Things Musk (and Trump) Did... Day 60 | Blog#42
Musk's Wisconsin portfolio...
Yesterday’s post
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Musk looms large in this Wisconsin judicial race
Democrats are spending heavily linking conservatives to Elon Musk in Wisconsin.
In the final 10 days of the high-profile state Supreme Court campaign, the Democratic Party of Wisconsin is blanketing the TV airwaves with two new ads that put Musk front-and-center. The ads, shared first with POLITICO and part of a seven-figure investment in Musk-related ads and events, link the billionaire and his Department of Government Efficiency to Brad Schmiel, the state’s former GOP attorney general who’s now running for the seat.
It’s the first big test of an emerging attack line for Democrats in a swing state, and it’s playing out in the most expensive state Supreme Court race in U.S. history, with the potential to swing the liberal-leaning court back to conservative.
“Elon Musk is out of control, and now the power-hungry billionaire is unloading millions to buy the Wisconsin Supreme Court,” the ad’s narrator says, citing the more than $7 million that a Musk-backed super PAC has dropped on the race. “He knows corrupt politician Brad Schmiel is for sale and will abolish the checks and balances that protect us.”
Continue reading at Politico
Democratic News Corner
Sanders, Ocasio-Cortez rallies setting stage for protest movement: Activist
Some Republican members of Congress have faced voter pushback
Two high-profile Congress members are taking advantage in swing districts
This could signal a larger protest movement, one activist says
There are signs to be read in the volatile town hall meetings that some Republican members of Congress are facing and in the tour of swing districts that Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) is undertaking with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), a progressive activist argues.
Both are indications voters are rejecting President Trump’s attempt to dismantle federal government through the efforts of billionaire Elon Musk, says Adam Green, co-founder of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee.
“We do a lot of polling. The economy is by far the highest on the list,” Green told “NewsNation Now” on Friday. “The idea that Donald Trump and Elon Musk are violating the Constitution in order to cut your Social Security, cut your Medicare, cut your Medicaid, cut your veterans’ benefits, in order to give Elon Musk a tax break, does very well.”
Green added that federal funding freezes imposed early in Trump’s second term alarmed voters to the extent that even conservatives are pushing back.
Continue reading at The Hill
Ocasio-Cortez takes on assertive new role as Democratic anger grows
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) is positioning herself in a leading role among Democrats as discontent grows among the party’s base in the second Trump era.
Ocasio-Cortez is on the road with Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) as part of their “Fighting Oligarchy” tour aimed at rallying Democrats. The progressive congresswoman has also been one of the loudest critics of Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer’s (D-N.Y.) decision to vote for a House GOP-drafted government funding bill last week, so much so that she’s been floated as a potential primary challenger against him.
While Ocasio-Cortez has given no indication that she would primary Schumer, her high profile and vocal criticism of the party’s status quo positions her as someone who could fill what critics say is a leadership vacuum within the party.
“Some of the most effective, strategic and response leadership happening in this moment is coming from Rep. Ocasio-Cortez and she’s doing it better than many Democrats that we see nationally,” said Abbas Alawieh, a senior progressive strategist. “She is reminding the party what real leadership that is responsive to the energy of movements actually looks like.”
Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez held their first joint rally on Thursday, taking aim at tech billionaire Elon Musk and Republican members of Congress.
Continue reading at The Hill
Audience Q&A at Sanders/Ocasio-Cortez rally
Interview of the week
The 10 theories driving Dems' identity crisis
Talk to 20 Democrats and you'll find each one has a different theory of why they lost the 2024 election and sent the party into a spiral, Axios' Alex Thompson writes.
Why it matters: It's hard to win if you don't know why you lost.
The party was cohesive in 2017 under a resistance banner. Now the finger-pointing goes in all directions. Ten theories:
It's all Joe Biden's fault. For president, the party ran a deteriorating 81-year-old incumbent who had to drop out roughly 100 days before the election. With such unprecedented headwinds, the party actually did OK after Biden left the race: Kamala Harris boosted party members' enthusiasm and avoided a wipeout. She lost the Electoral College by just 230,000 votes. Dems won Senate seats in four states that Trump won (Michigan, Wisconsin, Nevada, and Arizona).
It's all Kamala Harris' fault. She was a bad candidate in 2019 and many Democrats didn't see her as their strongest possible choice in 2024. Some believe the party should have had a mini-primary before its August convention — or taken its chances with Biden.
Continue reading at Axios
34,000 People. Biggest Political Rally in Denver Since 2008.
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker tries to chart a path for national Democrats to counter Trump
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (AP) — Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker sits at a table surrounded by University of Illinois researchers who will soon be out of work, their lab set to lose its federal funding and close next month. One researcher, saying she feels betrayed by the government, turns to thank Pritzker.
“My husband sometimes shows me videos of you talking,” says Aline Delpomdor, a research specialist at the university’s Soybean Innovation Lab. “This was the first thing that gave me hope — that someone is speaking out. Somebody is defending us.”
Pritzker, a billionaire heir to the Hyatt hotel empire, may seem like an unlikely champion for working-class people affected by the Trump administration. But he’s taken aim at President Donald Trump’s potential tax cuts, while backing universal health care and a higher federal minimum wage.
The governor used a statewide tour this past week to present a path forward for national Democrats struggling to unify around a strategy to counter the Republican president, highlighting the effects of Trump’s early actions in Illinois. The three-day swing included meeting with farmers in a central Illinois barn to discuss agriculture and with older adults in suburban Chicago who are concerned about Social Security cuts.
Continue reading at the AP
Yesterday’s news worth repeating
Detentions of European tourists at US borders spark fears of traveling to America
SAN DIEGO (AP) — Lennon Tyler and her German fiancé often took road trips to Mexico when he vacationed in the United States since it was only a day’s drive from her home in Las Vegas, one of the perks of their long-distance relationship.
But things went terribly wrong when they drove back from Tijuana last month.
U.S. border agents handcuffed Tyler, a U.S. citizen, and chained her to a bench, while her fiancé, Lucas Sielaff, was accused of violating the rules of his 90-day U.S. tourist permit, the couple said. Authorities later handcuffed and shackled Sielaff and sent him to a crowded U.S. immigration detention center. He spent 16 days locked up before being allowed to fly home to Germany.
Since President Donald Trump took office, there have been other high-profile incidents of tourists like Sielaff being stopped at U.S. border crossings and held for weeks at U.S. immigration detention facilities before being allowed to fly home at their own expense.
Continue reading at the Associated Press
Trump floats sending Americans to foreign prisons. Civil rights groups say that would be illegal.
Trump suggested on Truth Social that people charged with attacking Tesla could serve time in “lovely” prisons in El Salvador.
President Donald Trump has repeatedly floated sending American prisoners to serve prison sentences outside the country — this time threatening the people charged with vandalizing Teslas.
Civil rights groups say the move is illegal and life-threatening.
Trump’s suggestion on Truth Social on Friday to send the Tesla attackers to El Salvador marks an escalation of his already controversial use of foreign prisons, this time potentially targeting American citizens.
If put into action, the administration is likely to face yet another legal battle as it pushes the bounds of executive power in what civil and prisoners’ rights organizations are calling a “constitutional crisis.”
“There’s no precedent to send U.S. citizens elsewhere outside the country, to serve sentences in other prisons,” Insha Rahman, the vice president of advocacy at the decades-old criminal justice reform organization Vera Institute of Justice, told POLITICO. “It is so beyond the pale of anything contemplated by the Constitution or due process or the criminal courts.”
Continue reading at Politico
Trump's overflowing grudge list
Why it matters: From Day One, Trump has delighted in settling scores through the stroke of his pen — breathing life into his MAGA mantra: "I am your retribution."
The big picture: In the final days of the 2024 campaign, Axios identified a list of perceived adversaries who fit what Trump ominously described as "the enemies from within."
As president, he has taken steps to retaliate against virtually all of them.
White House principal deputy press secretary Harrison Fields told Axios: "As President Trump has made clear, his only retribution is success — and his historic achievements and soaring approval ratings prove it."
Political opponents
The Biden administration: Trump has revoked security clearances from former President Biden, Secretary of State Tony Blinken, National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan and deputy attorney general Lisa Monaco.
The FBI is investigating the Biden administration's handling of an EPA grant program, after a senior DOJ official resigned rather than pursue a criminal inquiry that she believed was baseless.
Continue reading at Axios
It’s not just impeachments. Republicans are eyeing other ways to rein in federal judges.
GOP leaders are seeking a release valve for the fury building over recent court rulings.
House Republicans don’t have the votes to impeach any federal judges. But a growing number of hard-liners is discussing several other legislative options as GOP leaders search for a release valve for the MAGA fury building over recent court rulings checking President Donald Trump.
Top Republicans are likely to put at least one bill, California Rep. Darrell Issa’s “No Rogue Rulings Act,” on the floor in early April, according to two people granted anonymity to discuss scheduling plans. The legislation would crack down on the ability of lower-court judges to issue far-reaching injunctions.
That is seen by Speaker Mike Johnson and other House Republican leaders as a viable outlet as they sort out the way forward on the judicial impeachments that have been endorsed by Trump and his billionaire ally Elon Musk. A spokesperson for Johnson said the speaker and the Judiciary Committee are reviewing “all available options … to address this urgent matter.”
Continue reading at Politico
Commerce secretary: No one but ‘fraudsters’ would complain about missed Social Security check
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick raised alarm over “fraudsters” receiving Social Security benefits, as Trump allies have ramped up rhetoric about potential waste in the program amid a major restructuring effort at the agency that oversees the program.
During an appearance on the “All-In” podcast that was released on Thursday, Lutnick said the government doesn’t “have to take one penny from someone who deserves Social Security, not one penny for someone who deserves Medicaid, Medicare.”
“What we have to do is stop sending money to someone who’s not hurt, who’s on disability for 50 years,” he claimed. “It’s ridiculous, and they have another job.”
At one point in the wide-ranging, nearly two-hour conversation, Lutnick also said that if Social Security “didn’t send out their checks this month,” his “mother-in-law, who’s 94, she wouldn’t call and complain.”
“She’d think something got messed up, and she’ll get it next month. A fraudster always makes the loudest noise, screaming, yelling and complaining,” the billionaire businessman said.
Continue reading at The Hill
Homeland Security revokes temporary status for 532,000 Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans
The Department of Homeland Security said Friday that it will revoke legal protections for hundreds of thousands of Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans, setting them up for potential deportation in about a month.
The order applies to about 532,000 people from the four countries who came to the United States since October 2022. They arrived with financial sponsors and were given two-year permits to live and work in the U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said they will lose their legal status on April 24, or 30 days after the publication of the notice in the Federal Register.
Continue reading at the AP
Today’s news
Democrats, lawyers left reeling from Paul, Weiss firm’s Trump deal
A Washington Post editorial appeared earlier this week headlined “Trump’s efforts to intimidate the legal profession cannot stand.”
Within 48 hours later, those efforts were not merely standing. They had worked — at least in one case.
The major law firm of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison (called Paul, Weiss), targeted by President Trump in an executive order, opted to mollify rather than confront the president. In short, it backed down.
Democrats, as well as many lawyers, are grappling with the implications.
Paul, Weiss agreed to provide $40 million in pro bono work on causes backed by the administration and to hire an outside expert to audit its hiring and employment practices.
After the firm had made those concessions, and some others, Trump agreed to lift an executive order that would have taken away security clearances from the law firm’s staff.
On social media, critics accuse the law firm of giving in to a “shakedown” or “extortion” by Trump.
Continue reading at The Hill
Efforts to save Department of Education move to courts
Trump cannot abolish the department without an act of Congress, and it is not clear that legislation doing so could get through Congress.
Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) nonetheless on Friday said he would seek legislation to end the department, even as Trump through executive action attempts to hollow out a government agency that had more than 4,000 employees just months ago.
“I expect that any actions to shutter the agency or to dismantle it will be challenged in the courts, and those challenges will prevail,” Julie Margetta Morgan, a former deputy under secretary of Education during the Biden administration, told The Hill earlier this month.
“I think the other thing to think about here is that the decision to dismantle the Department of Education is incredibly unpopular, and people need to continue to voice their concerns about that and their displeasure with the Trump administration’s efforts and to hold policymakers accountable,” she added.
Continue reading at The Hill
Federal prosecutors in Manhattan may soon find out if their future boss bows to Trump
Will Jay Clayton succumb to pressure from Trump’s DOJ, or will he defend his future office’s maverick streak?
NEW YORK — Manhattan federal prosecutors, nerves shaken in recent weeks by clashes with Justice Department officials in Washington, have been asking themselves one question: What will Jay Clayton do?
Clayton is President Donald Trump’s nominee to be the U.S. attorney for Manhattan. If confirmed by the Senate, he will lead one of the most powerful prosecutorial offices in the country — one that prides itself on its independence.
But for the rank-and-file prosecutors in the office, the intentions of Clayton — who has never worked as a prosecutor — are a mystery. Some have grown increasingly concerned that, rather than guarding the office’s independence, he is inclined to enforce obedience to the Trump agenda being handed down from DOJ headquarters.
On the one hand, Clayton, 58, is seen as an affable, experienced and principled lawyer with serious credentials, albeit not in criminal law. He led the Securities and Exchange Commission without significant controversy during the first Trump administration — and he even promoted diversity, equity and inclusion measures there. Since then, he has been a top lawyer at one of the most prestigious law firms in the country.
Prosecutors in the Manhattan U.S. attorney’s office, known formally as the Southern District of New York, initially viewed him as a largely benign pick, believing him to be better qualified than many of Trump’s other nominees for law enforcement jobs.
On the other hand, a few recent developments have caused some people at SDNY to lose confidence in him — before he’s even in the job. The firm where Clayton works, Sullivan & Cromwell, has recently forged close ties to Trump, agreeing to represent the president as he appeals his criminal conviction in the Manhattan hush money case. Clayton has tried to recruit another lawyer at the firm to be his deputy U.S. attorney.
Continue reading at Politico
The best time to sell your house, based on where you live
U.S. homes listed late last May sold for 1.6% more — typically $5,600 — than any other time of year, according to a new Zillow report.
Why it matters: Mortgage rates remain elevated this spring.
Some shoppers have adjusted to higher rates, though many still feel priced out or find few options available.
The big picture: The "best time to sell," per Zillow researchers, depends on where you live.
Last year, it was as early as March in metro areas including San Diego (+2%) and Austin, Texas (+2.3%), and as late as November in Phoenix (+1.4%).
The intrigue: A national analysis by Realtor.com found the ideal week to list is coming up between April 13 and 19.
See the chart and continue reading at Axios
‘Principled and fair’: Judge Boasberg had nonpartisan record before facing Trump’s fury
As the chief judge for the federal court in Washington, DC, Boasberg is well-liked in wonky legal circles and in the courthouse community. He’s a former law school roommate of Brett Kavanaugh and his personality has poked through his rulings with quirky uses of Star Trek quotes and Fugees lyrics.
Even with 23 years as a judge in DC, Boasberg is very far from a household name.
That all changed last week when Boasberg was randomly assigned a case that put him at a loggerheads with President Donald Trump and his administration’s efforts to use colonial-era laws and send undocumented immigrants to a notorious prison in El Salvador.
His attempts to reign in Trump administration officials who appeared to violate his orders with controversial deportation flights to El Salvador earned him the unwanted position of being the target of Trump’s red-hot fury. In a series of social media posts, Trump smeared Boasberg as a “Radical Left Lunatic Judge” and called for his impeachment, drawing a rare rebuke from Chief Justice John Roberts.
You wouldn’t know it from Trump’s angry reaction, but plenty of Boasberg’s past rulings and actions have actually aligned with the president’s political interests.
Boasberg was known for giving lenient punishments to January 6 rioters. In Trump’s first term, he released FISA court materials that exposed huge problems with the FBI’s probe into connections between Trump’s 2016 campaign and Russia’s election meddling. He also paved the way for conservative groups to obtain some of Hillary Clinton’s emails from her private server.
Continue reading at CNN
What the data says about the U.S. Department of Education
As the main conduit for federal aid to public K-12 schools and a major lender to college students, the Education Department’s work directly or indirectly affects millions of American families. Here are answers to some common questions about the department:
As the main conduit for federal aid to public K-12 schools and a major lender to college students, the Education Department’s work directly or indirectly affects millions of American families. Here are answers to some common questions about the department:
Continue reading at Pew Research Center
Trump envoy claims Ukraine ‘agreed’ to hold presidential elections
In interview with Tucker Carlson, Steve Witkoff also says it is “largely accepted” that NATO membership for Ukraine is not an option.
U.S. President Donald Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff asserted that Kyiv has "agreed" to organize presidential elections in Ukraine, without providing details or evidence backing his claim.
In an interview with former Fox News anchor Tucker Carlson that aired late Friday, Witkoff stated that "there will be elections in Ukraine," adding the war-torn country's leadership had "agreed to it."
The Trump administration has been ramping up pressure to force Ukraine's hand into organizing a wartime election, which the country is constitutionally barred from doing.
The American president has described his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, as a "dictator without elections" — an assertion aligned with Russian-backed narratives that have sought to undermine the legitimacy of Ukraine's leadership.
Continue reading at Politico Europe
Why Zelenskyy won’t wear a suit
All clothing sends a message, and the Ukrainian president’s is that he’s standing by his people as long as the war continues.
KYIV — The last time Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wore a suit was early on Feb. 24, 2022, when he posted a video announcing martial law as Russia launched its full-scale invasion.
Since then, Zelenskyy has largely sported combat-style black, gray or khaki cargo pants, boots, sweatshirts and polos decorated with Ukrainian national symbols.
That leaves him strikingly underdressed compared to his peers. Yet that’s the point.
“When world leaders see Zelenskyy in military style, it is a signal — ‘Ukraine is at war and I am part of this fight,'” Elvira Gasanova, designer of the Damirli brand that is one of Zelenskyy’s signature looks, told POLITICO.
“A persistent call to return to the suit is a de facto demand to return to the usual format of political dialogue, which means ‘enough of war, sit down at the negotiating table,’” Gasanova added.
Continue reading at Politico Europe
Musk’s X suspends opposition accounts in Turkey amid civil unrest
Suspensions affect accounts spreading information about the widespread demonstrations.
Elon Musk's social media platform X has suspended several accounts belonging to opposition figures in Turkey amid widespread civil unrest in the country.
Musk, a self-proclaimed protector of free speech, said he acquired X to restore free speech on the platform.
The suspensions come after extensive demonstrations were sparked by the arrest earlier this week of Turkish President Tayyip Erdoğan's main political rival, Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu. İmamoğlu was arrested just hours before he was nominated to be the presidential candidate for the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP).
The opposition protests have spread despite the government banning gatherings for four days.
Continue reading at Politico Europe
World’s cartoonists on this week’s events
View at Politico Europe
NASA weighs doing away with headquarters
The plan would shift responsibilities to the states and could mean no space agency presence in Washington.
NASA is weighing closing its headquarters and scattering responsibilities among the states, a move that has the potential to dilute its coordination and influence in Washington.
The overhaul of the space agency, according to two people familiar with the plan, seeks to adhere to the Trump administration’s desire to cut federal spending. The proposal could affect up to 2,500 jobs and redistribute critical functions, including who manages space exploration and organizes major science missions.
While much of the day-to-day work occurs at NASA’s 10 centers, the Washington office plays a strategic role in lobbying for the agency’s priorities in Congress, ensuring the White House supports its agenda and partnering with foreign countries on critical space projects.
Some of the headquarter’s offices might remain in Washington, the people said, but it’s not clear which ones those would be or who would keep their jobs.
“The biggest fear if you’re NASA is you lose that connectivity,” said Tom Culligan, a longtime space lobbyist, about an agency reshuffle.
Continue reading at Politico
Japan, China and South Korea discuss trilateral cooperation
The three-way meetings are an accomplishment for Japan, which has historical and territorial disputes with both China and South Korea. Iwaya said he will accelerate efforts toward achieving a leaders’ summit in Japan later this year.
Separately, delegations from Japan and China later Saturday held their first high-level economic dialogue since April 2019, attended by dozens of officials from finance, economy, transportation, environment, health and labor ministries.
Expanding cooperation into new areas and strengthening of communication are key to promoting comprehensive and mutually strategic relations between Japan and China, Wang said.
But the global economy now faces serious changes, with unilateralism and protectionism accelerating and politicizing of science and technology, as well as expansion of national security have become rampant, Wang said in an apparent criticisms to Trump.
Continue reading at the AP
Note from Rima: This is the corollary to the EU, Britain, and Canada joining forces in Trump-proofing their economies and security
Trump wants a ‘Golden Dome’ capable of defending the entire US: ‘Strategically, it doesn’t make any sense’
US military officials are scrambling to develop a “Golden Dome” defense system that can protect the country from long-range missile strikes and have been told by the White House that no expense will be spared in order to fulfill one of President Donald Trump’s top Pentagon priorities, according to multiple sources familiar with the matter.
“Golden Dome” is the Trump administration’s attempt to rebrand vague plans for developing a missile defense system akin to Israel’s Iron Dome.
At a time the Pentagon is looking to cut budgets, the Trump administration has ordered military officials to ensure future funding for “Golden Dome” is reflected in new budget estimates for 2026 to 2030 – but the system itself remains undefined beyond a name, the sources said.
“Right now, Golden Dome is, it’s really an idea,” one source familiar with internal discussions about the project said, adding there may be technology in the pipeline that, if ever scaled up, could apply to it, but as of now discussions are purely conceptual.
That makes projecting future costs nearly impossible, the source added, though it would likely cost billions of dollars to construct and maintain.
Trump has repeatedly insisted the US needs a missile defense program similar to Israel’s Iron Dome, but the systems are orders of magnitude apart. In practical terms, the comparison is less apples to oranges, and more apples to aircraft carriers.
Continue reading at CNN
Food banks scramble after USDA halts $500 million in deliveries
In the coming weeks, the shelves at dozens of food pantries in California’s Fresno County will be a little emptier. Visitors won’t be able to take home as many groceries, and their bags will contain fewer nutritious items like chicken, eggs, milk and cheese.
That’s largely because the US Department of Agriculture has halted $500 million in deliveries to food banks nationwide that the Biden administration announced last year, multiple food banks told CNN.
The Central California Food Bank, which distributes food to 60 pantries in the county, recently learned that 13 truckloads of groceries – worth $850,000 – set to be delivered between April and July were canceled. It comes at a time when many residents are struggling to afford food since supermarket prices remain high, said Natalie Caples, the food bank’s co-CEO.
“My food bank in Fresno can’t magically come up with $850,000 and 500,000 pounds of food to backfill that cancelation,” Caples said, noting that the nonprofit is already running at a deficit. “It means neighbors are getting less food when they show up at these distribution sites, and they’re getting a lesser variety of foods.”
Continue reading at CNN
2. 👀 Trump's 2025 seeks to reverse LBJ's 1965
President Trump has embarked on a systematic effort to unravel Lyndon B. Johnson's civil rights legacy, rolling back protections that have shaped American life for nearly six decades, Axios' Russell Contreras writes.
Why it matters: The Trump administration's aggressive push to reverse LBJ's signature achievements could radically alter how communities of color confront discrimination in a diversifying America.
"This is not as much about dismantling the policies of Bill Clinton or Barack Obama or Joe Biden," Mark K. Updegrove, the LBJ Foundation's president and CEO, tells Axios. "It's dismantling the Great Society."
🔭 The big picture: Two months into his term, Trump has already overturned, weakened or targeted LBJ policies on voting rights, desegregation, the environment, immigration, education, affirmative action and health care.
Within hours of taking office, Trump revoked LBJ's 1965 executive order mandating "equal opportunity" for people of color and women in the recruitment, hiring and training of federal contractors.
Trump's new order triggered sweeping changes to anti-discrimination rules — including a little-noticed memo stating that the federal government no longer would unequivocally prohibit contractors from operating "segregated facilities."
1965: Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act after the attack on unarmed peaceful demonstrators in Selma, Ala.
Continue reading at Axios
7. ⚖️ Equal rights fight under Trump 2.0 shifts to the states
Equal Rights Amendment advocates see a bleak political landscape: Instead of focusing on the Constitution, many are zooming in on the states, Axios' Natalie Daher reports.
👀 Why it matters: The century-long fight for sex equality under U.S. law faces new challenges as the Trump administration guts DEI initiatives and rolls back civil rights measures.
Advocates tell Axios that neither litigating before the conservative Supreme Court nor attempting a two-thirds majority in a deeply polarized Congress is an immediate winning strategy.
Continue reading at Axios
Fungus labeled ‘urgent threat’ by CDC is spreading rapidly, hospital study finds
New cases of a dangerous, drug-resistant fungus have been identified in at least two states’ hospital systems.
Candida auris, also called C. auris, was first identified in the U.S. in 2016. Since then, the number of cases have increased every year, jumping substantially in 2023 (the last year of data available from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention).
Recently, cases have proliferated in Georgia, the state’s health department told local news outlet WJCL. A study published this week, which focused on the Jackson Health System in Miami also found cases of the fungus have “rapidly increased.”
Continue reading at The Hill
Where Does the Left Go After Bernie Sanders? Zohran Mamdani May Have the Answer.
Zohran Mamdani may not win his election, but he could offer a strategy to the left.
One frigid night in February, a Brooklyn comedy club is packed and buzzing. The usual pleasure-seekers with beanies, scattered facemasks and tech-adjacent professions. The usual jokes about polycules and all genders being equivalently attractive — male, female and Italian. (Don’t think too hard about it.)
But here comes the headliner with a bit you don’t usually hear in a casual place like this: “This morning, the City of New York wired our campaign $2.8 million in matching funds.”
It’s Zohran Mamdani, the 33-year-old democratic socialist and upstart NYC mayoral candidate who is comfortable taking stages stuffier politicians wouldn’t. In search of voters, particularly fickle young ones who need a jolt to stop doomscrolling, this former rapper and current state assemblymember will leap onto nontraditional platforms like this one. Or into the winter waters of Coney Island in a business suit for Instagram (“I’m freezing … your rent as the next mayor of New York City!”). Or into interviews with Trump voters on the street like an influencer with a microphone, not to debate them but to understand them — and, in some cases, to win them over.
Continue reading at Politico
Trump hangs sword of Damocles over the American legal system
Trump is directing Attorney General Pam Bondi to target lawyers and law firms “who engage in frivolous, unreasonable, and vexatious litigation against the United States.”
President Donald Trump is doubling down on his threats against the American legal system, directing Attorney General Pam Bondi to take action against lawyers and law firms that go against him.
Trump’s administration has taken an increasingly adversarial stance toward the legal system, including both judges who have ruled against his policies and lawyers and firms that he has viewed as wronging him.
The memo circulated late Friday, entitled “Preventing Abuses of the Legal System and the Federal Court”, marks an escalation of Trump’s crackdown on law firms he believes have crossed him, now threatening the full power of the Department of Justice to punish them.
“Lawyers and law firms that engage in actions that violate the laws of the United States or rules governing attorney conduct must be efficiently and effectively held accountable,” the memo reads.
In it, Trump directs Bondi to seek sanctions against lawyers and law firms that “engage in frivolous, unreasonable, and vexatious litigation against the United States.” He also pushes Bondi and Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem to “prioritize enforcement” of proper attorney conduct.
Continue reading at Politico
Trump demands Maine governor apologize — or the state will face consequences
The Trump administration has sparred with Maine and singled out its governor in recent weeks over his order banning trans athletes from playing in women’s sports.
The president in a Saturday morning Truth Social post demanded Mills deliver a “full throated apology” for her earlier comments and promise to never pose a “challenge” to the federal government again.
“While the State of Maine has apologized for their Governor’s strong, but totally incorrect, statement about men playing in women’s sports while at the White House House Governor’s Conference, we have not heard from the Governor herself, and she is the one that matters in such cases,” Trump wrote. “Therefore, we need a full throated apology from the Governor herself, and a statement that she will never make such an unlawful challenge to the Federal Government again, before this case can be settled.”
It was not clear what apology from the state of Maine he was referencing, or what apparent case was being settled. The White House declined to comment on the president’s post or clarify what consequences the governor and her state could face for not apologizing.
Continue reading at Politico
Kitty Dukakis, wife of former governor and presidential candidate, dies at 88
Dukakis won high marks as a political campaigner during her husband’s 1988 presidential efforts, stumping tirelessly for him.
GOP grapples with mounting frustration over DOGE cuts
Republicans are facing mounting voter frustration with Trump administration cuts made under tech billionaire Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
The anger has spilled out into public view in recent days as Republican lawmakers have been confronted over the cuts at raucous town halls. And multiple polls have suggested that, while voters are open to the broader idea of a federal downsizing, they’re concerned by the implementation of DOGE’s efforts.
Now Republicans are grappling with the political danger DOGE poses heading into the midterms — especially amid fears that many of the people impacted come from areas that voted for Trump.
“There’s gonna be real job losses that we’re not measuring yet, but we’re going to in the coming weeks and months,” Republican strategist Doug Heye said of the DOGE cuts. “And where that has an impact, especially in specific communities … that makes their life harder for the reliable voter, typically, for Trump. That kind of slow burn, I think, could have an impact.”
Continue reading at The Hill
Former NATO commander on Trump giving up alliance role: ‘Nothing could make the Kremlin happier’
Former NATO Supreme Allied Cmdr. Wesley Clark weighed in on a report that President Trump’s administration is considering drastically changing its military combatant command structure, arguing the potential decision would hinder the military cooperation between the U.S. and Europe and satisfy the Kremlin.
“It’s the critical linkage between the United States, our nuclear forces, U.S. forces and Europe. And so get rid of that position. You decouple the United States from NATO. You take away intelligence, you take away the ability to work with U.S., channels and NATO channels simultaneously,” Clark said during his Friday night appearance on NewsNation’s “Elizabeth Vargas Reports.”
“Nothing would make the Kremlin happier, and the Americans get and you don’t save anything, because as NATO commander, my expenses were definitely my salary,” Clark said on Friday. “Most of my expenses were paid by Belgium and by NATO common funds. So there’s no big savings in this. It’s just a gift to Mr. Putin.”
Continue reading at The Hill
The snacking recession: Why Americans are buying fewer treats
Americans are snacking less — and that's a problem for the packaged food industry.
Why it matters: After years of inflation, consumers are recoiling, fed up with food price increases and suddenly immersed in economic uncertainty.
Driving the news: General Mills on Wednesday became the latest food giant to sound the alarm about what CEO Jeff Harmening called a "slowdown in snacking."
The company's net sales fell 5% in its latest quarter, with U.S. snacks sales down "mid-single digits."
"Our view is that a lot of that has to do with consumer confidence," Harmening said.
State of play: Other signs of a snacking slowdown:
J.M. Smucker's sales of sweet baked snacks fell 7% in the company's most recent quarter to $278.6 million.
Continue reading at Axios
CNN analyst says ‘big problem’ if Trump didn’t sign deportation orders
CNN political analyst Elie Honig is questioning President Trump over his recent deflection on how the 1798 Alien Enemies Act was invoked by the administration to speed up the deportation of Venezuelan migrants allegedly linked to gang activity.
Trump, speaking to reporters on Friday, suggested that “other people” handled the proclamation, pointing to Secretary of State Marco Rubio. He added that Rubio “has done a great job, and he wanted them out and we go along with that … We want to get criminals out of our country.”
Asked by CNN’s Kaitlan Collins what he believes the president was referring to, Honig brushed off the White House’s argument that he was referring to the original law.
“Was he telling us that, ‘I’m not John Adams, the guy who signed it back in 1798?’ … The obvious thing he was saying here is, “I did not sign this proclamation that was used last week to deport these aliens,” Honig said Friday on CNN’s “The Source.”
“If that’s true, if Donald Trump did not actually sign that proclamation, it’s a big problem because the law specifically requires a proclamation by the president,” he added.
Continue reading at The Hill
US federal workers split on support for Trump’s return to office mandate: Survey
The Washington Post-Ipsos poll, published earlier this week, found that half of Americans in the federal workforce oppose a five-day in-office mandate while the other 49 percent are supportive of the effort.
Among those who said their work could be done at home, an overwhelming majority, 85 percent, were not supportive of the administration’s push to return to office. Among employees who said their work cannot be done in a remote setting, 70 percent said they support the mandate, per the survey.
Tech billionaire and Trump’s close adviser Elon Musk said roughly a month ago that federal employees who have not come back to the office will be put on administrative leave.
Continue reading at The Hill
New Hampshire town elections offer a preview of citizenship voting rules being considered nationwide
CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — A voter in Milford, New Hampshire, missed out on approving the town’s $19 million operating budget, electing a cemetery trustee and buying a new dump truck. In Durham, an 18-year-old high school student did not get a say in who should serve on the school board or whether $125,000 should go toward replacing artificial turf on athletic fields.
Neither was able to participate in recent town elections in New Hampshire thanks to a new state law requiring proof of U.S. citizenship to register to vote. Their experiences, recounted by town clerks, could prove instructive for the rest of the country as the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act advances in Congress and more than a dozen states consider similar legislation.
“Everything that conservatives tried to downplay, New Hampshire told us exactly what would happen on a national scale under the SAVE Act,” said Greta Bedekovics, a former policy adviser for Senate Democrats who is now with the Center for American Progress.
Married women with changed names face extra hurdles
Voting rights groups are particularly concerned that married women who have changed their names will encounter trouble when trying to register because their birth certificates list their maiden names.
That is exactly what happened to Brooke Yonge, a 45-year-old hairstylist who showed up at her polling place in Derry last week determined to show her support for public education.
Continue reading at the AP
Pentagon is the latest agency to announce a leak investigation that could include polygraphs
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Pentagon’s intelligence and law enforcement arms are investigating what it says are leaks of national security information. Defense Department personnel could face polygraphs in the latest such inquiry by the Trump administration.
A memo late Friday from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s chief of staff referred to “recent unauthorized disclosures” of such information, but provided no details about alleged leaks. Earlier in the day, President Donald Trump rejected reports that adviser Elon Musk would be briefed on how the United States would fight a hypothetical war with China.
“If this effort results in information identifying a party responsible for an unauthorized disclosure,” then such information “will be referred to the appropriate criminal entity for criminal prosecution,” according to the memo.
At the Homeland Security Department, Secretary Kristi Noem pledged this month to step up lie detector tests on employees in an effort to identify those who may be leaking information about operations to the media.
Continue reading at the AP
Note from Rima: polygraph testing is inadmissible in court
MLB removes references to "diversity" from careers home page
Major League Baseball has removed the word "diversity" from its MLB Careers home page in reaction to President Trump's executive order ending "equal opportunity" for people of color and women in recruiting.
Why it matters: MLB's retreat makes it the latest entity to pull back on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) practices amid threats of legal action from the Trump administration.
The big picture: Trump's Justice Department is using a broad reinterpretation of Civil Rights-era laws to focus on "anti-white racism" rather than discrimination against people of color.
Zoom in: The removal of the references was first reported by the website cupofcoffeenews.com and confirmed by The Associated Press.
Continue reading at the AP
Italy’s Starlink talks at ‘standstill’ amid Musk outrage, minister says
Italian opposition parties have fiercely criticized a potential secure communications deal between Strarlink and Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s hard-right government.
Discussions between Italy's far-right government and Elon Musk's Space X over a secure communications system for defense and diplomatic purposes have been suspended, Italian Defense Minister Guido Crosetto said.
"Everything has come to a standstill," Crosetto told Italian daily La Repubblica in an interview published Saturday. There is currently "no [technical] discussion" about a possible deal to use the Starlink satellite system, he added.
The holdup is linked to the fact that the deal's technical details have been overshadowed by statements "by and about" Musk, he said.
The polarizing figure of the tech billionaire who is a senior adviser to U.S. President Trump has been at the center of the political debate around the Starlink discussions in Italy.
Earlier this month, opposition parties called on the government to halt talks with Musk's Space X after the tech titan threatened to turn off its communication system in Ukraine, where Starlink provides telecommunications essential to Kyiv's forces as they try to fend off Russia's full-scale invasion.
News of a possible Starlink deal was first announced in January following a visit by Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni to U.S. President Donald Trump's residence in Florida.
Continue reading at Politico Europe
Montana Republican meets with Chinese leader amid tariff tensions
Sen. Steve Daines (R-Mont.), a supporter of President Trump, met Saturday with China’s economic chief, Vice Premier He Lifeng in Beijing. This was the first visit by a U.S. politician to China since Trump’s return to the White House amid tensions between the two countries over trade tariffs.
“Senator Daines welcomed today’s meeting with Vice Premier He Lifeng. The Senator expressed President Trump’s continued demand that China interdict the flow of fentanyl precursors out of the country and expressed the hope that the United States and China can hold further high-level dialogue in the near future,” said a statement the lawmaker shared on the social platform X.
The Montana Republican landed in the Chinese capital on Thursday following discussions with key leaders in Vietnam, as indicated by his social media updates and those from the U.S. Embassy in Beijing.
Before the trip, his office announced that he was collaborating closely with the White House and promoting President Trump’s America First agenda.
Daines, who has experience as an executive in China, acted as a liaison during Trump’s initial term when tariffs were a significant concern.
Continue reading at The Hill
Cuomo’s billion dollar ‘boondoggle’ with Elon Musk
The Democratic primary candidate will face questions about his ties to a person loathed by many Democrats.
As governor, Cuomo greenlit $959 million in state subsidies that benefited a solar panel company controlled by Musk’s family and which was later bought by Tesla, which Musk owns. The spending fell far short of its economic development promises and was directly tied to one of the most sweeping corruption scandals to ever rock a New York governor’s office.
“Big promises that were made, many jobs that were to come that have not materialized and that have only gone to the benefit of Elon Musk. They have benefited from a property tax abatement that allows for him to spend very little money on very valuable property to produce very little jobs,” said state Sen. Zellnor Myrie, one of Cuomo’s Democratic primary opponents. “New Yorkers need to be reminded of the sweetheart deal that was given to Elon Musk by Andrew Cuomo.”
Assemblymember Pat Burke, a Democrat who represents South Buffalo where the solar plant was built, put it more succinctly, calling the episode “a boondoggle.”
Cuomo spokesman Rich Azzopardi disagreed and claimed success, saying, “This particular project turned a radioactive brownfield into a plant that has employed thousands of people.”
Over the next four years, mayors across the country will likely be preoccupied with how Trump’s funding cuts impact municipal budgets. If elected New York City mayor, Cuomo will have to contend with Musk’s federal austerity plan as he negotiates a $115 billion municipal budget. And while New York City voters might not closely follow construction projects 450 miles away, Cuomo’s ties to Musk are just another example of how his relationships with the current White House occupants will offer an attack line to opponents seeking to portray him as too simpatico with Trump and a sucker for Musk.
Continue reading at Politico
Trump administration ends funding for legal representation of 26,000 migrant children
The Trump administration has ended a federal contract that provides legal representation to nearly 26,000 migrant children who entered the United States without a parent or guardian, a move immigration attorneys say will leave children vulnerable to rapid deportation.
Many of these children do not read or speak in English, and some are too young to read or speak at all.
Continue reading at the Los Angeles Times
Trump Policies Poised To Lead to Recession: UCLA Study
Since the post-Civil War era, multiple economic sectors contracting at the same time has been a recipe for recession: UCLA study.
While there are no signs of a recession happening yet, UCLA said it is entirely possible that one could form in the near term. Authored by UCLA Anderson Forecast economist Clement Bohr, the study delineates the factors that led to the business school's recession watch.
From the post-Civil War recession of 1873 to Tuesday, recessions have occurred when multiple economic sectors contract at the same time. The new study notes that:
The current reduction in the work force resulting from new immigration policy will create labor shortages in agriculture, health care, leisure and hospitality, and construction;
The new tariff policy will engender higher prices for automobiles, apparel, electronics and the inputs to manufacturing; and
The downsizing and restructuring of the federal government will reduce employment in government and at government contractors.
Bohr said that if these, and their consequent feedback into the demand for goods and services, occur simultaneously, they create a recipe for a recession. However, if the impact of these policies is sequential, then a 1995- style slowdown might be possible, he said.
As this trifecta of dramatic policy changes has not been experienced before, there is no data to indicate which will happen. Consequently, the Anderson Forecast -- one of the most widely watched and often-cited economic predictors -- is on recession watch.
Continue reading at Patch.com
IRS nears deal with ICE to share addresses of suspected undocumented immigrants
The move toward information-sharing comes as President Donald Trump pushes his administration to use every resource to conduct what he hopes will be the largest mass deportation of immigrants in U.S. history.
The Internal Revenue Service is nearing an agreement to allow immigration officials to use tax data to confirm the names and addresses of people suspected of being in the country illegally, according to four people familiar with the matter, culminating weeks of negotiations over using the tax system to support President Donald Trump’s mass deportation campaign.
Under the agreement, Immigration and Customs Enforcement could submit names and address of suspected undocumented immigrants to the IRS to cross-reference with confidential taxpayer databases, said the people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity out of fear of professional reprisals.
Normally, personal tax information — even an individual’s name and address — is considered confidential and closely guarded within the IRS. Unlawfully disclosing tax data carries civil and criminal penalties.
Continue reading at the Washington Post
NYU Website Hacked to Display Racist Garbage
Higher education is already under assault by the Trump administration, but New York University got hit by a slightly different kind of attack. The university’s website fell victim to an apparent hack on Saturday morning, which resulted in the homepage being defaced for several hours and used to display racial slurs and graphs that purported to show test scores of students broken down by race.
The hack was apparently carried out by a person who identifies themselves on X as a racial slur—a thing that it just allowed on that platform now, by the way—with the handle (censored here) “@bestn*ggy.” The hacker hijacked the university’s homepage and displayed the message, “On June 29 2023, racial affirmative action in college admissions was ruled illegal. Computer N*ggy Exploitation (CNE) reveals NYU continued anyway.”
That message was followed by a graph purporting to show the average SAT scores, ACT scores, and grade point average of NYU applicants who were admitted into the university, broken down by race. The hacker also published links to mirrors of the supposed data they gained access to in order to display the scores, identified by the hacker as “raw data” with personally identifiable information redacted.
Continue reading at Gizmodo
LBJ tied Latinos, civil rights in "Selma" speech 60 years ago
In what some historians consider one of the best political speeches of the 20th century, former President Lyndon B. Johnson, 60 years ago this month, evoked memories of his former Mexican American students in Texas while urging Congress to pass the Voting Rights Act.
The big picture: As the nation marks the 60th anniversary of the historic march from Selma to Montgomery, many have forgotten the LBJ speech that made Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. cry and connected Latinos to the nation's civil rights struggle.
The speech led to the passage of the landmark law.
The American Promise speech, delivered on March 15, 1965, drew attention when the Texas-born Johnson told the nation that bigotry still stained the country, "and we shall overcome."
State of play: The speech stands in stark contrast to the State of the Union that President Trump gave earlier this month when he said "wokeness is trouble" and called some Latino immigrants "savages."
Continue reading at Axios
New Social Security requirements pose barriers to rural communities without internet, transportation
WELCH, W.Va. (AP) — Veronica Taylor doesn’t know how to turn on a computer, let alone use the internet.
The 73-year-old can’t drive and is mostly housebound in her mountainous and remote West Virginia community, where a simple trip to the grocery store can take an hour by car.
New requirements that Social Security recipients access key benefits online or in person at a field office, rather than on the phone, would be nearly impossible to meet without help.
“If that’s the only way I had to do it, how would I do it?” Taylor said, talking about the changes while eating a plate of green beans, mac and cheese and fried fish with a group of retirees at the McDowell County Senior Center. “I would never get nothing done.”
Continue reading at the AP
Georgia Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff vows defiance to Trump ahead of 2026 election
ATLANTA (AP) — U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff came home to Atlanta Saturday to rally core Democrats desperate for effective action now against President Donald Trump’s administration.
“Georgia will bow to no king!” Ossoff proclaimed at the end of a 20-minute speech that labeled Trump as corrupt, out of touch with the problems of regular people, and “trying to poison our democracy with fear and intimidation.”
“Atlanta, this is not a drill. Atlanta, this is not a bad dream,” said Ossoff, who could be the Republicans’ No. 1 Democratic target in the 2026 elections. “As citizens, this is the test of our lifetime. So tell me, Atlanta, are you ready to fight?”
Ossoff’s campaign tried to play down the idea that Saturday’s event was the launch of his 2026 reelection campaign, and he never specifically asked the 2,000 Democrats gathered in a music hall on Atlanta’s gentrified east side for their votes. But others, including fellow Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock, made that explicit, and Ossoff’s campaign handed out yard signs to people as they left.
Continue reading at the AP
Georgia Jews Try to Recruit GOP Governor to Unseat Jewish Democrat Senator Jon Ossoff
The 2026 Georgia Senate race was already expected to be one of the most expensive, hotly contested races in America. Then Jon Ossoff, the state's first-ever Jewish Senator, backed Bernie Sanders' landmark effort to block billions in arms sales to Israel
ATLANTA – Months after Sen. Jon Ossoff alienated a wide portion of his state's Jewish constituency over his support for blocking certain U.S. weapons sales to Israel, local Jewish voters have begun lending their support to Republican Governor Brian Kemp in hopes of unseating the Jewish Democrat in 2026.
"As a bipartisan group of leaders in the metropolitan Atlanta Jewish community, we humbly ask you to consider running for the United States Senate in 2026," read a private mid-December letter to Mr. Kemp from some of the state's major political donors and Jewish community leaders, first reported by the New York Times.
Haaretz reported on Georgia Jews' intensifying divide over Ossoff, the state's first-ever Jewish senator, in the weeks after Sen. Bernie Sanders' landmark effort to block billions of arms sales to Israel. Ossoff was one of 19 Democrats to back the effort, in a vote that marked a new line in the sand on the party's Israel positions.
"Should you decide to run in the 2026 election," the Kemp outreach letter continued, "you would find no better friends, more loyal allies or stronger supporters than us and our community."
The Jewish senator from Georgia has repeatedly demonstrated two things throughout his four years in office: Firstly, when he chooses to involve himself in matters related to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, it is done with much care and deliberation.
In the time between him assuming office and the October 7 attack, Ossoff crafted relationships with Israeli, Palestinian and political, diplomatic and military officials in the region – while spearheading significant bipartisan efforts aimed at pushing a resolution to the conflict.
Continue reading at Haaretz.com (paywall)
Trump said he didn’t sign controversial proclamation. The Federal Register shows one with his signature
President Donald Trump downplayed his involvement in invoking the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to deport Venezuelan migrants, saying for the first time that he hadn’t signed the proclamation, but that he stood by his administration’s move. The proclamation invoking the Alien Enemies Act appears in the Federal Register with Trump’s signature at the bottom. CNN’s Kaitlan Collins reports..
Honig on why it's a 'big problem' if Trump didn't sign proclamation
CNN senior legal analyst Elie Honig and retired judge Jill Konviser join CNN’s Kaitlan Collins to discuss President Donald Trump's statement downplaying his involvement in invoking the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to deport Venezuelan migrants, in which he said that he hadn’t signed the proclamation.
Watch the segment at CNN.com
Former US Attorney found dead in Virginia home at 43
Former U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia Jessica Aber was found dead on Saturday morning at the age of 43.
According to the Alexandria Police Department (APD), the cause and circumstances of Aber’s death are being looked into and will be determined by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner of Virginia.
A statement issued by the APD further said that they received a report of an unresponsive woman and rushed to the 900 block of Beverley Drive at around 9:18 a.m. where Aber’s body was found.
Continue reading at The Hill
Venezuela to resume repatriation of migrants after deal with US, official says
CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Venezuela will once again accept repatriation flights from the United States carrying its deported nationals after reaching an agreement with the U.S., a Venezuelan official said on social media Saturday.
Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro suspended flights on March 8, after the U.S. Treasury Department announced the withdrawal of Chevron’s license to export Venezuelan oil.
“We have agreed with the U.S. government to resume the repatriation of Venezuelan migrants with an initial flight tomorrow, Sunday,” said Jorge Rodríguez, president of Venezuela’s Assembly and Maduro’s chief negotiator with the U.S.
Venezuela accepted the deal to guarantee the “the return of our compatriots to their nation with the safeguard of their Human Rights,” Rodríguez said.
Continue reading at the AP
Pentagon vows investigation into leaks, including polygraph tests
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s chief of staff, Joe Kasper, sent a memo Friday saying that members of the Department of Defense (DOD) may be subjected to polygraph tests in a new investigation into alleged leaks at the Pentagon.
Kasper mentioned “recent unauthorized disclosures” of sensitive information but stopped short of specifying any details about the alleged leaks.
The memo came just hours after tech billionaire and President Trump’s close adviser Elon Musk said those who are leaking “maliciously false information” to news outlets will be “found” and prosecuted.
Musk, whose companies have contracts with the DOD, issued the warning Friday morning after The New York Times reported that he was set to be briefed on the U.S. military’s secret plans if a war with China were to take place.
The memo from Hegseth’s chief of staff said, “Recent unauthorized disclosures of national security information involving sensitive communications with principals within the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) demand immediate and thorough investigation.”
Continue reading at The Hill
Cuomo endorsement divides key group of Black legislators
Three lawmakers said they aren’t actually with the ex-governor, despite being named in a press release backing him.
Andrew Cuomo’s New York City mayoral bid is tearing apart a bloc of Democratic politicians representing a high-turnout area — a situation that’s gotten so messy, three officials denounced their purported endorsement of the former governor.
Cuomo, who leads the crowded field of Democratic candidates, picked up the backing of a slate of politicians in Southeast Queens. The support marked a setback for rival Adrienne Adams — the City Council speaker who has represented the area for over a decade — as she races to catch up to Cuomo’s polling lead and fundraising haul. It’s also a blow to Mayor Eric Adams, whose reelection plans are in doubt.
The endorsements offered Cuomo backing among Black Democrats whose constituents are reliable voters in generally low-turnout mayoral primaries, despite Adrienne Adams’ potential to become the city’s first Black woman mayor.
The process was far from clean.
“I told them from the beginning, I wasn’t voting for him,” state Sen. Leroy Comrie said of Cuomo, despite issuing a press release announcing the bloc of support for the ex-governor Saturday morning. “Just look at his history with what he did with us Democratic senators. Look at his history with Covid, to veterans, closing Creedmoor [Psychiatric Center] putting more homeless in the street. There’s a litany of things that he’s done that have not been helpful to working people.”
He is backing the Council speaker instead, saying in the interview, “I’m an Adrienne guy.”
Continue reading at Politico
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