The Conversation -- March 5, 2025
David Lynch & Aaron Gregg of the Washington Post: "Less than 48 hours after slapping tariffs on all goods from Canada and Mexico..., Donald Trump agreed to a one-month reprieve for automobile imports that qualify for duty-free treatment under the North American trade agreement negotiated during his first term. The president's decision followed a phone conversation with executives from the Big Three automakers -- General Motors, Ford and Stellantis -- who sought relief from the new import taxes. Each of the automakers over the past several decades has developed complex supply chains that cross North American borders multiple times.... Along with disrupting those supply lines, Trump's tariffs would have increased the cost of the typical new car by more than $10,000, industry groups said. Ford CEO Jim Farley warned last month that the president's tariffs 'would blow a hole in the U.S. industry' and give Asian and European producers a distinct competitive advantage." ~~~
~~~Marie: That's odd, because just last night during remarks before Congress, Trump said that U.S. auto companies were so delighted & s-o-o-o excited by his economic measures, including tariffs.
Josh Gerstein of Politico: "Thousands of fired workers at the Department of Agriculture must get their jobs back for at least the next month and a half, the chair of a federal civil service board ruled Wednesday. The ruling said the recent dismissals of more than 5,600 probationary employees may have violated federal laws and procedures for carrying out layoffs. The decision from Cathy Harris, the chair of the Merit Systems Protection Board, is a blow to the Trump administration's effort to drastically and quickly shrink the federal bureaucracy. Though it applies only to the USDA, it could lay the groundwork for further rulings reinstating tens of thousands of other probationary workers whom the Trump administration has fired en masse across the government. But it's far from a final resolution of the legality of the mass terminations. The administration may have further options to place the reinstated workers on administrative leave or fire them again as part of a formal 'reduction in force.'"
Rachel Maddow did some off-the-cuff fact-checks of Trump's Congressional address: ~~~
⭐Warren Strobel, et al., of the Washington Post: "The United States has paused major portions of its intelligence-sharing with Ukraine, squeezing the flow of vital information that Kyiv has used to repel invading Russian forces and strike back at select targets inside Russia, according to U.S. and Ukrainian officials. The rupture in intelligence-sharing includes a halt in targeting data that U.S. spy agencies supply to Kyiv so it can launch American-provided weapons and Ukrainian-made long-range drones at Russian targets, Ukrainian officials said. Some Ukrainian missile operators say they are no longer receiving information needed to hit targets inside Russia." ~~~
~~~ Marie: I can't adequately express how much I despise the murderous traitors running the country and Western democracy into the ground, so I won't try.
Stephen Groves of the AP: "The Department of Veterans Affairs is planning an 'aggressive' reorganization that includes cutting 80,000 jobs from the sprawling agency that provides health care for retired military members, according to an internal memo obtained by The Associated Press. The VA's chief of staff, Christopher Syrek, told top level officials at the agency that it had an objective to cut enough employees to return to 2019 staffing levels of just under 400,000. That would require terminating tens of thousands of employees after the VA expanded during the Biden administration, as well as to cover veterans impacted by burn pits under the 2022 PACT Act. The memo instructs top-level staff to prepare for an agency-wide reorganization in August to 'resize and tailor the workforce to the mission and revised structure.' It also calls for agency officials to work with the White House's Department of Government Efficiency to 'move out aggressively, while taking a pragmatic and disciplined approach' to the Trump administration's goals."
Jasper Scherer of the Texas Tribune: "U.S. Rep. Sylvester Turner, a former Houston mayor, state legislator and institution in Houston Democratic politics, died Tuesday evening. He was 70. Turner's death comes two months into his first term representing Texas' 18th Congressional District, the seat long occupied by his political ally, former U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, who also died in office last year amid a battle with pancreatic cancer.... Before joining Congress, Turner served as Houston mayor from 2016 to 2024. He served for nearly 27 years in the Texas House. Gov. Greg Abbott can call a special election to fill Turner's congressional seat for the rest of his term. State law does not specify a deadline to call a special election, but if it is called the election is required to happen within two months of the announcement."
Justin Jouvenal, et al., of the Washington Post: "A sharply divided Supreme Court on Wednesday denied the Trump administration's request to block a lower court order on foreign aid funding, clearing the way for the State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development to restart nearly $2 billion in payments for work already done. Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and Justice Amy Coney Barrett joined the court's three liberal justices in the 5-4 order, which was the high court's first significant move on lawsuits related to ... Donald Trump's initiatives in his second term. The majority did not explain the reasoning for its decision but directed the lower court to clarify what obligations the government must fulfill to global health groups for work already completed with consideration of the 'feasibility of any compliance timelines.'... The majority's decision drew a vigorous dissent from four conservative justices who said a District Court judge in D.C. probably lacks the power to compel the federal government to make such payments." Thanks to Ken W. for the link. NPR's report, by Nina Totenberg, is here.
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Michael Shear & Luke Broadwater of the New York Times: Donald Trump's speech before a joint session of Congress ran 100 minutes "-- the longest presidential address to Congress in modern history.... Together, the president's remarks underscored the chaotic, whiplash nature of the opening weeks of Mr. Trump's second term. Much of the lengthy speech was filled with grievances about his treatment by Democrats and exaggerations about his accomplishments.... From the first moments of his address, Mr. Trump faced heckling from Democrats as he declared that 'America is back.' Democrats barely applauded, while Republicans enthusiastically cheered.... Throughout, he appeared to obsess over his political rivals. At one point, he motioned to Democrats, saying the system of justice in the country had been taken over by 'radical left lunatics.' In response, progressive members of the party held up panels that said 'False' and 'That's a lie.'... He addressed his opponents in the audience with contempt, gloating about his election victory, mocked them for his ability to evade prosecutions and called Mr. Biden the worst president in American history....
"A number of Democrats staged a small protest, standing up and turning their backs toward Trump with T-shirts that said 'resist' on the back. Instead of risking being removed by the sergeant-at-arms, the group quietly walked off the House floor. Other Democrats chose to walk out of the speech, including Representative Maxwell Frost, Democrat of Florida, who wore a shirt that said 'No Kings Live Here.'" Read on.
I was saved by God to make America great again. -- Donald Trump, invoking the divine right of kings in his address to joint session of Congress
He is the very model of a modern major lunatic. -- Marie ~~~
~~~ Matt Viser of the Washington Post: "... Donald Trump on Tuesday night addressed a divided nation in a speech marked by acrimony, as a Texas Democrat was escorted from the chamber within the first few moments and as Trump taunted Democrats in the room -- outlining a message of defiant optimism for those who support him and gloomy despair for those who don't. His speech ... arrived hours after the stock market tumbled as a result of his newly imposed tariffs, but Trump doubled down on his plans for reciprocal tariffs and made clear that he was unrestrained by any rising Democratic resistance, signs of economic trouble or falsehoods as he made a number of claims unsupported by the facts.... His speech in several instances had the feel of a reality show, with guests in the room receiving life-altering news."
And I think we're going to get it -- one way or the other, we're going to get it. -- Donald Trump, on acquiring Greenland, in his address to joint session of Congress
... we gave it to Panama, and we're taking it back. -- Donald Trump, on seizing the Panama Canal, in his address to joint session of Congress ~~~
~~~ Niha Masih of the Washington Post: "In ... Donald Trump's address to a joint session of Congress on Tuesday night, he reiterated that the United States should acquire Greenland and retake control of the Panama Canal, doubling down on his expansionist foreign policy vision.... Earlier Tuesday, CK Hutchinson, a Hong Kong-based company, announced it would sell its stake in two Panama Canal ports to a U.S.-led consortium, apparently in response to threats from Trump. Trump mentioned the development and said the Panama Canal was built at a 'tremendous cost' to the United States."
Here's a transcript of Trump's speech by the AP.
Maya Miller of the New York Times: Donald "Trump got barely two minutes into his speech to a joint session of Congress on Tuesday night before Representative Al Green, Democrat of Texas, stood to protest, disrupting the proceedings in a display that ultimately got him thrown out of the House chamber. As Mr. Trump extolled his own accomplishments during his first weeks in office and boasted about his electoral success in November, Mr. Green, 77, rose from his seat, shook his cane and began to shout. 'You have no mandate to cut Medicaid!' yelled Mr. Green.... Almost instantly, he was drowned out by chants from angry Republican colleagues: 'U.S.A.! U.S.A.!' they shouted and clapped, which gave way to shouts of 'Sit down!' Twice, Speaker Mike Johnson interrupted the president's address, tapped his gavel and warned Mr. Green that if he did not sit down, he would be removed from the chamber....
Behind Mr. Trump, Vice President JD Vance made a gesture with his thumb indicating 'throw him out,' as members jeered. Soon, Mr. Johnson read from a sheet of paper in front of him, making it official. 'Finding that members continue to engage in willful and concerted disruption of proper decorum, the chair now directs the Sergeant-at-arms to restore order,' Mr. Johnson said, prompting raucous applause from Republicans. 'Remove this gentleman from the chamber!' he declared, banging his gavel." The Sergeant at Arms escorted Rep. Green from the chamber. Politico's report is here.
Binyamin Appelbaum & Michelle Goldberg of the New York Times chose Green's protest as the "best moment" of the event. ~~~
~~~ David Firestone of the New York Times: "The cost of Trump's disastrous first month back in office could be seen in the furious response of Democrats on the House floor. Many of them booed and catcalled throughout the opening moments of the speech, particularly when the president defied arithmetic by claiming he had a significant mandate because of his big lead in the popular vote. (He did not break 50 percent, and he beat Kamala Harris by less than 1.5 percentage points.) Some Democrats waved signs saying 'Musk steals,' 'No king' and 'Save Medicaid.' Others wore pink as a protest color. And Representative Al Green of Texas shouted at the rostrum and refused the order of Speaker Mike Johnson to sit down. Finally both Green and Johnson got the spectacle they hoped for when the speaker had Green thrown out of the chamber. It was a first in the modern era, as so many other aspects of this term have been.... But it's hard to blame those who couldn't stop themselves from shouting at the barrage of misinformation, particularly for those who remember what happened in that same room in 2021, when members had to cower from the violence inflicted by the president's supporters. Decorum has become a thing of the past." ~~~
The first month of our presidency is the most successful in the history of our nation -- and what makes it even more impressive is that you know who No. 2 is? George Washington. -- Donald Trump, boasting in his address to joint session of Congress ~~~
~~~ Dana Milbank of the Washington Post: "... over the course of the last five days, [Donald Trump] has set the United States back 100 years. Trump on Monday implemented the largest tariff increase since 1930, abruptly reversing an era of liberalized trade that has prevailed since the end of the Second World War. He launched this trade war just three days after dealing an equally severe blow to the postwar security order that has maintained prosperity and freedom for 80 years. Trump's ambush of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office, followed by the cessation of U.S. military aid to the outgunned ally, has left allies reeling and Moscow exulting.... There is no easy fix for Trump's smashing of the security and trade arrangements that have kept us safe and free for generations."
From the Peepul Я Dum File. Anthony Salvanto, et al., of CBS News: "A large majority of speech watchers approved of what they heard from ... [Donald] Trump's joint address to Congress Tuesday night. The viewership was heavily Republican -- historically a president's party draws more of their own partisans. This was no exception, and they liked what they heard. This CBS News/YouGov survey interviewed a nationally representative sample of speech watchers immediately following the president's address to Congress."
The Washington Post's live updates of Trump's speech before the joint session are here. The New York Times' live updates, which are a good way to "watch" without watching, are here. (There is video, but you can mute it.) (Also linked yesterday.) Also, Washington Post columnists followed the speech in real time."
Marie: Here's the headline for an item by Irie Sentner of Politico: "If the unthinkable happens tonight, Doug Collins is the designated survivor." That should be, "If the unthinkable happens tonight, the designated survivor is unthinkable." He's a real goober.
Dan Lamothe of the Washington Post: "... Donald Trump said during his address Tuesday to a joint session of Congress that U.S. authorities have recovered and detained a senior Islamic State official responsible for a bombing during the evacuation of Afghanistan in 2021 that killed 13 U.S. troops and about 170 Afghans.... He thanked the government of Pakistan for 'helping arrest this monster.'... A White House official ... identified the individual as Mohammad Sharifullah and said he was a planner with the Islamic State-Khorasan (ISIS-K), the extremist group's branch in Afghanistan and Pakistan."
Annie Karni of the New York Times: "Senator Elissa Slotkin, a first-term Democrat from Michigan, delivered a simple message as her party's official response to ... [Donald] Trump's combative and lengthy address to a joint session of Congress on Tuesday night: Mr. Trump, she said, was 'going to make you pay in every part of your life.'... Ms. Slotkin struck a calm and upbeat tone in her brief remarks.... Twice during her speech, she named previous Republican presidents approvingly while criticizing Mr. Trump. 'I'm thankful it was Reagan and not Trump in the office in the 1980s,' she said, noting that Mr. Trump was 'cozying up to dictators like Vladimir Putin.'... Ms. Slotkin avoided any notable missteps, opting for a straightforward delivery and a simple message calibrated to be broadly appealing." MB: As I predicted yesterday, a dud.
~~~ Marie: The Democrats needed someone like Sen. Chris Murphy (Conn.) or Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (N.Y.) who know how to attack Trump. Instead, they picked Slotkin, a moderate to deliver some pablum. She is among the Democratic senators who voted to confirm the most Trump Cabinet nominees (the only one who voted for more is that goofball Fetterman). ~~~
~~~ ⭐Tom Nichols of the Atlantic: "In her response to Trump's address, Democratic Senator Elissa Slotkin failed to capture the hallucinatory nature of our national politics.... [Her speech] was so normal, in fact, that it was exactly the wrong speech to give.... Slotkin -- like so many in her party lately -- failed to convey any sense of real urgency or alarm. Her speech could have been given in Trump's first term, perhaps in 2017 or 2018, but we are no longer in that moment. The president's address was so extreme, so full of bizarre claims and ideas, exaggerations and distortions and lies, that it should have called his fitness to serve into question.... Her [laudable] admonition to her fellow citizens not to fool themselves about the fragility of democracy, while admirable, was strangely detached from a specific attack on the source of that menace.... Her response, and the behavior of the Democrats in general, showed that they still fear being a full-throated opposition party...." Thanks to laura h. for this gift link.
Lily Kuo, et al., of the Washington Post: "As ... Donald Trump's new tariffs on the nation's three top trading partners took effect Tuesday, China, Mexico and Canada announced that they would retaliate with levies of their own, unleashing a potentially devastating trade war.... During a Tuesday news conference, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau decried the 'American trade war,' warning that 'it is going to hurt all of us.'... While Trudeau said finding a resolution to the trade fight would be his top priority, he added that Canada will impose tariffs on roughly $107 billion worth of U.S. products. About $21 billion worth of those goods would be hit immediately, he said, with the rest taking effect in 21 days. Trump, responding in a social media post, said U.S. tariffs 'will immediately increase by a like amount' to any reciprocal tariff from Canada." The AP's report is here. (Also linked yesterday.)
Your government has chosen to do this to you. -- Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, responding to the U.S.'s imposition of tariffs on Canada ~~~
~~~ You can watch the full speech here. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Paul Krugman: "The newspapers [Tuesday] morning all contain analysis pieces trying to explain why Trump is imposing 25 percent tariffs on Canada and Mexico. You can see the writers struggling, because this is a profoundly self-destructive move -- it will impose huge, possibly devastating costs on U.S. manufacturing, while significantly raising the cost of living -- without any visible justification. Yet the conventions of mainstream journalism make it hard to say directly that the president's actions are just vindictive and senseless.... It seems clear to me that Trump hates [Canadians] for their decency.... Canada is a pretty decent place, as nations go. And Trump, whom nobody would describe as a decent person, dislikes and maybe even fears people who are. I mean, look at the people Trump has chosen to play prominent roles in his administration. I guess if you search hard enough you can find officials without a sex scandal, a financial scandal, a history of anti-semitism or racism, or a record of substance abuse in a senior position.... It really looks as if being vile is a fundamental job qualification." Along the way, Krugman debunks some of Trump's excuses for imposing tariffs on our closest trading partners. Thanks to RAS for the link.
It’s just a wrecking ball in getting rid of things. -- Denise Maes, former GSA regional administrator during Biden administration ~~~
~~~ Madeleine Ngo, et al., of the New York Times: "The Trump administration said on Tuesday that it could sell hundreds of federal properties around the country, including offices for the Social Security Administration, the Internal Revenue Service and the U.S. Mission to the United Nations. Officials at the General Services Administration ... originally said they had identified more than 440 properties that they could 'dispose of' in an effort to ensure that 'taxpayers no longer pay for empty and underutilized federal office space.' By Tuesday evening, however, the list of buildings deemed 'not core to government operations' had been trimmed to 320 properties, removing a number of high-profile buildings, many of them in Washington, D.C.
"The original list had included the Robert F. Kennedy Department of Justice building and the J. Edgar Hoover Building, the F.B.I. headquarters. The administration had also identified the headquarters for the Department of Health and Human Services, the Federal Aviation Administration, the Energy Department, the Labor Department, the Department of Housing and Urban Development and even the General Services Administration. Large office buildings used by the Agriculture Department and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission were included. The revised list no longer includes those buildings." ~~~
Gutting NOAA puts Americans in danger. Trump and DOGE aren't "trimming the fat,' they are hobbling the services that all of us rely on every day to stay safe, to do business, and to live our lives peacefully. -- Former NOAA employee ~~~
~~~ Andrew Freedman of Axios: "The Trump administration has informed NOAA that two pivotal centers for weather forecasting will soon have their leases canceled, sources told Axios.... One of the buildings is the nerve center for generating national weather forecasts. It was designed to integrate multiple forecasting centers in one building to improve operating efficiency. It houses telecommunications equipment to send weather data and forecasts across the U.S. and abroad." Thanks to RAS for the link.
Andrew Duehren of the New York Times: "The Internal Revenue Service is preparing to shed as much as 50 percent of its staff, according to four people familiar with the matter, a significant cut that could jeopardize the agency's ability to complete its basic mission of collecting taxes.... Mr. Musk's cost-cutting effort, the Department of Government Efficiency, has taken a keen interest in the I.R.S. in recent weeks, with two of its representatives, Gavin Kliger and Sam Corcos, working from its Washington headquarters, according to people familiar with the matter. They have pushed for access to agency databases, including, most recently, one that has information about the agency's contractors." ~~~
... if you're interested in the deficit and curbing it, why would you cut back on the revenue side?... When you hamstring the IRS, it's just a tax cut for tax cheats. -- John Koskinen, former IRS commissioner ~~~
~~~ Andy Kroll of ProPublica: "Unlike with other federal agencies, cutting the IRS means the government collects less money and finds fewer tax abuses. Economic studies have shown that for every dollar spent by the IRS, the agency returns between $5 and $12.... A 2024 report by the nonpartisan Government Accountability Office found that the IRS found savings of $13,000 for every additional hour spent auditing the tax returns of very wealthy taxpayers.... Within the IRS, the LB&I [Large Business & International] division has the highest return on investment, and the widespread cuts there put in stark relief the human and financial cost of the Trump administration's approach to slashing government functions in the name of saving money and combating waste and fraud.... LB&I was hit especially hard by the most recent wave of firings.... Current and former IRS employees said the firings and the administration's deferred resignation offer led to situations that have wiped out decades of experience and institutional knowledge that can't easily be replaced."
Huh. Kristin Brown & Melissa Quinn of CBS News: "The Office of Personnel Management issued revised guidance to federal agencies Tuesday regarding the firing of probationary workers amid ... [Donald] Trump's efforts to shrink the size of the government, informing department leaders that they do not have to take any 'specific performance-based actions' regarding those employees. The revised memo from Charles Ezell, the acting director of OPM, comes after a federal judge ruled last week that the Trump administration's mass firings of probationary workers, who generally have been in their jobs for less than one year, were likely illegal. U.S. District Judge William Alsup found that 'OPM did not have the authority to direct the firing of employees, probationary or otherwise, in any other federal agency.' The latest guidance from OPM revises a Jan. 20 memo from Ezell that required agencies to identify all employees still in their probationary periods and send a report to the agency listing all those workers.... The revised memo includes a new paragraph that states that 'by this memorandum, OPM is not directing agencies to take any specific performance-based actions regarding probationary employees. Agencies have ultimate decision-making authority over, and responsibility for, such personnel actions.'" ~~~
~~~ For another perspective on this somewhat enigmatic revision, see the report by Jennifer Bendery & Dave Jamieson of the Huffington Post. They see the new memo as a CYA effort to rewrite history, and they note that the new "guidance doesn't say anything about federal agencies being encouraged to rehire all the people who were fired.... [On the other hand,] Everett Kelley of the American Federation of Government Employees, which brought the lawsuit in Alsup's court, said..., 'OPM's revision of its Jan. 20 memo is a clear admission that it unlawfully directed federal agencies to carry out mass terminations of probationary employees == which aligns with Judge Alsup's recent decision in our lawsuit challenging these illegal firings.... Every agency should immediately rescind these unlawful terminations and reinstate everyone who was illegally fired.'"
Mackenzie Wilkes of Politico: "Education Secretary Linda McMahon swiftly laid out a 'final mission' for the Education Department in a message to staff Monday after being quickly confirmed and sworn in. McMahon's plan would execute President Donald Trump's desire to 'send education back to the states' amid an expected executive order from Trump that would direct the department to offload what programs it can to other agencies and assess what laws are needed to close the department altogether." (Also linked yesterday.)
Lena Sun & Fenit Nirappil of the Washington Post: "Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s focus on vitamin A use to combat a growing measles outbreak in Texas is raising concerns among public health experts, who fear he is sending the wrong message about preventing the highly contagious disease and distracting from the critical importance of vaccination. Kennedy, who in his years as an anti-vaccine activist criticized measles shots and boosted vitamin A as a treatment, is now using his government position to tout the vitamin's accepted benefits. The Department of Health and Human Services has directed the nation's top public health agency to add similar language to its guidance for caring for measles patients.... His op-ed does not mention vitamin A's risks.... Sue Kressly, president of the American Academy of Pediatrics, said in a statement Monday. 'Taking too much vitamin A can cause serious health problems, including liver damage.'... Vitamin A is considered supportive care and typically used in countries where children are malnourished and have vitamin A deficiency. Vitamin A deficiency in the United States affects less than 1 percent of the population...." It is not a substitute for measles vaccinations, as anti-vaxxers claim. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
Teddy Rosenbluth of the New York Times: "As a measles outbreak expands in West Texas, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the health and human services secretary, on Tuesday cheered several unconventional treatments, including cod liver oil, but again did not urge Americans to get vaccinated. In a prerecorded interview that aired on Fox News, Mr. Kennedy said that the federal government was shipping doses of vitamin A to Gaines County, the epicenter of the outbreak, and helping to arrange ambulance rides. H.H.S. officials previously said they were shipping doses of the measles-mumps-rubella vaccine to Texas, but Mr. Kennedy did not discuss vaccination.... Cod liver oil is 'by no means' an evidence-based treatment, said Dr. Sean O'Leary, chair of the American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Infectious Diseases. Dr. O'Leary added that he had never heard of a physician using the supplement against measles." ~~~
~~~ Marie: Next up: publicity shots of JFKJ in his shirt sleeves, crating up bottles of Daffy's True Elixir to ship to West Texas.
Chico Harland & Maxine Joselow of the Washington Post: "The State Department on Tuesday halted efforts to monitor air quality levels around the world, ending a program that had provided data about a major global health risk. The program had used air quality sensors at more than 80 U.S. embassies and consulates -- mostly in countries where such data was otherwise limited or unreliable. The move follows other actions by the Trump administration to curtail environmental monitoring and climate-related science.... The data had been published on AirNow.gov, a website maintained by the Environmental Protection Agency, as well as on a mobile app called ZephAir. As of Tuesday evening, an AirNow webpage on data from U.S. embassies and consulates displayed an error message. 'Sorry, But This Web Page Does Not Exist,' the message read. ZephAir, however, continued to display data from sensors around the world that was current as of 6 p.m. Eastern time. It was not immediately clear when the app's data would cease to be updated. Also unclear was whether billionaire Elon Musk's U.S. DOGE Service had played a role in the decision."
Trump Team Plan to Manipulate Economic Data. Ben Casselman & Colby Smith of the New York Times: "Comments from a member of President Trump's cabinet over the weekend have renewed concerns that the new administration could seek to interfere with federal statistics -- especially if they start to show that the economy is slipping into a recession. In an interview on Fox News on Sunday, Howard Lutnick, the commerce secretary, suggested that he planned to change the way the government reports data on gross domestic product in order to remove the impact of government spending.... [G.D.P.] tallies consumer spending, private-sector investment, net exports, and government investment and spending to arrive at a broad measure of all goods and services produced in a country.... Mr. Lutnick made his comments days after similar ones by Elon Musk.... Excluding the government's contribution entirely makes little sense, economists said.... 'It's very concerning,' [Nancy Potok, former U.S. chief statistician,] said. 'It puts the U.S. in the company of countries that are notorious for fudging the numbers to support failed economic policies.'" Here's why they're fixin' to fudge the numbers: (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Abha Bhattarai of the Washington Post: "On Monday, an economic growth model from the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta forecast a steep decline for the first three months of this year -- a 2.8 percent contraction in economic growth, after nearly three years of solid growth. That same Fed model began flashing negative forecasts on Friday for first-quarter gross domestic product, which sums up goods and services produced in the United States.... 'You know that governments historically have messed with GDP,' [Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick] said. 'They count government spending as part of GDP. So I'm going to separate those two and make it transparent.'" (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Marie: The NYT reporters explain why Lutnick's convenient new methodology (i.e., removing government spending from G.D.P. calculations) doesn't make sense: It "would imply that teachers at private schools contributed to the national economy but that teachers at public schools did not, for example. And it would mean that government investment in infrastructure, health care, disaster relief and national defense all held no economic value."
Rick Hasen of Election Law Blog republishes lots of a Wired story: "Guests are paying millions of dollars to dine and meet with ... Donald Trump at special events held at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida. Business leaders can secure a one-on-one meeting with the president at Mar-a-Lago for $5 million, according to sources with direct knowledge of the meetings. At a so-called candlelight dinner held as recently as this past Saturday, prospective Mar-a-Lago guests were asked to spend $1 million to reserve a seat, according to an invitation obtained by WIRED. 'You are invited to a candlelight dinner featuring special guest President Donald J. Trump,' the invitation reads, under a 'MAGA INC.' header. MAGA Inc., or Make America Great Again Inc., is a super PAC that supported Trump's 2024 presidential campaign.... It's unclear where the money is going and what it will be used for, but one source with direct knowledge of the dinners said 'it's all going to the library,' as in the presidential library that will ostensibly be built once Trump leaves office...." Thanks to RAS for the original link to the Wired story, which is firewalled. ~~~
~~~ Marie: You might wonder, what with everybody giving all these millions to the Trump lie-berry (ABC alone is giving $15MM and Meta chipped in another $22MM), how could they possibly spend all that money? Well, Mike Johnson may have helped explain the high cost of a Trump repository of great American literature, when he praised Trump's speech yesterday, even before the joint session: "I would like to frame it in gilded gold...." That's not just gold. That's gilded gold. Gold-on-gold. On parchment?
Walz Is Back! Lauren Irwin of the Hill: "Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) offered to host town halls in districts where Republicans are now refusing to hold them.... 'If you congressman refuses to meet, I'll come host an event in their district to help local Democrats beat 'em.' National Republican Congressional Committee Chair Richard Hudson (R-N.C.) advised House Republicans to avoid in-person town halls with constituents and instead to host phone or livestreamed events." Here's a Politico item on Hudson's advice to fellow House Republicans. (Also linked yesterday.)
Some of you will recall Joni Ernst back in 2014 when she ran these ads to introduce her Senate candidacy. The ProPublic report linked below kinda suggests it was not Washington's big spenders who were doing the squealing, Joni. Just sayin'. ~~~
~~~ Robert Faturechi of ProPublica: "Earlier this year, the Air Force revealed that the general who oversaw its lobbying before Congress had inappropriate romantic relationships with five women, including three who worked on Capitol Hill. Maj. Gen. Christopher Finerty's colleagues told investigators the relationships were 'highly inappropriate' as they could give the Air Force undue influence in Congress.... The Air Force inspector general's report redacted the names of the women who worked on the Hill. But one of the women whose relationship with Finerty was scrutinized by the inspector general was Sen. Joni Ernst, according to two sources.... The Iowa Republican and combat veteran is one of the most influential voices on the Hill about the military, and she sits on the Senate's Armed Services Committee, which oversees the Pentagon and plays a crucial role in setting its annual budget. Three other sources told ProPublica that around 2019 Ernst had a previous romantic relationship with a legislative affairs official for a different branch of the military, the Navy." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ "Just Asking." Evan Hurst of Wonkette: "There is no honest person or American patriot who believes Pete Hegseth AKA Secretary Shitfaced is qualified or fit to run the Pentagon.... [One holdout against Hegseth's confirmation was] Joni Ernst, a powerful woman on the Senate Armed Services Committee, a military veteran who back in a previous life allegedly cared about fighting against sexual assault in the military. She caved early under severe MAGA threats.... It sounds like in certain military circles, [Joni's kanoodling with officers whose jobs were to lobby Congress for the Pentagon] was an open secret. [Ernst has not denied them, either.] Were there threats that if Ernst didn't come to MAGA Jesus and vote for Secretary Shitfaced ... then maybe some of these secrets might spill out, and not in the pages of ProPublica? We are just asking. Did we mention that the IG report with these [redacted] allegations about [Maj. Gen. Christopher] Finerty [and his 'highly inappropriate' relationships with unnamed women on the Hill] arrived in Congress in January, right in the middle of the Hegseth confirmation fight? And that Ernst caved on Hegseth in mid-January? ~~~
~~~ Marie: Hurst also mentions Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) who was a "no" vote on Hegseth, too -- until he wasn't. Hurst links to evidence that Trump bullied Tillis into his "yes" vote by threatening to primary him, and/or Tillis knuckled under lest a credible death threat be realized. A U.S. senator has many duties. Some of them are sort of optional: like constituent services. Or town halls. However, confirming or rejecting Cabinet secretaries and certain other high officials whom the president* nominates? That is a requirement. It's a Constitutional requirement laid out in Article II, Section 2, Clause 2, commonly known as the "Advice and Consent" clause. If a senator cannot fulfill that Constitutionally-mandated function, as Tillis apparently cannot -- for whatever reason -- then that senator should resign.
Abbie VanSickle & Adam Liptak of the New York Times: "The Supreme Court sided with San Francisco on Tuesday in a challenge to water quality regulations issued by the Environmental Protection Agency in a ruling that could have sweeping implications for the agency's ability to limit offshore pollution.The 5-to-4 decision dealt another blow to the agency, which has recently sustained several losses before the court over its efforts to protect the environment.... The dispute fundamentally focused on human waste and how San Francisco disposes of it. The question before the court was whether the Clean Water Act of 1972 allowed the E.P.A. to impose prohibitions on wastewater released into the Pacific Ocean and to penalize the city for violating them. Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr., writing for the majority, said the E.P.A. was entitled to impose specific requirements to prevent pollution bu not to make polluters responsible whenever water quality generally falls below the agency's standards.... Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and Justices Clarence Thomas and Brett M. Kavanaugh joined the majority opinion, and Justice Neil M. Gorsuch joined most of it. Justice Amy Coney Barrett dissented, joined by the court's three-member liberal wing -- Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson." (Also linked yesterday.)
Precapitulation. Maegan Flynn of the Washington Post: "D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) signaled Tuesday that the city would paint a new mural at Black Lives Matter Plaza outside the White House after a Republican lawmaker introduced a bill threatening millions of dollars in transportation funding if Bowser did not agree to erase and rename it. Bowser's announcement about what she referred to as the 'evolution of the plaza' represents a remarkable retreat from her defiant posture toward ... Donald Trump during his first term that led her to order the creation of Black Lives Matter Plaza. Bowser drew Trump's ire in 2020 when she ordered the slogan be painted in large yellow letters on 16th Street during historic racial justice protests outside the White House. Bowser's move became a national symbol of resistance against Trump, who reacted by calling the mayor 'incompetent,' and Republicans have taken aim at the plaza ever since."
Annals of Journalism, Ctd. TechDirt Stakes Its Claim. Mike Masnick, founder & CEO of TechDirt: "While political reporters are still doing their view-from-nowhere 'Democrats say this, Republicans say that' dance, tech and legal journalists have been watching an unfortunately recognizable plan unfold.... It's a playbook we watched Musk perfect at Twitter, and now we're seeing it deployed on a national scale.... What's happening in the US right now is some sort of weird hybrid of the kind of power grabs we’ve seen in the tech industry, combined with a more traditional collapse of democratic institutions. The destruction is far more systematic and dangerous than many seem to realize.... If you do not recognize that mass destruction of fundamental concepts of democracy and the US Constitution happening right now, you are either willfully ignorant or just plain stupid.... When the fundamental structures that enable innovation, protect civil liberties, and foster open dialogue are under attack, every other tech policy story becomes secondary."
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Florida. Frances Vinall of the Washington Post: "Andrew and Tristan Tate, two brothers charged with human trafficking in Romania, are under criminal investigation in Florida, state Attorney General James Uthmeier said Tuesday. The online influencers landed in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on Thursday after they were permitted to leave Romania despite the fact that they are awaiting trial there. Andrew Tate, a self-described misogynist and former professional kickboxer gained notoriety by advocating male supremacy and control over women, along with self-help-style messaging that attracted an audience of millions. His online platforms, which promise to teach men and boys how to become wealthy, have been accused of being pyramid schemes -- an allegation he denies. He and his younger brother, Tristan, dual U.S. and British nationals, were arrested in 2022 on suspicion of trafficking women to Romania. They have denied the charges. The two are also wanted in Britain." ~~~
I know nothing about that. -- Donald Trump, when asked about the Tates at the White House on Thursday ~~~
~~~ Last week, the BBC (as well as numerous other media outlets) reported that the brothers had been freed from travel restrictions, "after several high-level White House officials took an interest in their case. It's unclear what, if any, role Donald Trump's administration may have played in their release, but one of Trump's top envoys [-- Richard Grenell --] is said to have raised the case with Romania's Foreign Minister Emil Hurezeanu at a security conference in Munich earlier this month.... One of Tate's lawyers [-- Paul Ingrassia --] now works as White House liaison to the US justice department.... [Donald] Trump Jr once called Tate's detention in Romania 'absolute insanity'. [Elon] Musk reinstated Andrew Tate's account, which had been banned on X, and suggested, perhaps in jest, that Tate would make a good UK prime minister."
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Israel/Palestine, et al. Vivian Yee & Ismaeel Naar of the New York Times: "Arab countries countered ... [Donald] Trump's proposal to expel Palestinians from Gaza and transform it into a beachfront destination with their own vision on Tuesday, endorsing a plan to keep the population there, rebuild the territory and turn it into part of a future Palestinian state, without Hamas in government. The contours of the counterproposal emerged from an emergency summit in Cairo, where Arab countries approved an Egyptian plan to spend $53 billion to rebuild Gaza but not, as Mr. Trump has suggested, moving Palestinians out of the enclave. Leaders across the Middle East have come under significant pressure to come up with a workable blueprint for reconstructing, securing and governing Gaza at a time when the Israel-Hamas cease-fire is teetering and Israel, buoyed by Mr. Trump's backing, increasingly appears to hold the upper hand in negotiations.”
Ukraine, et al. Mark Santora of the New York Times: "President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine on Tuesday offered a course of action that he said could end the war, while trying to assure the Trump administration that his government was dedicated to peace.... The Ukrainian leader said he was ready to release Russian prisoners of war, stop long-range drone and missile strikes aimed at Russian targets, and declare a truce at sea immediately — moves that he said would help establish a pathway to peace. Only, however, 'if Russia will do the same,' he added.... In his post, Mr. Zelensky offered effusive praise for American support, noting specifically 'the moment when things changed when President Trump provided Ukraine with Javelins.'" (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ JayDee Can't Stop Insulting Europeans. Mark Landler of the New York Times: "Vice President JD Vance has sparked a storm of criticism in Britain after declaring that an American economic deal in Ukraine was a 'better security guarantee than 20,000 troops from some random country that hasn't fought a war in 30 or 40 years.' Britain, which along with France has pledged troops to a peacekeeping force in Ukraine, fought with the United States in Iraq and Afghanistan, while French troops fought in Afghanistan. No other countries have said they would send troops to Ukraine.... 'Vance Shame,' said the headline on the home page of The Sun, the leading right-wing tabloid published by Rupert Murdoch.... 'JD Vance is wrong. Wrong, wrong, wrong,' said Nigel Farage, the leader of the anti-immigrant party, Reform U.K., and a longtime ally of President Trump. 'We stood by America all through those 20 years putting in exactly the same contribution.' Mr. Vance later insisted that his comments, in an interview on Monday night with the Fox News host Sean Hannity, did not refer to Britain or France, though he did not name any alternative countries." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Marie: That ignorant punk's air of superiority is reflexive-punch-in-the-face infuriating.
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