The Conversation -- June 30, 2025

⭐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.  

The New York Times is liveblogging the Senate's vote-a-rama.

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Jacob Bogage & Theodoric Meyer of the Washington Post: “The GOP is racing to push [a] mammoth budget [bill] across Trump’s desk by a self-imposed July 4 deadline, but fissures remain within the party over the cuts to social benefit and anti-poverty programs and the bill’s growing price tag. Lawmakers were debating the measure on the Senate floor through the evening before an onslaught of Democratic amendments was expected starting Monday morning.... Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill would extend tax cuts passed in 2017, enact campaign promises such as no tax on tips, and spend hundreds of billions of dollars on the White House’s mass deportation drive and national defense priorities. To offset the cost, it would make steep cuts to Medicaid  and SNAP..., formerly known as food stamps. The legislation would add roughly $3.3 trillion to the national debt over 10 years, according to projections from the Congressional Budget Office, the lawmakers’ nonpartisan bookkeeper. That estimate does not include increased borrowing costs, which would be substantial because the measure, even with spending cuts, is largely deficit-financed.... Democrats have been determined to make any passage as painful as possible. [Minority Leader Chuck] Schumer demanded that the entire 940-page bill be read aloud on the Senate floor — a process that took nearly 16 hours.... Democrats are also planning to introduce a host of amendments before the final vote that are sure to lose but will put candidates on notice in future elections.” An AP report is here. ~~~

     ~~~ Margot Sanger-Katz of the New York Times: “Republicans’ marquee domestic policy bill that is making its way through the Senate would result in deeper cuts and more Americans losing health insurance coverage than the original measure that passed the House last month, according to new estimates from the Congressional Budget Office. According to a report published late Saturday night, the legislation would mean 11.8 million more Americans would become uninsured by 2034. Federal spending on Medicaid, Medicare and Obamacare would be reduced by more than $1.1 trillion over that period — with more than $1 trillion of those cuts coming from Medicaid alone. The fresh estimates make official what many analysts had already predicted and some Republican lawmakers had feared.... They are also at odds with ... [Donald] Trump’s vow not to touch Medicaid except to do away with waste and fraud. The scale of the proposed reductions in Medicaid is unprecedented in the history of the program, which has tended to expand coverage over time since its creation in 1965.” The link appears to be a gift link.

Way Beyond Stupid. Brad Plumer of the New York Times: “Senate Republicans have quietly inserted provisions in ... [Donald] Trump’s domestic policy bill that would not only end federal support for wind and solar energy but would impose an entirely new tax on future projects, a move that industry groups say could devastate the renewable power industry. The tax provision, tucked inside the 940-page bill that the Senate made public just after midnight on Friday, stunned observers.... Those tax credits were at the heart of the Inflation Reduction Act, which Democrats passed in 2022 in an attempt to nudge the country away from fossil fuels, the burning of which is driving climate change. [Mr.] Trump, who has mocked climate science, has instead promoted fossil fuels and demanded that Republicans in Congress unwind the law.”

No Surprise Here. Sylvan Lane & Sarah Fortinsky of the Hill: Donald “Trump urged Senate Republicans on Sunday to overrule the chamber’s parliamentarian in order to pass key parts of his sweeping domestic policy bill. In a Sunday post on Truth Social, the president backed a call from Rep. Greg Steube (R-Fla.) and other GOP hard-liners to ignore rulings from Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough. 'Great Congressman Greg Steube is 100% correct. An unelected Senate Staffer (Parliamentarian), should not be allowed to hurt the Republicans Bill. Wants many fantastic things out. NO! DJT,' Trump wrote. The parliamentarian is the nonpartisan Senate official responsible for determining whether parts of laws meant to be passed through budget reconciliation comply with the rules for that process. Budget reconciliation bills can pass the Senate with simple majorities, thereby averting the filibuster. But those provisions must follow specific instructions passed through a budget resolution and not expand the deficit past the window laid out in the bill.... Overturning the parliamentarian would require support from at least 51 senators on the floor.”

Tillis to Spend More Time with His Family. Deirdre Walsh of NPR: "Republican Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina announced on Sunday that he would not seek reelection next year. Tillis was one of the most high-profile Republicans to say he could not support ... [Donald] Trump's 'Big Beautiful Bill,' Republicans' massive tax and spending bill, in its current form. Trump on social media had attacked him as 'a talker and complainer, NOT A DOER!' and threatened to support primary challengers to him next year.... '... the choice is between spending another six years navigating the political theatre and partisan gridlock in Washington or spending that time with the love of my life Susan, our two children, three beautiful grandchildren, and the rest of our extended family back home. It's not a hard choice, and I will not be seeking re-election.'" (Also linked yesterday.) The New York Times story, by Annie Karni, is here. ~~~

~~~ Al Weaver of the Hill: Donald “Trump on Sunday celebrated Sen. Thom Tillis’s (R-N.C.) announcement that he wouldn’t seek reelection next year. '“Great News!' Trump wrote on Truth Social on Sunday evening.” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: We'll see how "great" the news is. I don't know who-all Republicans have on tap to run for Tillis' seat, but generally speaking, it's harder for a "green" candidate to win than it is for an incumbent. So I sure hope  a Democrat wins that seat because of Trump's standard-issue vengeance binge against Tillis. ~~~

~~~ Justin Green of Axios: "Fresh off announcing he'll retire next year, Sen. Thom Tillis gave a lengthy floor speech Sunday night attacking cuts to Medicaid in the 'big, beautiful bill.'... The Senate's version of the 'big, beautiful bill' would result in 12 million more people without health insurance in 2034 than today, the Congressional Budget Office projects." ~~~

     ~~~ Sarah Fortinsky of the Hill: “Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) said Sunday that the Senate version of ... [Donald] Trump’s massive spending bill 'will betray the very promise' the president made when he pledged not to interfere with people’s Medicaid benefits.... 'What do I tell 663,000 people in two years or three years, when President Trump breaks his promise by pushing them off of Medicaid because the funding’s not there anymore, guys? I think the people in the White House … advising the president are not telling him that the effect of this bill is to break a promise,' Tillis said in his floor speech.” IOW: Tillis says Trump doesn't know WTF he's doing. MB: Suggesting Trump is merely ignorant is probably too kind; I think he just doesn't care.

Murkowski Got Hers. This from yesterday's New York Times liveblog: “When Senate Republicans released the latest version of their sprawling domestic policy package in the wee hours of Saturday morning, it contained a number of new provisions that might have seemed out of place.... But the seemingly random items ... appeared to be aimed at winning the support of a critical Republican holdout whose vote could make or break the measure: Senator Lisa Murkowski.... As G.O.P. leaders scrounged on Saturday for the votes to pass the legislation, they seem to have addressed many of her concerns, insulating Ms. Murkowski’s state from some of its most painful cuts while including an assortment of other Alaska-friendly provisions in the bill. The latest version ... would provide a new tax exemption to fishers from villages in western Alaska. There is now an exemption from new work requirements for food assistance. And several provisions have been added that would funnel federal dollars to Alaskan health care providers. There is even a provision that would allow certain Alaskan whaling captains to deduct more of their expenses.” (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Ron Filipkowski on BlueSky: "Lisa Murkowski cuts a last minute deal solely to benefit Alaska, exempting it from some of the more odious parts of the bill to secure her vote and sell out the rest of the US. Yeah this stuff sucks and hurts a lot of people, but I got Alaskans exempted so the hell with you." Thanks to RAS for the link. MB: This kind of horsetrading is hardly unusual. An infamous example was the 2010 "Cornhusker Kickback" in which Democratic Senator Ben Nelson of Nebraska demanded a $100MM Medicaid bonus for Nebraska for his vote on the Obamacare bill. That kickback was ultimately cut from the bill, but other special considerations found their way into the final bill. (Also linked yesterday.) 

Jennifer Rubin of the Contrarian: This is “the worst bill in modern history.... Even those who mouthed concerns about the draconian cuts, including Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) fell into line, voting to move the bill forward. They are daring voters not to hold them accountable for their monstrous hypocrisy.... [Yet this] reverse-Robin-Hood scheme is deeply unpopular in every recent public poll.... Perhaps the scariest poll for Republicans was one from Maine showing Collins sure has reason for 'concern': Her favorability is a miserable 14% with disapproval at 57%.... Donald Trump might strong-arm enough Republicans to vote for a bill that constitutes not only the largest Medicaid cut in history but also a historic transfer of wealth from middle- and low-income Americans to the wealthiest. However, he cannot save them from voters.”

⭐Don Moynihan on Substack: "Tax cuts were the only major piece of pre-pandemic policy Trump was able to pass in his first term, and he realizes that his other policies are broadly unpopular and will not stand on their own terms. So they are all being shoved in together into a massive piece of legislation that would fundamentally change America, and pushed as quickly as possible before the public fully understands what is in there.... One very simple way to make sense of the bill is to look at which income categories win and lose in terms of flow of resources. Here, the pattern is clear: the rich do better *at the expense* of the poor.... The Trump administration wants to spend much more on the security state....  The Budget Lab at Yale estimated that somewhere like $4 to $4.5 trillion would be added to the deficit by the Senate bill [but removes investments in Americans' futures that would give them the wherewithal to pay off the debt].... The bill also seeks to kill off support for alternative energy funding...." ~~~

Matina Stevis-Gridneff of the New York Times: “Canada’s government announced on Sunday night that it would cancel a tax on American technology companies that led ... [Donald] Trump to suspend trade talks between the two countries, handing an important victory to Mr. Trump. Prime Minister Mark Carney discussed the decision to scrap Canada’s digital services tax with Mr. Trump on Sunday, Mr. Carney’s office said. In a sign that trade talks were resuming, Canada’s finance minister, François-Philippe Champagne, spoke with the United States Trade Representative, Jamieson Greer, on Sunday, according to Mr. Carney’s office. The tax, which had been due to take effect on Monday, became the latest flashpoint in difficult negotiations between the United States and Canada on Friday, when Mr. Trump said the talks were off. On social media, Mr. Trump called the levy a 'blatant attack' and said he would inform Canada within a week about the duties 'they will be paying to do business with the United States of America.'” MB: Like all narcissistic bullies, Trump -- the original “blatant attacker'” -- can dish it out, but he can't take it. ~~~

     ~~~ Politico's story is here.

John Hudson & Warren Strobel of the Washington Post: “The United States obtained intercepted communication between senior Iranian officials discussing this month’s U.S. military strikes on Iran’s nuclear program and remarking that the attack was less devastating than they had expected.... The communication, intended to be private, included Iranian government officials speculating as to why the strikes directed by President Donald Trump were not as destructive and extensive as they had anticipated.... The intercepted signals intelligence is the latest preliminary information offering a more complicated picture than the one conveyed by the president, who has said the operation 'completely and totally obliterated' Iran’s nuclear program.”

David French of the New York Times: “... as bad as ... cranks like Kash Patel, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Pete Hegseth ... are, their influence is ultimately limited — first by Trump himself, who feels completely free to overrule and disregard any decision they make for the sake of his own interests and whims, and second by time itself. Trump’s political appointees won’t be in American government for long, and while they can inflict lasting damage during their short tenures, the next president can replace them and at least start the process of repair. Emil Bove [-- Trump’s nominee to serve on the Third Circuit Court of Appeals --] however, would be a problem for a very long time. At 44 years old, he’s been nominated for a lifetime appointment.... That means he’d long outlast Trump in the halls of American power, and if past performance is any measure of future results, we should prepare for a judge who would do what he deems necessary to accomplish his political objectives — law and morality be damned.”

Marianne LeVine, et al., of the Washington Post: “Trump administration officials have vowed to hold companies accountable for employing people who are in the country illegally — no matter which industry they are in or how big or small they might be. But the Department of Homeland Security’s enforcement operations have overwhelmingly focused on arresting workers rather than punishing employers. Since the start of the year, Immigration and Customs Enforcement has posted news releases regarding approximately two dozen raids on the “Worksite Enforcement” section of its website. Local news outlets have documented dozens more. The Washington Post was able to identify only one employer charged after the raids ICE has publicized.” MB: When is ICE going to raid a Trump property -- and arrest Eric? I suspect the Trump are employing undocumented workers, just as they have in the past.

Alex Gangitano of the Hill: Donald “Trump said [Sunday] that there will be a temporary pass issued for migrants working at farms and in the hospitality industry to allow employers to have more control after the administration sent mixed messages about exceptions in its mass deportation efforts.... 'What I do have, I cherish our farmers. And when we go into a farm and we take away people that have been working there for 15 and 20 years, who were good, who possibly came in incorrectly. And what we’re going to do is we’re going to do something for farmers where we can let the farmer sort of be in charge. The farmer knows he’s not going to hire a murderer.... But you know, when you go into a farm and you set somebody working with them for nine years doing this kind of work, which is hard work to do and a lot of people aren’t going to do it, and you end up destroying a farmer because you took all the people away — it’s a problem. You know, I’m on both sides of the thing. I’m the strongest immigration guy that there’s ever been, but I’m also the strongest farmer guy that there’s ever been, and that includes also hotels and, you know, places where people work, a certain group of people work,' the president added.... 'We’re working on it right now. We’re going to work it so that, some kind of a temporary pass, where people pay taxes, where the farmer can have a little control as opposed to you walk in and take everybody away.'” MB: Thanks, Trump. Really appreciate the clarity. I guess this means that your boy Eric, being a lot like a farmer who can pick out murderers, will not be arrested & detained in El Salvador, after all.

These inner-city rats, they live off the federal government. And that’s one reason we’re $37 trillion in debt. And it’s time we find these rats and we send them back home, that are living off the American taxpayers that are working very hard every week to pay taxes. -- Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.), on New Yorkers who voted for Zohran Mamdani for mayor ~~~

~~~ Nobody Is Safe. Paul Krugman: “... while Tuberville stands out even within his caucus as an ignorant fool, his willingness to use dehumanizing language about millions of people shows that raw racism is rapidly becoming mainstream in American politics.... You can see the resurgence of raw racism all across Trump administration policies, large and small.... The One Big Beautiful Bill Act is set to massively increase ICE’s funding — basically setting up a huge national secret police force.... I personally don’t have any illusions of safety. Yes, I’m a native-born white citizen. But my wife and her family are Black, and some of my friends and relatives are foreign-born U.S. citizens. Furthermore, I’m Jewish, and anyone who knows their history realizes that whenever right-wing bigotry is on the ascendant, we’re always next in line.... Everyone who cares about keeping America America needs to take a stand against the resurgence of bigotry. Because the truth is that we’re all rats now.”

“Too Many Mosquitoes.” Fighting Fascism with Alacrity & Humor. Jake Spring of the Washington Post: “The Trump administration wants national parks visitors to report signs or other information that’s 'negative about either past or living Americans,' and posted QR codes on signs across the country encouraging people to submit comments. Instead of rooting out examples of anti-American ideology, however, commenters have responded by criticizing mosquitos and staffing cuts and praising the parks’ natural beauty as well as its employees.... Many called for undoing funding cuts and rehiring staff who were fired by the Trump administration.... Positive comments — along with direct criticisms of Trump’s policies — vastly outnumbered those that were critical of educational materials.... Visitor complaints about the parks themselves generally had little to do with the administration’s aims.”

Marie: I would say the Trump Voter Challenge that RAS found needs a bit of refinement. (For instance, Trump did not grab someone by the pussy on camera, as the challenge claims.) But the idea of developing a simple card like this is a good idea. Pass 'em out at GOP gatherings, even at Trump rallies. The argument is one that, properly framed, simple people can understand. And I've never heard a politician put it this way. (Also linked yesterday.) 

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New York. Chelsia Marcius  of the New York Times: “Zohran Mamdani, who campaigned for mayor on the theme of making New York City more affordable, said in a major national television interview that during a time of rising inequality, 'I don’t think we should have billionaires.' Mr. Mamdani, the likely winner of the Democratic primary for mayor of New York, said in an appearance on 'Meet the Press' on Sunday that more equality is needed across the city, state and country, and that he looked forward to working 'with everyone, including billionaires, to make a city that is fairer for all of them.' At the same time, Mr. Mamdani, a democratic socialist, asserted that he is not a communist, a response to an attack from ... [Donald] Trump. 'I have already had to start to get used to the fact that the president will talk about how I look, how I sound, where I’m from, who I am — ultimately because he wants to distract from what I’m fighting for,' Mr. Mamdani said.” ~~~

~~~ Fascist Rule No. 1: Everyone Must "Behave." Rebecca Falconer of Axios: "Trump in an interview on Sunday doubled down in his assertion that Mamdani is a communist and said the likely Democratic primary winner must 'do the right thing' if he's elected mayor of NYC or else he'll withhold federal funding. 'I can't imagine it, but let's say this, if he does get in I'm going to be president and he is going to have to do the right thing, but they're not getting any money...,' Trump said on Fox News' 'Sunday Morning Futures.' 'Whoever's mayor of New York is going to have to behave themselves or the federal government is coming down very tough on them financially.'"

The Conversation -- June 29, 2025

Tillis to Spend More Time with His Family. Deirdre Walsh of NPR: "Republican Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina announced on Sunday that he would not seek reelection next year. Tillis was one of the most high-profile Republicans to say he could not support ... [Donald] Trump's 'Big Beautiful Bill,' Republicans' massive tax and spending bill, in its current form. Trump on social media had attacked him as 'a talker and complainer, NOT A DOER!' and threatened to support primary challengers to him next year.... '... the choice is between spending another six years navigating the political theatre and partisan gridlock in Washington or spending that time with the love of my life Susan, our two children, three beautiful grandchildren, and the rest of our extended family back home. It's not a hard choice, and I will not be seeking re-election.'" ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: I don't know who-all the Republicans have on tap to run for Tillis' seat, but generally speaking, it's harder to mount a "green" candidate than an incumbent. So I sure hope Trump's threats to primary Tillis have backfired and a Democrat wins that seat because of Trump's standard-issue vengeance binge.

Murkowski Got Hers. This from yesterday's New York Times liveblog: “When Senate Republicans released the latest version of their sprawling domestic policy package in the wee hours of Saturday morning, it contained a number of new provisions that might have seemed out of place.... But the seemingly random items ... appeared to be aimed at winning the support of a critical Republican holdout whose vote could make or break the measure: Senator Lisa Murkowski.... As G.O.P. leaders scrounged on Saturday for the votes to pass the legislation, they seem to have addressed many of her concerns, insulating Ms. Murkowski’s state from some of its most painful cuts while including an assortment of other Alaska-friendly provisions in the bill. The latest version ... would provide a new tax exemption to fishers from villages in western Alaska. There is now an exemption from new work requirements for food assistance. And several provisions have been added that would funnel federal dollars to Alaskan health care providers. There is even a provision that would allow certain Alaskan whaling captains to deduct more of their expenses.” ~~~

     ~~~ Ron Filipkowski on BlueSky: "Lisa Murkowski cuts a last minute deal solely to benefit Alaska, exempting it from some of the more odious parts of the bill to secure her vote and sell out the rest of the US. Yeah this stuff sucks and hurts a lot of people, but I got Alaskans exempted so the hell with you." Thanks to RAS for the link. MB: This kind of horsetrading is hardly unusual. An infamous example was the 2010 "Cornhusker Kickback" in which Democratic Senator Ben Nelson of Nebraska demanded a $100MM Medicaid bonus for Nebraska for his vote on the Obamacare bill. That kickback was ultimately cut from the bill, but other special considerations found their way into the final bill.

Marie: I would say the Trump Voter Challenge that RAS found needs a bit of refinement. (For instance, Trump did not grab someone by the pussy on camera, as the challenge claims.) But the idea of developing a simple card like this is a good idea. Pass 'em out at GOP gatherings, even at Trump rallies. The argument is one that, properly framed, simple people can understand. And I've never heard a politician put it this way.

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⭐Natasha Bertrand & Zachary Cohen of CNN, republished by AOL: "The US military did not use bunker-buster bombs on one of Iran’s largest nuclear sites last weekend because the site is so deep that the bombs likely would not have been effective, the US’ top general told senators during a briefing on Thursday. The comment by Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Dan Caine, which was described by three people who heard his remarks and a fourth who was briefed on them, is the first known explanation given for why the US military did not use the Massive Ordnance Penetrator bomb against the Isfahan site in central Iran. US officials believe Isfahan’s underground structures house nearly 60% of Iran’s enriched uranium stockpile, which Iran would need in order to ever produce a nuclear weapon. US B2 bombers dropped over a dozen bunker-buster bombs on Iran’s Fordow and Natanz nuclear sites. But Isfahan was only struck by Tomahawk missiles launched from a US submarine." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Trump already had it in for Bertrand, writing Wednesday on his failing social media site that CNN should fire her "like a dog" for breaking the story that the Pentagon's Defense Intel Agency assessment of the U.S. strikes on Iran did not "completely obliterate" Iran's nuclear program as Trump has repeatedly asserted. (BTW, Cohen and another reporter also were part of the team, with Bertrand, who broke the original DIA assessment story. Yet Trump singled out Bertrand & leveled a string of insults against her.) What Bertrand & Cohen are reporting here is that Trump knew -- or should have known -- all along that the U.S. strikes could not have "completely obliterated" Iran's nuclear program because the U.S. attacks did not even try to "completely obliterate" one of the sites where the program is developed and operated. So Bertrand & Cohen just showed that Trump either knowingly lied to the public about -- or is ignorant of -- the mission he approved. Congress, of course, should investigate whether Trump deliberately lied or is too stupid to comprehend the nature and purpose of the military missions he authorizes. ~~~

There’s no question that the Iran deal was working. [Donald Trump] tore it up, created a mess and is now saying, ‘I’m the savior.’ -- Michael Lubell, CCNY ~~~

~~~ William Broad & Ronen Bergman of the New York Times: “Israeli and American strikes appear to have created a major roadblock to Iran’s manufacture of atomic bombs, even if its cache of uranium fuel remains untouched, analysts say. That’s because attacks on one of the sites, in Isfahan, shattered gear that Iran was preparing to use for the transformation of enriched uranium gas into dense metal.... Some nuclear experts argue that the demolished gear might never have existed but for ... [Donald] Trump’s abandoning a restrictive nuclear deal in his first term that President Barack Obama had negotiated.... They note that Iran ramped up work at Isfahan only after Mr. Trump canceled the deal, and that now, in effect, he has been forced to neutralize a danger of his own making.... Asked about the criticisms, [Anna Kelly,] a White House spokeswoman said that Mr. Trump was 'right about everything' related to the conflict in Iran, including his contempt for the 2015 accord.” ~~~

~~~ AFP (published in the Guardian): “The UN nuclear watchdog chief Rafael Grossi says Iran likely will be able to begin to produce enriched uranium 'in a matter of months', despite damage to several nuclear facilities from US and Israeli attacks, CBS News said on Saturday.... Donald Trump insisted Iran’s nuclear program had been set back 'decades'.” A transcript of CBS News' Margaret Brennan's interview of Grossi is here. ~~~

~~~ Giovanna Faggionato of Politico: “Iran decided to ban the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency from its nuclear facilities and to remove surveillance cameras from them, claiming it discovered Israel’s government obtained 'sensitive facility data,' according to media reports Saturday.  The vice speaker of the Iranian parliament, Hamid Reza Haji Babaei, announced the decision to bar IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi on Saturday during funerals of top military officials and nuclear scientists killed by recent Israeli strikes, Mehr news agency reported.”

An Authoritarian State Runs on Secrecy. Hannah Natanson of the Washington Post: “Across ... Donald Trump’s administration, a creeping culture of secrecy is overtaking personnel and budget decisions, casual social interactions, and everything in between, according to interviews with more than 40 employees across two dozen agencies.... No one wants to put anything in writing anymore, federal workers said: Meetings are conducted in-person behind closed doors, even on anodyne topics. Workers prefer to talk outdoors, as long as the weather cooperates. And communication among colleagues — whether work-related or personal — has increasingly shifted to the encrypted messaging app Signal, with messages set to auto-delete. It’s not just career staffers who are clamming up.... Trump’s own political appointees are also resistant to writing things down, worried that their agency’s deliberations will appear in news coverage and inspire a hunt for leakers, federal workers said.... 

 The overall effect has been to impede honest discussion, slow work, stir confusion and depress morale.... The clandestine deliberations cut against long-standing norms and legal requirements — especially the Federal Records Act, passed in 1950.... In an interview Monday, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the Trump administration views the culture of secrecy pervading the government 'as a good thing' because fewer leaks are emerging from the highest ranks.”

Yes, the Supremes are an integral element of the fascist cabal that has taken over the U.S. federal goverment: ~~~

~~~ “I Have an Article 2 Where I Have the Right to Do Whatever I Want.” Charlie Savage of the New York Times: “The Supreme Court ruling barring judges from swiftly blocking government actions, even when they may be illegal, is yet another way that checks on executive authority have eroded as ... [Donald] Trump pushes to amass more power.... The diminishing of judicial authority as a potential counterweight to exercises of presidential power carries implications far beyond the issue of citizenship [raised in the decision announced Friday]. The Supreme Court is effectively tying the hands of lower-court judges at a time when they are trying to respond to a steady geyser of aggressive executive branch orders and policies. The ability of district courts to swiftly block Trump administration actions from being enforced in the first place has acted as a rare effective check on his second-term presidency.... Mr. Trump, rejecting norms of self-restraint, has pushed to eliminate checks on his authority and stamp out pockets of independence within the government while only rarely encountering resistance from a Supreme Court he reshaped and a Congress controlled by a party in his thrall. 

“The decision by the Supreme Court’s conservative majority comes as other constraints on Mr. Trump’s power have also eroded. The administration has steamrolled internal executive branch checks, including firing inspectors general and sidelining the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel, which traditionally set guardrails for proposed policies and executive orders. And Congress, under the control of Mr. Trump’s fellow Republicans, has done little to defend its constitutional role against his encroachments. This includes unilaterally dismantling agencies Congress had said shall exist as a matter of law, firing civil servants in defiance of statutory limits and refusing to spend funds that lawmakers had authorized and appropriated.”

     ~~~ Marie: Even the members of the Court blinded by right-wing hackery are theoretically smart enough, and in some cases patently smart enough, to understand the implications of their decision, especially when Justices Sotomayor & Jackson waved those implications in their faces. So we have to assume, I think, that these "justices" want a fascist state and that they have been gunning all along for an autocracy in which an elite clique -- of which they form a part -- aids and abets the dictator in lording it over the rest of us. As Jack M. implied (see yesterday's Comments), "We the people" did not form such a perfect union. Or -- according to this elite clique -- if it once was close to perfect, we wrecked it with post-Civil War amendments. That would be, especially, the 14th Amendment, which -- in the little mind of Trumpolini -- was "a case" that was decided in 1869 (see Heather Cox Richardson, linked next). The 14th Amendment was fully ratified in 1868, and the first significant case establishing birthright citizenship for everyone was decided decades later, in 1898 in U.S. v Wong Kim Ark. 

Not surprisingly, Heather Cox Richardson's latest "letter" is a good shortcourse in the history of birthright citizenship in the U.S. “To reporters, [Donald Trump] claimed: 'If you look at the end of the Civil War — the 1800s, it was a very turbulent time. If you take the end day — was it 1869? Or whatever. But you take that exact day, that’s when the case was filed. And the case ended shortly thereafter. This had to do with the babies of slaves, very obviously.' This is a great example of a politician rooting a current policy in a made-up history. There is nothing in Trump’s statement that is true, except perhaps that the 1800s were a turbulent time. Every era is.” (Also linked yesterday.) 

We Do Have a King! Jamelle Bouie of the New York Times: “... this is a strange vehicle for the conservative majority to tackle the question of nationwide injunctions. There were ample opportunities under President Biden to do so, and the Biden White House even asked the court to consider the issue. It said no.... It is only now, under ... [Donald] Trump, that the conservatives have had a change of mind. And they’ve done so in the context of an executive order that exemplifies this president’s lawlessness and open contempt for the Constitution.... And here is the Supreme Court blessing a president’s exercise of arbitrary power as if the executive were the sovereign lord of the nation and not a mere servant of the Constitution.... My view, like Jackson’s, is that it is laying the groundwork for the exercise of arbitrary power, unaccountable save for the next election — an American-style presidential dictatorship.” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Bouie makes a statement, not obviously tongue-in-cheek, that surprises me: “It is hard to know for certain whether the Republican majority understands the legal world it’s building and the power it has given to the president.” I don't find it hard to know at all. They know what they've done. 

Washington Post Editors: “The justices curbed the power of lower court judges to block illegal presidential actions, even as the sitting president tries to do things that are plainly unconstitutional. Now they need to own the consequences of their ruling. More than ever, they must be willing to act with speed and force when the president attempts to violate Americans’ rights.... The justices have now reserved to themselves alone the ability to issue nationwide injunctions. This will make it easier for the president and his executive branch officials to violate even black-letter constitutional rights as the country waits for the high court to tell them to stop.... The court based its decision on concerns that federal judges have overstepped their authority when issuing nationwide injunctions. That concern is reasonable.... Congress should have fixed this problem by making it harder for plaintiffs to judge-shop.” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Well, ya know, they would act with speed and force, but hey, they have a lo-o-ong summer vacation, which they need on account of all the free yacht excursions and fishing trips and exotic resort-haunting their rich benefactors provide. Then, when they come back in the fall, they're going to be very tired from all the obligatory fabulous vacationing.

Awk-ward! Abbie VanSickle of the New York Times: “On the day after the Supreme Court issued a decision that sharply curtailed the power of federal judges to block Trump administration policies, Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. spoke before a hotel ballroom filled with them.... But the chief justice was not asked for — and did not volunteer — any guidance or thoughts on the role of the federal judges who have been flooded with legal challenges to Trump administration policies. He did urge political leaders to limit heated rhetoric about judges.... The chief justice did not single out or mention ... [Donald] Trump at all, though threats against federal judges have risen drastically since Mr. Trump took office, according to internal data compiled by the U.S. Marshals Service.” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: I suppose one must give Chief Johnny points for chutzpah; had I stripped some of the most powerful people in the country of their most powerful tool, I would be a bit wary of appearing before them bearing the demeanor of a nice, friendly person.

Trumpolini Fascisti Are Ready for Their Moment. Justin Jouvenal, et al., of the Washington Post: “An emboldened Trump administration plans to aggressively challenge blocks on the president’s top priorities, from immigration to education, following a major Supreme Court ruling that limits the power of federal judges to issue nationwide injunctions. Government attorneys will press judges to pare back the dozens of sweeping rulings thwarting the president’s agenda 'as soon as possible,' said a White House official.... Priorities for the administration include injunctions related to the Education Department and the U.S. DOGE Service, as well as an order halting the dismantling of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the official said, detailing efforts to implement plans ... Donald Trump announced Friday.” (See more on USAID cuts, linked below.)

Meet Pam Blondie's Star Witness! Maria Sacchetti of the Washington Post: “The Trump administration has agreed to release from prison a three-time felon who drunkenly fired shots in a Texas community and spare him from deportation [for a sixth time] in exchange for his cooperation in the federal prosecution of Kilmar Abrego García, according to a review of court records and official testimony. Jose Ramon Hernandez Reyes, 38, has been convicted of smuggling migrants and illegally reentering the United States after having been deported. He also pleaded guilty to 'deadly conduct' in the Texas incident, and is now the government’s star witness in its case against Abrego.... Hernandez is among a handful of cooperating witnesses who could help the Trump administration achieve its goal of never letting Abrego walk free in the United States again. In exchange, he has already been released early from federal prison to a halfway house and has been given permission to stay in the U.S. for at least a year.” Oh, read on to really get to know Hernandez. The link is a gift link.

José Olivares of the Guardian: “Police in southern California arrested a man suspected of posing as a federal immigration officer this week, the latest in a series of such arrests, as masked, plainclothes immigration agents are deployed nationwide to meet the Trump administration’s mass deportation targets.... Experts have warned that federal agents’ increased practice of masking while carrying out immigration raids and arrests makes it easier for imposters to pose as federal officers. Around the country, the sight of Ice officers emerging from unmarked cars in plainclothes to make arrests has become increasingly common.”

No one has died because of USAID [cuts]." — Marco Rubio, testimony before the House Foreign Affairs Committee, May 21

No children are dying on my watch. -- Marco Rubio, testimony before another Congressional committee in May

We spent the weekend feeding USAID into the wood chipper. Could gone to some great parties. Did that instead. -- Elon Musk, boasting on X, February ~~~

The picture of the world’s richest man killing the world’s poorest children is not a pretty one. -- Bill Gates, to the Financial Times, May ~~~

~~~ Katharine Houreld of the Washington Post: “After more than two years of ferocious civil war, Sudan is home to the world’s largest humanitarian crisis, the United Nations says.... Disease and famine are spreading unchecked. More than half the population, some 30 million people, need aid.... For so many families barely hanging on, programs funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) were a lifeline — providing food to the hungry and medical care for the sick. While the Trump administration’s cuts to USAID this year have been felt deeply across the world, their impact in Sudan was especially deadly, according to more than two dozen Washington Post interviews with civilians, clinicians and aid officials.... When U.S.-supported soup kitchens were forced to close, babies starved quietly, their mothers said, while older siblings died begging for food. Funding stoppages meant that critical medical supplies were never delivered, doctors said. The lack of U.S.-funded disease response teams has made it harder to contain cholera outbreaks, which are claiming the lives of those already weakened by hunger. The World Health Organization says an estimated 5 million Sudanese people may lose access to lifesaving health services as a result of the U.S. cuts.”

Ashley Ahn of the New York Times: “Elon Musk waded back into the political fray on Saturday, slamming a major domestic policy bill that Senate Republicans are scrambling to pass, just weeks after he ended a feud with ... [Donald] Trump over the legislation.... Mr. Musk ... had been relatively quiet since his blowup with the president this month, but as the Senate convened to discuss the package on Saturday afternoon, he re-entered the debate, calling the bill 'utterly insane and destructive' in a post on X. 'The latest Senate draft bill will destroy millions of jobs in America and cause immense strategic harm to our country!' he wrote on X. The bill lies at the center of his earlier feud with the president. Mr. Musk had said he believed that the package would significantly add to the national debt and would undermine the savings he claims were found by the Department of Government Efficiency....” An NBC News story is here. ~~~

~~~ GOP Senators Bow to the King. Catie Edmondson, et al., of the New York Times: “The Senate on Saturday narrowly voted to begin debate on the sprawling domestic policy package carrying ... [Donald] Trump’s agenda, clearing a key procedural hurdle after Republican leaders cut a series of deals with holdouts in hopes of winning the votes to pass it. The vote to take up the bill was 51 to 49, after party leaders held the vote open for more than three hours in a suspenseful scene while they haggled with holdouts, both on the Senate floor and behind closed doors, to secure their support. Two Republicans, Senators Thom Tillis of North Carolina and Rand Paul of Kentucky, voted with Democrats to block consideration of the measure. Even as the vote unfolded on Saturday night, a clutch of hard-right Republicans, including Senators Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, Mike Lee of Utah, Rick Scott of Florida and Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming, were demanding that G.O.P. leaders insert even deeper spending cuts into the bill in exchange for their support. Ultimately, they all voted in favor, with Mr. Johnson switching his vote from 'no' to 'yes' in the final moments. It was still not clear whether G.O.P. leaders had enough support to pass the measure and send it to the House for final approval in time to meet the July 4 deadline Mr. Trump has set. Democrats demanded a line-by-line reading of the bill, a procedural protest that was expected to take more than a dozen hours and likely push any final action in the Senate into Monday at the earliest.” ~~~

     ~~~ Lisa Mascaro, et al., of the AP: “The tally, 51-49, came after a tumultuous night with Vice President JD Vance at the Capitol to break a potential tie.” MB: Aw, JayDee had to engage in some serious work-related overtime. I wonder if the Senators gave him a room with a couch so he could nap would have something to do.

~~~ Creative Math. Alyssa Fowers & Hannah Dormido of the Washington Post: “Senate Republicans slapped a price tag on their tax package that is nearly 90 percent lower than the version that recently passed the House. They didn’t bring the price down by changing the policies in the One Big Beautiful Bill. Instead, the Senate changed the way they did the math. Senate Republicans are using a new method to estimate the costs of their tax package that ignores the price of continuing any tax policy in effect when the bill is passed. That method of accounting, called the 'current policy' baseline, lets the Senate advertise ... Donald Trump’s tax package at one-tenth of its impact on the nation’s finances as estimated by Congress’s usual way of counting costs. If the costs were estimated in the traditional way, the Senate’s proposed tax package would add $4.2 trillion to the national debt, according to preliminary estimates from the nonpartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget.... If Congress doesn’t act, most of Trump’s signature 2017 tax cuts will expire this year. Extending those cuts through 2034 accounts for the vast majority of the bill’s estimated impact on the national debt. But the Senate’s method of cost-counting compares the cost of extending the tax cuts against the government’s finances with the cuts in place, not against the government’s finances if the cuts expire.” ~~~

~~~ Meredith Hill of Politico: “Every major health system in Louisiana is warning Speaker Mike Johnson and the rest of the state’s congressional delegation that the Senate GOP’s planned Medicaid cuts 'would be historic in their devastation.' The group sent the warning in a letter that also went to Majority Leader Steve Scalise and GOP Sen. Bill Cassidy, a physician who has also raised concerns about the cuts.” MB: Funny how Senator/Doctor Bill's “concerns” never translate to “no” votes. It appears he's adopted Susan Collins' trademark maneuver. ~~~

~~~ Kids Just Wanna Have Fun. Trump, GOP Congress Say Nope. Terell Wright of the Washington Post: “The Trump administration is seeking to cut the only federal after-school programming in the nation. The 21st Century Community Learning Centers, a program created by the federal government, provides roughly $1.3 billion for after-school and summer activities that reach about 1.4 million students nationwide. The White House budget proposal currently under consideration by Congress would eliminate the program and 17 others that serve lower-income and under-resourced K-12 students as part of a $12 billion cut to the Education Department’s spending next year.” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: The article emphasizes that these programs help low-income families because they effectively provide child-care services for working parents. (Of course if the folks don't work, I guess they won't be eligible for Medicaid, so that's another great savings! Amirite?) But these programs are not merely babysitting facilities. Rather, they not only give kids something to do, but that "something" is required by law, at least in part, to be educational. If Republicans are as concerned about crime as they pretend to be, wouldn't they want to keep kids occupied in programs that enhance skills AND keep the older kids out of criminal mischief? The cost of these programs surely does not nearly equal the costs of policing these soon-to-be-adults & later putting and keeping them in prison. (Then again, private prison operators are a source of GOP campaign contributions, so there's a definite logic here, albeit one with a craven subtext.) ~~~

~~~ Josh Siegel of Politico: Sen. “Mike Lee (R-Utah) withdrew his controversial provision to sell public lands for development Saturday night under fierce opposition from fellow Republicans from western states. Lee decided to back down preemptively while the Senate was taking a procedural vote on their megabill rather than risk the measure failing on the floor. Western Republicans had promised to offer an amendment to strip it out.... In a statement posted to X, Lee blamed 'misinformation' and the 'strict constraints of the budget reconciliation process' for hampering his effort, but in reality he faced stiff opposition from western Republicans from states with large public land holdings.”

Miriam Waldvogel of the Hill: Donald “Trump went after Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) in a Saturday night Truth Social post, threatening that he would back a primary challenger running against the North Carolina senator after Tillis came out against the GOP’s sprawling 'big, beautiful bill.' 'Numerous people have come forward wanting to run in the Primary against “Senator Thom” Tillis,' Trump wrote. 'I will be meeting with them over the coming weeks, looking for someone who will properly represent the Great People of North Carolina and, so importantly, the United States of America.'”

~~~~~~~~~~

Blue States Fight Back. Adam Edelman of NBC News: “Democratic legislators mostly in blue states are attempting to fight back against ... Donald Trump’s efforts to withhold funding from their states with bills that aim to give the federal government a taste of its own medicine. The novel and untested approach — so far introduced in Connecticut, Maryland, New York and Wisconsin — would essentially allow states to withhold federal payments if lawmakers determine the federal government is delinquent in funding owed to them. Democrats in Washington state said they are in the process of drafting a similar measure. These bills still have a long way to go before becoming law, and legal experts said they would face obstacles. But they mark the latest efforts by Democrats at the state level to counter what they say is a massive overreach by the Trump administration to cease providing federal funding for an array of programs that have helped states pay for health care, food assistance and environmental protections.”

Florida. Makiya Seminera of the AP: “A coalition of groups, ranging from environmental activists to Native Americans advocating for their ancestral homelands, converged outside an airstrip in the Florida Everglades Saturday to protest the imminent construction of an immigrant detention center. Hundreds of protesters lined part of U.S. Highway 41 that slices through the marshy Everglades — also known as Tamiami Trail — as dump trucks hauling materials lumbered into the airfield. Cars passing by honked in support as protesters waved signs calling for the protection of the expansive preserve that is home to a few Native tribes and several endangered animal species.”

Minnesota. Jeff Ernst & Jack Healy  of the New York Times: “Minnesota State Representative Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, were remembered at their funeral on Saturday as 'extraordinary public servants' who were killed in an inexplicable act of political violence. Their wooden caskets rested side by side inside the Basilica of St. Mary in Minneapolis as hundreds of political colleagues, friends and relatives sat shoulder to shoulder in the pews to say goodbye to the couple, who were assassinated at their suburban Minneapolis home earlier in June. Former President Joe Biden and former Vice President Kamala Harris joined the mourners for the somber Catholic funeral Mass, though neither spoke during the service. Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota, his eyes red from crying, delivered the eulogy.”

Virginia Congressional Race. Teo Armus, et al., of the Washington Post: “Fairfax County Supervisor James Walkinshaw won the Democratic nomination to replace Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Virginia) in Congress, leveraging an endorsement from the late lawmaker — who had long enlisted him as a top aide — to win a crowded race animated by growing frustrations with the party establishment. His victory, announced Saturday night following a party-run primary, capped a breakneck special-election contest in Virginia’s 11th Congressional District.... The area’s deep-blue bent means that Walkinshaw, a two-term county supervisor representing the Braddock District, is favored to win the Sept. 9. special election over Stewart Whitson, an Army veteran and former FBI official who Republicans picked as their nominee Saturday.”

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Hungary. Steve Hendrix & Karoly Szilagyi of the Washington Post: “Tens of thousands of Hungarians, including members of the LGBTQ+ community and their supporters from Brussels and around the world, marched in a Pride parade in Budapest on Saturday, defying efforts to ban the event by Prime Minister Viktor Orban, a self-declared 'illiberal' Christian conservative whose Fidesz party adopted draconian legislation in March banning public events that portray or allegedly promote homosexuality. The attempt to prohibit the event appeared to backfire. While there were no official estimates of crowd size, frequent attendees said they had never seen anything like the throngs that filled more than a mile of central Budapest and that it was clearly the largest Pride event in the city’s history. Police warned repeatedly in recent days that the event was illegal and prohibited but there were no signs of arrests or fines.... Budapest’s liberal mayor, Gergely Karacsony, quickly stepped in with assistance by declaring this weekend’s festivities to be an official municipal event, renamed Budapest Pride Freedom, to commemorate the withdrawal of Soviet troops and Hungary’s full emergence from behind the Iron Curtain in June 1991.”

The Conversation -- June 28, 2025

⭐Natasha Bertrand & Zachary Cohen of CNN, republished by AOL: "The US military did not use bunker-buster bombs on one of Iran’s largest nuclear sites last weekend because the site is so deep that the bombs likely would not have been effective, the US’ top general told senators during a briefing on Thursday. The comment by Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Dan Caine, which was described by three people who heard his remarks and a fourth who was briefed on them, is the first known explanation given for why the US military did not use the Massive Ordnance Penetrator bomb against the Isfahan site in central Iran. US officials believe Isfahan’s underground structures house nearly 60% of Iran’s enriched uranium stockpile, which Iran would need in order to ever produce a nuclear weapon. US B2 bombers dropped over a dozen bunker-buster bombs on Iran’s Fordow and Natanz nuclear sites. But Isfahan was only struck by Tomahawk missiles launched from a US submarine." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Trump already had it in for Bertrand, writing Wednesday on his failing social media site that CNN should fire her "like a dog" for breaking the story that the Pentagon's Defense Intel Agency assessment of the U.S. strikes on Iran did not "completely obliterate" Iran's nuclear program as Trump has repeatedly asserted. (BTW, Cohen and another reporter also were part of the team, with Bertrand, who broke the original DIA assessment story. Yet Trump singled out Bertrand & leveled a string of insults against her.) What Bertrand & Cohen are reporting here is that Trump knew -- or should have known -- all along that the U.S. strikes could not have "completely obliterated" Iran's nuclear program because the U.S. attacks did not even try to "completely obliterate" one of the sites where the program is developed and operated. So Bertrand & Cohen just showed that Trump either knowingly lied to the public about -- or is ignorant of -- the mission he approved. Congress, of course, should investigate whether Trump deliberately lied or is too stupid to comprehend the nature and purpose of the military missions he authorizes.

Not surprisingly, Heather Cox Richardson's latest "letter" is a good shortcourse in the history of birthright citizenship in the U.S. “To reporters, [Donald Trump] claimed: 'If you look at the end of the Civil War — the 1800s, it was a very turbulent time. If you take the end day — was it 1869? Or whatever. But you take that exact day, that’s when the case was filed. And the case ended shortly thereafter. This had to do with the babies of slaves, very obviously.' This is a great example of a politician rooting a current policy in a made-up history. There is nothing in Trump’s statement that is true, except perhaps that the 1800s were a turbulent time. Every era is.”

~~~~~~~~~~

Marie: Yesterday was an extraordinary day. What happened yesterday did not just speed up the United States' descent from democratic republic to dictatorship. Yesterday, the Senate and the Supreme Court made it official. The proofs are linked below. Senate Republicans (and John Fetterman [D-Pa.]) voted to cede to the dictator Congress's Constitutional prerogative to declare war. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court has stripped all the lower courts of their right and responsibility to broadly estop the dictator and his administration from flagrantly violating the Constitution and the laws. 

Ann Marimow of the Washington Post: “The Supreme Court on Friday backed ... Donald Trump’s request to scale back nationwide orders that have for months blocked the administration’s ban on automatic citizenship for the U.S.-born babies of undocumented immigrants and foreign visitors, a signature piece of Trump’s efforts to restrict immigration. The 6-3 decision, with the liberal justices dissenting, sends the cases back to the lower courts to determine the practical implications of the ruling and leaves open a path for challengers to try to continue to block the president’s policy.... The justices were not directly addressing the constitutionality of the president’s birthright citizenship order, which opponents say conflicts with the 14th Amendment, past court rulings and the nation’s history.... Writing for the majority, Justice Amy Coney Barrett said such universal injunctions likely exceed the power that Congress has granted to the federal courts.... Justice Sonia Sotomayor read a lengthy summary of her dissent from the bench to emphasize her strong disagreement with the opinion, which she called a 'travesty' and warned would 'cause chaos for the families of all affected children.'” (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Josh Gerstein of Politico: "The Supreme Court has handed ... Donald Trump a major victory by narrowing nationwide injunctions that blocked his executive order purporting to end the right to birthright citizenship. In doing so, the court sharply curtailed the power of individual district court judges to issue injunctions blocking federal government policies nationwide.” (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ The decision, concurrences and dissents are here, via the Supreme Court.  (Also linked yesterday.) 

No right is safe in the new legal regime the Court creates. Today, the threat is to birthright citizenship. Tomorrow, a different administration may try to seize firearms from law abiding citizens or prevent people of certain faiths from gathering to worship…. That holding renders constitutional guarantees meaningful in name only for any individuals who are not parties to a lawsuit.... The Executive Branch can now enforce policies that flout settled law and violate countless individuals’ constitutional rights, and the federal courts will be hamstrung to stop its actions fully. -- Justice Sonia Sotomayor, dissent, Trump v. CASA

I have no doubt that, if judges must allow the Executive to act unlawfully in some circumstances, as the Court concludes today, executive lawlessness will flourish, and from there, it is not difficult to predict how this all ends.... Eventually, executive power will become completely uncontainable, and our beloved constitutional Republic will be no more. -- Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, dissent, Trump v. CASA 

Birthright citizenship was added to the Constitution at the end of the Civil War. It’s a basic idea: When you’re born in America, you’re an American. That’s what Trump is trying to take away. By failing to protect this basic constitutional right, the Supreme Court is declaring open season on all our rights. -- Rep. Greg Casar (D-Texas), Chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus ~~~

~~~ New York Times live updates are here. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: BTW, Sotomayor, in her dissent, compares this decision to the most notorious case in the history of the Supreme Court: Dred Scott. ~~~

Children born in the United States and subject to its laws are United States citizens. That has been the legal rule since the founding, and it was the English rule well before then. This Court once attempted to repudiate it, holding in Dred Scott v. Sandford, 19 How. 393 (1857), that the children of enslaved black Americans were not citizens. To remedy that grievous error, the States passed in 1866 and Congress ratified in 1868 the Fourteenth Amendment’s Citizenship Clause, which enshrined birthright citizenship in the Constitution. There it has remained, accepted and respected by Congress, by the Executive, and by this Court. Until today. -- Justice Sonia Sotomayor, dissent, Trump v. CASA (Thanks to Blaise Malley of Salon for the heads-up.) ~~~

~~~ Chris Geidner, the Law Dork: The Three-Names-Supremes -- Amy Phony Barrett & Ketanji Brown Jackson -- brawl over what the real-world impact of the decision will be. ~~~

~~~ Jacob Knutson of Democracy Docket: “Not long after the ruling, Trump claimed that his administration was now free to move ahead in amassing power on a range of fronts.... In reacting to the ruling, Trump repeated his attacks on federal judges, calling them 'radical' and their rulings 'a grave threat to democracy.' The president jumped on the ruling as giving him complete freedom to plow ahead with many of the policies that have made up his unprecedented power grab and that had been blocked by the courts. He falsely said that the Supreme Court has allowed his administration to proceed with ending birthright citizenship. He also named ceasing funding for sanctuary cities, suspending refugee resettlement and cutting funding for transgender healthcare as areas where his administration can move ahead unfettered. 'Thanks to this decision, we can now properly file to proceed with these numerous policies and those that have been wrongly enjoined on a nationwide basis,' Trump said. 'This is a decision that covers a tremendous amount of territory.'” ~~~

~~~ Wherein Trump Admits He's a Bigger Outlaw Than All 20th-Century Presidents Combined. Caleb Howe of Mediaite: “'... Trump’s actions have been so extreme the courts have had to use that power to stop him more than any other president in modern history. Any other president,' [Jen] Psaki [of MSNBC said Friday]. 'And that’s something that even Trump himself admits.' She then played Trump from his presser saying: 'We’ve been hit with more nationwide injunctions than were issued in the entire 20th century together. Think of it more than the entire twentieth century. Me.' 'Yes, you. The courts have had to stop you, Donald Trump, more than any other president,' Psaki responded. 'It’s not the brag you think it is either, by the way.'” ~~~

~~~ Miriam Jordan of the New York Times tries to answer questions about what will and may happen next as a result of the decision. ~~~

~~~ Unequal Protection Under the Law. Mel Barclay of the 19th: “While challenges to the executive order move through the courts, the administration will only be blocked from enforcing its order against some immigrants. That will likely include people in the 22 Democrat-led states that directly challenged the order, along with the members of two immigrants’ rights organizations and individually named plaintiffs. The Supreme Court ordered the lower courts to 'expeditiously' reexamine which plaintiffs will be covered by more narrow injunctions. Immigrant parents who expect to give birth soon in one of the 28 Republican-led states that didn’t challenge the executive order are in a more 'tenuous' situation, said Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Campbell.” ~~~

~~~ Jennifer Bendery of the Huffington Post: “Immigrants rights’ advocates on Friday filed a nationwide class action lawsuit challenging ... Donald Trump’s executive order restricting birthright citizenship, just hours after the Supreme Court partially blocked nationwide injunctions challenging Trump’s order. The lawsuit, filed by the American Civil Liberties Union, Legal Defense Fund and other groups, was brought on behalf of a class of babies subject to the executive order, along with their parents. It charges the Trump administration with flouting the Constitution, congressional intent, and longstanding Supreme Court precedent.” ~~~

~~~ Laurence Tribe weighs in. Thanks to laura h. for the lead: ~~~

~~~ Marie: A number of the articles I've linked note that Pam Blondie said yesterday that the Supremes likely would resolve the issue of birthright citizenship in the fall, implying we shouldn't get all pissy about a few thousand kids falling into the chasm created by this ruling. But NYU law professor Melissa Murray pointed out on MSNBC that's not apt to be true. “Sotomayor ... wrote [in her dissent] that the administration didn’t ask the Supreme Court to allow the birthright citizenship order to go fully into effect because proving that the policy is likely legal before the Supreme Court would be 'an impossible task in light of the Constitution’s text.'” So let's assume that the plaintiffs -- that is, those advocating for birthright citizenship -- prevail in every case before the lower courts, as Sotomayor suggests was likely. That would leave only the government -- Blondie's tribe -- to appeal the decisions to the Supreme Court. And Blondie has zero incentive to appeal because as Sotomayor wrote, the government would lose. So the patchwork will remain in place. That is, as Mrs. Ken W. told Mr. Ken W. (see yesterday's Comments), a child born in Washington State will be a citizen, but one born in Idaho will not.

Justin Jouvenal & David Ovalle of the Washington Post: “The Supreme Court on Friday upheld a portion of the Affordable Care Act that requires health plans to provide free preventive care such as screenings for cancer and HIV. In a 6-3 decision, the justices ruled against a Christian-owned business and individuals who objected to being forced to offer medications intended to prevent the spread of HIV among people at risk. The plaintiffs contend the pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) treatment administered to prevent infections, 'encourage and facilitate homosexual behavior' in conflict with their religious beliefs.... Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel A. Alito Jr. and Neil M. Gorsuch dissented.... Public health groups on Friday hailed the decision but also worried it may prove a double-edge sword under Trump administration health officials who have rejected long-standing public health guidance. The opinion paves the way for HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a prominent anti-vaccine activist, and his successors to exert greater control over the panel’s recommendations, said Jose Abrigo ... of the Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund....”

Justin Jouvenal & Will Oremus of the Washington Post: “The Supreme Court ruled Friday that an $8 billion fund that provides telephone and internet service in rural and low-income communities is constitutional, a break from a string of major rulings by the high court that have sharply curtailed the power of federal agencies. In a 6-3 ruling, the justices found Congress properly granted the Federal Communications Commission discretion to collect fees from telecommunications companies to pay for the Universal Service Fund, which helps ensure equal access to critical communication services. The ruling is a blow to conservatives who had hoped the high court would — for the first time since 1935 — find that Congress had violated a constitutional provision that bars it from delegating too much of its authority to other branches of the government, namely the executive and federal agencies.” Gorsuch, Thomas & Alito dissented.

     ~~~ The decision, concurring opinions & dissent are here, via the Supreme Court.

Michael Schmidt & Michael Bender of the New York Times: “The University of Virginia’s president, James E. Ryan, has told the board overseeing the school that he will resign in the face of demands by the Trump administration that he step aside to help resolve a Justice Department inquiry into the school’s diversity, equity and inclusion efforts, according to three people briefed on the matter. For the leader of one of the nation’s most prominent public universities to take such an extraordinary step demonstrates ... [Donald] Trump’s success in harnessing the investigative powers of the federal government to accomplish his administration’s policy goals. The New York Times reported on Thursday evening that the Justice Department had demanded Mr. Ryan’s resignation as a condition to settle a civil rights investigation into the school’s diversity practices. In a letter sent on Thursday to the head of the board overseeing the university, Mr. Ryan said that he had planned to step down at the end of the next academic year but 'given the circumstances and today’s conversations' he had decided, 'with deep sadness,' to tender his resignation now.... The school’s board has accepted Mr. Ryan’s resignation, according to two of the people briefed on the matter.” (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: This is a mistake. Whatever Ryan's personal plans may have been, he had a duty to the principles of the academy to tell the Trump administration to stick it. Same with the board, which should not have accepted his resignation. These people are not as bright as you would expect them to be if they don't understand that they do not have the freedom to knuckle under to a despot.

Tony Romm, et al., of the New York Times: Donald “Trump on Friday said that the United States would terminate all trade discussions with Canada, 'effective immediately,' over the country’s plan to begin collecting digital services taxes from U.S. technology giants. Mr. Trump described those taxes as a 'blatant attack,' and promised on social media that he would inform Canada within the next seven days about the duties 'they will be paying to do business with the United States of America.'... 'We have all the cards. We have every single one,' Mr. Trump said in the Oval Office, adding that 'economically we have such power over Canada.'... In ceasing talks, Mr. Trump once again upended the increasingly fraught relationship between the United States and Canada, which has traditionally been one of America’s closest allies and largest trading partners....

“Canada’s 3 percent digital services tax has been in place since last year, but the first payments are only due beginning on Monday. Because the tax is retroactive, American companies were preparing to turn over roughly $2.7 billion to the Canadian government, according to a trade group for large American tech companies.... On Friday, Mr. Trump singled out Europe, where several countries have imposed versions of the tax, describing them as 'very nasty.' But he did not suggest that he planned to halt ongoing trade negotiations with the European Union.” MB: Trump's stupid and embarrassing “We have all the cards” power play is, of course, simple an attack on American consumers of Canadian products.

Colby Smith of the New York Times: Donald “Trump continued his assault on the chair of the Federal Reserve on Friday, saying he would like Jerome H. Powell to resign. The president, who has berated Mr. Powell for weeks, called the chair a 'stubborn mule' who has 'Trump derangement syndrome' for his refusal to immediately lower borrowing costs. 'I’d love for him to resign if he wanted to,' the president told reporters in the Oval Office.... Mr. Trump recently said that he was choosing among three or four people to replace Mr. Powell, whose term ends in May, and that an announcement would be coming soon.... Mr. Trump ... has repeatedly toyed with removing Mr. Powell as chair before his term expires. The Supreme Court recently signaled that the president was not authorized to do that, however. Mr. Powell’s term as a governor does not expire until 2032, meaning he could technically stay on even after stepping down as chair.”

Maureen Dowd of the New York Times: “Though Trump likes to hug the flag — and just raised two huge ones on the White House North and South Lawns — he ignores a basic tenet of patriotism: It is patriotic to tell the public the truth on life-or-death matters, and for the press to challenge power. It is unpatriotic to mislead the public in order to control it and suppress dissent, or as a way of puffing up your own ego.”

Dan Diamond & Hannah Natanson of the Washington Post: “The U.S. DOGE Service has lost the power to control the government’s process for awarding billions of dollars in federal funds, the latest sign of the team’s declining influence following Elon Musk’s high-profile exit from Washington.... Three months ago, DOGE employees wrested control of a key federal grants website, grants.gov, which serves as a clearinghouse for more than $500 billion in annual awards, The Post reported.... But on Thursday, federal officials were instructed to stop routing the grant-making process through DOGE.... The decision follows fears that months of DOGE-linked delays would lead to what critics allege would be the illegal impoundment of federal funds.... Contacted for comment Friday, the White House sent a statement attributed to an unnamed senior administration official saying DOGE will continue to 'facilitate the review of grants, working alongside agency secretaries to determine which grants should continue, which should be terminated, and which require further scrutiny.'”

Christine Hauser of the New York Times: “Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said on Friday that the U.S. Navy was renaming the U.S.N.S. Harvey Milk, a fleet replenishment ship that had been named for a Navy veteran and one of the country’s first openly gay elected officials. He said that the vessel would be renamed for Oscar V. Peterson, a chief petty officer who posthumously received the Medal of Honor for valor during World War II. 'We are taking the politics out of ship naming,' Mr. Hegseth said in a statement released on social media. The announcement — which came during Pride Month — was not unexpected. Earlier this month, Mr. Hegseth said he had ordered a review of Navy vessels named after prominent civil rights leaders, and the ship named after Mr. Milk was seen as a possible candidate for a change. The review was in keeping with the Trump administration’s drive to expunge diversity, equity and inclusion efforts from the federal government, a senior defense official familiar with the decision said at the time.... In 2009, Mr. Milk was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s top civilian medal, by President Obama.” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: You will notice that Drunk Pete has caught onto authoritarian opposite-speak, wherein dictators and their minions make pronouncements that are in direct opposition to the facts. So when Pete sez, “We are taking the politics out of ship naming,” what he means is, “We are putting politics into ship-naming.” What he does not address is that he is doing so in the most shameful possible way, stripping from an American hero an honor well-earned, and only because that hero was gay. (This is not to say, of course, that Mr. Peterson's heroism does not deserve similar recognition; rather, it should not be awarded at the expense of another deserving person.)

Adam Taylor, et al., of the Washington Post: “The Trump administration’s plan for mass layoffs at the State Department has left much of the workforce exasperated and embittered, tanking morale as extra demands were made to assist U.S. citizens seeking to flee the Middle East amid Israel’s war with Iran, employees say. At the direction of Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the State Department informed Congress in May that it planned to reduce its U.S. workforce by more than 15 percent — almost 2,000 people — as part of a sweeping reorganization intended to streamline what he has called a 'bloated bureaucracy that stifles innovation and misallocates scarce resources.' Separately, he has accused certain bureaus within the department of pursuing a 'radical political ideology.' Rubio had set a July 1 timeline for the dismissals, but execution of the plan is contingent on a favorable ruling from the Supreme Court, which is evaluating ... Donald Trump’s sweeping attempt to fire federal workers across numerous government agencies. It’s unclear when the court could act.” ~~~

~~~ Edward Wong & Michael Crowley of the New York Times: “Sixty Democratic lawmakers told Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Friday to refrain from moving ahead with mass layoffs of State Department employees and to lift a hiring freeze at a time of widening global crises. In a letter to Mr. Rubio, the lawmakers said they were concerned about reported plans to fire about 700 career diplomats, known as Foreign Service officers, based mainly on the fact that those employees are currently posted in the United States rather than overseas. Diplomats spend much of their career abroad but rotate through Washington and other U.S. posts such as the United Nations, so firing people who happen to be currently on assignment in the country is seen as arbitrary and unfair by many State Department employees, as well as by the lawmakers.... [The State Department] sent a memo to Congress with ... details [of its reorganization plan], including plans to fire about 2,000 people. The State Department says it aims to do the overhaul by July 1.” MB: You might think that Little Marco doesn't know how the diplomatic rotation works. And/or you might think Marco is an arbitrary and capricious junior dictator who doesn't give a flying fig.

Marie: A tragedy, in the Greek sense, is a story in which the main character comes to an unhappy ending through some fault -- or character flaw -- of his own. We may not be talking "Oedipus Rex" here, but perhaps a more homely, Arthur Miller-type tragedy: Robyn Pennacchia of Wonkette on the death of Canadian immigrant Johnny Noviello, a small-time drug dealer and Trump fan who died in ICE custody. Pennacchia concludes, "I couldn’t tell you what made a non-citizen with a history of drug offenses think that Donald Trump was his guy. Maybe he thought because he was white, because he was Canadian and not Mexican, that he was conservative, that he’d get a pass. He cheered for Donald Trump because he thought it would be other people getting hauled away to these detention centers and not him. Clearly, he was wrong." More on Noviello's death linked yesterday. (Also linked yesterday.) 

Robert Jimison of the New York Times: “The Senate on Friday blocked a Democratic resolution that would have forced ... [Donald] Trump to go to Congress for approval of further military action against Iran, dealing a blow to efforts to rein in his war powers. The 53-to-47 vote against bringing up the resolution, mostly along party lines, came nearly a week after the president unilaterally ordered strikes against three Iranian nuclear facilities without consulting the House and Senate. It also followed a searing debate on the Senate floor over the role of Congress in authorizing the use of military force. The measure, sponsored by Senator Tim Kaine, Democrat of Virginia, invoked the War Powers Act, a 1973 law aimed at limiting a president’s power to enter an armed conflict without the consent of Congress. It would have required the White House to notify lawmakers and seek the approval of both the House and Senate before U.S. forces could take further military action against Iran.” 

Zach Montague of the New York Times: “A federal judge in Washington ruled on Friday that an executive order ... [Donald] Trump signed imposing penalties against the law firm Susman Godfrey was unconstitutional, permanently barring the government from enforcing its terms. The decision by Judge Loren L. AliKhan of the Federal District Court for the District of Columbia effectively ended, at least for now, the president’s campaign to subjugate several of the nation’s top law firms. It also completed a perfect record among those firms that risked fighting the administration in court, notching four decisive rulings from four separate judges, none of which the Trump administration has, so far, tried to appeal.” A pdf of the decision, linked in the text, is provided by the courts.... In April, Mr. Trump went after Susman Godfrey with an order claiming the firm 'spearheads efforts to weaponize the American legal system and degrade the quality of American elections' — an apparent reference to its work representing Dominion Voting Systems, a voting machine manufacturer, in a major defamation case against Fox News.” A CBS News story is here.

Laurel Rosenhall of the New York Times: “Gov. Gavin Newsom of California sued Fox News on Friday, accusing the network of defaming him in its coverage of a phone call he had with ... [Donald] Trump this month. The suit, filed in Delaware, where Fox News is incorporated, seeks damages of at least $787 million and a court order prohibiting Fox from broadcasting or posting segments that mistakenly say Mr. Newsom lied about his call with Mr. Trump.... Mr. Newsom’s lawyers also sent Fox News a letter demanding a formal retraction and an on-air apology from Jesse Watters, a host who said on his show that Mr. Newsom had lied about the call with the president. If those conditions are met, the letter states, Mr. Newsom will dismiss the lawsuit. The punitive damages sought by Mr. Newsom mirror the amount that Fox News agreed to pay in 2023 to settle a lawsuit by Dominion Voting Systems that accused the network of publicizing false election conspiracies that damaged the company. 'If Fox News wants to lie to the American people on Donald Trump’s behalf, it should face consequences — just like it did in the Dominion case,' Mr. Newsom said in a statement. 'I believe the American people should be able to trust the information they receive from a major news outlet.' Fox News responded by questioning the sincerity of Mr. Newsom’s lawsuit.” Montague goes on to explain the background that led to the suit.

Ashley Wu, et al., of the New York Times chart how key provisions of the House & Senate versions of Trump's Big Bad Bill differ. They note that the “page will be updated to reflect the final version of the Senate bill when it’s available.”

Maxine Joselow, now of the New York Times: Some right-wing outdoorsmen are denouncing “a plan by Senator Mike Lee, Republican of Utah, to sell millions of acres of federal lands as part of President Trump’s sprawling tax and spending bill.... Mr. Lee’s proposal would require the Bureau of Land Management to sell as much as 1.225 million acres of public property across the American West. Proponents have said the region has a severe shortage of affordable housing and that developers could build new homes on these tracts.... Opponents include Representative Ryan Zinke, a Republican of Montana, who led the Interior Department during Mr. Trump’s first term. On Thursday, Mr. Zinke said he would vote against the bill if it included the provision.... Five House Republicans — including Mr. Zinke — said on Thursday that the land sale was a 'poison pill' that would cost their votes for the package.” MB: By “the bill” and “the package,” it appears Joselow means the Big Bad Bill, though she doesn't make that entirely clear.

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Minnesota. New York Times: “Former President Joseph R. Biden Jr. joined thousands of mourners who streamed through the Minnesota State Capitol on Friday to pay their respects to State Representative Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark. The couple were killed at their home this month in suburban Minneapolis, in what officials have described as a broader plan to assassinate Democratic officials. The procession past their caskets under the ornate dome of the State Capitol began shortly after the man accused of the fatal shooting appeared briefly in a federal courthouse about a mile away. The suspect’s detention hearing was delayed until next week after his lawyer told the judge that he had been placed on suicide watch and had been unable to sleep in jail. At the Capitol, Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota and his wife were the first to pay respects to the Hortmans just after noon local time. President Biden made a surprise visit about four hours later. He knelt briefly and crossed himself in front of the caskets, which flanked an urn containing the remains of the family’s dog, Gilbert, who was also killed in the attack.” This is part of the pinned item in a liveblog.

Nebraska. Annie Karni of the New York Times: “Representative Don Bacon, the five-term Nebraska Republican who represents a centrist district in a deeply red state, will not seek re-election, according to a person familiar with his plans, handing Democrats a prime opportunity to pick up a seat in the closely divided House. Mr. Bacon’s official announcement is expected on Monday, and his departure is not unexpected. His willingness to publicly disagree with ... [Donald] Trump has made him an anomaly in the tribal House Republican Conference, where members tend to fall in line behind the president’s agenda and rarely criticize him in the open.”