Things Musk (and Trump) Did... Day 66 | Blog#42
The big selling-out of America is just getting warm...
Yesterday’s post
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Yesterday’s news worth repeating
RFK Jr.’s critics: 24 percent HHS staffing cuts risk ‘manmade disaster’
The Trump administration announced plans Thursday to get rid of roughly a quarter of staffers at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), prompting a flurry of warnings from Democrats, former officials and policy experts over the potential consequences for the health of Americans.
In a press release Thursday morning, the HHS said it would be reorganizing the department and cutting about 10,000 jobs in the process through layoffs. The department will seek to cut an additional 10,000 employees through buyouts, early retirement and the administration’s “Fork in the Road” offer.
Removing 20,000 employees from the 82,000 HHS workforce represents a reduction of about 24 percent.
In an email to the American Federation of Government Employees union seen by The Hill, a representative from the human resources office said the workforce reduction would primarily affect employees in “administrative positions including human resources, information technology, procurement, and finance.”
“We aren’t just reducing bureaucratic sprawl. We are realigning the organization with its core mission and our new priorities in reversing the chronic disease epidemic,” HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said in a statement. On social platform X, Kennedy acknowledged “this will be a painful period for HHS.”
Continue reading at The Hill
Very few people ‘know what’s happening’: RFK Jr. cuts surprise and alarm
The cuts sent shockwaves through the department’s sprawling workforce, prompting a scramble among senior agency officials to figure out which employees and policy priorities were affected.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s move to gut and reorganize the federal health department shocked many people tasked with making it happen, and left others fearful that everything from the safety of the nation’s drug supply to disease response could be at risk.
The disaster preparedness agency in the Department of Health and Human Services has just two days to prepare a plan to fold itself into the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, according to an HHS official, granted anonymity for fear of retribution.
Health staffers entrusted with regulating prescription drugs, managing public health programs and conducting scientific research were blindsided by the cuts, with many learning the details from a Wall Street Journal story published early on Thursday, several people familiar with the matter said.
“There’s very few people who actually know what’s happening,” said one health official granted anonymity to describe the internal reaction.
House Energy and Commerce Chair Brett Guthrie (R-Ky.) also said he learned of the cuts from news reports. Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), chair of the committee that oversees the health department, found out from Kennedy during a breakfast Thursday just before the news broke.
The hushed-and-hurried nature of Thursday’s announcement, which called for terminating 10,000 workers, the elimination of departments and the closure of regional offices, underscores how Kennedy as health secretary intends to impose his singular vision on a department he has chided as a bloated bureaucracy that has lost its way.
“We’re going to eliminate an entire alphabet soup of departments and agencies while preserving their core functions,” Kennedy said in a six-minute video explaining the cuts that he posted to X on Thursday.
Continue reading at Politico
Elon Musk, in first DOGE team interview: "This is a revolution"
Elon Musk described the Department of Government Efficiency's work as a "revolution" in his team's first interview on the department's behalf Thursday.
Why it matters: DOGE has forced out tens of thousands of employees, shuttered agencies, canceled grants and contracts and upended how the U.S. does business — changes the public tells pollsters they don't generally like.
What they're saying: "This is a revolution, and I think it might be the biggest revolution in the government since the original revolution," Musk, flanked by seven DOGE colleagues, told Fox News.
Musk suggested the balance of that work could be done soon.
Zoom in: He holds "special government employee" status, which means he can work on government business for 130 days in every 365-day period. Fox host Bret Baier asked Musk if he had any plans to stay on past that 130-day window.
Continue reading at Axios
Meet the DOGE team
The tech billionaire and seven DOGE staffers sat for an interview with Fox News host Brett Baier on Thursday, where they discussed their push to slash $1 trillion worth of government spending.
Here’s who’s on the DOGE team:
Steve Davis
Steve Davis, who has worked alongside Musk for years, is serving as the “chief operating officer” of DOGE, Baier said. Davis described DOGE as an “inspiring mission” that was “worth doing.”
He has previously worked at several of Musk’s companies, including SpaceX, the Boring Company and Twitter, now X.
Continue reading at The Hill
Today’s news
Democratic News Corner
Dems walk fine line on auto tariffs
Democrats criticize Trump’s deployment of tariffs, but the policy itself is another question.
Donald Trump’s tariffs are jamming Democrats.
Desperate to win back working-class voters, Democrats in the Rust Belt and beyond on Thursday were walking a fine line following the president’s announcement that he will impose an additional 25 percent tariff on imported cars and auto parts. Many are loath to criticize Trump’s protectionist policies and risk the ire of their blue-collar base, even if they cast his deployment of tariffs as haphazard and warned they could spike prices.
Tariffs are “a tool, just like fire,” said Democratic Rep. Gwen Moore of Wisconsin, adding that she is reserving judgement on topic. “You can barbecue with it, or you can burn your house down, depending on how you use it.”
For Democrats, that’s the problem. While they are unified against much of Trump’s agenda, his use of tariffs has fractured the left.
“The real-world impact is that some of our everyday goods like groceries will see a rise in cost because of these tariffs,” said Michigan state Sen. Darrin Camilleri, who represents manufacturing-rich Downriver, a region of metropolitan Detroit. “Those costs will go up because of tariffs.”
Continue reading at Politico
AP: How this auto union leader’s support for Trump’s tariffs scrambled labor politics again
Shawn Fain, the president of the United Automobile Workers, assailed a new executive order signed this week by President Trump as an attack on federal workers.
He compared it to the 1981 air traffic controller strike, when President Ronald Reagan fired 11,000 air traffic controllers.
"This is 100 times worse than PATCO ever dreamed of being," Fain said, referring to the Port Authority Corporation, "when you're talking, you know — 700,000 people — their contracts just being taken away."
"Free speech is under attack. Unions are under attack," Fain told CBS News chief Washington correspondent Major Garrett in an interview airing Sunday on "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan."
On Thursday, the president signed an executive order to stop or slow down collective bargaining with agencies that have national security responsibilities, claiming that unions have stood in the way of their management. It affects a broad swath of agencies across the federal government, including some that do not have direct national security duties. The departments of defense, homeland security, state, energy, treasury and health and human services are listed in the order.
Fain blamed the "billionaires," who he said "want more tax cuts for themselves."
"It's been proven time and again that's not what works for America," he continued. "That's not good for the American people, the working class people in America."
"They want their fair share. They're not asking to be rich," Fain told Garrett. "They just want a decent standard of living," which he distilled into four issues, "living wages, adequate health care, retirement security and having some quality of life other than just everything revolving around work."
Continue reading at CBS News
Scoop: Dem insurgents won't commit to backing Jeffries
A pair of progressive insurgents running against veteran House Democrats in 2026 declined to say they would vote for Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) as speaker in interviews with Axios.
Why it matters: The comments appear to reflect a rising anti-establishment, anti-leadership sentiment within some corners of the Democratic grassroots.
Democrats have been feeling the heat in their districts, with furious town hall audience members demanding they adopt more hardball tactics to counter the Trump administration.
What they're saying: Saikat Chakrabarti, who is challenging House Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), told Axios, "I wouldn't vote for Jeffries."
"From what I'm seeing of Jeffries right now, I don't think he's leading," said Chakrabarti, a former chief of staff to Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.).
Kat Abughazaleh, a 26-year-old progressive influencer running against Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.), told Axios her vote for speaker "just depends on the situation" and said she is "not super happy with" Jeffries.
"If he gets with the program and gets what people want and doesn't chastise members of his own party for standing up to Trump, that could change. He just needs to get based. Real simple," she added.
Zoom in: Asked who she wants to see in leadership, Abughazaleh pointed to Ocasio-Cortez and Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas), as well as Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.).
Continue reading at Axios
‘If We Don’t Get Our S--t Together, Then We Are Going to Be in a Permanent Minority’
It’s been months since Democrats suffered a devastating defeat at the polls. For all the talk about the party’s need for change, few seem actually willing to make the leap.
Days after President Donald Trump took office for the second time, a boatload of candidates vying to lead the Democratic National Committee crammed into a Washington auditorium plastered with MSNBC logos.
This was their last big forum before the vote to make the case that they had what it took to rescue their party from irrelevance.
The moderators called on a little-known contender, Quintessa Hathaway, to deliver the first opening statement. “I just want to give you all a little bit of something that’s been on my heart,” she told the audience.
Then, suddenly, unexpectedly, she broke into song. “When your government is doing you wrong,” she belted out, “you fight on, oh-oh, you fight on.”
It had only taken four minutes for the battle over the future of the Democratic Party to devolve into what critics likened to a scene from Portlandia, a comedy satirizing ultra-liberals — and it was a punchline that was clipped and replayed across social media in the days ahead. Things only got more surreal, and viral, from there.
Over the next hour-and-a-half, the aspiring DNC leaders inadvertently showcased the party’s self-absorbed tendencies that strategists argue have driven away swing voters, by turns fixating on identity politics, displaying scorn for large swaths of the electorate and failing to focus on the pocketbook concerns of ordinary Americans. Rather than grappling seriously with why Democrats had lost the presidential election, the candidates quibbled over tactics. No one argued that Joe Biden should never have run for reelection, or questioned whether Kamala Harris had made any major errors. The most unpopular parts of the party’s record, from the inflation that spiraled out of control on Biden’s watch to a border crisis that went unchecked for years, likewise went unmentioned.
Instead, with Trump already fast at work, pardoning more than 1,000 Jan. 6 defendants, moving to send undocumented immigrants to Guantánamo Bay, and empowering billionaire Elon Musk to hack away at the federal government, the would-be leaders of the DNC were quizzed on a series of liberal litmus tests.
“How many of you believe that racism and misogyny played a role in Vice President Harris’ defeat?” asked MSNBC anchor Jonathan Capehart. Every candidate raised their hand. “That’s good,” he added. “You all pass.” Later, a DNC member asked, in reference to party positions: “Will you pledge to appoint more than one transgender person to an at-large seat?” Only one of eight contenders kept their hand down.
Continue reading at Politico Magazine
Democrats demand answers on arrest of Tufts student Rumeysa Ozturk
More than 30 Democratic lawmakers are demanding answers from the Department of Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) after the latest high-profile arrest and detention of a foreign-born college student who had voiced support for the pro-Palestinian movement.
In a Thursday letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and ICE acting Director Todd Lyons, the 34 Democrats called for them to explain why Tufts University student Rumeysa Ozturk was arrested Tuesday by six masked, plainclothes agents while walking home.
“The rationale for this arrest appears to be this student’s expression of her political views,” the members wrote. “We are calling for full due process in this case and are seeking answers about this case and about ICE’s policy that has led to the identification and arrest of university students with valid legal status.”
Continue reading at The Hill
Senate Democrats to force vote next week on Trump’s fentanyl tariffs on Canada
The lawmakers are tapping a provision in a 1976 law that allows any senator to force a vote to block emergency powers being abused by the president.
The Senate is expected to vote Tuesday on a Democratic resolution aimed at blocking President Donald Trump from using the International Emergency Economic Powers Act to impose a 25 percent tariff on Canada, Sens. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) and Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) said Friday.
“Fortunately, the National Emergencies Act of 1976 included a provision allowing any senator to force a vote to block emergency powers being abused by the president. I will be pulling that procedural lever to challenge Trump’s Canada tariffs early next week,” Kaine said in an op-ed published Friday in the Washington Post.
Trump declared on Feb. 1 that the threat posed by fentanyl and undocumented migration from Canada, Mexico and China constituted a national emergency that justified the use of tariffs to pressure the three countries to take action to respond. His use of the emergency powers law to impose tariffs is unprecedented, although that legislation gives the president broad authority to impose sanctions in times of emergency.
Continue reading at Politico
California Democrats find new ways to resist Elon Musk — online and on the road
State legislators are leaving the tech titan’s X platform en masse and eyeing regulations that could rein in Tesla.
SAN FRANCISCO — California Democrats are finding more ways to oppose Elon Musk both online and on the road, targeting two of his state-grown companies: X and Tesla.
California Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas along with 57 other Assembly members announced Thursday they were leaving Musk’s X, calling it a bastion of disinformation and hate speech under its current owner.
“Democracy depends on impartial information, not the shifting whims of one billionaire,” Rivas said in a statement. “Hate speech is everywhere on X, the company has no accountability, and the flood of misinformation from fake accounts is just that — fake. I don’t think taxpayer resources should go to X.”
The move shows California Democrats continually cleaving from President Donald Trump’s Washington by focusing their attacks on the tech titan, and not just the president himself. That includes protesting sweeping DOGE cuts and railing against the “tech oligarchy.”
Musk has a tumultuous history with the state — and its leaders — where he grew many of his businesses that still have sizable footprints here.
Continue reading at Politico
Newsom calls the Democratic brand ‘toxic’ as he defends his podcast
SACRAMENTO — Since his podcast debuted in March, Gov. Gavin Newsom of California has flummoxed Democrats who fear that the politician they considered a liberal prizefighter is turning MAGA-friendly.
The rap against “This Is Gavin Newsom,” in which the governor spoke out against trans athletes competing in women’s sports and disavowed the gender-inclusive term “Latinx,” is that he doesn’t sound like the Newsom they know at all.
“What in God’s name is going on with Gavin Newsom?” asked CNN anchor Erin Burnett, quoting a headline criticizing the podcast, during a recent segment ripping the governor’s apparent shift.
“The country is trying to figure out how he went from progressive hero and governor of the most liberal state in the country to interviewing and spending time with MAGA favorites like Steve Bannon and Charlie Kirk.”
The Democratic governor was also surprised, but by the response.
“I did what I said I was going to do. I mean, when I launched this, I said I was going to have, not debates with people I disagree with, I said we’re gonna have people on we disagree and agree with to have civil conversations to try to understand each other at this time of such polarization,” Newsom said in an interview with The Times on Friday.“And I said I was going to specifically meet with members of the MAGA movement. And then we did it and people were shocked.”
A common takeaway from the podcast is that Newsom is attempting to shape-shift into a moderate as he gears up to run for president in the aftermath of the Democratic Party’s disastrous 2024 election.
Continue reading at the Los Angeles Times
National Security
Putin says US push for Greenland rooted in history, vows to uphold Russian interest in the Arctic
MOSCOW (AP) — Russia’s President Vladimir Putin said Thursday that President Donald Trump’s push for control over Greenland wasn’t surprising given longtime U.S. interest in the mineral-rich territory.
Speaking at a policy forum in the Artic port of Murmansk, Putin noted that the United States first considered plans to win control over Greenland in the 19th century, and then offered to buy it from Denmark after World War II.
“It can look surprising only at first glance and it would be wrong to believe that this is some sort of extravagant talk by the current U.S. administration,” Putin said. “It’s obvious that the United States will continue to systematically advance its geostrategic, military-political and economic interests in the Arctic.”
Trump irked much of Europe by suggesting that the United States should in some form control the self-governing, mineral-rich territory of Denmark, a U.S. ally and NATO member. As the nautical gateway to the Arctic and North Atlantic approaches to North America, Greenland has broader strategic value as both China and Russia seek access to its waterways and natural resources.
Continue reading at the AP
Nat sec officials discussion of ‘clearly classified’ information violated law, experts say
The inadvertent inclusion of a journalist on a Signal group chat discussing attack plans means officials likely violated the Espionage Act and public records laws while flouting guidance on how to discuss sensitive information.
The contents of the discussion, shared by The Atlantic, show the group chat started by National Security Advisor Mike Waltz included discussions about the timelines and targets of an impending airstrike on Houthi rebels in Yemen as Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth gave the 19 members on the chat a rundown of operations.
“I can’t fathom it doesn’t violate the Espionage Act,” Mark Zaid, a national security law expert, told The Hill.
“You should also think of whether it violates the Federal Records Act by the fact that they had the messages set to destroy, with no indication, as far as we know, that they were preserving them, which is required.”
The administration has denied that the chat contained classified information — a claim congressional Democrats have called laughable.
Continue reading at The Hill
GOP lawmakers warn against federal records destruction in Signal chats
Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) says he’s working on a letter with Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.), the ranking member of the Armed Services Committee, instructing the Trump administration to preserve all the records related to a Signal chat among senior officials about a military strike on Houthi rebels.
“We’re working on a different letter on preservation of documents,” Wicker said.
A person familiar with the matter said that letter regarding document preservation was sent to the Trump administration Thursday.
Wicker and Reed sent another letter Wednesday to the Pentagon’s office of inspector general asking the Defense Department to provide a detailed assessment of the facts and circumstances surrounding the Signal chat that involved Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, National Security Advisor Mike Waltz and other senior officials.
“This chat was alleged to have included classified information pertaining to sensitive military actions in Yemen,” they wrote. “If true, this reporting raises questions as to the use of unclassified networks to discuss sensitive and classified information, as well as the sharing of such information with those who do not have proper clearance and need to know.”
Continue reading at The Hill
Trump would see firing Waltz as ‘giving in to the media’: Haberman
New York Times political correspondent Maggie Haberman weighed in on why she believes President Trump is defending national security adviser Mike Waltz over the Signal group chat breach, suggesting the rhetoric is an effort to stiff media outlets and their portrayal of the controversy.
“Trump is very clear that, according to a number of people I’ve spoken to, he does not want to fire someone because he sees that as giving in to the media,” Haberman said during a Thursday appearance on CNN’s “The Source with Kaitlan Collins.”
“People around him see that as weak,” she added. “And I think you will hear that for a while. Whether this is sustainable for them is another story.”
Continue reading at The Hill
Here’s who members of Houthi PC Small Group are blaming
None of them have expressed any reservations about discussing the sensitive material on Signal.
While President Donald Trump has so far stood behind the officials in the group chat (in public at least), the scandal could balloon big enough that someone loses their job.
Administration officials have defended themselves by saying no classified information was shared in the chat and, regardless, the strike on the Houthis was a success. None of those in the chat have expressed regret about discussing the sensitive material, which some former and current officials do believe may have been classified at the time it was sent. Signal has an unclear security reputation within the U.S. government and has previously been barred from use on government devices.
One common villain has emerged: The Atlantic’s top editor, Jeffrey Goldberg, the journalist who was added to the chat. Administration officials accuse him of over-torquing the story and sensationalizing what was discussed in the chat.
The White House did not respond to a request for comment about the differing strategies administration officials are taking.
Here is POLITICO’s review of how the main characters from the chat are tailoring their responses to the Signalgate scandal.
Continue reading at Politico
Musk to visit CIA for ‘government efficiency’ talks
It is the latest spy agency to face the billionaire’s scrutiny.
CIA Director John Ratcliffe invited Elon Musk to meet with him next week, suggesting the nation’s top intelligence agencies won’t be exempt from the tech billionaire’s efforts to slash government spending.
“Director Ratcliffe has invited Elon Musk to meet with him at the Agency to discuss government efficiency,” a CIA spokesperson told POLITICO.
The meeting will take place on Monday, according to journalist Catherine Herridge, whose post on X was shared by Ratcliffe.
Earlier this month, the CIA fired an unspecified number of probationary staff and recent hires, according to the New York Times, with reports that up to 80 people have so far been let go.
Musk also met with the director of the National Security Agency two weeks ago, which a spokesperson for the NSA described as an effort to make sure the agency was “aligned” with the new administration’s priorities.
The Office of Personnel Management initially exempted those working in national security from its “Fork in the Road” resignation offer in February, though some spy agencies gave their employees the choice to accept the severance package.
Continue reading at Politico
DHS considers axing disaster and counterterrorism grants that help sanctuary cities
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem signed a document determining that Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) programs that go to “sanctuary jurisdictions” would be subject to a review and potential “termination.”
Just because a program goes to such a jurisdiction does not necessarily mean grants will be ended. Instead, a decision will be made based on the grant’s purpose, benefits and risks and “the context of which organization is receiving the award.”
The list of grants that could be cut includes a $1.9 billion program to help high-risk urban areas prevent and prepare for terrorist attacks.
It also includes a separate $760 million program that helps states and tribes prevent terrorism, as well as a $480 million program that helps states and tribes with emergency preparedness.
Continue reading at The Hill
Vance and top Trump advisers suggested firing Waltz
The national security adviser almost got fired. He still might.
On Wednesday evening — following a brutal day of headlines surrounding the now-infamous Signal chat — Vice President JD Vance, chief of staff Susie Wiles and top personnel official Sergio Gor gently offered President Donald Trump some advice in a private meeting.
National security adviser Mike Waltz’s accidental inclusion of a journalist in the chat was creating a major embarrassment for the White House. Perhaps it was time to consider showing him the door, they suggested, according to two people familiar with the conversations who were granted anonymity to discuss them.
The president agreed that Waltz had messed up, according to the people, but Trump ultimately decided not to fire him for one reason — for now: Like hell he’d give the liberal media and pearl-clutching Democrats a win.
“They don’t want to give the press a scalp,” said one of the people, a White House ally close with the team.
Despite simmering anger directed at the national security adviser from inside the White House, Waltz still has his job five days after The Atlantic first published its explosive story on the Signal chat. That doesn’t mean he’s safe yet, according to the two people.
In fact, the two allies have heard some administration officials are just waiting for the right time to let him go, eager to be free of the newscycle before making changes.
One of them offered this prediction: “They’ll stick by him for now, but he’ll be gone in a couple of weeks.”
Continue reading at Politico
Health news
Axios Future of Health Care
1 big thing: How RFK Jr. could threaten vaccine markets
The not-so-slow drip of vaccine-unfriendly news coming from the Trump administration poses the longer-term question of just how much drugmakers would be willing to take before they decide the historically fragile market is too volatile to participate in.
Why it matters: The availability of vaccines in the U.S. isn't just dependent on whether the federal government has approved them; manufacturers have to be willing to continue making and selling them.
Actions taken by the Trump administration — including HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a longtime vaccine critic — could ultimately convince drug companies that the market is too risky to enter or remain in, either because of depressed demand or an increased threat of litigation.
"It's a fragile market and it's not something we can take for granted, and it is a market we have seen drastically threatened before," said Richard Hughes, a professor of vaccine law at George Washington University and a partner at Epstein, Becker & Green.
Driving the news: The Washington Post reported this week that a longtime promoter of the debunked theory that vaccines cause autism will lead the Trump administration's planned study into the link between the two.
David Geier, who has published papers with his father claiming that vaccines cause autism, has also been disciplined by Maryland regulators for practicing medicine without a license. Axios confirmed that a David Geier is listed in the HHS employee directory, although HHS declined to comment.
Continue reading at Axios
Note from Rima: A profile of David Geier in yesterday’s news
2. How it works
The federal government is very specific about which vaccines and which injuries are covered by the compensation program, laying them out in a table. These conditions are "presumed to be caused by vaccines unless another cause is proven," per HHS.
Covered vaccines have to be recommended by the CDC for routine administration to children or pregnant women, subject to an excise tax and added to the program by the HHS secretary. Thus, the secretary has a lot of sway over this table — including changes to it.
The secretary "modifies the Table by regulation after consulting with the Advisory Commission on Childhood Vaccines, posting a notice, and soliciting public comment. The Secretary may place injuries or conditions on the Table based on scientific and/or policy reasons," an HHS website states.
That means Kennedy could always add new injuries — like autism — to the program, though vaccine makers wouldn't be the ones paying successful plaintiffs; the government would.
3. An unintended consequence
Ironically, shifting vaccine injury cases from vaccine court into the normal legal system could actually make it harder for people who have legitimate cases to win them.
State of play: Cases that do appear in civil court under the current system don't have a track record of success.
"People want to go and sue [vaccine companies] — they can sue them now. They can sue vaccines that aren't covered. And look how those cases have gone: not well," Gentry said.
Removing vaccines from the federal program would "dramatically affect the market, but if you're coming from the standpoint of wanting to help the vaccine-injured, it's far more devastating to the vaccine-injured," she added.
Between the lines: Vaccine court presents plaintiffs with a lower bar for getting compensated, as it's a no-fault program.
Plus, drug companies are well-resourced, to put it mildly. And the anti-vaccine movement looks at vaccines with a much different eye than the general public, who would make up the juries deciding vaccine cases.
Continue reading all three items at Axios
Trump’s COVID-era funding clawback hits local health efforts hard
The Trump administration’s abrupt cancellation of tens of billions of dollars in grants has state and local health departments reeling.
State and local officials said the move will make it even harder for them to continue to fight infectious disease outbreaks, fund substance use disorder support programs and address other concerns.
[…]
“This is going to stop work in its tracks that was really important for their communities,” said Adriane Casalotti, chief of government and public Affairs at the National Association of County & City Health Officials.
“Work to prevent the spread of infectious diseases in nursing homes, for example, or to be able to track measles cases … the work has to stop, and yet the needs in the community remain,” Casalotti said.
The Department of Health and Human Services said the funds, totaling $11.4 billion, were primarily used for COVID-19 response, including testing, vaccination and hiring community health workers.
Continue reading at The Hill
RFK Jr. defends HHS job cuts: ‘We’re not cutting front-line workers’
Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. defended the administration’s decision to cut 10,000 jobs at the department on Thursday, confirming that essential employees would remain part of the staff.
“We’re not cutting front line workers, we’re cutting administrators, and we’re consolidating the agency to make it more efficient,” Kennedy said during a Thursday evening appearance on NewsNation’s “CUOMO.”
In addition to the new cuts, HHS is looking to remove an additional 10,000 through severance packages, buyouts and early retirements. Kennedy, in a video shared to social platform X, acknowledged “this will be a painful period for HHS.”
The move would cut a fourth of the department’s workforce, resembling similar reduction in forces at the Department of Education, Department of Veteran Affairs and other agencies in line with President Trump and the Department of Government Efficiency’s (DOGE) efforts to cut down on “wasteful” spending and overhaul the workforce.
Continue reading at The Hill
Vought: 10K HHS layoffs ‘fantastic’
Office of Budget Management (OMB) Director Russell Vought shared his support for workforce reductions at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) while applauding Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for his leadership of the agency.
“No, it’s fantastic,” Vought said late Thursday when asked about the layoffs on Fox Business’s “Kudlow.”
“I talked with Secretary Kennedy about an hour ago, and he is really excited about what they’ve unveiled today, the extent to which they’ve [reorganized] the department, the number of people that they’re able to let go and be able to find efficiencies at HHS. And so, it’s really exciting what you’re seeing,” he added.
Vought, a co-author of the conservative Project 2025 agenda, has been a staunch advocate and strategic partner in the Trump administration’s plans to reduce the size of the federal government.
HHS specifically employs around 91,058 people and Kennedy has identified a way to cut up to 20,000 workers, or nearly a fourth of the workforce.
Continue reading at The Hill
POLITICO Pulse newsletter
HHS aftershocks
FIRING FRENZY — HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s gutting of the nation’s health agencies on Thursday sent shockwaves through the federal government, Chelsea reports with POLITICO’s Adam Cancryn, Robert King, David Lim, Ruth Reader and Sophie Gardner.
The HHS secretary’s reorganization left staffers blindsided by the cuts and fearful about the impact of the firings on agency priorities, including regulating prescription drugs, managing public health programs and conducting scientific research. Many of them learned the details of the firings from a Wall Street Journal story published early Thursday, according to several people familiar with the matter and granted anonymity to discuss the firings.
“There’s very few people who actually know what’s happening,” said one health official granted anonymity to describe the internal reaction.
The termination of 10,000 HHS workers, announced Thursday, also surprised Kennedy’s allies in Congress.
House Energy and Commerce Chair Brett Guthrie (R-Ky.) said he learned of the cuts from news reports. Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), chair of the committee that oversees the health department, found out from Kennedy during a breakfast Thursday just before the news broke.
Why it matters: The latest cuts come after roughly 10,000 employees had left HHS over the last several months. The reorganization, expected to take effect at the end of May, includes the elimination of departments and the closing of regional offices — underscoring how Kennedy, as health secretary, intends to impose his singular vision on a department he’s chided as a bloated bureaucracy that has lost its way.
“We’re going to eliminate an entire alphabet soup of departments and agencies while preserving their core functions,” Kennedy said in a six-minute video explaining the cuts that he posted to social platform X on Thursday.
Key context: Some in the health department believe that the cuts, which include folding the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response into the CDC and eliminating support staff, will in the long run cost the government money.
“There’s this narrative being spun that somehow by eliminating jobs and functions, that taxpayer dollars are going to be saved or that programs will be more efficient,” said a staffer with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services granted anonymity for fear of retribution. “The reality is the exact opposite.”
One former Trump HHS official granted anonymity said some aspects of the reorganization make sense, like scrapping regional offices. But other moves seem like they were decided by consultants who took a “look at things on paper with no history or background,” the former official said.
“Let’s face it, these guys just have no idea what they’re doing,” said a pharmaceutical lobbyist granted anonymity to discuss the impacts of the FDA firings. “They are comfortable with the fire-everyone-and-try-to-rehire-them-if-needed approach. They already had to [do that] once with devices.”
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Note from Rima: What you see above is a tiny fraction of the content of this newsletter
HHS Probes Major Medical School; Scientists Quitting the U.S.; Long COVID Studies Axed
— Health news and commentary gathered by MedPage Today staff
HHS said it is investigating a "major medical school"opens in a new tab or window to determine whether it discriminates on the basis of race or national origin in its admissions.
Texas lawmakers are considering amending the state's abortion banopens in a new tab or window by making it clear that doctors don't have to wait until an emergency is imminent to terminate a pregnancy. (ProPublica)
Meanwhile, a county clerk in New York refused to file a $100,000 Texas fineopens in a new tab or window on a New York doctor accused of prescribing abortion pills to a patient in Texas. (AP)
Pfizer reported zero taxable profits on U.S. sales of $20 billionopens in a new tab or window in 2019 by claiming all of its profits were earned offshore, according to an investigation by Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.).
Coal- and oil-burning plants can now simply send an emailopens in a new tab or window if they want President Trump to allow them to bypass restrictions on the emission of toxic chemicals. (AP)
Continue reading at MedPageToday
Utah becomes first state to ban fluoride in water
Utah is the first state in the U.S. to ban fluoride in water.
Why it matters: A new law signed this week will prevent localities in the state from choosing whether to fluoridate drinking water, a decision public health experts have warned will have consequences for oral hygiene, particularly for children.
Driving the news: Utah Gov. Spencer Cox (R) signed the bill Thursday. It will take effect May 7.
Cox told ABC4 that it wasn't a bill he felt strongly or cared much about.
Currently, Utah has one of the lowest water fluoridation rates in the U.S. with only around 44% of residents receiving fluoridated water, according to CDC data.
State of play: Water fluoridation has been named one of the greatest public health interventions of the 20th century by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Continue reading at Axios
RFK Jr. forces out Peter Marks, FDA’s top vaccine scientist
Marks, an architect of Operation Warp Speed, warned that a recent measles outbreak shows how confidence in science and public health is being “undermined.”
The Trump administration on Friday pushed out Peter Marks, the nation’s top vaccine regulator and an architect of the U.S. program to rapidly develop coronavirus vaccines, a move that comes as Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. continues his overhaul of the nation’s health and science agencies amid a worsening U.S. outbreak of measles.
Continue reading at the Washington Post
Economics
EU on Trump car tariffs: We’ll punch back but let’s talk too
Germany’s automakers will feel the brunt of the Trump administration’s 25 percent vehicle tariff that is set to go into effect on April 2.
BRUSSELS — Hit back, but let's keep channels open to talk is the message coming out of Brussels and European Union capitals in the wake of United States President Donald Trump's threat to hit all car imports with tariffs.
But if the EU's past record on trade disputes involving key economic sectors is anything to go by, countries will come under increasing pressure to diverge as the car tariffs get painful.
Trump announced Wednesday evening that the U.S. will impose 25 percent tariffs on all vehicles imported into the country, going into effect on April 2.
An additional 25 percent tax on automotive parts will start in May, the White House said, marking a steep escalation in the transatlantic trade war that will damage an already struggling automotive sector.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen was quick out the gate with a response, putting out a statement before Trump had finished speaking. But what it delivered in speed, it lacked in specifics.
“We will now assess this announcement, together with other measures the U.S. is envisaging in the next days,” she said. “The EU will continue to seek negotiated solutions, while safeguarding its economic interests.”
Continue reading at Politico Europe
Axios AM
1 big thing: Want Trump love? Bring gifts
If you're a foreign leader or a CEO about to meet with President Trump — or if you want to avoid his vengeance — come bearing gifts, Axios' Alex Thompson writes.
Why it matters: Government officials and business leaders around the world have gotten the message. They're strategizing about how to give Trump real or perceived wins — to try to smooth out any relationship bumps with the new administration, and avoid economic or legal penalties.
🔎 Zoom in: Many foreign and domestic corporations alike fear tariffs and potential changes to the tax code this year, and have tried to assuage Trump with offerings.
Apple, Hyundai, Johnson & Johnson, Eli Lilly, Nvidia, Softbank and more have announced big investments in the U.S. since Trump was elected in November.
Some of those investments were already in the works. But splashy public announcements gave Trump the chance to boast that he was bringing business back to America.
After Hyundai announced a $21 billion investment in the U.S. this week, Trump praised the company and made clear what the company would get in return: "Hyundai won't have to pay any tariffs."
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum pledged to send 10,000 troops to the U.S. border and has helped Trump bring down illegal border crossings — a key campaign promise of his.
As a result, Mexico has had a much better relationship with Trump than Canada.
Continue reading at Axios
The multitrillion-dollar debate over "zero"
Chart: Select projections for U.S. debt-to-GDP ratio
One word you're going to hear a lot in coverage of budget negotiations is "baseline." It sounds simple enough — but in fact it's a slippery and contentious concept.
Why it matters: This wonkish terminological tussle is at heart a debate over what counts as zero, for the purposes of budgetary impact.
Depending on where it ends up, it could raise America's debt-to-GDP ratio by 47 percentage points, per a Congressional Budget Office (CBO) analysis released last Friday.
How it works: Congress, with its power of the purse, controls the U.S. fiscal trajectory. The big debate is over what the baseline for that trajectory is — or, to put it another way, what kind of legislation would have zero budgetary impact.
Zoom out: The whole concept of "budgetary impact," while relatively clear in terms of CBO scoring, is much gnarlier on a philosophical level.
The insight was first formulated by Nelson Goodman, in his 1954 book "Fact, Fiction, and Forecast."
Goodman shows that simply changing terms — in his case, from "green" to "grue," or in this case, from "law" to "policy" — can have an enormous effect on what we expect the future to look like.
Continue reading at Axios
Key inflation gauge stayed hot in February
The Federal Reserve's go-to gauge showed inflation stayed hot in February, the Commerce Department said on Friday.
Why it matters: It is a warning to officials at the White House and the Fed, with aggressive tariffs expected to be unveiled next week that could stoke inflation and squeeze economic demand.
By the numbers: The Personal Consumption Expenditures price index rose 0.3% in February, the same pace as January. Compared to the same period a year ago, the PCE price index held at 2.5%.
Excluding food and energy prices, the so-called core measure that's considered a better read of underlying inflation rose 0.4% in February, a pickup from the 0.3% gain in January.
On a year-over-year basis, the core PCE price index rose 2.8%, compared to the 2.7% in January.
The other side: The firm inflation came alongside stronger consumer spending relative to early 2025.
Continue reading at Axios
Inflation fears reach highest level in 2 years: survey
Consumer sentiment took a dive in March as concerns about rising prices and slowing economic performance hit home for U.S. households.
Sentiment fell for the third straight month, dropping 12 percent from its February reading in the University of Michigan’s benchmark survey. Sentiment was 28 percent lower than it was in March of last year.
Inflation expectations among consumers for the year ahead rose to 5 percent, up from 4.3 percent last month. This marked the highest reading since 2022 as well as three months of expectation increases that Michigan pollsters described as “unusually large.”
The downturn in sentiment took place across the political spectrum, with both Republicans and Democrats experiencing a souring mood.
“Republicans joined independents and Democrats in expressing worsening expectations since February for their personal finances, business conditions, unemployment, and inflation,” pollsters said in an analysis.
Continue reading at The Hill
Trump tariffs on autos, parts imports could add $4,711 to vehicle cost: Economist
Arthur Laffer, a prominent economist, warns in a new report that President Trump’s looming 25 percent tariffs on foreign-made vehicle imports could lead to a dramatic increase in sticker prices and threaten the U.S. auto industry.
Laffer, as reported by The Associated Press, penned a 21-page analysis concluding that automakers would be in a better position if Trump were to stick to policies with Canada and Mexico outlined under the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA). The agreement was signed by the president in his first term.
He estimates that Trump’s latest tariff plan could, on average, add $4,711 to the cost to buy a vehicle.
The research comes just days after Trump announced the U.S. will levy 25 percent tariffs on all passenger vehicles, light trucks and some automobile parts — including engines, transmissions and electrical components — starting April 3.
“Without this exemption, the proposed tariff risks causing irreparable damage to the industry, contradicting the administration’s goals of strengthening U.S. manufacturing and economic stability,” Laffer wrote in his analysis, according to the AP.
Continue reading at The Hill
Note from Rima: Arthur Laffer holds divergent views. In this case, his analysis is not out of the bounds of the norms on this topic
Trump might let taxes rise for the rich to cover breaks on tips
The Trump administration is discussing a surprising option to help fulfill his campaign-trail promises: Allowing the richest Americans' tax rates to rise in return for cutting taxes on tips, a senior White House official tells Axios.
The big picture: Some White House officials believe letting income taxes on the very highest earners rise would buy breathing room on other priorities, and help blunt Democrats' attacks as they seek to extend President Trump's 2017 tax cuts.
Officials say all discussions are preliminary and nothing is set in stone.
By the numbers: Currently the top income tax rate is 37%, charged on income above $609,351 for an individual or $731,201 for a married couple.
If the 2017 law were allowed to expire, that would jump to the pre-2018 rate of 39.6%, and lower the threshold above which the top rate applies.
Around 1% of taxpayers are in that top bracket, though they pay a disproportionate share of income taxes.
Under the budget reconciliation rules that Republicans seek to use to extend the tax cuts, that would free up more revenue that could be used to fulfill some of Trump's populist promises, such as eliminating taxes on tips.
Continue reading at Axios
Stagflation warnings abound in spending, inflation, sentiment data
As the first quarter comes to a close, there's an uncomfortable picture becoming clear in the data: The economy is going through a growth slowdown paired with an inflation surge.
Why it matters: As the White House plots a major escalation of tariffs next week, the backward-looking data shows that there already is more than a whiff of stagflation in the air.
Driving the news: The Personal Consumption Expenditures Price Index — the Federal Reserve's preferred gauge of inflation — was hot in February, the Commerce Department said Friday.
The core measure, which excludes food and energy, rose by 0.4% in February, picking up pace for the fourth straight month. It was the highest reading in a year.
From the same period a year ago, the PCE price index increased 2.8%, compared to January's 2.7%.
Core PCE rose at a 3.6% annualized pace over the last three months, the highest since last March.
The news on spending points to a slowing in demand from consumers at the start of 2025.
Personal consumption expenditures, adjusted for inflation, rose just 0.1% in February after dropping by 0.6% the previous month.
Continue reading at Axios
FDIC rescinds guidance around banks and crypto
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation has released a new "Financial Institution Letter" on crypto-related activities, saying that supervised institutions no longer need to get prior approval.
Why it matters: Under the prior regime, banks had to ask permission first and never quite seemed to get it.
What they're saying: "With today's action, the FDIC is turning the page on the flawed approach of the past three years," FDIC acting chairman Travis Hill said in a statement.
Hill was originally nominated to the FDIC board by President Joe Biden.
Flashback: Following the crash of the terra stablecoin and the fall of FTX, the FDIC and the other major financial regulators — the Fed and OCC — issued a general warning in 2023 about banks participating in crypto-related activities.
The industry called it a coordinated roadblock by regulators, one in which the warning was, in practice, a prohibition.
The latest: The OCC and the FDIC have both, now, rescinded guidance that required prior approval before engaging in legal activities.
Continue reading at Axios
50 percent of parents financially supporting adult children: Survey
The survey included 1000 US parents with adult children
An average of $1,474 a month was contributed
Grocery bills were the most common cost
Even when children are out of the nest, some parents are still contributing to their children’s livelihoods, according to a new survey.
The poll from Savings.com shows 50 percent of parents are still helping to offset financial pressures for their adult children.
The average amount given to adult children among those surveyed was $1,474 a month, a 6 percent increase from a similar survey conducted in 2023.
Of those contributing, 83 percent help with grocery payments, 65 percent assist with cell phone bills, and 46 percent with vacations, per the data.
“While the average contribution to Millennials decreased slightly, a significant increase in support for Generation Zers pushed the overall average higher,” the survey says.
Among parents still in the workforce, they contribute 2.3 times more to their children’s lifestyle — on average $1,589 — than to their monthly retirement savings contribution ($673).
Continue reading at The Hill
Egg prices plunging as bird flu subsides and shortages dissipate
Chart: Average wholesale price of large white eggs, per dozen
Egg prices are suddenly plunging as the bird flu begins to wane and imports surge to fill the gap.
Why it matters: A massive outbreak of avian influenza has wiped out more than 166 million chickens since 2022, leading to sporadic egg shortages and price hikes.
It's also turned into a political issue with Republicans and Democrats arguing about who's to blame — and President Trump taking credit for the decline in prices in recent weeks.
By the numbers: The average wholesale price of a dozen eggs was $3 Friday, down 8% from $3.27 on March 21, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture data released Friday.
It's down 63% from a record $8.15 in the Feb. 21 report.
The big picture: Retail prices, which typically trail wholesale, are beginning to drift downward as well.
"It was only four weeks ago that we were at the highest price the market had ever seen," Brian Moscogiuri, a global trade strategist at Eggs Unlimited, told Axios. "So it just takes time for those lower prices to be passed along."
Continue reading at Axios
Consumer Mood Darkens as Tariffs and Inflation Loom
“This month’s decline reflects a clear consensus across all demographic and political affiliations,” said Joanne Hsu, director of the Michigan survey. “Republicans joined independents and Democrats in expressing worsening expectations since February for their personal finances, business conditions, unemployment, and inflation.”
The darkening outlook is shared not just across the political spectrum but across the economic one, as well, with more high-income respondents expressing doubts about the year ahead (see the chart below). “Even the rich are worried now,” noted Heather Long of The Washington Post.
Long noted that during the Biden administration, many people said the economy was bad but their personal situation was good, while under the Trump administration, it seems that people are reporting that both elements are bad. “Under Trump 2025, people at all income levels are worried they will be worse off in a year,” she wrote. “This is the type of situation that causes people to really pull back on spending. This is what is different than 2023 or 2024.”
Persistent inflation is one of the key factors in the decline. Consumers see higher inflation on the horizon, with year-ahead expectations rising to 5.0% in March, up seven-tenths of a percentage point since February. Long-term inflation expectations rose to 4.1%, up six-tenths from the month before. Two out of three people in the Michigan survey also expect unemployment to rise in the coming year — the highest reading since 2009.
Continue reading at The Fiscal Times (free newsletter)
Dems Grill Trump’s Social Security Pick Over Chaos at Agency
Who is Trump's pick to head Social Security? Trump chose Frank Bisignano, the CEO of financial technology company Fiserv since 2020 and a former Wall Street executive, to head Social Security. "Frank is a business leader, with a tremendous track record of transforming large corporations," Trump said in a social media post back in December.
Bisignano portrayed himself as an efficiency expert and said he aims to improve service at Social Security. He called the 1% improper payment rate found by Social Security's inspector general "five decimal places too high." Bisignano said Tuesday that his company today processes more than 250 million payments totaling more than $2.5 trillion a day, compared to the 74 million payments a month processed by Social Security, totaling about $1.6 trillion a year.
"We will get the error rate down, and be more accurate in payments," Bisignano pledged. "Working in collaboration with the men and women of the Social Security Administration and you here in Congress, we will better serve the American people."
In an interview with CNBC last month, Bisignano said the clear objective behind his nomination was to turn around the Social Security organization and improve services. "It's going to be a technology story," he said then, indicating plans to use artificial intelligence to target fraud, waste and abuse. "The objective is not to touch benefits," he said. He also called himself "fundamentally a DOGE person," again emphasizing a focus on efficiency.
Continue reading at The Fiscal Times
Stocks plummet after hot inflation report
Stocks ended the week with steep losses after new federal data showed prices rising faster than expected, reigniting inflation fears on Wall Street.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost more than 715 points on the day, falling 1.7 percent. The Nasdaq composite lost 2.7 percent and the S&P 500 index fell 2 percent.
The stock slide began shortly after the Commerce Department released data showing an unexpectedly steep increase in consumer prices.
The personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index rose 2.5 percent over the past year, but 2.8 percent without food and energy prices included. On a monthly basis, the PCE index advanced by 0.3 percent while core PCE increased by 0.4 percent.
“We are moving in the wrong direction and the concern is that tariffs threaten higher prices, which mean the inflation prints are going to remain hot. This will constrain the Fed’s ability to deliver further interest rate cuts,” James Knightley, chief international economist at AIG, said in a Friday analysis.
Continue reading at The Hill
Musk says xAI buys social media platform X for $45 billion
Elon Musk said Friday his artificial intelligence firm xAI has bought his social media platform X.
“xAI and X’s futures are intertwined. Today, we officially take the step to combine the data, models, compute, distribution and talent,” Musk wrote in a post on X. “This combination will unlock immense potential by blending xAI’s advanced AI capability and expertise with X’s massive reach.”
The $45 billion deal values xAI at $80 billion and X at $33 billion, more than $10 billion less than what he paid for the platform formerly known as Twitter in 2022.
The all-stock transaction included $12 billion debt, Musk said.
The tech billionaire said he hopes the approach will deliver “smarter, more meaningful experiences” to users while remaining true to “seeking truth and advancing knowledge.”
Continue reading at The Hill
Judge blocks Trump administration from dismantling CFPB
U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson barred the administration from stopping work and firing employees at the CFPB and ordered the reinstatement of previously terminated workers. She also blocked the destruction of any CFPB records and ordered the recission of any “wholesale” contract cancellations issued on or after Feb. 11.
Jackson opened her decision quoting Musk’s post to the social platform X spelling doom for the agency: “RIP CFPB.”
“In sum, the Court cannot look away or the CFPB will be dissolved and dismantled completely in approximately thirty days, well before this lawsuit has come to its conclusion,” Jackson wrote in her 112-page opinion.
The National Treasury Employees Union and other groups sued acting CFPB Director Russell Vought last month over the agency’s apparent dismantling, arguing the effort violates the separation of powers between the branches of government.
Continue reading at The Hill
Anti-union-Federal workforce-Litigation
Trump administration moves to end union rights for many federal workers
The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) said Thursday that President Trump signed an executive order limiting numerous agency employees from unionizing and instructing the government to stop engaging in any collective bargaining.
The OPM memo references an order from Trump that has yet to be publicly posted, but a fact sheet from the White House claims that the Civil Service Reform Act that allows government workers to unionize “enables hostile Federal unions to obstruct agency management.”
The order targets agencies it says have a national security mission but many of the departments don’t have a strict national security connection.
In addition to all agencies with the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Defense, the Department of State, and the Department of Veterans Affairs, the order also covers the Treasury Department, all agencies with Health and Human Services, the Environmental Protection Agency, the National Science Foundation, the General Services Administration, and many more.
The OPM memo instructs agencies to terminate their collective bargaining agreement.
Continue reading at The Hill
Trump moves to strip unionization rights from most federal workers
It’s the latest effort in the president’s drive to disempower the federal bureaucracy.
Trump issued an executive order late Thursday night relying on a rarely used provision of the federal labor laws that authorizes the president to exclude agencies from long-standing unionization rights if he determines that those agencies are primarily engaged in national security work.
The order purports to end collective bargaining with federal unions at numerous federal agencies and subdivisions, including the Departments of Agriculture, Defense, Health and Human Services, Justice, State and Veterans Affairs, as well as the EPA and USAID. It also authorizes the Transportation secretary to exclude the Federal Aviation Administration and any other subdivision from labor rights.
The order would eliminate collective bargaining rights from roughly 67 percent of the entire federal workforce and for 75 percent of workers who are already in a union, according to a report by Government Executive, a publication that covers the business of government primarily for an audience of senior bureaucrats.
The anti-unionization move comes amid a series of other efforts to drastically deplete the federal workforce and bring the bureaucracy under the strict control of the White House. The Trump administration is trying to fire tens of thousands of probationary federal employees, despite initial court rulings blocking the terminations. And many agencies are implementing massive “reductions in force.”
Continue reading at Politico
Trump administration sues to end some federal workers’ union contracts
The lawsuit comes after Trump issued an executive order moving to strip most federal workers’ unionization rights.
The administration filed the unprecedented lawsuit late Thursday, shortly after President Donald Trump issued an executive order moving to strip unionization rights from most of the federal workforce.
The lawsuit asks U.S. District Judge Alan Albright, a Trump appointee based in Waco, Texas, to authorize the agencies to “rescind or repudiate” some collective bargaining agreements with the American Federation of Government Employees because they “significantly constrain the Executive Branch” in its push to purge the federal workforce and exert greater control over agency operations.
In the complaint, agencies including the departments of Homeland Security, Housing and Urban Development, Veterans Affairs, and the Social Security Administration claim that the AFGE entered into “midnight” agreements with President Joe Biden’s administration that included restrictions on “return-to-work policies” and other terms that unfairly limit the executive branch.
The “President and his senior Executive Branch officials cannot afford to be obstructed by CBAs that micromanage oversight of the federal workforce and impede performance accountability,” the agencies said in the complaint.
Much of the federal workforce has been unionized for decades. Roughly 32 percent of public sector workers are members of unions, more than five times the rate of private sector employees, according to 2024 data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Unlike private worker unions, government employees cannot bargain over salaries, benefits or hiring and firing decisions.
Continue reading at Politico
Appeals court clears way for Trump to fire leaders of ‘independent’ federal agencies
The ruling is a victory for Trump’s effort to exert control over regulatory agencies that Congress intended to operate with some degree of independence.
A federal appeals court has cleared the way for President Donald Trump to fire members of executive branch boards that oversee federal employee grievances and labor disputes across the nation.
The ruling Friday is a victory for Trump’s effort to exert control over regulatory agencies that Congress intended to operate with some degree of independence from the president. Federal laws limit the president’s ability to remove the board members who oversee those agencies, but the Trump administration has argued those limits are unconstitutional.
A three-judge panel of the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals voted 2-1 to allow Trump to remove members of the National Labor Relations Board and the Merit Systems Protection Board. The two board members in the case — Gwynne Wilcox of the NLRB and Cathy Harris of the MSPB — were appointed by President Joe Biden.
Lower-court judges had issued injunctions preventing Trump from firing the two board members, but Friday’s appeals court ruling lifts those injunctions for now while the litigation proceeds.
Continue reading at Politico
Trump administration moves to eliminate USAID, firing remaining employees
The Trump administration is moving to formally end the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), notifying the remaining employees they will be terminated and the agency will be merged with the State Department.
The move will fully absorb all remaining USAID functions into the State Department effective July 1, and according to a reduction in force notice to remaining staff, will “obviate” the need for an independent USAID.
By Sept. 2, USAID’s operations will have been substantially transferred to State or otherwise wound down, the notice stated.
Jeremy Lewin, a former Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) staffer who joined USAID last week, said the State Department “will seek to retire USAID’s independent operation, consistent with applicable law.”
Continue reading at The Hill
Embattled Voice of America journalists get new ‘Fork in the Road’ email as they near early court win
The email gives them until April 9 to decide to leave the agency with several months’ pay.
Employees under the U.S. Agency for Global Media received a new “Fork in the Road” email Friday afternoon, as Voice of America journalists suing the agency appeared poised to win an order temporarily blocking USAGM’s attempts to shutter the news outlet.
The email, seen by POLITICO, originated from a USAGM human resources account and offered employees an “opportunity” to “voluntarily transition out of federal service through the Deferred Resignation Program,” set to be available from Friday through April 9.
Kari Lake — an ally of President Donald Trump serving as a senior official at the agency — and USAGM have faced an onslaught of legal challenges in recent weeks. Employees working for news outlets or technology programs funded or controlled by the agency — including Voice of America, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Radio Free Asia and The Open Technology Fund — have all sought to block USAGM from gutting their operations.
The agency announced it was ending programs and terminating grants funding the various outlets two weeks ago to comply with an order from the Trump administration.
Continue reading at Politico
Appeals Court clears the way for Musk, DOGE to resume cuts to USAID
The ruling came as the Trump administration notified Congress that it will dissolve the agency.
A federal appeals court on Friday cleared the way for Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency to resume their efforts to shut down the U.S. Agency for International Development.
The ruling from a three-judge panel of the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals lifted a lower-court judge’s injunction that had temporarily blocked Musk and DOGE from playing any role in dismantling USAID.
The decision comes just as the Trump administration is making a final push to effectively dissolve the agency tasked with administering foreign aid. Earlier on Friday, the State Department officially notified Congress of its plans to eliminate the agency, according to Democratic lawmakers. And a member of DOGE who is also deputy USAID administrator sent a memo to USAID personnel worldwide, announcing that the overwhelming majority of the agency’s employees will have their jobs cut on either July 1 or Sept. 2.
Earlier this month, U.S. District Judge Theodore Chuang, a Maryland-based appointee of President Barack Obama, ruled that Musk and his DOGE allies were likely exercising an unconstitutional amount of power because Musk has not been formally appointed to a Senate-confirmed position. He blocked Musk and DOGE from proceeding with USAID cuts.
All three judges on the 4th Circuit panel agreed that Chuang’s block should be lifted, though they did not all agree on the reasoning.
Continue reading at Politico
Education Department halts final payouts of federal pandemic relief funds
“COVID is over,” a department spokesperson said.
The Education Department halted the final payouts of federal Covid relief aid to state governments and school districts on Friday, in an abrupt reversal of a Biden administration initiative that let local officials request extended deadlines to spend billions of dollars.
A department spokesperson could not specify how much money might be at stake late Friday. But the move echoes a decision earlier this week by President Donald Trump’s Department of Health and Human Services to pull back Covid relief funds to states for addressing mental health.
Schools were required to finalize plans to use the last of nearly $130 billion in Covid-19 relief dollars from the Education Department by September 2024, and liquidate the money by January, unless they won a reprieve from the Biden administration. Those “liquidation extension” requests could have allowed schools to spend the federal money on previously approved projects through early next year.
Education Secretary Linda McMahon “has reconsidered” those requests, she said in a letter to state school officials.
“The Department has concluded that the further extension of the liquidation period for the aforementioned grants, already well past the period of performance, was not justified,” McMahon wrote Friday in a letter obtained by POLITICO.
“By failing to meet the clear deadline in the regulation, you ran the risk that the Department would deny your extension request,” McMahon wrote. “Extending deadlines for COVID-related grants, which are in fact taxpayer funds, years after the COVID pandemic ended is not consistent with the Department’s priorities and thus not a worthwhile exercise of its discretion.”
Continue reading at Politico
Democrats ask ethics office to investigate Lutnick Tesla promotion
Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.), Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and 13 other Democrats urged Doug Collins, acting director of the ethics office, to investigate whether Lutnick had violated federal ethics law.
“The law places ethical requirements on public officials to maintain the integrity of the federal government and to ensure that the American people can trust people in positions of power to act in the public interest,” the lawmakers wrote.
“Mr. Lutnick’s actions demonstrate, at the very least, a flagrant disregard for the spirit of these standards, and appear to be a violation of their letter,” they added.
The Commerce secretary encouraged Americans to buy Tesla’s struggling stock during an appearance on Fox News’s “Jesse Watters Primetime” earlier this month.
“I think, if you want to learn something on this show tonight: Buy Tesla,” Lutnick said. “It’s unbelievable that this guy’s stock is this cheap. It’ll never be this cheap again.”
Continue reading at The Hill
Science News
European institutions target ‘scientific asylum-seekers’ from US
The Trump administration has cut research funds
It is also imposing ideological limitations on scientists
European universities hope to lure American researchers
European institutions are beginning to target “scientific asylum” seekers from the U.S., advertising jobs for those who fear funding cuts and ideological restrictions from the Trump administration.
President Trump has frozen large swaths of federal funding and ordered a halt to things that don’t comply with his political positions, including programs involving diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) research that focuses on the transgender community and climate change initiatives.
Universities and researchers are among those affected as federal grants are limited or withdrawn. Trump has also used federal research funds to target universities that he believes did not act harshly enough when responding to pro-Palestine protests on campus.
Significant government layoffs at agencies including NASA, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) have also put scientists who relied on the stability of federal jobs on the hunt for new work.
Experts have warned that the reduced funding and limitations could create a brain drain and cause the U.S. to lose a generation of scientists and the work they would otherwise produce.
Continue reading at The Hill
Note from Rima: Yesterday’s news included a poll of scientists considering leaving the U.S.
BlackRock's deal for Panama ports gets delayed, source says
BlackRock will not sign an agreement next week to buy two Panama ports from Hong Kong's CK Hutchison, as originally planned, a source tells Axios.
Why it matters: President Trump touted this deal in his recent address to Congress, and it seemed like an offramp for U.S. threats to retake control of the Panama Canal.
Zoom in: BlackRock and CK Hutchison remain in active discussions and due diligence, but the signing date could slip by weeks or even months, according to a source familiar with the situation.
At issue is growing political opposition from Beijing, which recently called the deal a "betrayal."
The South China Morning Post first reported the delay, which was confirmed by Axios.
Continue reading at Axios
"Tesla Takedown" movement plans mass protests amid U.S. crackdown
The Tesla Takedown movement is expecting hundreds of demonstrations to take place at the automaker's showrooms across the world Saturday for what it has dubbed a "global day of action."
Why it matters: The protest movement has drawn the Trump administration's ire and cast Elon Musk's signature brand into turmoil for his role in slashing the federal government.
Driving the news: More than 200 protests are planned at Tesla locations in the U.S. Saturday, organizers announced earlier this month.
They also aim for a target of 500 demonstrations around the world.
The big picture: "Elon Musk is destroying our democracy, and he's using the fortune he built at Tesla to do it," the movement's website stated, urging supporters to take action to stop "Musk's illegal coup."
Continue reading at Axios
Don't expect a Russian gas revival in Europe
Despite lots of recent chatter, there are strong reasons not to expect a rebound of Russian pipelined gas to Europe, a new analysis argues.
Why it matters: Russia was long Europe's dominant supplier, and the breakup is the starkest example of the war on Ukraine reshaping global energy flows.
But cease-fire discussions and high European gas prices have prompted discussion of revival.
Most recently, Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov floated the idea this week in an interview with state media.
Yes, but: A near-term rebound is unlikely, writes Jack Sharples, a researcher with the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies. Some reasons include:
Damage to the Nord Stream pipeline system in 2022 sabotage and Germany's refusal to sign off on Nord Stream 2. TurkStream is the only major pipeline still supplying Europe, and Sharples notes that it's at capacity.
The more recent end of transit through Ukraine that "will not restart in the absence of a durable and lasting political settlement."
Continue reading at Axios
General News
DOGE team defends federal layoffs: ‘Almost no one has gotten fired’
Anthony Armstrong, a former Morgan Stanley banker, who is now working for DOGE at the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), said during a Thursday interview that most workers have departed the government “largely through voluntary means.”
“There’s voluntary early retirement. There’s voluntary separation payments. We put in place deferred resignation, the eight-month severance program,” Armstrong said. “So, there’s a very heavy bias towards programs that are long-dated, that are generous, that allow people to exit and go and get a new job in the private sector.”
“And you’ve heard a lot of news about RIFs, about people getting fired. At this moment in time, less than 0.15, not 1.5, less than 0.15 of the federal workforce has actually been given a RIF [Reduction in Force] notice,” Armstrong told Baier.
Armstrong reiterated Trump’s line that DOGE’s work is a “scalpel, not [a] hatchet.”
Continue reading at The Hill
Fact-check: Tracking Trump’s overhaul of the federal workforce
Iran responds to Trump's nuclear talks proposal as U.S. sends bombers to region
Iran delivered a formal written response to President Trump's letter proposing new nuclear talks and threatening consequences if a deal is not reached swiftly, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Thursday.
Why it matters: Trump gave Iran a two-month deadline to sign a new nuclear deal or face potential military action in his letter, sent three weeks ago.
Driving the news: Iran delivered its response via the Gulf Sultanate of Oman, which duly notified the U.S., a source with knowledge of the issue confirmed to Axios.
The Omanis briefed the U.S. on the messages they received from the Iranians and will deliver the Iranian letter to the White House in the coming days, the source said.
The source did not offer details on the nature of the Iranian response. The White House didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.
Araghchi said in a news conference that Iran maintains its position that it won't negotiate directly with the Trump administration so long as Trump's "maximum pressure" campaign is in place, but is willing to hold indirect talks.
State of play: Trump and his top advisers have left the door open for talks while also using the threat of military force.
Continue reading at Axios
Trump executive order on Smithsonian targets funding for programs with ‘improper ideology’
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Thursday revealed his intention to force changes at the Smithsonian Institution with an executive order that targets funding for programs that advance “divisive narratives” and “improper ideology,” the latest step in a broadside against culture he deems too liberal.
Trump claimed there has been a “concerted and widespread” effort over the past decade to rewrite American history by replacing “objective facts” with a “distorted narrative driven by ideology rather than truth,” adding that it casts the “founding principles” of the United States in a “negative light.”
The order he signed behind closed doors puts Vice President JD Vance, who serves on the Smithsonian Institution’s Board of Regents, in charge of overseeing efforts to “remove improper ideology” from all areas of the institution, including its museums, education and research centers, and the National Zoo.
Continue reading at the AP
Inside Congress
Stefanik’s return reveals GOP fears
IN TODAY’S EDITION:
Stefanik’s move, in her own words
Johnson’s big choice on parental leave, proxy voting
McConnell slams Trump
President Donald Trump’s unexpected decision to withdraw Rep. Elise Stefanik‘s U.N. nomination and keep her in the House is exposing fresh electoral fears for the GOP — and creating some chaos on Capitol Hill.
Trump’s not alone in believing that the New York special election to replace Stefanik could have been a real challenge, even though she carried the district by 24 points last year.
As our colleagues Andrew Howard, Ally Mutnick, Ben Jacobs and Brakkton Booker report this morning, Trump’s move is the clearest sign yet that the political environment has become so challenging for Republicans that they don’t want to take a risk even in a safe, red seat. At stake is an already-thin GOP margin of control in the House. Republicans have been anxious about the special election to fill national security adviser Mike Waltz‘s Florida seat next week.
“Can they defend her seat? Absolutely,” said Charlie Harper, who was a top aide to former Rep. Karen Handel in her successful 2017 run in a special election in Georgia. “But why do you do that right now?”
Republican lawmakers appeared to be caught off guard that Trump only now decided to be mindful of the thin House majority, months after first being warned about the perils of plucking out members.
“A little late to the game,” one House Republican told our Meredith Lee Hill.
One senior GOP aide told Meredith that the last few days likely looked brutal for Trump, with House and Senate Republicans at odds over how to start moving his legislative agenda and the Florida special election requiring increasing GOP resources. Florida Republican Rep. Kat Cammack also announced this week that she’s pregnant and due in August — another factor that could shrink the House GOP margin for a while with Speaker Mike Johnson dead-set against allowing proxy voting for new parents.
“It probably looked very bad all at once,” the person said.
Stefanik said in a Fox News interview Thursday night that her move is intended to help House Republicans pass Trump’s legislative agenda.
“It really came to a culmination today, but it was a combination of the New York corruption that we are seeing under [Gov.] Kathy Hochul, special elections and the House margin,” she said. “And look, I’ve been in the House. It’s tough to have to count these votes every day.”
What’s next? Some big questions loom over how Stefanik will return to the House. Johnson says that Stefanik, previously the Republican conference chair, is invited “to return to the leadership table immediately.” But Michigan Rep. Lisa McClain has been serving in Stefanik’s old leadership post since January and plans to stay. In addition, the administration has placed staff that Stefanik recruited from her congressional office to serve in the State Department’s UN office.
Asked what her leadership position would be, Stefanik said on Fox she will “continue speaking out,” without elaborating further.
Continue reading Politico’s Inside Congress newsletter
‘The floodgates have really opened’: Democrats raise millions in special House elections in Florida
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Democrats, with few electoral outlets for their outrage at President Donald Trump’s dramatic restructuring of the federal government, are pouring millions of dollars into two special elections in Florida.
That’s where Democratic candidates are trying to accomplish the improbable by flipping a pair of Trump-friendly congressional seats and carving into Republicans’ narrow 218 to 213 majority in the U.S. House of Representatives. While Democratic leaders aren’t predicting outright wins in such Republican-leaning districts, they say they think they’ll exceed expectations. And they sound especially hopeful about the 6th Congressional District, where a public school teacher has out raised a Trump-endorsed state senator by a nearly 10-to-1 margin in the race to replace Mike Waltz, who was tapped by Trump to be a national security adviser in what was widely seen as a move without much political risk.
Democrats’ challenge in both districts is formidable, but the money has been pouring in.
“The floodgates have really opened,” said Aubrey Jewett, a political scientist at the University of Central Florida. “It’s like, wow.”
Continue reading at the AP
Trump's well-funded fan clubs
About a dozen political groups, using unlimited and undisclosed donations, are running ads with twin goals: Boosting — and flattering — President Trump, Axios' Alex Isenstadt writes.
Why it matters: The groups — separate from Trump's official political operation — have combined to spend more than $20 million since his election. Their spending is expected to escalate dramatically.
The TV and digital ads are being run in D.C., where lawmakers can see them.
Some are being aired in the Palm Beach, Fla., area, so they can catch Trump himself when he's at Mar-a-Lago.
One such ad campaign is by a group called the Vapor Technology Association, which is running commercials in South Florida. Self-described vaping enthusiasts talk about how they turned out for Trump in November.
🔬 Zoom in: These "dark money" advocacy groups — so named because they aren't required to disclose their sources of income — are nominally independent of Trump's mammoth $500 million political operation.
Continue reading at Axios
GOP lawmakers in 10 states introduce bills to treat abortion as homicide
A growing number of Republican state lawmakers are introducing legislation that would treat abortion as murder in a push to give legal rights to fetuses.
Since the beginning of this year, Republican lawmakers have introduced bills in at least 10 states, including Georgia, Kentucky, Missouri, South Carolina, Texas, Oklahoma, Indiana, Iowa, Idaho and North Dakota, that aim to charge pregnant women with homicide if they seek out or receive an abortion.
While several of these bills have already failed to pass and the others are likely to meet the same fate, the influx of legislation shows more Republicans seeking to take a new step in restricting abortion rights: legally recognizing fetal personhood.
“That is, of course, something that the movement had always wanted, but it hadn’t really been achievable in the same way that it is now with Roe v. Wade gone,” said Mary Ziegler, law professor at the University of California, Davis.
In addition to abortion, some of the legislation calls for amending state law to classify the destruction of zygotes, embryos or fetuses as homicide.
Continue reading at The Hill
If Trump Defies the Courts, It Will Backfire Badly
It’s not in his own self-interest.
By Ankush Khardori
Ankush Khardori is a senior writer for POLITICO Magazine and a former federal prosecutor at the Department of Justice, where he specialized in financial fraud and white-collar crime. He has also worked in the private sector on complex commercial litigation and white-collar corporate defense. His column, Rules of Law, offers an unvarnished look at national legal affairs and the political dimensions of the law at a moment when the two are inextricably linked.
Donald Trump isn’t seeking any off ramp in his battle with the courts.
The president and his allies are still demanding the impeachment of Judge James Boasberg, who has enraged Trump by sharply questioning the legality of the administration’s deportation of alleged Venezuelan gang members to El Salvador. The administration is also getting more defiant on the case; this week, the Justice Department invoked the state secrets privilege and told Boasberg that it will not provide him with further information about the flights despite his concern that the administration may have deliberately flouted an order from the bench.
Behind the particulars of this dispute, one question has loomed large: Does the Trump administration plan to ignore or defy future court orders that it disagrees with — perhaps even an order from the Supreme Court?
That would mark the sort of unambiguous constitutional crisis that has worried Democrats and other Trump critics since the president began his series of stunning moves to upend the federal government. It’s not an idle notion; Vice President JD Vance, Elon Musk and conservative activists have floated the prospect of defying the courts. Trump, however, has told reporters on multiple occasions — including just last week — that his administration will comply with the courts despite their disagreements.
Continue reading at Politico Magazine
Another judge blocks Trump effort to ban transgender troops from the military
U.S. District Judge Benjamin Settle said there is no evidence that trans troops harm military readiness.
A second federal judge has barred Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth from enforcing a ban on transgender troops serving in the military.
U.S. District Judge Benjamin Settle said the ban, ordered by President Donald Trump, was blatantly discriminatory, relied on a distortion of outdated data and ignored more recent evidence about transgender service members.
“The government has … provided no evidence supporting the conclusion that military readiness, unit cohesion, lethality, or any of the other touchstone phrases long used to exclude various groups from service have in fact been adversely impacted by open transgender service,” wrote Settle, a Seattle-based appointee of President George W. Bush, in a 65-page opinion. “The Court can only find that there is none.”
Settle concluded that the Trump administration cherrypicked and distorted outdated data to support the policy. He echoed a similar conclusion earlier this month from U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes, an appointee of President Joe Biden based in Washington.
Continue reading at Politico
Stefanik’s withdrawal suggests Republicans are sweating their thin margins
Democrats insist Republicans are panicking.
President Donald Trump’s decision to keep Rep. Elise Stefanik in Congress is the clearest sign yet that the political environment has become so challenging for Republicans that they don’t want to risk a special election even in safe, red seats.
A pair of April elections in deep-red swaths of Florida next week was supposed to improve the GOP’s cushion in the House and clear the path for Stefanik’s departure, until Trump said he didn’t “want to take a chance on anyone else running for Elise’s seat.”
The decision to pull Stefanik’s nomination came as Republicans grew increasingly anxious about the race to fill the seat of National Security Advisor Mike Waltz on April 1. Polling in the district, which Trump carried by 30 points, had tightened, and the president himself is hosting a tele-town hall there to try and bail out Republican Randy Fine.
An internal GOP poll from late March showed Democrat Josh Weil up 3 points over Fine, 44 to 41 percent, with 10 percent undecided, according to a person familiar with the poll and granted anonymity to discuss it. Tony Fabrizio, Trump’s pollster, conducted the survey. That result spooked Republicans and spurred them to redouble efforts to ensure a comfortable win in the district, according to two people familiar with internal conversations.
Continue reading at Politico
Kyiv officials trash Putin’s ‘external governance’ plan for Ukraine
Ukrainian presidential adviser tells Russian ruler to “pop some pills.”
Officials in Kyiv have lambasted Russian President Vladimir Putin’s proposal to establish an interim government in Ukraine under the United Nations.
Putin said that the “temporary administration” could be put in place to hold democratic elections that would bring to power a government that enjoys the people’s trust, and can then negotiate a peace treaty, Russian state-owned news agency TASS reported Friday.
Andriy Kovalenko, head of the Ukrainian government’s center for countering disinformation, criticized the plan as part of Moscow’s efforts to stall peace negotiations, as it has no actual intention of permanently ending its full-scale invasion.
“Putin is doing everything he can to delay and derail any progress toward peace because he has no interest in ending the war. That’s why he keeps making these wild demands and proposals,” Kovalenko said on Telegram.
“The way to limit his options is through tougher economic sanctions on Russia and by strengthening Ukraine. I hope it becomes clear by Easter if Russia hasn’t stopped the fighting by then,” he added.
Ukrainian law does not permit elections under martial law, which was declared on Feb. 24, 2022 when Russia launched its all-out war.
Continue reading at Politico Europe
Fear and loathing in a Signal group chat
European leaders have been planning how to respond to Pete Hegseth’s comments and we have proof (not really).
Let any one of you who has never accidentally leaked state secrets to journalists be the first one to throw a stone at Pete Hegseth. Or send him a connection request on Signal.
U.S. Defense Secretary and former host of everyone’s second favorite “Fox and Friends” talk show, “Fox and Friends Weekend,” Hegseth, has been casually sharing top-secret information on Signal with other members of the Trump administration (and a journalist). We know the information was top secret because Hegseth was worried that it would end up in the wrong hands, saying that a fundamental risk was that “this leaks, and we look indecisive.” Rest assured: Everyone is looking decisively competent here.
But the top story is not the potential violations of the Espionage Act (we’re going with a conservative “many” there), nor the fact that no one in the chat — not even VP JD Vance and national-security-adviser-surprised-to-still-have-a-job Michael Waltz — addressed the presence of a mysterious “JG” account (belonging to The Atlantic’s Editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg) lurking in the chat’s background, saying nothing.
The real bombshell is how much Vance and Hegseth despise Europe. This is no way for Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to find out that the two men share a “loathing of European free-loading. It’s PATHETIC.”
Comments such as these require a strong response; our leaders have been planning how to hit back at the U.S. and we have proof (not really).
Continue reading at Politico Europe
Putin suggests putting Ukraine under U.N.-sponsored external governance, boasts battlefield gains
Russian President Vladimir Putin proposed Friday to put Ukraine under external governance under the U.N. aegis as part of efforts to reach a peaceful settlement, a blustery statement that reflected the Kremlin leader’s determination to achieve his war goals.
Speaking to the crew of a Russian nuclear submarine in televised remarks broadcast early Friday, Putin reaffirmed his claim that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, whose term expired last year, lacks the legitimacy to sign a peace deal.
Under Ukraine’s constitution it is illegal for the country to hold national elections while it’s under martial law.
Putin claimed that any agreement that is signed with the current Ukrainian government could be challenged by its successors and said new elections could be held under external governance.
“Under the auspices of the United Nations, with the United States, even with European countries, and, of course, with our partners and friends, we could discuss the possibility of introduction of temporary governance in Ukraine,” Putin said, adding that it would allow the country to “hold democratic elections, to bring to power a viable government that enjoys the trust of the people, and then begin negotiations with them on a peace treaty.”
He added that such external governance is just “one of the options,” without elaborating.
Continue reading at the AP
Erdoğan’s jailed rival says his lawyer has now been arrested
“The evil that a handful of incompetent people are inflicting on our country is growing,” says Ekrem İmamoğlu.
Istanbul’s jailed Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, the top rival to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, said his lawyer had also been arrested on false pretenses.
“There is no end to lies or slander … This time, my lawyer Mehmet Pehlivan was detained on fictitious grounds,” İmamoğlu wrote late Thursday night.
“As if the coup against democracy was not enough, they cannot tolerate the victims of this coup defending themselves. They want to add a legal coup to the coup against democracy. The evil that a handful of incompetent people are inflicting on our country is growing. Release my lawyer immediately,” he added.
According to Turkish newspaper Cumhuriyet, Pehlivan was taken to a police station where individuals are processed following their arrest. No formal charges were immediately announced.
Continue reading at Politico Europe
In photos: Massive earthquake rocks Myanmar, Thailand
A powerful 7.7 magnitude earthquake rocked Myanmar and neighboring Thailand on Friday, collapsing buildings and leading to rising casualty reports in both countries.
The big picture: The epicenter of the quake struck near Mandalay, Myanmar's second largest city, and was followed by several aftershocks, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
The quake shook buildings more than 600 miles away in the Thai capital of Bangkok.
Myanmar's military junta has declared a state of emergency in six regions of the country, per AP.
State of play: The total number of casualties remains unclear, as reports trickle in from both countries.
Continue reading at Axios
Vance and wife to tour US military base in Greenland after diplomatic spat over uninvited visit
NUUK, Greenland (AP) — U.S. Vice President JD Vance and his wife are due to visit an American military base in Greenland on Friday in a trip that was scaled back after an uproar among Greenlanders and Danes who were irked that the original itinerary was planned without consulting them.
The couple’s revised trip to the semi-autonomous Danish territory comes as relations between the U.S. and the Nordic country have soured after U.S. President Donald Trump repeatedly suggested that the United States should in some form control the mineral-rich territory of Denmark — a traditional U.S. ally and NATO member.
Friday’s one-day visit to the U.S. Space Force outpost at Pituffik, on the northwest coast of Greenland, has removed the risk of potentially violating diplomatic custom by sending a delegation to another country without an official invitation. It will also reduce the likelihood that Vance and his wife will cross paths with residents angered by Trump’s annexation announcements.
Ahead of the visit, four of the five parties elected to Greenland’s parliament earlier this month agreed to form a new, broad-based coalition government, banding together in the face of Trump’s designs on the territory.
Continue reading at the AP
JD Vance jets in as Greenland’s new leader calls for unity against Trump’s coercion
“It is very important that we put aside our disagreements and differences,” says Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen.
Greenland’s newly elected center-right Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen urged government unity on Friday to withstand the duress coming from the United States.
“It is very important that we put aside our disagreements and differences … because only in this way will we be able to cope with the heavy pressure we are exposed to from outside,” Nielsen said, shortly before U.S. Vice President JD Vance’s arrival in the country.
Greenland’s political leaders announced a new coalition government on Friday, uniting four of the five parties in its legislature. Nielsen’s center-right Democrats triumphed in the March 11 election.
The new government takes office at a pivotal moment, with U.S. President Donald Trump repeatedly threatening to seize the Arctic island and refusing to rule out using military force or economic coercion to snare it.
Greenland has been a self-ruling Danish territory for decades, and contains vast reserves of critical minerals while occupying a key strategic location in the Arctic.
Continue reading at Politico
After Vance visit, Denmark tells US: Stop treating us like dirt
“This is not how you speak to your close allies,” Denmark’s top diplomat said.
Denmark’s foreign minister dressed down the United States for its disrespect, hours after Vice President JD Vance visited an American military base in Greenland.
Speaking in a two-minute video message on Friday night, in which he addressed Americans directly, Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen appealed for an end to the hostile messaging from Washington.
“Many accusations and many allegations have been made. And of course, we are open to criticism,” Rasmussen said. “But let me be completely honest: We do not appreciate the tone in which it is being delivered.”
Relations between Washington and Copenhagen have sunk to an all-time low since President Donald Trump’s repeated threats to seize Greenland, a self-ruling Danish territory, and jabs at Denmark for what he argues is a failure to properly defend the Arctic.
Continue reading at Politico
What to know about the U.S. military’s Pituffik Space Base in Greenland
NUUK, Greenland (AP) — The remote Pituffik Space Base in northwestern Greenland, which Vice President JD Vance is visiting on Friday, is the U.S. Department of Defense’s northernmost installation.
The base was built following a 1951 defense agreement between Denmark and the United States. It supports missile warning, missile defense and space surveillance operations for the U.S. and NATO.
The Pituffik base is located on the northwestern coast of Greenland, about 1,200 kilometers (750 miles) north of the the Arctic Circle and 1,524 kilometers (947 miles) south of the North Pole. It is about 1,500 kilometers (930 miles) north of Greenland’s capital, Nuuk.
It was known as the Thule Air Base until 2023, when it was renamed to recognize Greenlandic cultural heritage and reflect its role in the relatively new U.S. Space Force.
The base is locked in by ice for nine months of the year, but its airfield remains open all year round. It is in constant darkness from November to February and constant daylight from May to August.
Continue reading at the AP
We Mapped DOGE’s Silicon Valley and Corporate Connections
If Elon Musk is America's CEO, DOGE is the Silicon Valley executive branch.
Since the first days of the Trump administration, Elon Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has been everywhere in the federal government, moving fast and breaking things. In a matter of weeks, DOGE operatives have spread across dozens of government agencies as they have attempted to terminate tens of thousands of federal employees. With so much focus on where DOGE is going, WIRED wanted to take a beat to look at where they’ve come from and what that might tell us about how they’re thinking about reshaping the federal government.
The big takeaway: Many on the DOGE team are from Musk’s world. If Musk is America’s CEO, then DOGE has become his Silicon Valley executive branch.
We’ve mapped out a non-exhaustive list of people affiliated with DOGE, including creating a searchable table with each member, their corporate history, and the agencies they’ve been connected to. Readers can check that out, and click through it, below. We plan to keep updating this as we find more DOGE operatives or as known affiliates move to new agencies.
Continue reading at Wired
UPS launching online tool to show tariff costs to customers
UPS Global Checkout guarantees upfront information on fees
'International purchases often arrived with an unpleasant surprise': UPS
President Trump has placed tariffs on Canada and Mexico, threatened more
Amid continued threats of international tariffs by President Trump, the United Parcel Service (UPS) is launching an online tool that allows customers to see the added cost of those tariffs.
UPS Global Checkout guarantees upfront the amount online shoppers will pay in duties, fees and taxes, according to a statement from UPS.
“Until now, international purchases often arrived with an unpleasant surprise — an additional bill for unpaid import costs. UPS Global Checkout solves that problem,” the statement read in part.
“With UPS Global Checkout, we’re making international shopping around the world as easy as buying in-store,” Kate Gutmann, EVP and president of International, Healthcare and Supply Chain Solutions at UPS, said. “Online shoppers can now enjoy full transparency and peace of mind with no surprises, knowing what they pay at checkout is the total cost for a cross-border purchase. This, combined with our total UPS premium delivery experience, benefits our customers — the retailers — by helping to drive additional sales.”
“Given trade shifts around the world, expanding growth opportunities in new markets can now be seamless,” she added.
Tariffs are typically charged as a percentage of the price a buyer pays a foreign seller. In the United States, tariffs are collected by Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents at 328 ports of entry across the country.
Continue reading at The Hill
Trump's college funding threats can't be offset by their endowments
Chart: Top 10 university endowments
The top universities President Trump is targeting for federal funding cuts are sitting on billions in endowments, but schools often can't tap that cash to fill the gaps.
Why it matters: Endowments, also under a federal microscope, largely help offset students' tuition costs.
What they're saying: "Endowments are not a savings account," said Steven M. Bloom, assistant vice president of government relations at the American Council on Education. "There's a common misperception generally and among policymakers in particular."
Catch up quick: Trump in January ordered federal investigations of diversity, equity and inclusion programs at schools with endowments of at least $1 billion.
DOGE head Elon Musk, tasked with streamlining government spending, criticized federal funding toward universities with significant endowments in a post on X last month.
Zoom in: Endowments are permanent investment funds that comprise hundreds to thousands of separate accounts, per the American Council on Education. They're made up of donations from individuals or foundations.
Continue reading at Axios
Judge blocks Trump executive order targeting law firm tied to Mueller probe
CNN —
A federal judge late Friday froze parts of President Donald Trump’s executive order targeting the law firm Jenner & Block, one of two firms linked to the Robert Mueller investigation Trump has sought to punish.
The temporary restraining order, announced by Judge John Bates at the end of a hastily scheduled Friday hearing, pauses parts of the order instructing agencies to terminate contracts with the firm and its clients, as well as the order’s directives seeking to limit the firm’s access to federal officials and buildings.
The Jenner & Block hearing unfolded minutes after a different judge in the same courthouse heard a similar request from the law firm WilmerHale, which was also targeted by Trump in an executive order issued this week.
At that hearing, US District Judge Richard Leon, said he was “inclined” to temporarily block parts of Trump’s executive order targeting the firm, saying he had concerns about how the order could chill the company’s legal work.
In his executive orders, Trump also said he was taking aim at Jenner & Block and WilmerHale because of their work on political causes he disagreed with and because of their ties to the Mueller probe, as both firms previously or currently employed veterans of that investigation.
Leon, an appointee of former President George W. Bush, expressed concern at various points about how the president’s order could cause some clients to go elsewhere for legal representation if they had concerns with how effectively WilmerHale’s attorneys could provide legal services.
Continue reading at CNN.com
Another law firm targeted by Trump sues to block punishing executive order
Jenner & Block is the second law firm to try to fight Trump in court over his executive orders.
A law firm targeted by President Donald Trump sued Friday to bar enforcement of his executive order that seeks to shut them out of government business and strip key lawyers of their security clearances.
Jenner & Block’s lawsuit contends Trump’s order is an unconstitutional threat to the firm and the legal system itself, seeking to “punish citizens and lawyers based on the clients they represent, the positions they advocate, the opinions they voice, and the people with whom they associate.”
“We expect to prevail quickly,” the firm said in a statement accompanying the filing of the lawsuit, which was filed on the firm’s behalf by California-based law firm Cooley LLP.
Trump targeted Jenner & Block in an executive order earlier this week, focusing on the role that a former member of the firm — Andrew Weissmann — played in the investigation of Trump’s links to Russia during the 2016 presidential campaign. In a series of actions recently, Trump has been exacting revenge upon firms and attorneys who were involved in that investigation, including a similar order signed Thursday that goes after the firm WilmerHale, where special counsel Robert Mueller once worked.
Continue reading at Politico
Trump asks Supreme Court to allow ‘Alien Enemies Act’ deportations
The Justice Department argues that a lower-court judge unconstitutionally intruded on the president’s national security powers by barring him from swiftly deporting Venezuelans the administration says are gang members.
In an emergency appeal filed Friday, the Justice Department argued that a lower-court judge unconstitutionally intruded on the president’s national security powers by barring Trump from using the two-century-old Alien Enemies Act to swiftly deport Venezuelans the administration says are members of Tren de Aragua.
“This case raises paramount questions about the President’s constitutional and statutory authority to protect the Nation against elements of a designated foreign terrorist organization that the President has determined has been ‘conducting irregular warfare and undertaking hostile actions against the United States,’” acting Solicitor General Sarah Harris wrote.
Almost two weeks ago, the Trump administration flew more than 200 alleged Tren de Aragua members from the U.S. to El Salvador, where they were put in an anti-terrorism prison known for its brutal conditions.
U.S. District Judge James Boasberg ordered further deportations under the Alien Enemies Act temporarily halted while litigation over the issue continues. He has also pledged to determine whether U.S. officials deliberately violated his order to turn around planes carrying the initial groups of deportees.
Trump subsequently called for Boasberg’s impeachment, prompting an unusual statement from Chief Justice John Roberts warning against impeaching judges on the basis of their rulings.
Continue reading at Politico
Nikola founder says he was pardoned by Trump
Nikola founder Trevor Milton said on Thursday President Trump pardoned him for his 2022 conviction of misleading investors about the electric vehicle maker’s technology.
“I just got a call from the president of the United States on my phone and he signed my full and unconditional pardon of innocence, I am free,” Milton said in a video posted to X Thursday. “The prosecutors can no longer hurt me, they can’t destroy my family, they can’t rip everything away from me, they can’t ruin my life.”
Milton was convicted of securities and wire fraud charges in 2022 for overstating claims about Nikola’s production of zero-emission 18-wheel trucks. Investors lost hundreds of thousands of dollars as a result.
He was sentenced to four years in prison but had not yet been incarcerated while appealing the case.
Continue reading at The Hill
University of Michigan closes DEI office
The University of Michigan said it would close their diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) office on Thursday in an effort to comply with President Trump’s executive order outlawing the practice.
“These decisions have not been made lightly,” the announcement from top university officials reads. “We recognize the changes are significant and will be challenging for many of us, especially those whose lives and careers have been enriched by and dedicated to programs that are now pivoting.”
The memo was signed by university President Santa J. Ono; Laurie K. McCauley, provost and executive vice president; Marschall S. Runge, executive vice president for medical affairs; and Geoffrey S. Chatas, executive vice president and chief financial officer.
In addition to the closure of their DEI office, the school will also terminate the Office for Health Equity and Inclusion and discontinue their DEI 2.0 Strategic Plan despite success rates, according to the release.
Continue reading at The Hill
Note from Rima: See the Axios story: Trump's college funding threats can't be offset by their endowments
SEC votes to stop defending climate disclosure rule
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) voted to stop defending a rule that required some companies to disclose their planet-warming emissions and how climate change would impact their business.
The Republican-majority commission’s Thursday decision is not a surprise, as it had previously said it would pause its defense of the rule.
However, the formal vote marks yet another step toward the likely death of a rule that sent shockwaves through Wall Street.
The SEC’s acting chair, Mark Uyeda, said in a statement that the rule was “costly and unnecessarily intrusive.”
Continue reading at The Hill
Bondi knocks CNN analyst: ‘Ratings are plummeting’
Attorney General Pam Bondi knocked CNN over a segment on her decision not to investigate the government officials involved in a Signal group chat that included sensitive information and was leaked to a prominent journalist earlier this month.
During the CNN segment, legal analyst Elie Honig said Bondi had been “MIA” and questioned her objectivity in leading the Department of Justice (DOJ).
“There is no indication that she’s going to open an investigation here,” Honig said. “And by the way, when she was up for a confirmation as AG, remember, one of the concerns is, would she be able to exercise independence?”
Bondi was asked about the discussion during an appearance Thursday on Fox News.
“Yeah, there’s a reason why their ratings are plummeting, because they’re putting people like that on TV,” she said. “We could care less what they say.”
Continue reading at The Hill
Doug Ford on Canadian response to Trump tariffs: ‘Maximize the pain for Americans’
Ontario Premier Doug Ford argued the Trump administration’s looming tariffs will carry harsh impacts for American businesses and consumers while lauding Canada’s plan for retaliation against the additional taxes.
Ford told reporters that the Great White North can push back with “$65 billion of tariffs that we have on the table that we can launch towards the U.S. — we have to run through every tariff and minimize the pain for Canadians, maximize the pain for Americans.”
“I feel terrible for the Americans, but it’s one person, it’s President Trump that’s creating this chaos,” he added.
The Ontario premier said Trump launched an early “attack” with his threat to levy 25 percent tariffs on auto imports and parts from Canada this week. That comes in addition to reciprocal tariffs the administration said will begin April 2.
“We have two options here: Either we roll over as a country and he runs us over 15 times and gets what he wants, or we feel a little bit of pain and we fight like we’ve never fought before,” Ford said.
Continue reading at The Hill
McMahon: Trump ‘dead serious’ that he ‘wants me to fire myself’
Education Secretary Linda McMahon said President Trump is “dead serious” about wanting her to dismantle the department and put herself out of a job in the administration.
“When he asked me to serve as the secretary of Education I knew exactly what his mandate was, which is to close the Department of Education,” McMahon said during a Thursday interview on WABC 770 AM’s “Cats & Cosby.”
McMahon nodded to Trump’s comment at the White House last month when he noted he had told her, “I hope you do a great job and put yourself out of a job.”
“He has joked, but he’s dead serious about the fact that he wants me to fire myself,” McMahon said during the interview on the radio program hosted by John Catsimatidis and Rita Cosby.
Continue reading at The Hill
Trump moves to strip unionization rights from most federal workers
It’s the latest effort in his drive to disempower the federal bureaucracy.
Trump issued an executive order late Thursday night relying on a rarely used provision of the federal labor laws that authorizes the president to exclude agencies from long-standing unionization rights if he determines that those agencies are primarily engaged in national security work.
The order purports to end collective bargaining with federal unions at numerous federal agencies and subdivisions, including the Departments of Agriculture, Defense, Health and Human Services, Justice, State and Veterans Affairs, as well as the EPA and USAID. It also authorizes the Transportation secretary to exclude the Federal Aviation Administration and any other subdivision from labor rights.
The order would eliminate collective bargaining rights from roughly 67 percent of the entire federal workforce, and for 75 percent of workers who are already in a union, according to a report by Government Executive, a publication that covers the business of government primarily for an audience of senior bureaucrats.
The anti-unionization move comes amid a series of other efforts to drastically deplete the federal workforce and bring the bureaucracy under the strict control of the White House. The Trump administration is trying to fire tens of thousands of probationary federal employees, despite initial court rulings blocking the terminations. And many agencies are implementing massive “reductions in force.”
Continue reading at The Hill
Trump turns to one judge to back legality of order limiting federal union rights
An Office of Personnel Management memo that accompanied Trump’s executive order encouraged agencies to terminate any already-signed collective bargaining agreements and stop participating in any grievance proceedings.
The filing is a somewhat unusual move for the Trump administration, which has in other cases has aggressively fought lawsuits and appealed rulings in cases launched against them but has seldom initiated such a request before being taken to court.
The case is sure to come before U.S. District Court Judge Alan Albright, who oversees all cases filed in that district.
If unions sue and score favorable rulings in other districts, a judgment in Texas could help speed review by the Supreme Court.
Continue reading at The Hill
Israeli Mossad asks African countries to take Palestinians from Gaza
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu tasked Israel's Mossad foreign intelligence agency with finding countries that would agree to receive large numbers of Palestinians displaced from the Gaza Strip, two Israeli officials tell Axios.
Why it matters: President Trump's proposal to remove all two million Palestinians from Gaza to rebuild the enclave hasn't gone anywhere. But Netanyahu is also looking for ways to relocate large numbers of Palestinians, potentially to countries thousands of miles away.
Behind the scenes: Talks have already taken place with Somalia and South Sudan — two poor conflict-plagued countries in East Africa — as well as other countries including Indonesia, according to the two Israeli officials and a former U.S. official.
Netanyahu gave Mossad the secret assignment several weeks ago, the Israeli officials say.
The Israeli Prime Minister's Office declined to comment.
Continue reading at Axios
Putin ‘lying’ to Trump envoy: McMaster
Former national security adviser H.R. McMaster warned Steve Witkoff, special envoy for Ukraine, to beware of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s intentions.
“Putin’s lying to him! That shouldn’t come as a surprise to anybody. Putin is the best liar, the best deceiver in the world,” McMaster said during a Thursday appearance on Fox News.
Earlier in the segment, he addressed the Kremlin’s attempts to take land from Ukraine.
“I think what we’re all going to realize here pretty soon is what Vladimir Putin wants is non-negotiable. He wants to dominate Ukraine,” McMaster said.
“He does want the Black Sea to be his, and he wants to subvert the transatlantic relationship and break apart NATO. I mean, Putin has these aspirations, Martha, that go far beyond anything in reaction to what we do,” he added.
Continue reading at The Hill
McConnell: US headed for ‘Russia wins, America loses’ headline on Ukraine deal
Former Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) warned in a speech Thursday that U.S. negotiators trying to end the war in Ukraine are headed for a “Russia wins, America loses” headline if they agree to a deal that achieves only “illusory peace.”
McConnell made his comments in reaction to recent events, notably President Trump’s public scolding of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the White House and a Kremlin statement that the Trump administration’s foreign policy pivot on the war “largely coincides with our vision.”
“When American officials court the favor of an adversary at the expense of allies … When they mock our friends to impress an enemy … They reveal their embarrassing naivete,” McConnell said in remarks Thursday while accepting the Star of Ukraine Award, the U.S.-Ukraine Foundation’s highest honor.
“Unless we change course, the outcome we’re headed for today is the one we can least afford: a headline that reads ‘Russia wins, America loses,'” he said.
Continue reading at The Hill
FEMA blocks $10B in disaster aid over immigration concerns
The move is part of a wholesale review of 56 FEMA programs to ensure they meet President Donald Trump’s immigration enforcement efforts.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency has frozen nearly $10 billion in disaster aid as it scrutinizes two programs for potentially helping undocumented migrants, according to agency documents obtained by POLITICO’s E&E News.
The programs under review provide funding to nongovernmental organizations for disaster recovery and short-term housing, the documents show. One frozen program has $8.5 billion in approved but unspent aid for disaster recovery, and the other has $1.3 billion for short-term housing.
The FEMA documents show that all 56 agency programs are being scrutinized to determine if they go to nonprofits or government agencies that help undocumented migrants. Altogether, they provide tens of billions of dollars in disaster aid. Some of the programs have been cleared to continue operating, while others are undergoing further review by FEMA or the Department of Homeland Security.
The documents were written March 20 by FEMA acting Administrator Cameron Hamilton and approved Tuesday by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.
Continue reading at Politico
Wisconsin Democratic leader accuses Musk of ‘illegal’ actions in Supreme Court race
Ben Wikler, chair of the Democratic Party in Wisconsin, said it’s illegal for Elon Musk to cut $1 million paychecks for voters who support Brad Schimel, a Republican candidate for the state’s Supreme Court.
“Elon Musk has committed a blatant felony by offering money for votes in order to help Brad Schimel,” Wikler said in a Friday statement.
“Musk’s illegal election bribery scheme to put Brad Schimel on the Supreme Court is a chainsaw attack on democracy and the rule of law in Wisconsin and our nation.”
The tech giant deleted his early Friday post outlining plans to travel to Wisconsin to personally deliver funds.
“On Sunday night, I will give a talk in Wisconsin. Entrance is limited to those who have voted in the Supreme Court election,” Musk said in a post on the social platform X, which has now been taken down.
“I will also personally hand over two checks for a million dollars each in appreciation for you taking the time to vote. This is super important,” he added.
Continue reading at The Hill
Trump gets $100M deal with Skadden law firm amid pressure campaign
President Trump on Friday announced a deal with the law firm Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom to provide at least $100 million in pro bono legal services “during the Trump administration and beyond.”
The agreement comes as Trump has signed executive orders targeting Big Law firms tied to his critics and perceived political enemies, restricting the work they can do with the federal government.
“This was essentially a settlement,” Trump said, adding that “we very much appreciate their coming to the table.”
The president has not signed an order aimed at Skadden, though the administration has signaled that additional law firms could come under fire. The New York Times reported Thursday that Skadden appeared to be the first major firm seeking to cut a deal with Trump before he issued such an order.
Continue reading at The Hill
Major law firm strikes preemptive deal with White House
Skadden Arps, one of the largest law firms in the world, reached an agreement with Trump despite not being targeted by the White House like other firms.
The White House has reached a deal with one of the largest law firms in the world to provide the equivalent of $100 million in free legal work to causes supported by the administration, President Donald Trump announced Friday afternoon.
The law firm, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP, will also fund fellowships for law school graduates to work on causes in line with the administration’s priorities. The fellows “will represent a wide range of political views, including conservative ideals,” the president said in a statement.
Skadden will also commit to “merit based hiring, promotion and retention,” and will not deny representation to “politically disenfranchised groups,” the president said during a swearing in event for Alina Habba, one of his personal attorneys and his pick to be the acting U.S. Attorney for New Jersey.
“This was essentially a settlement,” Trump said of the deal.
The president has signed a number of executive orders in recent weeks targeting individual law firms for their prior associations with his political enemies. No such order had been signed targeting Skadden, however, the fifth-highest grossing law firm in the world according to Law.com, making this the first time a law firm has preemptively gone to the White House to negotiate with the administration.
“Skadden is pleased to have achieved a successful agreement with President Trump and his Administration,” Skadden’s executive partner Jeremy London said in a statement released by Trump. “We engaged proactively with the President and his team in working together constructively to reach this agreement. The Firm looks forward to continuing our productive relationship with President Trump and his Admin. We firmly believe that this outcome is in the best interests of our clients, our people, and our Firm.”
Continue reading at Politico
NYPD investigating hate crime criminal mischief incident involving Tesla vandalism
The New York Police Department is investigating a Thursday vandalism incident involving a Tesla after receiving multiple images and footage from the vehicle’s self-recording features of two men etching words onto the side of the car.
“It was reported to police that on Thursday, March 27, 2025, at approximately 0100 hours, in front of 730 Monroe Street, two unidentified individuals carved the word ‘Nazis’ and a swastika on the doors of a parked unoccupied Tesla vehicle,” police wrote in a statement.
“The unidentified individuals then fled on foot in an unknown direction. The incident is being investigated by the NYPD’s Hate Crime Task Force,” they added.
Law enforcement is asking those who might know the identity of the vandals to step forward.
Continue reading at The Hill
Cuomo held up Citi Field mass vaccine site amid beef with de Blasio
The account, shared by nine people involved in New York’s pandemic response, conflicts with the image Cuomo cultivated as a steady leader in a time of tumult.
NEW YORK — In early 2021, pandemic-battered New Yorkers were finally feeling a glimmer of hope: A mass vaccine site at Citi Field that promised around-the-clock shots.
Then Gov. Andrew Cuomo stepped in.
The state’s chief executive was irate over the site, which happened to be championed by his political nemesis at the time — Mayor Bill de Blasio. Cuomo made his displeasure clear in a phone call to the Mets owner — and one of the country’s richest men — Steve Cohen. The governor later withheld vaccines from the facility for several weeks. This account, which has never been reported, was relayed by nine people with direct knowledge of it.
Cuomo is now running for mayor and leading every poll of Democratic primary candidates. All nine people who spoke to POLITICO about Citi Field were granted anonymity, which they requested out of fear of angering the ascendant former governor.
“We got Citi Field ready to open, and for two weeks, the state denied our request to allocate our own vaccine to the location,” someone assigned to Covid relief efforts in the de Blasio administration told POLITICO. “After several days of fighting, the governor’s staff finally told us it was Cuomo personally blocking it because he didn’t like that the mayor would be the one to open Citi Field.”
Continue reading at Politico
Trump speaks with Canada’s Carney ahead of looming tariffs
It marks the first conversation between Trump and the new Canadian prime minister.
President Donald Trump spoke with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney on Friday, a day after Carney signaled that Canada’s traditional relationship with the United States is over.
It marks the first conversation between Trump and the new Canadian prime minister, who succeeded former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as Trump continues to threaten and impose tariffs on America’s neighbor and repeats his desire to make Canada the 51st state.
“It was an extremely productive call, we agree on many things,” Trump posted Friday on Truth Social.
Trump referred to Carney as “prime minister,” ditching the “governor” title that he had repeatedly mocked Trudeau with. His post also made no reference to Canada becoming part of the U.S.
Carney said on Thursday that he would emphasize mutual respect of Canada’s sovereignty in his conversation with Trump.
“I reject any attempts to weaken Canada, to wear us down, to break us to that America can own us,” Carney said, speaking Thursday on Parliament Hill. “That will never happen.”
Continue reading at Politico
Trump administration notifies Congress it will close USAID
The Trump administration on Friday moved to formally dissolve the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), despite the unilateral shutdown being deemed unconstitutional by a federal judge.
Why it matters: The executive branch is now informing Congress that USAID functions will be moved to the State Department or otherwise be terminated if they don't align with President Trump's policies.
Certain USAID responsibilities will be delegated to the State Department by July 1.
Employees received notice on Friday that their positions would be eliminated in July and September, multiple outlets reported.
What they're saying: "We are continuing essential lifesaving programs and making strategic investments that strengthen our partners and our own country," Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement.
Foreign assistance programs will be reoriented to align with what is best for the U.S. and its citizens, State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said during a news conference on Friday.
Catch up quick: DOGE gutted the world's largest humanitarian aid organization, and Elon Musk labeled the organization as corrupt and wasteful.
Continue reading at Axios
Trump threatens Iran with "bad things" unless it accepts nuclear deal
Bad things" will happen to Iran unless it reaches a deal with the U.S. on its nuclear program, President Trump said Friday.
Why it matters: Trump's comments came after Iran responded to the letter the president sent the country's supreme leader three weeks ago, which threatened military action if no deal is reached in two moths.
What they are saying: "Iran is very high on my list of things to watch. ... We will have to talk it out or very bad things are gonna happen to Iran, and I don't want that to happen," Trump said. "My big preference is that we work it out with Iran, but if we don't work it out, bad, bad things are gonna happen to Iran."
Driving the news: Iran delivered its response via the Gulf Sultanate of Oman, which duly notified the U.S., a source with knowledge of the issue confirmed to Axios.
The Omanis briefed the U.S. on the messages they received from the Iranians and will deliver the Iranian letter to the White House in the coming days, the source said.
Between the lines: Trump delivered his letter to the Iranian supreme leader through the UAE signaling that it wants the Emiratis to mediate between the U.S. and Iran.
Continue reading at Axios
FCC chair announces DEI probe into Disney and ABC
Federal Communications Commission chairman Brendan Carr announced Friday that he has asked the FCC's enforcement bureau to open an investigation into Disney and its subsidiary ABC over whether their diversity, equity and inclusion practices violated the agency's rules.
Why it matters: Carr recently threatened to block mergers based on a company's corporate DEI policies. The FCC is responsible for approving the sale of broadcast licenses. Disney has broadcast licenses for its local ABC affiliate stations.
Driving the news: In his letter to CEO Bob Iger dated Thursday, Carr said he wants to ensure that "Disney and ABC have not been violating FCC equal employment opportunity regulations by promoting invidious forms of DEI discrimination."
In response, a Disney spokesperson said the company is reviewing the letter "and we look forward to engaging with the commission to answer its questions."
Between the lines: Disney has been trying to hedge against any sort of regulatory blowback from the Trump administration, following criticism from conservatives over the past few years about some of its DEI policies.
Continue reading at Axios
Mahmoud Khalil’s lawyer urges NJ judge not to transfer his case to Louisiana
The Trump administration wants the case moved to Louisiana, where it would be under the jurisdiction of a conservative appeals court.
NEWARK, New Jersey — Lawyers for Mahmoud Khalil, the Palestinian activist and legal U.S. resident whom the Trump administration is seeking to deport, fought Friday to keep his case in New Jersey and prevent it from being transferred to Louisiana, where he is currently being held.
During a hearing before a federal judge, a lawyer for Khalil said the Trump administration was taking a “radical” position on his case.
“Everyone knows about this case and is wondering whether they’re going to be picked up off the street,” his lawyer, Baher Azmy, told U.S. District Judge Michael Farbiarz.
Khalil is a recent Columbia University graduate student with a green card, a form of permanent legal status. He says the administration is illegally trying to deport him as retaliation for his role in organizing campus protests of the Israel-Hamas war.
Continue reading at Politico
Trump blocked from deporting migrants to countries where they’re not citizens
A federal judge said deportees must first have a “meaningful opportunity” to seek humanitarian protection in the United States.
A federal judge in Boston issued a temporary emergency order blocking the Trump administration from sending anyone with a final deportation order to a country where they are not a citizen without first giving them a “meaningful opportunity” to seek humanitarian protection in the United States.
[…]
In a two-page decision following a hearing, Murphy wrote that officials may not deport someone to a so-called third country “unless and until” they provide the deportee and their lawyer written notice of the country to which they are being sent. Then, the judge said, officials must let them apply in immigration court for protection to stay in the U.S. under the Convention Against Torture, which Congress ratified in 1994 to prohibit the government from sending immigrants to a country where they might be tortured.
After that, the judge said, the agency must await a final decision from an immigration judge before sending someone to another country.
Continue reading at the Washington Post
Trump’s Big Law freezeout heats up on the Hill
A senior Republican House aide circulated a memo to GOP offices instructing members to be wary of lobbying clients of Covington & Burling and Perkins Coie.
President Donald Trump’s crusade against Big Law is coursing through Capitol Hill.
A senior Republican House aide circulated a memo to GOP offices on Thursday instructing members to be wary of lobbying clients of Covington & Burling and Perkins Coie, two of the major law firms that have drawn Trump’s ire, according to the email obtained by POLITICO.
The missive follows a nearly identical one sent to Senate Republican offices last Friday, which was first reported by POLITICO. The email references POLITICO’s reporting on the Senate side, with the House aide writing: “I wanted to do the same and let you know these firms also lobby the House and you can find a list of their lobbying clients at this link.”
The impact is already being felt. Qualcomm, which is a client of Covington & Burling, reached out to a D.C. lobbying firm this week asking about its rates and included POLITICO’s report on the Senate email, according to a lobbyist at the firm granted anonymity to discuss private matters.
“Covington’s experienced practitioners, with both Republican and Democratic backgrounds, continue to engage with Members of Congress and congressional staff across the political spectrum,” a Covington spokesperson said in a statement. “We are proud to assist our clients in exercising their First Amendment rights to petition the government.”
Spokespeople for Perkins Coie and Qualcomm didn’t respond to a request for comment.
Continue reading at Politico
Judge orders release of Venezuelan couple caught up in Trump gang crackdown
Immigration officials accused the pair of being “associated” with Tren de Aragua, which they deny.
A federal judge has ordered the immediate release of a Washington-area Venezuelan couple who contend they’ve been unfairly swept up in President Donald Trump’s crackdown on the Venezuela-based gang Tren de Aragua.
Luddis Sanchez Garcia, 33, and Julio Sanchez Puentes, 27, walked out of the federal courthouse in Alexandria, Virginia, Friday morning surrounded by supporters after U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema declared there was no legal basis for their detention. Both have work permits and hold temporary legal status in the U.S.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement official Erik Weiss claimed in a court filing that Sanchez Garcia “is a senior member of the Magdaleno band of TDA.” Weiss said Sanchez Puentes “is associated with the TDA terrorist organization,” but the only specifics officials offered about his alleged connection to the gang is that he lives with Sanchez Garcia.
Brinkema, an appointee of President Bill Clinton, found the evidence in the case sorely lacking, according to a lawyer for the couple, Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg. “She said if [officials] had come to her chambers seeking an arrest warrant she would have thrown them out,” he said. The judge ordered the couple immediately released so they could walk out of the courtroom, attorneys said.
The legal actions against the couple are unusual in several respects.
Continue reading at Politico
Justice Sonia Sotomayor dunks on Trump — without naming him once
And she had words for Trump allies with JDs who have amplified the president’s attacks on the judiciary.
The most senior member of the Supreme Court’s liberal wing appeared to push back Friday against President Donald Trump’s denigration of judges and his broad attacks on the legal system, arguing that a healthy democracy depends on more than technical compliance with the laws on the books.
Speaking to law students in Washington, Justice Sonia Sotomayor suggested the country is going through a challenging period of increasing public disrespect for judges, lawyers and courts.
“One of the things that’s troubling so many right now is many of the standards that are being changed right now were norms that governed officials into what was right and wrong,” Sotomayor said during an appearance at Georgetown University Law Center. “Once norms are broken, then you’re shaking some of the foundation of the rule of law.”
During her remarks, Sotomayor made no direct mention of Trump, who received an unusual rebuke last week from Chief Justice John Roberts for calling for the impeachment of federal judges who have ruled against Trump administration policies.
Continue reading at Politico
Justice Sotomayor on Norms and Rule of Law
Justice Sonia Sotomayor: "Once we lose our common norms we've lost the rule of law completely...At the end what judges should do, but it's in the end of whatever citizens should do, which is ensure that the courts are fearlessly independent..." Full video here
Noem’s vow to ‘eliminate’ FEMA raises alarms
Noem this week said she was planning to eliminate the agency but did not elaborate on what that meant. Spokespeople for FEMA and the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees the disaster relief agency, did not respond to questions about whether FEMA’s services would be cut entirely or reshuffled elsewhere.
President Trump has also said he would consider “getting rid of FEMA.”
Carrie Speranza, president of the USA Council of the International Association of Emergency Managers, told The Hill that if FEMA is shut down, she would be “fearful for this next hurricane season and what that means for survivors.”
“You’re talking hundreds of thousands of people that will be impacted with very little resources to help,” Speranza said.
FEMA helps support communities before, during and after disasters. This includes helping localities with coordinating during a storm, conducting some search and rescue operations and providing funding to help communities rebuild.
Continue reading at The Hill
Elon Musk tries to rehab DOGE
The billionaire tech pioneer is pushing to improve the image of his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) effort in the Trump administration amid broad backlash.
The image-boosting effort suggests the Tesla CEO is aware of the boogeyman persona he has created for himself and his cost-cutting push since joining President Trump’s team.
Musk went on Fox News on Thursday night to claim he is being careful and compassionate with his overhaul of the federal government, amid mounting criticism over his past statements on social media and emails to federal workers.
He also introduced several members of the DOGE team in an attempt to quell some of the concerns around the mysterious nature of their work.
The tech billionaire is “on a rehab tour,” argued former Rep. Carlos Curbelo (R-Fla.), who noted even Republicans have criticized his government overhaul work, sometimes behind closed-doors.
Continue reading at The Hill
Majority of voters, plurality of GOP say Hegseth should resign: Poll
A majority of Americans, including the largest share of Republican voters, say in a new survey that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth should resign after the revelation that he shared details of a forthcoming U.S. airstrike in an unsecured Signal group chat whose members included The Atlantic’s editor-in-chief.
The J.L. Partners-Daily Mail national poll, which was shared with The Hill on Friday, found that 54 percent of all registered voters think that Hegseth should resign as head of the Pentagon. Some 22 percent said he should remain in his role, while another 24 were not sure.
Nearly four-in-10 GOP voters, 38 percent, think Hegseth, who in the Signal thread shared information regarding the weapons used and the timing of attacks on the Houthis in Yemen, should abandon his post. Approximately one-third of Republicans disagreed, while 29 percent were unsure, according to the survey.
A majority of independents, 54 percent, also agree that Hegseth, a former Fox News host, should step down. Around two out of 10 independents had the opposite view, while a quarter of respondents did not know.
Continue reading at The Hill
Wisconsin AG sues to stop Musk’s check handout
Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul sued Elon Musk on Friday over his proposal to pay two people $1 million for voting in the state’s Supreme Court race.
“The Wisconsin Department of Justice is committed to ensuring that elections in Wisconsin are safe, secure, free, and fair. We are aware of the offer recently posted by Elon Musk to award a million dollars to two people at an event in Wisconsin this weekend,” Kaul said in a statement to The Hill.
Kaul’s case was assigned to Brad Schimel’s liberal opponent, Susan Crawford. A spokesperson for Crawford told The Hill she will recuse herself from the case.
The lawsuit follows Musk’s announcement that he will visit the Badger State in support of Schimel on Sunday.
“I will also personally hand over two checks for a million dollars each in appreciation for you taking the time to vote. This is super important,” Musk wrote Friday morning ahead of his visit.
Continue reading at The Hill
The race for UN ambassador is on again, but some potential choices already saying no
Trump may disdain the world body, but the ambassadorship is likely too prominent a position to leave empty.
The White House is eager to replace Rep. Elise Stefanik as its nominee for U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, and at least two ex-Trump administration officials with diplomatic experience are in the mix.
Some prominent potential candidates, meanwhile, are taking a pass.
Top contenders at the moment — according to a Republican involved in the discussions — include David Friedman, Trump’s first-term ambassador to Israel, and Ellie Cohanim, who served as deputy special envoy focused on fighting antisemitism during Trump’s first term. (Both Cohanim and Friedman declined to comment.)
One outside possibility is GOP Sen. Bill Hagerty of Tennessee, who was Trump’s first-term ambassador to Japan. The slim margins Republicans have in Congress may, however, affect his chances, especially because not all Republican senators can be counted on to vote with the president. Trump, after all, pulled Stefanik’s nomination because of growing GOP concerns about keeping the House majority. She’ll keep representing a New York district and will return to a position in House leadership.
Hagerty’s office did not respond to a request for comment.
Continue reading at Politico
How, where to see the "double sunrise" solar eclipse Saturday morning
Saturday's partial solar eclipse offers the rare chance to see a "double sunrise" in the northeastern part of the country.
Why it matters: It's the only solar eclipse visible from the U.S. this year and comes two weeks after the total lunar eclipse.
814 million people around the globe will be able to see part of the eclipse, which is nearly 10% of the world's population.
What is a partial solar eclipse?
A partial solar eclipse happens when the Moon passes between the Sun and Earth but the three don't perfectly line up.
With a partial eclipse, only a part of the Sun will appear to be covered, which gives it a crescent shape.
Continue reading at Axios
Vance to wipe ‘improper ideology’ from the Smithsonian
The project offers the vice president the opportunity to make headway on his yearslong crusade against progressive principles.
The vice president, who sits on the museum network’s board, has been tasked with slashing funding for exhibits or programs that promote “ideologies inconsistent with Federal law and policy,” including those that recognize trans people, “degrade shared American values,” or “divide Americans based on race,” according to an executive order President Donald Trump signed behind closed doors on Thursday.
It’s part of a growing list of mandates for the vice president, whom Trump has assigned to help broker a TikTok deal and push controversial nominations through the Senate, and who acts more broadly as one of the America First movement’s top communicators and attack dogs. And although the Smithsonian project is comparatively small for Vance, it offers him the opportunity to make headway on his yearslong battle against progressive principles.
The Smithsonian Institution did not respond to a request for comment.
Vance has asserted for years that progressive ideologies, particularly those that posit that the U.S. was built on systemic racism, undercut Americans’ sense of national pride and contribute to stagnation and despair.
“It’s not about correcting systemic racism or systemic wrong, it’s about making us easier to control, it’s about making us ashamed of where we came from,” Vance said in a speech in September 2021, nearly two years before he was sworn into the Senate, about what he saw as an American “civilizational crisis.”
Continue reading at Politico
Trump commutes sentence for convicted Ozy Media founder
President Trump on Friday commuted the prison sentence of Carlos Watson, the founder of the now-defunct digital media startup Ozy Media, a spokesperson for Watson confirmed to Axios.
Why it matters: Watson was found guilty of conspiracy to commit securities fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud and aggravated identity theft last year after a judge concluded that he had illegally deceived investors about his company's financials.
Zoom in: Watson learned that he was granted clemency while on a flight on his way to serve his nearly 10-year prison sentence, according to his spokesperson, Juda Engelmayer.
The president also commuted the sentence of probation imposed on Ozy Media for its conviction in the case, according to CNBC. Engelmayer could not confirm that detail.
A federal judge last month ordered Watson and Ozy to pay over $36 million in restitution and nearly $60 million in forfeiture.
Watson's attorney Arthur Aidala did not immediately reply to a request for comment.
Continue reading at Axios
Trump says the US will help in Asia quake. A former official says the system is now in ‘shambles’
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said Friday that the U.S. was going to help with the response to Southeast Asia’s deadly earthquake.
But the effects of his administration’s deep cuts in foreign assistance through the U.S. Agency for International Development and the State Department will likely be tested in any response to the first big natural disaster of his second term.
Sarah Charles, a former senior USAID official who oversaw disaster-response teams and overall humanitarian work under the Biden administration, said the system was now “in shambles,” without the people or resources to move quickly to pull out survivors from collapsed buildings and otherwise save lives.
A powerful quake shook Myanmar and neighboring Thailand on Friday, killing at least 150 people and burying others under the rubble of high-rises.
Asked about the quake by reporters in Washington, Trump said: “We’re going to be helping. We’ve already alerted the people. Yeah, it’s terrible what happened.”
Continue reading at the AP
News Alert: Columbia University Interim President Katrina Armstrong steps down
Katrina Armstrong, interim president of Columbia University, is stepping down, the school said in an announcement Friday.
CNN —
Katrina Armstrong, interim president of Columbia University, is stepping down, the school said in an announcement Friday.
Columbia University recently announced a series of new policies – including restrictions on demonstrations, new disciplinary procedures and immediately reviewing its Middle East curriculum – making apparent concessions following President Donald Trump’s revocation of $400 million in federal funding over campus protests.
“Dr. Armstrong accepted the role of interim president at a time of great uncertainty for the University and worked tirelessly to promote the interests of our community,” said David J. Greenwald, chair of the board of trustees.
Claire Shipman, co-chair of the Colubmia board of trustees has been appointed acting president until the board can complete a presidential search, a university statement said.
Continue reading at CNN.com
Byron Donalds pitches himself as Trump’s gov pick, DeSantis extension in kickoff rally
His gubernatorial debut took place as Florida first lady Casey DeSantis weighs a run to replace her husband.
BONITA SPRINGS, Florida — Rep. Byron Donalds doesn’t have Gov. Ron DeSantis’ support to become the next governor of Florida. But during his gubernatorial campaign kickoff rally on Friday, Donalds cast himself as a natural extension of the governor’s “free state of Florida” mantra.
After walking onstage to “The Time Is Now,” Donalds, 46, hailed Florida as “the best state in America” and reminded the crowd — many of them wearing “Make America Great Again” caps — that he had President Donald Trump’s endorsement in the 2026 race.
“He has endorsed me because he knows I will lead with courage, conviction and common sense,” Donalds said from the stage at the Sugarshack Downtown, a restaurant and music venue. “And that’s what our state needs to remain the blueprint for what is possible in America. As your next governor, I’ll fix what’s broken while building on what makes Florida the best state in America.”
While Donalds spent some time talking about his biography, most of his speech focused on what he called a “bold and clear” plan for Florida, including promises to lower property insurance bills, reduce traffic jams, restore the Everglades, make Florida a global financial capital, cut taxes and improve education proficiency. Donalds pitched the improvements without criticizing DeSantis — instead praising him for building a “great foundation” while adding, “We have other things we have got to figure out.”
The rally comes as DeSantis has dismissed Donalds’ candidacy as too early and talked up the possibility that his wife, Florida first lady Casey DeSantis, may run for governor. DeSantis has suggested he doesn’t see Donalds as sufficiently conservative or as having contributed toward Florida’s conservative policy wins. The DeSantises were at a “Florida Heroes” reception Friday evening at the governor’s mansion, for an event that honored first responders and faith leaders.
Continue reading at Politico
Judges partially block two executive orders targeting major law firms
Two federal judges partially blocked Trump’s executive orders targeting law firms Jenner & Block and WilmerHale.
Federal judges have partially blocked President Donald Trump’s executive orders targeting two major law firms, saying the firms are likely to succeed on their claims that the orders violate the first amendment.
Senior U.S. District Judges John Bates and Richard Leon, both appointees of President George W. Bush, issued their rulings in favor of law firms Jenner & Block and WilmerHale after back-to-back Friday hearings at the federal courthouse in Washington.
“The legal profession as a whole is watching and wondering if their courtroom activities … will cause the government to turn their eyes to them next,” Bates said.
In delivering his ruling, Bates called the executive order’s references to Jenner & Block’s pro-bono work “disturbing” and said the reasons the order gives for targeting the firm cannot survive a constitutional challenge. The executive order gives “lip service” to public safety and national security, Bates said, adding that even if he agreed with Trump’s assertions about the dangers posed by Jenner & Block, the sanctions in the order “sweep far too broadly.”
The Friday evening rulings come as Trump has embarked upon a retribution campaign against law firms, issuing executive orders against multiple firms in recent weeks that would strip security clearances from attorneys and hamper firms’ ability to interface with the federal government. While some firms have opted to strike deals with Trump, three — Perkins Coie, Jenner & Block, and WilmerHale — have successfully challenged the executive orders in court.
“The retaliatory nature of the Executive Order at issue here is clear from its face,” Leon wrote in his order. “There is no doubt this retaliatory action chills speech and legal advocacy, or that it qualifies as a constitutional harm.”
Continue reading at Politico
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