To hear Republicans tell it, it was just another Monday.
Continue reading “After A Decades-Long Anti-Abortion Crusade, The Right Insists Draft Opinion Is No Big Deal”Chief Justice Roberts Says Roe Leaker Would Be ‘Foolish’ To Think Leak Will Affect SCOTUS’ Work
Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts on Thursday slammed the unknown person who leaked a draft of the conservative majority’s opinion striking down Roe v. Wade.
Continue reading “Chief Justice Roberts Says Roe Leaker Would Be ‘Foolish’ To Think Leak Will Affect SCOTUS’ Work”Esper: Trump Wanted To Activate Retired Four-Stars To Court-Martial Them For Disloyalty
President Donald Trump demanded that the military recall two retired four-star officers who criticized him so they could be court-martialed, a new book says.
Continue reading “Esper: Trump Wanted To Activate Retired Four-Stars To Court-Martial Them For Disloyalty”About Those Press Leaks About US-Ukraine Intel Sharing
I want to chime in on these articles, which John Judis notes below, which have U.S. defense officials taking credit for providing intelligence to Ukraine that helped kill Russian generals and sink the ship Moskva. My take on it is somewhat different. But we agree inasmuch as making these comments seems very ill-advised and unhelpful.
A few points.
Continue reading “About Those Press Leaks About US-Ukraine Intel Sharing”Psych! Giuliani Suddenly Cancels Jan. 6 Panel Interview At 11th Hour
After months of negotiations with the House Jan. 6 Committee, former Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani abruptly abandoned his agreement to testify in front of the panel on the eve of the interview, which had been scheduled for Friday.
Continue reading “Psych! Giuliani Suddenly Cancels Jan. 6 Panel Interview At 11th Hour”The US is Making a Diplomatic Solution Difficult in Ukraine
Washington is abuzz over the question of who leaked the Supreme Court draft overturning Roe v. Wade. I am far more interested in who were the unnamed officials who boasted to The New York Times and Washington Post about the United States’ success in helping Ukraine kill Russian generals and sink that warship. These boasts are beyond impolitic.
Continue reading “The US is Making a Diplomatic Solution Difficult in Ukraine”Only One Path on Codifying Roe
Last night, Politico Nightly had a somewhat ungenerous read on Democratic efforts to codify Roe. Congress Editor Elana Schor noted that Democrats are resisting efforts to join a bipartisan effort that is backed by pro-choice Senators Collins and Murkowski. That seems odd. Why wouldn’t they add those votes? The Collins and Murkowski option wouldn’t provide as fulsome protections for abortion access. But it would like get more than 50 votes rather than a vote in the high 40s. It makes the Democrats sound more interested in purity than results. So why not do that? Sen Mazie Hirono explains: since getting to 50 votes actually has no practical impact on passing the law, why not vote on a law you can enthusiastically get behind rather than a more watered down one?
That’s a pretty good logic.
But this logic illustrates the broader dead end the Democrats are walking into. These votes are often called “symbolic” votes. But that’s not an accurate description. Votes like these are test votes to frame electoral choices. You either force the opposition to make unpopular votes with the intention of campaigning on those votes in an election or — more directly — you use the votes to frame a clear electoral choice. So you tell voters, this is what is at stake in this election. Elect us and we will do this thing. As I’ve argued, in this case that means something like, give us two more Democratic senators and the House and we will codify Roe on the first day of the new Congress.
Continue reading “Only One Path on Codifying Roe”President Trump Suggested Secretly Firing Missiles Into Mexico
A lot of things happened. Here are some of the things. This is TPM’s Morning Memo.
Esper Tells All
President Trump asked then-Defense Secretary Mark Esper at least twice during the summer of 2020 if it were possible for the U.S. to fire missiles into Mexico to “destroy the drug labs,” Esper writes in his upcoming book, per an excerpt reported by the New York Times.
- Trump also believed that the U.S. government’s involvement in firing those missiles could somehow be kept secret, saying “no one would know it was us,” according to Esper’s book.
- Quick reminder: Trump also had asked Esper why he couldn’t “just shoot” the George Floyd protesters in 2020, per Axios’ previous report on Esper’s upcoming memoir.
GOP Rep. Offended By Jan. 6 Being Called A Terrorist Attack
Rep. Alex Mooney (R-WV) finds it “insulting” that anyone would call the violent Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection a domestic terrorist attack.
- ‘Twas nothing but “a protest,” Mooney insisted during an interview on local radio station West Virginia Metro News on Thursday.
- “A few people went in and the law should be implemented for those who broke it,” the Republican lawmaker said.
Psych! Giuliani Abruptly Ditches Jan. 6 Panel Interview
Ex-Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani suddenly canceled his interview with the House Jan. 6 Committee that was scheduled for today because the panel rejected his demand to be allowed to videotape the discussion, according to his attorney.
- A spokesperson for the committee indicated in a statement that Giuliani could be held in contempt for the stunt, saying that the panel “will consider all enforcement options” if he doesn’t comply with their subpoena. That would make him the fifth Trump crony the panel recommended for contempt charges.
- Giuliani’s testimony isn’t off the table, but he won’t do it unless the committee agrees to his demand, his lawyer said.
- The committee has already interviewed more than 970 people, per the New York Times.
Schumer Schedules Abortion Rights Vote
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) announced on Thursday that the Senate will take up the Women’s Health Protection Act on Wednesday to enshrine abortion access into law now that the Supreme Court is ready to strike down Roe v. Wade.
- Schumer acknowledged that the vote would be purely symbolic, but at least Republican senators “will not be able to hide from the horror they’ve unleashed on America.” And, well, it’s true that they’ve been trying to hide to some degree by faking outrage over the SCOTUS decision being leaked rather than taking a victory lap over the actual decision.
- Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME), one of very few pro-choice Republican senators (yet who helped usher in Roe‘s demise to begin with) doesn’t support the legislation. So even if the filibuster didn’t already doom the bill, it’s not likely Democrats would’ve had the votes for it anyway given that Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) helped Republicans block the bill in February.
- Codifying abortion rights into law isn’t a silver bullet, as TPM’s Kate Riga reports.
Michigan Police Seize Voting Machine
The Michigan State Police seized a voting machine in Irving Township in a raid last Friday as part of its investigation into third party voting machine breaches in wake of the 2020 election, CNN reports.
Key Analysis
“Threat to Roe draws attention to scant support for women having children” – CBS News
“One of Madison Cawthorn’s liabilities: He’s too online for Congress” – The Washington Post
Must Read (Well, Watch)
“The War in Ukraine, as Seen on Russian TV” – The New York Times
GOP Candidate Won Primary While Charged For Murder
Andrew Wilhoite won a Republican primary election for a local town board in Indiana on Tuesday as he remains charged for his wife’s alleged murder. Wilhoite was arrested on March 26 after telling law enforcement that he had struck his wife with a flower pot and dumped her in a creek.
Biden Announces New Press Secretary
Karine Jean-Pierre, who currently serves as White House principal deputy press secretary, will be replacing outgoing White House press secretary Jen Psaki when she departs on May 13, Biden announced on Thursday.
- Jean-Pierre, who is gay, will be the first openly LGBTQ+ person and first Black woman to serve as a White House press secretary.
- Psaki is leaving the White House to join MSNBC for an on-air role, according to multiple reports.
Pelosi Sets New Minimum Salary For House Staffers
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) announced in a “Dear Colleague” letter on Friday that she would be establishing the House’s first-ever minimum annual salary for staffers at $45,000. The House will also vote on a resolution to allow congressional staffers to form a union next week, per Pelosi’s letter.
Amazon Union President Wears ‘Eat The Rich’ Jacket At Congressional Hearing
Amazon Labor Union president Chris Smalls showed up at his hearing with the Senate Budget Committee and White House meeting with Biden on Thursday wearing this:
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Codifying Abortion Rights In A Federal Law Is Not A Silver Bullet
In the wake of this week’s leaked draft opinion showing that a majority of Supreme Court justices voted to overturn abortion rights, activists and alarmed Democrats alike have renewed calls for Congress to protect abortion access with a federal law.
Continue reading “Codifying Abortion Rights In A Federal Law Is Not A Silver Bullet”Fascinating
Tom Goldstein of SCOTUSBlog published a new leak speculation story earlier this afternoon. And it’s fascinating. First off, he thinks the opinion is most likely to have been leaked by a liberal. So he has a different take than the one I’ve been advancing. But what is so interesting to me is that how he gets there overlaps a lot with my thinking (and, to be clear, that of many others).
Continue reading “Fascinating”