I won’t lie, I was tempted to just use last cycle’s intro again this time–but if I said “This news cycle, ho boy” every time it was true, I would never write a new intro ever again. Suffice to say, this cycle is not better than the last.
Standard and new reminders apply: we may be starting my ninth year of journalism, but I summarize news within my areas of expertise. NNR summaries often contain some detailed analysis that’s outside my expertise–I’m a lawyer, not a Tesla salesperson!–but all offroad adventures are marked with an asterisk. We’re still playing around with formatting and frequency as I navigate two healing ribs and all of the everything. And, of course, for the law things that are within my lane, I’m offering context that shouldn’t be considered legal advice. Okay, I think that’s about it for the disclaimers. Onward to the news!
Spills in Aisle 47:
I continue to struggle with how to even divide things up into buckets, because it all feels like one fetid mass of Authoritarian Actions. Here are the main lowlights from the last few weeks to know:
- To Hell in a ‘Waste’ Basket (Again, Still). This past cycle was somehow even worse than the previous one for dismantling necessary agencies. Though a judge has ruled that DOGE has to stop dismantling USAID, international health work is still paused at best and programs like PEPFAR remain completely nonfunctional. DOGE is now tinkering with the Social Security Administration, and is requiring all recipients to show up to agency offices for services instead of just calling in. (I once spent six straight hours waiting with a client to be seen at an SSA office, and can personally confirm that they are a tenth circle of hell.) That said, DOGE was blocked by a court from slurping up the agency’s tasty, tasty data–which made the acting SSA head promptly throw a temper tantrum and threatened to shut down the agency. In related civil servant news, recent court filings suggest that about 25,000 federal probationary workers who were previously fired have been rehired due to court orders, including many workers at the FDA and NIH–but upon rehiring, these workers were promptly put on administrative leave. Researchers and news outlets alike are also reporting that hundreds of research grants relating to LGBTQI+ health are being terminated by the administration, compounded by chaos at NIH in general. Termination letters frequently insulted the grantees while they were at it, stating that grant awards “do not . . . benefit the American people” or are “unscientific.” At the end of last week, Trump also released an executive order to illegally dismantle the Department of Education (which is extra confusing because the agency is simultaneously haranguing a bunch of colleges for being too inclusive). Similarly, news is trickling in that the administration is considering eliminating or significantly curtailing the HIV Division of the CDC, which will result in massive staff and service losses. AIDS United is coordinating action for public citizens to respond.
- News Outlet, Who Dis? From the department of “I cannot believe I am not making this up,” the Trump administration was in the news today because an editor of The Atlantic, Jeffrey Goldberg, says he was texted their war plans by mistake. Unsurprisingly, said editor made a lot of information public (though thankfully he stopped short of anything truly sensitive). In a characteristic response, the current administration simultaneously confirmed the story and claimed Goldberg was a dirty liar–I guess they should have coordinated their responses on Signal. Meanwhile Hillary Clinton, of But Her Emails Fame, retweeted the story with a justifiable “You’ve got to be kidding me.”
Since this administration doesn’t (yet) work in a vacuum, no matter how much they clearly want to, there are some Capitol Hill Dales stories too. Here’s what I have for you:
- Budget Blues Finale. Over the last cycle, Congress passed a continuing resolution that will fund the government for another six months, largely due to Schumer’s willingness to play ball with an unrepentant GOP. The continuing resolution does keep the lights on, but it also creates massive opportunities for the administration to cut fundamental services. The cooperation has Democrats in both the progressive wing and the centrist wing rightfully pissed at the Senate minority leader, and the party’s favorability with its base has dropped to a record new low.
The Latest Spring Fashy:
- Inhumane Immigration Actions. By now, I hope it wasn’t in doubt for anybody that this administration considers immigrants Target No. 1, but the last few weeks certainly dispelled any lingering question. We increasingly saw stories in the news about ordinary and lawfully-present people being detained and/or removed, such as several different college students, a kidney transplant surgeon, an electrical engineer, a graphic artist, and even the ambassador of South Africa (though in that last case, he was told he had to leave rather than detained). While some of the college students organized or participated in protests on campuses (which, I should note, is not supposed to be illegal), some of those detained simply said things on social media or were just trying to reenter the country. These details are important, because they serve to contextualize the 137 Venezuelan people that the administration deported to an El Salvadoran prison without any due process, despite a court order to return and justified using an 18th century wartime law (when we’re not at war with Venezuela). The administration is still refusing to cooperate with the court order or discovery as I type this, and has already signaled that they won’t meet a court deadline that was set for tomorrow because, to roughly translate the brief I’ve linked, Trump can do whatever the hell he wants and the courts aren’t his real law dad.
- You’re Not My Real Law Dad. Though I’ve touched on several of the recent injunctions in other stories, I think it’s important to address the end of the last story directly–we’ve had a massive amount of back-and-forth between Trump and the courts in the last few weeks. (If you are justifiably having difficulty keeping track of all the 100+ lawsuits that have been filed, by the way, I recommend Just Security’s litigation tracker.) The administration does seem to accept or at least begrudgingly partially comply with some court orders, but stories of ignoring or attempting to circumvent orders are becoming distressingly common–we particularly see the administration do this with immigration lawsuits and health-related lawsuits, especially if they involve trans healthcare. And in some instances where the administration doesn’t like the ruling, such as the case described above, Trump has started calling for judges to be impeached. Roberts ended up issuing a statement this week telling Trump to knock it off, but since he doesn’t really get to decide when officials are impeached, we probably haven’t heard the end of this.
Silver Linings:
- Recent Economic Resilience. Given everything above, I will say I personally find it edifying to report that Tesla’s sales have tanked in the past few weeks, with many people boycotting and protests in 28 states (and some folks going so far as to vandalize Tesla vehicles). Trump was reduced to showcasing cars on the White House front lawn, sitting inside one and saying he plans to buy it. This is, of course, incredibly corrupt and probably a violation of ethics rules. But also, it technically makes Trump a used car salesman, a fact that I all think we should all be repeating as often as possible.
So that’s what I have for you, and it was definitely more than enough. For making it through, you deserve this happy little dog and a less corrupt government. I’ll be back next time with more and improved news, and I hope you will be back as well–but in the meantime, feel free to ping the National News Roundup ask box, which is there for your constructive comments. Send me questions! Send me feedback! Send me coffee because we’re running out!
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