Since the MAGA hordes first learned about the existence of NYC Democratic mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani last week, they’ve been losing their minds — tripping over themselves to lob racist and Islamophobic attacks at the candidate and fearmonger about “communism.”
Continue reading “Noem Says She’ll Get Creative In Acting On Trump’s Threats Against Zohran Mamdani”More on Denaturalization and Birthright Citizenship
I’ve had several TPM Readers reply to the post below about denaturalization and say it’s actually even worse than I say. Specifically, that we can’t really have any confidence that people who were born citizens won’t face denaturalization too. One reader simply makes the point: why not? What’s the bar that is stopping that? And of course, sure: Anything can in theory happen. And some things that we would have thought were only possible in theory a decade ago are happening routinely now or appear on the horizon. Another reader, more concretely, notes that, while his ancestors have been here for a century, the Chinese Exclusion Act raises the possibility that some of his “natural-born” ancestors may not have been citizens after all and that could be applied against him.
Continue reading “More on Denaturalization and Birthright Citizenship”Denaturalization is a Stark Threat to All Citizenship
I want to focus your attention on this new piece by Josh Kovensky on the DOJ appearing to open the door to denaturalizing citizens based on political activity or belief. I doubt I need to convince anyone reading this that this is a bad thing. But I want to underscore what is implicit in what is bad about it but needs to be as front and center as possible. The only cases in which denaturalization should ever be used are in the most extremes cases of egregious acts which, had they been disclosed prior to naturalization, would have barred citizenship in the first place. Even in most of those cases, the downsides usually outweigh the upsides. Because outside of the most extreme and unusual cases denaturalization is a stark threat to the equality of all American citizens.
I was born in the United States. Depending on what I do, the state can send me to war, imprison me, even execute me. But I can never stop being an American citizen unless I affirmatively renounce that citizenship. As long as that threat exists in any meaningful sense, no naturalized citizen is really my equal. Their membership in the club is contingent, contingent on behavior, which is to say not equal at all.
Continue reading “Denaturalization is a Stark Threat to All Citizenship”Mike Johnson Reminds House GOP That Legislating Isn’t That Important Right Now
A lot of things happened. Here are some of the things. This is TPM’s Morning Memo. Sign up for the email version.
Ceding their authority as members of a separate-but-equal branch of government to the executive has emerged as a frequent theme for Republicans in the 119th Congress. We’ve seen this trend take many different forms, especially among House Republicans who have — at least up until this point — been successfully persuaded to ignore any legislative qualms they might have in order to score victories for President Trump.
At one point in the days leading up to a government shutdown in March, Trump was able to successfully strong-arm several House Republicans, who were opposed to a short-term continuing resolution (CR) to keep the government open, into supporting the measure by pointing to the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), suggesting it would do their due diligence for them.
At the time, DOGE was at the height of its rampage, freezing federal spending on crucial programs at an impossible-to-follow pace. Trump assured Republican legislators that DOGE’s efforts would return federal spending to pre-COVID levels, so none of the details of the CR they would ultimately pass actually mattered. According to reporting from Politico in March, Trump specifically told holdouts that he would pursue impoundment to continue withholding funds appropriated by Congress.
This collapse of the separation of powers enshrined in the Constitution is something at which very few Republicans in Congress, save a few senators, including Susan Collins (R-ME) and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), have blinked an eye. Much of DOGE’s work can be understood as the executive branch running roughshod over Congress’ authority to appropriate federal spending and fund government agencies. House Republicans ceded their authority to the executive branch even further — though in a more formal way — when they rubber-stamped the recent rescissions package the White House sent over, green-lighting the cancellation of previously approved federal funding.
As he attempts to get his conference to let go of their issues with the Senate version of the massive reconciliation package and get it to Trump’s desk, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) is once again reminding his members that their job isn’t really about legislating. Figuring out what is in a bill is the president’s job, not theirs, he contends. Emphasis mine:
“We knew we would come to this moment. We knew the Senate would amend the House product. I encouraged them to amend it as lightly as possible. They went a little further than many of us would have preferred, but we have the product now,” Johnson told reporters, per The Hill. “As the President said, it’s his bill. It’s not a House bill, it’s not a Senate bill, it’s the American people’s bill. And my objective and my responsibility is to get that bill over the line. So we will do everything possible to do that, and I will work with all of our colleagues.”
Capitulation of the Day
Paramount, the parent company of CBS News, has agreed to pay Trump $16 million as part of a settlement agreement with the President. Trump sued CBS’ “60 Minutes” over an interview it conducted with then-Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris, claiming it was edited to make her responses sound better. The money will be spent on Trump’s future presidential library, as part of the agreement.
Per NBC News:
Paramount also said it agreed that in the future “60 Minutes” will release transcripts of interviews with eligible U.S. presidential candidates after the interviews have aired, “subject to redactions as required for legal or national security concerns.”
“The settlement does not include a statement of apology or regret,” the company said.
The proposed settlement comes as Paramount is attempt to complete a multi-billion dollar merger with Skydance Media that must be approved by the Trump administration. Paramount has maintained the issues are separate.
At least one senator has called for the deal to be investigated as bribery.
All the Goodies
- TPM’s Layla A. Jones: Obscure But Painful Reconciliation Package Cuts You May Have Missed
Texas Turns Back the Clock On Medical Care
Infuriating reporting from ProPublica finds that, amid the fear and uncertainty that comes with Texas’ abortion bans, doctors are hesitating before providing D&C procedures to women who have miscarried. The procedure is used to prevent hemorrhage but, because it also can be used to carry out an abortion, doctors balk.
ProPublica’s data analysis found:
- After the state put a draconian ban in place in 2022, the number of women who needed blood transfusions during emergency room visits for first trimester miscarriages increased by a whopping 54%.
- The number of first-trimester emergency room visits increased by 25%, suggesting that women were arriving at or possibly returning to hospitals in a state of distress that doctors in other states easily help patients avoid.
The Man for the Moment
- TPM’s Hunter Walker: The New President of the National Sheriffs’ Association Participated in the Jan. 6 Protests
Good Take on a Bad Take
Trump yesterday threatened to deport, or arrest, or do something sinister to New York City’s Democratic nominee for mayor, Zohran Mamdani, who, Trump contends, “a lot of people are saying” is here illegally (he is not).
- Mother Jones’ Tim Murphy: It Never Stopped Being Birtherism
Regarding Denaturalization
TPM’s Josh Kovensky: DOJ Opens Door To Stripping Citizenship Over Politics
Jan. 6 Rioter Gets DOJ Job
A former FBI agent who encouraged Capitol rioters to attack police officers is now serving as an advisor to DOJ official (and former advocate for Jan. 6 insurrectionists) Ed Martin. Prosecutors said the man in question, Jared Wise, told law enforcement officers guarding the Capitol that they were comparable to the Gestapo and yelled “Kill ’em! Kill ’em! Kill ’em!” as the riot intensified. He was charged in connection with the attack in 2023, and his case was dismissed when Trump returned to office.
Martin, who Trump tried and failed to make head of the D.C. U.S. Attorney’s Office, is now serving in a number of roles in the DOJ, including heading up a new “weaponization” working group to investigate supposed prosecutorial overreach that targeted Trump and his supporters.
The Little-Known Federal Independent Agency That Could
On Tuesday, a small independent federal agency that resisted the Trump administration’s attempts to take it over won a key victory in court, brushing back a sweeping assertion of executive authority, that, had it prevailed, would be yet another example of the White House snatching power from Congress.
The background:
- Back in March, TPM’s Josh Kovensky noted that the U.S. African Development Foundation (USADF) had successfully withstood Trump administration power grabs while many others had fallen: the U.S. African Development Foundation fended off DOGE, and Pete Marocco, a United States Agency for International Development appointee who the administration sought to install as the Foundation’s new acting board chair. (Marocco was also identified by open-source resources as having participated in January 6.)
- To put Marocco in place, the administration asserted a sweeping new interpretation of executive power, claiming that, though the agency’s board is Senate-confirmed, Trump could install a new board member himself, part of his “inherent authority under Article II” of the Constitution.
- “Here what you have is a President who’s saying, well, the position’s vacant, so I’m allowed to temporarily appoint someone to that position without advice and consent of the Senate, but that’s not how this works,” law professor Nicholas Bednar told Josh at the time. “It would effectively just be a runaround on Congress’s ability to check who the President wants in office.”
On Tuesday, the USADF prevailed in court, with U.S. District Judge Richard Leon, a George W. Bush appointee, blocking the takeover after finding that “the Constitution likely does not vest the President with the authority to appoint Marocco as an acting Board member at USADF.”
“While defendants argue that the President has inherent Article II power to appoint acting principal officers, there is little hope for defendants that this argument will win the day,” Leon concluded later.
DOGE Guy vs. DOGE Guy
An ally of President Donald Trump and former Department of Government Efficiency adviser James Fishback on Tuesday is launching a super PAC called FSD PAC designed to blunt Elon Musk’s political ambitions.
FSD PAC, a play on Tesla’s “full self-driving,” stands for Full Support for Donald.
Its strategy is to be a bulwark against Musk’s threats — real or perceived, and comes as multiple Republicans shrug off the latest social media spat as little to worry about in a world where Trump so thoroughly commands the loyalty of the GOP base.
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DOJ Opens Door To Stripping Citizenship Over Politics
Throughout the campaign, Republicans teased an idea: the next Trump government would start to remove the citizenship of naturalized Americans.
Continue reading “DOJ Opens Door To Stripping Citizenship Over Politics”Lots Of Insane Ideas Flying Around At Alligator Alcatraz
President Trump and his entourage’s visit to Ron DeSantis’ new swamp-adjacent immigrant detention center — billed as a “one-stop shop for immigration enforcement” by Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier — was about as unhinged and ghoulish as its name, “Alligator Alcatraz,” suggested it would be.
Continue reading “Lots Of Insane Ideas Flying Around At Alligator Alcatraz”Obscure But Painful Reconciliation Package Cuts You May Have Missed
There are a lot of well-documented ways the alliterative Senate reconciliation package, passed Tuesday with a tie-breaking vote from Vice President JD Vance, will mess over lower-income Americans in order to subsidize tax cuts for the wealthiest. But the Senate GOP has also tucked some less prominent policies into the tax cut legislation that stand to harm vulnerable people in more obscure but still impactful ways.
One such policy, which was included in the House version of the bill and initially even managed to slip past some GOP officials whose job it is to actually read the legislation they’re voting on, was a provision to ban states from regulating artificial intelligence for 10 years. That provision can be referenced in the past tense, since it and a watered-down variation of it were removed from the Senate package after Republicans including Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) fought against it. While a full, 10-year regulation ban passed out of the House, there is no moratorium of AI regulation at all in the Senate bill.
So many of the bill’s provisions were in flux up until the final moments as senators scrambled to acquiesce to the demands of their colleagues, adapt to the Senate Parliamentarian’s rulings, and appease President Donald Trump.
Still, policies currently on track to hit the president’s desk range from the needlessly harmful — like the end to a nominal air pollution grant program for low-income schools — to one which threatens to prevent lower-income students from pursuing higher education at all. And, of course, Senate Republicans have found low-key ways to fund niche corporate interests, all while taking food from the mouths of children.
Here are some Senate reconciliation package provisions you may have missed.
Hits to the social safety net
More people kicked off Medicaid more often
States will be some of the biggest losers with a provision requiring them to increase the frequency of eligibility checks for Medicaid expansion recipients. The additional eligibility requirements are expected to result in Medicaid recipients losing coverage more frequently, according to a report from the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities, or CBPP. ”Because the Senate bill increases redeterminations from once every 12 months to once every six months, we assume that under the Senate bill, the portion of disenrollment due to procedural reasons such as incomplete paperwork would occur every six months instead of every 12 months,” the report stated.
This and other Medicaid cuts could result in 23% of the rolling enrollment of Medicaid recipients losing coverage every six months, said CBPP.
Ending deductions for SNAP recipients
There are some allowances Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program recipients can claim that adjusts their income to more adequately reflect their household expenses and better determine their SNAP benefit amounts. Two of those allowances are for utilities and basic internet costs. The bill Vance just cast the tie-breaking vote to pass eliminates these allowances, saving the federal budget around $17 billion.
In 2022, more than 71% of SNAP households “claimed some form of utility expense,” according to the Food Research & Action Center, or FRAC. That means almost three-quarters of SNAP recipients stand to see their benefits decrease because of this policy.
States are already buckling against the pressure of steep cuts to SNAP. Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro said changes to the SNAP formula threaten to completely end the food assistance program in the state. “There’s real question as to whether or not we’d even be able to operate SNAP any longer, given the change in the formula and given the people that are going to be knocked off,” Shapiro told reporters after an unrelated news conference in Harrisburg, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer.
A CBPP analysis found GOP cuts to SNAP would hit 40 million people, a number that includes 16 million children, 8 million seniors and 4 million adults with disabilities.
In all, the changes to SNAP and Medicaid, as of June 30, were expected to deduct $700 from the annual income of the bottom 20% of earners while netting an annual increase of $30,000 for the top 1% of earners, according to a Yale Budget Lab analysis.
Attacks on education
With so much attention on his public feud with Harvard University, it could be easy to miss the creative ways Trump is expanding his attack on higher education through the reconciliation package. Here’s a shortlist:
- To decrease education spending by a meager $300 million over 10 years, the bill will deeply limit loan deferment and cancellation plans.
- Senators voted to completely end the grad PLUS loan program for graduate and professional students, which comes with a fixed interest rate and helps students afford “education expenses not covered by other financial aid,” according to the Department of Education.
- Graduate students have a lower cap for borrowing from the federal government under the package passed by the Senate.
Barbara R. Snyder, the president of the Association of American Universities, said in a letter to Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) that the reconciliation package would likely keep students from pursuing higher education.
“AAU remains concerned that the arbitrary student loan thresholds set by the Senate combined with changes to other existing loan programs…will limit a student’s ability to pursue studies at the institution of their choice, especially for students with the highest financial need,” Snyder said.
A hit to immigrants that swipes at U.S. citizens, too
In 2022, people in the U.S. sent around $79 billion to people abroad in personal remittances, according to the World Migration Report from the International Organization for Migration. This includes U.S. citizens and non-citizens alike.
GOP senators just voted to levy a 1% tax on money sent abroad, which is expected to help raise $10 billion over 10 years to fund Trump’s tax cuts and national security agenda. House lawmakers proposed making the tax 3.5% to 5% and protecting U.S. citizens from the additional expense. Ultimately, though, a blanket 1% excise tax is what passed the Senate.
An analysis from the right-leaning Tax Foundation found the 3.5% version of the tax would only result in “far more paperwork, not more revenue.”
Needlessly cruel environmental hits, with GOP states losing out
Former President Joe Biden’s landmark Inflation Reduction Act earmarked $50 million for low-income schools to combat air pollution. Though $34 million of those funds have already been awarded, GOP senators just voted to end that program and claw back those funds.
The senators also appear to have voted against the clean energy economy in their own states by voting to curtail a tax credit for alternative electricity sources including wind and solar. According to the U.S. Wind Turbine Database, four out of the top five states that operate the largest number of wind turbines — Texas, Iowa, Oklahoma and Kansas — went for Trump in the 2024 election. California is the only blue state in the ranking.
North Carolina, Florida and Texas are also among the states operating the largest number of large scale solar farms, according to a federal database.
The tax credit phase-down was tweaked at the last minute to “ease [the] move,” the New York Times reports, and its dollar impact is unclear.
Rum and oil investors rejoice
Trump and his allies want to spend nearly $2 billion to benefit liquor makers who produce rum in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands via a federal tax rebate.
Another provision passed in the reconciliation package costs taxpayers nearly $4 billion by adjusting rules and lowering taxes for publicly traded companies deeply invested in energy extraction and storage.
This post has been updated.
The New President of the National Sheriffs’ Association Participated in the Jan. 6 Protests
Chris West was sworn in as the president of the National Sheriffs’ Association on June 26. West is the sheriff of Canadian County, Oklahoma. He’s also an ardent supporter of President Trump who traveled to Washington D.C. to join the thousands who protested Trump’s election loss on Jan. 6, 2021.
Continue reading “The New President of the National Sheriffs’ Association Participated in the Jan. 6 Protests”Remembering Bill Moyers
Bill Moyers died last week at the age of 91. TPM Executive Editor John Light worked for Bill for a number of years and has written this remembrance of him which I recommend to you. I wanted to share some additional thoughts about Bill and how his life affected my own and the life of this site.
The first thing I want to mention is two documentaries Bill produced in the late 80s. Joseph Campbell and the Power of Myth is a series of six one-hour interviews with Campbell, who died shortly after the interviews were completed. The second is Amazing Grace, his documentary about the history and life of this song, so embedded into the cultural and spiritual life of the Anglophone world. College is a time of promise, adventure and challenge for many people. And I encountered the first of these at a moment of particular challenge in the summer of 1988. Amazing Grace debuted in 1990. I haven’t watched either in many years, though I own a copy of Amazing Grace. They explore common themes from very different directions. Both showcased Bill’s ability to bring fascinating, human issues to life in ways that are both sophisticated and accessible to a mass audience.
Continue reading “Remembering Bill Moyers”Trump Threatens Elon With Monster of His Own Making
A lot of things happened. Here are some of the things. This is TPM’s Morning Memo. Sign up for the email version.
After Elon Musk and Donald Trump engaged in a half-hearted public apology tour, which mostly involved the world’s richest man tweeting that he “went too far” in some of his criticisms of the President, the pair are back at it this week. Musk — as we’ll get into below — has ramped up his public criticism of the reconciliation package Senate Republicans are trying to pass through the upper chamber, primarily critiquing its huge cost and its targeting of Biden-era clean energy tax incentives.
Continue reading “Trump Threatens Elon With Monster of His Own Making”