Members phkrause Posted March 18, 2025 Author Members Posted March 18, 2025 ? Scoop: Trump's self-deportation video President Trump recorded a video for social media in which he urges unauthorized immigrants to "self-deport" — and use a newly launched app to report that they're leaving the U.S., Axios' Alex Isenstadt has learned. Why it matters: The 90-second video — set to appear on Instagram, X, YouTube and Rumble — is part of a broader advertising campaign aimed at encouraging such immigrants to leave before U.S. officials arrest them. The effort comes as Trump's push to deport "millions and millions" of unauthorized immigrants is facing a lack of funds, detention space, officers and infrastructure. Pinched for such resources, Trump's team has used tough talk to try to get such immigrants to leave the U.S. — or never come here. In his video ad, Trump warns immigrants that if they have any hopes of eventually becoming U.S. citizens, they should register with the CBP app and leave now. ? Reality check: It's unclear whether many undocumented immigrants will have enough faith in the administration's program to voluntarily risk deportation by providing information that, theoretically, could be used against them if they returned to the U.S. seeking legal entry. Keep reading. Executive powers Recent court orders slowing down or indefinitely blocking President Donald Trump’s policy blitz have raised the specter that the executive branch might openly flout the federal judiciary and prompted questions about how judges would respond. Any decision by the White House to defy federal courts would immediately implicate profound constitutional questions about the separation of powers that have kept each branch of the government in check for centuries. The issue reached a fever pitch over the weekend when the Trump administration deported hundreds of alleged gang members to El Salvador despite a federal judge’s order. Separately, a federal court hearing about the recent deportation of Brown University assistant professor Dr. Rasha Alawieh was canceled Monday. Federal agents found photos of former Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and Iran’s supreme leader on her cell phone, a source familiar with the case told CNN. Federal employees In response to a judge’s ruling, multiple federal agencies have reinstated terminated probationary employees and placed them on paid administrative leave. Workers interviewed by CNN were pleased to be receiving a paycheck again but also frustrated that they couldn’t return to their jobs. “I’m ready and raring to go. I don’t like to get paid not to do my work,” one USDA probationary worker said. The Trump administration has dismissed tens of thousands of probationary workers, who have typically been in their positions for only one or two years, as part of its efforts to downsize the federal workforce. Quote phkrause When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; But when a wicked man rules, the people groan. Proverbs 29;2
Members phkrause Posted March 18, 2025 Author Members Posted March 18, 2025 Judge questions Trump administration on whether it ignored order to turn around deportation flights District Judge James E. Boasberg on Monday questioned whether the Trump administration ignored his orders to turn around planes carrying deportees to El Salvador, a possible violation of the decision issued minutes before. Read more. Why this matters: District Judge James E. Boasberg was incredulous over the administration’s contentions that his verbal directions did not count, that only his written order needed to be followed, that it couldn’t apply to flights that had left the U.S. and that the administration could not answer his questions about the deportations due to national security issues. It was also an escalation in the battle over whether the Trump administration is flouting court orders that have blocked some of his aggressive moves in the opening weeks of his second term. “There’s been a lot of talk about constitutional crisis, people throw that word around. I think we’re getting very close to it,” warned Lee Gelernt of the ACLU, the lead attorney for the plaintiffs, during the Monday hearing. Boasberg’s temporary restraining order is only in effect for up to 14 days as he oversees the litigation over Trump’s unprecedented use of the Alien Enemies Act, which is likely to raise new constitutional issues that can only ultimately be decided by the U.S. Supreme Court. RELATED COVERAGE ➤ Trump administration guts board of US Institute of Peace. Group says DOGE arrives FDA staff return to crowded offices, broken equipment and missing chairs EPA reinstates more than 400 fired employees after a federal judge’s order Trump says he’s nominating Republic Airways CEO to lead FAA Pentagon restores a few webpages honoring servicemembers but still defends DEI purge Trump and Putin to hold call on ceasefire, but Zelenskyy is skeptical that Russia is ready for peace Hong Kong’s leader swipes at Trump but avoids criticism of tycoon’s deal to sell Panama Port assets ‘Danish Viking blood is boiling.’ Danes boycott US goods with fervor as others in Europe do so too US shoppers increased spending tepidly last month as anxiety over the economy rises ICE violated rights of a US citizen and 21 others during arrests, Chicago activists allege Chuck Schumer postpones book tour amid liberal criticism over spending vote Amid 2028 speculation, California governor’s podcasts with Trump loyalists anger Democrats Trump Jr. casts Wisconsin Supreme Court race as key to advancing Trump’s agenda Judge says Fani Willis violated open records law, orders her to pay $54K in attorneys’ fees Quote phkrause When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; But when a wicked man rules, the people groan. Proverbs 29;2
Members phkrause Posted March 18, 2025 Author Members Posted March 18, 2025 Presidents have used autopens for decades. Now Trump objects to Biden’s use of one President Donald Trump claimed Monday that pardons recently issued by former President Joe Biden to lawmakers and staff on the congressional committee that investigated the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot have no force because, Trump says, the-then president signed them with an autopen instead of by his own hand. Read more. Why this matters: “In other words, Joe Biden did not sign them but, more importantly, he did not know anything about them!” Trump wrote on his social media site. Trump didn’t offer any evidence to support his claims. Nor did the White House. Trump asserted in his all-caps post that the pardons are void and have no effect in his estimation. Presidents have broad authority to pardon or commute the sentences of whomever they please, the Constitution doesn’t specify that pardons must be in writing, and autopen signatures have been used before for substantive actions by presidents. A representative for Biden declined to comment. RELATED COVERAGE ➤ Trump says he’s ending Secret Service protection for Biden’s adult children Trump hangs a copy of Declaration of Independence in the Oval Office WATCH: Former UFC Champion Conor McGregor praises Trump at the White House Quote phkrause When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; But when a wicked man rules, the people groan. Proverbs 29;2
Members phkrause Posted March 18, 2025 Author Members Posted March 18, 2025 Federal appeals court turns down Trump attempt to block rehiring of fired workers WASHINGTON — A federal appeals court on Monday denied the Trump administration’s emergency effort to block the reinstatement of federal employees at six government agencies. https://floridaphoenix.com/2025/03/17/repub/federal-appeals-court-turns-down-trump-attempt-to-block-rehiring-of-fired-workers/? Bondi: U.S. Will ‘Absolutely’ Do More Deportation Flights—Despite Judge’s Order “This one federal judge thinks he can control foreign policy for the entire country,” said Bondi, in an interview with Fox News where she downplayed a judge’s ruling. https://www.thedailybeast.com/attorney-general-pam-bondi-says-us-will-absolutely-do-more-deportation-flights-despite-judges-orders/? ps:But yet every previous president also had Federal Judges stop them for doing things and they stopped and did what the Judges told them what to do!! The Tragic Demise of Voice of America Marks Yet Another Gift to Putin For Russia—and other American adversaries—the silencing of the U.S. state media network really is golden. https://www.thedailybeast.com/the-tragic-demise-of-voice-of-america-marks-yet-another-gift-to-putin/? Memo Reveals Plans to Sabotage Social Security The internal document detailed a proposal that the agency acknowledged would “strain” resources and hurt “vulnerable populations.” https://www.thedailybeast.com/memo-reveals-plans-to-sabotage-social-security/? Quote phkrause When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; But when a wicked man rules, the people groan. Proverbs 29;2
Members phkrause Posted March 19, 2025 Author Members Posted March 19, 2025 Chief Justice Roberts pushes back on Trump rhetoric against federal judiciary in rare statement Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts pushed back on President Donald Trump’s escalating rhetoric against the federal judiciary on Tuesday in an unusual and brief statement. https://www.cnn.com/politics/live-news/trump-administration-presidency-03-18-2025? Quote phkrause When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; But when a wicked man rules, the people groan. Proverbs 29;2
Members phkrause Posted March 19, 2025 Author Members Posted March 19, 2025 ? Congestion pricing works. Just weeks after President Donald Trump said he plans to roll back New York City’s $9 toll for drivers entering Manhattan, a new study finds that congestion pricing is a booming success. Since January, drivers are moving on average 15 percent faster, cutting travel times within the city’s most congested areas by 8 percent — meaning New Yorkers are already spending less time in the car. No wonder auto lobbyists have spent thousands of dollars trying to curry favor with state officials. ? Schumer chickens out. Days after personally delivering Republicans the funding they need to continue dismantling the federal government, Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer refuses to face the public. Schumer was set to promote his new book Antisemitism in America: A Warning in several cities over the coming weeks, but postponed the tour amid alleged “security concerns” — and demands he step down from party leadership. ? Millionaires, assemble. The mayor of San Francisco has recruited an Avengers-style advisory team of ultrawealthy business leaders to help “revitalize” the city’s economy and downtown, including Sam Altman of OpenAI, Ruth Porat of Alphabet/Google, and Tony Xu of DoorDash. Meanwhile, in a similar stunt, California Gov. Gavin Newsom is sending prepaid burner phones programmed with his cell number to prominent Big Tech CEOs. ? Bank Failures For All. Trump’s financial regulators have withdrawn a Biden-era rule closing a loophole that allowed banks to accept massive pools of risky money, known as brokered deposits. These deposits are often facilitated by third-party brokers — usually startups — that don’t face the same regulatory scrutiny as other financial institutions, exposing banks to greater losses. Brokered deposits played a significant role in the numerous bank failures of 2023, most notably the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and the ensuing bankruptcy of digital transaction firm Synapse, which erased more than $100 million in its customer’s uninsured deposits. ? Big Crypto wages revenge. Cryptocurrency firms are joining the Trump administration’s war on federal regulators and calling for a boycott of law firms that hire former government lawyers who tried to regulate the industry. That includes the Winklevoss twins — who are pressing Trump officials to fire and publicly name the government employees who probed their crypto platform Gemini — and Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong, who said regulators committed ethics violations when they investigated crypto firms. Zombie pipelines no more. As Trump works to undo safety protections for communities confronted with the risks of newly built carbon pipelines, South Dakota just passed a law banning the use of eminent domain for the construction of carbon dioxide pipelines, whose leaks have caused zombie-like symptoms in exposed residents. The new law throws a wrench in a planned $9 billion, 2,000-mile, for-profit pipeline project that would stretch across the Midwest. Trump is helping banks jack up your prices. On the campaign trail, Trump promised to cap credit card interest rates at 10 percent. But since his inauguration, the federal agency that regulates banks has abandoned its support for a state law designed to reduce credit card interest rates, which now average 24 percent and cost American consumers $120 billion every year. The interest-rate loophole. At issue is a 1978 Supreme Court ruling permitting banks to export their home state’s light-touch lending regulations when doing business in states with stricter laws, such as interest-rate caps. Credit card companies and big banks moved their headquarters to Delaware, South Dakota, and Utah — which have no state interest-rate caps. But after the Supreme Court decision, Congress carved out an option for states to set their own interest-rate caps on all banks doing business within their borders. Iowa and Puerto Rico have successfully done so, capping interest rates at 32 percent. A fight over states’ rights. Colorado made a similar move in 2023. Fearing more states following Colorado’s lead, the financial industry filed a lawsuit. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) backed Colorado, but a Trump-appointed judge initially blocked the state’s new law. Upon appeal, Trump’s FDIC has now withdrawn the agency’s support, betraying Trump’s anti-interest rate campaign rhetoric, and dealing a blow to the state’s case at the Tenth Circuit Appeals Court. A bipartisan remedy. A new Oregon bill is following in Colorado’s footsteps, where the effort may face similar industry pushback. Congress could simply resolve this states’ rights issue — to the great benefit of consumers — by passing a federal limit on credit card interest rate hikes. Bipartisan legislation recently introduced in both the House and Senate would do just that, capping rates at 10 percent — and forcing Trump to decide whether to fulfill a promise he’s already intent on breaking. Quote phkrause When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; But when a wicked man rules, the people groan. Proverbs 29;2
Members phkrause Posted March 19, 2025 Author Members Posted March 19, 2025 After call with Trump, Putin agrees to pause attacks on Ukraine’s energy and infrastructure targets Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed to temporarily halt attacks on energy and infrastructure targets in Ukraine after a lengthy telephone call with President Donald Trump on Tuesday, the White House and Kremlin both said, even as Russia stopped short of signing off on a broader ceasefire to end the three-year-long conflict in Ukraine. https://www.cnn.com/2025/03/18/politics/trump-putin-ceasefire-russia-ukraine-war/index.html? Quote phkrause When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; But when a wicked man rules, the people groan. Proverbs 29;2
Members phkrause Posted March 19, 2025 Author Members Posted March 19, 2025 Defending the Umpires Yesterday, the Trump administration battled against a federal judge using the instruments of the law. After James Boasberg demanded answers on why hundreds of Venezuelans had been rendered to El Salvador, in apparent defiance of an order he gave, Justice Department attorneys tried to get a hearing canceled, then refused to tell the judge much and suggested he be removed from the case. This morning, Donald Trump himself entered the fray, using the instruments of politics. “This Radical Left Lunatic of a Judge, a troublemaker and agitator who was sadly appointed by Barack Hussein Obama, was not elected President,” he posted on Truth Social. “This judge, like many of the Crooked Judges’ I am forced to appear before, should be IMPEACHED!!!” That was enough to provoke a reply from Chief Justice John Roberts, who seldom makes public comments. “For more than two centuries, it has been established that impeachment is not an appropriate response to disagreement concerning a judicial decision. The normal appellate review process exists for that purpose,” he said in a statement. For Roberts, that qualifies as a sharp response. The chief justice is right. Trump’s attack on Boasberg is juvenile, civically illiterate, and perilous to the rule of law. (It was also just an echo of his sidekick Elon Musk’s recent rants about courts.) But the statement is notable for what it leaves out: any acknowledgment of the substantive dispute in the case, which is whether Trump is defying court orders. Roberts seems more concerned about rhetorical attacks on the personal integrity or employment status of judges than he does with systemic attacks on the judiciary as a whole. In his end-of-year report last year, Roberts wrote that “elected officials from across the political spectrum have raised the specter of open disregard for federal court rulings. These dangerous suggestions, however sporadic, must be soundly rejected.” These suggestions are no longer sporadic, and they are largely coming from one party, yet Roberts’s focus now is on the personal. The odds of a successful impeachment of Boasberg right now are roughly nil, despite the filing of articles of impeachment by a Republican House backbencher. But the administration does appear to have flouted Boasberg’s order—he’s now trying to determine the facts—following weeks of threats to defy judges. Another judge’s order in a deportation case was also ignored this weekend, though the government claims that it hadn’t received official notice. Even if Trump hasn’t yet explicitly defied a court, he appears to be laying the groundwork to do so. This focus on personal as opposed to systemic attacks is something of a pattern for Roberts. In 2010, President Barack Obama criticized a Supreme Court ruling during his State of the Union, inducing Justice Samuel Alito to shake his head and mouth “Not true.” A few months later, Roberts called the moment “very troubling”—less because of Obama’s criticism itself than because of the venue and the attendance of several justices. In 2018, Roberts rebuked Trump for calling a different judge who’d ruled against him an “Obama judge.” In a statement just before Thanksgiving, Roberts said, “We do not have Obama judges or Trump judges, Bush judges or Clinton judges. What we have is an extraordinary group of dedicated judges doing their level best to do equal right to those appearing before them. That independent judiciary is something we should all be thankful for.” The corrective drew a chastened response from Tru—nah, just kidding. “Sorry Chief Justice John Roberts, but you do indeed have ‘Obama judges,’ and they have a much different point of view than the people who are charged with the safety of our country,” he posted on Twitter. And if that’s the way Trump responded in his first term, we can guess how he might reply now, given the lack of relative restraint he has shown more broadly. The personal differences between Roberts, a quiet and intellectual lawyer of serious ideological commitment, and Trump, a noisy and brash politician more interested in personality than policy, are great. On their views of presidential power, the men are less far apart. Last summer, Roberts wrote a decision for the court that conferred great immunity on Trump’s actions as president. My colleague Adam Serwer noted this connection recently, after Trump approached Roberts following the president’s speech to a joint session of Congress and said, “Thank you again. Thank you again. I won’t forget.” (Trump later said he was expressing gratitude for Roberts swearing him in.) He is unlikely to remember today’s admonition as fondly. Roberts admittedly has no good options. Perhaps he doesn’t want to weigh in on Trump’s apparent willingness to defy courts because he expects these matters to reach the Supreme Court and doesn’t want to appear to be an interested party. Or perhaps Roberts is less bothered because he believes that the president will prevail on these matters at the Supreme Court. Trump is effective at destroying norms because he forces institutions and individuals to either succumb to his partisan logic or else avoid the fight and thus cede the debate to him. During his confirmation hearings to be chief justice, Roberts famously likened judges to umpires, calling balls and strikes. But his statement today is akin to responding to the Black Sox scandal by defending the officiating. The players here aren’t arguing about the strike zone; they’re trying to rig the game. Related: Why Trump thanked John Roberts Trump tests the courts. Quote phkrause When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; But when a wicked man rules, the people groan. Proverbs 29;2
Members phkrause Posted March 19, 2025 Author Members Posted March 19, 2025 Kinzinger dares Trump to charge him for Jan. 6 panel role: ‘Bring it’ Former Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) on Monday welcomed a legal battle with President Trump over the House select committee that investigated the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol — hours after Trump claimed to nullify the preemptive pardons that former President Biden issued before leaving office. https://www.newsbreak.com/news/3861388148745-kinzinger-dares-trump-to-charge-him-for-jan-6-panel-role-bring-it? ps:Good for him!! Justice Roberts rebukes Trump's call to impeach Venezuela deportation case judge Chief Justice John Roberts said impeaching federal judges is "not an appropriate response" to disagreeing with their rulings in a rare statement Tuesday. https://www.axios.com/2025/03/18/justice-roberts-trump-impeach-judge-venezuela? ps:Good for him too!!!! Roberts rejects Trump’s call for impeaching judge who ruled against his deportation plans In an extraordinary display of conflict between the executive and judiciary branches, Chief Justice John Roberts rejected calls for impeaching judges shortly after President Donald Trump demanded the removal of one who ruled against his deportation plans. Read More. Trump and Putin agree to an immediate ceasefire for energy and infrastructure in Ukraine war President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed during a lengthy call Tuesday to an immediate pause in strikes against energy and infrastructure targets in the Ukraine war, but the Russian leader stopped short of backing a broader 30-day pause in fighting that the U.S. administration is pressing for. Read More. Feeling betrayed President Donald Trump’s move to revoke deportation protections for Venezuelans has sparked anger in a Miami suburb that swung his way in the November election. Doral is home to more Venezuelan immigrants than any other city in the US. ps:What did they expect? Quote phkrause When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; But when a wicked man rules, the people groan. Proverbs 29;2
Members phkrause Posted March 19, 2025 Author Members Posted March 19, 2025 Trump's Supreme plot on immigration Photo illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios. Photo: Joe Raedle/Getty Images President Trump has accelerated a multipronged, methodically planned strategy to push the Supreme Court to bless his power to deport vastly more people with vastly fewer judicial restraints, Axios' Marc Caputo reports. Trump officials see at least five questions, detailed below, that they hope the Supreme Court will answer. Why it matters: Trump's plan revolves around two cases and obscure laws that have ignited lawsuits and sent shockwaves through the immigration system over successive weekends: Invoking the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to deport accused Venezuelan gang members without immigration hearings. Nearly 140 were flown out of the U.S. on Saturday in a controversial operation that left a federal district judge fuming that his order to turn the plane around had been ignored. Using the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 to detain pro-Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil, who helped lead protests at Columbia University. The administration says the courts have little say over Secretary of State Marco Rubio's determination that Khalil should be deported as a national security risk for protesting against U.S. foreign policy. ? Zoom in: Between the two cases, Trump administration officials and their allies see five major questions they'd like to put before the Supreme Court. Does a peacetime president have the right to deport noncitizens under the war-time Alien Enemies Act — even if there's no declared war against a foreign adversary? Should a single federal judge in a district court have the power to block a president's deportation program nationwide? Can that federal judge's order extend to international waters and demand that a plane full of deportees turn around mid-flight? Does a green card holder like Khalil have speech rights that protect him from deportation? Or can the secretary of state unilaterally declare his speech "adverse" to U.S. foreign policy interests because the government alleges it aligns with the terror group Hamas? Can the secretary of state's power to deport immigrants based on foreign-policy concerns extend to so many student visa holders that some colleges won't be able to admit foreign-exchange students? ? Zoom out: "When you broaden that concept," a senior Justice Department official told Axios, "every single noncitizen who actively supports Hamas is subject to a determination by Secretary Rubio that they lose their status — and become exactly like Khalil and are immediately deportable." "Our end game is all hands on deck, trying everything," the official said. "Everything we're doing, we're gaming out how the Supreme Court gets to decide." ? The DOJ official summarized the Trump administration's legal attack plan this way: "We really do want to push the court — ultimately the Supreme Court — to take a stand. ... We're trying to get clarity. And we're not putting all eggs in one basket. It's why we're seeing all efforts to remove people." And, the official said, "We have other plans." One of those other plans could be a doozy: stripping U.S. citizenship from naturalized Americans. "What's going to be on the horizon are denaturalization cases," said Mike Davis, a close White House ally and founder of the conservative Article III Project. "You're going to have Hamas supporters who have been naturalized within the last 10 years, and they are eligible to lose their status as citizens and get deported," Davis said. "It's worth it." The other side: Civil libertarians are horrified by what they see as a large-scale assault on free speech and due process by an administration that's bent on granting authoritarian-like powers to Trump. "The government's action constitutes a profound threat to free speech on university campuses and beyond," law professors Ahilan Arulanantham and Adam Cox wrote last week in Just Security, a law and policy journal. They wrote that freedom of speech on campuses was "already on life support after aggressive measures universities had taken to discipline and discourage pro-Palestine protest activity since shortly after October 7, 2023." ? Behind the scenes: Trump's effort is spearheaded by deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller, the president's top domestic policy adviser. Unlike Trump's first administration, there's close coordination on immigration policy among the White House and the departments of Homeland Security, Justice and State. Between the lines: Trump's administration is counting on a Supreme Court on which six of the nine members were appointed by Republicans — three by Trump. This high court typically has tried to avoid immigration disputes, but Trump's team aims to force its hand. "We have the law, and we have the numbers on the court," a Trump adviser said. "We've always known this is where all this ends up." Quote phkrause When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; But when a wicked man rules, the people groan. Proverbs 29;2
Members phkrause Posted March 19, 2025 Author Members Posted March 19, 2025 ? Federal workers ride layoff roller coaster Data: U.S. court filings. Table: Jacque Schrag/Axios All over the country, fired federal workers got a bit of good news this week — they're getting their jobs back— for now, anyway, Axios' Emily Peck writes. Why it matters: The recently rehired could soon become the newly re-fired, and the productivity of the entire federal workforce is taking another hit. Two federal judges have ordered agencies to reinstate the tens of thousands of probationary workers they've terminated over the past month. But the White House is appealing those orders. The administration has also told agencies to do even more layoffs — this time through the more formal process of reductions in force, or RIFs. ?️ The big picture: In other words, people were fired, now they're being rehired and it's quite possible they'll lose their jobs again — either via a court ruling or another round of layoffs. More than 24,000 probationary workers who were fired across 18 agencies are in the process of being reinstated, according to data provided to the U.S. District Court in Maryland by the agencies Monday night. Keep reading. Quote phkrause When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; But when a wicked man rules, the people groan. Proverbs 29;2
Members phkrause Posted March 19, 2025 Author Members Posted March 19, 2025 Trump-Putin After a two-hour call between President Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin on Tuesday, the White House announced that the Russian leader had agreed to pause attacks on Ukraine’s energy and infrastructure sites. Ukraine’s energy grid has been among Putin’s biggest targets since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022. The Kremlin, however, described the deal differently, saying that Putin had “responded positively” to a proposal for “the parties to the conflict to mutually refrain from attacks on energy infrastructure facilities for 30 days.” Either way, the negotiations stopped short of a broader ceasefire. Hours after the call, Russia attacked Ukraine with roughly 150 drones and missiles, hitting a hospital and an electricity system powering the railways, officials said. Ukraine also launched more than 50 drones overnight in the Kursk border region, Russia’s defense ministry said. Transgender troops A federal judge indefinitely blocked President Trump’s ban on transgender service members Tuesday, dealing a major defeat to a controversial policy Trump resurrected from his first term. The ban, which was set to begin later this month, could have affected an estimated 14,000 transgender troops. US District Judge Ana Reyes said the administration cannot enforce the ban because it “is soaked in animus and dripping with pretext. Its language is unabashedly demeaning, its policy stigmatizes transgender persons as inherently unfit, and its conclusions bear no relation to fact.” Europe and Canada are eyeing alternatives to American-made fighter jets Questions are mounting in Canada and in Europe over whether big-ticket purchases of high-end U.S. weaponry, such as the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, are still a wise strategic choice for Western countries worried about their investment in U.S. defense technology. Read more. Why this matters: In less than two months, U.S. President Donald Trump has upended decades of foreign policy. He has left NATO members questioning whether Washington will honor the trans-Atlantic alliance’s commitment to defend each other if other European countries are attacked by Russia. As Russia’s war in Ukraine grinds on, it’s become clear that Eastern European NATO members still have vast stores of Soviet-era weapons in their stockpiles that weren’t interoperable with Western weaponry. Some NATO countries are now rethinking tying their defense to U.S.-made systems and potentially considering European jets. RELATED COVERAGE ➤ Zelenskyy says Putin’s vow not to hit Ukraine’s energy infrastructure ‘at odds with reality’ Crimea has been a battleground and a playground. Why it’s coveted by both Russia and Ukraine WATCH: White House press secretary says French should be ‘grateful’ to US they are ‘not speaking German’ Quote phkrause When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; But when a wicked man rules, the people groan. Proverbs 29;2
Members phkrause Posted March 20, 2025 Author Members Posted March 20, 2025 Putin Trolls Trump with Power Station Strike After ‘Ceasefire’ A Russian bomb reportedly took out power in a Ukrainian city just hours after President Vladimir Putin agreed in a call with his U.S. counterpart, Donald Trump, to not strike energy infrastructure for 30 days while peace negotiations proceed. https://www.thedailybeast.com/putin-trolls-trump-with-power-station-strike-after-ceasefire/? Putin Keeps Trump Waiting and Leaves Him Hanging Despite high hopes for peace, the president ended up with little to brag about. https://www.thedailybeast.com/putin-keeps-trump-waiting-and-leaves-him-hanging-on-an-end-to-ukraine-war/? ps:And the genius still doesn't get it!!!!! Legal experts quash Trump argument that Biden pardons signed with Autopen are ‘void’ WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump claimed in a social media post late Sunday night that former President Joe Biden’s eleventh hour pardons for numerous officials are no longer valid — a power not granted to Trump in the Constitution. https://floridaphoenix.com/2025/03/18/repub/legal-experts-quash-trump-argument-that-biden-pardons-signed-with-autopen-are-void/? Quote phkrause When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; But when a wicked man rules, the people groan. Proverbs 29;2
Members phkrause Posted March 20, 2025 Author Members Posted March 20, 2025 Emails Reveal Top IRS Lawyer Warned Trump Firings Were a “Fraud” on the Courts The Trump administration cited “performance” failures to justify its mass firing of IRS workers. But this claim was “false,” a senior agency attorney warned officials, because the administration had not conducted any such performance assessment. https://www.propublica.org/article/trump-irs-firings-doge-fraud-law-job-performance? Some Americans Have Already Been Caught in Trump’s Immigration Dragnet. More Will Be. Federal immigration authorities have a history of wrongfully detaining U.S. citizens. Advocates warn that the Trump administration’s immigration policies mean that more citizens will get caught up in raids and sweeps. https://www.propublica.org/article/more-americans-will-be-caught-up-trump-immigration-raids? Trump Halted an Agent Orange Cleanup. That Puts Hundreds of Thousands at Risk for Poisoning. Diplomats in Vietnam warned Washington that halting USAID’s efforts to clean up the massive deposit of postwar pesticides would be a catastrophe for public health and relations with a key strategic partner in Asia. https://www.propublica.org/article/trump-halted-agent-orange-cleanup-dioxin-vietnam-poison-risk? How a Push to Amend the Constitution Could Help Trump Expand Presidential Power A behind-the-scenes legal effort to force Congress to call a convention to amend the Constitution could end up helping President Donald Trump in his push to expand presidential power. https://www.propublica.org/article/constitutional-convention-congress-donald-trump-power? Quote phkrause When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; But when a wicked man rules, the people groan. Proverbs 29;2
Members phkrause Posted March 20, 2025 Author Members Posted March 20, 2025 DOJ seeks to delay releasing deportation flight information, saying judge is "continuing to beat a dead horse" The Justice Department is mounting a last-minute bid to avoid providing a federal judge with more information about deportations the Trump administration carried out last weekend under the Alien Enemies Act, saying the request could impact national security. https://www.cnn.com/politics/live-news/trump-administration-presidency-03-19-2025? ps:Of course they do!!!!! ? The FTC’s Red Wedding and Saturday Night Massacre. In a Game of Thrones/Watergate-esque escalation, President Donald Trump moved to fire both Democratic commissioners at the Federal Trade Commission yesterday in defiance of federal law. Alvaro Bedoya and Rebecca Slaughter rebuked their firings as illegal and corrupt, accusing the president of turning the FTC into a “lapdog for his golfing buddies” — and pledged to take the administration to court. Yesterday the agency also wiped four years’ worth of consumer guidance blogs from its website, including valuable warnings about firms being probed by the FTC. Corporations currently under FTC investigation — including Microsoft, Meta, and OpenAI — donated $8 million toward Trump’s inauguration. ? Everyone’s getting rich off Trump’s war. Leaked Pentagon planning documents obtained by journalist Ken Klippenstein reveal the Trump administration is refining the next generation of plans for a “major regional conflict” with Iran. Meanwhile, lawmakers looking to cash in on more war are dumping money into Palantir, a cybersecurity firm founded by Trump and Vance ally Peter Thiel that sells its software to the Defense Department. Taxpayer-funded government contracts account for half of Palantir’s revenue. ❓Who killed Kennedy? After years of teasing Trump has finally released the much anticipated JFK files — read them for yourself. ⚖️ Texas brags about its corrupt courts. Gov. Greg Abbott (R) says companies are fleeing Delaware for Texas because the Lone Star state has “the best business courts in America,” referring to the new court system he and the fossil fuel industry just created. That system only serves corporations and is stacked with judges who worked for Big Oil. Also: Abbott can easily replace any of the judges who refuse to issue rulings that benefit his campaign donors. ? Trump’s disappearing Israel’s critics. As Israel resumes its bombardment of Gaza, officials at the Trump Justice Department say the detainment of student activist Mahmoud Khalil is just the beginning of the administration’s attack on free speech. "Every single noncitizen who actively supports Hamas… [is] immediately deportable,” one official told Axios. Worse, a key Trump ally is pushing for the administration to target American citizens critical of Israel too — conservative lawyer Mike Davis says “Hamas supporters” naturalized in the last 10 years will be targeted to have their citizenship revoked. Quote phkrause When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; But when a wicked man rules, the people groan. Proverbs 29;2
Members phkrause Posted March 20, 2025 Author Members Posted March 20, 2025 Defense Department webpage on Jackie Robinson goes down, then returns amid DEI purge The page on Robinson includes biographical information about his Army service during World War II, which occurred prior to his famously breaking baseball's color barrier in 1947 with the Brooklyn Dodgers. https://www.orlandosentinel.com/2025/03/19/jackie-robinson-dei-purge/? ps:Oh the stupidity of these people!!!!! Well, well Defense Department restores Jackie Robinson webpage after outcry The U.S. Department of Defense removed — then restored — a webpage featuring baseball and civil rights pioneer Jackie Robinson, who served in the Army during World War II and segregation. https://www.axios.com/2025/03/19/jackie-robinson-military-service-webpage-dod-dei? Trump suggests to Zelenskyy that the US should take ownership of Ukrainian power plants for security President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Wednesday that they had a constructive call about moving toward a ceasefire between Kyiv and Moscow, with the White House suggesting the U.S. could take control of Ukrainian power plants to ensure their security. Read More. ps:Right!! Quote phkrause When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; But when a wicked man rules, the people groan. Proverbs 29;2
Members phkrause Posted March 20, 2025 Author Members Posted March 20, 2025 Trump's deadline for new Iran deal Smoke rises following strikes today against Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen. Photo: AFP via Getty Images President Trump's proposal for a new Iran nuclear deal came with a two-month deadline, sources tell Axios' Barak Ravid. If Iran rejects Trump's outreach and doesn't negotiate, the chances of U.S. or Israeli military action against Iran's nuclear facilities would dramatically increase. ☢️ The big picture: Iran's nuclear program has advanced over the past four years. The country is closer than ever to being able to produce a nuclear weapon. Trump revealed two weeks ago that he sent a letter to Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei proposing direct negotiations on a new nuclear deal. The letter was officially delivered to Iran's foreign minister a few days ago. It's not clear which would start the clock running on Trump's two-month deadline — the delivery of the letter or the beginning of negotiations. ?? What to watch: Iran's Foreign Ministry said earlier this week that Trump's letter is still being studied and Iran's response is being drafted. Go deeper. Quote phkrause When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; But when a wicked man rules, the people groan. Proverbs 29;2
Members phkrause Posted March 20, 2025 Author Members Posted March 20, 2025 No Help Required at a rally the day before his inauguration. “I don’t want to say this,” he insisted. “It’s too braggadocious, but we’ll say it anyway—the Trump effect.” He went on to describe how the stock market was booming and bitcoin prices were surging, and then boasted about a domestic-infrastructure investment from Apple, much of which had already been planned before the November election. In spite of his claims to the contrary, Trump has no qualms about taking credit, including for achievements that were in progress or complete before he took office. The president has taken full responsibility for negotiating a hostage swap and a cease-fire deal in the Israel-Hamas war (Trump posted on social media in mid-January that “this EPIC ceasefire agreement could have only happened as a result of our Historic Victory in November”), not mentioning that President Joe Biden had announced some of the deal terms last year. The Trump administration said that its policies had quashed migrant border crossings; immigration data are hard to parse, especially for such a short time period, but tallies show that border crossings had already been on the decline during the Biden administration. And this week, Trump credited himself with returning two astronauts who had been stranded for months at the International Space Station; last summer, NASA announced its plan to bring them home in 2025, but Trump still claimed without evidence that Biden “was embarrassed by what happened, and he said, ‘Leave them up there.’” Trump relied on similar framing during his campaign: Ahead of a debate with Biden last year, he posted that “low INSULIN PRICING was gotten for millions of Americans by me, and the Trump Administration, not by Crooked Joe Biden,” saying of his opponent that “all he does is try to take credit for things done by others, in this case, ME!” Shared credit would have been appropriate here: Trump did sign an executive order in his first term that capped out-of-pocket costs of insulin for some Medicare patients at $35 a month, but Biden expanded this cap to all Medicare drug programs through the Inflation Reduction Act, affecting significantly more patients. Trump enjoyed taking credit for Barack Obama–era achievements during his first term too: In 2017, for example, he claimed credit for Obama’s immigration plan and bragged about a Ford-factory investment that had been in progress since a 2015 union contract. Politicians are storytellers, and Trump is shameless about telling only the version of the story that flatters him. The stock market is thriving under the Biden administration? That’s thanks to projections that Trump will win, he claimed last year (even though economists suggested that such gains were also linked to low unemployment, flagging inflation, and solid growth). The economy is struggling after Trump takes office? Blame the “catastrophic” situation Biden left him with (even though many economists suggest that recent stock-market downturns are due to anxiety about the effects of Trump’s trade war). Talking about the egg-price crisis in January, the White House team pilloried the Biden administration for killing sick chickens, neglecting to note that this was a tack Trump also took during his first term. Biden struggled to communicate victories during his term, particularly those related to the economy, which left a “void” for Trump to fill, Lori Cox Han, a scholar of the presidency at Chapman University, told me. And Americans’ perception that the economy was struggling under Biden, boosted by their personal experience of inflation, affected how they voted. Whenever the White House changes hands, some projects inevitably bleed from one administration into the next. Embracing continuity between terms can be a sign that a president cares more about good policy outcomes than about bucking his predecessor: If a federal initiative is good for Americans, why not continue? But Trump is doing something different—he’s attempting to erase other presidents’ role in policy achievements entirely. Past presidents have also tried to claim credit for a victory set in motion by the previous administration—or perhaps even to hold off the victory until they can take office. The question of whether Ronald Reagan’s aides tried to delay the release of U.S. hostages in Iran so that they could come home during the early days of his administration—with the accompanying photo opportunities—has been discussed for years. Still, Han said, unspoken rules of decorum generally prevent new presidents from claiming full credit or trashing their predecessors. This, she noted, is another norm that Trump has disregarded. Trump has long sought to portray himself as America’s sole savior. Recall his 2016 campaign refrain: “I alone can fix it.” As my colleague Yoni Appelbaum wrote at the time, in beseeching Americans to place trust in him and only him, Trump “broke with two centuries of American political tradition, in which candidates for office—and above all, for the nation’s highest office—acknowledge their fallibility and limitations, asking for the help of their fellow Americans, and of God, to accomplish what they cannot do on their own.” Trump seems set on sending the message that he doesn’t need help—and that, implausibly, he hasn’t received any along the way. Related: The 21st century’s greatest, ghastliest showman Trump’s sinister assault on truth (From 2019) Quote phkrause When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; But when a wicked man rules, the people groan. Proverbs 29;2
Members phkrause Posted March 20, 2025 Author Members Posted March 20, 2025 Trump to order a plan to shut down the US Education Department President Donald Trump plans to sign an executive order Thursday calling for the shutdown of the U.S. Education Department, according to a White House official, advancing a campaign promise to eliminate an agency that’s been a longtime target of conservatives. Read more. Why this matters: Trump has derided the Department of Education as wasteful and polluted by liberal ideology. However, finalizing its dismantling is likely impossible without an act of Congress, which created the department in 1979. A White House fact sheet said the order would direct Secretary Linda McMahon “to take all necessary steps to facilitate the closure (of) the Department of Education and return education authority to the States, while continuing to ensure the effective and uninterrupted delivery of services, programs, and benefits on which Americans rely.” Advocates for public schools said eliminating the department would leave children behind in an American education system that is fundamentally unequal. RELATED COVERAGE ➤ Federal Reserve sees tariffs raising inflation this year, keeps key rate unchanged Judge is ‘offended’ at DOGE’s tactics but does not pause its takeover of the US Institute of Peace Judge refuses to block IRS from sharing taxpayer info to assist in immigration enforcement Legal showdown as Justice Dept. resists judge’s demand for more details on deportation flights Judge orders Trump administration to return two transgender inmates to women’s prisons Trump administration suspends $175 million in federal funding for University of Pennsylvania over transgender swimmer FBI agent who has criticized the bureau arrested on charges of sharing confidential information Pentagon restores histories of Navajo Code Talkers, other Native veterans after public outcry Trump administration threatens to pull New York transit funds as it questions anti-crime efforts Trump backs higher pay for wildland firefighters while DOGE cuts wildfire support staff Probationary employees fired at the CDC and NOAA will keep being paid to stay home Pentagon reviews plans to cut troops handling migrants at Guantanamo by as much as half ‘It’s not personal': Trump’s deportation efforts find support among South Florida Latinos Trump’s bluntness powered a White House comeback. Now his words are getting him in trouble in court Hong Kong’s richest man is in hot water over his company’s Panama Canal ports deal Quote phkrause When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; But when a wicked man rules, the people groan. Proverbs 29;2
Members phkrause Posted March 21, 2025 Author Members Posted March 21, 2025 Trump Fired Park Rangers — But Not the Ones Who Tend to the White House National Park Service workers who care for the White House were exempt from a wave of mass firings that gutted the agency. https://theintercept.com/2025/03/17/trump-national-park-firings-white-house/? ps:Reminds me of the time when he was complaining about Immigrants and than had to explain why he had immigrants working at mar-a-largo!! Columbia Admissions Guidance for Undocumented Immigrants Vanishes From Site The page went dark as Columbia caved to the Trump administration’s anti-Palestinian and anti-immigrant attacks. https://theintercept.com/2025/03/19/columbia-undocumented-students-admissions-guidance/? Trump Reasserts U.S. as the World’s Policeman With Massive Yemen Escalation Trump’s bid for regime change in Yemen should be anathema to both America Firsters and Democrats, but will anyone speak out? https://theintercept.com/2025/03/17/trump-yemen-escalation-war-regime-change/? Quote phkrause When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; But when a wicked man rules, the people groan. Proverbs 29;2
Members phkrause Posted March 22, 2025 Author Members Posted March 22, 2025 Killing Grants That Have Saved Lives: Trump’s Cuts Signal End to Government Work on Terrorism Prevention Tens of millions of dollars slated for violence prevention have been cut or are frozen as DOGE steamrolls the national security sector. “This is the government getting out of the terrorism business,” said one grant recipient. https://www.propublica.org/article/trump-doge-budget-cuts-terrorism-prevention? Emails Reveal Top IRS Lawyer Warned Trump Firings Were a “Fraud” on the Courts The Trump administration cited “performance” failures to justify its mass firing of IRS workers. But this claim was “false,” a senior agency attorney warned officials, because the administration had not conducted any such performance assessment. https://www.propublica.org/article/trump-irs-firings-doge-fraud-law-job-performance? The October Story That Outlined Exactly What the Trump Administration Would Do to the Federal Bureaucracy In late October, ProPublica published one of its most prophetic stories in our history. You can be forgiven if you missed it at the time. There was a lot going on in the days before the election, and the headlines were dominated by seemingly consequential issues like the racist humor of a comedian who addressed Donald Trump’s rally at Madison Square Garden. https://www.propublica.org/article/propublica-russell-vought-prophetic-trump-second-term? Quote phkrause When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; But when a wicked man rules, the people groan. Proverbs 29;2
Members phkrause Posted March 22, 2025 Author Members Posted March 22, 2025 A bailout for the select few. On March 6, President Donald Trump established a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve, which will prevent the Treasury Department and other agencies from selling Bitcoin or any other cryptocurrency that has been seized during criminal investigations. The move is almost certain to boost the value and legitimacy of the volatile and resource-hungry digital assets, and little else. Who stands to benefit from this government bailout? People who own crypto — which, it turns out, is hardly anyone. Crypto is by the wealthy, for the wealthy. A new study from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, a branch of the main financial and banking regulator, found that roughly 4.3 percent of American households own cryptocurrencies. That’s equal to just 5.7 million households. Moreover, the wealthiest households in this group hold far more crypto than lower-income households: While the bottom 25 percent of crypto investors hold an average of just $648 in the digital currency, the wealthiest own $92,400. The crypto bros lied to you. Throughout the 2024 election cycle, Coinbase, the nation’s most prominent cryptocurrency platform, routinely touted its own survey claiming that 52 million Americans own crypto, or roughly 20 percent of the adult population. They used this research — which also concluded the majority of crypto owners apparently make less than $100,000 a year — to land stories in prominent news outlets and argue that digital assets were an “increasingly important aspect of local economies.” Too bad their data was apparently bogus. No, really, these are stable geniuses. Crypto industry groups worked hard to deliver the bitcoin reserve bailout for the select few who own their currencies; no other industry spent more trying to influence the 2024 election. And they could soon get another government boon, courtesy of the STABLE and GENIUS acts, GOP-backed bills to create digital assets attached to traditional currencies like the U.S. dollar. Who cares that other stablecoins have failed or that intertwining crypto with traditional finance could lead to an economic meltdown on par with the 2008 financial crisis? At least a very small group of crypto bros will be happy. Quote phkrause When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; But when a wicked man rules, the people groan. Proverbs 29;2
Members phkrause Posted March 22, 2025 Author Members Posted March 22, 2025 Live updates: Trump to order a plan to dismantle the Education Department President Donald Trump plans to sign an executive order Thursday calling for the shutdown of the U.S. Education Department, according to a White House official, advancing a campaign promise to eliminate an agency that's been a longtime target of conservatives. Read More. Georgetown scholar detained over American wife’s Palestinian ties, lawyer says A Georgetown University researcher who is married to a Palestinian American was detained by immigration agents who told him his visa had been revoked, prompting another high-profile legal fight over deportation proceedings against foreign-born visa holders authorized to live in the U.S. Read More. 67,000 white South Africans have expressed interest in Trump’s plan to give them refugee status The United States Embassy in South Africa said Thursday it received a list of nearly 70,000 people interested in refugee status in the U.S. under President Donald Trump’s plan to relocate members of a white minority group he claims are victims of racial discrimination by their Black-led government. Read More. ps:Of course they did and I wonder how much it'll cost them?? People named in JFK assassination documents are not happy their personal information was released Officials at the White House said Thursday that a plan was in place to help those whose personal information, including Social Security numbers, was disclosed. The White House did not respond to questions about why the personal information was unredacted. Read More. Quote phkrause When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; But when a wicked man rules, the people groan. Proverbs 29;2
Members phkrause Posted March 23, 2025 Author Members Posted March 23, 2025 Trump's overflowing grudge list Photo illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios. Photo: Win McNamee/Bloomberg via Getty Images Two months into his term, President Trump is growing more defiant, creative and ruthless in his pursuit of a central campaign promise: exacting revenge on his political enemies, Axios' Zachary Basu writes. Why it matters: From Day One, Trump has delighted in settling scores through the stroke of his pen — breathing life into his MAGA mantra: "I am your retribution." ?️ The big picture: In the final days of the 2024 campaign, Axios identified a list of perceived adversaries who fit what Trump ominously described as "the enemies from within." As president, he has taken steps to retaliate against virtually all of them. White House principal deputy press secretary Harrison Fields told Axios: "As President Trump has made clear, his only retribution is success — and his historic achievements and soaring approval ratings prove it." Political opponents ? The Biden administration: Trump has revoked security clearances from former President Biden, Secretary of State Tony Blinken, National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan and Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco. The Biden family: On Monday, Trump announced he was terminating Secret Service protection for Biden's son and daughter, Hunter and Ashley, "effective immediately." Former Trump officials: Trump also revoked Secret Service protection from former national security officials who criticized him: Mike Pompeo, Brian Hook and John Bolton, who have all faced credible assassination threats from Iran. Gen. Mark Milley: Trump despises his former Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman, who called the president "fascist to the core" in 2023. Trump yanked both his security clearance and personal security detail. Former Rep. Liz Cheney: Trump claimed this week that Biden's preemptive pardons of Cheney and other members of the Jan. 6 committee are "void" because of Biden's alleged use of an autopen. Media and entertainment ?️ White House Correspondents' Association: The White House took control of the daily makeup of its press pool from WHCA. Associated Press: The White House barred the AP from accessing events in the Oval Office and on Air Force One for refusing to use the name "Gulf of America" in its coverage. CBS, ABC and NBC: Under hard-charging chairman Brendan Carr, the FCC has launched an investigation into alleged "news distortion" during a "60 Minutes" interview with then-Vice President Harris, which CBS denies. The FCC also reinstated complaints against ABC for its handling of the presidential debate between Trump and Harris, and NBC for allowing Harris to appear on "Saturday Night Live" without equal time for Trump. Legal foes and bureaucrats ⚖️ Prosecutors: He fired and demoted federal prosecutors and FBI officials involved in the investigation of the Jan. 6 riot, while pardoning thousands of his supporters who were convicted for breaking into the Capitol. Big Law: At the start of an extraordinary campaign against private practice law firms, Trump revoked the security clearances of lawyers at Covington & Burling who offered pro bono legal advice to former special counsel Jack Smith. Trump then targeted Perkins Coie, stripping security clearances and blacklisting the firm's lawyers because of the firm's commission of the Steele Dossier and other work on behalf of Democrats in 2016. Last week, Trump signed an executive order targeting New York firm Paul, Weiss for its former employment of Mark Pomerantz, who was involved in the Manhattan DA's Trump investigation. He then withdrew that order yesterday after Paul, Weiss agreed to "dedicate the equivalent of $40 million in pro bono legal services" to support the Trump administration on "mutually agreed projects." Go deeper: Over a dozen more Trump targets. Quote phkrause When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; But when a wicked man rules, the people groan. Proverbs 29;2
Members phkrause Posted March 23, 2025 Author Members Posted March 23, 2025 ? Existential college crisis Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios The Trump administration's attacks on universities have come swiftly and forcefully: grants slashed, thousands of jobs cut and anxiety through the roof, Axios' Erica Pandey writes. Why it matters: Universities produce a great deal of the scientific and technological research that drives America forward. Professors and administrators fear that the Trump administration's blunt approach — hitting the brakes on funding to target what it sees as longstanding culture problems on campuses — will set innovation back decades. ? The money quote: "The United States is home to the best collection of research universities in the world. Those universities have contributed tremendously to America's prosperity, health, and security," Princeton president Christopher Eisgruber wrote in The Atlantic this week. "The Trump administration's recent attack on Columbia University puts all of that at risk." ? Zoom in: The Trump administration is pulling multiple levers to squeeze universities. Institutions across the country are watching the administration's moves closely — and wondering if they'll be the next one in the spotlight. President Trump's Education Department is investigating dozens of colleges over their response to pro-Palestinian campus protests, their policies regarding trans athletes, DEI initiatives and more. Columbia and UPenn have lost hundreds of millions of dollars in funding over these issues. (UPenn says it hasn't received official notice of any cuts.) Johns Hopkins, the largest recipient of federal research funding, cut 2,200 jobs and lost $800 million in USAID grants when that agency was gutted. Changes to NIH policies — which have been temporarily blocked by the courts — could hit research programs at dozens of other schools. Between the lines: The problems the Trump administration says it's trying to solve on campuses are typically related to student life, athletics or coursework in the humanities. But its moves are largely affecting the cutting-edge scientific and medical research that goes on at these institutions. ? What to watch: The next step for universities who've lost money is to negotiate with the Trump administration. Up first is Columbia, which has until today to agree to nine far-reaching demands to get its funding back, The Wall Street Journal reports. Quote phkrause When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; But when a wicked man rules, the people groan. Proverbs 29;2
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