The Conversation -- March 14, 2025

⭐ Catie Edmondson & Carl Hulse of the New York Times: “The Senate on Friday cleared a critical hurdle to avert a government shutdown at midnight, after Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the Democratic leader, and nine other members of his caucus joined Republicans in voting to advance a stopgap spending bill, effectively thwarting a filibuster by their own party. The vote to move forward with the G.O.P.-written stopgap spending measure, which would fund the government through Sept. 30, was 62 to 38. It came just hours before a midnight deadline to avoid a lapse in funding, and set the stage for a final vote on the spending measure later on Friday.... Democrats joining Mr. Schumer in voting to move it forward were Senators Dick Durbin of Illinois, Brian Schatz of Hawaii, Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada, John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, Gary Peters of Michigan, Kirsten Gillibrand of New York and Maggie Hassan and Jeanne Shaheen, both of New Hampshire. Senator Angus King, the Maine independent who caucuses with Democrats, also voted yes.” MB: In fairness to me, I called Shaheen's & Hassan's office, identified myself and told them to vote against cloture. Well, I told their voicemails, because neither senator's office was accepting calls.

We have met the resistance, and he is ... Chuck Schumer positioning himself in front of the wheels of the MAGA bus. Meep meep! ~~~

~~~ Paul Campos in LG&$ explains Chuck's rationale even better than Chuck does, although Campos, it would seem, is not into it: "One thing that simply doesn’t work is to run for election on the we’re in an existential battle to save democracy from the fascist hordes platform, lose, bombard all your supports with twelve zillion texts and emails about how Donald Trump is on the verge of establishing a dictatorship so you had better rush us ten dollars now to pass the No Kings Act (how stupid do they think we are? Don’t answer that), and then, after all that, simply unconditionally surrender to the aforementioned hordes and aspiring dictator, on the basis of the inspiring claim that it’s the savvy thing to do.... The old men have gotten us into this fix, and politics, like physics, apparently advances one funeral at a time." MB: Can't figure out why he heads this post with a huge photo of a beautiful young woman. ~~~

~~~ Joseph Gedeon & Chris Stein of the Guardian: “Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is condemning Chuck Schumer ... for caving to Republican demands on a government funding bill, saying the move has created a 'deep sense of outrage and betrayal' among Democrats. Speaking to reporters in Leesburg, Virginia, where House Democrats were gathered for their annual policy retreat, Ocasio-Cortez said she was mobilizing Democratic supporters to push Schumer to oppose what she characterized as an 'acquiesce' to the GOP bill.... The rift has reportedly sparked such anger among House Democrats that some are encouraging Ocasio-Cortez to challenge Schumer in a primary election, according to CNN. When asked about these suggestions, she declined to comment.” ~~~

~~~ Shane Goldmacher of the New York Times: “The eruption of anger about Mr. Schumer’s seeming surrender thrust into public view a generational divide that has emerged as one of the Democratic Party’s deepest and most consequential rifts. Younger Democrats are chafing at and increasingly complaining about what they see as the feebleness of the old guard’s efforts to push back against President Trump. They are second-guessing how the party’s leaders — like Mr. Schumer, who brandishes his flip phone as a point of pride — are communicating their message in the TikTok era, as Republicans dominate the digital town square. And they are demanding that the party develop a bolder policy agenda that can answer the desperation of tens of millions of people who are struggling financially at a time when belief in the American dream is dimming. In other words, the younger generation is done with deference.” MB: Guess that makes me a virtual toddler. ~~~

~~~ Marie: I can tell you this with some certainty: if Donald Trump is applauding you, you're doing something terribly, terribly wrong: ~~~

     ~~~ Katherine Tully-McManus of Politico: “... Donald Trump on Friday congratulated Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer for 'doing the right thing' by backing the Republican-led bill to avert a government shutdown, a choice that's put the New York Democrat at odds with many in his party. 'A non pass would be a Country destroyer, approval will lead us to new heights,' wrote the president Friday morning on Truth Social. 'Again, really good and smart move by Senator Schumer,' wrote the president on Truth Social.” ~~~

~~~ BUT. Matt Yglesias, who is an original, generally-liberal commentator, says Chuck did the right thing. MB: I still strongly disagree, but I won't deny Matt is smarter than I am.

Isabel van Brugen of the Daily Beast, republished by MSN: “Elon Musk threw a tantrum after his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) was dealt a series of legal setbacks, immediately calling for the impeachment of federal judges. 'Without judicial reform, which means at least the absolute worst judges get impeached, we don’t have real democracy in America,' Musk said on X. He reacted after federal agencies were ordered on Thursday to immediately reinstate tens of thousands of federal workers with probationary status who had been laid off by DOGE as part of its sweeping government cost-cutting efforts, dealing a blow to Musk, as he seeks to eventually reduce the deficit by $1 trillion.” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: The Despicable Oligarch’s Gross Effluent here is perfectly consistent with the attitude and policy of an administration that is firing (among others!) all the people who even might be more loyal to the Constitution than to King Donald. The purpose of federal officials is to back what the Trumplodytes want, and those who don't, must go.

Tim Balk of the New York Times: “Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, who took his position during the first Trump presidency and moved to shrink the agency’s ranks during the Biden administration, said he had signed an agreement with [Elon] Musk’s group on Wednesday. Mr. DeJoy, a Republican megadonor, wrote in the letter that Mr. Musk’s initiative was 'an effort aligned' with his efforts. He said that the Postal Service’s work force had shrunk by 30,000 since the 2021 fiscal year, and that the agency planned to complete a 'further reduction of another 10,000 people in the next 30 days' through a previously established voluntary-retirement program. Last week, Mr. Musk said at a tech conference organized by the bank Morgan Stanley that the Postal Service should be privatized, declaring, 'We should privatize anything that can reasonably be privatized.'... The agreement described by Mr. DeJoy on Thursday was comparatively less disruptive, but it drew a stern rebuke from Representative Gerald E. Connolly of Virginia, the ranking Democrat on the House Committee on Oversight and Reform, which oversees the Postal Service.” The AP's report is here.

Collin Binkley of the AP: “More than 50 universities are being investigated for alleged racial discrimination as part of ... Donald Trump’s campaign to end diversity, equity and inclusion programs that his officials say exclude white and Asian American students. The Education Department announced the new investigations Friday, one month after issuing a memo warning America’s schools and colleges that they could lose federal money over 'race-based preferences' in admissions, scholarships or any aspect of student life.... Most of the new inquiries are focused on colleges’ partnerships with the PhD Project, a nonprofit that helps students from underrepresented groups get degrees in business with the goal of diversifying the business world.... Six other colleges are being investigated for awarding 'impermissible race-based scholarships,' the department said, and another is accused of running a program that segregates students on the basis of race.” ~~~

~~~ Profs. Ryan Enos & Steven Levitsky in a Harvard Crimson op-ed: "Like many autocrats before him, Donald Trump has launched what could be a devastating attack on universities. Over the last week, the Trump administration has cancelled $400 million in grants and contracts to Columbia University and $800 million in grants to Johns Hopkins University. Both schools were on a list of 10 universities (including Harvard) that the Department of Justice announced it was investigating over politicized allegations of antisemitism. The Department of Education subsequently launched a similar investigation into 60 universities. And last week, the administration arrested a former student seemingly not for a crime but for his political speech on campus.... So far, America’s leading universities have remained virtually silent in the face of this authoritarian assault on institutions of higher education.... As the Columbia case suggests, [silence is] not working. Columbia’s leadership made repeated concessions to right-wing critics, only to be the first to come under attack.... We cannot remain silent in the face of authoritarian attacks on our peers, even if they have not yet come for us."

Kyle Cheney & Josh Gerstein of Politico: “A federal judge has denied the Justice Department’s attempt to apply ... Donald Trump’s blanket pardon for members of the Jan. 6 mob at the Capitol to one defendant’s conviction for possessing illegal guns hundreds of miles away, at his Kentucky home. In a ruling Thursday night, U.S. District Judge Dabney Friedrich, a Trump appointee, became the first judge to reject outright the Justice Department’s recently adopted position.... Reversing its initial stance..., the department is now arguing that Trump’s pardon extends to crimes with no connection to the attack on the Capitol other than the fact that law enforcement agents uncovered evidence of them during the Jan. 6 investigation. Friedrich said DOJ’s position 'contradicts' the 'clear and unambiguous' language of Trump’s Day 1 executive order granting pardons to about 1,500 people convicted of participating in the riot.... [The government's position] 'would “defy rationality,”’ Friedrich wrote.... Trump could clarify or expand his Jan. 6 pardon directive at any time, but he has not done so....”

Lee Hockstader of the Washington Post: “... Washington is now increasingly regarded by its closest allies as a source of treachery, menace and malice. That view of Donald Trump’s America was brutally encapsulated last week by a centrist French senator named Claude Malhuret, who noted that until now, 'never in history has a U.S. president capitulated to the enemy.' In a speech at the French Senate assessing Trump’s alignment with the Kremlin, turn against Ukraine and the implications for Europe, he said: 'We were at war with a dictator. Now we are fighting a dictator backed by a traitor.' Read a transcript of Malhuret’s speech, an instant social media sensation, and you’ll see he’s no knee-jerk anti-American. Quite the contrary: the 75-year-old senator, a former head of Doctors Without Borders, retains a touching, even sentimental, faith in our fundamental decency, values and systemic strengths.... Right now, Trump, with important assists from Vice President JD Vance and Elon Musk, has mounted an attack as devastating to our reputational well-being as the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, were to our physical security.”

Germany. Jim Tankersley of the New York Times: “Friedrich Merz, the likely next chancellor of Germany, announced on Friday that he had secured the votes to allow for extensive new government spending, including for defense, clearing the way for a stunning turnabout in German strategic and fiscal policy before he even takes office. The deal should now allow Mr. Merz to pass a raft of measures in Parliament next week that he has billed as a response to ... [Donald] Trump’s moves to pull back American security guarantees for Europe. It includes what party leaders called crucial investments in German competitiveness and its efforts to reduce fossil fuel emissions to fight global warming. And it breathed new life into a coalition of center-left and center-right parties that have long governed Germany but have wilted in a new era of populism in recent years, losing votes to the far left and the far right. The measures would lift Germany’s hallowed limits on government borrowing as they apply to military spending. It would exempt all spending on defense above 1 percent of the nation’s gross domestic product from those limits, and it would define 'defense' broadly to include intelligence spending, information security and more.” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: So, as Trump turns the U.S. into a cesspool of corruption, incompetence & reactionary policies, he appears to have liberated Germany.

Stephen Groves & Leah Askarinam of the AP: “Democratic Rep. Raúl M. Grijalva, a champion of environmental protections and progressive ideals who took on principled but often futile causes during a two-decade career in Congress, died Thursday. Grijalva, who was 77, had risen to chair the U.S. House Natural Resources Committee during his 12 terms representing southern Arizona, a powerful perch he used to shape the nation’s environmental policies. He was known for reliably going to bat for immigrants and Native American tribes, and for the bolo tie he wore at home in Tucson and in the Capitol in Washington. Grijalva died of complications from cancer treatment, his office said in a statement. The treatments had sidelined him from Congress in recent months.”

Robert McFadden of the New York Times: “Alan K. Simpson, a plain-spoken former Republican senator from Wyoming who championed immigration reforms and conservative candidates for the Supreme Court while fighting running battles with women’s groups, environmentalists and the press, died on Friday in Cody, Wyo. He was 93.”

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⭐Josh Gerstein & Kyle Cheney of Politico: “A federal judge on Thursday ordered federal agencies to rehire tens of thousands of probationary employees who were fired amid ... Donald Trump’s turbulent effort to drastically shrink the federal bureaucracy. U.S. District Judge William Alsup described the mass firings as a 'sham' strategy by the government’s central human resources office to sidestep legal requirements for reducing the federal workforce. Alsup, a San Francisco-based appointee of President Bill Clinton, ordered the Defense, Treasury, Energy, Interior, Agriculture and Veterans Affairs departments to 'immediately' offer all fired probationary employees their jobs back. The Office of Personnel Management, the judge said, had made an 'unlawful' decision to terminate them. The order is one of the most far-reaching rejections of the Trump administration’s effort to slash the bureaucracy and is almost certain to be appealed. Alsup also lashed out at the Justice Department over its handling of the case, saying he believes that Trump administration lawyers were hiding the facts about who directed the mass firings. 'You will not bring the people in here to be cross-examined. You’re afraid to do so because you know cross examination would reveal the truth,' the judge said to a DOJ attorney during a hearing Thursday.” The Washington Post's report is here. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Rachel Maddow reads from the transcript of the hearing. It's quite entertaining: ~~~

~~~ ⭐Then This Happened Last Night. Andrea Hsu of NPR: "A federal judge in Maryland has ordered the Trump administration to temporarily reinstate thousands of federal employees terminated in recent weeks, after finding federal agencies acted unlawfully in carrying out the mass firings. U.S. District Judge James K. Bredar, an Obama appointee, issued a 14-day stay in a case brought by 20 Democratic attorneys general representing the District of Columbia, Maryland, and 18 other states.... He ordered 18 federal agencies to reinstate probationary workers fired through what he called 'illegal RIFs' by Monday at 1 p.m. Eastern daylight time, for a period of 14 days. During that time, he said, the court would likely consider longer relief. Bredar's order covers probationary employees nationwide, not just those in states named as plaintiffs in the lawsuit." ~~~

~~~ And there's this. ~~~

We’re not subject to the Department of Government Efficiency. We audit them. They don’t audit us. -- Gene Dodaro, Comptroller of the Government Accountability Office ~~~

~~~ Joe Davidson of the Washington Post: “As comptroller general of the United States, [Gene] Dodaro leads the Government Accountability Office, a role he’s had for 17 years. He’s worked for the agency since 1973 — when another president, Richard M. Nixon, like the current one, sought to bust bounds of presidential power. The GAO, a nonpartisan congressional organization with broad authority to review federal programs and spending across the government, helps Washington save money and increase efficiency. Efficiency is not what Dodaro sees in the Trump administration’s aggressive purge of the federal workforce, as he said in an interview Tuesday and during a recent House Oversight Committee hearing. Elon Musk’s DOGE ... also will get GAO scrutiny.”

Heather Cox Richardson: “Trump’s 25% tariffs on all aluminum and steel imported into the U.S. went into effect today, prompting retaliatory tariffs from the European Union and Canada. The E.U. announced tariffs on about $28 billion worth of products, including beef and whiskey, mostly produced by Republican-dominated states.... In 2025 the Republicans in charge of the United States of America are not the conservatives they call themselves.... They are abruptly dismantling a government that has kept the United States relatively prosperous, secure, and healthy for the past 80 years. In its place, they are trying to impose a government based in the idea that a few men should rule. The Trump administration’s ... swing away from Europe and toward Russia, antagonizing allies and partners while fawning over authoritarians like Russia’s president Vladimir Putin, is also a radical stand.... The wholesale destruction of the U.S.A.’s advanced medical research, especially cancer research ... is also radical.... In place of the system that has created relative stability for almost a century, Republicans under ... Donald Trump and his sidekick billionaire Elon Musk are imposing a government that is based in the idea that a government that works to make people safe, prosperous, and healthy is simply ripping off wealthy people.” (Also linked yesterday.)

~~~ Leading to Another Tariff TrumperTantrum. Jaclyn Diaz of NPR: "In an escalation of the ongoing trade war with Europe..., [Donald] Trump is now threatening a 200% tariff on European alcohol in response to the European Union's retaliation against U.S. steel and aluminum tariffs.... Posting on his Truth Social account, Trump called the EU 'the most hostile and abusive taxing and tariffing authorities in the World.'" (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Here's the E.U. being hostile and abusive (via Heather Richardson): We deeply regret this measure [to impose tariffs on the U.S]. Tariffs are taxes. They are bad for business, and even worse for consumers. These tariffs are disrupting supply chains. They bring uncertainty for the economy. -- European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen ~~~

~~~ And of Course This Happened. Lisa Han & Pia Singh of CNBC: "Stocks fell on Thursday, with equities unable to shake a three-week market rout under the weight of new tariff threats from ... Donald Trump. The S&P 500 dropped 1.39% to settle at 5,521.52. The index ended the day in correction, 10.1% off its record close. The Dow Jones Industrial Average  fell 537.36 points, or 1.3%, marking its fourth day of declines and closing at 40,813.57. The Nasdaq Composite  shed 1.96% with shares like Tesla  and Apple lower." (Also linked yesterday.)

We’re spending $200 billion a year to subsidize Canada. — Donald Trump, during remarks with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, March 13

... a trade deficit is not a subsidy. Even if one includes various buckets of military spending, we can’t figure out how Trump calculated this figure. The White House offered some suggestions, but the math still does not add up.... Trump has a point that the [defense] burden is somewhat unequal, but his numbers make little sense. -- Glenn Kessler of the Washington Post 

“The Peasants Are Struggling? Then Let Them Drive Teslas!” Dana Milbank of the Washington Post: “It’s no small feat to tank the $29 trillion U.S. economy in just seven weeks, but Donald Trump appears to be on the cusp of pulling it off. Plunging stock markets have lost some $4 trillion, Americans’ retirement accounts are shriveling, the president’s trade war is set to raise prices on everything from cars to avocados, and recession alarms are blinking red. But this week, Trump took action to ease the fears of jittery Americans. He told them to buy Teslas....  Trump ... promised to label those who vandalize Tesla sales lots as 'domestic terrorists' (he previously said people were 'illegally' boycotting Tesla and later said the protesters are 'paid agitators') and threatened: 'We’re going to catch you, and you’re going to go through hell.'... It was a grotesque sight: Trump using the awesome powers of the presidency to make the world’s richest man even richer — and to threaten government action against those who stand in his way.... Trump is running an ad hoc presidency. There are no rules. The law is strictly optional. And Trump, unbound by both, administers one shock to the system after another. There is no predictability to his actions.” The link is a gift link. P.S. If you didn't see the Tesla ad embedded in yesterday's Conversation, scroll on down. It's quite good, though it might not make you decide to buy a Tessler.

Jeff Stein, et al., of the Washington Post: “The Trump administration on Thursday removed the Internal Revenue Service’s top lawyer and rolled out plans to downsize nearly 20 percent of the agency’s staff as billionaire Elon Musk’s U.S. DOGE Service seeks access to sensitive taxpayer records, according to five people.... William Paul, a career official named to the position in January, will be replaced by Andrew De Mello, who was nominated to be the Education Department’s inspector general during Trump’s first term, three of the people said.... Also, DOGE officials instructed the acting IRS commissioner to eliminate 18,141 jobs across the agency by May 15, according to records obtained by The Washington Post. The tax compliance department would have the largest job cuts (8,260) followed by taxpayer services (3,247) and information technology, the records show. Those moves are only an initial phase of job cuts.” (Also linked yesterday.)

Collin Binkley & Jocelyn Gecker of the AP: “An hours-long outage Wednesday on StudentAid.gov, the federal website for student loans and financial aid, underscored the risks in rapidly gutting the Department of Education, as ... Donald Trump aims to dismantle the agency. Hundreds of users reported FAFSA outages to Downdetector starting midday Wednesday, saying they were having trouble completing the form, which is required for financial aid at colleges nationwide.” (Also linked yesterday.)

Stephanie Saul of the New York Times: “Johns Hopkins University, one of the country’s leading centers of scientific research, said on Thursday that it would eliminate more than 2,000 workers in the United States and abroad because of the Trump administration’s steep cuts, primarily to international aid programs. The layoffs, the most in the university’s history, will involve 247 domestic workers for the university, which is based in Baltimore, and an affiliated center. Another 1,975 positions will be cut in 44 countries. They affect the university’s Bloomberg School of Public Health, its medical school and an affiliated nonprofit, Jhpiego. Nearly half the school’s total revenue last year came from federally funded research, including $365 million from the U.S. Agency for International Development. In all, the university will lose $800 million in funding over several years from U.S.A.I.D., which the Trump administration is in the process of dismantling.... In ordering cutbacks in the agency, which amount to a 90 percent reduction in its operations....

“The administration has also sought to reduce the amount of money that the National Institutes of Health sends to university for research, cuts that have been blocked for now in the courts. If they go into effect, those cuts would reduce federal payments to Johns Hopkins by more than $100 million a year, according to an analysis of university figures. The university, which receives about $1 billion a year in N.I.H. funding and is currently running 600 clinical trials, is one of the plaintiffs in a federal lawsuit challenging those cuts.”

Katherine Rosman of the New York Times: “The Trump administration on Thursday demanded that Columbia University make dramatic changes in student discipline and admissions before it would discuss lifting the cancellation of $400 million in government grants and contracts.... The Trump administration’s move to cut Columbia’s grants and contracts represented an extraordinary escalation of the government’s targeting of the university.... On social media, Jameel Jaffer, director of the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia, described the government’s letter as essentially saying, 'We’ll destroy Columbia unless you destroy it first.' Hours earlier, the school announced a range of disciplinary actions against students who occupied a campus building last spring, including expulsions and suspensions.” ~~~

~~~ Victoria Bisset of the Washington Post: “Columbia University suspended and expelled some students involved in the occupation of a campus building in New York during last year’s pro-Palestinian campus protests, as controversy grows over the separate arrest of a graduate student by immigration authorities. Columbia’s Judicial Board issued punishments — including multiyear suspensions, temporary degree revocations and expulsions — over the takeover of the campus’s Hamilton Hall last April, according to a university statement released Thursday, which did not state the number of students affected.” The AP story is here. ~~~

~~~ Minyvonne Burke & Matt Lavietes of NBC News: "Nearly 100 protesters were arrested Thursday after a sit-in at Trump Tower in New York City to demand the release of Mahmoud Khalil, a Palestinian activist detained over the weekend by federal immigration agents. The organization Jewish Voice for Peace livestreamed the sit-in, showing hundreds of demonstrators packed into the building's lobby. Some held signs that read 'Fight Nazis not students,' 'Free Mahmoud free Palestine' and 'You can't deport a movement.' Many people could be heard chanting 'Free Mahmoud.'" The New York Times story is here.

Abbie VanSickle of the New York Times: “Lawyers for ... [Donald] Trump asked the Supreme Court on Thursday to lift a nationwide pause imposed on the president’s order ending birthright citizenship for the children of undocumented immigrants. The move represents the first time the legal wrangling over the president’s order to end birthright citizenship has reached the Supreme Court. If the Trump administration succeeds, the policy could go into effect in some parts of the country.” (Also linked yesterday.)

My, My. And Bye-Bye. Apoorva Mandavilli & Sheryl Stolberg of the New York Times: “The White House has withdrawn the nomination of its pick to lead the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Dr. Dave Weldon, a Republican former congressman who was to have appeared at a Senate confirmation hearing Thursday morning. Reached by phone, Dr. Weldon, who learned of the decision last night, said he had been told by a White House official that 'they didn’t have the votes to confirm' his nomination.... [HHS Secretary Robert Kennedy, Jr.,] has cited Dr. Weldon’s criticisms of the C.D.C. along with his own. Mr. Kennedy is 'very upset' at the decision to withdraw Dr. Weldon for consideration as C.D.C. director, Dr. Weldon said. 'I’m going to get on an airplane at 11 o’clock and I’m going to go home and I’m going to see patients on Monday,' he said. 'I’ll make much more money staying in my medical practice.'” MB: Or not. If your pals Trump, Musk and the GOP Congress succeed in kneecapping Medicare & Medicaid. Politico's report is here. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Speaking of Quacks. Eoin Higgins, in a New York Times op-ed on how “quack” doctor Mehmet Oz came to be nominated to head “the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Senate hearings are to begin Friday. If confirmed, his appointment would be yet another signal to a new wave of charismatic health personalities that science and evidence are negotiable in the service of ambition.” ~~~

     ~~~ Dani Blum & Nigra Agrawal of the New York Times: “Much of Dr. Oz’s advice is rooted in strong science and conventional wisdom: Eat well, move more, prioritize sleep. But he has also frequently pushed products and hacks that have little to no scientific evidence showing that they stave off disease, drawing scrutiny from members of Congress and from researchers. In some cases, he has had financial ties to the products he has promoted.” The reporters asked experts about some of Oz's claims.

A Huge Trump Real Estate Development Flop. Silvia Foster-Frau, et al., of the Washington Post: “When ... Donald Trump directed the U.S. government to begin using the Guantánamo Bay Naval Station as a detention center for migrants in late January, he said it would 'double our capacity immediately' to hold people being removed from the country as part of a massive deportation campaign. But nearly two months later, the operation has struggled to scale up. On Wednesday, a Defense Department official confirmed there were no migrants being held in Guantánamo.... A series of logistical, legal and financial hurdles have cast doubt on whether the president’s goal of housing 30,000 people there can be carried out. In all, about 300 migrants total have been detained there. The U.S. government currently has the capacity to hold 180 migrants in Guantánamo.... In recent years, the suspected terrorists held at Guantánamo’s military detention facility have cost the United States $16,540 a day per prisoner, not including the legal fees associated with their cases.... Government budget and Guantánamo experts say they expect the cost of detaining migrants there to be about the same as the prisoners’ cost without the legal fees.” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: So that's a monthly single-occupancy room-and-board rate of $496,200. Absolutely brilliant. Still wondering why the Trump Org went bankrupt so many times? Answer: the guy is the stupidest real estate developer of all time.

Courtney Kube, et al., of NBC News: “The White House has directed the U.S. military to draw up options to increase the American troop presence in Panama to achieve ... Donald Trump’s goal of 'reclaiming' the Panama Canal, according to two U.S. officials familiar with the planning. In his joint address to Congress last week, Trump said that 'to further enhance our national security, my administration will be reclaiming the Panama Canal.' Since then, administration officials have not said what 'reclaiming' means. U.S. Southern Command is developing potential plans from partnering more closely with Panamanian security forces to the less likely option of U.S. troops’ seizing the Panama Canal by force, the officials said. Whether military force is used, the officials added, depends on how much Panamanian security forces agree to partner with the United States.... The officials cautioned that a U.S. invasion of Panama is unlikely and would come under serious consideration only if a larger American military presence in Panama does not achieve Trump’s goal of reclaiming the waterway....”

How Much Dough Would a Chump Upchuck if a Chump Would Purchase Trump? Apparently giving Trump a million dollars is not enough. Even featuring reruns of "The Apprentice" on your very popular app Amazon Prime isn't enough. ~~~

     ~~~ Annie Palmer of CNBC: “The Federal Trade Commission said it will meet the deadlines for its Amazon Prime deceptive practices case, hours after requesting a delay due to resource constraints. An attorney for the federal agency made the about face Wednesday afternoon, saying he 'was wrong.'... FTC Chair Andrew Ferguson ... told CNBC: ... 'I have made it clear since Day One that we will commit the resources necessary for this case.... The Trump-Vance FTC will never back down from taking on Big Tech.'... The FTC sued Amazon in June 2023, alleging that the online retailer was deceiving millions of customers into signing up for its Prime program and sabotaging their attempts to cancel it.” Thanks to RAS for the link. (Also linked yesterday.)

⭐From the “I Just Knew It!” File. Alexander Bolton of the Hill: “Senate Democrats say privately that they will not allow the government to shut down Saturday, despite growing pressure from activists and liberal lawmakers who want them to kill a GOP-crafted six-month stopgap spending bill. Senate Democratic sources say Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (N.Y.) is giving plenty of room to centrists in his caucus to vote for the House-passed continuing resolution (CR) if doing so is the only way to avoid a government shutdown at week’s end.” (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Then This. Carl Hulse & Catie Edmondson of the New York Times: “Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the minority leader, broke with his party on Thursday and lined up enough Democrats to advance a Republican-written bill to keep federal funding flowing past a midnight Friday deadline, arguing that Democrats could not allow a government shutdown that many of them have demanded. During a private luncheon with Democrats, Mr. Schumer stunned many of his colleagues by announcing that he planned to vote to allow the G.O.P. bill to move forward, and indicated that he had enough votes to help Republicans break any filibuster by his own party against the measure, according to attendees and people familiar with the discussion. It was a turnabout from just a day earlier, when Mr. Schumer proclaimed that Democrats were 'unified' against the legislation, and a remarkable move at a time when many of the party’s members in both chambers and progressive activists have been agitating vocally for senators to block it in defiance of ... [Donald] Trump.” The AP's report is here. ~~~

     ~~~ Here Chris Hayes of MSNBC respectfully argues with Schumer. Schumer's self-defense couldn't be more lame if he were sitting in the witness box waving around a smoking gun. ~~~

     ~~~ Here's Schumer's self-defense, as expressed in a New York Times op-ed. MB: I'm not going to read it, even if you tell me it's super-convincing. ~~~

     ~~~ Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) explains why he's a "hard no" on bringing up the continuing CR. ~~~

     ~~~ Andrew Solender of Axios: "House Democrats erupted into apoplexy Thursday night after Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said he would support Republicans' stopgap government funding measure.... A senior House Democrat said 'people are furious' and that some rank-and-file members have floated the idea of angrily marching onto the Senate floor in protest. Others are talking openly about supporting primary challenges to senators who vote for the GOP spending bill.... Several members — including moderates — have begun voicing support for a primary challenge to Schumer, floating Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and Dan Goldman (D-N.Y.) as possible candidates, three House Democrats said." Here's a story along the same lines by Barbara Sprunt of NPR.

     ~~~ See Josh Marshall on the "Kabuki Cave," also linked yesterday. He was right. ~~~

~~~ Carl Hulse & Catie Edmondson of the New York Times: “G.O.P. lawmakers are ... enthusiastically turning [their constitutional powers] over to the White House ... by embracing a stopgap spending bill that gives the administration wide discretion over how federal dollars are distributed, in effect handing off the legislative branch’s spending authority to ... [Donald] Trump. But that is just one example of how Congress, under unified Republican control, is proactively relinquishing some of its fundamental and critical authority on oversight, economic issues and more. As they cleared the way for passing the spending measure on Tuesday, House Republicans leaders also quietly surrendered their chamber’s ability to undo Mr. Trump’s tariffs on Mexico, Canada and China in an effort to shield their members from having to take a politically tough vote.... Republicans have also stood by, many of them cheering, as the administration has upended federal departments and programs funded by Congress and fired thousands of workers with no notice to or consultation with the lawmakers charged with overseeing federal agencies.” MB: This is what Chuck Schumer is endorsing. ~~~

     ~~~ Why are Congressional Republicans okay with ceding the power of the purse to Trump? Here's a partial explanation: ~~~

     ~~~ Don Moynihan on Substack: "Republicans in Congress ... are being told that appropriations will be selectively ignored, and they will be protected. DOGE is accepting requests from Republican officials to reverse cuts in their jurisdictions. It is a form of spoils system in reverse: your pet projects will be spared from elimination. [But, as CNN has reported,] '... Even in cases where they are advocating for the same thing, Republicans are able to leverage entry points into Trump administration in ways that Democrats simply can’t, leaving them in the dark on many of the recent reversals the administration has agreed to....'... Senator Chris Murphy [D-Conn.] said: '... The whole point of the spending freeze is to force every entity that receives federal funding to pledge their political loyalty to Donald Trump in order to get money. It’s a fundamental corruption from beginning to end.'... In short: Trump and Musk are engaged in a broad-based downsizing of government, using that downsizing to selectively target their enemies, while expanding their political power by trading exceptions to the downsizing." Thanks to RAS for the link. (Also linked yesterday.)

Kelsey Ables & Michael Brodeur of the Washington Post: “When Vice President JD Vance took his seat Thursday night at the Kennedy Center in Washington, he was met with a chorus of boos from the packed concert hall. Vance and the second lady, Usha Vance, were attending a performance by the National Symphony Orchestra, which was already seated onstage when the crowd spotted the pair and erupted into loud boos and shouts for more than 30 seconds. The vice president waved and appeared to smile.”

Joe Kukura of SF News: "The Highway Patrol’s investigation into a November Cybertruck crash in Piedmont where three college kids died is finding two very Tesla problems: the vehicle immediately caught fire, and its doors would not open. A November Tesla Cybertruck crash in Piedmont killed three college sophomores when the vehicle hit a cement wall and burst into flames, but another motorist was able to pull a fourth rider out of the car, and that rider survived. We later learned the other motorist was Piedmont High grad Matt Riordan, who’d been attending a party that night with the crash victims. And we also learned the three victims had alcohol and cocaine in their systems, while the 19-year-old Cybertruck driver who died also had meth in his system.... [But] the deaths appear to be more the result of the vehicle fire, as opposed to drugs, or injuries the victims sustained in the crash. And troublingly, that testimony also showed the Cybertruck’s doors could not be opened in the aftermath of the crash, preventing Riordan from pulling the other three victims from the flaming wreckage." (Also linked yesterday.) 

~~~~~~~~~~

O Canada. Ian Austen of the New York Times: “... as [Prime Minister Justin] Trudeau, 53, prepares to officially resign on Friday, his fortunes have taken a remarkable turn thanks to a prolonged campaign of aggression against Canada by ... [Donald] Trump. Through tariffs that could lead to economic devastation and repeated verbal attacks on Canada’s sovereignty, Mr. Trump has ignited a wave of patriotism, and Mr. Trudeau’s defiance and oratorical skills have helped rally the nation.... It was Mr. Trump’s on-again, off-again tariffs against Canadian exports, his claims that Canada would be better off if it became the 51st state, his belittling references to Mr. Trudeau as 'governor,' that drastically changed the political landscape.... [Mr. Trudeau] will now hand the reins over to Mark Carney, a former leader of two major central banks, who was elected by members of Mr. Trudeau’s Liberal Party on Sunday to succeed the departing prime minister. Mr. Carney will be formally sworn in as Canada’s next leader on Friday.... The Liberals have essentially erased the lead long enjoyed by Conservatives and surveys show that Canadians say they believe Mr. Carney would be better able to stand up to Mr. Trump than the Conservative leader, Pierre Poilievre.”

Ukraine/Russia., et al. Anton Troinovski of the New York Times: “President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia on Thursday did not rule out a U.S. and Ukrainian proposal for a monthlong cease-fire, but he set down numerous conditions that would most likely delay any truce — or could make one impossible to achieve. Mr. Putin’s comments during a news conference highlighted the balance he was trying to strike, exuding confidence in Russia’s position on the battlefield while seeking to continue talks with the United States and avoid upsetting ... [Donald] Trump. The U.S. president, having antagonized the country’s allies and realigned American foreign policy in Russia’s favor, has emerged as a key geopolitical partner for Mr. Putin. In sharp remarks later in the day, President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine said the Russian leader set so many conditions 'that nothing will work out at all or that it will not work out for as long as possible.'Mr. Putin’s comments came before he was to meet with Steve Witkoff, Mr. Trump’s Middle East envoy, to discuss the cease-fire proposal that Ukraine had already agreed to.” MB: Notice we are now at a point in history where the cautious New York Times casually says that the POTUS* “has emerged as a key geopolitical partner for” the Russian leader. ~~~

     ~~~ Mary Ilyushina & Sammy Westfall of the Washington Post: “Here is what Russia has said about the conditions it would need to reach a peace deal.... Russia controls about one-fifth of Ukraine. It wants to keep that and then some. The Kremlin has ruled out ceding any of the land it has seized.... Ukraine membership in NATO ... is a nonstarter for Putin.... Russia demanded the return of six diplomatic compounds that it said had been seized illegally by the United States.... Publicly, the Kremlin maintains that all sanctions are illegal and must be lifted. Privately, however, Moscow, would welcome any relief from U.S. sanctions, as it would undermine Western unity....”

The Conversation -- March 13, 2025

Joe Rao of Space.com: "Most of the U.S. should be able to see the total lunar eclipse tonight, but clouds will be problematic for many."

Marie: I'll do a bit more later this morning. There's a video update below; it's just a commercial, but such a classy one. Oh, and here comes the "bit more":

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Lisa Han & Pia Singh of CNBC: "Stocks fell on Thursday, with equities unable to shake a three-week market rout under the weight of new tariff threats from ... Donald Trump. The S&P 500 dropped 1.39% to settle at 5,521.52. The index ended the day in correction, 10.1% off its record close. The Dow Jones Industrial Average  fell 537.36 points, or 1.3%, marking its fourth day of declines and closing at 40,813.57. The Nasdaq Composite  shed 1.96% with shares like Tesla  and Apple  lower."

From the “I Just Knew It!” File. Alexander Bolton of the Hill: “Senate Democrats say privately that they will not allow the government to shut down Saturday, despite growing pressure from activists and liberal lawmakers who want them to kill a GOP-crafted six-month stopgap spending bill. Senate Democratic sources say Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (N.Y.) is giving plenty of room to centrists in his caucus to vote for the House-passed continuing resolution (CR) if doing so is the only way to avoid a government shutdown at week’s end.”

⭐Josh Gerstein & Kyle Cheney of Politico: “A federal judge on Thursday ordered federal agencies to rehire tens of thousands of probationary employees who were fired amid ... Donald Trump’s turbulent effort to drastically shrink the federal bureaucracy. U.S. District Judge William Alsup described the mass firings as a 'sham' strategy by the government’s central human resources office to sidestep legal requirements for reducing the federal workforce. Alsup, a San Francisco-based appointee of President Bill Clinton, ordered the Defense, Treasury, Energy, Interior, Agriculture and Veterans Affairs departments to 'immediately' offer all fired probationary employees their jobs back. The Office of Personnel Management, the judge said, had made an 'unlawful' decision to terminate them. The order is one of the most far-reaching rejections of the Trump administration’s effort to slash the bureaucracy and is almost certain to be appealed. Alsup also lashed out at the Justice Department over its handling of the case, saying he believes that Trump administration lawyers were hiding the facts about who directed the mass firings. 'You will not bring the people in here to be cross-examined. You’re afraid to do so because you know cross examination would reveal the truth,' the judge said to a DOJ attorney during a hearing Thursday.” The Washington Post's report is here.

Abbie VanSickle of the New York Times: “Lawyers for ... [Donald] Trump asked the Supreme Court on Thursday to lift a nationwide pause imposed on the president’s order ending birthright citizenship for the children of undocumented immigrants. The move represents the first time the legal wrangling over the president’s order to end birthright citizenship has reached the Supreme Court. If the Trump administration succeeds, the policy could go into effect in some parts of the country.”

Jeff Stein, et al., of the Washington Post: “The Trump administration on Thursday removed the Internal Revenue Service’s top lawyer and rolled out plans to downsize nearly 20 percent of the agency’s staff as billionaire Elon Musk’s U.S. DOGE Service seeks access to sensitive taxpayer records, according to five people.... William Paul, a career official named to the position in January, will be replaced by Andrew De Mello, who was nominated to be the Education Department’s inspector general during Trump’s first term, three of the people said.... Also, DOGE officials instructed the acting IRS commissioner to eliminate 18,141 jobs across the agency by May 15, according to records obtained by The Washington Post. The tax compliance department would have the largest job cuts (8,260) followed by taxpayer services (3,247) and information technology, the records show. Those moves are only an initial phase of job cuts.”

Heather Cox Richardson: “Trump’s 25% tariffs on all aluminum and steel imported into the U.S. went into effect today, prompting retaliatory tariffs from the European Union and Canada. The E.U. announced tariffs on about $28 billion worth of products, including beef and whiskey, mostly produced by Republican-dominated states.... In 2025 the Republicans in charge of the United States of America are not the conservatives they call themselves.... They are abruptly dismantling a government that has kept the United States relatively prosperous, secure, and healthy for the past 80 years. In its place, they are trying to impose a government based in the idea that a few men should rule. The Trump administration’s ... swing away from Europe and toward Russia, antagonizing allies and partners while fawning over authoritarians like Russia’s president Vladimir Putin, is also a radical stand.... The wholesale destruction of the U.S.A.’s advanced medical research, especially cancer research ... is also radical.... In place of the system that has created relative stability for almost a century, Republicans under ... Donald Trump and his sidekick billionaire Elon Musk are imposing a government that is based in the idea that a government that works to make people safe, prosperous, and healthy is simply ripping off wealthy people.”

~~~ Leading to Another Tariff TrumperTantrum. Jaclyn Diaz of NPR: "In an escalation of the ongoing trade war with Europe..., [Donald] Trump is now threatening a 200% tariff on European alcohol in response to the European Union's retaliation against U.S. steel and aluminum tariffs.... Posting on his Truth Social account, Trump called the EU 'the most hostile and abusive taxing and tariffing authorities in the World.'" ~~~

     ~~~ Here's the E.U. being hostile and abusive (via Heather Richardson): We deeply regret this measure [to impose tariffs on the U.S]. Tariffs are taxes. They are bad for business, and even worse for consumers. These tariffs are disrupting supply chains. They bring uncertainty for the economy. -- European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen

My, My. And Bye-Bye. Apoorva Mandavilli & Sheryl Stolberg of the New York Times: “The White House has withdrawn the nomination of its pick to lead the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Dr. Dave Weldon, a Republican former congressman who was to have appeared at a Senate confirmation hearing Thursday morning. Reached by phone, Dr. Weldon, who learned of the decision last night, said he had been told by a White House official that 'they didn’t have the votes to confirm' his nomination.... [HHS Secretary Robert Kennedy, Jr.,] has cited Dr. Weldon’s criticisms of the C.D.C. along with his own. Mr. Kennedy is 'very upset' at the decision to withdraw Dr. Weldon for consideration as C.D.C. director, Dr. Weldon said. 'I’m going to get on an airplane at 11 o’clock and I’m going to go home and I’m going to see patients on Monday,' he said. 'I’ll make much more money staying in my medical practice.'” MB: Or not. If your pals Trump, Musk and the GOP Congress succeed in kneecapping Medicare & Medicaid. Politico's report is here. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Maybe it's just a coincidental, but the only two horrible Trump nominees who haven't been able to garner enough Senate confirmation votes were past members of the House of Representatives. Could that be because senators believe Trump's nominees unless they've seen with their own eyes what doofuses the nominees are? Or because they have such a low opinion in general of the members of the House that former members are at a disadvantage?

Marie: It's been obvious from the git-go that Trump intended to fire some fairly-high-level civil servants and replace them with his own "loyal" patronage flunkies. Then it turned out that he and Musk were indiscriminately firing thousands of civil servants who held jobs at every level of responsibility, most of whom had no political influence whatsoever. (The woman who launches weather balloons in Maine? You think she's turning the country into a cesspool of woke lunatics?) It is also obvious that Trump & Musk don't care anything about waste, fraud and abuse because they have been wasting money on stupid things -- like sending people back and forth to Guantanamo in military planes, like cutting the hell out of the IRS, the feds' main revenue-producing agency; they have been making fraudulent claims about the systems they are gutting -- 250-year-olds receiving Social Security checks; and they have been abusing their authority -- what "authority" does Musk have anyway? So it occurred to me that many of the people Trump/Musk instantly, carelessly, foolishly fired would be replaced with Friends of Trump. What I didn't know was that this was already happening. ~~~

     ~~~ Don Moynihan on Substack: "Republicans in Congress ... are being told that appropriations will be selectively ignored, and they will be protected. DOGE is accepting requests from Republican officials to reverse cuts in their jurisdictions. It is a form of spoils system in reverse: your pet projects will be spared from elimination. [But, as CNN has reported,] '... Even in cases where they are advocating for the same thing, Republicans are able to leverage entry points into Trump administration in ways that Democrats simply can’t, leaving them in the dark on many of the recent reversals the administration has agreed to....'... Senator Chris Murphy [D-Conn.] said: '... The whole point of the spending freeze is to force every entity that receives federal funding to pledge their political loyalty to Donald Trump in order to get money. It’s a fundamental corruption from beginning to end.'... In short: Trump and Musk are engaged in a broad-based downsizing of government, using that downsizing to selectively target their enemies, while expanding their political power by trading exceptions to the downsizing." Thanks to RAS for the link.

How Much Dough Would a Chump Upchuck if a Chump Would Purchase Trump? Apparently giving Trump a million dollars is not enough. Even featuring reruns of "The Apprentice" on your very popular app Amazon Prime isn't enough. ~~~

     ~~~ Annie Palmer of CNBC: “The Federal Trade Commission said it will meet the deadlines for its Amazon  Prime deceptive practices case, hours after requesting a delay due to resource constraints. An attorney for the federal agency made the about face Wednesday afternoon, saying he 'was wrong.'... FTC Chair Andrew Ferguson ... told CNBC: ... 'I have made it clear since Day One that we will commit the resources necessary for this case.... The Trump-Vance FTC will never back down from taking on Big Tech.'... The FTC sued Amazon in June 2023, alleging that the online retailer was deceiving millions of customers into signing up for its Prime program and sabotaging their attempts to cancel it.” Thanks to RAS for the link.

Collin Binkley & Jocelyn Gecker of the AP: “An hours-long outage Wednesday on StudentAid.gov, the federal website for student loans and financial aid, underscored the risks in rapidly gutting the Department of Education, as ... Donald Trump aims to dismantle the agency. Hundreds of users reported FAFSA outages to Downdetector starting midday Wednesday, saying they were having trouble completing the form, which is required for financial aid at colleges nationwide.”

Joe Kukura of SF News: "The Highway Patrol’s investigation into a November Cybertruck crash in Piedmont where three college kids died is finding two very Tesla problems: the vehicle immediately caught fire, and its doors would not open. A November Tesla Cybertruck crash in Piedmont killed three college sophomores when the vehicle hit a cement wall and burst into flames, but another motorist was able to pull a fourth rider out of the car, and that rider survived. We later learned the other motorist was Piedmont High grad Matt Riordan, who’d been attending a party that night with the crash victims. And we also learned the three victims had alcohol and cocaine in their systems, while the 19-year-old Cybertruck driver who died also had meth in his system.... [But] the deaths appear to be more the result of the vehicle fire, as opposed to drugs, or injuries the victims sustained in the crash. And troublingly, that testimony also showed the Cybertruck’s doors could not be opened in the aftermath of the crash, preventing Riordan from pulling the other three victims from the flaming wreckage." 

~~~~~~~~~~

Paul Krugman: "... The two most powerful men in America have gone stark raving mad.... News reports still tend to sanewash what our leaders have been saying, and even selected quotations often make them sound more rational than they are. Fortunately, both are addicted to posting on social media, and you really have to read some of their posts to get a full sense of the madness. [Krugman provides some examples, along with other evidence of the men's madness.]... Cowed Republicans and timid Democrats have effectively given Trump and Musk the freedom to become the worst versions of themselves. And the whole world will pay the price." Thanks to laura h. for the link. ~~~ 

     ~~~ Marie: I would not say "have gone" mad. I think they've both been crazy for some time. As much as we wish we would prevail in every argument and be admired by all for our brilliance and perfect rectitude -- it turns out that life surrounded by sycophants makes you crazy. These sycophants allow your misapprehensions to go unchecked, and you make more false assumptions based on the unchecked errors, and pretty soon a big percentage of what you believe is nuts and you're sure that everyone who doesn't "know" what you think you know is a lunatic who should be squashed like a poisonous bug. At least that appears to be what happened to Don & Elon.

David Fahrenthold & Jeremy Singer-Vine of the New York Times: “Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency has repeatedly posted error-filled data that inflated its success at saving taxpayer money. But after a series of news reports called out those mistakes, the group changed its tactics. It began making its new mistakes harder to find, leaving its already secretive activities even less transparent than before. Mr. Musk’s group posted a new set of claims to its website on March 2, saying it had saved taxpayers $10 billion by terminating 3,489 federal grants. Previously when it posted new claims, DOGE ... had included identifying details about the cuts it took credit for. That allowed the public to fact-check its work.... This time, it did not include those details. A White House official said that was done for security purposes. The result was that the group’s new claims appeared impossible to check. The New York Times, at first, found a way around the group’s obfuscation.... Mr. Musk’s group later removed [grant identification numbers] from the code, and posted more batches of claims that could not be verified at all. That shift was a major step back from one of Mr. Musk’s core promises about his group: that it would be 'maximally transparent.'” ~~~

     ~~~ This is one consequence of crazy. Evidently when a person has lived in an environment in which he is constantly told he can do no wrong, getting out of that comfort zone is truly painful. So an easy way to climb back in with your blankie is simply to boast about your accomplishments while hiding ways to check them and contradict them. 

Buffoonery Break. In an egregious misuse of federal property, Trump appeared on the White House South Lawn to hawk Teslas. With Elon Musk in tow, Trump claimed he bought a bright red Tesla Model S and said his aide Margo Martin would be driving it. BUT. Emily Goodin of the Daily Mail: "The Tesla model S has 37 NHTSA safety recalls so far against it, Wired reported. Issues with the electric car include: airbags, potential problems with the power-steering assist feature, faulty door handles, warped brake discs, and, in 2023, a voluntary recall for every one of Tesla's vehicles using the Full Self-Driving feature. The cars affected had trouble stopping and were speeding." ~~~

~~~ Update. RAS found the ad that was cut from the White House Tesla Auto Mall show: ~~~

Jennifer Schuessler of the New York Times: “The chair of the National Endowment for the Humanities, Shelly C. Lowe, left her position on Wednesday 'at the direction of President Trump,' the agency said. Dr. Lowe, a scholar of higher education and the first Native American to lead the agency, was nominated by former President Joseph R. Biden Jr. in October 2021 and confirmed by the Senate in February 2022. Michael McDonald, the agency’s general counsel, was named its acting chairman on Wednesday.” (Also linked yesterday.)

What's It All About, Elon? Josh Gerstein & Kyle Cheney of Politico: “A federal judge has ordered that Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency turn over a wide array of records and answer questions about plans it crafted to downsize federal agencies, fire employees and suspend federal contracts. U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan’s order Wednesday is a win for a group of 14 Democratic state attorneys general who are suing ... Donald Trump, Musk and DOGE, arguing that Musk has unconstitutionally wielded immense power in ways that are damaging their states. Any information the states glean as a result of Chutkan’s decision will help her determine whether to block Musk and DOGE’s government activities altogether. It’s the first time a judge has ordered Musk to produce documents in a court challenge to his aggressive campaign to slash and reshape the federal bureaucracy. Chutkan indicated her order was primarily aimed at identifying the DOGE officials Musk has embedded across the government and details about the 'parameters of DOGE’s and Musk’s authority.'”

Elon Musk, as far as rational observers can tell, plans to blow up Social Security. Part of his methodology is to lie about it, identifying "flaws" which don't exist (see also Krugman, linked above). Another part of his scheme is to sabotage the system; that is, to create new, real flaws. Yesterday, journalists at the Washington Post squelched a big step in that second part of the strategy: ~~~

It would certainly appear that they’re trying to break the capacity of the agency to serve its customers.... And, I suppose, if they’re trying to dismember the agency, liquidate its assets, sell pieces of it to their billionaire friends to run, they have to discredit the agency in the eyes of its customers, and they do that by breaking its ability to serve. -- Martin O'Malley, Social Security Administrator during the Biden administration

His playbook has now become quite clear.... It is an extraordinary game he plays of wrecking institutions in order to dominate them. -- Paul Barrett of NYU's Stern Center for Business ~~~

     ~~~ Hannah Natanson, et al., of the Washington Post: “The Social Security Administration late Wednesday abandoned plans it was considering to end phone service for millions of Americans filing retirement and disability claims after The Washington Post reported that Elon Musk’s U.S. DOGE Service team was weighing the change to root out alleged fraud. The shift would have directed elderly and disabled people to rely on the internet and in-person field offices to process their claims, curtailing a service that 73 million Americans have relied on for decades to access earned government benefits.... The changes — contemplated and [the relatively small one that was] enacted — threatened to disrupt Social Security’s internal operations and limit its ability to serve the public, current and former officials warned, just as DOGE is targeting the agency for across-the-board staff cuts of more than 12 percent.... The DOGE-driven proposal to shift all claims processing online and to in-person offices spurred pushback internally, employees said, and from outside experts for the same reasons: that it would be likely to imperil millions of Americans’ ability to receive their earned benefits....

“At a tense meeting Tuesday, DOGE staff members grilled career officials about phone fraud. But as employees suggested potential solutions, DOGE representatives 'weren’t interested in anything else but defending the decision that they had already made,' one of the people said.... Musk ... has a history of claiming fraud by his opponents, whether in the political or business realms.... Musk began blasting out claims of widespread fraud at Social Security in mid-February.... While Musk was publicly complaining, the DOGE team he masterminds already knew many of his claims about Social Security fraud were overstated, distorted or baseless, according to the two people, records obtained by The Post and a declaration filed in federal court.”

If Elon is looking for waste, fraud and abuse, I suggest he go to Guantánamo. (Okay, even if he weren't pretending to look for waste, fraud and abuse, I'd suggest he park himself in Guantánamo.): ~~~

~~~ From the Major SNAFU File. Carol Rosenberg & Charlie Savage of the New York Times: “The Trump administration has abruptly cleared out a second group of migrants it brought to the American military base at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, returning to the United States 40 men it had flown there in the past few weeks.... The government has not announced that it relocated the men to one or more Immigration and Customs Enforcement facilities in Louisiana, nor was the reason for the move clear. But the officials familiar with the matter ... said it happened on Tuesday. The move comes days before a Federal District Court judge in Washington is set to hear a major challenge to aspects of the policy. It is the second time the administration has brought people to Guantánamo Bay only to remove them after a few weeks, a costly and time-consuming exercise.... This time, the officials said, the men were taken to an international airport in Alexandria, La.... The airport in central Louisiana, which services military and charter flights, has emerged as a hub of immigration detention activity.... The operation has so far cost $16 million.... It has a staff of 1,000 security forces and civilian contractors....” According to the government, a total of 40 migrants are being held at Guantánamo.

Zeldin v. Earth. Maxine Joselow of the Washington Post: “The Environmental Protection Agency announced Wednesday that it will begin the process of dismantling dozens of Biden-era rules touching issues as varied as electric vehicles, coal plants and clean water. In a flurry of news releases, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin said the agency will roll back some of President Joe Biden’s most consequential climate and environmental regulations. He specifically cited rules aimed at speeding the nation’s shift to electric vehicles, slashing planet-warming emissions from power plants and safeguarding waterways from harmful pollution. Taken together, the announcements herald a seismic shift in U.S. environmental policy, one that could ease restrictions on nearly every sector of the economy. Yet rewriting many of the rules could take the agency months or even years.” the Guardian's report is here. ~~~

~~~ Julian Prizont-Cado of Tech Crunch: "Citibank revealed in court filings on Wednesday that the FBI, the EPA, the EPA inspector general, and the Treasury Department have all requested that the bank freeze accounts of several nonprofits and state government agencies. The accounts were frozen in February, but the new documents make public details that had previously been unknown, including a full list of the nonprofits under FBI scrutiny. The funds were disbursed as part of the $27 billion Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, which was created by the Inflation Reduction Act.... Green banks use those funds to provide financing for clean technology projects around the country.... Citibank was selected as the financial agent to administer that money.... EPA administrator Lee Zeldin has said that the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund doesn’t align with the agency’s priorities and that he has concerns about fraud, though he has not provided evidence to support that claim." ~~~

     ~~~ Ashley Bellinger of Ars Technica: "On Wednesday, a ranking member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee accused the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) of 'misusing law enforcement' to claw back climate funds and 'humor' Donald Trump’s 'vindictive political whims.' In a letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel, Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) requested information about a supposed criminal investigation into the EPA's $27 billion Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (GGRF). Whitehouse alleged that there was no basis to freeze the funding. He claimed that Bondi and Patel 'reverted to a pretextual criminal investigation to provide an alternative excuse to interfere' after 'EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin announced via social media that he had "found" $20 billion in EPA funds at Citibank and falsely suggested that the use of a financial agent agreement ... was improper.'... Far from a deal struck in the dark as Zeldin alleged, the terms of the agreement were announced publicly in April 2024, Whitehouse said. He also suggested the Trump administration was ... 'pursuing false allegations of criminal conduct, with the improper purpose to wrongfully freeze assets appropriated by Congress.'"

Jonah Bromwich & Anusha Bayya of the New York Times: “Lawyers for Mahmoud Khalil, the Columbia University graduate detained by the Trump administration last weekend, have not been able to hold a private conversation with their client since his arrest. That revelation came during a hearing in Manhattan federal court Wednesday, as lawyers for Mr. Khalil and the government appeared in front of a judge, Jesse Furman, to discuss Mr. Khalil’s detention, which has raised concerns about free speech protections amid President Trump’s immigration crackdown. Mr. Khalil ... is being held at a facility in Louisiana. He has not been charged with any crime.... Judge Furman has ordered the government not to deport Mr. Khalil while his case is pending.... A park outside the courthouse was flooded with hundreds of protesters, some wearing kaffiyehs and black masks and waving posters, banners and signs reading 'Free Mahmoud.' They were joined by the actor Susan Sarandon....” (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Cate Brown, et al., of the Washington Post: “As the Trump administration moves to deport Columbia University student activist Mahmoud Khalil, the government has so far provided just one reason for doing so: Secretary of State Marco Rubio has determined Khalil’s presence in the United States could have 'potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences.'... Immigration officers provided no written evidence to support his deportation beyond Rubio’s determination based on a section of the Immigration and Nationality Act.... [In defense of his own action against Khalil, Rubio said,] 'No one has a right to a student visa. No one has a right to a green card, by the way.'” MB: This is particularly disgusting coming from Rubio, whose own parents were Cuban immigrants to the U.S. and did not necessarily have a “right” to U.S. visas and green cards. Among the many assets Donald Trump owns: Rubio's soul.

~~~ Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) explains the importance of Khalil's case: ~~~

Kyle Cheney & Josh Gerstein of Politico: “U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell blocked the Trump administration from enforcing central provisions of an executive order that seeks to punish the law firm, Perkins Coie, by barring its attorneys from interacting with federal agencies or even entering federal buildings. Howell said the 'retaliatory animus' of Trump’s order is 'clear on its face' and appears to violate constitutional restrictions on 'viewpoint discrimination.' The executive order, which Trump issued last week, 'runs head on into the wall of First Amendment protections,' the judge concluded.” The Washington Post's report is here. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

Chilling the lawyers who represent those people hurts the rule of law because when the government can’t be legally opposed, the law provides no protections to anyone and you start to live in an autocracy. -- Daniel C. Richman, Columbia University Law

That's the point. -- Marie Burns ~~~

~~~ Michael Schmidt of the New York Times: Donald “Trump’s retribution campaign against law firms, legal experts and analysts say, is undermining a central tenet of the American legal system — the right to a lawyer to argue vigorously on one’s behalf.... [Trump's order to cripple the law firm Perkins Coie, which had represented Hillary Clinton in 2016 & won cases against Trump's Big Lie in 2020,] came after he revoked security clearances held by any lawyers at the firm Covington & Burling who were helping provide legal advice to Jack Smith.... Experts say Mr. Trump’s actions could create a trickle-down effect in which those who find themselves under scrutiny from Mr. Trump and his administration struggle to find lawyers who are willing to defend them in the face of the vast powers of the federal government.... [Trump's] administration has also gone after law schools, the American Bar Association and even lawyers inside the government itself who might question or hinder his agenda. Last week, the top federal prosecutor in Washington threatened to stop hiring graduates from Georgetown Law School if its dean, William Treanor, failed to abolish the school’s diversity programs.” MB: With all due respect to individual lawyers, Donald Trump is one of the few people who could make me feel sorry for law firms.

Washington Post Editors: “Dave Weldon, a former Republican congressman from Florida, has a long history of criticizing the value and safety of vaccines. If Senate Republicans want the Trump administration to succeed, they should reject his nomination to be director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and ask ... Donald Trump to instead find someone who will take seriously the country’s ongoing outbreaks of viral illnesses. Weldon, who is scheduled to appear before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee on Thursday, has spent years promoting debunked theories that vaccines harm children.”

Theodoric Meyer & Liz Goodwin of the Washington Post: “Senate Democrats say they are prepared to vote to reject the Republicans’ government funding bill, threatening a shutdown if lawmakers do not strike a deal within days. Not enough Democrats support the bill to clear the 60-vote threshold needed to overcome a filibuster, Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-New York) said on the Senate floor Wednesday, with less than 72 hours before the government is set to shut down. Instead, Democrats are seeking a bill — known as a continuing resolution, or CR — to keep the government open through April 11 while the two parties complete work on their long-stalled spending bills. 'Republicans chose a partisan path, drafting their continuing resolution without any input — any input — from congressional Democrats,' Schumer said. 'Because of that, Republicans do not have the votes in the Senate' to advance the bill.” The NBC News story is here. Politico has an item here. MB: This is not what I predicted; so let's see if Democrats stick to their guns here. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Josh Marshall was as surprised as I was that Senate Democrats didn't immediately cave to Republicans on the shutdown. BUT then, this: ~~~

     ~~~ “The Kabuki Cave.” Josh Marshall of TPM: “Pretty quickly I heard from multiple sources what was actually happening. This was a deal between Schumer and Thune to allow a brief performative episode to throw Democratic voters off the scent while the Democratic caucus allowed the bill to pass. The deal is this: Democrats agree to give up the 60-vote threshold in exchange for being allowed to offer amendments to the House bill. The 'amendment' or 'amendments' will likely be some version of [a] 30-day CR. It doesn’t even matter what they are. But this is all for show. Once you give up the 60-vote threshold the whole thing is over.... [The] amendments that will certainly fail.”

Mike Lillis of the Hill: “House Democrats are heading to Republican districts to conduct town halls — a strategy designed to highlight the moratorium on those public events recently suggested by the head of the GOP’s campaign arm.  'We’re filling a void,' Rep. Maxwell Frost (D-Fla.), who is planning 'a few' town halls in Republican districts, told reporters during the Democrats’ annual retreat in Leesburg, Va.... Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), for instance, is planning town halls next week in three GOP-controlled districts, which are currently held by California Republican Reps. David Valadao, Young Kim and Ken Calvert.” MB: According to a firewalled CNN report, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) also is doing a tour of GOP districts.

Kenneth Chang of the New York Times: Yesterday, SpaceX scrubbed its planned launch of a Falcon-9 rocket that would have sent a new crew to the international space station and brought home two astronauts who have been stuck in space for more than nine months. 

Marie: If you're one of those who has been complaining that NPR caves to Republicans, here's some hard evidence for your file. ~~~

~~~ Journalism Works Again, This Time by Accident. Max Tani of Semafor: NPR's standards & practices (censor) guy Tony Cavin advised “All Things Considered” anchor Ari Shapiro not to attend a corporate LGBTQ Pride event. But (ha ha) Cavin sent the advice to Shapiro “in an email, which was apparently sent by accident to many other NPR journalists.... 'Every year I’ve spoken at corporate pride events and you’ve personally signed off on them. It has never been an issue before,' he said. 'I’m curious what’s changed.' Later on Wednesday, after Semafor reported on Cavin’s emails with Shapiro, an NPR spokesperson said the news outlet would let Shapiro attend the event after all.”

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Israel's Wars. Megan Stack of the New York Times: “'You do whatever you want,' [Donald] Trump said he told Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel. Mr. Netanyahu, it seems, took Mr. Trump at his word. Israel has clamped Gaza back under near-total siege, barring desperately needed humanitarian aid and other goods from entering the hungry and bomb-decimated enclave. Food, medicine, tents, fuel — for the past week and a half, supplies have not been permitted into Gaza, where some two million Palestinians are trying to survive in the wreckage. And Mr. Netanyahu keeps tightening the screws.... Israeli officials are essentially starving Gaza as a negotiation tactic.... Mr. Trump appears to be on board with this disgraceful tactic.”

The Conversation -- March 12, 2025

Kyle Cheney & Josh Gerstein of Politico: “U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell blocked the Trump administration from enforcing central provisions of an executive order that seeks to punish the law firm, Perkins Coie, by barring its attorneys from interacting with federal agencies or even entering federal buildings. Howell said the 'retaliatory animus' of Trump’s order is 'clear on its face' and appears to violate constitutional restrictions on 'viewpoint discrimination.' The executive order, which Trump issued last week, 'runs head on into the wall of First Amendment protections,' the judge concluded.” The Washington Post's report is here.

Theodoric Meyer & Liz Goodwin of the Washington Post: “Senate Democrats say they are prepared to vote to reject the Republicans’ government funding bill, threatening a shutdown if lawmakers do not strike a deal within days. Not enough Democrats support the bill to clear the 60-vote threshold needed to overcome a filibuster, Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-New York) said on the Senate floor Wednesday, with less than 72 hours before the government is set to shut down. Instead, Democrats are seeking a bill — known as a continuing resolution, or CR — to keep the government open through April 11 while the two parties complete work on their long-stalled spending bills. 'Republicans chose a partisan path, drafting their continuing resolution without any input — any input — from congressional Democrats,' Schumer said. 'Because of that, Republicans do not have the votes in the Senate' to advance the bill.” MB: This is not what I predicted; so let's see if Democrats stick to their guns here.

Jonah Bromwich & Anusha Bayya of the New York Times: “Lawyers for Mahmoud Khalil, the Columbia University graduate detained by the Trump administration last weekend, have not been able to hold a private conversation with their client since his arrest. That revelation came during a hearing in Manhattan federal court Wednesday, as lawyers for Mr. Khalil and the government appeared in front of a judge, Jesse Furman, to discuss Mr. Khalil’s detention, which has raised concerns about free speech protections amid President Trump’s immigration crackdown. Mr. Khalil ... is being held at a facility in Louisiana. He has not been charged with any crime.... Judge Furman has ordered the government not to deport Mr. Khalil while his case is pending.... A park outside the courthouse was flooded with hundreds of protesters, some wearing kaffiyehs and black masks and waving posters, banners and signs reading 'Free Mahmoud.' They were joined by the actor Susan Sarandon....” ~~~

~~~ Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) explains the importance of Khalil's case: ~~~

Jennifer Schuessler of the New York Times: “The chair of the National Endowment for the Humanities, Shelly C. Lowe, left her position on Wednesday 'at the direction of President Trump,' the agency said. Dr. Lowe, a scholar of higher education and the first Native American to lead the agency, was nominated by former President Joseph R. Biden Jr. in October 2021 and confirmed by the Senate in February 2022. Michael McDonald, the agency’s general counsel, was named its acting chairman on Wednesday.”

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Marie: Is Trump destroying the U.S. system of government, American ideals and the U.S. economy because he's stupid, ignorant, selfish, cruel and vindictive? Or because he's all these things and the destruction is the plan? (After writing this, I found Sanger linked on the NYT "Politics" page: ~~~

~~~ David Sanger of the New York Times: “In a span of only 50 days..., [Donald] Trump has done more than any of his modern predecessors to hollow out the foundations of an international system that the United States painstakingly erected in the 80 years since it emerged victorious from World War II.... To live in Washington these days is to feel as if one is present at the destruction.... But perhaps the more remarkable thing is that Mr. Trump is eroding the old order without ever describing the system he envisions replacing it with. His actions suggest he is most comfortable in the 19th-century world of great-power politics....” This is a gift link.

Ana Swanson & Jeanna Smilak of the New York Times: Donald “Trump’s sweeping tariffs on foreign steel and aluminum went into effect on Wednesday, escalating America’s trade spats with global competitors, including close allies already reeling from his on-and-off approach to trade penalties. Mr. Trump’s tariffs of 25 percent on the metals hit imports that enter the United States from any country in the world. The move, which many domestic steel and aluminum makers support, is expected to raise costs for American manufacturers of cars, tin cans, solar panels and other products, potentially slowing the wider U.S. economy.... The president is threatening to impose a raft of other tariffs, including on foreign cars and against countries that he says discriminate against the United States. His approach has been met with a market slump....

“On Tuesday, Mr. Trump threatened to double the tariffs on Canadian metal after Ontario had responded to Mr. Trump’s previous tariffs by putting a surcharge on electricity exported to the United States. Within hours, Ontario had suspended its surcharge, and Mr. Trump walked back his threats. The metal tariffs, and other levies to come, are likely to again worsen trade disputes.... On Wednesday, Europe swiftly announced tariffs on up to $28 billion worth of goods in response. The metal tariffs mainly affect U.S. allies....” The AP's story is here. ~~~

~~~ Ana Swanson, et al., of the New York Times: Donald “Trump escalated his fight with Canada on Tuesday, threatening to double tariffs on steel and aluminum imports and pressing to turn one of America’s closest traditional allies into the 51st state. After several tense hours, both sides backed down, at least for now. It was the latest in a week of chaotic trade moves, in which the president startled investors and businesses that depend on trade and clashed with some of the country’s closest trading partners. In a post on his social media platform Tuesday morning, Mr. Trump wrote that Canadian steel and aluminum would face a 50 percent tariff, double what he plans to charge on metals from other countries beginning Wednesday. He said the levies were in response to an additional charge that Ontario had placed on electricity coming into the United States, which was in turn a response to tariffs Mr. Trump imposed on Canada last week. By Tuesday afternoon, leaders had begun to relent. The premier of Ontario, Canada’s most populous province, said he would suspend the electricity surcharge, and Mr. Trump said at the White House he would 'probably' reduce the tariff on Canadian metals.” ~~~

~~~ Ellen Francis of the Washington Post: “The European Union hit back Wednesday at ... Donald Trump’s steel and aluminum tariffs, unveiling a two-stage retaliation that would cover billions of dollars’ worth of products.... The E.U. executive branch, the European Commission, said its response would cover roughly $28 billion in U.S. exports. Starting April 1, the bloc will reimpose tariffs dating to Trump’s first term, including on products such as Harley-Davidson motorcycles and bourbon. It will then place extra measures on more than $19 billion in products in mid-April after consulting with E.U. member states.” ~~~

~~~ Peter Beaumont of the Guardian: “A growing international move to boycott the US is spreading from Scandinavia to Canada to the UK and beyond as consumers turn against US goods. Most prominent so far has been the rejection by European car buyers of the Teslas produced by Elon Musk.... About 15% of its value was wiped out on Monday alone.... In Canada, where the American national anthem has been booed during hockey matches with US teams, a slew of apps has emerged with names such as 'buy beaver', 'maple scan' and 'is this Canadian' to allow shoppers to scan QR barcodes and reject US produce from alcohol to pizza toppings.... In Sweden, about 40,000 users have joined a Facebook group calling for a boycott of US companies – ironically including Facebook itself – which features alternatives to US consumer products.... In Denmark, where there has been widespread anger over Trump’s threat to bring the autonomous territory of Greenland under US control, the largest grocery company, the Salling group, has said it will tag European-made goods with a black star to allow consumers to choose them over products made in the US.... What is striking is how quickly the second Trump administration has become a target for both consumer anger and ethically minded companies.”

Nancy Codes & Caitlin Yilek of CBS News: "Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick defended ... [Donald] Trump's economic policies Tuesday, saying they are 'worth it' even if they lead to a recession. 'These policies are the most important thing America has ever had,' Lutnick told CBS News in an interview when asked whether they would be worth it if they lead to a recession. 'It's worth it.' But he quickly added, 'The only reason there could possibly be a recession is because the Biden nonsense that we had to live with. These policies produce revenues. They produce growth. They produce factories being built here.'" MB: I remind Howard there that "the Biden nonsense" produced the best economy in the world.

Here's a press release from Rep. Richie Neal (D-Mass.), ranking member of the House Ways & Means Committee, dated March 6: “Representative Gregory W. Meeks, Ranking Member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, today introduced Resolutions to terminate President Trump’s unlawful use of 'emergency' authorities to impose tariffs on Canada and Mexico. The Resolutions end the Administration’s abuse of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), which it has used to justify tariffs based on a fabricated national emergency. They are cosponsored by Representatives Richard Neal, Ranking Member of the House Ways and Means Committee; Joaquin Castro, Ranking Member of the Western Hemisphere Subcommittee; Rick Larsen, Ranking Member of the Transportation & Infrastructure Committee; Suzan DelBene; and Greg Stanton. 'The Administration's 25% tariffs on two of our closest allies and largest trading partners are nothing more than a tax on American families — driving up prices, killing jobs, and threatening our economy. This isn’t what Americans voted for. Trump has already broken his promise to lower costs, and these tariffs will only make it worse. My resolutions will end this sham emergency and protect American consumers,' said Ranking Member Gregory W. Meeks.” MB: Congress should retake its Constitutionally-mandated power to control tariffs. But it won't, will it? (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: I looked for an easy-to-understand explanation of how Congress Constitutionally (and now only theoretically) controls tariffs. I didn't find one right off, but as luck would have it, Rachel Maddow did the job for me: ~~~

~~~ Catie Edmondson of the New York Times: “House Republican leaders on Tuesday quietly moved to shield their members from having to vote on whether to end ... [Donald] Trump’s tariffs on Mexico, Canada and China, tucking language into a procedural measure that effectively removed their chamber’s ability to undo the levies. The maneuver was a tacit acknowledgment of how politically toxic the issue had become for their party, and another example of how the all-Republican Congress is ceding its power to the executive branch.... They essentially declared the rest of the year one long day, nullifying a law that allows the House and Senate to jointly put an end to a disaster declared by the president. House Democrats had planned to force a vote on resolutions to end the tariffs on Mexico and Canada, a move allowed under the National Emergencies Act.... That would have forced Republicans — many of whom are opposed to tariffs as a matter of principle — to go on the record on the issue at a time when Mr. Trump’s commitment to tariffs has spooked the financial markets and spiked concerns of reigniting inflation.”

Matt Viser of the Washington Post: “... on Tuesday afternoon..., Trump ... turned the South Lawn of the White House into a car lot, converting one of the country’s most revered public spaces into a billboard for a company run by one of his closest allies [Elon Musk]. And for the afternoon, he made no secret of the fact that he was attempting to boost the financial fortunes of one of his supporters — whose cars, he noted, could be had for the low, low price of $35,000.... In a remarkable scene, Trump spent about 30 minutes talking with reporters as he kicked the tires on some of the five Teslas that had been parked on the drive of the White House for his shopping pleasure.... The president endorsed Tesla, calling it 'a great product, as good as it gets.' He endorsed Musk, saying he is 'a great patriot, and you should cherish him.' And then, he bought a car.

“Trump made no mention of the increased scrutiny Tesla has faced in recent years from government regulators, who under the Biden administration raised concerns about the safety of the company’s advanced driver-assistance programs. Nor did he revive his long-standing critique of electric vehicles, which he has said are too expensive and don’t go far enough on a charge.... A White House official said the president is paying for the vehicle with his own money. The person declined to say whether the White House counsel reviewed the use of staff and official resources for the event. Federal regulations prohibit White House staffers (though not the president himself) from using their government positions to endorse or promote private companies or products.... Tesla stock, after a large sell-off Monday, ended the day up nearly 4 percent.” The New York Times story is here. ~~~

~~~ Lawrence O'Donnell noted that Trump did not actually buy a vehicle since he signed nothing. Meanwhile, I'll bet execs at other U.S. automakers are seething. ~~~

~~~ Alex Gangitano & Miranda Nazzaro of the Hill: Donald “Trump hinted he would be open to labeling individuals who carry out violence at Tesla dealerships as 'domestic terrorists' following a string of violent demonstrations at the electric vehicle company’s showrooms across the U.S.... 'Those people are going to go through a big problem when we catch them. We’ve got a lot of cameras up, we already know who some of them are. We’re going to catch them. And they’re bad guys. They’re the same guys that screw around with our schools and universities, the same garbage,' Trump [said].”

Ah, it turns out Trump is not the only administration employee hawking products for profit at the office: ~~~

~~~ All the Best People. Carl Gibson of AlterNet: "The communications director for the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) was recently caught doubling as a fashion influencer on social media — while using her government office as a backdrop in an apparent violation of federal rules. That's according to a Tuesday article in CNN, which reported that McLaurine Pinover posted videos of herself modeling clothing to her Instagram account from her OPM office. Some of those videos included affiliate links to sites where the clothing she was wearing was being sold. Pinover was eligible to be paid commission based on site visitors who bought those clothing items after clicking the links from Pinover's videos. CNN further reported that Pinover was working as an influencer while simultaneously 'defending mass layoffs of federal workers' as an employee of OPM's communications office.... Pinover's Instagram handle, @getdressedwithmc, was apparently deleted several minutes after [CNN] contacted her." ~~~

~~~ Here's Pinover modeling her outfits at OPM. You can get that skirt on the right for a mere $475. What a bargain! ~~~

    

Michael Bender & Dana Goldstein of the New York Times: “The Education Department announced on Tuesday that it was firing more than 1,300 workers, effectively gutting the agency that manages federal loans for college, tracks student achievement and enforces civil rights laws in schools. The layoffs mean that the department, which started the year with 4,133 employees, will now have a work force of about half that size after less than two months with ... [Donald] Trump in office. In addition to the 1,315 workers who were fired on Tuesday, 572 employees accepted separation packages offered in recent weeks and 63 probationary workers were terminated last month.... Sheria Smith, the president of American Federation of Government Employees Local 252, which represents more than 2,800 workers at the Education Department, said the Trump administration had 'no respect for the thousands of workers who have dedicated their careers to serve their fellow Americans” and vowed to fight the cuts.'” Politico's story is here. ~~~

     ~~~ Cory Turner & Jonaki Mehta of NPR: "Minutes [after Sheria Smith made that statement], AFGE Local 252 told NPR that Smith was laid off, along with all five of the chapter's other union officers." ~~~

~~~ Here's Why Trump Is Dumping the Education Department. Bianca Toness of the AP: “The equity goal of the Education Department, which was founded in 1980, emerged partly from the anti-poverty and civil rights movements of the 1960s and 1970s. The act creating the department described its mission, in part, as: 'To strengthen the Federal commitment to ensuring access to equal educational opportunity for every individual.'... As the Trump administration moves to dismantle the Education Department..., [what is not] clear is what could happen with ... its mission [to promote] equal access for students in an American education system that is fundamentally unequal.”

First, Kill All the Poor People. Lisa Friedman of the New York Times: “The Trump administration intends to eliminate Environmental Protection Agency offices responsible for addressing the disproportionately high levels of pollution facing poor communities, according to a memo from Lee Zeldin, the agency administrator. In the internal memo, viewed by The New York Times, Mr. Zeldin informed agency leaders that he was directing 'the reorganization and elimination' of the offices of environmental justice at all 10 E.P.A. regional offices as well as the one in Washington.... The decision comes after Mr. Zeldin canceled hundreds of grants this week, many of them designated for environmental justice.... Mr. Zeldin’s move effectively ends three decades of work at the E.P.A. to try to ease the pollution that burdens poor and minority communities, which are frequently located near highways, power plants, industrial plants and other polluting facilities. Studies have shown that people who live in those communities have higher rates of asthma, heart disease and other health problems, compared with the national average.” Zeldin described the environmental effort as “forced discrimination.” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: That is, according to Zeldin, because wealthy white people are less apt to live in areas with disproportionately high levels of pollution, reducing or eliminating that pollution is discriminating against the rich white people; they aren't receiving that special attention, attention they don't need because they're already living in relatively healthy environments. Needless to say, this makes absolutely no sense; it's one of those fake rationales loathsome people dream up to try to excuse the inexcusable.

And Of Course This Is Happening. Ryan Reilly, et al., of NBC News: "The Trump administration is gutting the Justice Department's unit that oversees prosecutions of public officials accused of corruption, three sources who spoke on condition of anonymity told NBC News. The unit, the Public Integrity Section, has overseen some of the country’s most high-profile and sensitive prosecutions. Now, though, only a small fraction of its employees will remain, and the unit will no longer directly handle investigations or prosecutions, two sources said. Prosecutors in the unit, which had housed dozens of employees, are being told to take details to other positions within the department. Its current cases will be reassigned to U.S. attorneys’ offices around the country." MB: I'm surprised "integrity" isn't on Trump's list of banned words.

Kriston Capps, et al., of the Washington Post: “The future of a vast collection of public artwork is in doubt as the Trump administration plans to fire workers who preserve and maintain more than 26,000 pieces owned by the U.S. government, including paintings and sculptures by renowned artists, some dating to the 1850s. Fine arts and historic preservation workers at the General Services Administration told The Washington Post that at least five regional offices were shuttered last week and that more than half of the division’s approximately three dozen staff members were abruptly put on leave pending their terminations.... According to former staffers, the agency is looking to end its lease for a storage facility in Northern Virginia that holds hundreds of paintings and sculptures, including pieces sponsored by the Depression-era Works Progress Administration.... Some of these works are literally part of the buildings, such as Ben Shahn’s 1942 fresco 'The Meaning of Social Security' plastered onto the wall of the Wilbur J. Cohen Federal Building in Washington. Staffers wonder what would happen to those works if buildings were sold.” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Who wants to see some shabby old 19th- and 20th-century paintings when Trump can probably find some new portraits of, well, Trump and maybe some nice clown paintings, too (though no combo Trump-as-clown paintings, of course).

Edward Wong of the New York Times: “A senior official at the main U.S. aid agency, which is being dismantled by the Trump administration, told employees to clear safes holding classified documents and personnel files by shredding the papers or putting them into bags for burning, according to an email sent to the staff. The email, sent by Erica Y. Carr, the acting executive secretary, told employees of the U.S. Agency for International Development to empty out the classified safes and personnel document files on Tuesday. 'Shred as many documents first, and reserve the burn bags for when the shredder becomes unavailable or needs a break,' Ms. Carr wrote.... The Federal Records Act of 1950 requires U.S. government officials to ask the [National Archives] for approval before destroying documents. The documents being destroyed could have relevance to multiple court cases that have been filed against the Trump administration and the aid agency.... By Tuesday evening, at least two groups had made court filings to try to get judges to prevent the destruction of more documents at U.S.A.I.D. They said the agency had failed to comply with record-keeping requirements....” ~~~

     ~~~ Missy Ryan & John Hudson of the Washington Post: “The efforts [to destroy documents] triggered immediate alarm on Capitol Hill, where lawmakers took steps to remind the administration of its obligation to comply with laws prohibiting the destruction of government information.... Rep. Gregory W. Meeks (New York), the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said the administration did not appear to be complying with the Federal Records Act, which governs the handling of government documents and other material. 'Haphazardly shredding and burning USAID documents and personnel files seems like a great way to get rid of evidence of wrongdoing when you’re illegally dismantling the agency,' Meeks said in a statement.” the NBC News story, which RAS linked yesterday, is here.

Spencer Hsu of the Washington Post: “Interim D.C. U.S. attorney Ed Martin has sent another letter to a Democratic congressman and critic of ... Donald Trump, demanding information in what Democratic lawmakers say is a potential abuse of his prosecutorial power. Martin demanded that Rep. Eugene Vindman (D-Virginia) provide information about a business founded by Vindman and his brother to help arm Ukraine to fight Russia. Martin asked for detailed ownership and government funding records of the business, called Trident Support LLC, where Eugene Vindman served as president and his twin brother, Alexander Vindman, was chief executive. Martin also asked about $150,000 that Vindman disclosed receiving from Georgetown University.... The letter is the latest among an estimated 20 inquiries that people close to Martin estimate he has sent since taking office Jan. 20.... In his letters or past public comments, Martin has indicated that the recipients have something in common — playing a role in criticizing or employing critics of Trump, his appointees or allies, or investigating complaints against his lawyers.” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: IOW, Martin is admitting he is misusing his Justice Department position to intimidate political opponents.

Eric Tucker of the AP: “A law firm targeted by ... Donald Trump over its legal services during the 2016 presidential campaign sued the federal government Tuesday over an executive order that seeks to strip its attorneys of security clearances. The order, which Trump signed last week, was designed to punish Perkins Coie by suspending the security clearances of the firm’s lawyers as well as denying firm employees access to federal buildings and terminating their federal contracts.... Lawyers representing Perkins Coie said in their lawsuit, filed in federal court in Washington, that the executive order was an illegal act of retaliation. They called on a judge to block it from being implemented. A hearing was set for Wednesday afternoon. The lawsuit notes that the two primary attorneys whose work appears to have most angered Trump left the firm years ago and accounted for a tiny fraction of the firm’s more than 1,200 attorneys.” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: This isn't just about security clearances and federal contracts. If Perkins Coie employees cannot enter any federal building, none of those 1,200 attorneys can represent any client in any federal case.

Theodore Schleifer & Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: “Elon Musk has signaled to ... [Donald] Trump’s advisers in recent days that he wants to put $100 million into groups controlled by the Trump political operation, according to three people.... Mr. Musk has signaled he wants to make the donations not to his own super PAC, which is called America PAC and has spent heavily on Mr. Trump in the past, but to an outside entity affiliated with the president.... It is unheard-of for a White House staffer, even one with part-time status, to make such large political contributions to support the agenda of the boss.”

Aamer Madhani & Zeke Miller of the AP: “U.S. officials have not determined who was behind an apparent cyberattack on the social media site X that limited access to the platform for thousands of users.... The comments came after Elon Musk ... claimed in an appearance on Fox Business Network’s 'Kudlow' show that the cyberattackers had 'IP addresses originating in the Ukraine area' without going into detail on what that might mean. Cybersecurity experts quickly pointed out, however, that this doesn’t necessarily mean that the attack originated in Ukraine.” Related stories linked yesterday. (Also linked yesterday.) 

Catie Edmondson of the New York Times: “The House passed legislation on Tuesday to fund the government through Sept. 30 and avert a shutdown at the end of the week, in a party-line vote that reflected how Republican fiscal hawks have swallowed their concerns about spending in deference to President Trump. The move sent the measure to the Senate, where Democrats are facing a political dilemma over whether to support it and hand Mr. Trump wide leeway to continue his assault on federal programs and workers, or oppose it and risk being blamed for a government shutdown. The bill would keep last year’s spending levels largely flat, but would increase spending for the military by $6 billion. It would slightly decrease spending overall, because it would not include funds for any projects in lawmakers’ districts or states. And it would force a cut of more than $1 billion from the District of Columbia’s budget for the rest of the fiscal year.” The AP story is here. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Oh, Chuck will do whatever option is lamest. ~~~

~~~ Rachel Bade in Politico Magazine: “With Tuesday’s spending vote, the president vanquished some of his final foes inside the GOP.... Seven weeks into his second term, Trump is redefining GOP orthodoxy.... He has shattered Republicans’ long history of muscular globalism in favor of an “America First” posture, sidelining an entire wing of the GOP. He’s leaned into protectionist economics in a way Republicans have long shunned and somehow convinced longtime free market champions to defend his policies as smart negotiating. But the turnabout on the House floor has been especially stark. Without much drama at all, he’s convinced even the most skeptical Republicans to extend a spending deal negotiated in part by Joe Biden and Chuck Schumer.... It’s just the latest reminder: It’s Trump’s party, and what he says goes.”

Annie Karni of the New York Times: “A Republican lawmaker abruptly adjourned a congressional hearing on Tuesday after being challenged for referring to Representative Sarah McBride, Democrat of Delaware and the first openly transgender lawmaker in Congress, as a man. The Europe Subcommittee of the House Foreign Affairs panel was in the middle of a hearing on arms control and U.S. assistance to Europe when its chairman, Representative Keith Self of Texas, introduced his colleague by calling her 'Mr. McBride.'... [Ms. McBride] briefly registered her displeasure by returning Mr. Self’s slight, responding, 'Thank you, Madam Chair,' before proceeding with her remarks. But Representative William Keating of Massachusetts, the ranking Democrat on the subcommittee, was not willing to move on.... 'You will not continue it with me unless you introduce a duly elected representative the right way,' he said [to Mr. Self after a brief exchange in which Self refused to address Rep. McBride as 'Ms.'] With that, Mr. Self then adjourned the session.” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Self obviously has his own personal sexual issues. He's 71 years old. It's way past time for him to get psychological help.

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Texas, et al. Kelly Cho of the Washington Post: “Los Angeles County in California, Suffolk County in New York and Howard County in Maryland detected their first confirmed cases of measles this year, while Oklahoma reported two possible cases, local health authorities said this week. The spread of the highly infectious disease comes as an outbreak of more than 200 cases has continued to grow in Texas, and as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned health-care workers and potential travelers to 'be vigilant' ahead of spring and summer travel.... In Canada, at least 146 confirmed cases have been detected this year up to March 6, along with 22 probable cases.” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Better slather on that cod liver oil, folks. Say what? You're supposed to ingest it? Ugh! I'm here to tell you that applying it to your skin or drinking it are equally ineffective remedies for measles. So, you know, whatever.

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Greenland Elections. Christian Jepesen, et al., of the New York Times: “Voter turnout [for Greenland's parliamentary elections Tuesday] was at its highest in 12 years, so much so that polling stations on the sparsely populated island, which is partly controlled by Denmark, were kept open late to accommodate long lines.... With all votes counted early Wednesday morning, the winner was Demokraatit, a party that has been critical of Mr. Trump’s rhetoric. It has taken a moderate stance on the subject of independence from Denmark, which most Greenland politicians support as a long-term goal.... Mr. Trump, in an address to Congress last week, declared that the United States would take control of it 'one way or the other.' On Sunday, two days before the election, he made a direct pitch to Greenland’s 56,000 people. 'We are ready to INVEST BILLIONS OF DOLLARS to create new jobs and MAKE YOU RICH,' he wrote in a social media post. But Greenlanders have been clear that despite Mr. Trump’s entreaties, they don’t want to be absorbed by the United States, with polls showing that at least 85 percent oppose it.”

Ukraine, et al. Somebody Pulled Trump Off the Ledge Here. Matthew Lee of the AP: “The Trump administration said Tuesday that it would immediately lift its suspension of military aid to Ukraine and its intelligence sharing with Kyiv, a week after imposing the measures to push Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to enter talks to end the war with invading Russian forces. Ukraine also said it was open to a 30-day cease-fire in the war with Russia, subject to Kremlin agreement. The announcements emerged as senior officials from Ukraine and the United States opened talks in Saudi Arabia focused on ending Moscow’s three-year war against Kyiv and hours after Russia shot down over 300 Ukrainian drones. It was Ukraine’s biggest attack since the Kremlin ordered the full-scale invasion of its neighbor. Donald Trump‘s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, is expected to travel later this week to Moscow, where he could meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin....” (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Andrew Kramer & Alan Rappeport of the New York Times: “Ukraine said it would support a Trump administration proposal for a 30-day cease-fire with Russia, an announcement that followed hours of meetings on Tuesday in Saudi Arabia, where the United States agreed to immediately lift a pause on intelligence sharing with Kyiv and resume military assistance. The talks in the coastal city of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, brought new momentum to cease-fire negotiations that had faltered after a public confrontation at the White House between the Ukrainian and U.S. presidents.”