Back in May, a nonprofit with close ties to the Trump administration filed a curious lawsuit. It sued John Roberts and the body that operates the federal court system, dryly informing both the chief justice and the courts that they were mistaken in their belief that they controlled themselves: actually, the suit claimed, the White House controls them.
Continue reading “John Roberts in Court Filing: I Manage the Judiciary, Not the President”Congressional Watchdog Says DOGE Cuts to Head Start Violated Federal Law
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has determined that another element of the Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) rampage though the federal government was a violation of the Impoundment Control Act.
Continue reading “Congressional Watchdog Says DOGE Cuts to Head Start Violated Federal Law”Why Is Jeff Bezos Rakestomping the Post?
I wanted to flag your attention to this piece by Jonathan Last at The Bulwark: The Washington Post is dying. I can tell you “how.” But not “why.” I’m not sure the central assertion is a big surprise to people. But Last does a good job at running through the details, the steps on the path of descent. He puts some focus on legacy systems — suboptimal arrangements, structures, compromises that any organization builds up over time. I first thought he was distracting from the decisions made under the ownership of Jeff Bezos. But I think he’s right to put some focus on them. These aren’t the reason the Post is dying. But this legacy debt — which most big and old organizations have — adds to the challenges that Bezos would have had even if he weren’t making terrible decisions.
Continue reading “Why Is Jeff Bezos Rakestomping the Post?”We Need Your Help With This
You’ve blessed us with a very solid start to this year’s annual TPM Journalism Fund drive. The challenging part is the second half of our way toward our goal of raising $500,000 this year. We’re currently at $287,886, so just over $12,000 from hitting the 60% benchmark. We really need your help getting to $300,000 today. If you’ve been thinking about contributing, it would be a great help if you could do it today. I get delaying, keep meaning to — that’s my main pastime. So if you could just take a moment right now and click here, we’d truly appreciate it. If you’re a member, you don’t even have to take out your wallet. Just a couple clicks. Super easy. Thank you in advance.
A Quick and Simple Observation
I saw a headline today that UnitedHealthcare has acknowledged that its Medicare business is being investigated by the Department of Justice. In the old days, which is to say basically any time before January 2025, I would have assumed that UHC had probably been guilty of some kind of wrongdoing. Or let me state that more precisely: I would have assumed that there was evidence meriting an investigation, whether that was civil, criminal, perhaps over antitrust. I would assume merit. When I heard this news today my default assumption was that UHC was being punished by the Trump administration or had gotten crosswise in some way with the White House. It’s not even either/or. Let’s assume the probe starts for legitimate reasons. The fact that UHC couldn’t make an offering at the White House and have the probe killed must mean they’re on the outs, right?
It’s too much to say — I think, or I hope — that there’s no one left at the DOJ interested in simply enforcing the law. It’s also true that the gutting has been spread around unequally. Some divisions are more or less intact. But certainly the weight of crookdom and integrity has shifted significantly. Unfortunately, my shift in assumptions seems merited.
Understanding MAGA’s Obsession With Pedophilia and No Other Sex Crimes
A friend asked me recently: how is it that MAGA is so over the top about finding out which rich and powerful men may have had sex with 16 or 17 year old girls when it’s apparently fine that the leader of their movement is a longtime sex abuser and serial predator? On the one hand, this person was saying, how is one thing so beyond the pale and the others are completely fine? On another level, this person was asking, is it really so hard to believe that a guy who appears to have routinely assaulting women just over 18 did the same with those just under?
There are a few different ways to answer this. At one level, in MAGA world, Donald Trump is different. No rules apply to him. It’s good to be the king. At another level, it’s a complicated question comparing the horror of different kinds of sexual predation, or whether a person who does one is likely do do another. But there is one level of MAGA’s hyper-focus on pedophilia and sex trafficking conspiracy theories which needs to be emphasized. Because at a basic level, that obsession has nothing to do with pedophilia as a thing in itself — not as most of us might understand it.
Continue reading “Understanding MAGA’s Obsession With Pedophilia and No Other Sex Crimes”LA Grand Juries Are Refusing to Indict ICE Protestors
A lot of things happened. Here are some of the things. This is TPM’s Morning Memo. Sign up for the email version.
U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli Under Pressure From Bondi
A major new development out of Los Angeles, where the LA Times reports that U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli has been no-billed by grand juries in some attempted prosecutions of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) protestors:
The three officials who spoke to The Times on condition of anonymity said prosecutors have struggled to get several protest-related cases past grand juries, which need only to find probable cause that a crime has been committed in order to move forward. That is a much lower bar than the “beyond a reasonable doubt” standard required for a criminal conviction.
But among the most damning revelations in the LA Times article is Essayli ordering a subordinate to ignore the DOJ’s Justice Manual:
On the overheard call, according to the three officials, Essayli, 39, told a subordinate to disregard the federal government’s “Justice Manual,” which directs prosecutors to bring only cases they can win at trial. Essayli barked that prosecutors should press on and secure indictments as directed by U.S. Atty. Gen. Pam Bondi, according to the three officials.
The Trump administration targeted Los Angeles for heavy-handed immigration enforcement, including deploying the National Guard and active duty marines to the Democratic-run city, that set off mass protests and some street clashes with law enforcement.
Fired Immigration Judge: I Was Pressured To Dismiss Cases
An immigration judge fired by the Trump administration says he came under pressure to dismiss cases to facilitate the immediate detention of immigrants who had shown up in court, WBUR reports:
[George] Pappas said that in April, his assistant chief judge told him to grant motions to dismiss when U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents were at the courthouse.
“If the case was dismissed, more likely than not, as soon as that person would exit the courtroom, he would be arrested by the ICE officers in the hallway,” he said.
Abrego Garcia Wins Two Key Court Rulings
As I reported yesterday, a federal judge in Tennessee ordered Kilmar Abrego Garcia released from DOJ custody pending his criminal trial and a federal judge in Maryland said DHS can’t immediately detain him once he’s freed by DOJ. Abrego Garcia won’t be released right away because he’d asked for a 30-day delay in the effective date of his release, which was granted. District judges are holding the line against the worst of the Trump depredations.
Appeals Court Blocks Trump’s Birthright Citizenship Executive Order
The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals found President Trump’s order to end birthright citizenship to be an unconstitutional violation of the 14th Amendment and affirmed a nationwide injunction blocking its enforcement.
Must Listen
Career DOJ attorney Erez Reuveni, who was fired by the Trump administration for being too candid and ethical in the major anti-immigration case, continues his blistering whistleblower tour with a NYT podcast interview (a transcript is also available for those too busy to listen).
Judge-Appointed USA Asserts Her Hold on Position
In a post on Linkedin, Desiree Grace, the career DOJ prosecutor appointed by federal judges to replace New Jersey acting U.S. attorney Alina Habba, asserted she will serve in the role despite claims from the Trump administration that it had fired her:
Yesterday the District Judges for the District of New Jersey selected me to serve as the United States Attorney for the District of New Jersey. It will forever be the greatest honor that they selected me on merit, and I’m prepared to follow that Order and begin to serve in accordance with the law.
At the moment it’s not clear who leads the New Jersey U.S. Attorney’s Office: Habba, whose 120-day term ends, depending on your math, at some point this week; or Grace, who the judges appointed to succeed Habba whenever the 120 days are up. It’s possible the administration will name someone else to the role, setting up dueling papacies, Avignon-style.
Trump Caught in Epstein Undertow
Not surprisingly, Donald Trump’s name appears in the investigative files related to the prosecution of his longtime friend Jeffrey Epstein. Attorney General Pam Bondi told him so in May, after she made it one of her first priorities to shift massive DOJ resources into reviewing the Epstein files.
In other developments:
- A federal judge in Florida denied the Trump DOJ’s request to unseal the Epstein grand jury transcripts.
- Three House GOPers defected to support a subpoena of the Justice Department for its Epstein files.
The Retribution: Distraction Edition
Expect more performative responses to the Epstein furor like this one: “The Justice Department announced on Wednesday the formation of a task force to look into unsubstantiated allegations by President Trump that President Barack Obama and his aides ordered an investigation into the 2016 Trump campaign’s connections to Russia to destroy Mr. Trump.”
Columbia Settles With Trump Admin for $200M
Under enormous financial and political pressure from the Trump administration, Columbia University entered into a $200 million settlement agreement with the federal government to resolve claims it violated anti-discrimination laws. In return, the Trump administration will restore the university’s federal funding.
The settlement marks an extraordinary federal intervention into the operation of a private university, is a template for future Trump administration shakedowns of higher education institutions, and may yet leave Columbia vulnerable to future Trump demands.
Some reactions from Columbia University faculty:
- Suresh Naidu: “[T]his deal is unlikely to end the attacks. The federal government, and this administration, is simply too powerful and too arbitrary to be credibly bargained with. Do we really think this arrangement, however destructive of academic autonomy it is, will prevent the Trump administration from stopping the money again? Anyone who thinks the administration will mutely walk away after the ink is dry needs to look at both the past behavior of autocratic regimes in general and this administration’s in particular.”
- David Pozen: “Deals like Columbia’s enhance the power of presidents and their allies within targeted universities; sideline Congress, the courts, and most faculty; and sow fear and uncertainty throughout civil society. They are fundamentally inconsistent with the logic of academic freedom.”
SCOTUS Again Signs Off on Trump Purges
Over a dissent from the three liberal justices, the Roberts Court allowed President Trump to fire the three Democratic members of the previously independent Consumer Product Safety Commission.
‘Grab ‘em by the Institutions’
A couple of months ago, the major concern was what would happen when Trump defied the courts. A more complicated picture is now emerging. One that mixes quiet but unmistakable defiance of court decisions by the Trump administration with encouragement from the six Republican-appointed Justices who sit atop the judicial branch. This is an arguably worse scenario, since it provides a veneer of legalism even as it replaces the rule of law with rule by law, where Trump is allowed to determine the nature of that law.
The emerging pattern is that the Trump administration is checked by the lower courts, slow-walks compliance, and sometimes asks SCOTUS for help, which they usually provide via poorly reasoned opinions or no opinions at all. The Supreme Court often does not feel the need to explain what are effectively constitutional amendments that rebalance the separation of powers, feeding perceptions of the court as a partisan actor.
Hegseth Probe Turns Up Damaging New Evidence
WaPo:
The Pentagon’s independent watchdog has received evidence that messages from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s Signal account previewing a U.S. bombing campaign in Yemen were derived from a classified email labeled “SECRET/NOFORN,” people familiar with the matter said.
The revelation appears to contradict long-standing claims by the Trump administration that no classified information was divulged in unclassified group chats that critics have called a significant security breach.
Only the Best People: Paul Ingrassia Edition
“Paul Ingrassia’s nomination to head the Office of Special Counsel is at risk because of his history of scorched-earth rhetoric and extremist associations,” the WaPo reports.
Do you like Morning Memo? Let us know!
Consul Warns Mexicans Must Take ‘Extreme Precautions’ in Florida as ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ Leads to Diplomatic Tensions
Citing conditions and legal issues at Governor Ron DeSantis’ “Alligator Alcatraz” facility in the Everglades, a Mexican diplomat issued a stark warning to anyone from his country thinking of traveling to Florida.
Continue reading “Consul Warns Mexicans Must Take ‘Extreme Precautions’ in Florida as ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ Leads to Diplomatic Tensions”The Forest Service Claims It’s Fully Staffed for a Worsening Fire Season. Data Shows Thousands of Unfilled Jobs.
This article first appeared at ProPublica, a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative newsroom. Sign up for The Big Story newsletter to receive stories like this one in your inbox.
Despite the Trump administration’s public pronouncements that it has hired enough wildland firefighters, documents obtained by ProPublica show a high vacancy rate, as well as internal concern among top officials as more than 1 million acres burn across 10 states.
Continue reading “The Forest Service Claims It’s Fully Staffed for a Worsening Fire Season. Data Shows Thousands of Unfilled Jobs.”How Is It Going for the Democrats?
I’ve told you before about my kind of love/hate feelings about Tom Edsall, longtime reporter for The Washington Post, who more recently writes a weekly column for the New York Times. It’s not too much to say that almost regardless of the facts of the moment he’ll come up with an explanation for why those facts are terrible news for Democrats. Yesterday’s column is a kind of tour de force in this genre (“This Is a Realignment That Has Significant Staying Power.”) The column collects quotes and quick exchanges with a range of political scientists who argue that the first six months of 2025 have shown just how enduring Donald Trump’s 2024 realignment is turning out to be and quickly dismisses the views of the few observers he quotes who disagree.
As someone who tries to comment on and understand current events as best as I’m able, columns like this are kind of a warning sign of a path not to go down, that path being looking for the analyses and data points which back your preferred view of things or the one you feel reflexively must be the case. So I tried my best to not do that while thinking about this piece.
Continue reading “How Is It Going for the Democrats?”