The Post has a good piece up about all the hidden ways the Trump White House is trying to break different parts of the government — through non-payment of grants (different from cancelations), arbitrary limits on purchase authority, etc. They note something very similar to the funds-ghosting I’ve reported on at the National Institutes of Health, only here with the EPA.
Here’s the key passage that TPM Reader SS flagged to my attention …
Fascinating details emerging with the Qatari royal family giving Donald Trump the personal gift of a fully blinged out 747. Yes, they’re giving him a plane.
When I first heard this story a few days ago it at least sounded like Trump had finally lost patience with Boeing because they either couldn’t or wouldn’t or wouldn’t quickly enough produce a decked-out new Air Force One to meet Trump’s wishes. The U.S. has been trying to buy a new AF1 for a number of years and it had gotten caught up between the very different demands of Trump and Biden and maybe also Boeing’s woes. I figured the Qataris were either gifting the plane to the U.S. government or selling it. In either case it would be the U.S. government’s and it’s for the use of future Presidents, too. That’s not what’s happening.
Two days ago, I wrote about a pattern operating largely under the radar in the President’s war against higher education. We know about the general grant freezes on about half a dozen elite universities. Then there are countless other grant terminations across a much larger group of universities. One of the complexities of this story is that there are so many different versions of cancellations and terminations going on, it’s hard to figure out which is which. It’s just as hard deciphering to what extent the differences even matter. There are ones tied to prohibited words and concepts (DEI, transgender); there are ones tied to targeted universities; others are terminated on generic efficiency grounds; others are canceled for no clear reason. Are these categories even meaningful or is that all just more smoke and mirrors and distraction?
A new episode of The Josh Marshall Podcast is live! This week, Kate and Josh discuss the Trump administration’s muteness on abortion (so far), their losses in recent Alien Enemies Act cases and the sweet, sweet downfall of eagle Ed Martin.
A short time ago, President Trump announced in the Oval Office that he is pulling the nomination of Ed Martin as U.S. attorney for D.C.
Saying he was “disappointed” that Martin’s nomination foundered in the Senate, Trump floated the possibility of bringing Martin into the administration – and specifically into the Justice Department – in some other way.
As a former OPM appointee, this seems suspect for numerous reasons. Going through the Federal News Network article, the first thing that doesn’t make sense is in the second paragraph. Leading with retirement applications and RIFs is really odd, since the federal retirement process is a government-wide problem that a central OPM system isn’t going to fix alone, and OPM has no real role in RIFs for other agencies. The small price tag you cite is another huge red flag. This must be for OPM systems only (internal, not in a government-wide capacity) and I know from experience working with Workday and companies like them that $300K doesn’t go very far. I think they got rid of too many people at OPM too quickly (a mix of policy expert people and hands on execution people) and this is a desperate effort to fill that gap.
The Supreme Court on Thursday will hear arguments related to President Trump’s executive order that purports to white out the guarantee of birthright citizenship from the Constitution, Kate Riga writes.
Josh Kovensky writes on Friday’s order in Rümeysa Öztürk’s case and the climate of fear the Trump administration is trying very hard to instill among non-citizens.
Emine Yücel unpacks President Trump’s dramatic flip-flop this week: he reportedly spent a few hours dipping his toes into progressive politics (taxing the rich) only to reverse course on Truth Social a few hours later.
Emine also checks in on disgraced former congressman George Santos, as he publicly pleads for Trump to grant him “a commutation, clemency, whatever”!
As long foreshadowed, how and how much Republicans will cut Medicaid without too many Americans figuring out what they’re doing has the conference twisted in knots.
Kate and Josh discuss the Trump administration’s muteness on abortion (so far), their losses in recent Alien Enemies Act cases and the sweet, sweet downfall of eagle Ed Martin.
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