The Supreme Court ruled 6-3 Wednesday that Tennessee’s ban on gender affirming care in cases of gender dysphoria does not trigger heightened legal protections. At the same time, it permitted the same exact care for minors going through other conditions like precocious puberty.
Continue reading “Supreme Court Lets Red States Deny Care For Trans Youth”Counterpoint
TPM Reader PT has a counterpoint to my post from last night on the offer Trump can’t resist. I’m not sure whether I agree with me or with him. If nothing else PT hits key elements of Trump’s MO …
Continue reading “Counterpoint”I’m going to lay down a marker here: the US is not going to join the attacks on Iran. I say this because I think that Trump’s being driven by an entirely different dynamic than his desire to stamp his name on what looks increasingly like an “easy win.”
Let’s consider the context: just 3 days ago, Trump’s military parade was a bust and left him a laughingstock. Meanwhile, something like 2% of the population of the US turned out to protest his policies and his Presidency.
Trump Has Already Thoroughly Corrupted One Major Election
A lot of things happened. Here are some of the things. This is TPM’s Morning Memo. Sign up for the email version.
Trump-Style Election Interference
With such a large field of candidates and the primary less than a week away, it seems practically and logistically impossible for the Trump administration to target every single candidate in the NYC mayor’s race, but three major contenders so far isn’t too shabby:
February: Trump DOJ moved to dismiss without prejudice the federal political corruption case against NYC Mayor Eric Adams, who is running for re-election. Eventually, in April, a federal judge reluctantly dismissed the case, but did so with prejudice so that the Trump administration couldn’t use the prospect of refiling the case as a pressure point against Adams. The following day, Adams dropped out of the June 24 Democratic primary, deciding to run in the general election as an independent.
April: Around this time, at the behest of House Republicans, the Trump DOJ opened a criminal investigation into former Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D-NY), a leading candidate in the NYC mayor’s race. The investigation isn’t publicly revealed until a May report in the NYT. The ostensible focus of the investigation is whether Cuomo lied to Congress during testimony about his handling of the COVID pandemic while governor.
June: ICE agents arrest NYC mayoral candidate Brad Lander, the city comptroller, outside an immigration courtroom in a federal building in Manhattan. Lander was detained for a few hours after he tried to escort a migrant, who was also detained, out of the building. Lander has not yet been charged with any crime.
The Adams and Cuomo cases are by far the most concerning because they represent the two sides of the Trump DOJ’s abuse of its powers: using the rule of law as a shield for Trump’s allies and a sword for his foes. The Lander arrest comes in a different context: Democratic officials seeking to protest Trump’s mass deportation operation in public and provocative ways – an operation that Trump is using like a bludgeon against blue states.
While the totality of the corruption of the NYC mayoral election is obvious, it’s also in its own way imperceptible. By election night next week and certainly by the time the general election comes around, it will still be widely covered and perceived as a horse race – no matter the corrupt influence Trump has had on the field of horses and the track they’re running on.
Int’l Student Wins Complete Victory Against Trump Admin
U.S. District Judge Jerry Blackwell handed a sweeping victory to a Bangladeshi national in Minnesota who claimed that the revocation of his student visa and detention by the Trump administration was retaliation for his pro-Palestinian views.
In granting a writ of habeas corpus, Blackwell ruled that the Trump administration had violated Mohammed Hoque’s First Amendment right to free speech, his Fifth Amendment right to due process, and the Administrative Procedures Act.
Blackwell had already ordered Hoque released from detention last month.
Trump’s National Guard Order Likely To Be Upheld
In oral arguments Tuesday, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals didn’t seem inclined to find President Trump’s federalization of the California National Guard to be procedurally flawed, but it also seemed unlikely to ratify his maximalist position that his decision is not reviewable by courts. The three-judge panel – two Trump appointees and a Biden appointee – were considering last week’s ruling by U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer that sided with Gov. Gavin Newsom in blocking Trump’s order.
Someone Is Finally Held In Contempt Of Court
U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams of Miami has held Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier in civil contempt of court for an April violation of her restraining order that blocked enforcement of a new state law that criminalizes undocumented immigrants.
Mike Lee Deletes Gross Tweets
Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) deleted his three personal tweets about the Minnesota assassination spree after he was confronted by Sen. Tina Smith (D-MN).
Anti-Trans Passport Rule Blocked
U.S. District Judge Julia Kobick of Boston broadened her preliminary injunction blocking the Trump administration from limiting the choices of gender identity on passports to the sex citizens were assigned at birth.
Quick Catch-Up On BBB
- Putting the “big” in BBB: The House GOP version of the “Big Beautiful Bill” would add about $3.4 trillion (including borrowing costs) to the national debt, according to the latest CBO analysis.
- Senate version of BBB even worse on Medicaid: Hospitals – and some GOP senators – are balking at the even deeper Medicaid cuts in the Senate version of BBB, threatening the tight timeline for getting Trump’s centerpiece legislation to his desk.
This Is NOT Going To End Well
The Senate passed on a bipartisan basis a new light-touch regulatory regime for the cryptocurrency industry, reports TPM’s Josh Kovensky.
Where Have I Heard This One Before?
American president rejects the consensus view of the U.S. intelligence community about the WMD capabilities of a hostile Middle Eastern regime as a pretext for war.
The Big Lie Will Never Die
In written responses provided to the Senate Judiciary Committee, the first batch of Trump judicial nominees skirted answering directly whether President Trump lost the 2020 election, Jay Willis reports at Balls and Strikes. All five of the nominees provided answers that were some version of: “President Biden was certified as the winner of the 2020 presidential election and served as the 46th President of the United States.”
Patel Still Fueling Big Lie
In an X post, FBI Director Kash Patel announced that he had shared with Sen. Charles Grassley (R-IA) “alarming” allegations about 2020 election interference by the Chinese Communist Party – a callback to a long-running and unsubstantiated element of the Big Lie canard.
John Eastman’s Disbarment Upheld
A California court found that attorney John Eastman’s effort to subvert the 2020 election was so egregious — and his remorse so lacking — that the only remedy was to permanently prohibit him from practicing law, Politico reports.
Christian Nationalist Flag Flown at SBA HQ
Kelly Loeffler, the head of the Small Business Administration, posted on X an image of the Christian nationalist “Appeal to Heaven” flag flying at SBA headquarters in DC last week. The flag remained up for about a day, Wired reports, but the X post remains up:
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An Offer Trump Can’t Refuse
I’m seeing a lot of articles about Trump’s turn on Iran, how it’s in response to pressure from Israel, his evolving views. I think these are all either overblown or irrelevant. As I noted earlier, what’s driving Trump here is the hunger to get in on a “win.” It might be best to see it as a typical Trumpian branding exercise. Israel has got a product ready to go to market and they’ve offered Trump the opportunity to slap the Trump name on it. But even beyond all that there’s something more. The U.S. has wanted to get rid of the Iranian nuclear program for a very long time. We’ve used coercive sanctions. We’ve engaged in espionage and sabotage. Barack Obama spent a huge amount of time putting together a diplomatic agreement to restrict it.
Continue reading “An Offer Trump Can’t Refuse”Right-Wing Agitation For Violence Against Protesters Swells
Local officials in Adams County, Pennsylvania are condemning a social media post shared by the county sheriff on Facebook that featured an image of a white pickup truck with red splatters across the front bumper, hood and tires. The image posted by Adams County Sheriff James Muller was captioned “The All New Dodge Ram Protester Edition.” The red splatters are very clearly supposed to be blood.
Continue reading “Right-Wing Agitation For Violence Against Protesters Swells”Senate Passes Massive Cryptocurrency Bill, Ignoring Risk To Financial System
The Senate gave its stamp of approval on Wednesday to a massive and growing chunk of the cryptocurrency industry, blessing it with a light-touch regulatory regime that, experts say, may come with a price tag: the stability of the country’s financial system. It’s the most significant victory yet for the crypto lobby, which enjoys near-unanimous support in the Republican Party as well as significant backing from many Democrats.
This bill passed with 68 votes in support, 30 against. Eighteen Democrats joined nearly all Republicans in supporting the bill.
Continue reading “Senate Passes Massive Cryptocurrency Bill, Ignoring Risk To Financial System”Ninth Circuit Mulls How Far the White House Went in Deploying Troops to LA
A panel on the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals seemed inclined on Tuesday to keep President Trump in charge of the California National Guard, with judges pressing into just how little justification the White House needs to provide for sending troops into American cities.
Continue reading “Ninth Circuit Mulls How Far the White House Went in Deploying Troops to LA”Senate Republicans Propose Gutting Medicaid Further To Make Trump Tax Cuts Permanent
The Senate Finance Committee, which oversees changes made to taxes and social safety net programs like Medicare and Medicaid, dropped their portion of edits to House Republicans’ reconciliation package on Monday afternoon.
Continue reading “Senate Republicans Propose Gutting Medicaid Further To Make Trump Tax Cuts Permanent”Thoughts on Israel’s Iran Campaign and Donald Trump
I haven’t had a lot to say about Israel and Iran because I haven’t had a lot to add. But I want to suggest something about the possible entry of the United States into the war. These aren’t conclusions, more questions I’ve had and questions that help me frame how I’ve looked at what’s happening.
In the first couple days of this hot conflict, the conventional wisdom and reporting went from Israel doing this more or less entirely on its own, perhaps even interfering in U.S. diplomacy, to the idea that the apparent rush of diplomacy between the U.S. and Iran was actually a ruse concocted by Israel and United States to lull the Iranians into letting their guard down. At first this seemed to be what they call in the online world right wing “cope,” shoving Donald Trump back into the center of the story as He-Man hero when he had actually seemed marginal to the action. But then it started showing up in news reports. And from what I can tell at this point, it’s almost treated as a given, just part of the reported story.
This certainly may be accurate. But I’m not sure that it is. I think it’s also possible that the initial attack was fabulously successful in tactical terms (no one would deny that) and Trump basically wanted in on it. Because he likes success. In a normal administration, reporters might get a clearer read on what was real or what wasn’t. But this isn’t a normal administration. Much of “what the plan is” is an unknowable thing in Donald Trump’s head and a feature of the Trumpian personality cult is that once there’s an approved story, that is the story. Period. I could be right or wrong on my supposition here. But I’m not even sure if the people inside the administration actually know. In any case, I think there’s a pretty good chance the whole ‘we were secretly working together to lull Tehran into complacency’ is a complete fiction, an online MAGA speculation that the White House and Trump glommed onto and made real because it was convenient and helpful.
Continue reading “Thoughts on Israel’s Iran Campaign and Donald Trump”Tina Smith Calls Out Mike Lee’s Rancid Social Media Posts
A lot of things happened. Here are some of the things. This is TPM’s Morning Memo. Sign up for the email version.
‘I Wanted Him To Hear From Me Directly’
Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) was among the worst culprits of trying to muddy the waters around the weekend assassination spree of Vance Luther Boelter in Minnesota – and Sen. Tina Smith (D-MN) was having none of it.
In a memorable image captured Monday on the Hill, Smith was seen confronting Lee about his gross and misleading social posts that seemed to blame the victims and left-wing ideology:
“I wanted him to hear from me directly about how painful that was, and how brutal it was, to see that on what was just a horribly brutal weekend,” Smith told reporters afterward. “He didn’t say a lot, frankly. I think he was a bit stunned.”
One of Smith’s staffers sent a blistering email to Lee’s office, beseeching it to show some restraint:
New Details On Assassination Plot
According to officials, Vance Luther Boelter went to the homes of two other Minnesota lawmakers between the shootings at the homes of the Hoffmans and Hortmans. Other grim details of the the plot were revealed in the affidavit of a FBI agent.
California No Kings Protester Injured
A No Kings protester was seriously injured in a hit-and-run Saturday in Riverside, California, that followed a confrontation between the crowd and the driver of a black SUV. Alexa Carrasco, 21, remains hospitalized. “We want to get out of the woods first,” her uncle, Rosalio Carrasco, told TPM’s Hunter Walker, in a Spanish-language interview last night. “I know many people are helping us with prayers and thats all we care about at this moment.”
Quote Of The Day
“Considered individually, defendants’ legal arguments are meritless. Considered in the aggregate, they are terrifying. Defendants’ interpretation of Section 12406 would empower the President to commandeer a State’s National Guard based merely on evidence that some civilians opposed his authority, disobeyed his commands, or presented operational difficulties for civil law enforcement officials—and without any input from (or even notice to) the Governor. Courts would be powerless to enforce the limits Congress imposed on the President’s exercise of that authority.”–lawyers for California, in a court filing challenging President Trump federalization of the state’s National Guard
Collateral Damage
U.S. citizens of Hispanic descent continue to be entrapped in the Trump administration’s mass deportation operation.
Big White House Flip-Flop On Immigration
The Department of Homeland Security quickly reversed its guidance from just last week that de-emphasized immigration enforcement in the agricultural, hotel, and restaurant industries.
UPDATE: South Sudan Deportees In Djibouti
Lawyers for the cluster of detainees stranded for weeks at a U.S. military base in Djibouti while en route to South Sudan were given contact information for them and a ICE intermediary who can arrange communications, the government told a federal court in Massachusetts in a status update.
Why The Rush?
The Trump administration is trying to sweep the original Abrego Garcia case under the rug before U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis is finished ascertaining whether it was in contempt of court for its months of stonewalling her orders. The Trump DOJ has now filed a motion to dismiss the case on the grounds that the administration’s return of Abrego Garcia to the United States to face trumped-up criminal charges deprives Xinis of any further jurisdiction.
For Your Radar …
One of the USAID cases is slowly moving toward possible contempt of court over the failure of the Trump administration to restore funding as ordered by U.S. District Judge Amir Ali of D.C. He has given the administration until next Monday to provide him with the next steps it plans to take to comply with his March 10 preliminary injunction. March 10! It’s June 17, for those keeping track.
Federal Judge Deplores The Racism Of NIH Cuts
U.S. District Judge William Young of Boston voided what he determined were illegal directives to terminate NIH grants meant to address LGBTQ and racial inequalities in health care.
“This represents racial discrimination and discrimination against America’s LGBTQ community,” said Young, an 84-year-old Reagan appointee. “That’s what this is. I would be blind not to call it out. My duty is to call it out — and I do so.”
DOGE Watch
- NYT: Inside DOGE’s Chaotic Takeover of Social Security
- Politico: Trump’s cuts bring climate and energy agencies to a standstill, workers say
ABA Sues Trump Over Big Law EOs
The American Bar Association filed a lawsuit on behalf of itself and its members against the Trump administration challenging the executive orders targeting law firms.
Ex-Sen. Menendez Reports To Prison Today
Robert Menendez, the longtime New Jersey Democratic senator convicted on federal bribery charges, is scheduled to report to prison today in Pennsylvania to begin serving an 11-year sentence.
Mike Lindell Hit With $2.3M Defamation Verdict
Dominion Voting Systems employee Eric Coomer won a $2.3 million defamation verdict in federal court in Denver against MyPillow founder Mike Lindell over 2020 Big Lie falsehoods.
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