The Conversation -- July 1, 2025

This is the most deeply immoral piece of legislation I have ever voted on in my entire time in Congress. We're debating a bill that’s going to cut healthcare for 16 million people. It's going to give a tax break to…massively wealthy people who don't need any more money. There are going to be kids who go hungry because of this bill. This is the biggest reduction in … nutrition benefits for kids in the history of the country. -- Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), Senate floor

I've been in this business of public policy now for 20 years, eight years as governor, 12 years in the United States Senate. I have never seen a bill this bad. I have never seen a bill that is this irresponsible, regressive, and downright cruel. -- Sen. Angus King (I-Maine), Senate floor 

This place feels to me, today, like a crime scene. Get some of that yellow tape and put it around this chamber. This piece of legislation is corrupt. This piece of legislation is crooked. This piece of legislation is a rotten racket. This bill cooked up in back rooms, dropped at midnight, cloaked in fake numbers with huge handouts to big Republican donors. It loots our country for some of the least deserving people you could imagine. When I first got here, this chamber filled me with awe and wonderment. Today, I feel disgust. -- Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), Senate floor ~~~

~~~ Scene of the Crime. Jacob Bogage, et al., of the Washington Post: “Senate Republicans inched toward passing their massive tax and immigration bill Monday, working through the evening to win over the final holdouts as they seek to deliver the first major legislative victory of ... Donald Trump’s second term.”

     ~~~ The New York Times is live-updating developments here. ~~~

~~~ ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Frank Thorp & Sahil Kapur of NBC News: "Tucked inside Republicans' massive domestic policy bill is an excise tax for wind and solar projects, a provision that came as a surprise not just to the renewable energy industry, but also to numerous senators who are crafting the legislation. In a twist, Republican senators insist they don't know how or why the tax was inserted into the bill they're rushing to pass. No senator is taking credit for or defending it. And at least one wants it removed. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., the Budget Committee chairman, who released the 940-page bill, said he doesn't know where that provision came from. 'It's a secret, I guess,' Graham told NBC News on Monday evening."

Colby Smith of the New York Times: Donald “Trump stepped up his pressure on the Federal Reserve to lower borrowing costs on Monday, accusing its chair, Jerome H. Powell, in a handwritten note of costing the country 'a fortune' and demanding that he cut interest rates 'by a lot.' In a separate social media post on Monday, Mr. Trump said Mr. Powell and his colleagues on the Fed’s Board of Governors, who vote on every monetary policy decision, 'should be ashamed of themselves for allowing this to happen to the United States.'... The president’s note to Mr. Powell on Monday promoted savings of 'hundreds of billions of dollars' if the Fed lowered interest rates. Republicans are trying to pass a sweeping tax and spending bill that is poised to raise the federal deficit sharply, which would force the government to earmark more money to cover interest payments on the debt.” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: If I were Powell, I would send Donnie Dumbo back a nice handwritten note explaining the Fed's reluctance to lower interest rates is entirely Trump's fault. "You are responsible for the worsening economy, you ignorant oaf Mr. President*, thanks to your Big Bad Bill that unnecessarily increases the national debt and to your nonsensical. wild tariffs -- as well as other draconian policies (like forcing depopulation and discouraging ecologically-sound development)." ~~~

~~~ Joe Rennison of the New York Times: “The dollar is off to its worst start to a year in more than half a century. The United States’ currency has weakened more than 10 percent over the past six months when compared with a basket of currencies from the country’s major trading partners. The last time the dollar weakened so much at the start of the year was 1973, after the United States had made a seismic shift that had ended the linking of the dollar to the price of gold. This time the seismic event is ... [Donald] Trump’s efforts to remake the world order with an aggressive tariff push and a more isolationist foreign policy. The combination of Mr. Trump’s trade proposals, inflation worries and rising government debt has weighed on the dollar, which has also been buffeted by slowly sliding confidence in the role of the United States at the center of the global financial system.... After peaking in mid-January [MB: i.e., while Joe Biden was president], the dollar index began to slide.”

Shannon Kingston of ABC News: "... Donald Trump on Monday lifted U.S. sanctions on Syria, signing an executive order to carry out a promise he made in May.... When he met with Syria's new president Ahmad al-Sharaa last month, Trump announced he would lift the crippling U.S. sanctions against Syria and urged al-Sharaa to meet specified conditions in hopes that it will stabilize the country. Those conditions included normalizing relations with Syria's neighbors, including Israel, as well as the United States. Ahmad al-Sharaa is a former al-Qaeda insurgent who fought against U.S. forces in Iraq and served time in the infamous Abu Ghraib priso[n.]"

Matthew Lee of the AP: “... Donald Trump has instructed his top Cabinet officers to review U.S. policy toward Cuba, ordering them to examine current sanctions and come up with ways to toughen them within 30 days. In a memo Monday, Trump said the reviews should focus on Cuba’s treatment of dissidents, its policies directed at dissidents and restricting financial transactions that  'disproportionately benefit the Cuban government, military, intelligence, or security agencies at the expense of the Cuban people.' In one potential significant change, the order said the U.S. should look for ways to shut down all tourism to the island and to restrict educational tours to groups that are organized and run only by American citizens.”

Matt Dixon of NBC News: “... Donald Trump is expected to be at the formal opening Tuesday of a controversial immigration detention center in the Florida Everglades that state leaders have dubbed 'Alligator Alcatraz.' The Palm Beach Post reported Sunday that Federal Aviation Administration data indicated that Trump would be in South Florida for the opening. Two White House officials and a Florida official familiar with the travel confirmed to NBC News that Trump is 'likely' to be there. The facility is on a little-used airstrip in Miami-Dade County that Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration seized using emergency powers to build a housing facility for undocumented migrants.... 'Alligator Alcatraz' has been hyped as the highest-profile example of Florida's push to be the state that most aggressively tries to align with Trump's immigration agenda.”

Brianna Tucker & Frances Vinall of the Washington Post: “Lawyers for ... Donald Trump on Monday filed a motion to drop his federal lawsuit against J. Ann Selzer — a longtime Iowa pollster, and the Des Moines Register newspaper — and refiled the suit in an Iowa state court. Attorneys for Trump sued Selzer and the Des Moines Register in December over a poll that showed him trailing Vice President Kamala Harris (D) in the state just days before the 2024 presidential election. The suit alleged that Selzer’s poll amounted to 'election interference'  and accused the newspaper of violating the Iowa Consumer Fraud Act. Selzer’s legal team argued her polls are a form of political speech protected by the First Amendment and that Trump misunderstands the legal concept of 'fraud.'” MB: Probably judge-shopping.

A few days ago, Donald Trump accused New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdami of being a "Communist." Uh, who's the Communist? ~~~

~~~ Jacob Dreyer in a New York Times op-ed: “Once upon a time, many Americans believed China would inevitably become more like us.... [But] Donald Trump’s return to office has made clear that in important respects — democratic erosion, the fixation on strong borders, the curbing of free speech and numerous other examples — America is starting to look a bit more like China.... The MAGA movement and its leaders demonize the Chinese Communist Party. But some of their actions validate the party’s ways, showing that practically speaking, they seem to want similar things. Both push a muscular patriotism, are obsessed with manufacturing and hostile to immigrants. Both want a country where ethnic minorities are expected to bow to the dominant group and traditional gender roles are enforced. And all of this is presided over by a domineering ruling party led by an autocrat who flatters himself with military parades.” Dreyer cites several more parallels.

⭐Jack Rakove in the Washington Monthly: "Once a constitutional crisis becomes an endemic condition, the term no longer usefully describes our collapsing system. Instead, we live in an era of constitutional failure when the relevant institutions cannot fulfill their responsibilities. Because constitutional failure is a term we have never needed to use, it merits a precise definition. First, it must identify the specific situations where the government institutions have manifestly not fulfilled their constitutional functions. Second, it should treat these omissions not as occasional lapses but systemic defects. Third, it must explain how the political and ethical norms of constitutional governance have evaporated. To apply this framework to the second Trump administration is hardly difficult." Read on. Thank you to laura h. for the link. MB: This is the best exposition I've read on "where we're at." Others may build on it and refine it, but it's an excellent place to start. (Also linked yesterday.)  

They called you crooks — when you were the best of us, there for the rest of us. And don’t think any less of us, when politics makes a mess of us. It’s not left-wing rhetoric to feed the hungry, heal the sick. If this isn’t murder, I don’t know what is. -- Bono, message to U.S.A.I.D. workers ~~~

~~~ Requiem for American Excellence. Christopher Flavelle of the New York Times: “As most staff members at the U.S. Agency for International Development marked their final day with the agency, they got thanks from two presidents and a rock star. The Trump administration has eliminated most U.S. foreign assistance programming, saying that it fails to advance American interests. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and the former Trump adviser Elon Musk worked to dismantle U.S.A.I.D., arguing that its staff was insubordinate.... 'You’ve shown the great strength of America through your work, and that is our good heart,' former President George W. Bush told the staff in a video message played during a videoconference.... Former President Barack Obama, in a separate message, said the decision to dismantle U.S.A.I.D. would 'go down as a colossal mistake.' 'Ending your presence and your programs out in the world hurts the most vulnerable, and it hurts the United States,' Mr. Obama said, citing the agency’s efforts to prevent disease, fight drought and build schools. 'To many people around the world, U.S.A.I.D. is the United States,' Mr. Obama added.... Bono, the U2 frontman and longtime advocate for developing countries, offered a lyrical send-off in a video of his own.” An AP story is here. ~~~

~~~ Arix Bendix of NBC News: "More than 14 million people could die over the next five years because of the Trump administration’s dismantling of the U.S. Agency for International Development, according to an analysis published Monday in the medical journal The Lancet.... The analysis found that, from 2001 through 2021, USAID-funded programs prevented nearly 92 million deaths across 133 countries, including more than 25 million deaths from HIV/AIDS, around 11 million from diarrheal diseases, 8 million from malaria and nearly 5 million from tuberculosis." 

Marie: Never mind the dying children and diminution of American prestige, as far as Elon was concerned, he used his time in Washington, D.C., productively -- to advance his own interests: ~~~

~~~ Desmond Butler, et al., of the Washington Post: “A Washington Post examination found that in at least seven major departments or agencies, DOGE secured the power to view records that contain ... trade secrets [of Elon Musk's competitors], nonpublic details about government contracts, and sensitive regulatory actions or other information. The Post found no evidence that DOGE has viewed or misused government information to benefit Musk’s business empire, which spans industries including artificial intelligence, space exploration and medical devices. But some competitors are alarmed about the possible exposure of their proprietary information or other private data.”

Gregory Svirnovskiy of Politico: “Elon Musk said Monday he would follow through on threats to establish a third party if ... Donald Trump’s 'big, beautiful bill' is enacted by Congress. Musk said on X his 'America Party will be formed the next day' after its passage. He posted as the Senate moved closer to a final vote on what he called an 'insane' domestic policy bill.... 'Every member of Congress who campaigned on reducing government spending and then immediately voted for the biggest debt increase in history should hang their head in shame!' Musk wrote on X. 'And they will lose their primary next year if it is the last thing I do on this Earth.'” The New York Times story is here.

Tara Copp of the AP: U.S. Northern Command head Gen. Gregory Guillot, “the top military commander in charge of troops deployed to Los Angeles to respond to protests against immigration raids[,] has asked Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth if 200 of those forces could be returned to wildfire fighting duty, two U.S. officials told The Associated Press on Monday.”

Welcome to Trump's America, Where You Might Be Better Off in Jail. Travis Loller & Ben Finley of the AP: “Kilmar Abrego Garcia will stay in jail for now over concerns from his lawyers that he could be deported if he’s released to await his trial on human smuggling charges, a federal judge in Tennessee ruled Monday. Abrego Garcia’s attorneys had asked the judge to delay his release because of what they described as 'contradictory statements' by ... Donald Trump’s administration over what would happen to the Salvadoran national. The lawyers wrote in a brief to the court Friday that 'we cannot put any faith in any representation made on this issue' by the Justice Department, adding that the 'irony of this request is not lost on anyone.'... Hours earlier, Justice Department attorney Jonathan Guynn told a federal judge in Maryland that the U.S. government plans to deport Abrego Garcia to a 'third country' that isn’t El Salvador. Guynn said there was no timeline for the deportation plans.” MB: That's right. Trump and his administration are such threats to U.S. law that a resident may be safer in jail than at home where Trump's agents could break in and again arrest and deport him to a foreign prison.

Jeremy Roebuck of the Washington Post: “A federal appellate panel appeared poised Monday to back ... Donald Trump’s use of a centuries-old wartime law to fast-track deportations of Venezuelan migrants in a case widely expected to put that debate back before the Supreme Court. A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit grilled an attorney [-- Lee Gelernt of the ACLU --] for targeted detainees during oral arguments, asking what authority judges had to 'second-guess' the president’s decisions in defending the country amid armed conflicts.... Judge Andrew S. Oldham..., who was nominated to the court by Trump during his first term, [asked], 'Are we allowed to conduct a federal trial to countermand the president when he says this is an invasion?'” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Yes, yes, you are. If the POTUS says a yardstick is as long as your back yard is wide, then a judge may counter that by deciding that a yardstick is three feet long. A president*'s declaration must be reasonable and meet common definitions of a term (like "invasion") if it is to be definitive. Oldham, BTW, clerked for Sam Alito & was counsel to Texas Gov. Greg Abbott. He seems, at first blush, to be better than Alito at sounding reasonable even as he disingenuously advocates for a crazy dictator.

Bienvenue en France. Victor Goury-Laffont of Politico: “The first American academics fleeing Donald Trump's America for France have arrived. Aix-Marseille University last week introduced eight U.S.-based researchers who were in the final stage of joining the institution's 'Safe Place for Science' program, which aims to woo researchers who have experienced or fear funding cuts under the Trump administration. AMU offers the promise of a brighter future in the sun-drenched Mediterranean port city. While both France and the European Union have launched multimillion-euro plans to woo researchers across the pond since Trump assumed the U.S. presidency in January, AMU's initiative was the first of its kind in the country — meaning the eight researchers who were welcomed are the first academic refugees planning to trade the United States for France.”

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California. Laurel Rosenhall, et al., of the New York Times: “California leaders on Monday rolled back a landmark law that was a national symbol of environmental protection before it came to be vilified as a primary reason for the state’s severe housing shortage and homelessness crisis. For more than half a century, the law, the California Environmental Quality Act, has allowed environmentalists to slow suburban growth as well as given neighbors and disaffected parties a powerful tool to stop projects they found objectionable. Gov. Gavin Newsom signed two bills, which were written by Democrats but had rare bipartisan support in California’s divided State Capitol, that will allow many development projects to avoid rigorous environmental review and, potentially, the delaying and cost-inflating lawsuits that have discouraged construction in the state.” The link appears to be a gift link.

Colorado. Colleen Slevin & Mead Gruver of the AP: “An 82-year-old Colorado woman who was injured in a Molotov cocktail attack on demonstrators in support of Israeli hostages in Gaza has died, prosecutors said Monday. Karen Diamond died as a result of the severe injuries she suffered in the June 1 attack in downtown Boulder, Colorado, the local district attorney’s office said in a statement. Prosecutors have listed 29 victims, including 13 who were physically injured. Mohamed Sabry Soliman already faced dozens of charges in state court including attempted first-degree murder, using an incendiary device, and animal cruelty because a dog was hurt in the attack. He has not been arraigned on those charges that now include first-degree murder.... Soliman told investigators he tried to buy a gun but was not able to because he was not a 'legal citizen.' Federal authorities have said the Egyptian national has been living in the U.S. illegally with his family.” ~~~

~~~ Marie: This was a horrible, antisemitic attack on innocent people exercising their First Amendment rights. The attack might have been even worse but for a gun law. Unspeakable things will happen when you give lunatics easy access to lethal weapons. 

Idaho. Mike Baker & Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs of the New York Times: “Bryan Kohberger, the man charged in the brutal stabbing deaths of four University of Idaho students, has reached a plea deal to avoid the death penalty.... A plea hearing is set for Wednesday. In a letter to the victims’ families on Monday, prosecutors said that Mr. Kohberger’s defense team asked for a plea offer last week. Under the proposed agreement, which must be approved by the judge in the case, Mr. Kohberger would plead guilty to all charges, face four consecutive life sentences and waive all rights to appeal.”

Idaho. Kim Bellware & Daniel Wu of the Washington Post: “The man suspected of killing two firefighters and gravely wounding a third in an ambush-style attack on Sunday as they responded to a fire in Northern Idaho at one time expressed interest in being a firefighter, officials said Monday. The suspect, who was found dead near the site of the attack on Canfield Mountain, was identified as 20-year-old Wess Roley of Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, Kootenai County Sheriff Robert Norris said at a news conference. Roley appeared to be living out of his car and had minor run-ins with local law enforcement, including trespassing and welfare checks, but no apparent criminal history, Norris said. Other questions surrounding the suspect, including a possible motive and how he obtained his weapon, were unanswered Monday as investigators pored over the still-active crime scene.”

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Bienvenue en France. France Accepts First U.S. Refugees. Victor Goury-Laffont of Politico: “The first American academics fleeing Donald Trump's America for France have arrived. Aix-Marseille University last week introduced eight U.S.-based researchers who were in the final stage of joining the institution's 'Safe Place for Science' program, which aims to woo researchers who have experienced or fear funding cuts under the Trump administration. AMU offers the promise of a brighter future in the sun-drenched Mediterranean port city. While both France and the European Union have launched multimillion-euro plans to woo researchers across the pond since Trump assumed the U.S. presidency in January, AMU's initiative was the first of its kind in the country — meaning the eight researchers who were welcomed are the first academic refugees planning to trade the United States for France.”