Things Musk (and Trump) Did... 04-17-25 | Blog#42
When Musk's money only goes so far and the meek may not inherit the earth...
Yesterday's post
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Yesterday’s News Worth Repeating
Clooney defends op-ed calling for Biden to exit race: ‘It was a civic duty’
“I don’t know if it was brave,” the “Ocean’s Eleven” actor told Jake Tapper when the CNN anchor described Clooney’s opinion piece as something some in the public might call courageous.
“It was a civic duty,” Clooney said in a preview clip from the interview airing Wednesday on “The Lead.”
“Because I found that people on my side of the street — I’m a Democrat … in Kentucky, so I get it — when I saw people on my side of the street not telling the truth, I thought that was time,” Clooney said.
Clooney, one of Hollywood’s most prominent Democratic supporters, who hosted a fundraiser for Biden weeks earlier, penned the New York Times piece last July urging the then-commander in chief to drop out of the presidential race.
“It’s devastating to say it, but the Joe Biden I was with three weeks ago at the fund-raiser was not the Joe ‘big F-ing deal‘ Biden of 2010. He wasn’t even the Joe Biden of 2020,” Clooney wrote at the time.
Continue reading at The Hill
State Department eliminates key office tasked with fighting foreign disinformation
Leading Republicans have long accused the Counter Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference office of silencing conservative voices.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Wednesday announced the closure of the agency’s hub for fighting foreign disinformation campaigns — the final nail in a yearslong effort to shut down the office accused by GOP lawmakers of censoring conservative voices.
In a statement, Rubio claimed the Counter Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference office at the State Department, formerly known as the Global Engagement Center, had “spent millions of dollars to actively silence and censor the voices of Americans they were supposed to be serving.” According to Rubio, the relatively modest federal office expended “more than $50 million per year.”
“This is antithetical to the very principals [sic] we should be upholding and inconceivable it was taking place in America,” Rubio said. “That ends today. Under the administration of President Trump, we will always work to protect the rights of the American people, and this is an important step in continuing to fulfill that commitment.”
The center came under fire from leading Republicans on the House Foreign Affairs Committee last year for allegedly silencing conservative voices through its efforts to clear up disinformation and misinformation online. Elon Musk, who now heads up the so-called Department of Government Efficiency, described the office in 2023 as “the worst offender in U.S. government censorship.”
But the center’s supporters, including Sens. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) and John Cornyn (R-Texas), have asserted that it plays a critical role in combating Russian and Chinese disinformation.
Continue reading at Politico
IRS faces mass exodus of workers
A Trump administration plan would ax 30,000-40,000 positions at the agency, while 22,000 workers have expressed interest in “deferred resignation.”
The IRS could see a mass exodus of up to 40 percent of its workforce through a combination of buyouts offered by the Trump administration and widespread layoffs, according to an internal memo obtained by POLITICO.
The memo outlines the agency’s plans to reduce its workforce to between 60,000 to 70,000 employees, down from a previous headcount of roughly 100,000. Notices of “reductions in force” will start going out this week, the memo says, specifying that “taxpayer services and compliance will need to be trimmed.”
Already, around 22,000 employees at the IRS have opted to take the administration’s latest “deferred resignation” buyout offer, according to a person familiar with the plans granted anonymity to share them.
Combined, the figures mean the IRS could lose significant portion of its workforce just as the 2025 tax filing season draws to a close Tuesday night.
The new figures are on top of 7,000 probationary workers the IRS terminated earlier this year and up to 5,000 employees who accepted the administration’s first deferred resignation offer.
Some tax experts fear that the sudden budget cuts could result in the Treasury losing out in hundreds of billions in tax receipts, potentially accelerating the timeline under which Congress must reckon with the debt limit
Continue reading at Politico
Tourism to America is under threat
International tourism to the U.S. is falling fast, and the actions of the Trump administration are only likely to make things worse, industry experts say.
Why it matters: The travel industry was worth $1.3 trillion in 2024, and supported 15 million U.S. jobs, per the U.S. Travel Association. Now, that revenue — and those jobs — are being threatened.
The big picture: Non-U.S. citizens were already wary about visiting the U.S. in March, according to Aran Ryan at Tourism Economics.
Visits from Germany alone plunged by 28% year-on-year in March, he wrote in a recent report, showing the "early ramifications of a potent mix of negative sentiment, which has developed abroad in response to polarizing rhetoric and policy actions by the Trump administration, as well as concerns around tighter border and immigration policies."
What's next: "March may be just the beginning," he added, noting that the "Liberation Day" tariffs will only damage sentiment further.
Driving the news: Secretary of State Marco Rubio sent an extremely harsh message on Saturday to anybody thinking of visiting the country.
Continue reading at Axios
Trump's tariffs "highly likely" to reignite inflation, Fed chair Powell says
Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell said on Wednesday that President Trump's tariffs would likely lead to a faster rise in prices and weigh on economic growth.
Why it matters: Trump campaigned on lowering prices for inflation-weary consumers, but Powell is the latest to suggest Trump's trade war might do the opposite.
In a speech at the Economic Club of Chicago, Powell said the Fed could face a tough scenario if inflation rises alongside teetering economic growth.
What they're saying: "Tariffs are highly likely to generate at least a temporary rise in inflation," Powell said, warning of the possibility that inflationary effects could also linger.
Powell said how long tariff-related inflation persists depends on a slew of factors, including the time it takes for tariffs to "pass through fully to prices."
The big picture: Trump's tariff regime — which has shifted week-to-week — has so far been "significantly larger than anticipated," Powell said.
"The same is likely to be true of the economic effects, which will include higher inflation and slower growth," he added.
Continue reading at Axios
White House plan would eliminate Head Start, make sweeping health cuts
A Trump administration budget proposal calls for eliminating programs like Head Start, funding for community mental health clinics and initiatives aimed at preventing teen pregnancy in fiscal 2026.
Why it matters: The 64-page document, called a budget passback, reveals the breadth and deep extent to which the Trump administration is eyeing cuts to the federal health bureaucracy.
The Office of Management and Budget document is just a proposal but offers a preview of what President Trump's spending priorities are. Congress has the final say in how discretionary funds are allocated.
The document was first reported by the Washington Post.
Zoom in: The proposal calls for about $20 billion appropriated to a new agency within Health and Human Services called the Administration for a Healthy America. HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced last month that he planned to combine several existing agencies into this new entity.
The document also requests $500 million to be allocated by the HHS secretary for activities that support the administration's so-called "Make America Healthy Again" initiative, per the document.
In all, about $40 billion, or one-third of the HHS discretionary budget, would be cut under the proposal compared with fiscal 2024 levels.
Continue reading at Axios
Today's news
Democratic News Corner
House Democrat requests Congressional delegation visit El Salvadorian prison
Rep. Delia Ramirez (D-Ill.) has requested a congressional delegation to visit a prison in El Salvador where the Trump administration has sent numerous deportees.
In a Wednesday letter addressed to House Homeland Security Committee Chair Rep. Mark Green (R-Tenn.), Ramirez asked “that the House Committee on Homeland Security authorize a Congressional Member Delegation (CODEL) to conduct an oversight visit to the Centro de Confinamiento del Terrorismo (CECOT) in Tecoluca, El Salvador.”
In the first few months of President Trump’s second presidency, his administration has sent hundreds of deportees to the Salvadoran maximum-security prison CECOT.
“Given that the Administration’s use of CECOT for illegal and unconstitutional deportations is rife with ‘administrative errors’ and many of those who have been deported to CECOT are not, in fact, violent criminals, as a Member of the House Committee on Homeland Security Committee, I urgently request a CODEL to conduct oversight of CECOT. Thank you for the consideration of this request,” Ramirez said in her letter, which Axios first obtained.
The story of one of the deportees sent to CECOT, a wrongfully deported Maryland man named Kilmar Abrego Garcia, has recently made political waves in Washington, D.C.
Continue reading at The Hill
Populist Democrats rake in cash: 5 fundraising takeaways
The FEC reports underscore how the 2026 midterms are already underway as Democrats look to flip the House and as states like Georgia and North Carolina tee up some closely watched Senate races.
Here are five takeaways from the fundraising reports:
Populist Dems rake in money
In the last few weeks, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) have been crisscrossing the country to meet with voters in their “Fighting Oligarchy” tour, drawing in some cases tens of thousands of attendees.
Their FEC reports for this past quarter suggest that enthusiasm isn’t waning anytime soon. Sanders posted a whopping $11.5 million between January and March, while Ocasio-Cortez brought in $9.6 million during that same period. It’s an extraordinary amount of money for either a senator or House member to raise in one quarter, especially since it’s an off-cycle year.
Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), seen as a rising star within the party who has pushed for a more populist platform, also posted an $8 million haul. Progressive Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), floated as a potential 2028 contender, raised $3.7 million.
Continue reading at The Hill
Democrats clash over how hard to fight Trump's deportations
Democrats are at odds over whether to make opposition to the Trump administration's deportation policies — and trips to the El Salvadorian prison where deportees are being held — a centerpiece of their anti-Trump message.
Why it matters: Some Democratic lawmakers and aides told Axios that Trump's deportation policies have even started to eclipse top issues like DOGE and tariffs in some constituent phone calls and emails.
"We got 247 calls on it this week, more than any other topic," Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Wisc.) told Axios.
A chief of staff to another House Democrat told Axios that, of the 16 calls they personally handled in the last two days, all have been about deportations.
Yes, but: Other lawmakers insisted the issue hasn't broken through in their districts. While some of them said they support their colleagues who are trying to travel to El Salvador, others pushed back on the idea.
A House Democrat who spoke on the condition of anonymity told Axios: "With all due respect to some of those folks, I know it's an important issue, but should it be the big issue for Democrats? Probably not."
"I think we ought to focus on the basic things that affect people on a day-to-day basis — I'm sure in Maryland it's a big issue," the lawmaker said, citing DOGE cuts, tariffs and Social Security as issues to home in on.
Continue reading at Axios
Abdul El-Sayed launches Michigan Senate campaign
El-Sayed is drawing an early distinction with other candidates over support for Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer.
A new Michigan Senate candidate is setting himself apart from Democrats seeking to cast aside Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer.
“Anybody who tells you that they’re going to unilaterally oppose one potential candidate without knowing who the alternative is, is either unnuanced or unsophisticated,” said Abdul El-Sayed, who officially launched his bid for Senate on Thursday. “So I want to know who is available, who is actively seeking the leadership. I’ll make a decision from there.”
It’s a tacit rebuke of state Sen. Mallory McMorrow and other Democratic candidates who have said recently that they would oppose Schumer amid an intraparty fight over his handling of a GOP-backed government funding bill.
El-Sayed, who had served as the director of Wayne County’s Department of Health, Human, and Veterans Services, is joining a crowded race to succeed retiring Sen. Gary Peters that includes McMorrow, who’s already launched her campaign. Rep. Haley Stevens (D-Mich.) and former Michigan state House Speaker Joe Tate are also expected to join the field in the coming weeks.
El-Sayed took up the left lane during a 2018 bid for governor, when he was endorsed by progressive Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), but he lost to now-Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. This time he said he’d eschew labels but would run a campaign “focused on workers.”
Continue reading at Politico
Israel and Palestine on the ballot in New York City mayor’s race
Andrew Cuomo is pinning his redemption tour on support for Israel; rival Zohran Mamdani is outspoken in his criticisms.
NEW YORK — Andrew Cuomo joined the legal team defending Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from war crime charges. His leading opponent in the New York City mayoral race, Zohran Mandani, vowed to arrest Netanyahu if he stepped foot in the city.
Mamdani — a democratic socialist lawmaker making a splash with slick campaign videos and a robust fundraising operation — would be the first Muslim mayor of New York City, and has accused Israel of committing an American-funded genocide in Gaza.
The politically moderate Cuomo, on a redemption tour boosted by donors who support Israel, has gone to lengths to portray antisemitism as a leading issue in a race that’s more about subway safety and housing costs. He’s called it “the most serious and the most important issue” in New York City and deemed himself a “hyper aggressive supporter of Israel and proud of it.”
That juxtaposition underscores the degree to which Middle East politics is shaping the race for a job with more oversight of potholes and trash collection than an international conflict that dates back more than a century. New York City is home to the world’s largest Jewish population outside Israel and the biggest Muslim contingent in the Western Hemisphere. Pro-Israel donors have been spending to shape New York elections in their favor, following the movement that took root on college campuses across the city in response to the Israel-Hamas war. Over just the last week, a man was charged for setting fire to Jewish Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro’s home during Passover and the Trump administration detained another pro-Palestinian demonstrator. Hate crimes against both Jews and Muslims are on the rise in New York City.
Continue reading at Politico
David Hogg ignited a ‘circular firing squad’ inside the DNC
He’s telling Democrats he’s prepared to lose his DNC post if it comes to that.
When newly elected Democratic National Committee officers gathered in late March at a Washington hotel, the agenda included a brief but robust discussion of a pledge not to intervene in party primaries, according to two people who attended the meeting and a third who was briefed on it.
But there was one official, David Hogg, who never signed onto the DNC’s pledge, and he told a DNC staffer he had concerns because the group he co-founded gets involved in open primaries, according to a fourth person familiar with the conversation.
Three weeks later, Hogg called his fellow DNC officers to warn them that Leaders We Deserve, the group he co-founded, would be funding primary challenges to “asleep-at-the-wheel” Democrats in safe-blue seats.
His announcement on Tuesday, pledging to spend $20 million on its efforts, triggered a wave of criticism and concern from some Democrats, including members of Congress, DNC members and Democratic strategists, many of whom expressed frustration over Hogg’s dual roles as an activist and party representative. Some took to social media to vent while others, including House members, called Hogg directly on Wednesday, trying to get clarity on his position.
The unprecedented move by a DNC official to spend money against Democrats is exacerbating intra-party tensions that have wracked the party in the second Donald Trump era.
Continue reading at Politico
Democrat eyes challenge to Susan Collins in Maine
Jordan Wood, a former congressional staffer, would be one of the first Democrats to enter the race.
Jordan Wood, a former congressional staffer from Maine, has told fellow Democrats that he plans to launch a bid to unseat Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, according to two people familiar with his plans who were granted anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss them.
Wood, 35, would be one of the first Democrats to enter the race against Collins. He worked for former Rep. Katie Porter (D-Calif.) as her chief-of-staff, and before that served in a leadership role at End Citizens United, a campaign-finance reform group.
Collins is the only Republican up for reelection next year in a state that Kamala Harris won in 2024. And she has been a top Democratic target for decades. But she has proved difficult to unseat, most recently dispatching Sara Gideon, the well-funded 2020 Democratic nominee, after months of trailing her in the polls.
Wood is born and raised in Lewiston and now lives in Bristol. Wood has spent a chunk of his career in the nation’s capital, which could expose him to attacks that he is out of touch with the state. He moved back to Maine in 2021 after spending 10 years in national Democratic politics.
Continue reading at Politico
National Security
Nothing to see here, yet.
Economics
America’s housing shortage by the numbers
This story is the fourth in a four-part series. Read Part 1 here, Part 2 here and Part 3 here.
The U.S. has been short of the homes it needs to meet its growing population for more than a decade, driving up prices and shooting down the dreams of millions of would-be buyers.
While buying a starter home was once a safe and attainable way to build wealth, rising home prices, falling construction rates and economic volatility have left the U.S. without nearly enough affordable housing.
Daryl Fairweather, chief economist at Redfin, said there are two basic ways of looking at the depth of the affordable housing shortage: how much of a household’s income it costs to buy a home of average price, and the share of homes for sale in a region that are affordable for someone making the local median income.
For prospective homebuyers, Fairweather said, one way focuses on “how much are they going to have to spend out of their earnings to afford a home,” while the other focuses on “what share of homes in the market are actually priced that way.”
The U.S. has been able to make a small dent in the housing shortage, as a construction boom set off amid the COVID-19 pandemic is gradually adding more houses to the market.
But housing prices have risen far faster than supply as a combination of low pandemic interest rates and societal changes fueled a historic increase in housing costs.
“We see an improvement that’s encouraging and very promising, and we want to see even more inventory out there,” said Nadia Evangelou, senior economist and director of real estate research for the National Association of Realtors (NAR).
Continue reading at The Hill
Trump’s potential semiconductor tariffs spook tech industry
President Trump’s potential tariffs on semiconductors are stoking alarm within the technology sector as companies brace for the ripple effects across the industry and its competitive standing on a global stage.
The Trump administration launched an investigation this week into the effects on national security of importing semiconductor technology, just one day after the president hinted tariffs on semiconductors could be coming soon in his broader trade war.
Semiconductors power most of the technology products of today’s ecosystem and industry observers warned the cost could trickle down to consumers should Trump decide to impose an import tax on the chips or the products that host them.
“There’s going to be an immediate, short-term supply shock if the…prices of chips are increased as a direct result of tariffs,” said Sean Murphy, the executive vice president of policy for Information Technology Industry Council (ITI), a trade association.
“That’s going to have a ripple or cascading effect across the industry,” he added, “Chips go into everything we take for granted.”
It is still unclear how broad the semiconductor tariffs could be.
Continue reading at The Hill
Republicans consider increasing taxes on the rich in break from party orthodoxy
The discussions are in the early stages, and lawmakers say it is possible that no tax hike makes it in the final legislation. But the once-inconceivable consideration of tax increases underscores the tricky task that Republicans have in meeting competing demands from fiscal hawks, moderates, and tax slashers for the ambitious party-line bill — as well as the rise of populist instincts in the party.
One idea being discussed is a roughly 40 percent top tax bracket on income over $1 million, one House Republican confirmed to The Hill. Bloomberg News first reported that proposal.
Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) also confirmed that the idea is being discussed in a town hall on Tuesday when asked about increasing taxes on billionaires.
“It might surprise you that the list of possibilities we have on our working sheet that the members of the Finance Committee — and I’m a member of that committee — are going to discuss is raising from 37 to 39.6 on the very group of people you talk about,” Grassley said.
“Now, that doesn’t mean it’s going to happen,” Grassley added. “And the rationale for it is we can take that money and use it for increasing child tax credit.”
Raising the top marginal tax rate to 39.6 percent from its current level of 37 percent amounts to almost the same thing as reverting to the pre-2017 tax code — and a rate that the code would return to at the end of the year if Republicans do not pass an extension of Trump’s 2017 tax cuts.
Continue reading at The Hill
Trump faces obstacles, steeper costs with manufacturing jobs push
Some of Trump’s tariffs, which have targeted key manufacturing inputs such steel and aluminum, along with higher U.S. wage levels and a global decline in manufacturing jobs as a share of total employment are all working against Trump’s manufacturing push, and industry sentiment is beginning to wane.
The Empire State Manufacturing Survey released Tuesday by the New York Federal Reserve showed firms turning pessimistic about the economic outlook for the first time since 2022.
Expected business conditions in the survey have sunk since the beginning of the year, with sentiment dropping 20 points during the first week of April and more than 44 points over the last three months.
“Firms expect conditions to worsen in the months ahead, a level of pessimism that has only occurred a handful of times in the history of the survey,” New York Fed economists wrote.
Manufacturing activity across the U.S. contracted in March after expanding in January and February, as measured by the ISM purchasing managers’ index. The contraction resumes a more than two-year downward trend in the sector.
Continue reading at The Hill
It’s Google’s turn to get thrashed by the GOP
As Meta and X bow to Trump, top Republicans in Congress have their sights on Google next.
Things are about to get uncomfortable in Washington for Google.
Top Republicans in Congress are leaning hard on the tech giant to make its content policies friendlier to the GOP, after winning that fight with social media companies Meta and X.
Senate Commerce Chair Ted Cruz of Texas and House Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan of Ohio are now putting pressure on Google and its parent company Alphabet, which owns both the internet’s dominant search engine and the popular YouTube video platform.
Jordan sent a subpoena last month to Alphabet, seeking its internal discussions and communications with the Biden administration about content moderation. Cruz said Google is “absolutely” his primary target among the tech platforms, promising hearings and possibly even legislation, although he did not specify what kind of laws he might draft.
Cruz sat down last month for a one-on-one meeting with Google CEO Sundar Pichai to deliver a warning: Change Google’s content policies or face his wrath.
In the hourlong meeting, which has not previously been reported, Cruz said he “explicitly and unambiguously” told Pichai his committee would press Google on what he called the company’s ongoing efforts to throttle conservative content.
“Big Tech censorship was the single most important topic,” Cruz told POLITICO. He said he pushed Pichai on “policies that should be implemented” and claimed the Google CEO “understands fully where I’m coming from and what we expect in terms of protecting free speech.”
Continue reading at Politico
Trump tariffs sink global economy outlook
Chart: Share of hedge fund managers who say they expect a hard landing
Global fund managers have turned startlingly pessimistic when it comes to the chances that the world will be able to withstand the effect of across-the-board U.S. tariffs — and they're particularly bearish when it comes to the U.S. itself.
Why it matters: The most recent Fund Manager Survey from Bank of America underscores the thesis that global investors are selling America.
By the numbers: The most recent survey, which was conducted between April 4 and April 10, included 164 global fund managers who collectively have $386 billion of assets under management.
49% of them said that a hard landing is now the most likely outcome for the global economy, up from 6% in February and 11% in March.
The percentage of investors intending to cut their allocation to U.S. equities rose to the highest level since the survey began in 2001.
Bank of America's fund manager sentiment index is now lower than it was even at the depths of the pandemic crash in 2020.
Zoom out: 82% of respondents said the global economy is set to weaken — that's a 30-year high.
Continue reading at Axios
Trump says Powell's "termination can't come fast enough"
President Trump blasted Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell on Thursday with the strongest suggestion yet of intentions to fire the nation's most powerful economic policymaker.
Why it matters: Trump's attack comes after Powell said that tariffs were likely to stoke inflation and slow economic growth.
What they're saying: "The ECB is expected to cut interest rates for the 7th time, and yet, "Too Late" Jerome Powell of the Fed, who is always TOO LATE AND WRONG, yesterday issued a report which was another, and typical, complete "mess!," Trump posted on Truth Social.
"Powell's termination cannot come fast enough!"
Reality check: The Fed is an apolitical institution.
Continue reading at Axios
Trump rails against Fed chair: His ‘termination cannot come fast enough’
President Trump slammed the “too late” Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell after he warned of the economy facing stagflation due to the president’s sweeping tariff agenda, adding that his termination cannot come soon enough.
“The [European Central Bank] is expected to cut interest rates for the 7th time, and yet, ‘Too Late’ Jerome Powell of the Fed, who is always TOO LATE AND WRONG, yesterday issued a report which was another, and typically complete ‘mess!’” Trump wrote said in a Thursday morning post on Truth Social.
Trump argued that oil prices are down, groceries, including eggs, are down and the U.S. is “getting RICH ON TARRIFS.” He said that Powell should have lowered interest rates like the European Central Bank and should lower them now.
“Powell’s termination cannot come fast enough!” he added.
Continue reading at The Hill
Companies are cutting more managers, leaving employees directionless
The corporate world is getting flatter, as more companies look to get rid of managers.
Why it matters: The trend is accelerating as firms look for ways hold down costs in the wake of Trump tariffs, finds a new report out Thursday morning from Korn Ferry, a global consulting firm.
The wave of "unbossing" really took off amid tech layoffs in 2022 and 2023, perhaps most famously at Meta.
"I don't think you want a management structure that's just managers managing managers, managing managers, managing managers, managing the people who are doing the work," CEO Mark Zuckerberg reportedly said at a meeting during his 2023 "year of efficiency" push.
Zoom in: Sometimes there are too many layers in an organization, but often people need managers.
Losing them can often leave employees directionless and unmoored, says Maria Amato, a senior client partner at Korn Ferry who specializes in employee experience.
44% of 2,000 professionals in the U.S. surveyed by Korn Ferry said their company has cut back at the manager level — and about 40% of them say they feel "directionless" as a result.
Continue reading at Axios
The European Central Bank cuts interest rates as tariffs threaten the economy
London CNN —
The European Central Bank cut its main interest rate to 2.25% from 2.5% Thursday, citing worries about rising trade tensions as Donald Trump’s tariffs have sparked a global trade war.
The ECB said in a statement Thursday that, while the eurozone had built up “resilience against global shocks,” the “outlook for growth has deteriorated owing to rising trade tensions.”
“Increased uncertainty is likely to reduce confidence among households and firms, and the adverse and volatile market response to the trade tensions is likely to have a tightening impact on financing conditions,” the central bank said. “These factors may further weigh on the economic outlook for the euro area.”
The bank is the latest global economic and financial player to warn that tariffs could weigh on economies and hurt everyone from major corporations to regular people. Similar warnings have been issued by the World Trade Organization, US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell and others.
The ECB sets the cost of borrowing for the 20 countries that use the euro. The cut, which was widely expected, is the seventh in the past year.
Inflation in the eurozone has tumbled from the record high reached in late 2022 to 2.2% year-over-year in March, coming within touching distance of the central bank’s 2% target.
Meanwhile, the Trump administration’s tariffs threaten to dampen economic growth around the world.
Continue reading at CNN.com
Can Trump fire Fed chair Jerome Powell? Here's what to know.
President Trump's latest social media tirade against Fed Chair Jerome Powell is raising the possibility of an unprecedented — and experts say prohibited — use of executive power.
Why it matters: Trump may want to remove the country's most powerful economic policymaker, but it won't be as easy as telling him, "You're fired!" He'd likely need an assist from the Supreme Court — one some of its conservative justices have already signaled they're open to providing.
Catch up quick: Trump took to Truth Social Thursday to blast Powell, a day after the Fed chairman warned Trump's tariff regime could reignite inflation.
Powell's assessment was a "typical, complete 'mess!,'" Trump wrote, adding, "Powell's termination cannot come fast enough!"
Context: The Federal Reserve Act, which established the Fed more than a century ago, spells out that the central bank's governors are to serve 14-year terms. They can only be dismissed for cause, which courts have generally interpreted to mean malfeasance, not policy disputes.
Powell, whose term runs through May 2026, has said removal of top officials from the independent central bank is "not permitted under the law."
Here is what to know about removing a Fed chair:
Continue reading at Axios
Trump's Fed independence paradox
President Trump's efforts to more directly control the Fed are coming at a perilous time, given the details of this economic moment.
The big picture: Trump wants the Fed to cut rates, but paradoxically, the more he succeeds at limiting its independence, the greater the risk of inflation expectations and long-term interest rates shooting higher.
The central policy question right now is whether the Fed should view inflation spurred by tariffs as a one-time shock or one that fuels longer-lasting price pressures.
If it's a one-time adjustment, the Fed can feel confident cutting interest rates to combat economic weakness — if the central bank maintains its credibility that it will do whatever it takes to keep inflation low in the long run.
This month, Treasury bonds have sold off amid doubts about the U.S. government's volatile trade policies. If Fed independence came into serious question, it would likely fuel further selling, causing long-term interest rates to rise — contrary to Trump's stated goals.
State of play: Besides Trump's latest social media posts, the Supreme Court is weighing a case that questions the constitutionality of independent agencies like the Fed.
The Federal Reserve Act states that Fed chair Jerome Powell and other governors cannot be fired except for cause — not over mere policy disagreements.
The Trump administration is arguing that the president has the authority to fire leaders of similarly structured agencies, including the National Labor Relations Board and Federal Trade Commission.
Continue reading at Axios
Bessent delivers private messages to White House on Powell
Any attempt to remove the Fed chair — a legally questionable option Trump considered in his first term — would feed instability in markets already woozy from the recent tariff whiplash.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has repeatedly cautioned White House officials that any attempt to fire Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell would risk destabilizing financial markets, according to two people close to the White House granted anonymity to share details of private discussions.
Bessent’s private message reinforces what President Donald Trump already knows but comes as the president’s anger with the Fed chair is growing because Powell hasn’t shown signs that he will cut interest rates soon. It also comes against the backdrop of widespread market turmoil over the administration’s far-reaching trade war.
Trump’s fury with Powell burst into public view on Thursday morning, when he said in a Thursday morning post on Truth Social that his “termination cannot come fast enough!”
But Powell’s job looks safe for now.
Any attempt to remove Powell — a legally questionable option Trump considered in his first term — would feed instability in markets already woozy from the recent tariff whiplash. Investor confidence that the central bank will make decisions based on the path of the economy rather than on short-term politics is a key underpinning of the U.S.’s global financial reputation.
Continue reading at Politico
European eggflation slows down as American prices surge under Trump
Prices are still rising in Europe — but not as fast as in recent years, and nothing like in the U.S.
BRUSSELS — The price of eggs is under control in Europe — just as President Donald Trump’s administration steps up an international egg hunt to combat shortages amid record prices in the United States.
Egg prices in the EU did increase over the past year, but at a slower rate than in years prior, the bloc’s stats agency Eurostat reported Thursday.
Egg prices in March were, on average, 6.7 percent higher in the EU than last March — an acceleration from the two preceding months. But even with these increases, the price rises are still much slower than in 2022 and 2023.
Still, the average figure masks huge national divergences — with egg prices up by 46 percent in Czechia in March from a year earlier, by 30 percent in Slovakia and by 26 percent in Hungary.
Prices fell by 3.6 percent in the Netherlands, by 3.2 percent in Luxembourg and by 2 percent in Greece.
Continue reading at Politico Europe
Trump promises a trade deal with Europe
“They want to make one very much,” the president said.
President Donald Trump and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni both expressed optimism during a White House meeting on Thursday about an eventual trade deal between the United States and Europe.
“There will be a trade deal, 100 percent,” Trump promised. “Of course there will be a trade deal. They want to make one very much and we are going to make a trade deal, I fully expect it, but it will be a fair deal.”
It marked the first time Trump publicly expressed confidence about trade negotiations with Europe, which he has frequently disparaged and accused of ripping off the U.S. on trade and not pulling its weight on defense. Thus far, he has prioritized talks with Japan, Korea and other Indo-Pacific nations in hopes of increasing pressure on China.
Meloni, the first European leader to visit the White House since Trump imposed and then paused a sweeping tariff regime against the European Union, noted that she couldn’t negotiate on behalf of the entire 27-member bloc but suggested that frank conversations would pave the way for an eventual agreement. European goods are still subject to Trump’s 10 percent global tariff on nearly everything imported into the United States.
“I’m sure we can make a deal,” Meloni said in front of journalists at the start of a lunch meeting. “I’m here to help with that.”
Continue reading at Politico
Pew Research Center
How Shifting Demographics Are Reshaping State Finances
It’s a truism that demography is destiny—and that includes the financial destiny of states. Although the population of the 50 states grew at its fastest rate in nearly a quarter of a century last year, increasing by almost 1% between mid-2023 and mid-2024, and nearly all states gained residents—driven mostly by domestic and international migration—these numbers don’t tell the full story. The long-term U.S. population trend is for slower growth. And this creates a reality check for state policymakers, as population shifts are tied to states’ finances—affecting both revenue and spending.
In fact, the population boost in both 2023 and 2024 obscures the demographic outlook of most states. Over the past 15 years, the population has grown at a slower rate: only 0.69% per year. And during those years, three states—West Virginia, Illinois, and Mississippi—actually lost residents. West Virginia’s population declined by almost 78,000, equal to 0.3% annually; Illinois lost over 86,000, or 0.05% a year; and the population of Mississippi fell by about 16,000 people, or 0.04% a year. The bottom line? Population growth nationally has been trending downward for decades, with most states grappling with steady slowdowns.
And the pace of population growth across states is expected to continue slowing. Data from the University of Virginia’s Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service projects that while only three states—Illinois, Mississippi, and West Virginia—will lose population from 2020 to 2030, that number is expected to increase sixfold over the 2030s and reach 24 by 2050. (These projections are based on the 2020 decennial census data and don’t reflect the pandemic-era swings in deaths, births, or domestic and international migration, nor recent policy shifts on immigration.) The Census Bureau also forecasts a steady slowdown in national population growth, which it attributes largely to the combination of declining fertility rates and rising death rates as baby boomers age.
Populations change because of shifts in the number of new residents—newcomers (from other states and abroad) and babies—versus those who died or moved away. For most of the 15 years ending in July 2024, the 50-state population growth was largely due to births outpacing deaths. But ever since the baby boom of 1946 to 1964, birth rates have generally been declining and the country has aged. As a result, migration—both domestic and international—plays a much more significant role in determining whether a state’s population grows or shrinks.
According to the Congressional Budget Office, although net immigration (the number of people coming from other countries minus the number of people who move out of the U.S.) is projected to account for all population growth in the United States beginning in 2033, it’s expected to slow in the years ahead. And the new federal administration’s proposed immigration policies add uncertainty to the complex mix of economic, policy, and geopolitical trends that shape migration patterns.
Continue reading at Pew Research Center
UnitedHealth Group stock drops sharply as it slashes earnings outlook
UnitedHealth Group’s stock dropped sharply on Thursday after the insurance giant slashed its earnings outlook for 2025.
The announcement led to a broad drop in the Dow Jones Industrial Average, which fell 527 points, or 1.3 percent.
The reason: People enrolled in its Medicare plans needed more care than anticipated.
For an insurance company, the less it pays out for its enrollees to get care, the more profit it makes.
“We all have to contend with the stubborn fact that health care costs more in the U.S. than it should, even beyond the widely recognized disparities in drug prices,” UnitedHealth CEO Andrew Witty said during an analyst call Thursday.
Witty did not downplay the results. He said the company’s first quarter performance was “unusual and unacceptable” and he would move aggressively to fix it. John Rex, the company’s chief financial officer, similarly said he was “extremely disappointed” in the company’s outlook.
Continue reading at The Hill
Health and Science News
Musk's baby machine: Inside his mission to spike the birth rate
Elon Musk has fathered at least 14 children with at least four women, intent on fighting civilizational collapse with a "legion" of genetically gifted offspring, according to an explosive new feature in the Wall Street Journal.
Why it matters: The investigation reveals new details on how the world's richest man has used his vast wealth and influence to recruit, manage — and at times silence — the mothers of his many children.
The big picture: Musk has been outspoken in his support for natalism, but his motivations — and certainly his methods — diverge from the family-first conservatism driving the broader movement.
Policies aimed at reversing America's declining birth rate have gained support within the Republican Party in recent years.
Musk and many Silicon Valley elites see promoting procreation as a civilization-saving project — one rooted in elite reproduction, human capital, and long-term survival through space colonization or AI.
Social conservatives like Vice President Vance champion natalism as a means of strengthening the nuclear family and Western culture, while some white nationalists frame it as a tool of demographic preservation.
Zoom in: Musk's obsession with producing babies in order to reverse population decline — a cause he has frequently promoted in public — has been on full display in his romantic relationships.
Continue reading at Axios
Note from Rima: Journalist Matt Novak’s thread is a recommended read.
NIH's retiring top nutritionist accuses RFK-run agency of "censorship"
A top National Institutes of Health scientist who specializes in nutrition and metabolism announced his sudden retirement after 21 years, citing censorship at the agency now headed by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Why it matters: RFK pledged "radical transparency" after being confirmed as HHS secretary, but NIH senior investigator Kevin Hall said Wednesday he has "experienced censorship" of his work and not enough support on his recent research into ultra-processed food addiction.
Researchers have in recent months raised concerns about the impacts of the Trump administration's DOGE-driven cuts that have seen thousands of jobs slashed across top U.S. health agencies, along with spending cuts and freezes to federal grants.
Now, health experts say the early retirement of "one of the most prominent nutrition researchers" at NIH could set back research into diet and chronic disease, per the New York Times.
What they're saying: "Unfortunately, recent events have made me question whether NIH continues to be a place where I can freely conduct unbiased science," said Hall in a statement posted to his social media accounts.
"Specifically, I experienced censorship in the reporting of our research because of agency concerns that it did not appear to fully support preconceived narratives of my agency's leadership about ultra-processed food addiction," he said.
Continue reading at Axios
Phaseout of animal testing offers moment of truth for "organs-on-chips"
The Food and Drug Administration's decision to phase out animal testing in drug development is being hailed as a potential game changer, even though proponents say it may take years to get to a point where alternative methods can be used for all applications.
Why it matters: Pharmaceutical companies and biotechs say other methods could accelerate the process for bringing cures to market and give them more flexibility and predictability.
In one instance, an "organ-on-a-chip" was shown to save the industry billions annually.
Driving the news: Last week, the FDA announced plans to phase out animal testing requirements for antibody therapies and other drugs and said companies that use other methods may receive streamlined product reviews.
It comes more than two years since Congress removed a mandate that companies conduct animal testing before human clinical trials.
However, FDA never updated regulations to reflect the change and left outdated rules in place, often calling for companies to provide animal testing anyway, industry experts say.
The new approach is one of the first initiatives launched by FDA commissioner Marty Makary. Bipartisan legislation recently introduced in Congress would also codify the change.
Between the lines: Alternatives to animal testing include methods such as organ-on-a-chip technology, AI models and human cell-based assays.
Continue reading at Axios
People with autism seek dignity where RFK seeks a cure
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. describes autism as a disease that needs a cure, but people with autism would rather that time and money be spent allowing them to live their lives with dignity and independence.
Why it matters: Kennedy's insistence that vaccines or other environmental factors led to increased autism diagnoses in children, despite mounds of research debunking the link, undermines decades of advocacy work people with autism have done on their own behalf.
"A lot of autistic people find that the idea of a cure, of making them not autistic anymore, is the same thing as proposing to make them a different person," said Zoe Gross, director of advocacy at the Autistic Self Advocacy Network, who has autism.
"It's like saying, 'you're not good enough and we're going to change you for our own comfort.' And we find that it's a message that is very detrimental to the self-concept, self-esteem of young autistic people."
Driving the news: One in 31 U.S. children age 8 or younger are now diagnosed with autism, according to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study released Tuesday.
This increase is attributed to improved screening and earlier detection.
Continue reading at Axios
3. Study: Statin use low in high-need patients
About 1 in 4 adults with very high cholesterol had no evidence of ever having taken lipid-lowering medication like statins, a large study from Epic Research found.
Why it matters: The American Heart Association and American College of Cardiology recommend doctors prescribe statins to patients with high LDL — or "bad" — cholesterol to prevent heart issues. Statins can be relatively inexpensive, with some generics costing patients less than $10 a month.
The big picture: The study adds to a body of evidence showing that people who could benefit from lipid-lowering treatment aren't getting it.
Almost half of patients ages 18-39 with very high cholesterol in the study sample did not have documentation of taking a statin.
What they did: Researchers examined more than 763,000 patients who received an LDL cholesterol test result at or above the level at which provider organizations recommended a statin prescription between January 1, 2019, and February 12, 2023.
Continue reading at Axios
States that enshrined Medicaid expansion in their constitutions could be in a bind
Missouri, Oklahoma and South Dakota will have to pick up the slack if the feds cut funding for the program.
As Republicans in Congress consider cutting the federal share of Medicaid funding, states are weighing numerous options to scale back their programs. But voters in three states have significantly limited those options by enshrining Medicaid expansion in their constitutions — creating a potential budget disaster and a political challenge for the GOP.
Over the past several years, voters in conservative Missouri, Oklahoma and South Dakota have amended their state constitutions to require their Medicaid programs to cover all adults below the age of 65 who earn equal to or less than 138% of the federal poverty level ($21,597 for an individual in 2025). Those states are among the 40 plus the District of Columbia that expanded Medicaid eligibility under the 2010 Affordable Care Act, with the federal government picking up 90% of the cost.
But much of that federal funding could soon vanish. Republicans in Congress are debating several options to achieve $880 billion in Medicaid cuts. One proposal would slash the 90% rate to the lower match rates states get for the traditional Medicaid population, mainly children and their caregivers, people with disabilities and pregnant women. Those percentages range from 50% for the wealthiest states to 77% for the poorest ones.
If Congress goes that route, states would have to come up with $626 billion over the next decade to keep the roughly 20 million people in the expansion population on the rolls.
Nine states (Arizona, Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Montana, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Utah and Virginia) already have laws on the books that would automatically roll back Medicaid expansion if the federal funds dip. Some states are considering requiring people to work, go to school or volunteer in order to receive Medicaid benefits, a condition that would trim the rolls and save money.
But because Missouri, Oklahoma and South Dakota have put Medicaid expansion in their constitutions, they can’t easily take those steps.
Continue reading at Stateline Daily
Polling- Surveys
Harris would lead California governor primary, but half say she shouldn’t run: Poll
Former Vice President Kamala Harris leads in a hypothetical gubernatorial primary in her home state of California, according to a new poll, but half of voters say they do not think she should enter the race to succeed term-limited Gov. Gavin Newsom (D).
The survey from Emerson College Polling/Inside California Politics/The Hill found 31 percent of those who plan to vote in the nonpartisan primary would pick Harris if she runs. Former Rep. Katie Porter (D-Calif.), who has already launched a bid, comes in second with 8 percent support.
Nearly 4 in 10 voters, 39 percent, are undecided in the race more than a year out from the primary. Republican Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco pulled in 4 percent support, while more than a dozen other names tested got 2 percent or less each.
Harris is viewed as the clear frontrunner for governor should she enter the race, but the poll found some reticience among voters. Fifty-percent in the poll said the former California state attorney general and U.S. senator should run for governor, while 50 percent said she shouldn’t.
Continue reading at The Hill
Nate Silver gives early nod to Ocasio-Cortez for 2028
Pollster Nate Silver revealed his early prediction for who he could see at the top of the Democratic Party’s 2028 ticket on Wednesday: Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.).
In a video and newsletter published to his “Silver Bulletin” Substack, Silver and former FiveThirtyEight podcast host Galen Druke both signaled that Ocasio-Cortez, 35, is the likely pick in the 2028 race.
“I think there’s a lot of points in her favor at this very moment,” Druke said. “In a Yale poll just out this week, [Ocasio-Cortez] has the highest net favorability rating of any of the Democrats that they asked about.”
Druke argued polls show the New York lawmaker has a broad appeal across the Democratic Party and there’s others who could “get on board with her.”
Their forecasting comes as the fiery progressive lawmaker has generated a lot of buzz in recent weeks while ramping up a message against President Trump, tech billionaire Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
Silver agreed with Druke, noting that Ocasio-Cortez was also going to be his top choice.
Still, they both cautioned that the Democratic primary leading up to the next presidential election is going to be a busy one where many people are putting their names in. They wonder how much support Ocasio-Cortez would lose once there are more people in the mix.
Continue reading at The Hill
FDA making plans to end its routine food safety inspections, sources say
The Food and Drug Administration is drawing up plans that would end most of its routine food safety inspections work, multiple federal health officials tell CBS News, and effectively outsource this oversight to state and local authorities.
The plans have not been finalized and might need congressional action to fully fund, said the officials, who were not authorized to speak publicly. Andrew Nixon, a spokesperson for the Department of Health and Human Services, denied that the FDA was making plans to do this.
Some FDA employees have been working on a possible shift of the agency's routine food efforts to states for years, one current and one former official said, which could free up resources to focus on higher priority and foreign inspections. The FDA already outsources some routine food inspections through contracts with 43 states and Puerto Rico.
"There's so much work to go around. And us duplicating their work just doesn't make sense," one former FDA official, who worked on the plans before leaving the agency and spoke on the condition of anonymity, told CBS News.
Continue reading at CBS News
The Courts / Legal
Conservative judge blasts Trump administration’s ‘shocking’ conduct in Abrego Garcia case
Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson’s ruling is the latest judicial rebuke of the administration’s failure to follow court orders.
The administration 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,” wrote Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson in an opinion for a panel of the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals.
“Further, it claims in essence that because it has rid itself of custody that there is nothing that can be done,” he wrote. “This should be shocking not only to judges, but to the intuitive sense of liberty that Americans far removed from courthouses still hold dear.”
Wilkinson, a Reagan appointee who has been on the bench for 41 years, is one of the nation’s most prominent conservative appellate judges. His seven-page opinion is the latest — and most scorching — judicial rebuke of the Trump administration’s aggressive moves to sidestep court orders in high-profile immigration cases.
Continue reading at Politico
Note from Rima: This is probably some of the best-written, most satisfying prose a judge has written in recent memory. Better, even, than Scalia used to write. Read all 7 pages for yourselves.
Supreme Court to hear arguments on Trump’s bid to start implementing his plan to end birthright citizenship
The court will consider a technical issue with potentially momentous consequences: the authority of lower-court judges to issue broad injunctions that block a president’s policies nationwide.
The Supreme Court will hear arguments next month on President Donald Trump’s bid to start enforcing his executive order that seeks to end automatic U.S. citizenship for some children born on American soil.
But the court is not — at least for now — formally assessing the constitutionality of Trump’s attempt to eliminate the right to birthright citizenship. Rather, the court will consider a more technical issue, but one with potentially momentous consequences: the authority of lower-court judges to issue broad injunctions that block a president’s policies nationwide.
Three federal judges separately issued nationwide injunctions against Trump’s birthright citizenship order. They said it blatantly violates the 14th Amendment, which has long been understood to guarantee citizenship to virtually anyone born in the U.S.
Last month, the Trump administration filed emergency appeals asking the justices to narrow or lift those injunctions. The administration argued that district judges have no authority to issue sweeping rulings that block policies nationwide.
In a terse order Thursday, the Supreme Court agreed to hold a special oral argument on May 15 on the question of district judges’ authority to issue such rulings. It is rare for the court to schedule arguments on emergency appeals, and the move is a sign that the justices are taking the Trump administration’s position seriously.
Continue reading at Politico
Democrats seek probe of DOGE's Social Security meddling
House Democrats are pressing the Social Security Administration's inspector general to open a probe into DOGE's tinkering with the agency, Axios has learned.
Why it matters: Social Security is an extremely sensitive issue that touches upon the financial security of millions of older Americans — a particularly politically active group.
As such, congressional Democrats have already homed in on the topic in ads going after their Republican counterparts.
Driving the news: House Oversight Committee ranking member Gerry Connolly (D-Va.), in a letter first obtained by Axios, cited new whistleblower allegations that DOGE is "putting SSA benefits and Americans' sensitive data at risk," including by:
Making changes to the agency's staff and technology that have "already degraded operations, leaving beneficiaries unable to access basic services and potentially disrupting Social Security payments."
Planning a "massive overhaul" of the agency's IT systems called "SSA 2.0" with "almost no advanced planning or transparency."
And building "a massive database using data from SSA" and other agencies, including the IRS and the Department of Health and Human Services.
Continue reading at Axios
Supreme Court to hear arguments over Trump's bid to end birthright citizenship
The Supreme Court will hear arguments next month over President Trump's efforts to restrict birthright citizenship.
Why it matters: The move represents an escalation in the legal battle over the Trump administration's bid to upend the the Constitution's 14th Amendment, which automatically confers citizenship to people born on U.S. soil.
These efforts are part and parcel of a the administration's broader immigration crackdown.
The big picture: In an order issued Thursday, the Supreme Court said it would hear oral arguments over the case on May 15.
Trump signed an executive order on his first day in office that sought to end birthright citizenship for children born to undocumented immigrants or foreign visitors in the U.S.
The order was quickly met with legal challenges, which resulted in temporary blocks on the order's enforcement. Last month, Trump asked the Supreme Court to overturn those lower court orders.
Zoom in: The Supreme Court deferred acting on Trump's request pending the oral arguments next month.
Continue reading at Axios
Judge rules Google holds illegal ad monopoly
It’s the latest in a series of blows by Washington against the trillion-dollar tech giant.
A federal judge ruled Thursday that Google holds an illegal monopoly in two online advertising markets — the latest in a series of blows by Washington against the trillion-dollar tech giant.
U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema wrote that Google violated U.S. antitrust law by “willfully acquiring and maintaining monopoly power” over parts of the web advertising ecosystem. Brinkema said Google illegally maintained a monopoly by tying together its ad server business, used by online publishers to manage ad sales on their sites, and its ad exchange business, which auctions off digital advertising space on websites.
The Department of Justice and 17 state attorneys general brought the case against Google in 2023, accusing the tech giant of leveraging its control of publishing tools and other crucial services to lock in an illegal monopoly in the almost $300 million U.S. market for digital ads.
The ruling represents Google’s second major antitrust loss in less than a year. In August, U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta found it illegally monopolized the online search and advertising markets over the prior decade.
Thursday’s loss — which Google contends was only a partial defeat — adds to a whole suite of issues facing the company in Washington. On Monday, Mehta is set to consider the Department of Justice’s request to break up the company over its control of the search market. And top Republicans in Congress are calling Google on the carpet over its perceived unfairness to conservatives, adding political friction to its legal challenges.
Brinkema threw out part of the online advertising case against Google Thursday, writing DOJ and the states failed to prove that the company held a monopoly in ad networks, platforms that connect advertisers to web publishers looking to host ads.
Continue reading at Politico
The return of Robert Hur
The former special counsel is representing Harvard University in its battle with the Trump administration, after drawing the ire of the left for his characterization of Joe Biden last year.
A lot has changed since Washington last heard from Robert Hur, the former special counsel assigned to investigate Joe Biden’s retention of classified documents.
It was last winter when Hur submitted his report concluding then-President Biden should not be charged with any crimes related to the discovery of classified materials in his post-vice presidency homes and office. But Hur’s characterization of how a jury would perceive Biden — “as a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory” — sparked outrage among Democrats. Four months later, during his only 2024 debate with Donald Trump, Biden’s disastrous performance appeared to vindicate Hur’s conclusions. Hur has made no public comments on the debate and has generally maintained a low profile since receiving a bipartisan tongue lashing from the House Judiciary Committee after the release of his report.
But now, many liberals and Biden allies find Hur fighting a new battle that puts them on the same side. This week, Hur reemerged as one of two high-profile Republican lawyers representing Harvard University in its confrontation with the Trump administration over federal funding.
Former Biden officials granted anonymity to speak candidly expressed support for Hur’s representation of Harvard, but they still have mixed feelings about his treatment of Biden.
“It’s good for anyone to push back on Trump abusing power and violating constitutional rights,” a former Biden administration aide said. “His treatment of Biden was wrong, but disagreeing about that doesn’t mean you have to oppose everything he does.”
Two former Biden administration officials, who had no issues with Hur going to work for Harvard, noted that the former special counsel’s description of Biden, however controversial at the time given the political context, holds up. “He was just being honest,” one of the former officials said.
Harvard’s selection of Hur is savvy, observers say. Hur’s co-counsel, William Burck, also has close ties to the White House and currently serves as the Trump Organization’s outside ethics adviser.
Continue reading at Politico
Anti-DEI-Whitewashing
Nothing to see here, yet.
General News
This Day in History: April 17
Canada Act proclaimed
The Canada Act, also known as the Constitution Act, took effect on this day in 1982, establishing certain individual rights, preserving parliamentary supremacy, and making Canada a wholly independent, fully sovereign state.
Continue reading at Britanica.com
How Trump orders seeking shortcuts in the regulatory process could expand presidential power
President Trump has sought to take shortcuts in the otherwise lengthy regulatory process via executive order that could mark a notable expansion in presidential power.
In recent weeks, Trump has directed federal agencies to withdraw various rules, sunset vast swaths of environmental protections and give regulatory exemptions to dozens of coal plants. Such moves would mean skipping the usual steps in the process of changing regulations, such as receiving feedback from the public and experts and undergoing a new rulemaking process to change the effective dates for a regulation.
Legal scholars described the orders as a “power grab.”
In particular, one presidential order that directed the Energy Department to repeal regulations on showerheads last week contained what scholars characterized as a stunning sentence: “Notice and comment is unnecessary because I am ordering the repeal.”
“That is truly an extraordinary assertion of power,” said Max Sarinsky, regulatory policy director at the Institute for Policy Integrity at New York University’s law school.
Continue reading at The Hill
Why the Cabinet secretary Trump world loves to hate isn’t going anywhere
Most Trump allies are trying to get Howard Lutnick ousted from his job. But his friendship with the president protects him.
When President Donald Trump has decamped to Mar-a-Lago during his second term, there’s one Cabinet secretary who’s joined him every single time. It’s the same man that the president summons to his table for ice cream sundaes most Friday nights to gossip and replay the week; the same man who was his first call to float some outlandish ideas, including annexing the Panama Canal and creating a $5 million “gold card” visa.
That man is Howard Lutnick. Yet talk to almost any Trump ally outside the White House and you’ll hear scant praise for the Commerce secretary. He’s brash and impulsive, catering to Trump’s worst instincts on tariffs that could jeopardize the economy, they whisper. His loud mouth is equally matched by his bad judgment, they steam. And he’s on the outs, his job hanging by a thread — or so the Trump orbit rumor mill goes.
But there’s more than a little wishful thinking among Lutnick’s detractors. While their knives have been out for Lutnick for months, some closest to the president say he’s not going anywhere — at least for now. His long, close relationship with the president — what Lutnick refers to as his “superpower” — has protected him amid the chaos of Trump world, even after the chaotic rollout of the president’s “Liberation Day” tariff policies that might have doomed any other Commerce secretary.
“They’re very simpatico on a lot of things. The president trusts him,” said one White House official, who, like others in this story, was granted anonymity to speak freely. The official dismissed the Lutnick haters as merely being jealous: “I think the discontent lies with people who are out of the loop.”
Trump and Lutnick’s relationship goes back at least three decades and spans both good times and bad. They became well acquainted at charity events around New York City and bonded after the Sept. 11, 2001, attack on the World Trade Center that left 658 of the one-time Cantor Fitzgerald chief’s employees dead, including Lutnick’s 36-year-old brother. When Lutnick was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma cancer in 2021, Trump frequently called to check on him while he underwent chemotherapy.
Continue reading at Politico
The ideological twist in Elon Musk’s tariff opposition
To flood the world with robotaxis and humanoid robots, Elon Musk needs open markets — and the kind of globalized trade Donald Trump’s tariff war is closing off.
Trade barriers could be deadly to Elon Musk’s vision of a future with billions of humanoid robots and self-driving fleets roaming the roads.
That’s not only putting him on a collision course with the president he helped put in the White House, it’s also creating an awkward alliance with the governor he left behind in California.
Gov. Gavin Newsom — whose progressive state policies drove the CEO to move both personal and business operations from California to Texas — joined Musk on free trade Wednesday, launching a lawsuit and accusing Trump of turning “his back on his supporters” over tariffs.
Newsom was poking at a political tinderbox in the White House. Musk’s hard line against Donald Trump’s sweeping, unpredictable trade policies sparked an online spat with the president’s trade adviser Peter Navarro.
“Having people within your own administration arguing with each other and calling each other morons is quite obviously not helpful,” said Republican strategist Doug Heye. “‘I’m a businessman. I don’t love tariffs’ — fine, OK, that’s pretty normal. It’s that next step that causes the real complications.”
Musk’s positioning may seem surprising as his companies are more insulated from tariffs than competitors, given their largely American production. But it speaks to how Trump’s signature policy push complicates Musk’s ambitious vision for his business empire — which still needs the rest of the world for irreplaceable components, including manufacturing gear and bespoke robotics parts, as well as international markets.
At risk is Musk’s ongoing efforts at Tesla to develop a far-reaching network of self-driving cars and AI-powered humanoid robots. Achieving the scale Musk has in mind — 10 billion robots by 2040 and more robotaxis than the number of cars it currently sells in the U.S. — will require open markets and the kind of unfettered trade Trump is undercutting.
Continue reading at Politico
An influential GOP senator is contradicting Trump’s team — and getting away with it
The Senate Armed Services Chair has found a way to appease the president and push back on the administration.
Sen. Roger Wicker, the high-profile Armed Services Committee chair, has proven a reliable ally to President Donald Trump by shepherding through his most controversial Defense Department choices and unabashedly praising many of his decisions. But even as he provides support, Wicker is quietly emerging as the Pentagon’s unlikely foil.
And it seems to be working.
The Mississippi Republican, in recent months, has swatted down a potential withdrawal of U.S. troops from Europe (others now warn against it); criticized Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth for undercutting Ukraine in peace talks (a rare public shaming of a top Trump official); and sought an investigation into officials’ use of Signal to discuss military operations in Yemen (the Pentagon’s inspector general has since launched a probe).
Wicker’s actions — unusual from a top lawmaker in any administration — are especially rare under Trump, who now wields unfettered influence over the GOP.
But the longtime lawmaker has made himself integral to Trump’s agenda — such as seeing through Hegseth’s contentious confirmation — and carefully placed blame on “mid-level officials” for Pentagon policies with which he disagrees. Wicker’s delicate dance reflects how traditional GOP defense hawks are learning to navigate the administration’s isolationist moves while trying to achieve their own more traditional agendas. The approach could give fellow Republicans a model as they strive to balance dissenting ideologies with a president who demands ultimate loyalty.
Wicker “has put himself in a very powerful place,” said a Republican senator granted anonymity to speak candidly about a sensitive issue. “The Pentagon, the White House need him.”
Continue reading at Politico
Canada’s first election debate opens with sparring over Trump
The American president loomed large during a party leader showdown near the close of a snap campaign.
MONTREAL — Canada’s Conservative leader invoked an old foe Wednesday in a high-stakes leaders debate dominated at times by the specter of Donald Trump.
“You’re just like Justin Trudeau,” Pierre Poilievre told Liberal Leader Mark Carney during Canada’s French-language debate in Montreal. The leader of Canada’s Conservatives insisted Carney, who recently replaced the deeply unpopular Trudeau as prime minister, would be more of the same.
But Carney was quick to remind his populist rival that the campaign is not about Trudeau.
“The question is who’s going to succeed in facing Donald Trump,” Carney said in French, brushing off his recent stint as Trudeau’s economic adviser.
“We are in a crisis. The most serious crisis of our lives,” Carney said. “We have to react with strength, which will allow us to succeed with Trump.”
Wednesday’s debate was the first of two nationally televised contests in Canada’s five-week election campaign, which has fixated at times on the damage Trump’s trade policy is inflicting on Canadians.
Trump’s trade war, accompanied by threats of annexation, have flipped the campaign, which earlier this year was expected to produce a strong majority Conservative government.
Poilievre has so far failed to close a polling gap with the Liberals — and he has taken criticism for focusing too little on Trump on the hustings. Instead, the Conservative leader has campaigned on affordability measures, arguing they persisted before Trump — and will outlast the president.
Continue reading at Politico
US Mideast allies face ‘worst-case scenario’ with Trump aid cuts and tariff whiplash
The withdrawal of aid by the U.S. and Europe could feed extremism and lead to a surge in emigration, experts warn.
ZARQA, Jordan — The sun pounded down on a single bulldozer and steel rods — all that remained on the deserted construction site of a half-built school.
Work on Safed High School, which was meant to accommodate around 1,500 students in Jordan’s second-largest city, suddenly stopped in late January when the world’s No. 1 aid provider, the United States, froze funds globally, with few exceptions.
The effect of the stoppage on this sprawling city, its inhabitants and contracted employees, home to Jordan’s first Palestinian refugee camp in the 1940s, was nearly immediate.
“Within just one day, we were laid off,” said one engineer who was granted anonymity to speak freely about the effects of the aid freeze.
U.S. President Donald Trump’s suspension of $40 billion in foreign aid days into his second administration — and subsequent large cuts — will be felt far outside Safed High School, and far beyond Jordan. Egypt, Israel and Jordan are among the top recipients of U.S. aid: In 2023, countries in the region collectively received nearly $4 billion from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).
Continue reading at Politico Europe
Vladimir Putin lauds Elon Musk as rare pioneer
Russian president praises the space entrepreneur (and Donald Trump adviser) as a great visionary.
Tech billionaire and Donald Trump administration adviser Elon Musk has won the admiration of another president: Russia’s Vladimir Putin.
Speaking to students at Bauman Moscow State Technical University on Wednesday, Putin described Musk as a rare visionary, according to Russian state-owned media outlet TASS.
“You know, there’s a man — he lives in the [United] States — Musk, who, one might say, raves about Mars,” Putin said.
“It is not often that such people, charged with a certain idea, appear in the human population,” he added, going on to compare Musk to Soviet rocket engineer Sergei Korolev, who led the USSR’s space program during the Space Race with the U.S. in the 1950s and 1960s.
It is not the first time Putin has praised Musk. In an interview with former Fox News anchor Tucker Carlson last year, the Russian president said there is “no stopping Elon Musk” and spoke of his desire to “find common ground” on areas such as artificial intelligence.
Musk, for his part, has been accused by Kyiv of parroting Kremlin talking points about Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine and spreading pro-Russian propaganda.
The tech entrepreneur, who rocketed to political prominence after backing Trump to win the 2024 U.S. presidential election, has condemned the provision of American aid to Kyiv without an “end game” and has repeatedly hit out at Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Continue reading at Politico Europe
Amid Trump’s tariff war, Germany’s next leader keeps faith in free trade
Despite Donald Trump’s lurch into protectionism and coercion, Friedrich Merz believes a transatlantic trade deal can still be done.
BERLIN — Stop us if you’ve heard this one before: A German political leader on the eve of taking power promises that free trade is the answer to the country’s economic challenges.
The approach worked for decades after World War II, as the export-driven Wirtschaftswunder propelled the then-West Germany to unparalleled prosperity.
Now, even as President Donald Trump launches the biggest trade war in a century, Germany’s next chancellor, Friedrich Merz, is betting that Europe can still do a free-trade deal with the United States. One which it can negotiate, moreover, from a position of strength.
“The best thing we can do is all work together to achieve zero tariffs on transatlantic trade. Then the problem will be solved,” Merz said in an interview on TV channel RTL after his Christian Democratic Union (CDU) agreed last week to form a coalition government with the Social Democrats (SPD).
For Merz, the trade headwinds blasting across the Atlantic couldn’t come at a worse time, with Europe’s largest economy facing a third year of recession.
On top of that, as the EU’s leading exporter, Germany and its auto industry are most exposed to Trump’s universal tariffs — 10 percent on most goods, along with 25 percent levies on steel, aluminum and cars. (Trump last week paused a higher, discretionary tariff of 20 percent against the EU for 90 days to open the way for trade talks.)
Merz, 69, has made long careers in both business and politics as a champion of the $1.6 trillion transatlantic trading relationship and the NATO alliance — which was conceived to keep America engaged in Europe while keeping Germany “down” and allowing it to grow into an export powerhouse. The trained lawyer headed the Atlantic Bridge, a German nonprofit, for a decade, and among other roles chaired the German arm of U.S. investment giant Blackrock.
Continue reading at Politico Europe
This ‘College Protester’ Isn’t Real. It’s an AI-Powered Undercover Bot for Cops
Massive Blue is helping cops deploy AI-powered social media bots to talk to people they suspect are anything from violent sex criminals all the way to vaguely defined “protesters.”
American police departments near the United States-Mexico border are paying hundreds of thousands of dollars for an unproven and secretive technology that uses AI-generated online personas designed to interact with and collect intelligence on “college protesters,” “radicalized” political activists, and suspected drug and human traffickers, according to internal documents, contracts, and communications that 404 Media obtained via public records requests.
Massive Blue, the New York–based company that is selling police departments this technology, calls its product Overwatch, which it markets as an “AI-powered force multiplier for public safety” that “deploys lifelike virtual agents, which infiltrate and engage criminal networks across various channels.” According to a presentation obtained by 404 Media, Massive Blue is offering cops these virtual personas that can be deployed across the internet with the express purpose of interacting with suspects over text messages and social media.
Massive Blue lists “border security,” “school safety,” and stopping “human trafficking” among Overwatch’s use cases. The technology—which as of last summer had not led to any known arrests—demonstrates the types of social media monitoring and undercover tools private companies are pitching to police and border agents. Concerns about tools like Massive Blue have taken on new urgency considering that the Trump administration has revoked the visas of hundreds of students, many of whom have protested against Israel’s war in Gaza.
404 Media obtained a presentation showing some of these AI characters. These include a “radicalized AI” “protest persona,” which poses as a 36-year-old divorced woman who is lonely, has no children, is interested in baking, activism, and “body positivity.” Another AI persona in the presentation is described as a “‘Honeypot’ AI Persona.” Her backstory says she’s a 25-year-old from Dearborn, Michigan, whose parents emigrated from Yemen and who speaks the Sanaani dialect of Arabic. The presentation also says she uses various social media apps, that she’s on Telegram and Signal, and that she has US and international SMS capabilities. Other personas are a 14-year-old boy “child trafficking AI persona,” an “AI pimp persona,” “college protestor,” “external recruiter for protests,” “escorts,” and “juveniles.”
Continue reading at Wired
Murkowski: ‘We are all afraid’ of upheaval, retaliation under Trump
Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) told a group of nonprofit leaders in her home state earlier this week that she is among many people she knows who are “afraid” about the upheaval President Trump has created in the federal government since taking office in January, and she worries about potential retaliation for criticizing the president.
“We are all afraid,” Murkowski told the group who attended an annual leadership summit in Anchorage. “It’s quite a statement. But we are in a time and a place where I certainly have not been here before.”
“And I’ll tell you, I’m oftentimes very anxious myself about using my voice, because retaliation is real. And that’s not right,” she said in comments reported by Anchorage Daily News.
Murkowski spoke about her personal anxiety about the chaos that has consumed Washington amid Trump’s first three months in office, during which he has signed 124 executive orders, slapped steep tariffs on allies and trading partners, clashed repeatedly with federal judges and overseen sudden cuts to federal agencies without input or authorization from Congress.
Continue reading at The Hill
House committee requests probe of health care union’s spending
The ask to the U.S. Department of Labor cites a POLITICO investigation into 1199SEIU President George Gresham’s use of union funds.
NEW YORK — The House Committee on Education and the Workforce is calling for an investigation into “improper financial practices” by the union 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East, citing recent reporting by POLITICO.
In a letter Thursday to a top federal labor official, committee Chair Tim Walberg (R-Mich.) expressed concern about “numerous troubling allegations” detailed in POLITICO’s investigation, which found union President George Gresham has for years used the organization’s funds to benefit himself, his family and political allies.
“These allegations regarding 1199SEIU’s expenditures on lavish travel, nepotistic arrangements, unexplained payouts to political allies, and concerts or events that do not benefit rank-and-file members, raise serious questions about whether the union and its officers have violated the law,” Walberg wrote in the letter to Office of Labor-Management Standards Director Elisabeth Messenger.
The nine-month investigation drew on the union’s self-reported financial disclosures to the U.S. Department of Labor, as well as interviews with more than 20 current and former employees, internal records reviewed by POLITICO and public social media posts.
A Labor Department spokesperson previously told POLITICO that the Office of Labor-Management Standards does not confirm or deny the existence of ongoing investigations, but is aware of the recent reporting on 1199SEIU.
Continue reading at Politico
FCC chief targets Comcast-owned outlets over ‘news distortion’
The Federal Communications Commission chief blasted news outlets owned by Comcast over their coverage of a case involving a mistakenly deported man that the Trump administration contends is a gang member who entered the country illegally.
“Comcast outlets spent days misleading the American public — implying that Abrego Garcia was merely a law abiding U.S. citizen, just a regular “Maryland man,” FCC chair Brendan Carr wrote in a post on social platform X. “When the truth comes out, they ignore it.”
Carr said Comcast, like all major media conglomerates that operate news divisions, “knows that federal law requires its licensed operations to serve the public interest.”
“News distortion doesn’t cut it,” he added.
Carr’s condemnation of NBC News and MSNBC’s parent company comes a day after President Trump issued a similar threat to the broadcast network and referenced Comcast’s plans to spin off its cable assets this year.
Continue reading at The Hill
Summers: ‘Any self-respecting Treasury secretary would resign’ over Trump Harvard IRS directive
Former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers said on Thursday that Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent should resign before he complies with President Trump’s directive for the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to revoke Harvard University’s tax-exempt status.
In a thread on the social platform X, Summers warned of the broader implications of using the IRS to target political opponents.
“Any self-respecting Treasury Secretary would resign rather have the Department be complicit in the weaponization of the IRS against a political adversary of the President,” Summers wrote.
“Harvard will endure and it is far, far from perfect, but if this directive is not withdrawn, the Administration will have taken another substantial step away from the rule of law and democracy,” he continued.
Continue reading at The Hill
Canada discovers uniting against Trump is the easy part
LETTER FROM MONTREAL — The night before Canada’s major party leaders were set to take the stage for the country’s first debate of the election cycle, they learned they’d be going on two hours earlier than planned.
The reason for the last-minute change? A consequential Montreal Canadiens game that conflicted with the much anticipated political fight. Only in Canada.
One of the most important elections in the nation’s history will take place on April 28, a contest that will test a new vision of Canadian nationalism in the wake of threats and tariffs from U.S. President Donald Trump. Liberal Party leader Mark Carney has managed to erase a 20-point deficit to take a commanding lead in the country’s polls, in large part due to this new sense of purpose — Canadians have their “elbows up,” Carney says, borrowing from a phrase familiar to all hockey fans.
But the fabric of Canada’s nationhood makes his one people, one country message complex and difficult to sustain. The debate on Wednesday evening was held in French, in the heart of French-speaking Montreal. An English debate follows this evening. One of the political parties represented on stage Wednesday, the Bloc Québécois, runs candidates only in Quebec and is explicitly separatist. Outside the debate hall on Wednesday, even against the backdrop of an election drenched in patriotism, there were few Canadian flags to be found — rather, onlookers waiting to welcome the four candidates were waving the flags of Quebec (Bloc supporters) and Palestine (protesters outside the debate facility).
Carney is preaching togetherness in a province with a significant number of voters who want to leave the nation entirely. And remarkably, many of them are buying his message. A banker who has never before been elected to office has quickly learned the intricacies of the political environment of Quebec, where French is the official and common language and where almost a quarter of Canada’s population resides.
As Philippe J. Fournier, the creator of statistical model of Canadian electoral projection 338Canada explains, about 35 percent of Quebecers self-identify as separatists. But the Bloc Québécois has less than 35 percent support in the province in this year’s election.
“Many separatists are supporting Carney,” Fournier says.
Continue reading at Politico Nightly newsletter
Hochul denounces ‘unacceptable’ taping of swastikas on Albany GOP headquarters
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) on Thursday denounced the vandalization of the state GOP headquarters in Albany. Police say an individual taped swastikas and a message that read, “If this is not what you stand for, prove it,” on the building’s doors and windows overnight.
“This is unacceptable. No one should ever resort to violence or vandalism to make a political point,” Hochul wrote in a post on the social platform X.
“Grateful for the swift response of the Albany Police Department to keep this location safe and hold those responsible for this despicable act accountable,” she added.
Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik (N.Y.) appeared to blame Democrats for allegedly motivating the crime with political rhetoric.
“New Yorkers haven’t forgotten that New York Democrats viciously and dangerously compared last year’s successful Trump Madison Square Garden Rally to Nazis and called President Trump ‘Hitler,’” she wrote in a post on Facebook, accompanied with images of the property.
Continue reading at The Hill
Hope Florida board meeting hijacked with porn, Nazi symbols
A Hope Florida board meeting held online Thursday was hijacked by trolls who broadcasted Nazi symbols and pornography during the Zoom video conference on an initiative championed by Florida first lady and possible gubernatorial candidate Casey DeSantis.
“We apologize for the earlier disruption to the public meeting,” the Florida Department of Children and Families (DCF) wrote in a note posted online after the 10 a.m. meeting was abruptly paused. “The Department of Children and Families is actively working to address the incident.”
The Florida Politics news site reported that the Hope Florida board was allowing public comment on the program when trolls began to bombard the stream with racist and lewd content.
The outlet reported an official said, “It looks like some of the public are trying to take over,” shortly before the meeting cut out. The meeting resumed shortly after 4 p.m. with added content controls.
Continue reading at The Hill
Trump extends federal hiring freeze for 90 days
The memorandum states that no civilian government role that is currently vacant will be filled, and no new positions will be created unless stipulated by the administration.
The freeze does not apply to military personnel or positions related to immigration enforcement, national security or the office of the president.
Trump signed a hiring freeze on Inauguration Day as part of a pledge to reduce the size of the government and to gain control over what allies saw as a bureaucrat-heavy workforce that was potentially not fully aligned with his agenda.
In the months since, various government agencies have moved to fire thousands of employees, including at the Department of Education, the Department of State, the Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Veterans Affairs.
Continue reading at The Hill
Gwen Walz on RFK Jr. comments: People with autism ‘contribute more to this nation than this man ever will’
In a Wednesday press conference on a recent report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Kennedy said “autism destroys families.”
“More importantly, it destroys our greatest resource, which [is] our children,” he added. “These are children who should not be, who should not be suffering like this. These are kids who, many of them were fully functional, and regressed because of some environmental exposure into autism when they’re 2 years old.”
“And these are kids who will never pay taxes, they’ll never hold a job, they’ll never play baseball, they’ll never write a poem, they’ll never go out on a date,” Kennedy continued. “Many of them will never use a toilet unassisted. And we have to recognize we are doing this to our children.”
Gwen Walz, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz’s (D) wife, responded to a video featuring Kennedy’s comments in a post on the social platform X.
Continue reading at The Hill
Note from Rima: As the mom of an adult with Autism, I join Mrs. Waltz in condemning Kennedy.
Trump floats wider IRS tax exemption crackdown
“Tax-exempt status, I mean, that’s a privilege. It’s really a privilege. And it’s been abused. By a lot more than Harvard, too,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office, calling Harvard “a disgrace” and also pointing to Columbia University and Princeton University
“I don’t believe they’ve made a final ruling but it’s — it’s something that these schools really have to be very, very careful with,” Trump said.
The IRS reportedly received an ask from the Treasury Department on Wednesday requesting the Ivy League school’s tax exemption to be rescinded, shortly after Trump suggested the idea on his Truth Social account.
Continue reading at The Hill
Trump administration places AmeriCorps staffers on administrative leave
The independent agency is under federal control and provides stipends for volunteers who respond to local, state and national challenges through service projects.
Interim agency head Jennifer Bastress Tahmasebi said in an internal email Wednesday that employees would be placed on an “excused absence” effective immediately.
“During the period that you are on administrative leave you are not to enter AmeriCorps premises, access AmeriCorps systems, or attempt to use your position or authority with AmeriCorps in any way without my prior permission or prior permission of a supervisor in your chain of command,” Tahmasebi wrote in the memo.
Only a small number of workers remain in place to help wind down operations, according to Bloomberg. A similar measure was used to shutter the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).
Continue reading at The Hill
‘People are dropping like flies’: CFPB begins laying off vast majority of staff
More than 1,500 staffers at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau are expected to be hit by the reduction-in-force effort, which kicked off Thursday, said a person familiar with the matter.
President Donald Trump’s administration is cutting the vast majority of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s workforce, according to a person familiar with the matter, reviving a push to overhaul the watchdog agency.
More than 1,500 staffers at the CFPB are expected to be hit by the reduction-in-force effort, which kicked off Thursday, said the person, who was granted anonymity to speak freely about a personnel matter. The CFPB had roughly 1,700 employees late last year. In a notice to affected employees, which was seen by POLITICO, acting CFPB Director Russ Vought wrote that the cuts are “necessary to restructure the Bureau’s operations to better reflect the agency’s priorities and mission.”
A CFPB official whose job was cut and was granted anonymity to discuss the layoffs said that as of late Thursday afternoon the notices appeared to still be going out.
“People are dropping like flies,” the official said.
The bureau has become a leading front in Trump’s crusade to shrink the federal government. Shortly after he took back the White House, the administration moved to shutter the CFPB — a brainchild of Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) that was set up in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis. Republicans, Wall Street titans and Elon Musk have long criticized the agency for what they say is its overly aggressive oversight of big banks, lenders and financial technology firms.
Continue reading at Politico
Maryland Sen. Van Hollen meets with mistakenly deported Kilmar Abrego Garcia in El Salvador
Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen says he has met with Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who immigration officials say was deported by error, in El Salvador on Thursday.
The senator shared a photo with Abrego Garcia at what appears to be a restaurant.
"I said my main goal of this trip was to meet with Kilmar," Sen. Van Hollen said. "Tonight I had that chance. I have called his wife, Jennifer, to pass along his message of love. I look forward to providing a full update upon my return."
Continue reading at CBS News
US citizen held by ICE despite judge seeing birth certificate
An American citizen was held in a Florida jail at the request of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) despite the county judge being able to see a U.S. birth certificate in court.
Juan Carlos Lopez-Gomez, who was born in the United States, was detained Wednesday in Florida by the state’s highway patrol and was charged with illegally entering the Sunshine State as an “unauthorized alien” under a state law that has been temporarily blocked by a judge, the Florida Phoenix news outlet reported Thursday.
Leon County Judge LaShawn Riggans said Thursday that despite the charge against Lopez-Gomez being dropped, she did not have the authority to release the 20-year-old because ICE asked Leon County Jail to hold Lopez-Gomez.
The judge inspected Lopez-Gomez’s birth certificate, which had been waived earlier in court by a supporter, saying “In looking at it, and feeling it, and holding it up to the light, the court can clearly see the watermark to show that this is indeed an authentic document,” according to Florida Phoenix.
Continue reading at The Hill
Newsom sues DOGE over AmeriCorps cuts, saying it ‘gives the middle finger to volunteers’
The California governor announced the legal challenge late Thursday and vowed to accelerate recruitment for the California Service Corps program.
It’s the Golden State’s second lawsuit against the White House in as many days.
The Trump administration placed all but a handful of senior AmeriCorps employees on leave on Wednesday as DOGE pursues sweeping spending cuts across the agency that deploys thousands of volunteers across the nation each year. Newsom cast the slashing as an affront to not only those workers, but to America as a whole.
“We’ve gone from the New Deal, the New Frontier, and the Great Society to a federal government that gives the middle finger to volunteers serving their fellow Americans,” Newsom, a Democrat, said in a prepared statement.
The lawsuit comes one day after Newsom and state Attorney General Rob Bonta made California the first state to sue Trump over tariffs in an aggressive move to challenge the president’s sweeping actions. California, the world’s fifth-largest economy, stands to lose billions to tariffs with major state industries from Silicon Valley to agriculture heavily dependent on global trade.
In announcing the lawsuit challenging the cuts to AmeriCorps, Newsom’s team framed the reductions — amid a lofty quote from the late President John F. Kennedy — as a competing and inferior agenda for the country’s emergency response.
“DOGE’s actions aren’t about making government work better — it’s about making communities weaker,” Newsom’s chief service officer Josh Fryday said in a statement. “These actions will dismantle vital lifelines in communities across California.”
Continue reading at Politico
Trump says Carter died ‘happy’ because he ‘wasn’t the worst president’
Carter died in December of 2024, earning the title of the longest living president in United States history. The former president from Plains, Ga., was revered by politicians on both sides of the aisles and earned a Nobel Peace Prize in 2002 for his efforts to promote awareness about human rights.
“Jimmy Carter died a happy man. You know why? Because he wasn’t the worst president, Joe Biden was,” Trump told reporters.
The president’s remarks were made in reference to his “reciprocal” tariffs, which he’s promised will boost the country’s economic growth by historic numbers in stark contrast to previous administrations.
“I think you’re going to see some fantastic numbers when this whole thing happens. It’s happening,” he said.
Trump previously said dozens of countries were calling to make a “deal” with the U.S. regarding efforts to improve trade relationships.
Continue reading at The Hill
Economic Analysis
Economist Jared Bernstein
Economist Dean Baker
Economist Mike Konczal
When Reality Isn't Bad Enough: Trump’s Fake ‘Private-Sector Recession’ of 2024
In which we dive into the labor market of 2024 and the question of whether an increase in health care jobs is evidence of or justification for a recession.
“Were we in a secret labor market recession in 2024? Was the labor market experiencing a ‘private-sector recession’ as the Trump administration took over? No. But as the reality of Trump's disastrous trade war and the growing threat of an actual recession set in, we’ll hear more of this excuse from Trump officials. It’s wrong—and worse, the Trump team's current actions represent the most harmful response possible to any underlying economic slowdown.”
The Federal Reserve vs. the Tariff Shock: What If It Isn’t Transitory?
As global supply chains fray and the economy veers towards recession, the Federal Reserve faces a different spin on a recent problem — one it can’t fully fix.
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Opinion: Thanks, George! Biden II would, indeed, have been a disaster... | Blog#42
Jake Tapper got himself an interview with George Clooney, the man who single handedly tanked Joe Biden’s bid for reelection last year, so late in the cycle that it is doubtful that any Democrat would have had the time to run a proper campaign. Clooney, an old hand at fundraising for Democrats, must have known it and decided to accuse Biden of what we all knew: old age, thereby forcing the party to turn against him and get him to exit left. Tapper was very delicate with Clooney, never once asking a tough question or getting Clooney to apologize to the rest of us. If anything, Tapper was the googoo-eyed fan boy interviewer.