate. 'Biden is about to face a crescendo of calls to step aside,' said a veteran Democratic strategist who has staunchly backed Mr. Biden publicly. 'Joe had a deep well of affection among Democrats. It has run dry.'

"Mr. Trump, 78, appeared to coast through the debate with little trouble, rattling off one falsehood after another without being effectively challenged. He appeared confident while avoiding the excessively overbearing demeanor that had damaged him during his first debate with Mr. Biden in 2020, seemingly content to let his opponent stew in his own difficulties. While Mr. Trump at times rambled and offered statements that were convoluted, hard to follow and flatly untrue, he did so with energy and volume that covered up his misstatements, managing to stay on offense even on issues of vulnerability for him like the Jan. 6, 2021, attack and abortion."

Ashley Parker of the Washington Post: "One thing was clear by the end of the first 2024 presidential faceoff: Democrats were in a panic following [President] Biden's halting debate night performance. Their consternation encompassed the halls of Congress, the moneyed coastal cities of donors, the party strongholds across the country and the bars and living rooms where Democratic stalwarts gathered to cheer on their guy.... [Biden's] voice was soft and raspy, and he repeatedly tried, and failed, to clear his throat. His answers, at times, were rambling, and at one point he froze up. At another, he began an answer on abortion, before suddenly segueing into immigration. When Trump spoke, Biden often watched with his mouth agape and eyes flared wide -- a split screen that gave off the impression of the aging grandfather that he is, not the swashbuckling leader he hoped to project."

Lisa Kashinsky, et al., of Politico: "The alarm bells for Democrats started ringing the second [President] Biden started speaking in a haltingly hoarse voice. Minutes into the debate, he struggled to mount an effective defense of the economy on his watch and flubbed the description of key health initiatives he's made central to his reelection bid, saying 'we finally beat Medicare' and incorrectly stating how much his administration lowered the price of insulin. He talked himself into a corner on Afghanistan, bringing up his administration's botched withdrawal unprompted. He repeatedly mixed up 'billion' and 'million,' and found himself stuck for long stretches of the 90-minute debate playing defense."

Elena Schneider, et al., of Politico: "One major Democratic donor and Biden supporter said it was time for the president to end his campaign. This person described Biden's night as 'the worst performance in history' and said Biden was so 'bad that no one will pay attention to Trump's lies.'"

When you drive a person to agree with Tom Friedman, Joe, it's time to go: ~~~

     ~~~ Tom Friedman of the New York Times: "I watched the Biden-Trump debate alone in a Lisbon hotel room, and it made me weep. I cannot remember a more heartbreaking moment in American presidential campaign politics in my lifetime -- precisely because of what it revealed: Joe Biden, a good man and a good president, has no business running for re-election. And Donald Trump, a malicious man and a petty president, has learned nothing and forgotten nothing. He is the same fire hose of lies he always was, obsessed with his grievances -- nowhere close to what it will take for America to lead in the 21st century. The Biden family and political team must gather quickly and have the hardest of conversations with the president, a conversation of love and clarity and resolve. To give America the greatest shot possible of deterring the Trump threat in November, the president has to come forward and declare that he will not be running for re-election and is releasing all of his delegates for the Democratic National Convention."

Here are New York Times reporters' live updates of the presidential debate. The page also contains a livefeed of the debate. MB: Trump approached the podium looking very, very grumpy. Anyway, here are a very few of the many, many reporters' observations. I am so-o-o-o glad I'm not listening to this, because the reporters are diplomatically suggesting Biden's performance is a disaster and Trump -- lying about everything -- sounds great! ~~~

Alan Rappeport: "Biden, speaking quickly, argued that Trump left him with an economy in shambles and that he had created jobs and was bringing down the cost of prescription drugs."

Adam Nagourney: "... Biden comes out of the box going after Trump: 'Things were in chaos.' No time for preliminaries tonight."

Jess Bidgood: "Trump blames the Covid pandemic for undoing gains under his leadership, then blames Biden for inflation."

Rappeport: "Trump says that his tax cuts 'spurred the greatest economy that we'd ever seen' and argues that he was ready to start paying down debt. A nonpartisan report this week showed that Trump racked up about twice as much debt as Biden in his term."

Katie Rogers: "Trump is fiery tonight and went straight into attacking the president on immigration. The moderators are trying to bring the questioning back to the economy. So far, Trump is pretty much talking about what he wants to talk about...."

Reid Epstein: "Biden appeared to just lose his train of thought, concluding with 'we finally beat Medicare.' Trump immediately pounced: 'He did beat Medicare, he beat it to death.'"

Shawn Hubler: "In Sacramento, where some 40 Democrats have gathered at a union hall for a watch party, the mood has wavered for most of the debate between mild panic and grim despair."

Rappeport: "The debate took a deeply personal turn over the last 15 minutes. Biden hit Trump for being a felon, laid into him for his legal problems. Trump responded by bringing up Biden's son Hunter, and calling him a criminal. Then things got uglier, when Biden dug into Trump for his alleged relationship with Stormy Daniels, accusing him of having sex with a porn star while his wife was pregnant. Trump rebutted that with a response that has never been heard in a presidential debate: 'I didn't have sex with a porn star.' Trump, angered by the exchange, said that Biden was the 'worst president in the history of our country.'"

David Goodman: "The mood at Christian's Tailgate, a Houston bar where more than 100 mostly young Republicans gathered for a watch party, was festive and confident: Scores jeered Biden's every verbal stumble and cheered each time Trump brought up immigration."

Zolan Kanno-Youngs: "This is the best Biden has sounded so far as he defends the reputation of the United States and talks about the need for a child tax credit. He sounds more coherent and clear."

Rogers: "These last minutes of this debate feel a little surreal. Topics: Golf handicaps. Indictments. Dueling presidencies. World War III. Voters were very unhappy with their choices going into this debate and it's hard to imagine that this was a reassuring 90 minutes."

Hamed Aleaziz of the New York Times: "The Biden administration plans to protect from deportation around 300,000 Haitians and allow them to work in the country, according to three people with knowledge of the matter, the latest move to shield immigrants from returning to countries in dire conditions. The administration's plan would make Haitians who arrived after November 2022 and before early June eligible for temporary protected status...."

National Crime Blotter

Alan Feuer of the New York Times: "The federal judge overseeing ... Donald J. Trump's classified documents case said on Thursday that she intended to look anew at a hugely consequential legal victory that prosecutors won last year and that served as a cornerstone of the obstruction charges filed against Mr. Trump. In her ruling, the judge, Aileen M. Cannon, said she would hold a hearing to reconsider another judge's decision to allow prosecutors to pierce the attorney-client privilege of one of Mr. Trump's lawyers under what is known as the crime-fraud exception. That provision allows the government to get around the normal protections afforded to a lawyer's communications with a client if it can prove that legal advice was used to commit a crime. Depending on how Judge Cannon ultimately rules, her decision to redo the fraught and lengthy legal arguments about the crime-fraud exception could deal a serious blow to the obstruction charges in the indictment of Mr. Trump." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Let me say this about that. That "other judge" who ruled that the crime-fraud exception applied was Beryl A. Howell, then Washington's chief federal judge; IOW, one of the top jurists in the nation. Howell has had a long, varied and distinguished career in law and government. And Little Miss Aileen is planning to overrule her. ~~~

     ~~~ Devlin Barrett & Perry Stein of the Washington Post: "U.S. District Judge Aileen M. Cannon said Thursday that she will hold a hearing for Donald Trump's lawyers to challenge some of the evidence gathered against him for alleged mishandling of classified documents and obstructing government efforts to retrieve them. In an 11-page order, the judge said that 'further factual development is warranted' when it comes to Trump's challenge to the search warrant for Mar-a-Lago.... FBI agents searched his home on Aug. 8, 2022, finding 103 classified documents that eventually led to his indictment."

Salvador Rizzo, et al., of the Washington Post: "After years of Justice Department efforts to bring the WikiLeaks founder [Julian Assange] to the United States to stand trial, the near-collapse of the case in a British court sent prosecutors hurtling toward a plea deal."

Steve LeBlanc & Holly Ramer of the AP: "A New Hampshire man charged with threatening the lives of presidential candidates last year has been found dead while a jury was deciding his verdict, according to court filings Thursday. The jury began weighing the case against Tyler Anderson, 30, of Dover on Tuesday after a trial that began Monday. Police in Concord, New Hampshire, were asked to help search for Anderson after he failed to show up for court and eventually located a car in a garage at Concord Hospital at about 8:30 p.m. Wednesday, according to Deputy Chief John Thomas."

What Are the Extreme Supremes Doing Now?

Ann Marimow & Dan Diamond of the Washington Post: "Hospitals in Idaho that receive federal funds must allow emergency abortion care to stabilize patients even though the state strictly bans the procedure, the Supreme Court ruled on Thursday, one day after the opinion was prematurely posted on its website. The court's unsigned, 6-3 decision does not address the substance of the case. Instead, while litigation in the matter continues, the justices temporarily reinstated a lower-court ruling that had allowed hospitals to perform emergency abortions without being subject to prosecution under Idaho's abortion ban." This is an update of a story linked yesterday. Since the content of the leaked document apparently is just like that of the official decision and dissents, you'll find discussion in Thursday's and Wednesday's Conversations.

Justin Jouvenal, et al., of the Washington Post: "A divided Supreme Court on Thursday invalidated the Securities and Exchange Commission's use of in-house legal proceedings to discipline those it believes have committed fraud -- a blow to the federal agency in one of several cases this term challenging the power of the executive branch. Like other agencies, the SEC sometimes relies on internal tribunals with administrative law judges, rather than federal courts, to bring enforcement actions in securities fraud cases or other matters. In a 6-3 ruling that broke along ideological lines, the court said the SEC's reliance on internal tribunals, rather than federal courts, to bring enforcement actions in securities fraud cases violates the Constitution. The case is the latest in a string of rulings by the high court paring back the powers of the administrative state." This is an update of a report linked yesterday.

David Ovalle & Justin Jouvenal of the Washington Post: "A divided Supreme Court on Thursday blocked a controversial proposed Purdue Pharma bankruptcy plan that would have provided billions of dollars to help address the nation's opioid crisis in exchange for protecting the family that owns the company from future lawsuits.... In a 5-4 decision that scrambled ideological lines on the Supreme Court, the majority found the plan was invalid because all the affected parties had not been consulted on the deal." This is an update of a report linked yesterday.

Justin Jouvenal of the Washington Post: "The Supreme Court dealt a blow to the Environmental Protection Agency's regulation of air quality on Thursday, putting on hold a major initiative to improve public health by reducing smog-forming pollution from power plants and factories that blows across state lines. The decision is the third time in as many years that the court's conservative majority has sharply curtailed the EPA's power to regulate pollution, following rulings in 2022 and 2023 that targeted the agency's ability to limit greenhouse gases and protect wetlands from runoff. In this year's case, a divided court sided 5-4 with states, trade associations and companies that asked for a pause on the agency's ambitious 'good neighbor' plan as they challenge it in a lower court. The way the decision was made was notable: The justices took up the case on an emergency basis while it is still playing out in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. Usually, the high court waits for proceedings to finish in lower courts before taking up such challenges. That move angered liberal justices and environmentalists, who questioned what was so urgent when the regulations do not go into effect until mid-2026." (Also linked yesterday.)

Who Could Have Known?? Brad Plumer of the New York Times: "Last year, the Supreme Court sharply restricted the federal government's ability to limit pollution in small streams that sit dry for much of the year and fill up only after rainfall or snowmelt. Now, a new study finds that those bodies, so-called ephemeral streams, are significantly more important to the nation's waterways than often appreciated. The research, published Thursday in the journal Science, estimates that 55 percent of the water flowing out of America's river basins can be traced back to millions of ephemeral streams that flow only periodically. The findings suggest that the Supreme Court ruling, which rolled back protections for those streams, could leave large bodies of water vulnerable to pollution."

~~~~~~~~~~

Arizona. Yvonne Sanchez & Azi Paybarah of the Washington Post: "This week, video emerged that showed [Shelby] Busch [-- chair of Arizona's delegation to the Republican convention --] saying she would 'lynch' the official who helps oversee elections in Maricopa County: Stephen Richer, a fellow Republican [who is Jewish]."

Oklahoma. Sarah Mervosh of the New York Times: "Oklahoma's state superintendent on Thursday directed all public schools to teach the Bible, including the Ten Commandments, in an extraordinary move that blurs the lines between religious instruction and public education. The superintendent, Ryan Walters, who is a Republican, described the Bible as an 'indispensable historical and cultural touchstone' and said it must be taught in certain grade levels.... Mr. Walters, a former history teacher who served in the cabinet of Gov. Kevin Stitt [R] before being elected state superintendent in 2022, has emerged as a lightning rod of conservative politics in Oklahoma and an unapologetic culture warrior in education.... Stacey Woolley, the president of the school board for Tulsa Public Schools, which Mr. Walters has threatened to take over, said she had not received specific instructions on the curriculum, but believed it would be 'inappropriate' to teach students of various faiths and backgrounds excerpts from the Bible alone, without also including other religious texts." (Also linked yesterday.)

Texas. David Goodman & Edgar Sandoval of the New York Times: "Pete Arredondo, the former chief of the school district police in Uvalde, Texas, was indicted and arrested over his actions during the police response to the 2022 school shooting in which a gunman killed 19 children and two teachers, the Uvalde County sheriff said on Thursday. 'Mr. Arredondo is currently in our custody,' the sheriff, Ruben Nolasco, said in a text message, adding that Mr. Arredondo was being held on the charge of 'abandoning/endangering of a child.' The indictment, which comes more than two years after the May 24 massacre at Robb Elementary School, is the first set of criminal charges stemming from the shooting and suggests failures in the police response beyond poor decision-making. A second former officer was also indicted over his actions that day, according to two people briefed on the grand jury's decision but who requested anonymity to share the findings before they were made public. The second officer, who worked under Mr. Arredondo at the school Police Department, was not in custody as of Thursday evening...."