April 22, 2026

Navy Secretary Fired in Midst of Naval War. From the New York Times' live updates of Trump disasters: “Secretary of the Navy John Phelan was fired on Wednesday after months of infighting with senior Pentagon leaders and disagreements over how to revive the Navy’s struggling shipbuilding program. Mr. Phelan is leaving the Pentagon and the Trump administration effective immediately, wrote Sean Parnell, the Pentagon’s chief spokesman, in a terse statement.... Mr. Phelan’s leadership was marred by feuds with senior leaders throughout the Pentagon, including Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Deputy Defense Secretary Stephen Feinberg, Pentagon and congressional officials said. Tensions had been simmering for months between Mr. Phelan and his two bosses — Mr. Hegseth and Mr. Feinberg — over management style, personnel issues and other matters.” ~~~

     ~~~ Jack Detsch, et al., of Politico: “Navy Secretary John Phelan abruptly left his job on Wednesday in part because a hugely expensive new battleship he championed sparked friction with his superiors — including Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. Phelan, who served just over a year in his post, had helped conceive of the new battleships to curry favor with ... Donald Trump.... The 'Trump Class' battleships were a major source of frustration for Hegseth and Deputy Secretary Stephen Feinberg because they did not align with the Pentagon’s broader strategy to pivot toward smaller, cheaper uncrewed ships, according to the two people....”

Here's what's happening at to the Bezos Post. The headlines below both top Washington Post editorial board opinions. (In fairness to Billionaire Bezos, the WashPo editorial board hasn't been great for a long time.) Thanks to RAS for the link:

Makes you think pic.twitter.com/2eqqNG5PnD

— Matthew Yglesias (@mattyglesias) April 22, 2026

Ashleigh Fields of the Hill: Donald “Trump on Tuesday pushed back on a Wall Street Journal editorial that labeled him a 'sucker' on Iran as it noted the absence of the complete reopening of the Strait of Hormuz. Trump wrote in a lengthy post on Truth Social declaring Iran’s entire Navy is at the 'bottom of the sea,' their Air Force is 'gone' and their anti-aircraft and radar is  'wiped out.'... He hit back at the editorial writer, Elliot Kaufman, calling him an 'idiot' and said the entire publication has 'lost its way.'... [Kaufman wrote,] 'Twice he [Trump] has announced the opening of the Strait of Hormuz, and twice he has given up U.S. leverage in exchange. Yet the strait remains closed, as Iran’s regime demands more.'...”

Greg Sargent of the New Republic, republished by Yahoo! News: “On Monday night, just before Virginia voters approved a referendum Tuesday that will allow Democrats to draw up to four new House seats before the midterms, Donald Trump captured the true essence of this situation in a single sentence. 'I don’t know if you know what gerrymandering is,' Trump told a conference call of Virginia supporters, 'but it’s not good.' Trump, of course, urged Texas Republicans last summer to gerrymander to help the GOP hold the House, then pressed other red states to follow suit. That prompted Democrats to retaliate in blue states. Trump initiated this arms race. So by declaring the Virginia initiative not good,' he inadvertently confirmed the actual Trump-GOP position: Republicans should be permitted to rig elections to their maximum benefit, and Democrats should roll over and accept it. It’s fitting that Trump laid this bare so clearly. Because as it turns out, Trump is perhaps the primary reason that the referendum passed.” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Oh, please, Greg. Don't you know Democrats cheated again? An "extraordinarily brilliant person" explains: ~~~ 

     ~~~ Steve Benen of MS NOW: “On Wednesday afternoon, the president published an item to his social media platform that read in part: 'A RIGGED ELECTION TOOK PLACE LAST NIGHT IN THE GREAT COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA! All day long Republicans were winning, the Spirit was unbelievable, until the very end when, of course, there was a massive “Mail In Ballot Drop!” Where have I heard that before — And the Democrats eked out another Crooked Victory! … Let’s see if the Courts will fix this travesty of “Justice.”' He went on to argue that the specific language of the ballot measure was difficult to understand, adding, 'As everyone knows, I am an extraordinarily brilliant person, and even I had no idea what the hell they were talking about in the Referendum, and neither do they!'”

Michael Schmidt of the New York Times: “The F.B.I. began investigating a New York Times reporter last month after she wrote about the bureau’s director, Kash Patel, using bureau personnel to provide his girlfriend with government security and transportation, according to a person briefed on the matter. Agents interviewed the girlfriend, queried databases for information on the reporter, Elizabeth Williamson, and recommended moving forward to determine whether Ms. Williamson broke federal stalking laws.... Those actions prompted concerns among some Justice Department officials who saw the inquiry as retaliation for an article that Mr. Patel and his girlfriend, Alexis Wilkins, did not like, and who determined there was no legal basis to proceed with the investigation, according to the person briefed on the matter. 

“In response to questions from The Times this week, the F.B.I. said that 'while investigators were concerned about how the aggressive reporting techniques crossed lines of stalking,' the F.B.I. is not pursuing a case.... In preparing the article about Mr. Patel and Ms. Wilkins, Ms. Williamson followed normal procedures for a journalist working on a story.... The scrutiny of Ms. Williamson is an example of the Trump administration examining whether to criminalize routine news gathering practices that are widely considered protected by the First Amendment.”

Tom Winter of NBC News: "A federal judge in Texas has tossed a defamation suit brought by FBI Director Kash Patel against former FBI assistant director-turned-MSNBC contributor Frank Figliuzzi. Patel had sued Figliuzzi over comments he made on 'Morning Joe' about the FBI director’s evening activities. 'Yeah, well, reportedly, he’s been visible at nightclubs far more than he has been on the seventh floor of the Hoover building,' Figliuzzi said on the show last year. Figliuzzi's lawyers argued that 'this comment was a sarcastic, hyperbolic remark that receives protection from defamation liability.' U.S. District Judge George Hanks Jr. agreed, writing, 'Figliuzzi’s statement, when taken in context, cannot have been perceived by a person of ordinary intelligence as stating actual facts about Patel.... A person of reasonable intelligence and learning would not have taken his statement literally: that Dir. Patel has actually spent more hours physically in a nightclub than he has spent physically in his office building,' the judge added." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: I'm going to take that to mean that Kash is not possessed of "ordinary" or "reasonable" intelligence. AND the loss doesn't bode well for Kash's "big dump lawsuit: against the Atlantic. You pay a price for (allegedly!) partying, Kash. ~~~

~~~ Lisa Needham of Public Notice: “... Monday, we were treated to a big dumb lawsuit ... by Patel, because he has the impulse control of a toddler. So he’s ginned up a frantic legal filing accusing The Atlantic of actual malice and malicious malice and malice actualizing, or whatever is going on here.... As hapless a malicious doofus as the guy seems to be, he’s also actually a lawyer [so he should have known better].... For now, at least, Patel must meet the standard of actual malice, so his complaint must show both that the statements in The Atlantic piece were false and that the publication either knew they were false or recklessly disregarded whether they were false....

“Much like some of Trump’s media complaints, Patel’s has the flavor of counsel making the grave mistake of letting the client write the thing. So instead of sober statements of fact and law, you get stuff like 'under Director Patel’s leadership, the FBI has achieved historic law enforcement results' and 'these operational successes are inconsistent with a director who is 'often away or unreachable' or too intoxicated to do his job.”

Marie: Below, I changed the link to Lena Sun's report on the CDC's refusing to publish a Covid report to a gift link. And here is what appears to be a gift link to a New York Times report on the same.

~~~~~~~~~~ 

The New York Times liveblog on developments in the Iraq war is here. From the pinned item at 5:40 am ET: “The United States and Iran were facing an uneasy stalemate on Wednesday after peace talks between the countries were postponed and Iranian and American military forces sought to exert control over shipping near the Strait of Hormuz.... U.K. Maritime Trade Operations ... reported early Wednesday that two ships had been attacked in the strait area, including one by a gunboat belonging to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps.... [Donald] Trump announced late on Tuesday that he was extending a cease-fire between the United States and Iran, hours before it was set to expire. Vice President JD Vance’s planned trip to Pakistan for a second round of peace talks was put on hold earlier in the day because Tehran had not responded to American demands in the negotiations, a U.S. official said.

Even as he extended the cease-fire, Mr. Trump said the U.S. blockade on ships heading to and from Iranian ports would continue. Iran has demanded that U.S. forces allow its vessels free passage, and on Tuesday, Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, called the blockade 'an act of war.' In a social media post, Mr. Trump said he had acted on a request from Pakistan, which is trying to mediate an end to the war. He said the cease-fire would remain in place until Iran’s 'leaders and representatives can come up with a unified proposal.' Mr. Trump’s announcement was a marked departure from his comments earlier in the day, when he told CNBC that if Iran did not agree to U.S. demands, 'I expect to be bombing.' On Wednesday, Britain and France were expected to begin a two-day conference in London of more than 30 countries to discuss detailed military plans to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.” ~~~

The AP's liveblog is here. ~~~ 

~~~ Susannah George of the Washington Post: “Iranian forces seized two container ships in the Strait of Hormuz on Wednesday, according to Iranian state media, just hours after ... Donald Trump initially calmed fears of renewed violence by extending his ceasefire with Iran indefinitely. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy said it seized the MSC-Francesca and the Epaminondas and moved them to the Iranian coastline, according to a statement published on state media.... The ships had earlier Wednesday reported coming under attack, one from an IRGC gunboat that fired on it and 'caused heavy damage to the bridge,' about 15 nautical miles northeast of Oman. The second reported an attack eight nautical miles off Iran’s coast, but did not identify the attackers.... The seizures came after the United States began apprehending ships linked to Iran in the area over the weekend. Touska, an Iranian-flagged cargo ship, was taken by U.S. forces as it moved west through the Arabian Sea, seemingly headed for Iran. And on Tuesday in the Indian Ocean, U.S. forces seized a tanker ship suspected of smuggling oil and escorted at least one other vessel off India’s western coast.” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: How can that be? Just last week (and earlier, too, as I recall), Trump wrote, 'Iran's Navy is laying at the bottom of the sea, completely obliterated - 158 ships." (He means "lying," not "laying.") Apparently, we missed Ship #159.

Ashleigh Fields of the Hill: “The Pentagon on Tuesday denied a report by shipping journal Lloyd’s List of 26 Iranian ships bypassing the U.S. naval blockade in the Strait of Hormuz to export Iranian cargo to countries across the globe. The London-based firm, which offers intelligence services to shipping companies, released a report on Monday saying the 26 ships, including at least 11 oil and gas tankers laden with Iranian cargo, 'passed the blockade line since the US moved to stop traffic to and from Iranian ports on April 13.'... China’s president, Xi Jinping, for the first on Tuesday advocated for the shipping route to be immediately reopened to all. ”

Trump Casually Admits to Corrupt Plan. Alan Rappeport of the New York Times: Donald “Trump said on Tuesday that the United States was considering offering financial support to the United Arab Emirates, an oil-rich ally that has been contending with economic fallout from the war in Iran. The war has damaged oil and gas infrastructure throughout the Middle East, dealing a blow to economies that rely on the Strait of Hormuz to transport crude around the world. The Emirates is an unlikely recipient of economic support, and the fact that it has inquired about assistance demonstrates the cascading effects of the conflict. 'It’s been a good ally of ours, and you know, these are unusual times,' Mr. Trump said on CNBC on Tuesday. Mr. Trump added that the Emirates had been hit hard by Iranian retaliation and that it had pledged to make substantial investments in the United States.... Emirati officials met with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent in Washington last week.... Kevin Hassett, the director of the National Economic Council, said on Monday that he expected the Treasury Department to 'make every effort' to help the Emirates out.” Thanks to Akhilleus for the link. See also his commentary near the end of yesterday's thread. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Here's how it works, see? Jared Kushner -- Trump's "unpaid" negotiator -- goes to the emirs and asks for a few billion dollars for his private investment fund. The emirs say, sure, but we need help from the U.S. for all the economic setbacks and destruction caused by the Iran war. And Jared, boy negotiator, says okay, I'll call "Dad." And Dad says, okay, just make sure my boys get a few hundred million from the emirs for the crypto scam they're running with Witkoff's sons. Jared says fine, & Dad says I'll call Scott. And Scott says, okay, we've got billions in taxpayer dollars. Ha ha, we got it from people struggling to get by. What losers! I'll send a chunk o' their money right over to some of the richest people in the world. Dad says just make sure Jared gets his billions. Scott says you're the greatest president ever, sir.  

Michael Birnbaum of the Washington Post: “Billions in frozen assets may be handed back to Iran. Agreements to limit Tehran’s nuclear program may eventually expire. And some of the same hard-line leaders who crushed nationwide protests in January could end up better-resourced than they were before ... Donald Trump unleashed crushing airstrikes more than seven weeks ago. After a decade of fiercely attacking a previous deal with Iran, Trump, pursuing a way out of a war he launched, has authorized U.S. negotiators to consider a bargain that involves many of the same trade-offs ... [President Obama and his team] confronted.... Trump and other Republican critics of that 2015 deal have spent the past decade blasting it for handing 'pallets of cash' to Iran — a reference to $1.7 billion that the Obama administration agreed to send to Tehran that was the resolution of a decades-old business dispute.... Now, the Trump administration is floating the possibility of unfreezing $20 billion — in part proceeds from Iranian oil sales that sanctions have locked up in banks around the world. ”

When one party is always playing Lucy, everybody else is Charlie Brown: ~~~ 

~~~ The Biggest Obstacle to Peace: Trump. Michael Crowley of the New York Times: “Always wary of the United States, Iranian officials consider Mr. Trump particularly treacherous.... During his first term as president, Mr. Trump simply abandoned a nuclear deal Iran had struck with the Obama administration and other world powers after nearly two years of negotiations. Mr. Trump did not claim that Iran was violating that deal; he simply didn’t like it.... And twice over the past year, Mr. Trump has entered into diplomatic talks with Iran only to launch airstrikes while negotiations were still in their early stages.... After a first round of talks earlier this month ended in rancor, Iranian officials said a main reason was a U.S. failure to gain their trust.... Fearful of being burned again, Iran is insisting on incremental steps and retaining leverage — such as at least partial control of its uranium stockpile for as long as possible.” ~~~

~~~ Trump's treachery, of course, is not limited to his dealings with Iran. Look what he's doing to these friends of the U.S. who come from right next door in Afghanistan. ~~~ 

Thank You for Your Service. Now We're Going to Dump You in the Congo. Megha Rajagopalan, et al., of the New York Times: “After halting a U.S. resettlement program for Afghans who helped the American war effort..., [Donald] Trump is in talks to send as many as 1,100 of them to the Democratic Republic of Congo, an aid worker briefed on the plan said Tuesday. The group includes interpreters for the U.S. military, former members of the Afghan Special Operations forces and family members of American service members. More than 400 children are among them. The Afghans have been living in limbo in Qatar for over a year. They were taken there after being evacuated by the United States for their own safety because they supported American forces during the war against the Taliban that began in 2001. 

“Shawn VanDiver, the president of the aid group AfghanEvac, said he had been briefed on the Congo plan by State Department officials. He said that the Afghans would be given a choice between returning to live under the Taliban or being sent to Congo, which is suffering one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.... Human rights activists say that the [Republic of Congo] is not equipped to take in more in the midst of fighting with neighboring Rwanda that has displaced even more people because of attacks on refugee camps. 'We think this is just them wanting to send these people back to Afghanistan, where they know they will face certain death,' said Mr. VanDiver.” Update: the link has been changed to one that appears to be a gift link.

David Lawder of Reuters, published by Yahoo! Finance: "... Donald Trump said on Tuesday he will 'remember' companies that do not seek refunds for tariffs paid that were deemed illegal by the Supreme Court, implying they would somehow benefit by abstaining from the U.S. government's new refund portal. On the second ‌day that the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency began accepting electronic refund applications, Trump told CNBC that he was pleased to hear about media ‌reports that Apple, Amazon and some other large companies have not yet sought refunds. 'It's brilliant if they don't do that,' Trump said in a phone conversation with CNBC anchors that was aired live. 'If they don't ​do that, I'll remember them....'... Trump, who has characterized the payment of tariffs by U.S. importers as a patriotic act, on Tuesday appeared to characterize American companies that are pursuing refunds as the 'enemy.' 'In many cases, the enemy - the enemy - is getting this money,' Trump said, apparently referring to those companies." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: I'll tell you who is NOT "getting this money": you and I. While some companies did eat all or part of the cost of the tariffs, most of them passed payment of the tariffs on to their customers in the form of higher prices for their imported merchandise. AND corporate greed being what it is, those prices will likely remain elevated if the market allows. There are no real winners in Trump's tariff game. Oh wait wait! That's not true: ~~~

     ~~~ JP Alegre of the Deep Dive: "... questions are back over whether Cantor Fitzgerald, the investment bank run by Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick’s sons, positioned itself months ago to collect a significant portion of [the tariff refund]. Cantor — now run by ... Howard Lutnick’s sons Brandon and Kyle — was documented by Wired offering to buy the rights to potential government refunds from companies that paid IEEPA tariffs.... Claims, bought at 20-30 cents, are now worth 100 cents on the dollar — a potential 300% return on every dollar deployed. Cantor has consistently denied completing any transactions.... The firm called the Wired reporting false.... Howard Lutnick publicly told Americans that tariffs were permanent and championed them as Commerce Secretary, while his sons ran a firm that, per Wired’s reporting, built a position paying out if they weren’t.  Fortune reported in March that the broader secondary market for tariff refund claims could reach $100 billion...."  Leading Democrats in the Senate & House are demanding answers and documentation from Cantor. MB: But will we ever learn the truth about Cantor and others in the "broader secondary market for tariff refund claims"? Thanks to RAS for the link.

Niraj Chokshi & Lauren Hirsch of the New York Times: Donald “Trump said on Tuesday that he was opposed to a merger of United Airlines and American Airlines, but that he welcomed other airline deals and was open to the government helping at least one struggling carrier. Mr. Trump said that he did not 'mind mergers' and would welcome a deal that might rescue Spirit Airlines from bankruptcy. He also suggested that the federal government could provide assistance to keep Spirit in business. 'Spirit’s in trouble and I’d love somebody to buy Spirit,' he said in an interview with CNBC on Tuesday. 'It’s 14,000 jobs and maybe the federal government should help that one out.' Spirit is in its second bankruptcy in two years. It has been hurt by fierce competition, rising costs, a failed attempt to sell itself to JetBlue Airways and problems with some of its jet engines. The rise in the cost of jet fuel stemming from the war in Iran has recently added to Spirit’s difficulties.” (Also linked yesterday.)

Jonathan Edwards & Dan Diamond of the Washington Post: “The Trump administration’s contract governing hundreds of millions of dollars in private donations to build ... Donald Trump’s White House ballroom shields donors’ identities, excludes the White House from conflict of interest protections and was disclosed only after a lawsuit and a judge’s order.... The agreement establishing the legal and financial framework for the planned $400 million undertaking — the most significant change to the White House in decades — was signed in early October, less than two weeks before demolition crews started destroying the East Wing. Public Citizen, a government watchdog organization, sued to obtain the contract between the White House, the National Park Service and the Trust for the National Mall, the nonprofit managing donations for the project, and shared the document with The Post....

“The secrecy surrounding the contract mirrors the administration’s broader approach to the project. White House officials have declined to disclose the total amount raised, the identities of all donors or, until recently, basic details about the building’s design. Court documents show Trump knew he was going to tear down the East Wing at least two months before doing so, but he never told the public.” 

Jamelle Bouie of the New York Times: “To say that ... [Donald] Trump is corrupt is to somehow understate the size, scope and magnitude of his corruption.  The president and his family have leveraged his office to the tune of nearly $4 billion. They have received hundreds of millions of dollars from a network of branded cryptocurrency assets. Investors include large corporations, foreign nationals and state actors hoping to curry favor with the administration.... [And] consider the president’s pardons. Trump’s various projects — his monuments to himself — also appear to be little more than state-sanctioned opportunities for graft. The president has collected hundreds of millions of dollars from wealthy donors and large corporations for his proposed ... [vanity projects]. Tens of millions of dollars marked for the library are unaccounted for, according to a report in The New Republic. Last but far from least is the president’s $10 billion lawsuit against the I.R.S., for damages, for leaking his tax returns.... This is ... little different than if he had stolen the money outright.... Corruption of this sort may, in fact, be inherent to the authoritarian enterprise.... Democrats should work to take back his ill-gotten gains and hold his enablers and co-conspirators responsible for their actions.” The link appears to be a gift link. ~~~

~~~ Thomas Edsall of the New York Times: “The damage ... [Donald] Trump has inflicted on the United States and the world is so enormous and wide-ranging that it is hard to grasp. It runs the gamut from public and private institutions to core democratic customs and traditions, from the legal system to universities, from innocent targets of fraud to those duped into believing vaccines do more harm than good.... Michael Bailey, a political scientist at Georgetown..., [said] he would rank Trump 'as easily the worst president in U.S. history. The corruption and damage to long-term U.S. institutions and reputation are far beyond anything we’ve seen before,' including Andrew Johnson, James Buchanan and Rutherford Hayes. As for being consequential, Bailey continued, Trump has been 'highly consequential in an overwhelmingly negative way. He will leave a lasting negative legacy.'” Read this column if you want to make yourself sick all over again. It's a short catalog of a long list of Trump's abuses. The link appears to be a gift link. (Also linked yesterday.)

Another Trumped-up Prosecution. Devlin Barrett of the New York Times: “The Justice Department charged the Southern Poverty Law Center, a civil rights group that has long tracked hate groups, on Tuesday with financial crimes, accusing it of defrauding donors by using their money to secretly pay informants inside extremist organizations. At a news conference announcing the charges, Todd Blanche, the acting attorney general, said that from 2014 to 2023, the group made payments totaling more than $3 million to people who were affiliated with extremist organizations like the Ku Klux Klan and the National Socialist Party of America. The law center, he added, was 'doing the exact opposite of what it told its donors it was doing — not dismantling extremism, but funding it.'... Mr. Blanche ...  accused the group of 'manufacturing racism to justify its existence.'... The indictment, however, offers little to support the notion that the group’s payments to informants was meant to aid the extremist groups they had infiltrated.” Update: the link has been changed to one that appears to be a gift link. The Guardian's story is here. See yesterday's page for links to related stories by the WashPo & AP. ~~~

     ~~~ Wherein Todd & Kash Are Shocked, Shocked to Find Out There's Spying Going on Here. Jose Pagliary of NOTUS: "The tactic of paying informants is par for the course in nation-state espionage and is often employed in law enforcement — although it is illegal in the world of corporate espionage. Complicating matters, though, is the fact that the FBI itself has long taken referrals and accepted tips from the Southern Poverty Law Center for its investigations of extremist groups.... Until now, the organization has been seen as a pivotal part of the system of academic, activist and law enforcement surveillance of domestic terror groups, particularly as right-wing movements have seen a resurgence in recent decades. Researchers within the Southern Poverty Law Center’s intelligence unit attend training seminars for law enforcement agencies.... While he was the organization’s president, Richard Cohen was a member of the Department of Homeland Security’s working group on countering violent extremism." ~~~

     ~~~ Todd Stands with the Klan. Chris Geidner, the Law Dork, on "how ridiculous" the DOJ's claims are. Forty-five years after the Ku Klux Klan criticized the forerunner of the SPLC, "the question ... is what [the suit] says about Blanche and the Department of Justice that he is pretending not to know the purpose of the SPLC’s prior use of field sources — and is using the criminal law to advance his contorted purpose." ~~~ 

     ~~~ Marcy Wheeler: "In an absolutely hilarious press conference, Blanche stated that the investigation had been shut down during the Biden Administration, but then claimed to be ignorant of why (or when) that happened. His comment will surely be a focus of SPLC’s response. The headline claim, that the SPLC misrepresented what they were doing to donors, is batshit insane. With one exception (in which a well-paid informant took a bunch of documents), there’s no misconduct even hinted. SPLC just paid informants doing incredibly dangerous work for that work. Blanche is claiming that this was a misrepresentation to donors — who supported SPLC precisely because their work was so well sourced.... One reason the press conference was hilarious was that it devolved into a press conference about last week’s Atlantic article reporting that Kash often drinks too much." After Blanche got through filibustering reporters' questions, Kash began filibustering reporters' questions. ~~~

~~~ The DOJ's Prosecutions for Nothing often do not go smoothly: ~~ 

Charlie Savage of the New York Times: “In a reversal, prosecutors who are trying to establish a perjury case against John O. Brennan, the former C.I.A. director, have rescinded subpoenas issued just days ago that had required witnesses to testify before a grand jury in Washington.... The withdrawal on Monday night of the subpoenas, which the Justice Department had issued over the weekend, was a shaky start for a new phase of the investigation. The department last week removed a career prosecutor who had been overseeing the matter, Maria Medetis Long, who was said to have objected to moving forward with it. The department brought in an outspoken Trump loyalist, Joseph diGenova, 81, to take over the inquiry into Mr. Brennan, which is part of a larger effort to investigate former officials who have scrutinized ... [Donald] Trump.... When the subpoenas were pulled back Monday evening, law enforcement officials indicated that their plans had reverted to scheduling voluntary interviews..., people [familiar] said.... Whatever else it portends, the decision brought to light that the Trump administration was moving the inquiry into Mr. Brennan to Washington rather than continuing to investigate it from Florida.... Any attempt to indict Mr. Brennan would most likely have to be in Washington, where his deposition took place.”

Maria Abi-Habib, et al., of the New York Times: “Two American officials killed in a car crash early Sunday in northern Mexico while returning from a countercartel operation were officers of the Central Intelligence Agency, according to people familiar with the episode, raising questions about the agency’s role in Mexico’s war against drug cartels. The two C.I.A. officers, along with two Mexican officials, were killed when their vehicle crashed while returning from an operation led by Mexico’s armed forces to dismantle clandestine methamphetamine labs in the mountains, said the authorities in the state of Chihuahua, where the accident occurred.... Mexico’s national security law forbids foreign agents, including U.S. military and law enforcement officials, from operating in the country without authorization from the government.... The Mexican government has consistently rejected pressure from the White House to deploy U.S. forces to Mexico to fight drug groups in an active role, saying that American boots on the ground would violate the country’s sovereignty.” (Also linked yesterday.)

Madeleine Ngo & Michael Gold of the New York Times: “Markwayne Mullin, the homeland security secretary, said on Tuesday that his department would run out of money to pay employees the first week of May if Congress failed to reach a deal to reopen the department. 'The money is going extremely fast,' Mr. Mullin said during an interview with 'Fox & Friends.' 'The president can’t do another executive order for us to use money, because there’s no more money there.' Missed paychecks could renew chaos at airports as lawmakers remain divided over a deal to end the two-month shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security. The threat of them also ramps up political pressure on Congress to unlock funding, which had eased after President Trump signed memos calling on his administration to use existing money to pay all department employees, including Transportation Security Administration officers.” 

The Freedumb to Make Everybody Sick. Amy Wang & Dan Diamond of the Washington Post: “The military will no longer require U.S. troops to receive the annual flu vaccine, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Tuesday, rolling back what he described as an 'overly broad' mandate that had been in place for seven decades.... Hegseth said that under a new policy, soldiers would be able to take the vaccine if they believed it was in their best interest, billing it as an effort to 'restore freedom and strength to our joint force.'... The move alarmed some public health experts, who warned that it would weaken the military’s readiness. 'The Pentagon seems to be redefining vaccination from a force-protection tool into a selective convenience,” said Chris Meekins, a former official in ... Donald Trump’s administration who focused on public health readiness.... 'The risk here isn’t some dramatic overnight military health crisis. It’s death by a thousand cuts: more flu cases, more missed duty days, more hospitalization costs and more preventable readiness losses.'” The AP's story is here. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Christina Jewett & Sheryl Stolberg of the New York Times: “Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Tuesday refused to commit to supporting the vaccine recommendations of ... [Donald] Trump’s nominee to lead the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The nominee, Dr. Erica Schwartz, has publicly supported immunizations and drawn applause from mainstream public health leaders. 'If Dr. Schwartz is confirmed, will you commit on the record today to implement whatever vaccine guidance she issues without interference?' Representative Raul Ruiz, Democrat of California [and a physician], asked Mr. Kennedy during a tense hearing on Capitol Hill, the secretary’s fourth congressional hearing since last Thursday. 'I’m not going to make that kind of commitment,' Mr. Kennedy replied.... Mr. Kennedy said that he approved of Dr. Schwartz’s nomination and had spoken to her multiple times, but had not spoken directly to Mr. Trump about her selection. During the hearing before the House Energy and Commerce Committee, Mr. Kennedy pushed back on Democrats’ assertions that he bore some responsibility for the measles outbreak in the United States, the worst the country has experienced in decades.”

CDC Nixes Its Own Report Showing Effectiveness of Covid Vaccine. Lena Sun of the Washington Post: “A report showing the efficacy of the covid-19 vaccine that was previously delayed by the head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has been blocked from being published in the agency’s flagship scientific journal.... The report showed that the vaccine reduced emergency department visits and hospitalizations among healthy adults by about half this past winter. The move ... has raised concerns among current and former officials that information about the vaccine’s benefits is being downplayed because they conflict with the views of Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.... Kennedy’s vaccine agenda has received pointed questioning from lawmakers during budget hearings that began last week and conclude Wednesday.... Publishing findings showing the vaccine’s effectiveness would be at odds with the administration’s moves to restrict its use, particularly for children, former CDC officials say.” Update: the link has been changed to a gift link.

I Am Not a Sock Puppet. Colby Smith of the New York Times: “Kevin M. Warsh..., [Donald] Trump’s pick to lead the Federal Reserve, asserted repeatedly at a combative confirmation hearing on Tuesday that he would not cut interest rates simply because [Mr.] Trump wanted him to.... In sometimes testy exchanges before the Senate Banking Committee, Mr. Warsh, 56, sought to dispel doubts around his credibility, saying Mr. Trump had 'never asked me to predetermine, commit, fix, decide on any interest rate decision in any of our discussions, nor would I ever agree to do so.' He was repeatedly asked if he would function as a 'sock puppet' for Mr. Trump, who has demanded lower rates from the Fed and attacked the institution’s top leadership for failing to cut them aggressively enough. Just hours before the hearing, Mr. Trump said in an interview with CNBC that he would be 'disappointed' if Mr. Warsh did not reduce borrowing costs once confirmed as Fed chair. Mr. Warsh, who served as a Fed governor from 2006 to 2011, said he would remain independent.”

Is There a Criminal in the House? Yes, at Least Two (Allegedly) ~~~ 

(1) Andrew Solender of Axios: "Many House Democrats are read!y to vote to expel Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (D-Fla.) from Congress as soon as the House Ethics Committee meets to decide her fate on Tuesday.... Republicans are expected to force an expulsion vote, but they will need roughly 80 Democratic votes to remove Cherfilus-McCormick. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) has carefully avoided saying how he might advise his members to vote, even if the committee reaches a bipartisan decision that she should be expelled.... Cherfilus-McCormick, who is accused of laundering $5 million in COVID relief funds and funneling it to her campaign, has denied wrongdoing and pleaded not guilty in her criminal trial." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Update. Kevin Freking & Steven Groves of the AP: “Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick is resigning from Congress rather than be formally disciplined by the House as part of an ethics investigation into her use of campaign funds. Explaining her decision in an extended social media statement Tuesday, the Florida Democrat decried the internal investigation process as unfair. She said the House Committee denied her and her new attorney adequate time to prepare a defense.... Members of the House Ethics Committee on Tuesday had been set to weigh what punishment to recommend after they found she committed 25 violations of House rules and ethical standards, including breaking campaign finance laws. Republicans had already called for the expulsion of Cherfilus-McCormick, who was in her third term and was running for reelection in a southeastern Florida district. She is also facing federal criminal charges accusing her of stealing $5 million in coronavirus disaster relief funds and using the money to buy items such as a 3-carat yellow diamond ring.” (Also linked yesterday.) 

(2) Raquel Uribe of NBC News: “Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., introduced a resolution Monday to expel Rep. Cory Mills, R-Fla., from Congress over accusations that include sexual misconduct. Mills is being investigated by the House Ethics Committee in connection with allegations of 'sexual misconduct and/or dating violence' and campaign finance violations. He has denied any wrongdoing. While some Democrats have called for his expulsion, Mace went further by announcing Monday evening that she had filed a measure that would remove him from office. 'The swamp has protected Cory Mills for far too long and we are done letting it slide,' Mace said in a statement.... Mace offered a resolution to censure Mills in November. The House voted to refer the matter to the Ethics Committee.” (Also linked yesterday.)

Brad Plumer of the New York Times: “A federal judge on Tuesday blocked the Trump administration from enforcing a series of decisions that wind and solar developers say have throttled hundreds of renewable energy projects across the country. Judge Denise J. Casper of the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts granted a preliminary injunction in a lawsuit that a coalition of renewable energy developers filed against the Interior Department in December. The developers argued that the Trump administration was unlawfully discriminating against wind and solar power, impeding projects on public and private land. In her ruling, Judge Casper, an Obama appointee, said the developers were likely to prevail on the merits and ordered the Interior Department to stop implementing a series of memos, issued last year, that subjected renewable power to intensified reviews and new restrictions.”

Pooja Salhotra of the New York Times: “A federal appeals court on Tuesday narrowly upheld a Texas law that requires public schools to display posters of the Ten Commandments in classrooms. By 9-to-8, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ruled that the law does not violate the separation of church and state, reversing two lower court decisions. The court also ruled the measure does not restrict parents’ right to direct their children’s religious upbringing.... Since Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, signed a law in 2025 mandating the religious displays, families of various faith backgrounds have challenged it, arguing that the law amounted to state endorsement of religion. The law was passed amid a broader conservative push to infuse Christianity into public schools, and several other Republican-led states have passed similar laws. The organizations representing the 15 Texas families who filed the lawsuit said in a statement that they were disappointed in the decision and planned to ask the Supreme Court to reverse it.” The AP report is here.

Trouble at Liars' Social. Devin Nunes AND His Cow Are Out. Declan Harty of Politico: “Former Rep. Devin Nunes is out as CEO of ... Donald Trump’s social media company, in a major shake-up. Trump Media & Technology Group, the Truth Social parent company whose largest shareholder is Trump, said in a statement Tuesday that Nunes would be succeeded by Kevin McGurn, an adviser to the company, who will take over as interim CEO effective immediately. It did not offer a reason for Nunes’ unexpected departure.... The C-suite overhaul lands after years of repeated losses at Trump Media, a company that was once billed as a conservative challenger to Silicon Valley giants and the next gem in Trump’s vast business empire. The company recorded a net loss of more than $712 million and revenues of $3.7 million in 2025. Trump Media shares have struggled all the while as well. The stock, which trades under the ticker “DJT,” closed at $9.82 on Tuesday — marking a more than 75 percent decline since Trump’s inauguration. ”

Aw, TuKKKer Is Having a Sad. And a Reset. Tim Balk of the New York Times: “Tucker Carlson, who was often at Donald J. Trump’s side during the 2024 presidential campaign, is now expressing remorse for that support, saying he will long be 'tormented' by his role helping Mr. Trump return to the White House. Mr. Carlson, a titan of conservative media who has broken sharply with Mr. Trump over the war with Iran, acknowledged that he was part of the 'reason this is happening right now,' referring to the conflict.... 'It’s a moment to wrestle with our own consciences,' Mr. Carlson said on the podcast, speaking with his brother, Buckley, a former speechwriter for Mr. Trump. 'We’ll be tormented by it for a long time. I will be. And I want to say I’m sorry for misleading people.'... 

“On Friday, Mr. Trump continued to lob insults at Mr. Carlson on social media, writing that 'Tucker is a Low IQ person — Always easy to beat, and highly overrated.'... [Tucker Carlson] was ousted by Fox News after it agreed to pay $787.5 million to resolve a lawsuit filed by Dominion Voting Systems over the network’s promotion of 2020 election misinformation.... In a text from Jan. 4, 2021, that the case surfaced, Mr. Carlson wrote of Mr. Trump, 'I hate him passionately.'” MB: What's happening here is this: Tucker saw the handwriting in Trump's poll numbers (yesterday: 32% percent approval; 67 percent disapproval; slightly worse on the war) and deciding -- for his own good -- that now was the time to move on from “misleading people” about Trump to “misleading people” about something else. P.S. Do you suppose TuKKKer's mom called the kids Tuck n' Buck?

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Virginia Redistricting. Reid Epstein of the New York Times: “Democrats maintained their electoral momentum on Tuesday by securing the passage of an aggressively gerrymandered House map in Virginia, which could deliver the party up to four extra seats as it tries to win back control of Congress. National party leaders had been heavily invested in the outcome, with Representative Hakeem Jeffries of New York, the minority leader, helping orchestrate the statewide Virginia referendum with Democratic state legislators. Speaker Mike Johnson, hanging on to a slim majority, tried to rally the state’s Republicans. Democrats sought to focus the campaign on ... [Donald] Trump, who instigated the nationwide redistricting fight last summer in Texas to help House Republicans in the midterms. A vote for a gerrymandered House map, Democrats argued, was a vote to help their party stop Mr. Trump’s agenda. The president stayed out of the contest until the final hours before Election Day, when he urged Virginians to block the map.” The NBC News report is here.

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Ukraine/Russia War. “Donnyland.” Anton Troianovski & Andrew Kramer of the New York Times: “When Poland sought a U.S. military base in 2018, it pitched the idea as Fort Trump. When Armenia and Azerbaijan signed a peace pledge at the White House last year, they called the transport link it created the Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity. But the most improbable instance of ... [Donald] Trump’s name being lent to a geopolitical flashpoint may be one that has remained out of public view until now. In Ukraine peace talks in recent months, Ukrainian officials have suggested that the slice of the country’s Donbas region that Russia is still fighting for could be named 'Donnyland.'... When a Ukrainian negotiator first mentioned the term, partly in jest, it was as part of an attempt to convince the Trump administration to push back more against Russia’s territorial demands.... It ... reflects a global reality in which governments appeal to Mr. Trump’s vanity in order to get American might on their side.” (Also linked yesterday.)