The Conversation -- April 17, 2025
⭐Mary Jalonick & Yolanda Magaña of the AP: “Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen met Thursday in El Salvador with Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a man who was sent there by the Trump administration in March despite an immigration court order preventing his deportation. Van Hollen posted a photo of the meeting on X, saying he also called Abrego Garcia’s wife 'to pass along his message of love.' The lawmaker did not provide an update on the status of Abrego Garcia, whose attorneys are fighting to force the Trump administration to facilitate his return to the U.S.... The meeting came hours after Van Hollen said he was denied entry into an high-security El Salvador prison Thursday while he was trying to check on Abrego Garcia’s well-being and push for his release.” Nayib Bukele also posted images of the meeting & made some snide remarks.
Rachel Siegel of the Washington Post: “... Donald Trump blasted the Federal Reserve for not lowering interest rates and said its chair’s 'termination cannot come fast enough,' ratcheting up the White House’s public pressure on the central bank.... 'Jerome Powell of the Fed, who is always TOO LATE AND WRONG, yesterday issued a report which was another, and typical, complete “mess!’” Trump wrote.”
Ann Marimow of the Washington Post: “The Supreme Court on Thursday said it will review ... Donald Trump’s attempt to ban automatic U.S. citizenship for children born to undocumented immigrants and foreign visitors, scheduling a special court session for next month. The administration had asked the justices to lift or narrow nationwide orders blocking Trump’s birthright citizenship executive action, which Democratic-led states and immigrant advocacy organizations say is at odds with the nation’s history, past court rulings and the Constitution. In a brief order, the justices put off a decision about the lower court rulings and instead scheduled oral argument for May 15. Trump’s order would deny citizenship for new babies if neither parent is a U.S. citizen or legal permanent resident, a population that some studies have estimated at more than 150,000 newborns per year. Judges in lawsuits joined by 22 states and D.C. have blocked the citizenship ban nationwide while litigation continues.”
The respect that courts must accord the Executive must be reciprocated by the Executive’s respect for the courts. Too often today this has not been the case, as calls for impeachment of judges for decisions the Executive disfavors and exhortations to disregard court orders sadly illustrate.... The government is asserting a right to stash away residents of this country in foreign prisons without the semblance of due process that is the foundation of our constitutional order. Further, it claims in essence that because it has rid itself of custody that there is nothing that can be done. This should be shocking not only to judges, but to the intuitive sense of liberty that Americans far removed from courthouses still hold dear.... We yet cling to the hope that it is not naïve to believe our good brethren in the Executive Branch perceive the rule of law as vital to the American ethos. This case presents their unique chance to vindicate that value and to summon the best that is within us while there is still time. -- J. Harvie Wilkinson, Fourth Circuit Court Judge, order filed April 17, 2025 ~~~
~~~ Steve Thompson of the Washington Post: “... the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit on Thursday excoriated the Trump administration for its defiance of a federal judge’s orders that it show how it is facilitating the return of Kilmar Abrego García, a Maryland man who was illegally deported to a notorious prison in El Salvador. 'It is difficult in some cases to get to the very heart of the matter. But in this case, it is not hard at all,' the appeals court said in its quick denial of a Department of Justice motion to pause U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis’s orders, a request the appeals court called 'extraordinary and premature.... The government is asserting a right to stash away residents of this country in foreign prisons without the semblance of due process that is the foundation of our constitutional order,' the appeals court decision said. 'Further, it claims in essence that because it has rid itself of custody that there is nothing that can be done.'” This is an update of a story linked earlier Thursday afternoon. The linked decision is NOT firewalled.
Claire Brown of the New York Times: “Hours after a federal judge ordered Citibank to pay out as much as $625 million in federal climate grant money that had been frozen at the Trump administration’s request, an appeals court stayed the decision. The grant money was frozen again before any was sent to recipients. It amounted to at least a temporary setback for nonprofit recipients of $20 billion in funds that were appropriated by Congress through the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act. The grants, which were part of the Environmental Protection Agency’s Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund and are sometimes called 'green bank' funds, were finalized before the November election, then frozen in mid-February at the request of the Trump administration.”
Andrew Duehren of the New York Times: “A Trump administration official last month asked the Internal Revenue Service to look into concerns from Mike Lindell, the pillow entrepreneur and a leading denier of the 2020 presidential election, that he had been inappropriately targeted for an audit.... David Eisner, a Treasury official, wrote an email in March to a top I.R.S. official that Mr. Lindell, 'a high-profile friend of the President recently received an audit letter, from what I understand, his second in two years.' Mr. Eisner wrote that Mr. Lindell 'is concerned that he may have been inappropriately targeted' and then signed off the message. I.R.S. officials did not act on the email, and instead referred it to the agency’s inspector general, according to the people. But the message alarmed agency staff that ... [Donald] Trump hoped to use the tax collector to protect his friends and allies from normal scrutiny, concerns that have only grown as the Trump administration clears out agency leadership and pushes it to carry out Mr. Trump’s directions.”
Theodoric Meyer & Patrick Svitek of the Washington Post: “Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) expressed serious concerns about the Trump administration’s cuts to the federal workforce and other administration policies and said she is worried about speaking out because of the threat of political revenge by President Donald Trump. 'We are all afraid,' Murkowski said Monday at a leadership summit in response to a question about what she would say to Alaskans who are afraid of what the Trump administration is doing, according to video posted by the Anchorage Daily News. 'I am oftentimes very anxious myself about using my voice because retaliation is real, and that’s not right,' Murkowski added.”
We have instances now in western countries where people are being arrested [...] the cop comes knocking on their door, you're going to go to jail for 60 days for posting something online. You know, this is crazy stuff that's happening all over. -- Marco Rubio, yesterday, April 16, 2025
What is the matter with him? Does he not realize that he himself is signing off on precisely the scenario he claims to deplore? How is it possible he can't connect his own & Trump's fascistic behavior with "crazy stuff" he claims is happening in other (unnamed) countries? I wouldn't believe he actually was so blind to his own behavior, but RAS has provided a video that looks and sounds exactly like Little Marco, so unless it's a really swell AI production, that's what he said. -- Marie
Every accusation is a confession from these assholes. -- Cookie Lo, on Little Marco's observation (on the BlueSky thread linked)
On the same BlueSky thread, Ms. M. highlights a Reuters headline from April 9, 2025: "US to screen social media of immigrants, rights advocates...."
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Kellen Browning of the New York Times: “The biggest political rallies anywhere in America right now are being headlined by an 83-year-old senator in the twilight of his career and his 35-year-old protégée. Roughly 36,000 people in Los Angeles. More than 34,000 attendees in Denver. And another 30,000 on Tuesday night near Sacramento. Those monster crowds — more than 200,000 people in all, according to organizers — have turned out to cheer on a fiery anti-Trump, anti-billionaire message from Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York during their 'Fighting Oligarchy' tour of Western states.... 'All over this country, people are struggling, every single day, just to survive,' Mr. Sanders told the crowd on Tuesday in Folsom, Calif. 'Brothers and sisters, in the richest country in the history of the world, we can do a hell of a lot better than that!' Fine-tuning that old message for an era in which the world’s richest person is wielding a powerful position in the federal government to benefit his businesses, Mr. Sanders is finding that Democrats are all ears.”
The Constitution does not tolerate willful disobedience of judicial orders — especially by officials of a coordinate branch who have sworn an oath to uphold it. -- Judge James Boasberg, opinion. J.G.G., et al., v. Donald J. Trump, et al., April 16 ~~~
~~~ Marianne LeVine, et al., of the Washington Post: “Chief U.S. District Judge James E. Boasberg of Washington, D.C., on Wednesday said he would launch proceedings to determine whether to hold Trump administration officials in criminal contempt for defying his order not to remove Venezuelan migrants from the country based on the wartime Alien Enemies Act. Boasberg’s order is the latest development in a broader showdown between the Trump administration and the federal judiciary, which has blocked or slowed many of the White House’s far-reaching actions. The Supreme Court ruled this month that the plaintiffs filed their lawsuit in the wrong venue, taking the central legal issues of the case away from Boasberg. Still, Boasberg moved forward with the contempt proceedings, saying that the Trump administration’s actions on March 15, as the removal flights proceeded despite his order to the contrary, 'demonstrate a willful disregard … sufficient for the Court to conclude that probable cause exists to find the Government in criminal contempt.'” At 1:00 pm ET, this is a developing story. (Also linked yesterday.) Politico's story is here. ~~~
~~~ Judge Boasberg's opinion is here, via the D.C. court. Rachel Maddow reads from portions of it: ~~~
Tim Arango, et al., of the New York Times: “The [Trump] administration appears to be using little more than body art to deport people that it says are members of Tren de Aragua, a move that critics say ignores decades of protocol.... Tattoos are often just a starting point in an investigation, many law enforcement officials say.... A tattoo itself, [Joseph Kenny of the NYPD] said in an interview last year, is never sufficient evidence to prove a person is a member of a criminal group, and neither should a tattoo ever be the sole basis for bringing criminal charges.”
Edith Olmsted of the New Republic, republished by Yahoo! News: “Donald Trump’s border czar Tom Homan said Tuesday that leaders from cities and states with sanctuary policies could expect to face prosecution very soon. A reporter outside of the White House asked Homan whether he believed that the leaders of sanctuary states and cities should be 'prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, and possibly go to prison,' alleging that they’d violated law prohibiting U.S. citizens from transporting, smuggling, or harboring undocumented immigrants. 'Absolutely, and hold tight on that one,' Homan replied. "’Cus it’s coming. It’s coming.'” Thanks to RAS for the lead. (Also linked yesterday.)
Robert Jimison of the New York Times: “Senator Chris Van Hollen, Democrat of Maryland, traveled to El Salvador on Wednesday to press for the release of Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran immigrant and Maryland resident who was mistakenly deported by the Trump administration and remains imprisoned in his native country.... Mr. Van Hollen had said he hoped to visit Mr. Abrego Garcia at the maximum security prison where he is being held, known as CECOT, about an hour outside the country’s capital. The senator also said he hoped to talk to Salvadoran officials about securing Mr. Abrego Garcia’s release. 'Following his abduction and unlawful deportation, U.S. federal courts have ordered the safe return of my constituent Kilmar Abrego Garcia to the United States,' Mr. Van Hollen said in a statement before his departure. 'It should be a priority of the U.S. government to secure his safe release.'” The NBC News story is here. (Also linked yesterday.)
Chris Hayes reviews the history of Trump's fake excuses for deporting people to the El Salvador gulag. Well-worth the reminder: ~~~
~~~ BTW, Akhilleus has a couple of posts at the end of yesterday's Comments that demonstrate that Trump has always been a racist who used his racist tropes to try to gain advantages for himself. Akhilleus cites a 1993 example, when Trump's target was Native Americans. And, as we know, his racist trope for Latin Americans is that "They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists." That's what Trump said in announcing his run for president in June 2015. And he's still saying it today: this week when Kaitlan Collins of CNN asked Trump about abiding by the Supreme Court's ruling ordering him to facilitate the return of non-criminal Kilmar Abrego Garcia, Trump responded, "Why don’t you just say, ‘Isn’t it wonderful that we’re keeping criminals out of our country’? Why can’t you just say that?..." That is, Trump called a non-criminal a criminal -- because the man is Latino. Even his racism is upside-down & backwards. As for Trump himself -- well, he of course is a felon.
Hannah Natanson, et al., of the Washington Post: “Trump immigration officials and the U.S. DOGE Service are seeking to use a sensitive Medicare database as part of their crackdown on undocumented immigrants, according to a person familiar with the matter and records obtained by The Washington Post. The database, which is managed by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and includes reams of health and personal information, contains addresses sought by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials, according to the person and documents reviewed by The Post. Current and former health officials said they were deeply concerned by what appears to be an unprecedented use of the Medicare database as part of immigration enforcement efforts, and they were unsure whether it was legal.The requests to CMS, made over the past month, came from ICE officials and involved DOGE....”
Jacob Bogage & Jeff Stein of the Washington Post: “The Trump administration has asked the Internal Revenue Service’s top attorney to revoke Harvard University’s tax-exempt status, according to three people familiar with the situation, amid ... Donald Trump’s row with the institution over its handling of antisemitism and diversity practices.... Tax-exempt status is available to charitable, religious and educational organizations, as well as social welfare groups. But the organizations must adhere to tax laws that prohibit them from engaging in certain political activity. There is no proof that Harvard has violated any of those guardrails, experts say.... 'It is dangerous for any administration to even contemplate politicizing the tax code,' said Natasha Sarin, a Biden administration Treasury official and president of Yale University’s Budget Lab. 'It’s also illegal. We have protections in place in the code to make sure that the tax system isn’t weaponized by the executive branch, including the president, for political aims.'... The Trump administration has displaced numerous IRS leaders to empower political allies at the agency.” (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Praveena Somasundarum of the Washington Post: “... Donald Trump first made the suggestion in a Truth Social post Tuesday, proposing that 'perhaps' Harvard should lose the status and instead be taxed as a 'Political Entity if it keeps pushing political, ideological, and terrorist inspired/supporting “Sickness?”’... Federal law explicitly prohibits senior officials of the executive branch, including the president, vice president and members of their offices, from requesting the IRS conduct or cease an audit or other investigation of a taxpayer. Those found in violation of the law can face a maximum $5,000 fine and five years of prison time.... Sam Brunson ... of Loyola University Chicago School of Law, said the administration probably won’t succeed in its effort to revoke the status — and that Harvard would be well-positioned to mount a challenge.” (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ BUT. Evan Perez, et al., of CNN: “The Internal Revenue Service is making plans to rescind the tax-exempt status of Harvard University, according to two sources familiar with the matter, which would be an extraordinary step of retaliation as the Trump administration seeks to turn up pressure on the university that has defied its demands to change its hiring and other practices. A final decision on rescinding the university’s tax exemption is expected soon, the sources said.... Gary Shapley, whom Trump this week picked as acting IRS commissioner, has the authority to rescind the tax exemption under federal law. Doing so typically comes after the agency has made a determination that an organization has violated the rules that govern tax exemptions for not-for-profit entities.” More on Shapely linked below. MB: It certainly isn't accidental that Trump picked Shapely to head the IRS the same day he suggested revoking Harvard's tax-exempt status and the day before somebody in the administration asked the IRS to do so. I'd say there were quite a few people in the administration, starting with Trump, who are (allegedly!) eligible for that five-year prison term. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Andrew Duehren & Maggie Haberman of the New York Times have been able to duplicate CNN's reporting: “The Internal Revenue Service is weighing whether to revoke Harvard’s tax exemption, according to three people familiar with the matter.... Some I.R.S. officials have told colleagues that the Treasury Department on Wednesday asked the agency to consider revoking Harvard’s tax-exempt status, according to two of the people.... Federal law bars the president from either directly or indirectly requesting the I.R.S. to investigate or audit specific targets.... Any attempt to take away Harvard’s tax exemption would be likely to face a legal challenge, which tax experts expect would be successful.... Even an attempt at changing Harvard’s tax status would signify a drastic breach in the independence of the I.R.S. and its historical insulation from political pressure.... Not only does Harvard’s tax-exempt status allow it to forgo paying income and property taxes, but it also means that donations to the university are tax deductible.” ~~~
Ben Brasch & Danielle Douglas-Gabriel of the Washington Post: “The Trump administration’s decision Monday to freeze $2.2 billion to Harvard after the school announced it would not yield to demands to change admissions, hiring and governance practices did not follow procedures set out in civil rights law.... The administration’s action skipped over requirements that say the government must identify and list violations, offer a hearing, notify Congress and then wait 30 days before applying penalties.... The Trump administration’s alleged disregard for federal procedure is part of the basis for separate lawsuits filed by the faculty unions at Harvard and Columbia University.... The demands [made of Harvard], written by officials at the Education Department, the Department of Health and Human Services, and the General Services Administration, were relatively vague.... Education Secretary Linda McMahon ... [said] the funding freeze was a reflection of taxpayers not wanting their dollars to support campuses she says allow antisemitism on their grounds.” ~~~
~~~ Marie: McMahon's excuse is even more vague than the unsubstantiated claims of wrongdoing the administration made in their April 11 letter to Harvard (not firewalled). She has no idea what "taxpayers want." But this is the woman who spoke at a conference on AI and pontificated at some length about how great it was that kids were learning A.1., as in, well, steak sauce. (Heinz, which makes A.1. sauce, responded in an Instagram post: “Agree, best to start them early.... You heard her. Every school should have access to A.1.” I'm sure you noticed, but punishing an organization for a vague accusation is right out of the fascist playbook. ~~~
~~~ Andrew Jeong of the Washington Post: “Homeland Security Secretary Kristi L. Noem on Wednesday demanded that Harvard University submit records before next month on foreign students alleged to have engaged in 'illegal and violent activities,' or face losing its Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) certification, which allows U.S. universities to admit international students. The threat comes as scores of international students and scholars have learned that their visas were abruptly revoked.... More than 1 million international students attend colleges in the United States every year, contributing nearly $44 billion to the economy, The Washington Post previously reported. Noem also said in a news release Wednesday that her department was terminating two previously awarded grants to Harvard worth more than $2.7 million, and repeated accusations by the Trump administration that the university condoned antisemitism and embraced 'radical ideology.'” UPI's story is here.
Tim Balk of the New York Times: “The Associated Press said in a court filing on Wednesday that the Trump administration had defied a federal judge’s order requiring the administration to restore the wire service’s full access to the White House. Lawyers for the The A.P. wrote that a White House spokesman had told A.P. reporters on Monday that they would continue to be excluded from the press pool — a small, rotating group of journalists who cover certain events in confined spaces at the White House — because the 'case is “ongoing.’ For the last two months, The A.P.’s access to ... [Donald] Trump has been sharply curtailed over its refusal to refer to the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America, the name that Mr. Trump designated for the body of water.” (Also linked yesterday.)
Maxine Joselow of the Washington Post: “A federal judge has temporarily blocked ... Donald Trump’s Environmental Protection Agency from terminating at least $14 billion in climate grants approved under President Joe Biden. U.S. District Judge Tanya S. Chutkan of Washington, D.C., issued a preliminary injunction late Tuesday that prohibits the EPA from 'unlawfully suspending or terminating' the grant awards. She also ordered Citibank, which was tasked with disbursing the funds, to release the money to the grant recipients. The decision deals yet another setback to the Trump administration’s efforts to freeze climate spending across the government. Another federal judge ruled Tuesday that agencies must release billions in additional climate funding that had been paused since Inauguration Day.” (See story by Praveena Somasundarum of the WashPo linked Wednesday.) (Also linked yesterday.)
Su-prise, Su-prise. Michael Schmidt, et al., of the New York Times: “When some of the nation’s biggest law firms agreed to deals with ... [Donald] Trump, the terms appeared straightforward: In return for escaping the full force of his retribution campaign, the firms would do some free legal work on behalf of largely uncontroversial causes like helping veterans. Mr. Trump, it turns out, has a far more expansive view of what those firms can be called on to do. Over the last week, he has suggested that the firms will be drafted into helping him negotiate trade deals. He has mused about having them help with his goal of reviving the coal industry. And he has hinted that he sees the promises of nearly $1 billion in pro bono legal services that he has extracted from the elite law firms — including Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison; Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom; and Willkie Farr & Gallagher — as a legal war chest to be used as he wishes.... White House officials believe that some of the pro bono legal work could even be used toward representing Mr. Trump or his allies if they became ensnared in investigations, according to the two people.... The emerging gap between what the firms initially thought they agreed to and what Mr. Trump says they can be used for shows how the deals did little to insulate them from his whims.” (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Marie: Who could have seen this coming? Oh, everybody except the top lawyers at the top U.S. lawfirms. Indeed, I expect the terms, at least in some of the agreements, are straightforward, & the lawyers probably figured they could wriggle lawyer-like out of every objectionable claim Trump made on their free time. Maybe they still can, but if so, it will likely cost them hours in otherwise billable time to defend themselves against Trump's demands.
John Towfighi of CNN: “US stocks fell Wednesday as Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell warned that ... Donald Trump’s tariffs are unprecedented in modern history, with effects that 'remain highly uncertain.' The Dow tumbled 700 points, or 1.73%. The broader S&P 500 fell 2.24%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite tumbled 3.07%. 'The level of the tariff increases announced so far is significantly larger than anticipated,' Powell said at an event in Chicago. 'The same is likely to be true of the economic effects, which will include higher inflation and slower growth.'” ~~~
~~~ So Then. Colby Smith of the New York Times: Donald “Trump lashed out on Thursday at Jerome H. Powell, the chair of the Federal Reserve, saying, 'Powell’s termination cannot come fast enough!' Mr. Trump’s ire followed remarks by Mr. Powell on Wednesday, when he warned in a speech that the president’s tariffs could create a 'challenging scenario' for the central bank by putting its two main goals — stable inflation and a healthy labor market — in tension. Mr. Powell reiterated that the Fed could afford to be patient with its interest rate decisions until it had more clarity about Mr. Trump’s policies. The Fed chair’s emphasis on the need to ensure that a temporary rise in inflation from tariffs did not become a more persistent problem suggested that the bar for further rate cuts was high.... The Fed seeks to operate independent of political influence, something that Mr. Powell on Wednesday said was a 'matter of law.'”
Benjamin Weiser & Santul Nerkar of the New York Times: Donald “Trump has appointed Jay Clayton, who served as the top Wall Street enforcer during Mr. Trump’s first term, to be the interim U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, the president said in a social media post on Wednesday. The action came after Senator Chuck Schumer, the New York Democrat and minority leader, said he would block Mr. Trump’s nomination of Mr. Clayton, 58, for the U.S. attorney post, using a prerogative given to home-state senators. Mr. Schumer made his move after weeks in which some liberal Democrats had made scathing attacks on him for doing too little to resist Mr. Trump.... During Mr. Clayton’s leadership of the S.E.C., the agency sued Elon Musk..., accusing him of securities fraud. Mr. Musk paid a $20 million fine and stepped aside as chairman of Tesla for three years to resolve the case.”
Jonah Bromwich of the New York Times: “The Trump administration has begun to scrutinize the real estate transactions of New York’s attorney general, Letitia James, in what could be the opening move of ... [Donald] Trump’s first investigation into one of his foremost adversaries. The head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency sent a criminal referral letter to the Department of Justice this week, saying that Ms. James 'appeared to have falsified records' related to properties she owns in Virginia and New York in order to receive favorable loan terms. The letter was dated April 14, one day after Mr. Trump posted a story involving the claims against Ms. James on Truth Social and called her a 'crook.' It is unclear whether the allegations against Ms. James, which have been touted online for weeks by Mr. Trump’s allies, are substantive enough to merit criminal charges. Ms. James has been one of Mr. Trump’s primary opponents since her office filed a lawsuit against him in 2022, accusing him of overvaluing his assets by billions in order to receive favorable loan terms. The president has promised retribution against his political enemies.” (Also linked yesterday.)
Nicholas Kristof of the New York Times: “... now we face another great test — of our Constitution, our institutions, our citizens — as ... [Donald] Trump ignores courts and sabotages universities and his officers grab people off the street. I’ve spent much of my career covering authoritarianism in other countries, and I’ve seen all this before.... The principal lawbreaking [in the case of the abduction and incarceration of Kilmar Abrego Garcia] appears to have been committed not by Abrego Garcia but by the Trump administration.... Trump prides himself on his ability to free hostages held in foreign prisons, yet he presents himself as helpless when it comes to bringing back Abrego Garcia — even though we are paying El Salvador to imprison deportees.... Trump’s defiance of the courts comes in the wider context of his attacks on law firms, universities and news organizations.... Like autocrats in China, Hungary and Russia, he’s trying to crush independent universities that might challenge his misrule.... Trump’s retaliatory funding freeze [of Harvard University] primarily strikes ... researchers affiliated with Harvard Medical School.... [This is] an administration that is not only authoritarian but also reckless; this is vandalism of the American project. That is why this moment is a test of our ability to step up and protect our national greatness from our national leader.” (Also linked yesterday.)
Mike Stone & Marisa Taylor of Reuters: “Elon Musk's SpaceX and two partners have emerged as frontrunners to win a crucial part of ... Donald Trump's 'Golden Dome' missile defense shield.... Musk's rocket and satellite company is partnering with software maker Palantir (PLTR.O) and drone builder Anduril on a bid to build key parts of Golden Dome.... All three companies were founded by entrepreneurs who have been major political supporters of Trump. The three companies met with top officials in the Trump administration and the Pentagon in recent weeks to pitch their plan, which would build and launch 400 to more than 1,000 satellites circling the globe to sense missiles and track their movement, sources said. A separate fleet of 200 attack satellites armed with missiles or lasers would then bring enemy missiles down, three of the sources said. The SpaceX group is not expected to be involved in the weaponization of satellites, these sources said.”
David DiMolfetta of NextGov/FCW: “A user with a Russian IP address tried to log into National Labor Relations Board systems just minutes after the Department of Government Efficiency moved to access and extract troves of sensitive data from inside the agency, according to an extensive whistleblower disclosure released Tuesday. The whistleblower, Daniel Berulis, provided forensic evidence and internal documentation to Congress and the U.S. Office of Special Counsel, accusing DOGE of exfiltrating large volumes of confidential data and disabling various security monitoring systems used to scan for malicious behavior in NLRB’s networks, NPR first reported. The user attempting to log in relied on a newly created DOGE email account and the attempts were 'near real-time,' according to the Berulis disclosure. It’s not clear whether the user was actually in Russia because hackers often use techniques to remotely mask their true location. The login attempts were blocked, but the person used a correct username and password, suggesting that adversaries may already be testing entry points potentially exposed by DOGE’s activities across the government.” Thanks to RAS for the link. See also RAS's comment below. Also, read the original NPR story (linked in DiMolfetta's report), as it contains additional scary information. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Marie: I don't know, of course, if the DOGE kidz are compromising federal data systems (a) because they're incompetent, or (b) because they're competent, and they had every intention to share info with Elon's Russian friends, for instance. Berulis appeared on both Jake Tapper's CNN show (here) and on Rachel Maddow's MSNBC show, so Tapper & Maddow are taking him seriously. ~~~
~~~ Update. Stephen Fowler & Jenna McLaughlin of NPR: "The ad hoc Department of Government Efficiency team is assigning two staffers to work at the independent [National Labor Relations Board] where a whistleblower [Daniel Berulis] alleged Tuesday DOGE may have already removed sensitive labor data from its systems.... It's unclear why DOGE would need access to agency files that contain personally identifiable information to complete its mission of improving efficiency...."
Ryan Mac & Hamed Aleaziz of the New York Times: “Members of Elon Musk’s government-slashing task force are building a system for the United States to sell special immigration visas, which ... [Donald] Trump has labeled 'gold cards,' for $5 million apiece. Engineers associated with Mr. Musk’s team have been working with employees from the State Department, the Department of Homeland Security and United States Citizenship and Immigration Services to create a website and application process for the visas.... The gold card project is being led from the DOGE side by Marko Elez and Edward Coristine, who have been working on it since at least last month.” ~~~
~~~ Marie: Elez is a 25- or 26-year-old extreme racist. He does have a college degree. Coristine is "Big Balls," a 19-year-old who has been associated with cybercrime activities. He was fired from one firm for leaking documents to its competitor. While Elez undoubtedly knows what systems analysis is, it's unlikely that either of these kids has any serious experience in systems analysis, which is the foundation of building a new system. That is, one can be a crackerjack programmer and hacker without having the foggiest idea of how to interact with users, interpret their needs, design a system to fit those needs, and lead a team coding (oh, and testing) a new system. This is like giving a two-year-old an intelligence test where he has to read and write answers to complex questions. He may be a very bright toddler, but he's going to flunk the IQ test. I would not feel so confident in whatever gold card they come up with to plunk down $5MM to get one. It might explode. After all, its developers were in the business of smashing things and causing trouble, not creating things from the ground up.
Musk, Making Life More Expensive for Working Americans. Fatima Hussein of the AP: “The Trump administration plans to eliminate the IRS’ Direct File program, an electronic system for filing tax returns directly to the agency for free, according to two people familiar with the decision. The program developed during Joe Biden’s presidency was credited by users with making tax filing easy, fast and economical. But Republican lawmakers and commercial tax preparation companies complained it was a waste of taxpayer money because free filing programs already exist, although they are hard to use.The program had been in limbo since the start of the Trump administration as Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency have slashed their way through the federal government. Musk posted in February on his social media site, X, that he had 'deleted' 18F, a government agency that worked on technology projects such as Direct File.”
Comrade Rubio Shuts Down Disinformation Office. Edward Wong of the New York Times: “Secretary of State Marco Rubio and his aides shut down a State Department office on Wednesday that tracks and counters global disinformation from foreign actors, including the governments of China, Russia and Iran, U.S. officials said. The closing of the office, the Counter Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference Hub, had been in the works for weeks. Mr. Rubio put all 40 or so of its employees on paid leave on Wednesday morning, the first step in firing them this spring. The State Department fired about 80 contractors working for the office in March and cut almost all contracts related to its work. The office had been tracking disinformation campaigns by rival powers of the United States, as well as terrorist groups, and publishing reports on them. Some Republican lawmakers in recent years have accused federal employees and nongovernment experts working on tracking disinformation of trying to stifle the views of right-wing political groups around the world.... Russian disinformation often circulates in far-right online channels. Mr. Rubio released a statement ... saying that the office and its precursor in the Biden administration had 'spent millions of dollars to actively silence and censor the voices of Americans they were supposed to be serving.' Mr. Rubio did not present any evidence to support the claim.” (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Marie: Gosh, I remember way last year when Marco was a super-anti-dictator, anti-Russia, anti-China senator. He sure does an excellent about-face.
Dan Lamothe of the Washington Post: “Three senior aides to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, all political appointees, have been suspended amid a Pentagon inquiry into the apparent leak of sensitive information, defense officials said. Dan Caldwell, a senior adviser to Hegseth; Darin Selnick, the secretary’s deputy chief of staff; and Colin Carroll, chief of staff to Deputy Defense Secretary Stephen Feinberg, were removed from the Pentagon this week.... The Pentagon under Hegseth’s leadership has experienced an uncustomary amount of tumult, drawing fierce criticism from Democrats and former top Defense Department leaders alarmed by the apparent politicization of what is expected to remain a nonpartisan institution.” ~~~
~~~ Daniel Lippman & Jack Detsch of Politico: “John Ullyot, the former top Pentagon spokesperson who found himself at the center of several controversies in the first months of the Trump administration, said he will resign this week.... Ullyot defended the agency after the Pentagon took down dozens of military webpages in a purge of diversity content in March, including a story about baseball legend Jackie Robinson’s service.... He [also] signed the memo that took away the Defense Department workspaces of numerous longstanding media outlets, including Politico, and reassigned them to conservative outlets such as Breitbart and One America News Network.”
Lena Sun, et al., of the Washington Post: “The Trump administration is seeking to deeply slash budgets for federal health programs, a roughly one-third cut in discretionary spending by the Department of Health and Human Services, according to a preliminary budget document obtained by The Washington Post. The HHS budget draft, known as a 'passback,' offers the first full look at the health and social service priorities of ... Donald Trump’s Office of Management and Budget.... It shows how the Trump administration plans to reshape the federal health agencies that oversee food and drug safety, manage the nation’s response to infectious-disease threats and drive biomedical research. The 64-page document calls not only for cuts, but also a major shuffling and restructuring of health and human service agencies.... Many specific programs would be eliminated..., according to the document, including programs focused on preventing childhood lead poisoning, bolstering the health-care workforce, advancing rural health initiatives and maintaining a registry of patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS.... Rural programs ... appear to be hard-hit.... Money for the Head Start program ... would be eliminated.” ~~~
~~~ Adam Cancryn of Politico: “Public health initiatives aimed at HIV/AIDS prevention would no longer exist. Major parts of the National Institutes of Health would be abolished. The Food and Drug Administration would cease routine inspections at food facilities. And funding for many of the administration’s priorities are on the chopping block, including federal programs focused on autism, chronic disease, drug abuse and mental health.” MB: On the bright side, HHS will be funding grants for the study of leeches, maggots, lead and arsenic as cures for a variety of diseases.
Dana Hedgpeth of the Washington Post: “About $1.5 million in grants to digitize archival records and collect first-person accounts of Native Americans who attended U.S. government-run boarding schools have been cut as part of the Trump administration’s efforts to drastically reshape cultural programs and transform the federal government. The money to 10 groups was among 1,400 grants supporting history and culture projects across the country that the National Endowment for the Humanities recently terminated, according to an advocacy organization. The National Humanities Alliance has been tracking the administration’s sweeping cuts through an action alert page. The lost funding is a major disappointment to many Native American advocates and researchers. Historians call the 150-year period when Native American children were forced or coerced to attend Indian boarding schools — part of a policy to eradicate their own culture and assimilate them into White society — one of the darkest chapters in American history as well as one that was long ignored and largely hidden.” MB: This is, of course, in keeping with Trump's broader WHO -- White History Only -- education program.
Jennifer McDermott of the AP: “The Trump administration issued an order Wednesday to stop construction on a major offshore wind project to power more than 500,000 New York homes, the latest in a series of moves targeting the industry. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum directed the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management to halt construction on Empire Wind, a fully-permitted project. He said it needs further review because it appears the Biden administration rushed the approval. The Norwegian company Equinor is building Empire Wind to start providing power in 2026. Equinor finalized the federal lease for Empire Wind in March 2017, early in ... Donald Trump’s first term. BOEM approved the construction and operations plan in February 2024 and construction began that year. MB: Yeah, well, at least for now the windmills won't be killing the birds, killing the whales, so famed animal rights advocate Donald Trump can rest easy for the nonce.
It's Just a Coincidence! Carolyn Johnson of the Washington Post: “Thirty-eight of 43 people cut last month from the boards that review the science that happens in laboratories at the National Institutes of Health are female, Black or Hispanic, according to an analysis by the chairs of a dozen of the boards.... Six percent of White males who serve on boards were fired, compared with half of Black and Hispanic females and a quarter of all females, according to the analysis. Of 36 Black and Hispanic board members, close to 40 percent were fired, compared to 16 percent of White board members. The chairs’ analysis calculated the likelihood that this would have happened by chance as 1 in 300.... The Department of Health and Human Services strongly denied that race or gender played a role in why people were targeted, but it did not offer an explanation for the pattern.” MB: Probably they just showed the pictures of board members to Trump, and he picked the ones he liked. So not racist or anything. (Also linked yesterday.)
Jeremy Roebuck of the Washington Post: “The Justice Department sued Maine’s Department of Education on Wednesday over its refusal to comply with demands to ban transgender athletes from participating in women’s sports, an escalation of a months-long standoff over the issue between the Trump administration and the state. Attorney General Pam Bondi accused state officials of discriminating against women and endangering the safety of female athletes through policies that support transgender inclusion.... Gov. Janet Mills (D) and the state’s Democratic attorney general, Aaron Frey, have repeatedly challenged the administration’s interpretation of federal law on the issue and contend that the participation of trans athletes is protected by state statutes. In a statement, Mills called the lawsuit part of a 'campaign to pressure the State of Maine to ignore the Constitution and abandon the rule of law.'” (Also linked yesterday.)
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Pennsylvania. Lydia O'Connor of the Huffington Post: “Republican Rep. Dan Meuser (Penn.) suggested that Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro was asking for it when an attacker burned down part of his house after his Passover celebration and that he needs to 'tone it down' with actions against ... Donald Trump. 'This guy is a psycho of course,' Meuser said of the attacker during an appearance on a local radio show on Tuesday. 'And our hearts go out to the Shapiro family on this. But you know, they’ve got to tone it down, too. I mean, every action Josh Shapiro has taken so far against the president has either been a lawsuit or a falsehood.'... He also chastised Shapiro for not making a big statement about a Tesla Cybertruck exploding as part of an attack outside the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas....” MB: To be clear, Meuser is a member of Congress, not a state representative.
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Puerto Rico. Patricia Mazzei of the New York Times: “More than 1.4 million customers in Puerto Rico lost electricity on Wednesday when all of the island’s power plants were knocked out of service, the latest frustrating blackout for residents who have suffered years of them. A preliminary review suggested the cause was a problem near a transmission line that began at 12:38 p.m., according to Josué Colón, the island’s energy czar. He said the work to restore the power would most likely extend well into Thursday.”
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