March 27, 2026

Here's info on the No Kings protests coming up this Saturday, March 28. ~~~

~~~ Bette Midler updates a Woody Guthrie classic. Thanks to akaWendy for the link: ~~~

Donald Trump Is Insane. Marie: If you didn't watch the Lawrence O'Donnell segment embedded below, watch at least the part where Trump talks about the great deal he cut to get special White House/Trumpity Sharpies for bill signings. (The clip begins at about 4 minutes in.) O'Donnell lays out why Trump's "deal" was not a very smart one. And, as Patrick notes below, Trump's tale is another "sir" story. Okay. Now read this: ~~~

     ~~~ Isaac Arnsdorf of the Washington Post: “... Donald Trump spent five minutes of Thursday’s Cabinet meeting boasting of his thrift with a story about negotiating for $5 personalized Sharpies.... Presented with a transcript of Trump’s account, a spokesperson for Sharpie maker Newell Brands said it did not occur.”

Daniel Lippman of Politico: “Acting head of Immigration and Customs Enforcement Todd Lyons has been hospitalized at least twice for stress-related issues as he has carried out ... Donald Trump’s aggressive immigration agenda — strain that has caused him to struggle to make key decisions for the agency, according to two current and two former administration officials. The hospitalizations took place over the last seven months.... During these episodes, the current and former officials said they saw Lyons break out into a full sweat, with his face turning deep red. They also attributed the source of the pressure to ramp up deportations to the White House and top adviser Stephen Miller, who yelled at Lyons during morning phone calls with administration officials, according to four people who were on the calls. Other officials disputed that Miller yelled at Lyons, with one saying the deputy chief of staff was merely 'passionate.'... Asked about the incidents, Lyons said in a statement the stress he experienced wasn’t due to the White House. He did not address the hospitalizations. 'Since the beginning of this administration, I have worked night and day, all day, every day to undo the harms Joe Biden has caused to the American people,' he said.” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: "Joe Biden made me so sick I nearly died"?? I don't know what-all is in the Kool-Aid these poor SOBs drink, but it's got to be powerful stuff to get a person to exonerate Stephen Miller and blame Joe Biden for incidents that occurred months after Biden left town. 

From today's New York Times liveblog “Everything Is Going Very Smoothly”: “House Republicans on Friday angrily rejected a Senate-passed deal to reopen the Department of Homeland Security, threatening to extend the agency shutdown that has crippled airports in a fit of outrage over the agreement their own party struck with Senate Democrats to end the crisis.... Calling the Senate-passed deal engineered by Senator John Thune, Republican of South Dakota and the majority leader, 'ridiculousness,' [House Speaker Mike] Johnson [R] said the House would instead take up a stopgap measure to fund the entire department until late May.... Any change the House makes would require senators, who have now scattered to their states for a two-week break, to return to Washington and vote again.... But the stopgap measure [the House] proposed instead has no chance of winning the 60 votes necessary to advance in the Senate.... Representative Hakeem Jeffries, Democrat of New York and the [House] minority leader, said his party had been ready to back the Senate measure and end the partial shutdown.... 

“Mr. Trump, who had waffled all week about whether he would support a deal to end the shutdown..., [told] Fox News in an interview that the Senate-passed bill 'wasn’t appropriate.'... On Friday afternoon, the White House released Mr. Trump’s memorandum directing that T.S.A. employees be paid, though it was unclear how quickly that would occur or how swiftly agents might return to their jobs after weeks without compensation.” MB: The Republicans' complete disarray would be hilarious if their outrageous irresponsibility didn't have such a negative impact on so many people, both DHS workers at the TSA & FEMA, for instance, and their "customers": airline passengers and people in need of disaster relief.

~~~ SNAFU. Washington in Chaos. Riley Beggin, et al., of the Washington Post: “House Republicans plan to offer an eight-week measure to fund the Department of Homeland Security, two people familiar with the plans said Friday, rejecting a separate deal the Senate passed earlier in the day. The inter-chamber squabble appears likely to lead to a continued stalemate over the department that has gone unfunded since Feb. 14 — leading to lengthy delays at some airports across the country — as Senate Democrats have already said they would not support the House’s proposal. The Senate bill would fund all of DHS, including the Transportation Security Administration, except for Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection. The House bill would temporarily fund the entire department. 

“The Senate deal does not include any new accountability measures for ICE and CBP that Democrats have demanded. House Republicans have raised concerns that it does not include the Save America Act — a sweeping voting bill championed by ... Donald Trump that House Republicans have demanded the Senate pass — and that it would not appropriate money for the administration’s deportation efforts. House leaders indicated to members Friday morning that votes were “possible” later in the day or over the weekend and advised them to stay in Washington. The chamber had been scheduled to leave Washington for a two-week recess Friday afternoon.” Politico's story is here.

Barbara Sprunt of NPR: "The House Ethics Committee has found 'clear and convincing evidence' that Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick violated House rules, after a rare marathon public hearing Thursday night. The Florida Democrat was indicted in November over allegations she stole $5 million in disaster relief funds and used it to bankroll her 2021 special election campaign. Federal prosecutors allege she funneled money to support her campaign using FEMA overpayments distributed to Trinity Healthcare services, her family's company. She pleaded not guilty. 'After careful deliberation that lasted until well past midnight, the adjudicatory subcommittee found that Counts 1-15 and 17-26 of the SAV [Statement of Alleged Violations] had been proven,' a committee statement read.... Investigators on a bipartisan subcommittee have been probing the matter for two years.... In April, the committee will recommend a punishment to be voted on by the full House...."

This isn't the first time we have linked to reports about the findings of the Varieties of Democracy (V-Dem) Institute at Sweden’s Gothenburg University in regard to Trump's Demolish Democracy Project, but the TruthOut report is a good follow-on to Heather Cox Richardson's summary, AND author Sharon Zhang shares how alarming Trump's moves are. Thank you to RAS for the link:

~~~ Sharon Zhang of TruthOut: “... Donald Trump is dismantling U.S. democracy at an 'unprecedented' rate, downgrading the U.S.’s democratic rating on a global scale and plunging the country toward autocracy at a faster rate than autocratic leaders of other countries in the 21st century, the latest report by an international democracy watchdog finds. Varieties of Democracy (V-Dem) Institute at Sweden’s Gothenburg University finds in its annual report that Trump’s second term has been characterized by a swift concentration of power in the executive branch that ignores the rule of law, suppresses dissent, and targets civil rights. Many countries are falling further into autocracy, the report finds. But the U.S. stands out as 'an exceptional new autocratizer due to both far-reaching changes in 2025 and their implications for the rest of the world,' the group writes.... Trump has achieved in only one year what other countries with similar trends have taken a decade to achieve, the report says. '[T]he speed of decline is comparable to some coups d’états,' the group wrote in its report.”

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The New York Times' live updates of developments in the Iran war are here. From the pinned item at 6:50 am ET: Donald “Trump extended from Friday to April 6 his deadline for Iran to fully reopen the Strait of Hormuz or face attacks on its power plants, claiming progress in talks to end a war that has choked oil supplies and roiled economies around the world. Mr. Trump said on Thursday that the extension was requested by the Iranian government, which has so far publicly denied any negotiations with the United States. Mr. Trump wrote on social media: 'Talks are ongoing and, despite erroneous statements to the contrary by the Fake News Media, and others, they are going very well.' He made the announcement minutes after the U.S. stock market ended one of its worst days this year.”

Dan Lamothe, et al., of the Washington Post: “The U.S. military has fired more than 850 Tomahawk cruise missiles in four weeks of war with Iran, burning through the precision weapons at a rate that has alarmed some Pentagon officials and prompted internal discussions about how to make more available, said people familiar with the matter. The missiles, which can be launched from Navy surface warships and submarines, have been a staple of U.S. military attacks since they were first used in combat in 1991 during the Persian Gulf War. But only a few hundred are manufactured each year, meaning the global supply is limited. The Pentagon does not publicly disclose how many missiles are in its inventory at any one time.” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Well, sure, it's imprudent to fire your whole arsenal before the war is over. On the other hand, new missile attacks are needed every day to provide fresh footage for the two-minute highlights reels which serve to "brief" Trump on the progress of his vanity war.

We Are the Villains. Meg Kelly & Alex Horton of the Washington Post: “Images posted to social media Thursday show what experts said are U.S. land mines dispersed across a residential area in southern Iran, in what appears to be the first instance in more than two decades of American forces using the weapons. The photos show American BLU-91/B anti-tank land mines, which are released from an aircraft as part of the Gator mine scattering system, according to four munitions experts who reviewed the imagery at The Washington Post’s request. The United States is the only party in the Iran war known to possess the system. The land mines were photographed outside the city of Shiraz, around three miles from one of several nearby Iranian ballistic missile sites.... 'While these land mines are meant to target armored vehicles, they can still be extremely dangerous to civilians,' said Brian Castner, a weapons investigator with Amnesty International. In a Telegram post Thursday, the Iranian State News Agency said at least one person had been killed and others injured as a result of the 'explosive packages that resemble cans,' and it warned people to stay away from 'any misshapen, deformed, or unusual metal cans.'”

Barak Ravid of Axios: "The White House and the Pentagon are considering sending at least 10,000 additional combat troops to the Middle East in the coming days, according to a senior U.S. defense official.... The U.S. defense official expects the decision to be made next week and said the troops will be from different combat units than the ones which have already been sent to the region.... The Pentagon is developing military options for a 'final blow' in Iran that could include the use of ground forces and a massive bombing campaign, Axios reported." 

“It’s Not Just Hormuz.” Scott Waldman of Politico: “There’s a second strait in the Middle East vital to global energy markets that Iran is threatening to close if ... Donald Trump fails to wind down the Iran war.... If Iranian proxies close the Bab el-Mandeb strait — a busy Red Sea choke point — it would compound global financial woes..., experts said.... The strait, hundreds of miles from the Strait of Hormuz, at Yemen’s southwestern tip, is a pathway for ships carrying about 10 percent of the world’s oil and natural gas supplies. Bab el Mandeb has been targeted previously by the Houthis, a Yemen-based rebel group supported by Iran that blocked the strait by attacking ships, using drones and missiles. 'I have no doubt in my mind that eventually the Houthis will enter and they will do two things — first, block the Bab el Mandeb strait, and second, try to prevent the Saudis from having tankers in [its] Yanbu port taking oil, said Danny Citrinowicz, a former top Iran researcher for the Israeli Defense Forces.”

Leo Sands & Susannah George of the Washington Post: “... Donald Trump said Thursday that progress has been made in negotiations with Tehran aimed at ending the Iran war. Talks 'are going very well,' he wrote in a post on social media. In the same post, Trump said he would delay attacks on Iran’s energy infrastructure by an additional 10 days. Trump issued a 48-hour ultimatum to Iran last weekend, saying he would 'obliterate' the country’s power plants, beginning with the largest, if it did not reopen the Strait of Hormuz. The president on Monday issued a new five-day timeline, saying negotiations to end the war had begun.” (Also linked yesterday.)

Megan Messerly of Politico: “... Donald Trump on Thursday revealed, for the first time, why he has faith that Iran is willing to negotiate a peace deal, even as missiles continue to fly across the region. Iran, he said, allowed eight oil tankers through the Strait of Hormuz as a show of good faith, and then sent through two more as an apology — collectively, the 'present' he teased on Tuesday. 'I said, “Well, I guess we’re dealing with the right people,’” Trump said during a 90-minute Cabinet meeting, his first since the war with Iran began nearly a month ago. The White House declined to provide further details about the tankers, which Trump said he believed were flying the Pakistani flag. Trump also did not elaborate on who the 'right people' were that the U.S. is talking to. But its framing as a 'present' from Iran to Trump helped bridge the gap between the president’s optimism that a deal could be reached and the reality in the Middle East where Iran, Israel and the United States are still firing barrages of missiles.” (Also linked yesterday.)

He Really Doesn't Know What He's Doing. Michael Crowley of the New York Times: Donald “Trump’s war with Iran is testing the limits of his unorthodox diplomatic style as he grasps for a deal to end the conflict shaking the Middle East and the global economy. As the war stretches longer than Mr. Trump seems to have anticipated, he appears to be casting about for a diplomatic offramp even as he threatens to escalate the conflict. In a social media post on Thursday, Mr. Trump seemed confounded by the challenge, calling Iranian officials 'very different and “strange’” and claiming that they were 'begging' for a deal while insisting that they 'better get serious soon.' It is unclear who in the Trump administration may be in charge of talking with a battered Tehran’s surviving leadership.”

Heather Cox Richardson, weaving together remarks by others as well as recent reporting, shows how Donald Trump has ended the Pax Americana & changed the world order. Little of this is news to you, but if you were a person of average to above-average intelligence and you came upon Richardson's assertions for the first time, you would be shocked out of your socks.   

Pete Hegseth is a Dangerous, Deranged Lunatic. Rachel Leingang of the Guardian: “The defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, prayed during a religious service at the Pentagon that there be 'overwhelming violence of action against those who deserve no mercy'. The Christian worship service, held on Wednesday before military and civilian workers at the Pentagon, was Hegseth’s first since the Iran war began.... Hegseth called for violence during a prayer he said originated from a military chaplain and was given to troops after Nicolás Maduro, the president of Venezuela, was captured by the US.... 'Let every round find its mark against the enemies of righteousness and our great nation,' Hegseth said in the prayer service. 'Give them wisdom in every decision, endurance for the trial ahead, unbreakable unity, and overwhelming violence of action against those who deserve no mercy.' The remarks came a day after Hegseth announced changes to the military’s chaplain corps, which he said in a video message had been 'infected by political correctness and secular humanism' until they were 'watered down' to be 'nothing more than therapists' who focused more on 'self-help and self-care' than faith or virtue.” The AP story, which broke the news of the prayer service, is here.

Megan Mineiro & Robert Jimison of the New York Times: “Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska is working with a group of senators on a formal authorization for the use of military force against Iran, but has yet to introduce the resolution.... Such a measure would have to receive a swift vote in both chambers of Congress and would be all but certain to generate a politically charged debate just months before the midterm elections on a war that polls show is unpopular. Ms. Murkowski described the move on Thursday as an act of desperation to try to put some parameters around the operation as the Trump administration refuses to provide answers to Congress about its objectives, cost and timeline, and has boxed lawmakers out of its decision-making on the conflict. The development ... comes as Republicans in Congress have grown increasingly frustrated with the Trump administration’s handling of the war nearly a month into the conflict.”

Michelle Goldberg of the New York Times: “'This is the first week where I have felt that there’s been really any resistance to this war from Republicans,' Jason Crow, a combat veteran and Democratic member of the committee, told me. His colleagues’ public comments [expressing mild skepticism], he suggested, only hint at the depth of their anxiety. In closed meetings, he said, they express many concerns 'that they’re unwilling to show publicly.'... Americans certainly don’t want to see troops on the ground.... Trump himself appears to be wary of letting his Iran misadventure drag on. Yet despite all the reasons America shouldn’t escalate its war with Iran, there’s a good chance it will. ” 

Linda Qiu of the New York Times: Donald “Trump assembled his cabinet on Thursday to talk about the war in Iran. But he also seized the moment to regale top officials with an extended digression about his preferred writing tool, the Sharpie. In between complaining about the Fed chair Jerome H. Powell’s renovation of the central bank’s headquarters, he waxed on about the virtues of the Sharpie, which he said was more economical and a better writing instrument than the fancier ones preferred by his predecessors. It was an anecdote meant to signal his business acumen and man-of-the-people tastes. 'I came here. They have thousand-dollar pens, and, you know, you hand pens out, you’re signing and you hand them out. You’re handing them with all these people, sometimes you have 30 or 40 people, and they were $1,000 a piece,' he said. The pens, Mr. Trump continued, 'didn’t write well' and had 'no ink.' He instead turned to the Sharpie when signing bills. 'The bottom line is: They’re better pens,' he said. 'It’s a business story. So for $5, it could be zero, but for $5, I get a much better pen than for $1,000.'...

“A.T. Cross, which is based in Rhode Island, said it had manufactured the pens preferred by Presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama, all of whom used the Townsend model. The pen, described by Cross as possessing a 'bold profile, intricate detailing and superior writing performance,' now retails for about $200. (The classic black version costs about $265.) President Joseph R. Biden Jr. preferred Cross’s Century II model, which the company says brings 'modern flair to a time-honored design.' That model is slightly less expensive, ranging from $99 to $270 a pen.” MB: Trump just can't stand the idea that members of Congress & advocates who may have worked day and night for years for the passage of a particular piece of legislation would receive $200 gift pens for their efforts. This isn't about saving the taxpayers' money; it's about begrudging others a token to recognize their work. 

Raquel Uribe of NBC News: "... Donald Trump is adding his name to U.S. dollar bills, the first time a sitting president’s signature will go on paper currency, the Treasury Department announced Thursday. Trump’s signature will go on the bills in honor of the country’s 250th anniversary, the Treasury said. Historically, paper currency carries the signatures of the treasury secretary and the treasurer.... U.S. paper currency has featured the treasurer’s along with the treasury secretary’s or the register of the treasurer’s signatures since it was first printed in 1861." The New York Times story, by Alan Rappeport, is here. MB: A treasury secretary with even a residual backbone would resign. Defacing U.S. currency is against the law. Seriously, Congress should put a stop to this. If they want to give him a gold-painted eagle prize, fine (see yesterday's page). But his fat scrawl on U.S. currency? Absolutely not. (Also linked yesterday.)  

Erica Green of the New York Times: Donald “Trump on Thursday defended his use of mail-in voting, saying he cast a ballot by mail recently 'because I’m president' and 'I had a lot of different things' to do, even as he tries to restrict the practice for most Americans. Mr. Trump voted by mail in a special election in Florida this week, despite previously saying that mail-in voting amounted to 'cheating.' Mr. Trump has called for some exceptions to allow for the practice, such as when voters are ill, disabled, traveling or in the military. Asked about his vote on Thursday, Mr. Trump said: 'You know what, because I’m president of the United States. And because of the fact that I’m president of the United States, I did a mail-in ballot for elections that took place in Florida because I felt I should be here instead of being in the beautiful sunshine.' 

“Pressed on the fact that he traveled to West Palm Beach, Fla., where he spent time in his residence and played golf — both of which are only 15 minutes driving distance to his polling place — during the early voting period, Mr. Trump said he fit the criteria for the exceptions he has pushed for in what he calls the SAVE America Act. 'I decided that I was going to vote by mail-in ballot because I couldn’t be there, because I had a lot of different things,' he said, without saying which exception applied to him.” MB: C'mon, Erica. Obviously, he's ill and disabled. It doesn't occur to Trump, of course, that most voters also “have a lot of different things” to do.

Guardian: “Donald Trump announced Thursday he will sign an order instructing the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to pay Transportation Security Administration agents immediately. 'I am going to sign an Order instructing the Secretary of Homeland Security, Markwayne Mullin, to immediately pay our TSA Agents in order to address this Emergency Situation, and to quickly stop the Democrat Chaos at the Airports,' Trump wrote on social media. 'I want to thank our hardworking TSA Agents and also, ICE, for the incredible help they have given us at the Airports.'” At 6:50 pm ET, this is a breaking story. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Oh, so Trump could have paid TSA workers all along but chose not to???

     ~~~ Update: The Washington Post's story is here. This is key: “The White House did not immediately respond to questions about what legal authority Trump was employing for his order.” MB: I'm guessing Trump will let somebody else worry about that. Or maybe he'll just tell Markwayne to wrestle to the ground anybody who gives him lip about it. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~ 

~~~ ⭐BUT Then. John Yoon of the New York Times: “The Senate voted early Friday to fund the Department of Homeland Security except for its immigration enforcement and deportation operations, raising the prospect of an end to a weekslong partial shutdown that has strained federal workers and caused long waits at airports. The package will next be considered by the House, which was scheduled to convene on Friday morning. The measure, which passed the Senate by a voice vote at around 2:20 a.m., does not include funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement or the Border Patrol, Senator Patty Murray of Washington, a Democrat and vice chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, said in a statement. 

“Democrats have insisted that any deal to fund the Homeland Security Department include meaningful changes to ICE tactics. The legislation that the Senate approved would fund much of the department, including the Transportation Security Administration, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and the Coast Guard, Senator Chuck Schumer of New York said on the chamber’s floor early Friday. John Thune, a Republican of South Dakota and the Senate majority leader, criticized what he called the 'piecemeal' approach, saying that it was necessitated by a lack of time and Democrats’ insistence on changes to ICE policies. 'It’s not the way to fund the department,' he said on the Senate floor.”

Travel Hack: Skip the TSA line with ICE PreCheck pic.twitter.com/31ccX7iEdF

— The Daily Show (@TheDailyShow) March 25, 2026

     ~~~ Via Tom Sullivan on Hullabaloo. 

Paul Krugman: "Donald Trump’s impulsive decision to deploy large numbers of ICE agents to hang out at America’s airport Cinnabons ... may have unintended political consequences: it will remind Americans about how much they dislike ICE and the great harm that it’s doing. Nonetheless, recent data show that the administration’s crackdown on immigration is working. Immigration to the United States is plunging and may be about to go into reverse. And that plunge is making America poorer and weaker – now and in the long-run. Trump believes, or pretends to believe — it’s impossible to tell the difference — that ICE is popular, posting on Truth Social that 'The Public is loving ICE. They are Great American Patriots, they just happen to have much larger, and harder, muscles than most — which is what they’re supposed to have.' Ahem. Anyway, two new polls show how delusional it is to assert that the public is 'loving ICE.'”

In Pete's Army, Generals Must Be White Guys. Greg Jaffe, et al., of the New York Times: “Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is blocking the promotion of four Army officers to be one-star generals, a highly unusual move that has prompted some senior military officials to question whether the officers are being singled out because of their race or gender. Two of the officers targeted by Mr. Hegseth are Black and two are women on a promotion list that consists of about three dozen officers, most of whom are white men.... Mr. Hegseth had been pressing senior Army leaders, including Army Secretary Daniel P. Driscoll, for months to remove the officers’ names, military officials said. But Mr. Driscoll, citing the officers’ decades-long records of exemplary service, had repeatedly refused. Earlier this month, Mr. Hegseth broke the logjam by unilaterally striking the officers’ names from the list, though it is not clear he has the legal authority to do so. The list is currently being reviewed by the White House, which is expected to send it to the Senate for final approval. A few female and Black officers remain on the list, military officials said.” ~~~

~~~ AND All Doctors Should Be White Guys. Michael Bender & Alan Blinder of the New York Times: “The Trump administration has opened investigations into admissions policies at three major medical schools, expanding the federal government’s pressure campaign beyond campus culture and taking aim at the heart of scientific authority in the United States. The Justice Department on Wednesday informed Stanford University, the Ohio State University and the University of California, San Diego, about the investigations and demanded that the schools turn over extensive lists of data by April 24 or risk interruptions to essential federal funding, according to two administration officials familiar with the inquiries and documents reviewed by The New York Times. The government is seeking information about medical school applicants from each of the past seven years, including test scores, home ZIP codes and the disclosure of any familial relationships to alumni or ties to university donors. The administration also demanded copies of any internal messages at the universities about diversity, equity and inclusion and any correspondence between school officials and pharmaceutical companies about admissions policies.”

Alexander Bolton of the Hill: “Senate Democrats on Thursday defeated an amendment sponsored by Sen. Jon Husted (R), Ohio’s former secretary of state, to require voters to show photo ID when casting ballots in person or voting by mail, despite previous statements by Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (N.Y.) that Democrats support photo ID requirements for elections. The Senate voted 52-47 to defeat the amendment, which needed 60 votes to be adopted.” (Also linked yesterday.) 

Annie Karni of the New York Times: “The House Ethics Committee on Thursday opened a rare public hearing into the conduct of a Democratic congresswoman accused of embezzling federal disaster money to support her congressional campaign, turning back her effort to delay the proceedings until her criminal case was resolved. The ethics trial of Representative Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, a Florida Democrat charged with stealing $5 million in Federal Emergency Management Agency money for her campaign, was the first time in 16 years that the typically secretive panel had held a public hearing regarding the actions of a sitting lawmaker.... The committee, for instance, released only its final report into former Representative Matt Gaetz, Republican of Florida.... The panel also typically defers to law enforcement on penalties, issuing fines or rebukes and only rarely recommending that a lawmaker be removed from office. In the case of the fabulist and former Representative George Santos, Republican of New York, for instance, the ethics panel stopped short of calling for his expulsion from Congress, even as he faced a 23-count federal indictment. (He was ultimately expelled.)” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: What's the difference? Oh, White guys/Black woman. 

Mike Isaac of the New York Times: “A federal judge on Thursday temporarily stopped the Department of Defense from labeling Anthropic as a security risk, in a reprieve for the artificial intelligence start-up and its work with the federal government. In a scathing 43-page ruling, Judge Rita F. Lin of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California said Anthropic would not be restricted from continuing with its federal contracts for now. The ruling is not a final decision, as the case continues. 'The record supports an inference that Anthropic is being punished for criticizing the government’s contracting position in the press,' Judge Lin wrote in the order granting the preliminary injunction against the government. 'Nothing in the governing statute supports the Orwellian notion that an American company may be branded a potential adversary and saboteur of the U.S. for expressing disagreement with the government.' The case stems from a dispute between the Pentagon and Anthropic this year over a $200 million contract and the use of A.I. in warfare. During the contract negotiations, Anthropic wanted certain limits imposed on its A.I.’s use for surveillance and autonomous weapons, while the Department of Defense argued that no private contractor could tell it how to use technology.” Politico's story is here.

Jonah Bromwich & Maria Cramer of the New York Times: “A federal judge at a hearing on Thursday sharply questioned Manhattan prosecutors as to why the American government had blocked defense funding for Nicolás Maduro, the former Venezuelan president charged with narco-terrorism conspiracy and other crimes. A lawyer for Mr. Maduro, Barry J. Pollack, had asked the court to dismiss the case, saying the Trump administration was interfering with his client’s constitutional right to counsel by blocking payment from the Venezuelan government. The judge, Alvin K. Hellerstein, said on Thursday that he was not inclined to take the drastic step of dismissal. But Judge Hellerstein said repeatedly that Mr. Maduro had the right to a robust defense and asked whether sanctions preventing the Venezuelan government from paying Mr. Maduro’s lawyers were still relevant.”

Mike Masnick of Tech Dirt: “... Meta is a terrible company that has spent years making terrible decisions and being terrible at explaining the challenges of social media trust & safety, all while prioritizing growth metrics over user safety.... So when a New Mexico jury ordered Meta to pay $375 million on Tuesday for 'enabling child exploitation' on its platforms, and a California jury found Meta and YouTube liable for designing addictive products that supposedly harmed a young user on Wednesday, awarding $6 million in total damages, the reaction from a lot of people was essentially: good, screw ’em, they deserve it. And on a visceral, emotional level? Sure. Meta deserves to feel bad. Zuckerberg deserves to feel bad. But ... if you care about free speech online, about small platforms, about privacy, about the ability for anyone other than a handful of tech giants to operate a website where users can post things — these two verdicts should scare the hell out of you. Because the legal theories that were used to nail Meta this week don’t stay neatly confined to companies you don’t like. They will be weaponized against everyone.” Masnick goes on to explain Section 230 and how it works, or has worked in the past.

Faiz Siddiqui of the Washington Post: “In the utopia proposed by Elon Musk, billions of robots perform all necessary work. A network of autonomous vehicles and humanoids, fueled by solar energy, provide boundless resources. Poverty is eliminated. Work is optional. And the world’s richest person would become the first trillionaire in the process.... He pivoted Tesla this year to prioritize building robots, phasing out car models including its popular luxury sedan to stand up a new production line of Optimus humanoids. Musk has company. At least three different firms have made new forays into advanced robotics this month — including Amazon (founded by Jeff Bezos, who owns The Washington Post); Nvidia; and Atoms, a new startup from Uber co-founder Travis Kalanick.... Figure, a leading robotics startup, put a humanoid robot in the White House this week that walked the red carpet alongside first lady Melania Trump.”

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California. Nick Corasaniti of the New York Times: “A Republican sheriff who is running for governor of California this week escalated his investigation into unsubstantiated claims of irregularities in a 2025 statewide election, according to new court documents. His actions, which included seizing a second tranche of election materials, drew sharp rebukes from the state’s top law enforcement and election officials. Chad Bianco, the sheriff of Riverside County, seized 426 boxes of ballot materials on Tuesday, adding to the even larger tranche of 650,000 cast ballots he took last month, according to a lawsuit filed Thursday by California’s attorney general, Rob Bonta, a Democrat. Mr. Bonta petitioned the court to halt Mr. Bianco’s investigation, which he said has not identified any crimes. Mr. Bianco opened the investigation after an outside group of activists, called the Riverside Election Integrity Team, claimed to have found that more ballots were counted than the number of votes cast. Local election officials later debunked those findings, according to court documents — explaining in a public meeting that, among other errors, the group had relied on raw data, which is prone to human error, rather than what the officials described as 'actual processed votes.'”