I’ve written a few times recently about Donald Trump’s ability to stake out and hold territory in the public mind, the public attention span, with threats that he likely (though not certainly) can’t make good on or won’t even have the attention span or care enough to focus on. So he’ll end birthright citizenship or he’ll jail his opponents. Or maybe not. It’s part of his ability to always be taking the initiative on that mutable and uncanny territory where media narratives and old fashioned reality become a common fabric. He acts and keeps acting and his opponents react and keep reacting.
Continue reading “Consistency, Mind Games and Power-Plays in the Brave New World of Weird”North Carolina Gov And Gov-Elect Take Republicans To Court Over Power Grab
The newly elected North Carolina Democratic Gov. Josh Stein and current Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper filed a lawsuit against the GOP-controlled state legislature’s leadership on Thursday evening, over a recently implemented piece of legislation designed to strip power from incoming state level Democrats.
Continue reading “North Carolina Gov And Gov-Elect Take Republicans To Court Over Power Grab”Inside The Plot To Write Birthright Citizenship Out Of The Constitution
At the RNC in July, JD Vance had a message: America is not “an idea,” he said in his speech introducing himself as Donald Trump’s vice presidential pick.
Continue reading “Inside The Plot To Write Birthright Citizenship Out Of The Constitution”The Trump II Destruction Is Already Well Underway
A lot of things happened. Here are some of the things. This is TPM’s Morning Memo. Sign up for the email version.
It’s Already Happening
Since the election, I’ve emphasized to our reporters that we want to focus less on what Trump might do or is threatening to do, and more on what he is actually doing. The main reason for this is to try to break free of the chaos that Trump sets off with each threat, declaration, feint, and emission and focus instead on concrete and tangible actions. But there’s another salutary reason for directing our finite resources to what is actually happening as opposed to what might happen: It is already happening.
Trump II is unfolding before our eyes exactly as Trump promised it would and as experts warned. As you peruse the news items below, you’ll already see plain evidence of the erosion of the rule of law, of governing norms, and of protections against tyrannical rule. I don’t say that for dramatic effect. It’s just a fact that the damage is already being done now, before Trump is even inaugurated and will of course continue after Jan. 20.
Let me try to put it another way.
Forcing out the FBI director and trying to install the likes of Kash Patel is itself destructive. Whatever Patel ends up doing if he is confirmed as FBI director will be next level stuff, icing on the MAGA cake. The same goes for the damage caused by casting his administration like a reality TV show. Putting charlatans in charge is the point. Whatever they do or fail to do is gravy. It’s not as simple as his appointees being unqualified. It’s that their own lack of seriousness mirrors the contempt and lack of regard they have for the institutions they are set to lead. It’s all part of the destructive impulse.
The descent towards a less democratic America isn’t a cliff’s edge we fall over but a steepening slope. We’ve already come down a considerable distance and the speed of the descent is quickening. This is what it looks like. Right now.
Trump’s Corruption Of The FBI
The only reason Trump wants to change FBI directors is he doesn’t think he can boss, bend and break Wray to his will sufficiently, that Wray would not be personally loyal to him in the way that he has wanted his FBI directors to be — and which, institutionally, they’re explicitly not supposed to be. Every single part of that is a dire warning sign about what’s to come under Trump II and what he and Patel intend to do with the bureau.
We’re Not Going To Be Out The Woods For A Long Time
New polling shows many Republicans are okay with Trump ignoring the law to target his enemies.
FAA Chief Resigns
FAA Administrator Mike Whitaker, barely a year into his five-year term, is resigning before Trump takes office.
If the presidential appointees whose terms are longer than the president’s – precisely in order to make them more independent and less susceptible to political interference – keep resigning at the end of the president’s term, then they’re basically turning these positions into the same as those held by any other administration appointee.
‘Personalist Rule’
NYU professor Ruth Ben-Ghiat was on MSNBC the other night talking about FBI Director Chris Wray’s resignation and the broader authoritarian context in which it is happening:
“The core definition of authoritarianism is that the executive overwhelms the other branches of government and all checks on power and the situation of the president, or head of state, are removed,” she said.
“This is actually something called personalist rule. It’s a type of authoritarian where you have a very strong one person […] and the purpose of the party and ultimately government is to solve the legal and financial and other problems of the leader. And so everybody becomes a personal tool to the leader and that’s what is happening now. Everybody is folding to his will,” she said.
Sign Of The Times
The Destruction And Corruption Are Inextricable
WSJ:
The Trump transition team has started to explore pathways to dramatically shrink, consolidate or even eliminate the top bank watchdogs in Washington.
In recent interviews with potential nominees to lead bank regulatory agencies, President-elect Donald Trump’s advisers and officials from his newfound Department of Government Efficiency have, for example, asked whether he could abolish the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., people familiar with the matter said.
Just to be clear: Abolishing the FDIC, which insures bank deposits, would be insane for the banks, too.
Oligarchy Watch
- WSJ: Jeff Bezos’ Amazon Plans to Donate $1 Million to Trump’s Inauguration
- The LAT’s billionaire publisher has effectively spiked another editorial, this one critical of Trump considering bypassing the Senate’s confirmation process for nominees.
- The junior senator from Connecticut, no less:
Fake Oligarch Wannabe?
In an amazing story on Tiffany Trump’s father-in-law, whom her dad picked as his new White House adviser on the Middle East, the NYT suggests he’s not a billionaire as advertised or a lawyer as claimed or even involved in his wife’s family’s company, which had been seen as the source of his wealth.
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Are We Really Supposed To Believe Trump Will Allow A Woman To Carry On His Political Dynasty?
As the Trump family publicly bullies Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis into naming Donald Trump’s daughter-in-law Lara Trump as Sen. Marco Rubio’s (R-FL) replacement should he be confirmed to the Cabinet next year, Trump is publicly doubling down on Lara Trump’s political prospects.
Continue reading “Are We Really Supposed To Believe Trump Will Allow A Woman To Carry On His Political Dynasty?”May The Most Radiant Rodent Win: It’s Time To Vote For The 2024 Golden Duke Awards
It’s a triggering year to ask you to cast ballots again, just about a month out from the bad day. But we promise no election result will be disappointing this time around — because every single bad actor on this list is deserving of whatever they win.
Continue reading “May The Most Radiant Rodent Win: It’s Time To Vote For The 2024 Golden Duke Awards”Dem Senator Denounces Wray’s Resignation: He Should’ve ‘Stayed And Fought’
A handful of Democrats on Capitol Hill criticized FBI Director Christopher Wray on Thursday for announcing he would resign from his position before President-elect Donald Trump takes office, caving to pressure after Trump announced his nomination of extremist Kash Patel to lead the FBI.
“I think his resignation is a result of raw political pressure repugnant to our criminal justice system,” Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) told TPM on Thursday on his way to the Senate floor. “I personally would have preferred that he stayed and fought. I would have refused to resign. It’s a threat to the independence and integrity of our justice system.”
Continue reading “Dem Senator Denounces Wray’s Resignation: He Should’ve ‘Stayed And Fought’”Pardons and Unmerited Grace
Today President Joe Biden commuted the sentences of roughly 1,500 Americans and issued pardons for 39 persons convicted of non-violent crimes. For the remainder of Biden’s term, any use of the pardon power will be shadowed or seen through the prism of his pardon of his son, Hunter Biden. But I wanted to take this opportunity to say something broader about the pardon power. And I want to be clear that this isn’t an opinion that is downstream of or related to the Hunter Biden pardon. I’ve made similar arguments a number of times going back probably 20 years.
Put simply, we don’t have anywhere near enough pardons: both at the federal and the state level.
In fact, much of what passes for pardons or clemency today aren’t really pardons at all. They’re basically fake clemency. Set aside the controversial pardons of recent years. Most presidents at the end of their terms issue pardons to a range of meritorious individuals. They each come with a backstory of bad choices later redeemed by selfless altruism, service or other exemplary conduct. Or they simply turned around their life against the odds. But in almost every one of these cases the recipients have already done their time! They took responsibility; did their time; expressed remorse and then went on to live an exemplary life. What they get is an almost entirely symbolic record wiped clean. That’s not nothing. It’s a nice recognition. It’s also entirely different from an innocent person having a wrongful conviction overturned — a vindication of factual innocence. That remains a big deal even for someone who has already served a lengthy sentence. But it doesn’t free any one from jail.
It is at best a thin, thin clemency.
Continue reading “Pardons and Unmerited Grace”Listen To This: Poking The Third Rail
A new episode of The Josh Marshall Podcast is live! This week, Kate and Josh discuss Republicans’ perma-desire to cut social insurance, the limp response to Trump’s birthright citizenship claims and Pete Hegseth’s potential resurrection.
You can listen to the new episode of The Josh Marshall Podcast here.
Wray’s Resignation Clears The Way For Trump To Corrupt The FBI
A lot of things happened. Here are some of the things. This is TPM’s Morning Memo. Sign up for the email version.
He Took The Easy Wray Out
It’d be a little precious for me to sit here at my keyboard and proclaim that FBI Director Chris Wray should have made Donald Trump go through the process of actually firing him and pay the political price for doing so rather than deciding to resign in advance and avoid the blood bath.
It’s impossible to guarantee that if Wray had forced the issue it would have raised national awareness of Trump’s corruption, cost Trump politically, put Republican senators in more of an awkward bind over Kash Patel’s nomination for FBI director, and generally made the MAGA GOP pay down political capital on this fight that it then wouldn’t have available to use elsewhere.
But it’s guaranteed now that none of those things will happen.
In the Washington of old, there was a reasonable argument that if a presidential appointee had lost the president’s confidence, they should resign. But this isn’t the old days. Trump and the man he wants to replace Wray have loudly and proudly proclaimed their intentions to corrupt the FBI. Removing Wray before the end of his 10-year term is the first step in executing that corrupt plan.
The essential corruption here is two-fold: (i) using the powers of the state through DOJ and FBI to target people who are a threat to Trump, without regard to the law; and (ii) protecting Trump and his minions from investigation and prosecution for actual violations of the law.
I don’t want to lose focus on what this is all about, but like you I am eager to see some real-world examples of people who are in positions to do so standing up to the Trump II corruption even when it comes at a high personal price. Not for the theater of it, not to satisfy some vague sense of hitting back, not because it will by itself work some miracle. But rather because we need some real-world models for how to conduct ourselves in this unprecedented new period of history.
Inside The Effort To Save Pete Hegseth … For Now
The NYT goes deep on the Trump transition’s decision to keep Pete Hegseth’s nomination for defense secretary on life support:
The campaign to revive Mr. Hegseth’s nomination was led internally by Mr. Vance and orchestrated externally by a small group of Mr. Trump’s most aggressive allies.
The group included his eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., and MAGA media figures who are seen as most effective at quickly whipping up the base, chief among them Stephen K. Bannon; the radio host Charlie Kirk; and the Breitbart reporter Matt Boyle. A key behind-the-scenes operator in the pressure campaign has been Arthur Schwartz, who has been serving as Mr. Hegseth’s media adviser and who is a close ally of Mr. Vance and Donald Trump Jr.
Kari Lake To Head Voice Of America?
Arizona election denier Kari Lake was as recently as two days ago under consideration for ambassador to Mexico. That would have been better than this: Trump now wants her to lead Voice of America.
But it’s a little more complicated than that. The president doesn’t directly make that pick. The president does pick the head of the U.S. Agency for Global Media, which oversees VOA. Trump suggested he will direct his soon-to-be-announced pick for UASGM to install Lake at VOA. In addition, there is a presidentially appointed USAGM board that is “empowered … to approve appointments or dismissals of any network heads.”
Here’s how CNN put it:
First, Trump has to nominate someone to run the U.S. Agency of Global Media. Then, that person and the advisory board will consider the VOA position. The board’s makeup will tilt in the GOP’s favor next year because one member will come from Trump’s State Department. But the other board members have terms that somewhat insulate them from political pressure.
So the upshot is probably going to be the same: Lake at VOA. But the process is more convoluted than it may appear on the surface and already suggests a high level of White House interference. Stay tuned.
Why Even Have A Senate?
Tommy Tuberville: "The people of Alabama gave a referendum to me. They said, 'You vote for whatever Donald Trump wants.' And that's exactly what I'm doing."
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) December 11, 2024 at 11:23 AM
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Generational Change
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D) has secured the support of a majority of the Democratic members of the House Oversight Committee and is poised to become its new ranking member, Politico reports.
About That Alleged Assault On Rep. Nancy Mace …
A foster care advocate arrested for allegedly assaulting virulently anti-trans Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) on the Hill pleaded not guilty. Witnesses disputed that he assaulted her, calling it a brief handshake during which he urged her to support transgender foster youth.
The charging documents in the case offered some new details on the incident:
In an account of the incident filed Wednesday in D.C. Superior Court, police said a member of Congress reported that McIntyre “took her hand with both of his hands and shook her arm up and down in an exaggerated, aggressive hand shaking motion” that lasted three to five seconds.
According to the charging document, she told police that she tried to withdraw her arm but could not and that “she was experiencing pain in her wrists, arm and armpit/shoulder due to the incident.” She declined medical treatment, the responding officer wrote.
Trans Rights Watch
- Pro: The Montana Supreme Court upheld a preliminary injunction blocking the state’s ban on gender-affirming care for minors from going into effect.
- Con: The House passed the annual defense authorization bill that included a provision slipped in by Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) that bans gender-affirming care for the children of military service members.
NC GOP Completes Its Lame-Duck Power Grab
Before its supermajority comes to an end in January, the GOP-controlled legislature in North Carolina completed its brazen move to strip power from newly elected Democratic officeholders by overriding Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper’s veto.
Biden Commutes The Sentences Of 1,500 People
“President Joe Biden is commuting the sentences of roughly 1,500 people who were released from prison and placed on home confinement during the coronavirus pandemic and is pardoning 39 Americans convicted of nonviolent crimes. It’s the largest single-day act of clemency in modern history.”–AP
Rebuke Of Hunter Biden Pardon From Unlikely Source
Former senior Biden White House adviser Anita Dunn: ““I do not agree with the way it was done, I don’t agree with the timing, and I don’t agree, frankly, with the attack on our judicial system.”
Sign Of The Times
Three Republican members of Congress have joined in inviting a Jan. 6 felon still on probation to Trump’s inauguration, a trip that requires a judge’s approval.
Oligarch Watch
- Elon Musk became the first person with a net worth north of $400 billion.
- Departing from its past practice, Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta Platforms has contributed $1 million to Donald Trump’s inaugural fund.
The Recent Wave Of Immigration Really Was Historic
A NYT analysis of recent immigration to the United States shows just how remarkable the recent influx has been:
- The pace of immigration from 2021-23 was faster than at any previous period in U.S. history, including the peak of Ellis Island.
- As a share of total U.S. population, the average annual change in the foreign-born population went up faster than any period since at least the 1850s.
- The percentage of the U.S. population born in another country reached a new high of 15.2 percent in 2023. The previous high was 14.8 percent in 1890.
Painful To Witness
"You're okay, you're okay."
— Lauren Cone (@LConeCNN) December 11, 2024
A remarkable moment as CNN's @clarissaward and her team find a Syrian prisoner left behind in a secret prison, alone and unaware the Assad regime was no more. pic.twitter.com/Cz6TBWHvts
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