The Conversation -- March 10, 2025

Little Marco Vows to Reward Russia for Invading Ukraine. Alan Rappeport of the New York Times: "Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Monday that Ukraine would have to make concessions over land that Russia had taken since 2014 as part of any agreement to end the war.... 'I think both sides need to come to an understanding that there's no military solution to this situation,' Mr. Rubio said. 'The Russians can't conquer all of Ukraine, and obviously it'll be very difficult for Ukraine in any reasonable time period to sort of force the Russians back all the way to where they were in 2014.'" Might makes right. We in the U.S. are so over respecting national sovereignty & promoting democracy.

So here's a short reading assignment:

(1) Akhilleus' comment at the top of today's thread.

(2) An essay by political scientist Don Moynihan: "... we live in a foreign country now. Our idea of America -- the one you grew up with if you were born here, or that drew you to this country if you were an immigrant -- and the reality of America today, well, these are different places. We might get back there. But first we have to map the distance between that America and where we are now." Moynihan then runs down bullet points of "where we are now," each point chilling. Thanks to RAS for the link.

Andrew Duehren of the New York Times: "Firing probationary employees ... was just the beginning of ... [Donald] Trumps far-reaching agenda for the I.R.S. The administration is preparing budget cuts and further layoffs that could ultimately force the I.R.S. to shed as much as half of its 100,000-person work force -- a drastic reduction that could mean many Americans face less scrutiny, and receive less help, on their taxes. At the same time, Mr. Trump is asserting more political control over an agency that has historically been insulated from changes in leadership at the White House.... The presence of the so-called Department of Government Efficiency is growing at the I.R.S., where [Elon] Musk's allies are preparing to cancel scores of contracts with outside technology vendors."

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Luke Broadwater, et al., of the New York Times: Donald “Trump declined in an interview aired Sunday to rule out the possibility that his economic policies, including aggressive tariffs against America's trade partners, would cause a recession. In the interview with Maria Bartiromo, the host of 'Sunday Morning Futures' on Fox News, Mr. Trump also said that he was considering increasing tariffs against Mexico and Canada. The interview took place on Thursday at the White House.... 'I hate to predict things like [a recession],' Mr. Trump [said]. 'There is a period of transition, because what we're doing is very big. We're bringing wealth back to America. That's a big thing, and there are always periods of, it takes a little time. It takes a little time, but I think it should be great for us.'... Speaking on Meet the Press on Sunday, Howard Lutnick, the commerce secretary, said..., 'I would never bet on recession.... No chance.' Economists have turned gloomier on the economic outlook amid Mr. Trump's dizzying approach to tariffs, which has fueled considerable uncertainty and hamstrung businesses considering new investments and hiring." Here's the Huffington Post story. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: I would translate Trump's remarkably honest forecast this way: "Yes, we're bound to go into recession, but I don't care. We're bringing extraordinary wealth back to the oligarchs & me, Donald J. Trump, and it should be great for us." ~~~

     ~~~ Will Weissert of the AP: "In ... Donald Trump's idealized framing, the United States was at its zenith in the 1890s, when ... typhoid fever often killed more soldiers than combat. It was the Gilded Age, a time of rapid population growth and transformation from an agricultural economy toward a sprawling industrial system, when poverty was widespread while barons of phenomenal wealth, like John D. Rockefeller and J.P. Morgan, held tremendous sway over politicians who often helped boost their financial empires. 'We were at our richest from 1870 to 1913. That';s when we were a tariff country. And then they went to an income tax concept,' Trump said days after taking office.... Experts on the era say Trump is idealizing a time rife with government and business corruption, social turmoil and inequality. They argue he's also dramatically overestimating the role tariffs played in stimulating an economy that grew mostly due to factors other than the U.S. raising taxes on imported goods." Read on. ~~~

~~~ Christian Shepherd & Lily Kuo of the Washington Post: "Chinese tariffs on a wide array of U.S. agricultural products took effect Monday as Beijing remains defiant in the face of U.S. pressure -- while urging Washington to come to the negotiating table. China's decision to impose tariffs of up to 15 percent on products including corn, soybeans and beef starting Monday targets some of the United States' most important exports to the world's second-largest economy. The retaliation against ... Donald Trump's move to raise tariffs on all Chinese goods to at least 20 percent marks another escalation in a mounting trade battle that has no end in sight.... Unlike the leaders of Canada and Mexico -- [President] Xi [Jinping] has not had a conversation with Trump in his second term..., [and] 'Neither side has really ascertained a go-to person for working-level conversations,' Zha [Daojiong of Peking University] said."

Paul Krugman: "... I am surprised at how quickly the backlash [against the Trump/Musk presidency] has developed.... As the economy stumbles and the stock market tanks, consumer confidence lags, and even some Trump voters are losing faith..., the Trump cabal ... [has] instantly descended into a pit of insane conspiracy theories.... It's the kind of rhetoric you expect from an authoritarian regime that attributes every setback to sabotage by rootless cosmopolitan enemies of the state.... Two specific reasons [this is] bad[:]... it means that the people in charge won't learn from failure.... There will be a search for scapegoats."

"Vanishing Words." Karen Yourish, et al., of the New York Times: "As ... [Donald] Trump seeks to purge the federal government of 'woke' initiatives, agencies have flagged hundreds of words to limit or avoid, according to a compilation of government documents.... The list [the Times compiles here] is most likely incomplete. More agency memos may exist than those seen by New York Times reporters, and some directives are vague or suggest what language might be impermissible without flatly stating it.... A New York Times analysis of pages on federal agency websites, before and after Mr. Trump took office, found that more than 250 contained evidence of deletions or amendments to words included in the above list....

"The president and some of his closest advisers ... have frequently portrayed themselves as champions of free speech. One of the executive orders Mr. Trump signed on his first day back in office decried what it described as a pressure campaign by the Biden administration to stifle First Amendment rights 'in a manner that advanced the Government's preferred narrative about significant matters of public debate.... Government censorship of is intolerable in a free society.'... But the pattern of vanishing words established here suggests Mr. Trump and his administration may be more interested in chilling the national conversation -- at least when it comes to their own disfavored topics -- than in expanding it."

Marie: This is a gift link, because besides the list of banned words, the examples of doctored docs published here is illuminating. If the gift link doesn't work, digby republishes the list of banished words here, along with a copy of a memo from the National Cancer Institute advising employees on topics that employees may not cover without first sending their proposed publications for review by the NCI Censorship Clearance Team. Thanks to RAS for the link to digby's post. Do scan the list of words; it's a remarkable effort to squelch any reference to anyone who isn't a white male. (Indeed, one of the banned words is "women." So are these terms: female, gender (singular AND plural), sex, Black, Native American, LatinXtribal, minority (singular AND plural), race (noun, adjective & adverbial forms) LGBT, they/them, pollution, climate science, clean energy.

Lisa Rein of the Washington Post: "... a sweeping declaration..., written under oath..., filed as part of a federal lawsuit Friday from Tiffany Flick, the [Social Security Administrations]'s acting chief of staff until she was forced out in mid-February, [contains allegations of how recklessly DOGE employees took over the agency]. They came in aggressively..., demanding access to sensitive taxpayer data and refusing briefings on how the agency ensures the accuracy of its benefit systems. They recklessly exposed data in unsecured areas outside Social Security offices..., potentially disclosing personally identifiable information on almost every American to people not authorized to see it. And representatives sent by the U.S. DOGE Service refused to explain why they needed taxpayer information that is protected by law.... Despite their status as political appointees, the secretive members of the cost-cutting group overseen by [Elon] Musk ignored the normal chain of command, instead communicating directly with DOGE." This is a gift link.

Anna Betts of the Guardian: "The United States has been added to the Civicus Monitor Watchlist, which identifies countries that the global civil rights watchdog believes are currently experiencing a rapid decline in civic freedoms. Civicus, an international non-profit organization dedicated to 'strengthening citizen action and civil society around the world', announced the inclusion of the US on the non-profit's first watchlist of 2025 on Monday, alongside the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Italy, Pakistan and Serbia.... Mandeep Tiwana, co-secretary general of Civicus, said that the watchlist 'looks at countries where we remain concerned about deteriorating civic space conditions, in relation to freedoms of peaceful assembly, association and expression'." So then this ~~~

~~~ Jake Offenhartz of the AP: "Federal immigration authorities arrested a Palestinian activist Saturday who played a prominent role in Columbia University's protests against Israel, a significant escalation in the Trump administration's pledge to detain and deport student activists. Mahmoud Khalil, a graduate student at Columbia until this past December, was inside his university-owned apartment Saturday night when several Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents entered and took him into custody, his attorney, Amy Greer, told The Associated Press. Greer said she spoke by phone with one of the ICE agents during the arrest, who said they were acting on State Department orders to revoke Khalil's student visa. Informed by the attorney that Khalil was in the United States as a permanent resident with a green card, the agent said they were revoking that instead, according to the lawyer.... The detention of a legal permanent resident who has not been charged with a crime marked an extraordinary move with an uncertain legal foundation, according to immigration experts.... ICE agents ... also threatened to arrest Khalil's wife, an American citizen who is eight months pregnant, Greer said." The New York Times story is here. ~~~

~~~ New Rule: Your alleged, unindicted criminals bad; my violent, convicted criminals, good ~~~

It turns out Trump's pardons of January 6 traitors constituted more than a get-out-of-jail-free card to some insurrectionists. Rather, the pardons were more than one get-out-of-jail card. ~~~

~~~ Tom Jackman of the Washington Post: "In seven cases around the country, the Justice Department has argued that separate criminal actions uncovered by the Jan. 6 investigation are covered by Trump's pardon, and the unrelated charges -- usually for illegal gun possession -- should be dismissed.... After Trump's executive order on Jan. 20, the Office of the Pardon Attorney issued individual certificates to almost all of the roughly 1,600 Jan. 6 defendants, which stated that 'The pardon applies only to convictions for offenses related to events that occurred at or near the United States Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.' When courts have pressed the Justice Department for legal reasoning or precedent on why the Jan. 6-adjacent cases should be thrown out, their lawyers have said only that this was Trump's intent, and courts should defer to 'the Executive's reasonable interpretation of the pardon language.'... Some judges, however, have resisted."

Doing Stupid Stuff Because Trump. Scott Dance & Joshua Partlow of the Washington Post (March 7): "The Army Corps of Engineers colonel responsible for releasing water from two California reservoirs at ... Donald Trump's direction in January knew that it was unlikely to reach the southern part of the state as Trump had promised, according to a memo obtained by The Washington Post.... A [CYA] memo written four days after the release ... shows how federal officials rushed ahead with the plan to release irrigation water despite objections from the state's elected officials and some local farmers.... The release was done to satisfy Trump's executive order, [Col. Chad] Caldwell [of the Army Corps] wrote.... But the episode, a week and a half into Trump's second term, drew criticism from farmers and officials from both parties in the Central Valley. It also angered many California water officials, who charge that the Trump administration squandered local water supplies in a part of the state where every drop counts, to score quick political points."

Marie: Minho Kim of the New York Times: in a story headlined "Democrats voice regret on scattered responses to Trump's speech," cites Democrats mostly "regretting" Al Green's protest, not the party's general failure to raise any response to a thoroughly objectionable rant. They can't even organize their own "regrets." You could ask Tim Walz why Democrats keep losing to some of the worst people in the world: Democrats don't really try. My own Congresswoman, a lovely young lady, is busy giving 19th-century style tea parties & posing for photos with various presumably good citizens. I write to her often and politely tell her to get off the dime, a protest which has no effect whatsoever. Yikes! Bernie Sanders is 83 years old. We are on our own, people. (In the meantime, I really did purchase a cane that looks like the one Green shook at the Stupid Fascist, the one Lauren Boebert called a "pimp cane.") ~~~

~~~ Dan Balz of the Washington Post: "The Democrats showed last week that presidential addresses to Congress are no place to formulate a resistance. Almost everything they did during ... Donald Trump's appearance highlighted weakness rather than strength. They had not one strategy but several. The sum was less than the parts.... The state of the Democrats is made worse by the absence of a leader who enjoys national reach and recognition." MB: Things are bad when Balz is right. I'll admit that Trump is a moving target, but he is still an easy target. He says and does things almost every day that are offensive to many Americans and/or dangerous (and obvious) signs of his corrupt intentions. We are witnessing an astounding display of political malpractice in a party that won't get it together and figuratively slap Trump down every day. ~~~

~~~ Steve Peoples of the AP: "... [Sen. Bernie] Sanders ... has emerged as a leader of the resistance to Donald Trump's second presidency. In tearing into Trump's seizure of power and warning about the consequences of firing tens of thousands of government workers, Sanders is bucking the wishes of those who want Democrats to focus on the price of eggs or 'roll over and play dead.' For now, at least, Sanders stands alone as the only elected progressive willing to mount a national campaign to harness the fear and anger of the sprawling anti-Trump movement. He drew a crowd of 4,000 in Kenosha, Wisconsin, on Friday night. He faced another 2,600 or so the next morning a few hours away in Altoona, Wisconsin, a town of less than 10,000 residents. And his crowd of 9,000 in suburban Detroit exceeded his own team's expectations. By design, each stop was in a swing U.S. House district represented by a Republican."

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Canada. Matina Stevis-Gridneff of the New York Times: "Amid a generational crisis in Canada's relationship with the United States, the Liberal Party of Canada on Sunday chose an unelected technocrat with deep experience in financial markets to replace Justin Trudeau as party leader and the country's prime minister, and to take on ... [Donald] Trump. Mark Carney, 59, who steered the Bank of Canada through the 2008 global financial crisis and the Bank of England through Brexit, but who has never been elected to office, won a leadership race on Sunday against his friend and former finance minister, Chrystia Freeland. He won a stunning 85.9 percent of the votes cast by Liberal Party members. More than 150,000 people voted, according to the party's leaders. 'America is not Canada. And Canada never, ever, will be part of America in any way, shape or form,' Mr. Carney said in his acceptance speech on Sunday evening to an electric crowd of party faithful, directly addressing Mr. Trump's constant threat that he wants to make Canada the 51st state. 'We didn't ask for this fight, but Canadians are always ready when someone else drops the gloves.'... Because Mr. Carney does not hold a seat in Parliament, he is expected to call federal elections soon after being sworn in as prime minister." (Also linked yesterday.) The Guardian's story is here.

Israel's Wars. Melanie Lidman & Samy Magdy of the AP: "Israel cut off the electricity supply to Gaza, officials said Sunday, affecting a desalination plant producing drinking water for part of the arid territory. Hamas called it part of Israel's 'starvation policy.' Israel last week suspended supplies of goods to the territory of more than 2 million Palestinians, an echo of the siege it imposed in the earliest days of the war. Israel is pressing the militant group to accept an extension of the first phase of their ceasefire. That phase ended last weekend. Israel wants Hamas to release half of the remaining hostages in return for a promise to negotiate a lasting truce. Hamas instead wants to start negotiations on the ceasefires more difficult second phase, which would see the release of remaining hostages from Gaza, the withdrawal of Israeli forces and a lasting peace. Hamas is believed to have 24 living hostages and the bodies of 35 others."

South Africa. Bruce Weber of the New York Times: "Athol Fugard, the South African playwright whose portrayals of intimate relationships burdened by oppressive racial separatism exposed the psychological torment of apartheid to an international audience, died on Saturday night at his home in Stellenbosch, a town near Cape Town. He was 92."

South Korea. Choe Sang-Hun & Pablo Robles of the New York Times on "how South Korea's president [Yoon Suk Yeol] planned a military takeover, then blew it.... Those involved [in the plot] hatched bold plans, often over meals at a safe house inside a heavily guarded government compound and at a burger chain outlet, to incapacitate the National Assembly and arrest Mr. Yoon's critics, according to some of the people involved in the discussions and prosecutors. They would cut off electricity and water to unfriendly newspapers and TV stations, seize a YouTube channel highly critical of Mr. Yoon and raid the National Election Commission (which right-wing conspiracy theorists claimed had manipulated parliamentary election results against Mr. Yoon's party). Few saw it coming, and Mr. Yoon and his allies came close to achieving the unthinkable. Soldiers swiftly took over the election commission, while elite troops and police officers laid siege to the Assembly. But when they met a wall of ordinary South Koreans who had raced there to block them, the soldiers relented. Rather than dragging people away or preparing for combat, they left their weapons unloaded. Some bowed in apology and even hugged angry citizens. Mr. Yoon's plan collapsed...." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Something for Trump, Hegseth, Gabbard, et al., to study so they won't make the same mistakes. One thing they are doing right now is purging as many honorable top brass as they can. The trick might be to quietly assemble enough "loyal" rank-and-file troops to carry out a coup.

U.K. Anna Mikhailova of the Daily Mail: "Britain must develop a 'Four Eyes' intelligence sharing alliance in response to Donald Trump's actions over Ukraine, defence sources have said. The US President's 'unprecedented' decision to block allies, including the UK, from giving Ukraine US-generated classified material that could benefit the eastern European country has sparked calls for a breakaway group. Mr Trump used his powers as part of the 'Five Eyes' alliance of the US, Britain, Australia, Canada and New Zealand to suspend intelligence to Kyiv.... Former British ambassador to Washington Sir David Manning ... told MPs last week: 'Clearly, if you have some Trump supporters in these key jobs who have very strange track records and have said very strange things about Nato allies and the Nato alliance and you have people in the administration who seem to be looking for ways of appeasing Russia, then you have a problem on the intelligence front. That is a big question mark against how the special relationship is sustained during the Trump administration.'" MB: Remember, it's the Daily Mail.

The Conversation -- March 9, 2025

~~~ Dan Diamond of the Washington Post: "Donald Trump entered the White House having promised -- to finally end the practice of 'springing forward' and 'falling back.'... Today, roughly two-thirds of Americans want to end the clock changes, polls show. But even those Americans don't agree on what should come next.... 'I assume people would like to have more light later, but some people want to have more light earlier because they don't want to take their kids to school in the dark,' Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Thursday. 'And it's very much, it's a little bit one way, but it's very much a 50-50 issue.'... Political leaders also say they are grappling with whether the nation should permanently move the clocks forward one hour, an idea championed by lawmakers on the coasts who say it would allow for more sunshine during the winter, or remain on year-round standard time, which is favored by neurologists who say it aligns with our circadian rhythms. That decision would rest with Congress, not the president." ~~~

~~~ Aaron Steckelberg & Lindsey Bever of the Washington Post: "In 2022, lawmakers in the Senate voted to make daylight saving time permanent, but the legislation provoked backlash and the effort has stalled. Sleep experts warn that a permanent change could chronically throw our bodies out of sync with the sun and lead to a variety of health problems." The article attempts to explain why that is.

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Canada. Matina Stevis-Gridneff of the New York Times: "Amid a generational crisis in Canada's relationship with the United States, the Liberal Party of Canada on Sunday chose an unelected technocrat with deep experience in financial markets to replace Justin Trudeau as party leader and the country's prime minister, and to take on ... [Donald] Trump. Mark Carney, 59, who steered the Bank of Canada through the 2008 global financial crisis and the Bank of England through Brexit, but who has never been elected to office, won a leadership race on Sunday against his friend and former finance minister, Chrystia Freeland. He won a stunning 85.9 percent of the votes cast by Liberal Party members. More than 150,000 people voted, according to the party's leaders. 'America is not Canada. And Canada never, ever, will be part of America in any way, shape or form,' Mr. Carney said in his acceptance speech on Sunday evening to an electric crowd of party faithful, directly addressing Mr. Trump's constant threat that he wants to make Canada the 51st state. 'We didn't ask for this fight, but Canadians are always ready when someone else drops the gloves.'... Because Mr. Carney does not hold a seat in Parliament, he is expected to call federal elections soon after being sworn in as prime minister."

Marie: Here's a border I can live with. Thanks to RAS for the link. ~~~

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Marie: Have you wondered if your worries that Trump would establish a fascist state were overblown and melodramatic? They were not: ~~~

~~~ Perry Stein & Salvador Rizzo of the Washington Post: "The Justice Department has removed top national security officials as part of a widespread purge of senior career leaders across the law enforcement agency.... The transferring of at least three national security officials amounts to a complete gutting of leadership in the highly sensitive National Security Division, which is charged with working with the FBI and other intelligence agencies to protect the nation from threats. It is unclear if the national security officials were provided a reason for their removals. They were technically not fired, with at least some of them being transferred to other parts of the Justice Department in less desirable positions.... The removals -- which come after a multiple ousters of senior Justice officials on Friday -- reflect the Trump administration's effort to push out experienced career officials from nonpartisan roles at the Justice Department, likely paving the way for ... Donald Trump and his allies to install people in these traditionally nonpartisan positions who align ideologically with the president.... The national security officials had decades of experience across multiple Republican and Democratic administrations, leaving a vacuum of experience in the division.... (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: This suggests to me that Trump is planning to do things that will threaten national security in a manner that would cause these officials to try to hinder his efforts. Trump can't carry out his corrupt and treasonous plans without the aid of a fascistic infrastructure.

Josh Kovansky of TPM: "The Trump White House has taken its attempt to seize direct control over the entire executive branch to a new level and laid out a startling legal rationale for the move in a previously unreported email.... If successful, Trump would be making a dramatic end run around the Senate's advice and consent power for certain appointed positions.... The email ... contains the broadest assertion of presidential power over independent agencies [like the NLRB & the FEC] yet made by the second Trump administration. In it, Trent Morse, deputy assistant to the President and deputy director of presidential personnel at the White House, stakes out a legal position that would undercut the Senate's power to confirm new officers at agencies like USADF [U.S African Development Foundation], experts say. Trump, Morse asserted, would have the 'inherent authority under Article II' to appoint acting officials without going through the Senate's process of advice and consent." Moreover, it appears that, under Morse's rationale, the "acting" officials could continue to "act" throughout the president*'s term. Thanks to RAS for the lead.

Laura Strickler, et al., of NBC News: "Health and Human Services employees were offered voluntary buyouts to resign from their jobs on Friday night, according to a person who received the email and an administration official. The agency's approximately 80,000 employees received an unsigned email Friday night offering them a 'voluntary separation incentive payment [of $25,000],' with a deadline to respond set for Friday, March 14."

One Way or Another, They're Gonna Find Ya. Jeff Stein & Dan Diamond of the Washington Post: "The Department of Health and Human Services has granted associates of the U.S. DOGE Service access to a sensitive child support database with troves of income data, overriding the objections of career employees.... The government database -- created to help enforce child support payments and overseen by the Administration for Children and Families..., contains substantial amounts of personal income data linked to nearly all U.S. workers.... An HHS official confirmed that DOGE received access to the system, saying that DOGE's agents sought 'read-only access' to the system and were required 'to take all necessary trainings' before being granted permission to use it.... The Internal Revenue Service's career staff has resisted DOGE's request for access to taxpayer records, which are protected by federal law, but the child support database could provide another way for DOGE to obtain similar information." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Then there's this. The Trumpies keep getting creepier. ~~~

     ~~~ Julia Ainsley & Jonathan Allen of NBC News: "The Department of Homeland Security has begun performing polygraph tests on employees to determine who might be leaking information to the media about immigration operations, according to four sources familiar with the practice.... Border czar Tom Homan and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem have blamed lower-than-expected ICE arrest numbers on recent leaks revealing the cities where it planned to conduct operations." According to the story, the Department has used polygraphs in the past; for instance, for screening job applicants.

Raymond Zhong, et al., of the New York Times: "The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the nation's premier agency for weather and climate science, has been told by the Trump administration to prepare to lose another 1,000 workers, raising concerns that NOAA's lifesaving forecasts might be hindered as hurricane and disaster season approaches. The new dismissals would come in addition to the roughly 1,300 NOAA staff members who have already resigned or been laid off in recent weeks. The moves have alarmed scientists, meteorologists and others at the agency, which includes the National Weather Service. Some activities, including the launching of weather balloons, have already been suspended because of staffing shortages. Together, the reductions would represent nearly 20 percent of NOAA's approximately 13,000-member work force. The recent employee departures have already affected NOAA's operations in many realms: predicting hurricanes and tornadoes, overseeing fisheries and endangered species, monitoring the changes that humans are bringing about to Earth's climate and ecosystems." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Aw, c'mon. Who needs NOAA? Why, president* with a sharpie can forecast the weather. It's easy to see why Trump went bankrupt so many times: he has no idea how to plan for contingencies, no idea even what he needs to plan ahead. He's like those (apocryphal?) primitive people who have no concept of any timeframe except the present. Couple that with his narcissism, and disaster is inevitable.

Christine Fernando of the AP: "The country's preeminent federal fire training academy canceled classes, effective immediately, on Saturday amid the ongoing flurry of funding freezes and staffing cuts by ... Donald Trump's administration. The Federal Emergency Management Agency announced that National Fire Academy courses were canceled amid a 'process of evaluating agency programs and spending to ensure alignment with Administration priorities,' according to a notice sent to instructors, students and fire departments. Instructors were told to cancel all future travel until further notice. Firefighters, EMS providers and other first responders from across the country travel to the NFA's Maryland campus for the federally funded institution's free training programs. 'The NFA is a powerhouse for the fire service,' said Marc Bashoor, a former Maryland fire chief and West Virginia emergency services director....'It's not a "nice to have."... If we want to continue to have one of the premier fire services in the world, we need to have the National Fire Academy.'" ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Wouldn't it be better to stop wildfires altogether by vacuuming the forest floor and turning on the big spigots?

Roni Rabin & Nicholas Nehamas of the New York Times: "While Trump administration officials have promised to preserve core patient services, initial cuts at the V.A. have nonetheless spawned chaotic ripple effects. They have disrupted studies involving patients awaiting experimental treatments, forced some facilities to fire support staff and created uncertainty amid the mass cancellation, and partial reinstatement, of hundreds of contracts targeted by Mr. Musk's Department of Government Efficiency.... [The V.A.] is in many ways a natural target for reform -- a bureaucratic behemoth with roughly 480,000 employees, some 90,000 contracts and a documented history of scandals and waste. But it also treats 9.1 million veterans, provides critical medical research and, according to some studies, offers care that is comparable to or better than many private health systems. Even Project 2025 ... said the V.A. had transformed into 'one of the most respected U.S. agencies.' The V.A. is also one of the most politically sensitive departments in the government, serving a constituency courted heavily by Republicans...."

Kevin Freking of the AP: "House Republicans unveiled a spending bill Saturday that would keep federal agencies funded through Sept. 30, pushing ahead with a go-it-alone strategy that seems certain to spark a major confrontation with Democrats over the contours of government spending. The 99-page bill would provide a slight boost to defense programs while trimming nondefense programs below 2024 budget year levels. That approach is likely to be a nonstarter for most Democrats who have long insisted that defense and nondefense spending move in the same direction. Congress must act by midnight Friday to avoid a partial government shutdown. Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., is teeing up the bill for a vote on Tuesday despite the lack of buy-in from Democrats, essentially daring them to vote against it and risk a shutdown. He also is betting that Republicans can muscle the legislation through the House largely by themselves." (Also linked yesterday.)

Pranshu Verma & Trisha Thadani of the Washington Post: "Since ... Donald Trump's inauguration, more than a dozen violent or destructive acts have been directed at Tesla facilities.... The incidents come as Elon Musk has rocketed to prominence as Trump's best-known backer and as a conservative provocateur in his own right. The ire directed at the tech billionaire online has increasingly spilled into real life, with vandalism directed at Tesla storefronts, charging stations and vehicles.... The destruction adds to the woes of a carmaker already in turmoil. Its stock has fallen by more than 35 percent since Trump's inauguration, and last year, the company suffered its first annual sales drop in more than a decade." The report outlines several incidents. (Also linked yesterday.) A CBS News report is here. ~~~

~~~ Trump properties are getting a share, too. In yesterday's Comments, RAS linked to images of the defacement of the entrance sign to a Trump gulf club in Virginia and to the Trump club in Turnberry, Scotland. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Peter Stubley of the Sunday Times: "Pro-Palestinian protesters have vandalised one of Donald Trump's golf courses in Scotland by digging up the greens and spray painting the club house. The Palestine Action group said that they had targeted the iconic Turnberry resort ... in response to the US president's plan to turn Gaza into the 'riviera of the Middle East'."

Maegan Vazquez & Jada Yuan of the Washington Post: "Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, the 2024 Democratic vice-presidential nominee, has some thoughts about how last year's election played out for his party: Democrats did not take enough risks, didn't engage enough with undecided voters, were too cautious with the press and didn't produce a message that resonated with voters." ~~~

     ~~~ Elena Schneider of Politico interviewed Walz about the campaign.

The Conversation -- March 8, 2025

Marie: Have you wondered if your worries that Trump would establish a fascist state were overblown and melodramatic? They were not: ~~~

~~~ Perry Stein & Salvador Rizzo of the Washington Post: "The Justice Department has removed top national security officials as part of a widespread purge of senior career leaders across the law enforcement agency.... The transferring of at least three national security officials amounts to a complete gutting of leadership in the highly sensitive National Security Division, which is charged with working with the FBI and other intelligence agencies to protect the nation from threats. It is unclear if the national security officials were provided a reason for their removals. They were technically not fired, with at least some of them being transferred to other parts of the Justice Department in less desirable positions.... The removals -- which come after a multiple ousters of senior Justice officials on Friday -- reflect the Trump administration's effort to push out experienced career officials from nonpartisan roles at the Justice Department, likely paving the way for ... Donald Trump and his allies to install people in these traditionally nonpartisan positions who align ideologically with the president.... The national security officials had decades of experience across multiple Republican and Democratic administrations...." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: This suggests to me that Trump is planning to threaten national security in a manner that would cause these officials to try to hinder his efforts. Trump can't carry out his corrupt and treasonous plans without the assistance of a fascistic infrastructure.

One Way or Another, They're Gonna Find Ya. Jeff Stein & Dan Diamond of the Washington Post: "The Department of Health and Human Services has granted associates of the U.S. DOGE Service access to a sensitive child support database with troves of income data, overriding the objections of career employees.... The government database -- created to help enforce child support payments and overseen by the Administration for Children and Families, or ACF -- contains substantial amounts of personal income data linked to nearly all U.S. workers.... An HHS official confirmed that DOGE received access to the system, saying that DOGE's agents sought 'read-only access' to the system and were required 'to take all necessary trainings' before being granted permission to use it.... The Internal Revenue Service's career staff has resisted DOGE's request for access to taxpayer records, which are protected by federal law, but the child support database could provide another way for DOGE to obtain similar information."

Kevin Freking of the AP: "House Republicans unveiled a spending bill Saturday that would keep federal agencies funded through Sept. 30, pushing ahead with a go-it-alone strategy that seems certain to spark a major confrontation with Democrats over the contours of government spending. The 99-page bill would provide a slight boost to defense programs while trimming nondefense programs below 2024 budget year levels. That approach is likely to be a nonstarter for most Democrats who have long insisted that defense and nondefense spending move in the same direction. Congress must act by midnight Friday to avoid a partial government shutdown. Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., is teeing up the bill for a vote on Tuesday despite the lack of buy-in from Democrats, essentially daring them to vote against it and risk a shutdown. He also is betting that Republicans can muscle the legislation through the House largely by themselves."

Pranshu Verma & Trisha Thadani of the Washington Post: "Since ... Donald Trump's inauguration, more than a dozen violent or destructive acts have been directed at Tesla facilities, according to court documents, surveillance photographs, police records and local media reports.... The incidents come as Elon Musk has rocketed to prominence as Trump's best-known backer and as a conservative provocateur in his own right. The ire directed at the tech billionaire online has increasingly spilled into real life, with vandalism directed at Tesla storefronts, charging stations and vehicles.... The destruction adds to the woes of a carmaker already in turmoil. Its stock has fallen by more than 35 percent since Trump's inauguration, and last year, the company suffered its first annual sales drop in more than a decade." The report outlines several incidents. ~~~

     ~~~ Trump properties are getting a share, too. In today's Comments, RAS linked to images of the defacement of the entrance sign to a Trump gulf club in Virginia and to the Trump club in Turnberry, Scotland.

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From the Washington Post's live updates of something Trumpy comes a surprise: "... Donald Trump said Friday that he is considering imposing 'large scale' sanctions on Russia to pressure the country into a ceasefire and peace deal with Ukraine. Trump's warning in a social media post followed Russia's first major missile attack against Ukraine since the Trump administration paused intelligence-sharing with the embattled country. The post marked a shift in rhetoric for Trump, who has been more sympathetic in recent weeks to Russia as he seeks to end the war." MB: Yes, and it's probably just that: rhetoric. (Also linked yesterday.)~~~

     ~~~⭐Update. Ali Bianco & Robbie Gramer of Politico: "Donald Trump said he believes Russian President Vladimir Putin wants peace, speaking positively about the Russian leader Friday just hours after issuing a threat of sanctions and tariffs.... After signaling earlier Friday that Russia could see economic consequences for bombing Ukraine, Trump said Putin is 'doing what anybody else would do.' 'I believe him,' Trump said Friday when asked by reporters in the Oval Office if he believed Putin still wanted peace. 'I think we're doing very well with Russia, and right now they're bombing the hell out of Ukraine. I'm finding it more difficult, frankly, to deal with Ukraine.'" MB: One might conclude that after Trump's early-morning threats, Putin got word to him to back the hell off. And Trump complied. See also stories linked under "Ukraine, et al." below. ~~~

~~~ The Collaborator. Mark Mazzetti of the New York Times: "The relationship between Mr. Trump and Mr. Putin has for years been scrutinized by American government inquiries, assessments by foreign intelligence services and news media investigations. Taken together, they have unearthed evidence to support an array of theories addressing Mr. Trump's affinity for a Russian strongman who has spent a career trying to undermine American interests.... But based solely on Mr. Trump's public actions during his first six weeks back in office, the simple fact is that he has made few decisions on national security or foreign policy that have not been cheered by the Kremlin, making his stance toward Mr. Putin more consequential than ever.... Mr. Putin has spent years trying to shape Mr. Trump's thinking on Ukraine, and there is now little daylight between both men's public statements about the war."

Erica Green of the New York Times: "Since storming back into office, Mr. Trump has used a dizzying rhetorical tactic of shifting positions like quicksand, muddying his messages and contradicting himself, sometimes in the same day. The inconsistencies have presented the American public with dueling narratives at every turn, allowing people to pick and choose what they want to believe about the president's intentions. Mr. Trump has long dealt in distortions and lies, including in his first term. But as he executes a much more aggressive agenda at home and abroad, his contradictions have become more brazen and more pronounced." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: An embarrassment of riches. Green cites numerous examples, but she doesn't even mention the one cited above, where in the same day Trump threatened to sanction Russia for its recent attack on Ukraine, then backed Russia for its recent attack on Ukraine.

Matina Stevis-Gridneff of the New York Times: "After ... [Donald] Trump imposed tariffs on Canada on Tuesday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made an extraordinary statement.... 'The excuse that he's giving for these tariffs today of fentanyl is completely bogus, completely unjustified, completely false,' Mr. Trudeau told the news media in Ottawa. 'What he wants is to see a total collapse of the Canadian economy, because that'll make it easier to annex us,' he added. This is the story of how Mr. Trudeau went from thinking Mr. Trump was joking when he referred to him as 'governor' and Canada as 'the 51st state' in early December to publicly stating that Canada's closest ally and neighbor was implementing a strategy of crushing the country in order to take it over." Read on. In one February phone call, Trump "told Mr. Trudeau that he did not believe that the [1908] treaty that demarcates the border between the two countries was valid and that he wants to revise the boundary. He offered no further explanation.... Mr. Trump also mentioned revisiting the sharing of lakes and rivers between the two nations, which is regulated by a number of treaties...." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: BTW, Trump has not been studying up on U.S./Canada treaties executed over the past century-plus. He is getting advice from his wingnut crew (Peter Navarro?? Howard Lutnick??) and feeding it into the phone.

Marie: Guess who retweeted the "We Are Canadian" ad embedded yesterday: the science explainer who can say this. Definitely not the science explainer who says this: "You know what uranium is, right? This thing called nuclear weapons like lots of things are done with uranium including some bad things." This guy. Not this guy. (Also linked yesterday.)

Danielle Douglas-Gabriel of the Washington Post: "... Donald Trump issued an executive order Friday directing his education secretary to revise eligibility requirements for Public Service Loan Forgiveness. The program forgives a portion of the education debt held by people who work in the government and certain nonprofit jobs for a decade. Trump wants to exclude organizations that he says support 'illegal immigration, human smuggling, child trafficking, pervasive damage to public property and disruption of the public order.'... The order takes aim at nonprofit organizations that it says support gender-transition care for minors, engage in public protests ... or fund groups that are designated as foreign terrorist organizations. As it stands, nonprofit employees are eligible for student loan forgiveness if they focus on areas that serve the public good, such as education, public health or public interest law. According to the Education Department, there are more than 2 million people with eligible employment.... Trump's order runs counter to [Education Secretary Linda] McMahon's pledge to Congress during her confirmation hearing, where she said that she would uphold the loan forgiveness program."

Susan Svrluga, et al., of the Washington Post: "The Trump administration said Friday it was cutting off about $400 million in federal contracts and grants to Columbia University, saying the school has failed to protect Jewish students from antisemitism on campus. The administration took action just four days after announcing that several federal agencies were investigating Columbia. The school has been in the spotlight since last academic year when pro-Palestinian protesters erected tents on lawns at the center of the university's Morningside Heights campus in Manhattan, and refused to take them down, in protest of the Israel-Gaza war.... Cutting off funding is rare, and when it happens, it typically follows a lengthy investigation and judicial review." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Countries run by petty dictators, like outs, do not take action based on "lengthy investigations and judicial reviews."

Eric Lipton of the New York Times: "The Trump administration has eased security requirements for some of the Boeing staff working on building new Air Force One jets, as part of an effort pushed by ... [Donald] Trump and Elon Musk to hasten the delayed project. The change means that certain mechanics and others working on less sensitive parts of the planes or their components will not be required to get a special high-level security clearance, a process that has slowed Boeing's ability to hire required staff for the job. Those working on the Air Force One project will still be required to get security clearance, but some will no longer need to have the so-called Yankee White clearance, which applies to White House staff members whooften come in close contact with the president." (Also linked yesterday.)

Jonathan Swan and Maggie Haberman of the New York Times go inside Thursday's hastily-called Cabinet meeting, where not all was well. Musk must got into it with Marco Rubio, who said Musk was not truthful. Musk also battled with Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy whom Musk said was lying. Musk "aggressively defended himself,reminding the cabinet secretaries that he had built multiple billion-dollar companies from the ground up and knew something about hiring good people." (Also linked yesterday.) A Politico story is here. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Musk's defense is that he is guy who got rich by investing in big companies that hire people. See Paul Krugman, linked yesterday, on this. Dr. Burns' diagnosis: Musk is just screaming that he is suffering from a type of Dunning-Kruger syndrome sometimes called "ultracrepidarianism": giving advice and opinions on matters outside one's own field of knowledge. Second opinions welcomed. But he definitely needs help. I'd recommend complete rest in an isolated location with no means of communicating with the outside world.

     ~~~ As for Musk's "knowing something about hiring people," in the last few weeks, he's amply proved he's bad at it. His little team of Muskovites running roughshod over the federal government have proved again and again they're comically (and dangerously!) incompetent -- unless their only instruction was destruction. In the linked article, Swan & Haberman write that Musk told Duffy that "air traffic controllers need to be 'geniuses.'" No, they don't. Obviously, they must be smart, but "genius" is not part of the array of traits an air traffic controller needs. Rather, she must be able to problem-solve quickly, make decisions at warp speed, communicate effectively & do all this in extremely high-stress, life-and-death situations. "Nerves of steel" are far more important than a super-high IQ.

     ~~~ Never Mind. Gosh, it turns out there was nothing to see here, after all. AFP: "... asked by reporters on Friday about the reported dispute..., [Trump] dismissed it, declaring: 'No clash. I was there.' He went on to insist of Musk and Rubio 'they're both doing a fantastic job ... they both get along fantastically well.'"

About Those Transgender Mice. Kiona Smith in Forbes: "During his State of the Union address on March 4, Donald Trump alleged that the Biden administration had spent $8 million 'for making mice transgender.' It turns out that the bizarre line from Trump's speech was actually about the use of transgenic mice to study the safety of hormone treatments often given to transgender people (and that, not the use of mice, is what the administration objects to). Transgenic mice are mice with modified DNA, which biomedical researchers use to study how genes impact disease and health, or how human diseases and organs might respond to medications.... All six grants [in that $8 million citation] actually focused on the safety of various hormone treatments, not on whether it was possible to make mice transgender.... The total amount of these grants was listed as $8,290,053 -- about a millionth of a percent of total federal spending in fiscal year 2024...." MB: Other than making a mistake in her lede (Trump's speech before the joint session was not a SOTU address), Smith's report seems to be the most accurate of several I've read on the Great Transgender Mice Scandal. ~~~

~~~ About Al Green's Cane. Michael Luciano of Mediaite: "Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) suggested that the Black lawmaker who yelled at ... Donald Trump during a joint address to Congress is a 'pimp.'... In a speech to Congress in 2022, Boebert repeatedly interrupted Biden by shouting from her seat. Appearing on the far-right Real America's Voice News, Boebert said her behavior was different from Green's.... 'And they just got that one image and acted like we [she and MTG] completely disrupted the State of the Union. But Al Green was given multiple opportunities to stand down, to sit down, to behave, to show decorum. And he did not.' She added, '[F]or him to go and shake his pimp cane at President Trump was absolutely abhorrent.'" ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: I noticed how nice Green's cane was, and I'm thinking of getting one like it. For Miss Boebert's edification, Green's cane has a "Derby handle," named for Edward Smith-Stanley, the 13th Earl of Derby, a 19th-century politician & statesman who developed the handle style as it was comfortable & looked elegant. But Lord Derby is best-known for initiating sweepstakes for three-year-old horses. They're now known as derbies -- as in the Derby Stakes at Epson Downs & the Kentucky Derby. Have a mint julip & STFU, Lauren.

Trump Further Weakens U.S. Edward Wong & Mark Mazzetti of the New York Times: "Senior State Department officials have drawn up plans to close a dozen consulates overseas by this summer and are considering shutting down many more missions, in what could be a blow to the U.S. government's efforts to build partnerships and gather intelligence, American officials say. The department also plans to lay off many local citizens who work for its hundreds of missions. Those workers make up two-thirds of the agency's work force, and in many countries they form the foundation of U.S. diplomats'; knowledge of their environments. The shrinking is part of both President Trump's larger slashing of the federal government and his 'America First' foreign policy, in which the United States ends or curtails once-important ways of exercising global influence, including through democracy, human rights and aid work. The moves come at a time when China, the main rival of America, has overtaken the United States in number of global diplomatic posts....

"Any broad shutdowns of missions, especially entire embassies, would hinder the work of large parts of the federal government and potentially compromise U.S. national security. Embassies house officers from the military, intelligence, law enforcement, health, commerce, trade, treasury and other agencies, all of whom monitor developments in the host nation and work with local officials to counter everything from terrorism to infectious disease to collapsing currencies." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Apoorva Mandavilli of the New York Times: "The Trump administration's pause on foreign aid has hobbled programs that prevent and snuff out outbreaks around the world, scientists say, leaving people everywhere more vulnerable to dangerous pathogens.... Outbreaks that begin overseas can travel quickly.... In interviews, more than 30 current and former officials of the United States Agency for International Development, members of health organizations and experts in infectious diseases described a world made more perilous than it was just a few weeks ago.... The timing is dire: The Democratic Republic of Congo is experiencing the deadliest mpox outbreak in history, with cases exploding in a dozen other African countries. The United States is home to a worsening bird flu crisis. Multiple hemorrhagic fever viruses are smoldering: Ebola in Uganda, Marburg in Tanzania, and Lassa in Nigeria and Sierra Leone."

More Politically-Motivated Firings at DOJ. Devlin Barrett & William Rashbaum of the New York Times: "The Trump administration on Friday forced out a handful of senior Justice Department officials, further thinning the ranks of career officials who help guide the agency.... The ouster of lawyers managing the Justice Department's pardon work, bankruptcy litigation and other legal issues marks the latest move by the new administration to remove or reassign senior officials with many years of experience. The official overseeing the Office of Professional Responsibility, which handles internal ethics investigations, was also removed from that role, though he was placed on administrative leave.... Sidelining the head of the Office of Professional Responsibility was particularly alarming to a number of current and former officials because there are a host of legal ethics challenges being raised about senior department officials, including Emil Bove, a former defense lawyer for Mr. Trump who now works for ... the newly confirmed deputy attorney general, Todd Blanche, [another] former criminal defense lawyer for Mr. Trump." ~~~

~~~ Aaron Katersky & Katherine Faulders of ABC News: "The Justice Department on Friday put three federal prosecutors in Manhattan on leave.... Two of the prosecutors -- Andrew Rohrbach and Celia Cohen -- worked on the prosecution of New York City Mayor Eric Adams.... The third individual placed on leave -- a member of the office's civil division -- posted about Elon Musk and Ed Martin, a leader of the Stop the Steal movement and ... Donald Trump's nominee for U.S. attorney in Washington, D.C., the sources said." ~~~

     ~~~ Ryan Reilly & Tom Winter of NBC News: "Two federal prosecutors in the Southern District of New York who worked on the case against New York City Mayor Eric Adams were placed on leave Friday and escorted out of the building by federal law enforcement officials.... Andrew Rohrbach and Celia Cohen were the prosecutors placed on administrative leave on Friday. The departures came a day after Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche was sworn in following confirmation by the Senate this week. Law enforcement sources said that Rohrbach and Cohen were given letters signed by Blanche." MB: IOW, a former Trump personal lawyer has federal prosecutors muscled out of their offices because they had brought criminal charges against someone Trump now happens to find useful. We must stop pretending we live in a country guided by laws and rights. That's over, at least for the foreseeable future.

Rebecca Santana & Michael Sisak of the AP: "The Department of Homeland Security said Friday that it is ending the collective bargaining agreement with the tens of thousands of frontline employees at the Transportation Security Administration, marking a major effort to dismantle union protections under the Trump administration. The TSA union called it on 'unprovoked attack' and vowed to fight it. The department criticized the union whose staffers are responsible for keeping weapons off airplanes and protecting air travel. Officials said that poor performers were being allowed to stay on the job and that the agreement was hindering the ability of the organization 'to safeguard our transportation systems and keep Americans safe.'..."

Alexander Tin of CBS News: "Federal health agencies oppose the use of bird flu vaccines in poultry right now, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said.... The Trump administration has been considering poultry vaccination as it seeks to combat the outbreak that is fueling a record surge in egg prices.... 'There's no indication that those vaccines actually provide sterilizing immunity and all three of my health agencies, NIH, CDC, and FDA, the acting heads of those agencies have all recommended against the use of the bird flu vaccine,' Kennedy said in an interview on Fox News.... Vaccines are rarely able to offer ... protection that completely stops infections and spread..., though the USDA said last month it would step up investments in 'potential new generation vaccines' with better protection. Kennedy's remarks mark a sharp turn from the Biden administration, multiple former officials said. Biden officials from the health and agriculture departments had wrestled extensively with calls to roll out vaccines for animals as outbreaks mounted on farms nationwide. It was concerns from agriculture officials, not human health officials, that ultimately blocked plans to roll out vaccines [during Biden's administration].... Daniel Perez, chair in poultry medicine at the University of Georgia..., warned that another idea floated by Trump administration officials could pose a far greater risk [than vaccinating chickens]: relying on immunity from poultry surviving bird flu infections." ~~~

     ~~~ But not to worry! Trump & the Trumpettes solve all problems! Earlier this week ~~~

     ~~~ Ed Mazza of the Huffington Post (republished in Yahoo! News March 4): "'People are sort of looking around thinking, "Wow, well maybe I can get a chicken in my backyard," and it's awesome,' Rollins told Fox & Friends Weekend host Rachel Campos-Duffy. The agriculture secretary, who was sworn in last month to the position in ... Donald Trump's cabinet, added she has her own backyard chickens.... 'We also want to make it easier for families to raise backyard chickens,' she wrote [in a WSJ op-ed] as she explained her five-part plan to reduce egg prices.... OSU Extension livestock specialist Dana Zook told USA Today that eggs would need to cost $10 a dozen for three years before a backyard coop with eight hens would pay off." AND as one BlueSky butterfly Mazza cites wrote, "Nothing halts avian influenza quicker than the unchecked, unlicensed, unregulated backyard chickens" MB PS: Keeping it all in the family. If that "Duffy" in the "Campos-Duffy" sounds familiar to you, yes, Rachel there is the wife of Trump's Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy.

Huh. Amudalat Ajasa of the Washington Post: "Less than a month after placing the entire staff of the Office of Environmental Justice and External Civil Rights on administrative leave, the Environmental Protection Agency has reinstated dozens of employees in offices across the country.... The about-face comes after a number of high-profile staffing reversals across the government.... The reversal came, according to one of the employees, because their role involved tasks that are required by law."

A president who touts an image of himself as a 'king' or a 'dictator,' perhaps as his vision of effective leadership, fundamentally misapprehends the role under Article II of the U.S. Constitution. -- Judge Beryl Howell, in a ruling rebuking Donald Trump for firing a member of the NLRB ~~~

~~~ Chris Cameron & Rebecca O'Brien of the New York Times: "A federal judge on Thursday reinstated Gwynne Wilcox, a Democratic member of the National Labor Relations Board, declaring that ... [Donald] Trump's attempt to fire her was unlawful. The ruling, which the Trump administration immediately moved to appeal, was a rebuke of Mr. Trump's expansive view of executive power and his efforts to establish presidential control over agencies designed by Congress to be independent from the White House. Judge Beryl A. Howell, appointed to the Federal District Court in Washington by President Barack Obama, excoriated Mr. Trump's vision of unchecked authority in her 36-page ruling...." (Also linked yesterday.)

Katie Mettler of the Washington Post: "Twenty Democratic attorneys general have sued the Trump administration in federal court and filed for a temporary restraining order against nearly two dozen federal agencies, arguing that the mass layoffs of thousands of federal probationary employees in recent weeks were conducted illegally [and posed hardships on the states]. The lawsuit and restraining order request, filed in U.S. District Court in Maryland on Thursday and Friday, call for a federal judge to halt the planned layoffs of federal probationary workers and reinstate those who have already been fired.... The parallel legal actions are among the latest in dozens of federal complaints from attorneys generals and private groups across the country aiming to claw back or reverse the White House's executive actions since ... [Donald] Trump took office Jan. 20." The AP report is here.

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Maine. Joe Lawlor the the Portland Press Herald: "The Social Security Administration reversed course Friday, rescinding a directive that required Maine parents of newborns to register their children at Social Security offices instead of filling out a form at the hospital. The mandate was widely panned as being cumbersome, unfair and inefficient, and would have caused some parents to have to drive hours for an appointment to get a Social Security number for their child. The directive also would have terminated electronic filing of death records at funeral homes. Acting Social Security Administration Commissioner Lee Dudek issued a public apology letter Friday, less than one day after the change was first reported by the Press Herald and Lewiston Sun Journal.... The federal agency ... did not provide any explanation [as to why earlier this week] ... it had canceled the contracts allowing new parents to fill out a form at a hospital and also register deaths electronically.... Maine was the only state affected by the change, fueling suspicions that it was part of a retaliation campaign. The whiplash of the program being ended and then reinstated comes on the heels of a public fight between ... Donald Trump and Maine Gov. Janet Mills." Thanks to RAS for the link to the original story (which has since been updated) & to rlp for the lead to this Press Herald follow-up.

South Carolina. Eduardo Medina of the New York Times: "The state of South Carolina executed a convicted murderer by firing squad on Friday night in the first such execution in the United States since 2010. The inmate, Brad Sigmon, 67, was declared dead at 6:08 p.m. after a firing squad shot three bullets at the target placed over his heart, the State Department of Corrections said."

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Ukraine, et al. Simon Shuster of Time: "The U.S. decision to suspend the flow of military intelligence to Ukraine this week has aided the Russian advance along a critical part of the front, weakening the negotiating position of President Volodymyr Zelensky and killing many Ukrainian soldiers in recent days, according to five senior Western and Ukrainian officials and military officers familiar with the situation. 'As a result of this pause, there are hundreds of dead Ukrainians,' one of the officers told TIME in an interview on Friday in Kyiv.... The Ukrainians have lost the ability to detect the approach of Russian bombers and other warplanes as they take off inside Russia. As a result, Ukraine has less time to warn civilians and military personnel about the risk of an approaching airstrike or missile.... The loss of U.S. intelligence has also hurt the ability of Ukrainian forces to launch long- and intermediate-range strikes against Russian targets.... Adding to the Ukrainian sense of abandonment, the group of Western 'partners' who helped receive and process satellite intelligence at the military headquarters in Kyiv have departed...."

Siobhan O'Grady & Kostiantyn Khudov of the Washington Post: "... the Ukrainian president is scrambling to restore ties with Washington as the White House ramps up pressure for a quick end to the war with Russia.... Since the Oval Office blowup [a week ago Friday], Trump has postponed signing a mineral deal with Kyiv, paused military support to its armed forces and further limited intelligence-sharing with its government -- moves that only help Russia on the battlefield. His entourage, meanwhile, has used the opening to start conversations with Zelensky's domestic political rivals, a move that could undermine his leadership as they raise the controversial question of holding wartime elections, which under martial law would violate the country's constitution. Put together, the heated argument and its aftermath have fueled widespread anger in Ukraine toward Washington...."

Kim Barker of the New York Times: "Russian strikes killed 20 people in the war-torn eastern Ukrainian region of Donetsk on Friday night, a sign that Moscow is stepping up bombardments of cities critical for Ukrainian logistics and support and taking advantage of Washington's decision to pause military aid and intelligence sharing with Kyiv.... On Friday, the Washington-based Institute for the Study of War posted a chart showing that Russia had intensified drone and missile strikes on Ukraine after Mr. Trump's inauguration.... On Friday, Mr. Trump was asked by reporters in the Oval Office whether President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia was capitalizing on the void left by the United States' dropping its aid to Ukraine. 'I actually think he's doing what anyone else would do,' Mr. Trump said." MB: I take that as a "yes."

News Lede

New York Times: "Officials said [actor Gene Hackman and his wife Betsy Arakawa] died of natural causes, he of heart disease and she of a rare viral infection. But it was Ms. Arakawa -- the caregiver, lover, protector -- who died first, perhaps on Feb. 11, leaving Mr. Hackman, 95 years old with advanced Alzheimer's, alone in the house for days. He is believed to have died a week later, on Feb. 18. Their decomposing bodies were not discovered for yet another eight days, when a maintenance worker called a security guard to the house after no one came to the door.... Ms. Arakawa died of hantarivus, which is contracted through exposure to excrement from rodents, often the deer mouse in New Mexico."