Things Musk (and Trump) Did... Day 61 | Blog#42
Give me Liberty: our robed class may or may not save us.
Yesterday’s post
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Patrick Henry's 'Liberty or Death' speech turns 250 on Sunday
Sunday is the 250th anniversary of Patrick Henry's legendary "Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death" speech.
Why it matters: The speech, which helped galvanize Virginians to rise up against British rule, was delivered right here in Richmond, at St. John's Church in Church Hill.
And the Virginia 250 Commission is planning a series of events this weekend to celebrate the anniversary and the state's role in the Revolutionary War.
The big picture: Many of the men who would become the nation's Founding Fathers gathered in Richmond in March 1775 for an "extralegal" week-long convention, according to St. John's Church, then Henrico Parish Church.
Continue reading at Axios
Lower courts' growing power over the president
It's true, as the White House claims, that the courts have blocked President Trump's executive orders at a particularly high rate.
It's also true, as White House's critics argue, that simply ignoring those rulings would undermine checks and balances established by the Constitution.
The big picture: Trump and his White House aren't alone in their frustration with district-court judges blocking major parts of their agenda.
Presidents Obama and Biden also had major policies blocked by the same type of rulings. Legal scholars from both sides of the aisle have criticized the rapid rise of such sweeping orders.
How it works: Lawsuits against the federal government start in a district court — there are more than 600 district-court judges — then can move to an appeals court, then the Supreme Court.
In the old days, district courts' rulings only applied to the parties before them. But since the beginning of the Obama administration, those judges have become increasingly willing to say their rulings apply nationwide — the same scope a Supreme Court decision has.
By the numbers: District courts issued 12 rulings freezing Obama administration policies, according to a Harvard Law Review tally — a record at the time.
Continue reading at Axios
Democratic News Corner
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)
‘Use your power’: Hakeem Jeffries at a crossroads as Democrats urgently search for strategy
Nancy Pelosi privately offered some advice for Hakeem Jeffries as Democrats devolved into bitter infighting over a government funding bill reviled by much of their party.
“Use your power,” she told him in an hour-long sit down in his office earlier this month, telling Jeffries to flex his muscle with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and sharpen their party’s strategy with a shutdown looming, according to a person briefed on their conversation.
After a week back home where Democrats took an earful from their voters demanding they hold a tougher line with President Donald Trump, Jeffries is facing new pressure to forgo his cautious demeanor and lead the charge against the White House – and take the reins of his party’s strategy from Schumer.
“He’s gonna have to lead, or Chuck leads. This is his moment, so step up,” said one senior House Democrat who is close to Jeffries and was granted anonymity to speak candidly. “He’s always bowed to Schumer, and I think that’s gonna end.”
The role of serving as the House’s top Democrat under a Republican president is a new one for Jeffries. Indeed, it was Pelosi – having served as speaker battling President George W. Bush and also during Trump’s first term – who often drove her party’s strategy.
And in the aftermath of Jeffries breaking with Schumer over the GOP funding bill, and as Trump challenges the limits of his power, House Democrats say it’s Jeffries’ time to step up and help articulate a badly needed vision for a party in crisis, according to interviews with more than two dozen members and operatives.
Continue reading at CNN.com
Walz reemerges as Democratic fighter with shots at Musk
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) all but disappeared after he and former Vice President Kamala Harris lost the presidential race to President Trump in November.
But while Harris has remained out of the spotlight, Walz has reemerged in a series of interviews and public appearances where he has sought to explain why the Democratic ticket didn’t win.
He’s also taken aim at Republicans and tech mogul Elon Musk, lending his voice to the Democratic resistance against Trump.
Some Democrats have quipped that the appearances and comments are a “rehabilitation tour” as Walz seeks to distance himself from the grueling loss while also leaving the door open for a possible presidential run in 2028.
“When you’re a politician, your job is to constantly think about how you can serve,” Democratic strategist Joel Payne said.
“He’s not an old guy so it’s not unreasonable for him to think he’s one of the important voices in the party going forward,” Payne added of the 60-year-old Walz.
“And Democrats are in a place where all voices are welcome,” Payne added. “Democrats need all of the heavies.”
Continue reading at The Hill
Schumer says he's staying put amid growing resignation pressure
Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said he's "not stepping down" from leadership in an interview aired Sunday amid mounting pressure from within his party to abandon his post.
Why it matters: He's remaining defiant as Democratic lawmakers and outside groups pile on calls for him to step aside. But Schumer, who dealt a key blow to former President Biden's reelection bid, argued he's "absolutely" not making the same mistake Biden did when he hesitated to step down.
"I did this out of conviction," Schumer said on NBC News' "Meet the Press," about his spending bill vote that angered some Democrats.
He added his caucus has "all agreed to respect each other" over their differing opinions.
Despite Schumer's public confidence, some House Democrats are urging their colleague Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) behind closed doors to challenge him for his Senate seat in 2028.
Driving the news: Schumer acknowledged that the GOP-led funding bill that passed with support from some Senate Democrats was "certainly bad" but contended a government shutdown would be "15 or 20 times worse."
Continue reading at Axios
AOC tries to broaden her appeal within a Democratic base spoiling for a fight
Bernie Sanders stepped onto a stage in downtown Denver, surrounded by tens of thousands of cheering supporters in what he described as the biggest rally he had ever addressed. The Vermont senator put his hand on the shoulder of the woman who had introduced him, a signal for her to stay on stage.
“She has become an inspiration to millions of young people,” Sanders said of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, recounting her biography from a girl who helped her mother clean houses and later became a bartender before emerging as political insurgent who ousted a powerful New York Democrat in a U.S. House primary.
The crowd began a chant of her well-known moniker: “AOC! AOC!”
In a leaderless Democratic Party out of power in Washington, Ocasio-Cortez has a message and a connection with a segment of liberals feeling disenchanted with both parties. Now, in her fourth term, the 35-year-old congresswoman is working to broaden her appeal beyond her progressive, anti-establishment roots.
Continue reading at the AP
Schumer brushes off Pelosi’s criticism over government funding fight
“There was no leverage point that we could’ve — we could’ve asked for things, they just would’ve said no,” the New York senator said.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer on Sunday rebuffed a recent critique from former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi about his decision to support the Republican-backed stopgap spending bill, saying he had no choice but to avert a government shutdown.
“What we got, at the end of the day, is avoiding the horror of a shutdown,” Schumer said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” to host Kristen Welker. There was no leverage point that we could’ve — we could’ve asked for things, they just would’ve said no.”
Pelosi — a longtime ally of Schumer — had taken aim at the minority leader’s move last week, accusing him of giving ground to Republicans without demanding anything in return. “I myself don’t give away anything for nothing,” she said.
Schumer and a small group of other Democrats’ decision to vote in favor of the continuing resolution has sparked backlash from members of their party who argue Democrats capitulated on key priorities. Schumer, however, has held firm, repeatedly asserting that a shutdown would have handed President Donald Trump and his allies an opening to continue gutting the federal bureaucracy.
Schumer’s decision to support the GOP bill drew praise from Trump, who said Schumer had “guts” and “did the right thing.”
Despite the clash, Pelosi said she continues to support Schumer — a stance that contrasts with growing murmurs within the Democratic Party about whether Schumer should step down from his leadership role.
Continue reading at Politico
Yesterday’s news worth repeating
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
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
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
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
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
Today’s news
Patel plans major cutback to ATF by moving as many as 1,000 agents to FBI
FBI Director Kash Patel, who also serves as acting director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, has outlined plans to move as many as 1,000 ATF agents to the FBI, cutting ATF’s agents by more than a third, three people briefed on the plan told CNN.
The move represents a major cutback of the ATF, an agency that long has been in the crosshairs of gun rights groups that believe its work infringes on Second Amendment rights. The ATF has about 2,600 agents and more than 5,000 employees, a number that has remained largely unchanged for years.
The move is expected to begin with the reassignment of a couple hundred ATF agents to border-related criminal enforcement duty as FBI agents, one person briefed on the matter said.
After publication of this story and resulting pushback including from Republican allies, FBI officials began to back off aspects of their plan, according to a US official familiar with the matter.
An ATF spokeswoman disputed that the agents were being reassigned to the FBI and said in a statement Saturday that as a part of the ATF and FBI’s plans to address issues at the southern border, “the ATF will temporarily assign approximately 150 agents from existing field offices to other ATF field offices, where they will continue serving as ATF agents to support the surge initiative.”
Continue reading at CNN.com
Trump, Roberts on collision course as lawsuits creep toward Supreme Court
The president stepped up his attacks this week by calling for a judge’s impeachment, earning a rare public rebuke from the chief justice.
Though it marked the most direct spat yet between the duo since Trump retook the White House, the trail ahead appears rougher as the ever-intensifying barrage of litigation against the Trump administration creeps closer to the Supreme Court.
“If Justice Roberts and the United States Supreme Court do not fix this toxic and unprecedented situation IMMEDIATELY, our Country is in very serious trouble!” Trump wrote on Truth Social Thursday.
As the president expresses agitation toward district judges who block his policies nationwide, Trump so far has maintained more cordiality with Roberts, refusing to attack him personally.
“The president respects Chief Justice Roberts overall, he just expressed that to me in the Oval Office,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters Wednesday.
Continue reading at The Hill
McCarthy: Trump has ‘broken the Democratic party’
Former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) said Saturday that President Trump has “broken the Democratic Party,” adding that it has become “leaderless” and party members are “fighting among themselves.”
“It is a huge mess,” McCarthy said of the present state of the Democratic Party in a conversation with radio host John Catsimatidis on “The Cats Roundtable” Sunday on WABC 770 AM. “It wasn’t just that President Trump won the election. He has now broken the Democratic Party,” he said.
“If you think about it, they are leaderless. There’s no message, and their polling continues to drop. They are now fighting among themselves,” he continued.
McCarthy added that House Minority Leader Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) and Senate Minority Leader Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) are displaying “weak leadership.”
The former speaker went on to say that Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who recently addressed a joint rally in Las Vegas, are currently leading the party.
“The real leaders of the Democratic Party right now are AOC and Bernie Sanders. Those are the two that are getting the crowds,” he said.
Continue reading at The Hill
America’s global AIDS relief program is on the brink
President Trump is taking apart one of George W. Bush’s proudest achievements.
America’s most celebrated global health program is on life support, former U.S. government officials and global health advocates say.
President Donald Trump’s decision to suddenly halt and then terminate most U.S. foreign aid, and GOP concerns that organizations receiving government grants to combat HIV and AIDS were performing abortions, have key congressional Republicans broaching what was once unthinkable: ending PEPFAR, the program President George W. Bush created to combat HIV and AIDS in the developing world. Bush has long championed it and the 25 million lives it’s saved as the best example of his “compassionate conservatism.”
But Trump has lumped the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief in with other foreign aid programs he sees as indicative of the way Washington has put the needs of foreigners over Americans and the seismic shift in GOP attitudes since Trump took over the party.
The Bush Institute, an arm of the center that promotes Bush’s legacy, is pleading with the administration and Republicans to keep the program alive, making the case that it’s good for America.
“PEPFAR is a strategic investment in our own national security,” Hannah Johnson, a senior program manager for global policy at the institute, wrote earlier this month, arguing that “it engenders goodwill toward the United States at a time when Russia and China are competing for greater influence, in ways that are not beneficial in the long-term for the African continent.”
She called on the administration to continue the program — “whether through USAID, the CDC, the Pentagon, or the State Department. It is a matter of life and death.”
Continue reading at Politico
Trump moves closer to court crisis
Many top legal experts believe a full-blown constitutional showdown between President Trump and the courts is already here. Others are confident there's still room to avoid one.
But most agree that the administration's battle with U.S. District Judge James "Jeb" Boasberg — who last weekend ordered a temporary halt to the administration's deportation of alleged Venezuelan gang members — is a significant escalation.
Conservative lawyer John Yoo — a Trump ally who has advanced one of the most sweeping theories of presidential power — told Fox News Digital: "I worry that there might be some people in the administration who would actually like to defy a judicial order. Which I think would be a terrible mistake."
"If the courts can't render reliable decisions, then our legal system doesn't function," Yoo added. "If our legal system doesn't function, the country is in really bad shape."
State of play: Senior members of the Trump administration and the MAGAverse have been talking for months about simply ignoring court orders they don't like. Now, the talk is being tested.
Continue reading at Axios
Overcrowding plagues detention units amid Trump's immigration blitz
Days without a shower. Sleeping on floors. Two hundred people confined in a space meant for 85.
Some immigration detention units are so crowded that non-citizens arrested in President Trump's crackdown are living in inhumane conditions, attorneys for detainees tell Axios.
Why it matters: The Trump administration's goal of deporting "millions" of people has led officials to jam more than 46,000 detainees into a system designed to hold no more than about 40,000, according to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) records.
The crowding is just one sign of a system under stress:
Officials are scrambling to arrange more detention space across the U.S. and abroad.
They're sending detainees they've deemed as dangerous on controversial — and legally questionable — flights to foreign prisons without giving them court hearings.
And they're monitoring other unauthorized immigrants who've been arrested and released after agreeing to return for their court dates.
Zoom in: At a time when the Department of Homeland Security is desperate for billions more to build an infrastructure that could come close to handling the surge, conditions in the system's detention facilities are deteriorating.
Continue reading at Axios
Summit to address fighting campus antisemitism
A summit on battling antisemitism on college campuses is scheduled to begin Saturday in New York City amid a rise of antisemitic rhetoric and acts across the political spectrum.
Why it matters: The "Rise and Respond Global Student Summit Against Antisemitism" comes as President Trump threatens universities with funding cuts over antisemitism allegations, drawing criticism from free speech advocates.
The big picture: The summit is set to begin just hours after Columbia University agreed to some of the Trump administration's demands after some $400 million in federal grants and contracts were pulled from the university over allegations of antisemitism,
That follows the detention of Columbia graduate Mahmoud Khalil, a legal resident and pro-Palestinian protester, as the Trump administration cracks down on immigrants who are part of campus demonstrations.
Zoom in: Around 400 people are expected for the summit organized by Combat Antisemitism Movement (CAM).
The summit will provide student leaders and future policymakers with new tools and seek to build a network dedicated to confronting hate through projects.
It will also feature panels and workshops and demonstrations on a new app to share antisemitic experiences.
Continue reading at Axios
Israel strikes southern Gaza and orders new evacuation as Palestinian death toll climbs past 50,000
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israeli strikes across the southern Gaza Strip killed at least 26 Palestinians overnight into Sunday, including a Hamas political leader and several women and children. Residents said tanks had advanced into an area of the southern city of Rafah as the military ordered it evacuated.
Gaza’s Health Ministry said the total number of Palestinians killed in Gaza since the start of the Israel-Hamas war has now passed 50,000 after Israel ended the ceasefire last week with a wave of strikes that killed hundreds. Israel has continued striking what it says are militant targets and has launched ground incursions in northern Gaza.
Late Saturday, Israel’s Cabinet approved a proposal to set up a new directorate tasked with advancing the “voluntary departure” of Palestinians in line with U.S. President Donald Trump’s proposal to depopulate Gaza and rebuild it for others. Palestinians say they do not want to leave their homeland, and rights groups have said the plan could amount to expulsion in violation of international law.
Continue reading at the AP
One of the last surviving Tuskegee Airmen remembers struggle for recognition amid Trump’s DEI purge
AURORA, Colo. (AP) — With members of a trailblazing Black Air Force unit passing away at advanced ages, efforts to remain true to their memory carry on despite sometimes confusing orders from President Donald Trump as he purges federal diversity, equity and inclusion programs.
Col. James H. Harvey III, 101, is among the last few airmen and support crew who proved that a Black unit — the 332nd Fighter Group of the Tuskegee Airmen — could fight as well as any other in World War II and the years after.
He went on to become the first Black jet fighter pilot in Korean airspace during the Korean War, and a decorated one after 126 missions. He was one of four Tuskegee Airmen who won the first U.S. Air Force Gunnery Meet in 1949, a forerunner of today’s U.S. Navy “Top Gun” school.
“They said we didn’t have any ability to operate aircraft or operate heavy machinery. We were inferior to the white man. We were nothing,” Harvey said. “So we showed them.”
Continue reading at the AP
Chinese Premier meets pro-Trump US Senator Daines and calls for dialogue instead of confrontation
BEIJING (AP) — Chinese Premier Li Qiang said Sunday that Beijing and Washington should choose dialogue instead of confrontation during his meeting with U.S. Senator Steve Daines, a strong supporter of President Donald Trump, as the two countries are locked in rising friction over trade tariffs and efforts to combat illegal fentanyl trade.
Daines is the first member of Congress to visit Beijing since Trump took office in January. During the meeting with Li, he was joined by the leaders of several American businesses, including FedEx Corp. CEO Raj Subramaniam, Boeing Co.’s senior vice president Brendan Nelson, Qualcomm’s CEO Cristiano Amon and Pfizer’s CEO Albert Bourla.
Li said relations between the countries “have come to an important juncture” and Chinese President Xi Jinping noted the two countries could become partners and friends that contribute to each other’s success during a call with Trump in January.
Continue reading at the AP
US decision to limit Canadian access to border-straddling library prompts outpouring of emotion
STANSTEAD, Quebec (AP) — For more than 100 years, people in Stanstead, Quebec have been able to walk into Derby Line, Vermont to enter the border-straddling Haskell Free Library and Opera House – no passport required.
But municipal and library officials said on Friday that U.S. authorities have unilaterally decided to end the century-old unwritten agreement. Coming at a time of heightened tensions between the two countries, the decision is prompting an outpouring of emotion in communities on both sides of the border, which in places has been marked simply by flower pots.
Inside the library celebrated as a symbol of international friendship, Pauline Lussier and Chris Blais put their arms around each other’s shoulders Friday as they stood on either side of the line taped down the floor marking the border. Lussier, a Canadian, and Blais, an American met for the first time that day.
“A line doesn’t separate us, it never has,” said Blais, who held an American flag in her hands while Lussier held a Canadian one.
“Our kids have gone back and forth over this border without any problem at all ... this is all going to change now, and there’s no reason for this,” Blais added.
Continue reading at the AP
Pope leaves hospital after surviving life-threatening bout of pneumonia, heads home to Vatican
A weak and frail Pope Francis has left the hospital and is heading home to the Vatican after surviving a five-week, life-threatening bout of pneumonia.
A motorcade carrying the 88-year-old pope wound its way through light Rome traffic Sunday morning. Before leaving Gemelli hospital, Francis gave a thumbs up and acknowledged the crowd after he was wheeled out onto the balcony overlooking the main entry. Hundreds of people had gathered on a brilliant Sunday morning to say goodbye.
Continue reading at the AP
New Canadian leader says Trump will want trade talks as Americans suffer from trade war
TORONTO (AP) — Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said Friday U.S. President Donald Trump will ultimately respect Canada’s sovereignty and be ready for comprehensive trade talks because Americans are going to suffer from Trump’s trade war.
Carney said talks with Trump will not happen “until we get the respect we deserve as a sovereign nation. By the way, this is not a high bar.”
Trump kept up his near-daily attacks on Canada on Friday, repeating that the country should be the 51st state and that the U.S. keeps Canada “afloat.”
“When I say they should be a state, I mean that,” the American president said.
Carney met with Canada’s provincial leaders at the Canadian War Museum in Ottawa, where he announced relief packages for workers and businesses hurt by the trade war and announced moves to expedite resource projects.
Continue reading at the AP
No one can stop Putin but me, Trump says
Efforts to keep the war in Ukraine from escalating are “somewhat under control,” Trump tells media outlet Outkick.
U.S. President Donald Trump said he is the only person in the world who is able to end the war in Ukraine, adding that efforts to keep the conflict from escalating are "somewhat under control."
"I don't think there's anybody in the world that is going to stop [Russian President Vladimir Putin], except me," Trump said in an interview with media outlet Outkick on Air Force One late Saturday. "And I think I'm going to be able to stop him," he added.
"We've had some very rational discussions, and I just want to see the people stop getting killed," Trump said.
The comments came hours after Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff praised Putin as a "great" leader and not a "bad guy."
Last week, Trump held separate talks with Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy that resulted in the Russian leader agreeing to a halt on attacks on Ukrainian energy infrastructure for 30 days. Despite the agreement, Moscow’s attacks on Ukraine have continued over the past few days.
Continue reading at Politico Europe
America’s European allies are trying to pry their unspent money back from USAID
Three European allies provided millions of dollars that the United States was supposed to spend for low-income countries. Then the Trump administration and Elon Musk’s government-cutters arrived.
Government officials from Sweden, Norway and the Netherlands told The Associated Press that a combined $15 million they contributed for joint development work overseas has been parked at the U.S. Agency for International Development for months.
After the Republican administration and Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency cut USAID’s funding and the bulk of its programs, the Europeans asked whether their money would be funneled to projects as expected or refunded.
They have gotten no response.
“It’s a concern for us, especially as we want our partner organizations to be compensated for the work they have put into the programs,” said Julia Lindholm, a spokeswoman for the Swedish government’s international development agency.
Continue reading at the AP
The US lifts bounties on senior Taliban officials, including Sirajuddin Haqqani, says Kabul
The U.S. has lifted bounties on three senior Taliban figures, including the interior minister who also heads a powerful network blamed for bloody attacks against Afghanistan’s former Western-backed government, officials in Kabul said Sunday.
Sirajuddin Haqqani, who acknowledged planning a January 2008 attack on the Serena Hotel in Kabul, which killed six people, including U.S. citizen Thor David Hesla, no longer appears on the State Department’s Rewards for Justice website. The FBI website on Sunday still featured a wanted poster for him.
Interior Ministry spokesman Abdul Mateen Qani said the U.S. government had revoked the bounties placed on Haqqani, Abdul Aziz Haqqani, and Yahya Haqqani.
“These three individuals are two brothers and one paternal cousin,” Qani told The Associated Press.
The Haqqani network grew into one of the deadliest arms of the Taliban after the U.S.-led 2001 invasion of Afghanistan. The group employed roadside bombs, suicide bombings and other attacks, including on the Indian and U.S. embassies, the Afghan presidency, and other major targets. They also have been linked to extortion, kidnapping and other criminal activity.
Continue reading at the AP
What It Really Means to ‘Give Infectious Disease a Break’
The Trump administration isn’t just dismantling protections against illnesses. It’s inviting them right in.
For most of the past century, the United States’ track record on infectious disease has been quite good. Thanks to major investments in public health, diseases such as smallpox, polio, yellow fever, malaria, measles, rubella, mumps, diphtheria, and tuberculosis have either been obliterated or become vanishingly rare. America “led the charge,” Aniruddha Hazra, an infectious-disease physician at UChicago Medicine, told me. The nation’s approach to public health was expected to help set the standard for the entire globe’s health.
That era might now be over. In recent years, the U.S. had already begun to neglect its public-health infrastructure, weakening defenses necessary for keeping infectious diseases at bay. Now the Trump administration is going beyond poor maintenance. It’s attempting active destruction.
In two months, the administration has slashed funding for biomedical research; stripped universities of grants; triggered the halt of clinical trials, domestically and abroad; gutted the public-health workforce; canceled or postponed vaccine advisory meetings to the government; and upended the normal practices of federal agencies dedicated to promoting American health. Cuts to foreign aid have marooned HIV and malaria medications in ports and storage facilities; an Ebola outbreak has been left to swell and spread. Domestically, the federal government’s response to a growing measles outbreak has downplayed the protective power of vaccines; Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the new secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, has suggested that H5N1 bird flu should be allowed to burn through the nation’s poultry; and the administration is reportedly mulling cuts to the CDC’s HIV budget for prevention of the disease in the U.S.
Continue reading at The Atlantic
To Truly Fix Siri, Apple May Have to Backtrack on One Key Thing—Privacy
The Siri that was promised back in 2011 never quite materialized. Now the big upgrade promised as part of Apple Intelligence is delayed “indefinitely.” Why can’t Apple get Siri right?
Apple Intelligence is fast becoming a disaster.
Announced in June 2024 at Apple's World Wide Developer Conference, the artificial intelligence system arrived on the whole iPhone 16 family in October (and iPhone 15 Pro handsets, too), bringing things like generative tools for folks who can’t be bothered to write emails, and summaries for those who can't be bothered to read, well, just about anything. December’s addition, Genmoji—an AI emoji generator—didn't exactly bring much by way of excitement either.
At the heart of the Apple Intelligence we were actually promised is a new Siri, an upgraded version of Apple's voice assistant, enhanced with some of the same smarts that made ChatGPT so beguiling at its launch in 2022. Amazon made similar moves recently with its upgrade to Alexa+, but a more intelligent Siri is still MIA.
It was meant to be here already. After initially postponing the full rollout from April to May this year, Apple has now had to delay its launch indefinitely. According to a recent report from Bloomberg, Siri simply doesn’t work properly, and by the time Apple’s marketing department started pitching Apple Intelligence’s upgrades to the iPhone-buying public last year, it was little more than a “barely working prototype.” An iPhone 16 feature is becoming an iPhone 17 one, if we’re lucky.
Continue reading at Wired
Elon Musk and Donald Trump Have Chosen Chaos
Elon Musk secured his choke hold on the mechanics of the federal government weeks ago. Along with Donald Trump, he has already standardized chaos across the US.
Two months into the second Trump administration, the United States is in pure chaos mode. Tens of thousands of workers are fired one week and forcibly rehired the next. Tariffs rise and fall based not on strategy but on one man’s ire. Deportations fly in the face of judicial orders, careening the country toward a constitutional crisis. The only constant is the volatility itself.
On paper, that may be surprising. A central premise of Donald Trump’s appeal is that he is an apex businessman. Same with Elon Musk. The elevator pitch: Through the sheer force of their combined savvy, America will be saved from “bankruptcy”—or worse. There aren’t many Harvard Business School case studies, though, that suggest maximum instability is the path to success.
There’s plenty of Occam’s razor at work here: The US is wobbling wildly because its president and de facto CEO are some combination of self-serving and inept. But in between and among the absurdities, something darker takes shape. Inherent in every chaotic act is a challenge. Every outrage is a test.
Continue reading at Wired
2 months into Trump’s second administration, the news industry faces challenges from all directions
NEW YORK (AP) — During the first Trump administration, the biggest concern for many journalists was labels. Would they, or their news outlet, be called “fake news” or an “enemy of the people” by a president and his supporters?
They now face a more assertive President Donald Trump. In two months, a blitz of action by the nation’s new administration — Trump, chapter two — has journalists on their heels.
Lawsuits. A newly aggressive Federal Communications Commission. An effort to control the press corps that covers the president, prompting legal action by The Associated Press. A gutted Voice of America. Public data stripped from websites. And attacks, amplified anew.
“It’s very clear what’s happening. The Trump administration is on a campaign to do everything it can to diminish and obstruct journalism in the United States,” said Bill Grueskin, a journalism professor at Columbia University.
“It’s really nothing like we saw in 2017,” he said. “Not that there weren’t efforts to discredit the press, and not that there weren’t things that the press did to discredit themselves.”
Continue reading at the AP
Schumer says US in constitutional crisis, calls Trump ‘a lawless, angry man’
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said democracy in the United States is “at risk,” calling President Trump a “lawless, angry man” during an interview that aired Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”
When asked by host Kristen Welker whether he believes the U.S. is in a constitutional crisis, Schumer said he does.
“Democracy is at risk,” he said. “Look, Donald Trump is a lawless, angry man. He thinks he should be king. He thinks he should do whatever he wants, regardless of the law, and he thinks judges should just listen to him.”
Schumer is referring to Trump’s recent attacks against U.S. District Court Judge James Boasberg, who ordered the Trump administration to turn around flights carrying alleged Venezuelan gang members. The president later called for the impeachment of Boasberg amid outrage on the right over the judge’s ruling.
“Now we have to fight that back in every single way,” Schumer continued. “And we actually have had over 100 cases in the courts where we’ve had a very good record of success. So Donald Trump, infuriated by that success, said judges should be impeached.”
Continue reading at The Hill
China reportedly mulling participation in Ukraine peacekeeping mission
Beijing’s inclusion in the mission “could potentially increase Russia’s acceptance of peacekeeping forces in Ukraine,” EU diplomats tell Welt.
China is considering joining the potential peacekeeping mission for Ukraine being spearheaded by European leaders, German newspaper Welt reported on Saturday.
China’s participation in the mission “could potentially increase Russia's acceptance of peacekeeping forces in Ukraine,” EU diplomats told Welt, which is owned by POLITICO’s parent company Axel Springer.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has so far vehemently rejected the idea of stationing troops from NATO countries in Ukraine to support a hoped-for ceasefire in the country.
But the participation of Beijing — an ally of Moscow — in the mission could boost the prospects of the peacekeeping effort, considering that Chinese President Xi Jinping's support for Putin has only grown since the Kremlin launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
The peacekeeping mission being pushed by a “coalition of the willing” is an initiative of Britain and France aiming to unite allied European governments to protect Ukraine after any peace deal. Canada and Turkey could also join the group.
Continue reading at Politico Europe
Education secretary on canceled Columbia money: ‘We are on the right track’
McMahon said on CNN’s “State of the Union” that she and Columbia University interim President Katrina Armstrong had talked, later adding that the school leader “knew that this was her responsibility to make sure that children on her campus were safe.”
“We’ve talked and I believe that they are on the right track so that we can now move forward,” McMahon told CNN’s Dana Bash.
“Does that mean that the money will be unfrozen?” Bash asked.
“That means that we are on the right track now to make sure the final negotiations to unfreeze that money will be in place,” McMahon responded.
Continue reading at The Hill
Homan on deported migrants: Officials ‘confident they’re all members of the TdA’
Homan, during an interview on ABC’s “This Week,” reiterated that all the migrants on the flight were members of the gang Tren de Aragua (TdA), noting that multiple officials were confident in their decision.
“A lot of officers, a lot of criminal investigators, special agents who’ve done this for decades looked at the intelligence information, the criminal investigation information, all their various social media and surveillance and government records and public records, and they are confident that they’re all members of the TdA,” he said.
“We’re actually using the laws on the books to enforce immigration law and secure the border at the highest levels ever been,” Homan added.
When pushed on whether he would release the information about the deportations, Homan said the decision would need to be “litigated in the courts.”
“There’s going to be more litigation on this case, I’m sure. But what we did — what was done by the Trump administration was exactly in accordance with federal law, again, enacted by Congress and signed by a president,” he added.
Continue reading at The Hill
Kentucky Lt. Gov. on running for McConnell’s seat: ‘Lord, no’
Kentucky. Lt. Gov. Jacqueline Coleman (D) said Sunday that she isn’t running for Sen. Mitch McConnell’s (R-Ky.) seat.
“We’re going to hear a lot more from Democrats nationally trying to get you or the governor to get into the race for Mitch McConnell’s seat … You said ‘No,’ He said ‘No.’ Any chance that that changes? Any chance … you guys are leaving a crack in the door?” NewsNation’s Chris Stirewalt asked on “The Hill Sunday.”
“I can’t speak for the governor, but for me, I will say, ‘Lord, no.’ I have a five year old — I have a five year old at home and I — that’s plenty for me to worry about,” Coleman responded. “And I’d rather — I’d rather deal with that five year old than some … some of the folks in D.C. who act like they’re five years old.”
Continue reading at The Hill
House Democrat: Trump administration acting ‘with an unbelievable cocktail of incompetence and illegality’
Democratic Rep. Jim Himes (Conn.) said he thinks the Trump administration is acting “with an unbelievable cocktail of incompetence and illegality.”
Himes, who is the ranking member on the House Committee on Intelligence, joined CBS News’s “Face the Nation” on Sunday, where host Margaret Brennan asked him about the Trump administration’s deportation flights of alleged Venezuelan gang members and the differing messages about the legality of Trump’s use of the Alien Enemies Act to do so.
“What people worry about is that this administration acts with a unbelievable kind of cocktail of incompetence and illegality,” Himes said of the deportation and the Department of Government Efficiency.
“When you fire all of the people at the Department of Energy who look after our nuclear weapons and then say ‘oopsie, we need to hire you back,’ that’s incompetence,” he continued.
Continue reading at The Hill
Sanders recognizes Trump’s efforts on border, fentanyl: ‘Nobody thinks illegal immigration is appropriate’
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said there is one thing he agreed with President Trump about: curbing illegal immigration and the flow of fentanyl into the country.
Sanders joined ABC News’s “This Week,” where host Jonathan Karl asked if there was anything Trump has done right.
“I think cracking down on fentanyl, making sure our borders are stronger,” Sanders replied. “Look, nobody thinks illegal immigration is appropriate, and I happen to think we need comprehensive immigration reform, but I don’t think it’s appropriate for people to be coming across the border illegally.”
While the senator agreed with Trump on strengthening the country’s borders to protect citizens, he disagreed with the president’s mass deportation plan.
“He wants to deport 20 million people who are in this country who are undocumented,” Sanders said. “Well, you do that, you destroy the entire country.”
“Because I got news for you, Trump’s billionaire friends are not going to pick the crops in California that feed us. They’re not going to work in meatpacking houses,” he continued. “That’s what undocumented people are doing.”
Continue reading at The Hill
Khanna on Schumer: ‘The American people are fed up with the old guard’
Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) on Sunday said Americans “are fed up with the old guard” after being asked about Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), whose leadership has been called into question after a vote to advance a Republican-crafted funding bill.
“The American people are fed up with the old guard, there needs to be a renewal,” Khanna told CNN’s Dana Bash. “You know, in Silicon Valley, when a company isn’t doing well, you don’t keep the same team.”
“And I think there’s going to be a new generation in this country,” the California Democrat added.
Many Democrats have expressed disappointment over Schumer’s voting to advance a Republican-crafted funding bill, and some of his Senate colleagues recently questioned his decisionmaking in a way that they had not since he began his leadership tenure.
Continue reading at The Hill
GOP heads into key stretch for ambitious Trump tax cut plan
Republicans on Capitol Hill are staring down a key three-week stretch in their effort to enact President Trump’s ambitious tax agenda, with hopes that the House will be able to advance a compromise budget resolution at its conclusion to keep pace with the party’s aggressive timeline.
Senate Republicans last month adopted a budget resolution for their two-track strategy to advance Trump’s legislative agenda, moving ahead with an initial package that included funding for border and defense needs. Days later, the House GOP approved its framework for “one big, beautiful bill” full of Trump’s domestic policy priorities — including tax cuts — putting the two chambers on a collision course.
Since then, top lawmakers have been working across the Capitol to reconcile the two blueprints, discussing a number of key details, including how to make Trump’s 2017 tax cuts permanent.
Those conversations are expected to come to a head over the next three weeks.
Continue reading at The Hill
‘DOGE and Musk were gonna have a big impact’: Federal job cuts shake the Capital Region
State and city officials are opening local jobs to feds to try to lessen the economic fallout from a mass exodus of workers.
Political leaders across the Washington region are scrambling to find a place for government workers President Donald Trump is trying to fire, part of a mad dash to protect the region’s economy that relies on serving the federal workforce.
Officials from the District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia have been mobilizing their resources to build a safety net, trying to offer fired federal workers positions elsewhere. Websites sprawling with links on everything from filing for unemployment to postings for local jobs have gone up for all the major counties in the area, and officials are trying to hire as many former federal officials as they can in state and local government.
“It was obvious from the beginning that DOGE and Musk were gonna have a big impact on the workforce in Northern Virginia, and really the whole DMV,” Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.) told POLITICO at a job fair he set up in the Washington suburb of Arlington for laid off feds, using a nickname for the region. “We want to try to keep them here as best we can.”
The loss of jobs for potentially hundreds of thousands of federal workers would be devastating for the area’s future. The unemployment rate is inching up already in Washington, and the administration is exploring selling federal buildings in the city. The District’s budget projected as many as 40,000 fewer federal jobs, descending the city into a “mild recession” in 2026.
Continue reading at Politico
NJ Democrats for governor want to amend the constitution for abortion. Legal experts call it ‘unnecessary’
The proposal has been debated at the Statehouse in recent years and a Democratic lawmaker recently introduced legislation to start the process to amend the Constitution.
New Jersey’s strong abortion laws aren’t enough for the top Democrats running for governor. Now, they want to change the state Constitution to explicitly include abortion rights.
For Rep. Mikie Sherrill, considered the front-runner in the Democratic primary, amending the Constitution is among her most specific and consistent campaign promises. Rep. Josh Gottheimer added it to his campaign platform. And former Senate President Steve Sweeney claims to be the “first” candidate in the race to call for such a measure.
It’s a move that’s been debated at the Statehouse in recent years — but one that has not been endorsed by many legal experts and abortion-rights advocates in the state, some of whom call it “unnecessary.” Many abortion-rights supporters are instead prioritizing measures they say would increase abortion access.
Democrats’ focus on abortion rights — especially since the fall of Roe v. Wade — mitigated their losses in the 2022 midterms, yet zeroing in on it last year ended with a Republican trifecta in Washington. Running on abortion rights in a state where they are protected could test whether it is an issue that can still launch a Democrat to the governor’s mansion. The race is viewed as a bellwether for the 2026 midterms.
Continue reading at Politico
Rand Paul avoids supporting Trump use of the Alien Enemies Act
The Kentucky Republican warned of constitutional conflicts but expects the Supreme Court to uphold Trump’s use of wartime deportation powers.
Kentucky Republican Sen. Rand Paul isn’t fully endorsing President Donald Trump’s recent use of the rarely used Alien Enemies Act to deport a group of Venezuelan nationals accused of gang ties, warning that the move raises “big legal questions.”
“The Bill of Rights applies to everyone,” Paul said during an interview on CBS’ “Face the Nation” with moderator Margaret Brennan on Sunday. “The Bill of Rights doesn’t specifically designate citizens … On the other end, the Alien Enemies Act says you don’t get much process … The president can declare that you are somehow a problem for foreign policy … and you can be deported.”
Trump invoked the rarely-used Alien Enemies Act — which was last employed during World War II — on March 15 to deport over 200 alleged Venezuelan gang members. The sweeping wartime authority permits noncitizens to be deported without a hearing before an immigration or federal court judge.
The move set off a legal showdown between the Trump administration and U.S. District Judge James Boasberg, who had ordered the Trump administration to turn around the planes carrying deportees bound for El Salvador, though the deportations proceeded.
Continue reading at Politico
Attorney general to Jasmine Crockett: ‘Tread very carefully’ with your Musk critique
Ahead of expected protests at Tesla locations, the Democratic representative said her calls to action against Musk were nonviolent.
Attorney General Pam Bondi warned Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas) on Sunday to “tread very carefully” following the lawmaker’s recent remarks voicing support for Elon Musk to be “taken down.”
“She is an elected public official, so she needs to tread very carefully because nothing will happen to Elon Musk, and we’re going to fight to protect all of the Tesla owners throughout this country,” Bondi said during an appearance on Fox’s “Sunday Morning Futures.”
The warning comes days after the Democrat spoke at a virtual rally held for the The Tesla Takedown movement, a group rallying against Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency’s efforts to bulldoze the federal bureaucracy through boycotts and demonstrations at Tesla properties. The coalition is organizing 500 demonstrations March 29 at Tesla locations across the country.
“On March 29, it’s my birthday, and all I want to see happen on my birthday is for Elon to be taken down,” Crockett said during her remarks. “I have learned, as I serve on the DOGE Oversight committee, that there is only one language that the people that are in charge understand right now, and that language is money.”
Crockett clarified during the rally that her calls for action were nonviolent.
Continue reading at Politico
Trump vs. Canada: Prime Minister Carney calls snap election to take on president
Canada’s new prime minister said he needs a mandate from Canadians to take on U.S. President Donald Trump.
OTTAWA — Prime Minister Mark Carney called a snap election on Sunday, saying he needs a mandate from Canadians to take on U.S. President Donald Trump.
The federal campaign kicks off days ahead of a new slate of Trump tariffs, and at a time when Canadians are increasingly worried the president will make good on his threats of economic and cultural takeover.
“President Trump claims that Canada isn’t a real country. He wants to break us so America can own us. We will not let that happen,” Carney said outside of Rideau Hall in Ottawa. “We’re over the shock of the betrayal, but we should never forget the lessons.”
Voters will go to the polls on April 28 with a clear ballot box question: Who is best to handle Trump?
Canada’s Liberal Party was staring down a heavy defeat at the start of 2025, worried it was about to be wiped out from the House of Commons. But Trump’s return to the White House has overturned the political landscape to the extent that most national opinion polls currently favor the Liberals to win.
Continue reading at Politico
Tax revenue could drop by 10 percent amid turmoil at IRS
Staff cuts and disruptions related to the U.S. DOGE Service have officials bracing for a sharp loss of revenue.
Senior tax officials are bracing for a sharp drop in revenue collected this spring, as an increasing number of individuals and businesses spurn filing their taxes or attempt to skip paying balances owed to the Internal Revenue Service, according to three people with knowledge of tax projections.
Treasury Department and IRS officials are predicting a decrease of more than 10 percent in tax receipts by the April 15 deadline compared with 2024, said the people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to share nonpublic data. That would amount to more than $500 billion in lost federal revenue; the IRS collected $5.1 trillion last year. For context, the U.S. government spent $825 billion on the Defense Department in fiscal 2024.
“The idea of doing that in one year, it’s hard to grapple with how meaningful of a shift that represents,” said Natasha Sarin, president of the Yale Budget Lab and a senior Biden administration tax official.
The prediction, officials say, is directly tied to changing taxpayer behavior and President Donald Trump’s rapid demolition of parts of the IRS. Senior tax agency officials issued detailed warnings about those outcomes to the incoming Trump administration before the president took office, according to records obtained by The Washington Post.
The administration has moved to fire nearly 20,000 agency employees, specifically targeting new hires in taxpayer services and enforcement divisions. It’s already dismissed more than 11,000 workers at the agency, though some of their statuses are unclear pending fast-moving court cases.
The IRS has dropped investigations of high-value corporations and taxpayers, according to several agency employees involved in those inquiries, because it’s had to triage resources to keep internal systems operating. Two agency commissioners have resigned since Trump took office. The IRS’s head of compliance, Heather Maloy, stepped down effective Friday.
Continue reading at the Washington Post
Trump's transgender rights rollbacks prompt allies to adjust travel warnings
Several European countries have adjusted travel guidelines for citizens seeking to enter the U.S. as the Trump administration has implemented several rollbacks on transgender rights.
The big picture: Finland, Denmark and Germany urged cautionary planning for trans and nonbinary travelers seeking to enter the U.S. following an executive order requiring the federal government to recognize only two sexes: male and female.
The advisory changes come as citizens from several European countries and beyond have been detained by U.S. immigration authorities over issues with travel visas.
Driving the news: "If your passport has the gender designation X or you have changed gender, it is recommended to contact the US embassy prior to travel for guidance on how to proceed," the Danish foreign ministry's page, updated Thursday, now reads.
It makes no specific mention of Trump's executive order but notes that there are "there are two gender designations to choose from: male or female" when applying for a visa or Electronic System for Travel Authorization approval.
The change on Denmark's travel page came around one week after Finland made a similar update, the Hill reported.
Continue reading at Axios
Canadian PM slams Trump's "unjustified" tariffs
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney on Sunday called a snap federal election, emphasizing the urgent need to counter President Trump's confusion-inducing trade war.
The big picture: Trump's anger-triggering tariffs and threats of making the close U.S. ally the 51st state have shaken up Canadian politics and bolstered a sense of nationalism, signaling changing fortunes for the recently unpopular Liberal leadership.
Whoever emerges victorious from the April 28 election — which will pit the former central banker against Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre —will have to navigate the potentially massive economic and diplomatic damages of a deteriorating U.S.-Canada bond.
Driving the news: Speaking to reporters Sunday, Carney asked Canadians for a "strong, positive mandate to deal with President Trump."
"We are facing the most significant crisis of our lifetimes because of President Trump's unjustified trade actions and his threats to our sovereignty," he said, adding the Canadian response must include increased security and economic strength.
"President Trump claims that Canada isn't a real country," he continued. "He wants to break us so America can own us. We will not let that happen."
Catch up quick: After former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau stepped down in January, his party selected Carney, the former governor of the Banks of Canada and England, to take the reins.
Continue reading at Axios
Trump says Oswald was ‘helped’ in JFK assassination
President Trump said he thinks Lee Harvey Oswald killed former President John F. Kennedy and didn’t act alone.
Trump spoke with Outkick radio host Clay Travis, where he was asked about the release of thousands of files related to the assassination.
“Do you think Oswald killed JFK personally?” Travis asked.
“I do, and I always felt that,” Trump replied. “Of course he was … helped.”
The Department of Justice has long confirmed that Oswald worked alone to kill Kennedy, but conspiracies over the decades have questioned if there was another person or multiple people involved.
Oswald was charged with Kennedy’s assassination but denied responsibility for the shooting. He was killed two days after the 1963 assassination.
Continue reading at The Hill
Second lady Usha Vance will visit Greenland as Trump talks up US takeover
Vance will leave on Thursday and return Saturday, according to her office. Vance and one of her three children will be part of a U.S. delegation set to “visit historical sites, learn about Greenlandic heritage, and attend the Avannaata Qimussersu, Greenland’s national dogsled race.”
The race features around 37 mushers and 444 dogs and offers what Vance’s office described as a “remarkable display of speed, skill, and teamwork. The statement said that Vance and the delegation “are excited to witness this monumental race and celebrate Greenlandic culture and unity.”
Media outlets in Greenland and Denmark reported that during her trip this week, Vance would be accompanied by Trump’s national security adviser Mike Waltz. The White House and the National Security Council did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Continue reading at the AP
Man drives car into protesters outside a Tesla dealership, nobody hurt, sheriff says
A man drove his car into protesters outside a Tesla dealership in Palm Beach County, Florida, but did not injure any of those who had gathered to demonstrate against billionaire Elon Musk and President Donald Trump over the weekend, according to law enforcement.
The planned protest was one of a slew across the U.S. at businesses associated with Tesla, the company led by Musk, in response to the billionaire’s work with the Trump administration in cutting federal funding and the workforce.
Attacks on property carrying the logo of Elon Musk’s electric-car company are cropping up across the U.S. and overseas. Several more violent incidents include Cybertrucks being set on fire in Seattle and shots fired at a Tesla dealership in Oregon.
The protest on Saturday was interrupted when Andrew Dutil drove his vehicle onto the sidewalk full of protesters at a slow speed, forcing people to scramble out of the way to avoid the being hit, according to the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office.
Continue reading at the AP
Jeremy Clarkson taunts ‘idiot’ Elon Musk over Tesla vandalism
“What makes it so juicy is that he’s being pecked to death by the very people who put him on the pedestal in the first place. The eco hippies.”
British broadcaster Jeremy Clarkson has reignited a feud with carmaker-turned-political figure Elon Musk that started in 2008 with a bad review of a Tesla car on motoring show Top Gear.
People in the United States and around the world have in recent weeks been vandalizing Tesla vehicles and showrooms in response to the prominence and actions of Musk, who owns Tesla, within the United States government.
“The sudden pan-global decision to uncrowdfund Tesla and to break the door mirrors off as many of its cars as possible is not funny,” Clarkson wrote in his Sunday Times column. “But also, it’s kinda hilarious. Especially if you’re me.”
Continue reading at Politico Europe
Note from Rima: Jeremy was a revered figure (along with his co-presenters) - until we found out he was a Brexiteer and rather bigoted. For those of you too young to be familiar, here is some Top Gear which is still very enjoyable and the cinematography, eleven years on, is still breathtaking.
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