- Heather Cox Richardson – Letters from an American – March 3, 2025
As seemed evident even at the time, the ambush of Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office on Friday was a setup to provide justification for cutting off congressionally approved aid to Ukraine as it tries to fight off Russia’s invasion. That “impoundment” of funds Congress has determined should go to Ukraine is illegal under the terms of the 1974 Impoundment Control Act, and it is unconstitutional because the Constitution gives to Congress, not to the president, the power to set government spending and to make laws. The president’s job is to “take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed.”It was for a similar impoundment of congressionally appropriated funds for Ukraine, holding them back until Zelensky agreed to tilt the 2020 election by smearing Joe Biden, that the House of Representatives impeached Trump in 2019. It is not hard to imagine that Trump chose to repeat that performance, in public this time, as a demonstration of his determination to act as he wishes regardless of laws and Constitution.
- Kareem Abdul-Jabbar – America is Revving up for More Political Boycotts & DOGE Staffers Quit in Protest
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Convictions. Get some. Live by them. Because then even though you walk the lonesome valley by yourself, you’ll be in good company. - Could Russia Win a War Against America Without Ever Firing a Shot?
Russia’s cyber attack on Ukraine and subsequent invasion, it turns out, may just have been dress rehearsal…
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As an intelligence insider told the media: “Putin is on the inside now.” As in, “Inside our government and inside our most sensitive computer systems that defend America.” - Beware Trump’s Talk of Coming “Emergencies”
Far-right rhetoric is suffused with dark talk of impending calamities. It’s a favorite trope of autocrats who are, themselves, the calamity. - Trump Takes the Dumbest Tariff Plunge
He says the 25% levies on Mexico and Canada will begin Tuesday. Stocks fall.Booing the American $nthem
…“Today the United States launched a trade war against Canada, their closest partner and ally, their closest friend. At the same, they are talking about working positively with Russia, appeasing Vladimir Putin, a lying, murderous dictator. Make that make sense,” a visibly angry Trudeau said.
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“Canadians are hurt. Canadians are angry. We are going to choose to not go on vacation in Florida,” Trudeau said. “We are going to choose to try and buy Canadian products … and yeah we’re probably going to keep booing the American anthem.” - Trump Hit by Brutal Fox News Graphic on Tariffs as More Bad Polls Land
As Trump’s announcement of tariffs causes the markets to slide—even on Fox!—Democratic strategist Simon Rosenberg reflects on whether his party is doing enough to capitalize on the moment. - Atlanta Fed shock sounds ‘Trumpcession’ warning
- Email shows Trump officials are lying to federal court, directing CFPB staff to ignore law
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CFPB Principal Deputy Assistant Director Cassandra Huggins sent an email at 12:13 PM Eastern telling members of the CFPB supervision staff that she has been advised by agency leaders that they are not authorized to resume “supervision/examination activity, even though the Bureau is required by law to carry out these activities.” It is a striking admission that the agency intends to operate outside the bounds of the law.CFPB staff and leaders clash about whether they’re allowed to work
- How Trump’s lawlessness is emboldening bad cops
An ugly incident in Idaho is likely a harbinger of things to come. - The Boycott and the Skeptics
Let people try stuff.
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It’s anecdotal, but I had several people tell me that they boycott engaged people who aren’t online and don’t generally pay close attention to politics. You could say that those people were fooled, and that they felt like they were doing something when they weren’t. But part of the goal of a dictatorship is to convince people that they are powerless, and that they can do nothing. Building a sense of community and empowerment is important in itself.Maybe the boycott helped with that. Maybe it didn’t. But in general, it’s probably best right now to err on the side of offering support to people who are trying to resist, rather than mocking them or telling them that their actions are useless. As activist and organizer Mariame Kaba (for whom I sometimes do freelance work) has pointed out on social media, no one knows for sure how best to fight this terrifying regime. So, rather than insist beforehand that something won’t work, it’s often best to extend solidarity, and see if maybe it will.
- Here Come Two More Enemies of Science About to Lead Vital Agencies
A Senate committee this week will almost surely push forward the FDA and NIH nominees. Neither one has the public interest at heart.
…I know what “gold-standard science” looks like.And I know what it doesn’t look like. It doesn’t look like the science endorsed by Jayanta Bhattacharya and Marty Makary, nominated respectively to head the National Institutes of Health and the Food and Drug Administration.
- Europe reacts with outrage to Vance insult
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In an interview with Fox News, Vance said giving the US an economic stake in Ukraine would be a “way better security guarantee than 20,000 troops from some random country that hasn’t fought a war in 30 or 40 years.”The remarks sparked widespread condemnation in the UK: British troops have long fought alongside US forces, including in Afghanistan and Iraq. UK right-wing opposition politician Nigel Farage said “JD Vance is wrong. Wrong wrong wrong.”
- Trump’s federal cryptocurrency reserve.
My [Isaac Saul] take.
…- I’ve personally benefitted from crypto, and I’ve always been open to the technology.
- A government crypto reserve is a terrible idea that opens us up to fraud.
- At a time when the market is getting shaky, Sacks, Trump, and the administration’s tech backers all stand to benefit enormously from this plan.
- Current Affairs Magazine Demonstrates Paywalls Are Not Necessary for Publications to Thrive
- RFK Jr. ends transparency policy, cancels public meeting after openness vow
Kennedy vowed last month to usher in an era of “radical transparency.”
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Since then, Kennedy has axed a public meeting on vaccines—leaving lingering questions about the future of those transparent proceedings. He has also revoked a broad transparency policy for the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) that required public notice for certain new rules and a comment period to allow for the public to be involved with the rulemaking process. Revoking the policy could have sweeping effects. For instance, HHS could now change Medicaid requirements with no notice or change federal research grants without input from the research community—something the Trump administration has already tried to do before it was put on hold by a federal judge.Has the Trump administration’s war on vaccines already started?
Under RFK Jr., HHS has canceled key vaccine meetings. Here’s what that means for seasonal flu, bird flu, and childhood immunizations.Measles Outbreak Continues to Spread in West Texas
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the health and human services secretary, claimed that local doctors had successfully treated children with a steroid, antibiotics or cod liver oil.As RFK Jr. delivers his message on measles, public health experts hear a familiar tune
The health secretary has not criticized vaccines — but has stressed arguments of those who doRFK Jr.’s focus on vitamin A for measles worries health experts
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His op-ed does not mention vitamin A’s risks.Experts acknowledge that vitamin A can be beneficial after someone has gotten sick, but they say it is not a replacement for vaccination to prevent measles. Vitamin A is considered supportive care and typically used in countries where children are malnourished and have vitamin A deficiency. Vitamin A deficiency in the United States affects less than 1 percent of the population, according to a nutrition report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
- People Are Paying Millions to Dine With Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago
Business leaders are paying as much as $5 million to meet one-on-one with the president at his Florida compound, sources tell WIRED, while others are paying $1 million apiece to dine with him in a group setting. - Trump forces workers to return to “office” — many without Wi-Fi, lights, electricity, and even desks
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“The facilities were not actually ready for us to return…[and] no one is on-site to try to fix the issues,” Department of Education employee Sheria Smith said, via CNN, while another employee said they spent their first week back without basic supplies such as a computer or even pens, and with no private space for work calls. - The Women Who Wanted to Leave Their Husbands Over Politics
This fall, I followed three women who had been thinking about divorce. What happened when Donald Trump won again? - Elon Is Coming for Your Social Security
Plus: Don’t call it a “State of the Union” speech. - Judge Reinstates Fired Federal Employee Appeals Worker
A federal judge ruled on Tuesday that President Donald Trump “lacks the power” to fire the chairwoman of a board that reviews federal employee dismissals without cause and ordered that she be reinstated to her post.District Judge Rudolph Contreras ruled in favor of Cathy Harris, the chair of the Merit Systems Protection Board, ordering that she may remain on the agency’s board until her term expires in 2028 unless she is fired “for inefficiency, neglect of duty or malfeasance in office.”
- DOJ: The Trump administration is reviewing “mifepristone-related” cases
- Democrats Have Already Gamed Out Trump’s Joint Address To Congress
Everything you need to know about his speech… so you don’t have to watch it
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As Trump takes the rostrum in the U.S. House chamber tonight, he will be addressing an increasingly angry electorate at home and an increasingly emboldened Democratic minority in the chamber, realities that few expect Trump will acknowledge tonight. - Trump Fears Protest Power. Here’s Why He Can’t Stop It
The 3.5% Rule: The Power of Small but Mighty Movements - Ontario Says Elon Musk’s $100-million Starlink Contract is Cancelled
Ontario reportedly cancelled its $100-million contract with Elon Musk-owned satellite internet company Starlink on Tuesday. - No more in-person town halls, NRCC chief tells House Republicans
Rep. Richard Hudson issued the edict after a spate of testy episodes. - Elon Musk is a proven danger to good science, but the Royal Society won’t say it. That’s why I resigned
Kit Yates - France’s Mirage 2000-5F flies over Ukraine in historic debut
Grainy footage flickers across screens worldwide, capturing a sleek silhouette slicing through Ukraine’s embattled skies—a French-supplied Mirage 2000-5F, piloted by a Ukrainian aviator, soaring over the war-torn nation for the first time. Shared on X by user @Archer83Able earlier today, the video marks a milestone nearly a year in the making, cementing Ukraine’s growing arsenal of Western fighter jets. - Congressman Thomas Suozzi: When that guy asked Zelenskyy a question, he said, ‘You don’t have a suit? You come in here without a suit on?’ That was Marjorie Taylor Greene’s boyfriend. Why is he asking questions in the Oval Office, and why doesn’t he ask that question when Elon Musk shows up?
- Chart Dump: US Tariffs
Well there you have it. Trump has followed through. He has slapped a 25% tariff on all imports from Mexico and Canada. Furthermore, he’s added a 20% tax on goods from China. I put together a quick chart dump of everything I’ve seen recently. [15+ graphs on exports, various products, various countries, various sources] - Please fasten your seatbelts. A third of US air traffic control systems are ‘unsustainable’
And the FAA’s modernization efforts are going so badly they won’t exit turbulence any time soon - Trump administration must produce status report on refugee resettlement, judge orders
(RNS) — ‘I am going to order the government to issue a status report’ on whether it is complying with a ruling that should restart the refugee program, Judge Jamal Whitehead said in court on Tuesday. - Judge Blocks Trump Orders to Stop Funds for Trans Youth Health Providers
The ruling affects hospitals nationwide, putting on hold the administration’s plan to withhold research grants from those that offer gender transition treatments to young people. - Rep. Lloyd Doggett’s Post
While some of my equally outraged colleagues chose not to attend, I chose to confront Trump face-to-face and confront his lies one by one.
Unlike a Republican colleague who yelled out ‘You lie!’ years ago during a Joint Session speech by President Obama, I chose to raise a sign saying ‘FALSE.’ Trump doesn’t like fact-checking since so many of his claims don’t match the facts.
The People’s House must not be left unchecked to a wannabe tyrant spewing lies.
