January 15, 2026

Tom Phillips & Hugo Lowell of the Guardian: “The Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado has said she 'presented' her gold Nobel peace prize medal to Donald Trump after meeting him in the White House, nearly a fortnight after he ordered the abduction of Venezuela’s president, Nicolás Maduro. Machado, who received the award last year for her struggle against Maduro’s 'brutal, authoritarian state', told reporters she had done so 'in recognition [of] his unique commitment [to] our freedom'. It was not immediately clear whether Trump had accepted the gift. Earlier in the day the Nobel organizers posted on X: 'A medal can change owners, but the title of a Nobel peace prize laureate cannot.'” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: The ironies of this presentation are so many, I won't try to hit them all. Trump has lobbied for the Nobel Peace Prize for years. Just last week, he said, "I can't think of anybody in history that should get the Nobel [Peace] Prize more than me...." This is the same man who a couple of weeks ago not only ordered the kidnapping of Machado's political opponent Nicolás Maduro in a violent military operations that cost 80 Venezuelan lives, but he also ordered war crimes to be committed against dozens of Machado's countrymen. He currently is in the process of "banking" some of Venezuela's resources. Although Machado's party won the most recent election against Maduro, Trump did not install her or her party members to lead Venezuela after his coup. Instead, he said Machado did not have the "respect" of Venezuelans, and he retained the entire administration of her nemesis Maduro. Oh, and Trump claims that he is the acting president of Venezuela. So he took control of Machado's country by force, installed himself as fake president, and left Machado out in the cold. 

Speaking of the cold, Trump is currently threatening to acquire the ice-covered island of Greenland by military force. The military of several European countries, including Norway -- the country that awards the Nobel Peace Prize -- are mounting a joint military show-of-force against Trump's bellicose advances on Greenland. Greenland was twice settled by Norway, and Norway claimed Greenland as a territory as recently as 100 years ago. But Norway gave up its claims to Greenland -- peacefully -- when it lost an international court case to Denmark. Finally, Trump accepted Machado's Peace Prize on the same day he threatened to send the U.S. military into an American city to use force against the people of his own country. 

Gregory Svirnovskiy & Kyle Cheney of Politico: “... Donald Trump on Thursday threatened to send the military into Minneapolis over widespread demonstrations after federal agents shot and wounded a man, and in the aftermath of the fatal shooting of a protester by an ICE agent last week. 'If the corrupt politicians of Minnesota don’t obey the law and stop the professional agitators and insurrectionists from attacking the Patriots of I.C.E., who are only trying to do their job, I will institute the INSURRECTION ACT, which many Presidents have done before me, and quickly put an end to the travesty that is taking place in that once great State,'” the president wrote on Truth Social.... He sharpened [his] threat [to invoke the Insurrection Act] recently after the Supreme Court ruled that his previous efforts to deploy the National Guard into Democratic-led cities exceeded his authority.”

Wherein Frank Bruni & Bret Stephens of the New York Times are mostly in agreement about ICE's invasion of Minneapolis. (MB: Neither of these guys, IMO, is particularly wise or particularly liberal, which made their conversation more interesting to me. They seem to be expressing, albeit more articulately, the Joe Rogan take: "WTF is the gestapo doing in Minneapolis?" [I mean, would Rogan cite a Kipling poem?])

Paul Krugman is surprised about how all of this is going down: "... the US has not replicated Hungary’s measured slide into authoritarianism. For Trump and his minions aren’t patient. They want retribution and subjugation. Threats and dominance displays are how they operate. They burn with racism, misogyny, and performative cruelty. So now we have Minneapolis, America’s laboratory of democratic destruction, where ICE agents have gone full Sturmabteilung, terrorizing and even killing not only people with brown skin, but anyone who protests or gets in their way.... A gradual destruction of democracy would have been hard to resist. After all, who wants to rock the boat when there’s money to be made, jobs to keep, perks to be had, convenient bothsideism to be upheld, if you will just be silent and keep your head down? Instead, however, the assault on freedom and civil liberties is open, lurid, and impossible to deny. While our institutions and our elites have failed us, ordinary Americans are rising to the occasion."

~~~~~~~~~~ 

⭐Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs, et al., of the New York Times: “A federal agent shot and injured a man in Minneapolis on Wednesday evening, federal officials said, an incident that touched off hours of clashes between protesters and law enforcement officers and that came just one week after an immigration agent killed a woman in the city.” ~~~

     ~~~ We pause here for a word from a sponsor of the Reign of Terror:

“Tricia McLaughlin, a spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security, said in a statement that federal agents were trying to arrest a man from Venezuela who was in the country illegally in a 'targeted traffic stop' at around 6:50 p.m. She said that he fled from agents.When the officer caught up to him, Ms. McLaughlin said he 'began to resist and violently assault the officer.' She said two people came out of a nearby building and, along with the man being sought, attacked the officer with a snow shovel and a broom handle.The officer feared for his life and fired shots, striking the man whom agents were seeking in the leg, Ms. McLaughlin said. The agent and the man who was shot were in the hospital, she added, and the other two people she accused of attacking the agent were in custody.”

     ~~~ Now back to our regular reporting:

“The federal government’s narrative could not immediately be verified. City officials said the person who was shot had 'apparent non-life-threatening injuries.' The agent’s condition was not immediately clear.” The story goes on to describe the protests that followed the shooting and ICE reactions to the protests. ~~~

     ~~~ Molly Hennessy-Fiske, et al., of the Washington Post provide some details that suggest McLaughlin's account may be at least partially truthful. Also: “Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey (D) called ICE’s conduct in the city 'disgusting' and 'intolerable' while urging residents and protesters to resist 'taking the bait.' 'Go home. We cannot counter Donald Trump’s chaos with our own brand of chaos,' he said. Several protesters have thrown fireworks, rocks and chunks of ice at police officers, [Minneapolis Police Chief  Brian] O’Hara said, though Frey also praised the 'thousands of people' who have peacefully protested in the city.” ~~~

     ~~~ UPDATE. Well, gosh, here's a whole different version.: “They chased him, he got home and when we closed the door they shot him.” (Translation to English from Spanish) Thanks to RAS for the link.  

Stephen Swanson of CBS News: "In a rare primetime address Wednesday evening, Gov. Tim Walz ... called on ... [Donald] Trump and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to 'end this occupation.'... 'What's happening in Minnesota right now defies belief,' Walz said. 'News reports simply don't do justice to the level of chaos and disruption and trauma the federal government is raining down upon our communities.... Donald Trump intends for it to get worse. This week, he went online to promise that quote, "the day of retribution and reckoning is coming.... That's a direct threat against the people of this state who dared to vote against him three times and who continue to stand up for freedom with courage and empathy and profound grace.'" ~~~

     ~~~ You can watch Walz's full address on this YouTube video. 

Isabela Dias of Mother Jones: "The second Trump presidency has taken ICE off the leash. The agency is now the highest-funded law enforcement body in the United States, with a budget that eclipses that of some countries’ militaries. With its near-unlimited resources and aggressive directions from the White House, ICE is sending federal immigration agents not trained in community policing to make at-large arrests in cities across the country.... Two ex-ICE workers I spoke with described an agency that, in pursuit of ... Donald Trump’s mass deportation mandate, is engaging in reckless and risky behavior. 'They’re essentially operating now in a resource constraint-free environment and doing very dangerous things,' said Scott Shuchart, who ... [was' ICE’s assistant director for regulatory affairs and policy under the Biden administration. Violent interactions with the public aren’t surprising, he added. 'That’s sort of by design.' Dan Gividen, [once] an ICE [lawyer]..., compared what the agency is doing as akin to running into a crowded movie theater and yelling 'fire.'” (Also linked yesterday.) 

Jon Henley & Andrew Roth of the Guardian + Agencies: “'Greenland is very important for the national security, including of Denmark,' Trump told reporters in the Oval Office [after the meeting among U.S., Danish & Greenlandic officials]. 'And the problem is there’s not a thing that Denmark can do about it if Russia or China wants to occupy Greenland, but there’s everything we can do. You found that out last week with Venezuela,' he added.” ~~~

~~~ Adam Taylor & Michael Birnbaum of the Washington Post: “Denmark’s foreign minister said there had been a 'frank but also constructive' conversation with the Trump administration in a high-stakes meeting about Greenland at the White House on Wednesday, but that the two sides had come to no agreement about ... Donald Trump’s demands to 'own' the Arctic territory.” This is an update of a story linked earlier Wednesday. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Felicia Schwartz & Eli Stokols of Politico: “Denmark and Greenland 'still have a fundamental disagreement' with the U.S. over ... Donald Trump’s desire to control the Arctic territory, Denmark’s foreign minister said Wednesday. Lars Løkke Rasmussen and his Greenland counterpart, Vivian Motzfeldt, finally had their chance to try to turn down the temperature at the White House after more than a year of aggressive internet trolling, statements and demands from the U.S. Their conversation did little to dissuade Trump and his team from their hold on Greenland.... Rasmussen and Motzfeldt took pains to describe the session as respectful, but their frustration that their longtime ally would not cooperate was clear.” (Also linked yesterday.) The New York Times' story is here. ~~~

~~~ Earlier That Same Day. Trump Ups His Threat. Julia Manchester of the Hill: Donald “Trump said early Wednesday that anything less than U.S. control of Greenland would be 'unacceptable.' 'The United States needs Greenland for the purpose of National Security. It is vital for the Golden Dome that we are building. NATO should be leading the way for us to get it. IF WE DON’T, RUSSIA OR CHINA WILL, AND THAT IS NOT GOING TO HAPPEN!' Trump wrote in a Truth Social post ahead of Vice President Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio meeting with officials from the island and Denmark at the White House.” (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Which Way, Greenland Man?" Marie Villarroel of the Mirror: "The White House posted a chilling cartoon on Wednesday, warning Greenlanders that if they ignore the Trump administration's call to acquire the mineral-rich island, they will ultimately fall to the hands of Russia and China. The cartoon depicted two sleds carrying a group of huskies traveling along separate paths: one sled, led to the U.S. flag, which stook in a bright and sunny landscape, while the other sled, was shown heading toward a dark, ominous area labeled with the Russia and China flags, portraying a villainous manner. 'Which way, Greenland man?' the meme's caption read, apparently portraying the U.S. as the natural choice for Greenland's future." ~~~

     ~~~ ⭐Ben Makuch of the Guardian: "At first glance, [the cartoon with its 'Which way, Greenland Man' caption] might seem to be innocuous and referencing the ongoing demands of Donald Trump that Greenland ... become part of the United States. But according to Heidi Beirich ... of the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism..., this was a clear cut example of a nod towards racist, far-right literature. 'This is a key concept in neo-Nazi and white supremacist subculture,' said Beirich. 'Western man is code for white man, and one of the most popular racist books in these subcultures is Which Way Western Man, which has been featured in a [Department of Homeland Security] post celebrating manifest destiny.' The 1978 book is essential reading among the American far right and was written by the late white nationalist William Gayley Simpson, a member of the National Alliance – a foundational neo-Nazi organization established by William Luther Pierce, whose writing inspired several acts of terrorism, including the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing.” ~~~

~~~ Chris Lunday, et al., of Politico: “Denmark and allied countries said Wednesday they will increase their military presence in Greenland as part of expanded exercises, amid intensifying pressure from Washington over the Arctic island’s sovereignty.... In a statement, Denmark’s defense ministry said additional Danish aircraft, naval assets and troops will be deployed in and around Greenland starting immediately as part of expanded training and exercise activity. The effort will include 'receiving allied forces, operating fighter jets and carrying out maritime security tasks,' the ministry said. Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said on X that Swedish officers are arriving in Greenland as part of a multinational allied group to help prepare upcoming phases of Denmark’s Operation Arctic Endurance exercise, following a request from Copenhagen. A European diplomat said that troops from the Netherlands, Canada and Germany were also taking part. The diplomat and another official with first-hand knowledge said France was also involved.” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Let's be clear. These are our (former) NATO allies preparing for a U.S. invasion of Greenland. In the U.S., ordinary citizens -- and in some cases, the courts -- are the resistance to Trump's aggression; at least Greenland is getting some help from European military forces. Lawrence O'Donnell said last night that Trump will never invade Greenland; the whole hoohah is about trying to deflect attention from the Epstein files. I don't agree with O'Donnell that Trump's aggression is a mere diversion, but it could be partly a diversionary tactic. If so, Trump didn't help himself by calling attention to his "pedo protection" project: ~~~  

~~~ Standing Up to Trump. TJ Sabula, the Ford auto worker who yelled "pedo protector" at Trump, says he has been suspended from his job while Ford investigates or something. A friend started a GoFundMe page for him & his family, and the haul is nearly $300K at 11:45 am ET Wednesday. Thanks to RAS for the link. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Update. Phoebe Howard on Substack: “Thomas 'TJ' Sabula is asking people to please stop sending money. The UAW member, suspended from his job by Ford Motor Co. after he shouted  'pedophile protector' at ... [Donald] Trump during a factory tour in Dearborn on Tuesday, said he is grateful for overwhelming public support and now asks that people send their money to other deserving causes. Fundraising on his behalf collected $810,000 from Tuesday through Wednesday. 'We greatly appreciate the outpouring of support! At this time we are closing donations to this campaign and encourage you to look for other causes and organizations to support,' said a note ae the bottom of both original GoFundMe pages. 'We appreciate every single donation, comment, share, and sign of support!'”

Jamelle Bouie of the New York Times: “Trump is, in his mind, an elected monarch — although not an enlightened one — whose whims are law and whose power extends to every inch of the United States and every corner of the Western Hemisphere.... Virtually all previous presidents have understood themselves as they are: agents of the federal Constitution.... Trump’s assertion of unlimited authority — subject only to his moral judgment and his mind (whatever that means) — is a total rejection of popular sovereignty and the logic of the Constitution.... Trump does not see himself as a constitutional officer. His power, as he sees it, flows from his person — not the office and certainly not the people, whose only role, in his view, is to legitimize his desires. Trump is an anti-constitutional figure whose very presence on the American political scene is nothing less than a full-spectrum assault on republican government and democracy.” the link appears to be a gift link.

How to "Manage" the U.S. Economy: Lie About It:  

(a) Kevin Draper & Julie Creswell of the New York Times: “Days away from the first anniversary of ... [Donald] Trump’s second term in office, grocery prices are still rising, undercutting his administration’s rhetoric about how it is making life more affordable for average Americans.... Data released Tuesday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics found the cost of food at home rose 2.4 percent overall in the previous 12 months and 0.7 percent in December alone, the fastest single-month increase since October 2022.... Yet Mr. Trump continues to falsely claim otherwise. 'Grocery prices are starting to go rapidly down,' he said Tuesday afternoon during a speech in Detroit.... Higher prices are particularly affecting low-income consumers, some of whom temporarily lost their SNAP benefits during last year’s government shutdown.”

(b) David Lynch of the Washington Post: “Introducing the highest U.S. tariffs since the Great Depression..., Donald Trump made a clear promise in the spring: 'Jobs and factories will come roaring back into our country.' They haven’t. Manufacturing employment has declined every month since what Trump dubbed 'Liberation Day' in April, saying his widespread tariffs would begin to rebalance global trade in favor of American workers. U.S. factories employ 12.7 million people today, 72,000 fewer than when Trump made his Rose Garden announcement. The trade measures that the president said would spur manufacturing have instead hampered it, according to most mainstream economists.”

(c) During the presidential campaign, Trump said he would slash energy prices in half within 12 months of taking office. Let's see how he did: ~~~ 

~~~ Shannon Osaka of the Washington Post: “Over the past few years, millions of Americans have seen their electricity bills skyrocket. Since February 2020, electricity prices have increased by an average of 40 percent across the country. In some areas, the rate is even faster — in Washington, D.C., electricity costs increased 93 percent from July 2020 to July 2025.... [But] electricity prices for homes have risen faster than for companies.... Even as huge data centers — some using as much electricity as a small city — have plugged into the grid in recent years, they aren’t seeing the same spikes in prices as residential customers.” The reasons for this disparity are complex, and Osaka lays them out. 

The Family That Grifts Together.... Sharon LaFraniere of the New York Times: “At the intersection of the prediction market industry and Trump world is Donald Trump Jr., the president’s eldest son. He is both an investor in and an unpaid adviser to Polymarket, and a paid adviser to Kalshi, the two biggest prediction markets. And he is a director of the Trump family’s social media company, which recently announced it would start its own platform called Truth Predict. The various hats worn by Donald Trump Jr. are an example of the ethical questions raised by Trump family business ventures during the president’s second term.... Ann Skeet ... [of] the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics in Santa Clara, Calif., said that 'it’s problematic to have the president’s son in the mix” because he could be among a small group of people who actually know the answers to specific White House questions that people are betting on.'”

Corrupt Dictator Needs More Time to Fix “Oversight.” Luke Broadwater of the New York Times: “The Commission of Fine Arts has postponed a planned review of ... [Donald] Trump’s new ballroom because he has yet to appoint new members to the panel to replace the ones he fired months ago. The White House fired all six members of the independent agency in October, promising to appoint members who shared Mr. Trump’s 'America First' agenda. But the administration has not done so. The panel was supposed to meet Thursday, and on the agenda was an 'information presentation' about the ballroom project. But the review has been pushed back a week to give the president more time to handpick the panel members, according to the agency.”

When attacking Americans and Venezuelans and threatening Greenlanders and Iranians is just not enough. When siccing the DOJ & FBI on U.S. senators, representatives, former federal officials, the chair of the Federal Reserve and even a WashPo journalist just don't satisfy: ~~~ 

~~~ Maria Abi-Habib, et al., of the New York Times: “The United States is intensifying pressure on Mexico to allow U.S. military forces to conduct joint operations to dismantle fentanyl labs inside the country, according to American officials. The push comes as ... [Donald] Trump presses on the Mexican government to grant the United States a larger role in the battle against drug cartels that produce fentanyl and smuggle it into the United States.”

Making China Great Again. John Henley of the Guardian: “A year after Donald Trump’s return to the White House, a global survey suggests much of the world believes his nation-first, 'Make America Great Again' approach is instead helping to make China great again. The 21-country survey for the influential European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR) thinktank also found that under Trump, the US is less feared by its traditional adversaries, while its allies – particularly in Europe – feel ever more distant. Most Europeans no longer see the US as a reliable ally and are increasingly supportive of rearmament, it found, while Russians now see the EU as more of an enemy than the US, and Ukrainians are looking more to Brussels than to Washington for support.” ~~~

     ~~~ Making Chinese Universities Great. Mark Arsenault of the New York Times: “Until recently, Harvard was the most productive research university in the world, according to a global ranking that looks at academic publication.... Harvard recently dropped to No. 3 on the ranking. The schools racing up the list are not Harvard’s American peers, but Chinese universities that have been steadily climbing in rankings that emphasize the volume and quality of research they produce. The reordering comes as the Trump administration has been slashing research funding to American schools that depend heavily on the federal government to pay for scientific endeavors.... [Donald] Trump’s policies did not start the American universities’ relative decline, which began years ago, but they could accelerate it.”

Matthew Lee of the AP: “The State Department said Wednesday it will suspend the processing of immigrant visas for citizens of 75 countries, including Afghanistan, Iran, Russia and Somalia, whose nationals the Trump administration has deemed likely to require public assistance while living in the United States. The State Department, led by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, said it had instructed consular officers to halt immigrant visa applications from the countries affected in accordance with a broader order issued in November that tightened rules around potential immigrants who might become 'public charges/ in the U.S. The suspension, which will begin Jan. 21, will not apply to applicants seeking non-immigrant visas, or temporary tourist or business visas, who make up the vast majority of visa seekers.” (Also linked yesterday.) 

Greg Jaffe of the New York Times: “Three more Democratic lawmakers said on Wednesday that they were being investigated for their participation in a video urging military service members to resist illegal orders. Representatives Jason Crow of Colorado, Maggie Goodlander of New Hampshire and Chrissy Houlahan of Pennsylvania all reported that they had received inquiries from Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia and a longtime ally of ... [Donald] Trump, requesting an interview with them or their private counsel. The disclosures follow a similar one this week by Senator Elissa Slotkin of Michigan. Mr. Trump and other administration officials have described the video, which restates a fundamental principle of military law, as 'seditious.' But it is unclear what possible crime the lawmakers are believed to have committed. The investigations are the latest escalation in a campaign by Mr. Trump and his allies to exact retribution on those he views as enemies. They also add to a growing list of high-profile targets who have clashed with Mr. Trump and are now being investigated by Ms. Pirro’s office, including the Federal Reserve chair, Jerome H. Powell.” ~~~

Kash Patel is out there doing whatever the hell he wants. Investigate the victim and the family of the victim of an ICE shooting? Check. Forget about investigating the murderer himself? Check. Have the FBI tax his girlfriend's drunk friend to wherever she wants to go. Check. Use a government plane to get to date night? Check. And now this: ~~~

Bemjamin Mullin, et al., of the New York Times: “F.B.I. agents searched the home of a Washington Post reporter on Wednesday as part of a leak investigation, a significant escalation in the Trump administration’s tactics in seeking information from the news media. It is exceedingly rare, even in investigations of classified disclosures, for federal agents to search a reporter’s home. A 1980 law called the Privacy Protection Act generally bars search warrants for reporters’ work materials unless the reporters themselves are suspected of committing a crime related to them. The reporter, Hannah Natanson, has spent the past year covering the Trump administration’s effort to fire federal workers and redirect much of the work force to enforcing his agenda. Many of those employees shared with her their anger, frustration and fear with the administration’s changes. A spokesperson for The Washington Post said on Wednesday that the publication was reviewing and monitoring the situation. 

“An article in The Post said investigators told Ms. Natanson that she is not the focus of the investigation. Law enforcement seized laptops, a phone and a smartwatch during their search. The paper reported that the search warrant and related F.B.I. affidavit indicated that law enforcement was investigating Aurelio Perez-Lugones, a system administrator in Maryland who has a top-secret security clearance and has been accused of gaining access to and taking home classified intelligence reports that were found in his lunchbox and his basement.” Here's the Post story, by Perry Stein & Jeremy Roebuck. Politico's story is here. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Sarah Ellison, et al., of the Washington Post: “After the FBI searched a Washington Post reporter’s home Wednesday morning, reporters from multiple outlets said they moved swiftly to secure their phones and laptops, reassure confidential sources and consult newsroom leaders as they worried about the federal government’s seizure of devices containing sensitive information. Many journalists said they saw the FBI raid as a jarring new step aimed at limiting news organizations’ ability to gather information that the government does not want to be made public.... Raiding a reporter’s home early in the morning — a[n] ... intrusive step that limits the ability for a court challenge — is exceedingly unusual if not unprecedented, according to Gabe Rottman, an attorney ... for the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, who said he could think of no comparable examples.... In the New York Times’s Washington bureau on Wednesday, a regularly scheduled meeting started with an update on security and legal protocols, according to a person who attended. A reporter who covers the Pentagon said one positive outcome of the FBI search was that it snapped journalists into action to protect themselves and their sources.” ~~~

~~~ Marie: Gosh, no word -- as far as I know -- from the owner of the Bezos Post.

Michael Casey of the AP: “The Trump administration apologized in court for a 'mistake' in the deportation of a Massachusetts college student who was detained trying to fly home to surprise her family for Thanksgiving, but still argued the error should not affect her case. Any Lucia Lopez Belloza, a 19-year-old Babson College freshman, was detained at Boston’s airport on Nov. 20 and flown to Honduras two days later. Her removal came despite an emergency court order on Nov. 21 directing the government to keep her in Massachusetts or elsewhere in the United States for at least 72 hours. Lopez Belloza, whose family emigrated from Honduras to the U.S. in 2014, is currently staying with grandparents and studying remotely. She is not detained and was recently visiting an aunt in El Salvador. Her case is the latest involving a deportation carried out despite a court order.” (Also linked yesterday.)

Trump/Hegseth's Little Vanity Project Would Cost $125MM. John Ismay of the New York Times: “Among the many culture war policies Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has pursued, there is one goal that has so far officially eluded his grasp: changing the name of the Department of Defense to the 'Department of War.' Doing so, however, would cost taxpayers as much as $125 million, according to a new report released by the Congressional Budget Office on Wednesday.... Congress ... would need to write and pass a law making the name change official and legally binding. The report noted that the Pentagon, which is led by Mr. Hegseth, refused to respond to the congressional office’s queries about how much money the department had already spent — and intended to spend in the future — pursuing the name change.... [Donald] Trump signed an executive order in September telling executive branch agencies to begin using the 'Department of War' name, which he said 'just sounded better.' 'Defense,' Mr. Trump said, was too politically correct of a term.”

Anatoly Kurmanaev of the New York Times: “The United States government is brokering the sale of millions of barrels of Venezuelan oil, which have been trapped in the country since the Trump administration started a partial blockade against tankers carrying crude from Venezuela, according to people familiar with the deal. The U.S. Department of Energy is orchestrating the effort to sell a total of about 50 million barrels of Venezuelan oil that has been stranded since President Trump imposed the partial blockade last month, according to the people, who were not authorized to speak publicly. 'The first sale has already occurred and the sales will continue indefinitely,' a spokesman for the Department of Energy said in a statement in response to questions.”

Anthony Jeong of the Washington Post: “A four-person NASA mission, cut short because of a medical problem affecting one of its members, brought its crew safely back to Earth on Thursday, according to the space agency. The crew members are 'all safe and in good spirits,' NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said in a news conference after the astronauts’ arrival.”

Never Mind. Jan Hoffman of the New York Times: “Less than 24 hours after the Trump administration informed more than 2,000 addiction and mental health programs nationwide that it was immediately terminating almost $2 billion of their funding, the administration reversed course and reinstated the money. An administration official confirmed Wednesday night that the money was being restored, but declined to say why. The decision followed furious lobbying by lawmakers from both parties to restore the cuts and a letter to the health secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., with signatures from 100 House members.” Here's the AP's story.

These are bills that reject the devastating cuts Trump demanded in his deeply unserious budget he sent to Congress about a year ago. When just about every secretary came before our Appropriations Committee to advocate for those Trump funding cuts, I made clear to them I planned to rip up his budget and write a new one — and that is exactly what we are doing. -- Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) ~~~ 

~~~ Democrats Save Federal Government from Trump, Vought. Catie Edmondson of the New York Times: “Congress is quietly rejecting almost all of the deepest cuts to federal programs that ... [Donald] Trump requested for this year, turning back his efforts to slash funding for foreign aid, global health programs, scientific research, the arts and more in a bipartisan repudiation of his spending plans. The latest rejection of his budget blueprint came on Wednesday, after the House voted 341 to 79 to pass a pair of bills to fund the State and Treasury Departments, as well as other foreign aid programs, providing money for agencies that Mr. Trump had proposed eliminating entirely. All told, while lawmakers have agreed to make modest trims to a number of programs that Mr. Trump has wanted to eviscerate — and to zero out some others — the spending bills that they are now moving through Congress reflect the political reality that any funding measure must be bipartisan in order to avoid a Democratic filibuster in the Senate and become law.”

Robert Jimison & Megan Mineiro of the New York Times: “The Senate on Wednesday blocked a resolution that sought to force ... [Donald] Trump to seek congressional approval for any U.S. military action related to Venezuela. Republican leaders were able to garner enough support for their procedural maneuver to kill the resolution after Senators Josh Hawley of Missouri and Todd Young of Indiana flipped their position and joined the effort to stop it from coming up for a vote. The shift brought about a 50-50 tie, which was broken late Wednesday in favor of Republican leadership by Vice President JD Vance, in his role as president of the Senate. Mr. Hawley and Mr. Young were part of a group of five Republicans who last week joined all Democrats in supporting the measure aiming to curb the president’s war powers.” Update: The link has been changed to one that appears to be a gift link. Politico's report is here. ~~~

     ~~~ Ken W. wrote last night: "Republican Senators: Not only a confederacy of dunces, but a confederacy of cowards...." Quite right. Americans are under attack by the President* of the United States because of cowards like this -- cowards who collaborated with Donald Trump in 2021 to overturn the election, then voted to acquit him for instigating the January 6 insurrection. You may recall that Mitt Romney, who voted to convict, said he heard from Republican senators who believed Trump was guilty but were afraid to vote to convict him because they feared for their own safety. ~~~

“We're Totally in Control.” Meredith Hill & Mia McCarthy of Politico: “Frustrations are growing among House Republicans as their majority dwindles and agenda sputters — and it’s not just Speaker Mike Johnson who is feeling the heat. Members were aghast after a stunning Tuesday night meltdown on the House floor, where opposition from a handful of GOP members led to the defeat of one labor bill and the postponement of three others. Some questioned why the Republican floor and whip teams — under the direction of Majority Leader Steve Scalise and Majority Whip Tom Emmer, respectively — had allowed the votes to be scheduled.... 'They didn’t even whip the fucking bill,' one House Republican said. 'It was unbelievably dumb and unbelievably reckless,' said another.... Leaving the floor after the failed vote Tuesday night, Johnson insisted, 'We’re totally in control of the House.'” ~~~

~~~ Melanie Zanona, et al., of NBC News: “As the slim House Republican majority hangs on a razor’s edge, lawmakers are getting a stern warning from party leadership: You should be absent only for matters of life and death. That message has been delivered to members in recent party meetings and private conversations, according to multiple lawmakers, and it has taken on an increasing sense of urgency as the GOP’s margins have shrunk even further in recent weeks with the unexpected death of Rep. Doug LaMalfa, R-Calif., and the shock midsession retirement of Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga. House Majority Whip Tom Emmer’s office confirmed to NBC News that it is advising members that 'outside of life-and-death circumstances, the whip’s office expects members to be here working on behalf of the American people.'”

Bill Saporito in a New York Times op-ed: “... it is pretty difficult to futureproof your company against stupid. This is exactly what the American automobile industry is facing as a result of ... [Donald] Trump’s gratuitous war against electric vehicles, which is forcing manufacturers to return to an increasingly outdated past.... One big reason for Mr. Trump’s rejection of E.V.s is simple: President Joe Biden championed them.... The vindictive, oil-loving Mr. Trump, who equates green with woke and views climate change as heresy, has worked assiduously to undo [Biden's infrastructure investment], working to cancel consumer tax incentives and billions in funds for E.V. charging and battery manufacturing projects.... There’s been little pushback from a supine Congress.... By the time the automobile industry is dominated by E.V.s, G.M. and Ford might have fallen well behind China, thanks to the Trump administration. This isn’t industrial policy; it’s industrial suicide.”

~~~~~~~~~~  

California. Laurel Rosenhall of the New York Times: “A federal court on Wednesday rejected Republicans’ claim that California’s new congressional maps were unconstitutional, upholding a voter-approved plan intended to benefit Democrats in this year’s midterm elections. Two judges in a three-judge panel in Los Angeles sided with Gov. Gavin Newsom and fellow Democrats in Congress, who argued that the maps were drawn purely to give their party an advantage, in reaction to a similar gerrymander by Texas Republicans. The ruling shot down arguments by the California Republican Party and the Trump administration that the maps approved in a November ballot measure, Proposition 50, amounted to a racial gerrymander that focused on favoring Latinos over other groups of voters. 'The evidence presented reflects that Proposition 50 was exactly what it was billed as: a political gerrymander designed to flip five Republican-held seats to the Democrats,' District Judge Josephine Staton wrote in the majority opinion.” Politico's report is here.

~~~~~~~~~~ 

Iran. Eric Schmitt of the New York Times: “The U.S. military is evacuating an unspecified number of nonessential personnel from Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar as a precautionary measure while [Donald] Trump weighs ordering military action over the protests in Iran. The Pentagon began moving some personnel out of the sprawling air base because of the rising tension between the United States and Iran over the Tehran government’s crackdown against protesters there, according to two U.S. military officials who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss operational matters. The Qatari government said in a statement that the evacuations 'are being undertaken in response to the current regional tensions.'” Thanks to RAS for the lead. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Abdi Dahir & Sanam Mahoozi of the New York Times: “Iran was expected to execute a protester on Wednesday for the first time during the current wave of antigovernment unrest, according to human rights groups and family members of the protester.... [Donald] Trump has threatened 'strong action' if Iran carries out any such death sentences. Rights groups and relatives identified the protester as Erfan Soltani, 26, from an area west of the capital, Tehran. He was arrested on Jan. 8 and has been denied access to a lawyer or other means to mount a defense, according to the Norway-based Hengaw Organization for Human Rights. A statement by the rights group said his family was also kept unaware of the judicial proceedings and was allowed only a brief, final visit before the scheduled execution, on Wednesday. On Tuesday, his family said he had never used violence and only sought basic freedoms for Iranians.” (Also linked yesterday.)