April 23, 2026

Ruth Igielnik of the New York Times: “Disapproval of ... [Donald] Trump has climbed to the highest level of his second term, according to The New York Times polling average, which found that 58 percent of Americans disapprove of the president’s job performance while only 39 percent approve. That is the highest disapproval rating Mr. Trump has faced since the end of his first term, in the aftermath of his re-election campaign loss and the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.... And some of Mr. Trump’s former allies in the conservative media, including Tucker Carlson, have turned against him in recent days. A Marquette University Law School poll taken last week found Mr. Trump’s approval rating has dipped to 28 percent among political independents, down from 39 percent when he took office. Among Republicans the president has also lost some ground, though the vast majority of the party — 80 percent — still approve of his job performance.” ~~~

Sheryl Stolberg of the New York Times: “... MAHA leaders warn that many of those who embrace the cause are dispirited and disillusioned — and that when the November elections come around, some may just stay home. Six of the movement’s most prominent leaders, who together have millions of social media followers, said in separate interviews that the mostly white, mostly female voters ... are so disappointed with the president that Republicans risk losing them. But they said Democrats would need to work hard to win their votes.” 

Trump Plays Game of Battleship & Phelan Loses. Greg Jaffe & Helene Cooper of the New York Times: Donald “Trump wanted one thing, more than anything else, from his secretary of the Navy, John Phelan: a new class of battleships.... [Secretary of the Navy John] Phelan’s job was to deliver the first of Mr. Trump’s battleships by 2028. On Wednesday, Mr. Trump fired Mr. Phelan, who had struggled to come up with a plan to deliver the ships on the nearly impossible timeline that Mr. Trump has demanded.... For Mr. Trump, the ships recalled 'Victory at Sea,' a documentary television series that ran in the 1950s and touted the role that battleships and other Navy vessels played in World War II.... The breaking point for Mr. Phelan ... came in the last two weeks as the president’s frustration over Mr. Phelan’s management of his prized battleship program grew and Mr. Phelan’s enemies in the Pentagon, including Mr. Hegseth and Deputy Defense Secretary Stephen A. Feinberg, mounted a campaign to force him out.... The churn of senior Pentagon officials at a time when the U.S. military is engaged in war with Iran has alarmed top Republican and Democratic members of Congress.” ~~~

     ~~~ Mark Cancian, whom the Times cites as an expert, explains why "this ship will never sail." MB: Cancian's analysis is easy to understand, but it is not something that a person who bases his decisions on 70 year-old teevee shows -- shows he watched on a big TV with a little black-and-white screen -- can comprehend.  

Ernesto Londoño & Hamed Aleaziz of the New York Times: “The Justice Department has identified 384 foreign-born Americans whose citizenship it wants to revoke, part of a push to increase the pace of denaturalizations by assigning the cases to prosecutors in dozens of U.S. attorney’s offices across the country. Senior Justice Department officials in Washington told colleagues during a meeting last week that civil litigators in 39 regional offices would soon be assigned to file denaturalization cases against the individuals.... Under federal law, the government may ask a court to strip the citizenship of people who obtained it fraudulently — for instance, by entering into a sham marriage or by withholding information about their past that would have made them ineligible. Some who commit crimes may also be denaturalized. The government must present evidence to a federal judge through a civil or criminal proceeding, making the process challenging and time-consuming.” The link appears to be a gift link. ~~~

     ~~~ Jose Olivares of the Guardian: “The Trump administration is reportedly pushing the justice department to pursue hundreds of denaturalization cases, in which Americans born outside of the US are stripped of their citizenship.” 

Welcome Back, Vlad. Adam Taylor of the Washington Post: “The United States intends to invite Russian President Vladimir Putin to the Group of 20 leaders’ summit scheduled for December at ... Donald Trump’s Doral golf resort in Miami, though the invitation has not yet been sent, administration officials said Thursday. In a statement, the State Department said that ... Donald Trump 'has been clear that Russia is welcome to attend all G-20 meetings as the United States focuses on delivering a successful and productive summit.'” MB: I hope all the pro-democracy leaders stay home.

Jeremy Roebuck & Maegan Vazquez of the Washington Post: “The Justice Department’s chief watchdog said Thursday that his office is launching an audit of the department’s compliance with the law compelling the release of millions of pages of investigative material tied to sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The internal probe, announced by Deputy Inspector General William M. Blier, follows months of complaints from victims who say their personal information was included in publicly released documents and from lawmakers who have questioned decisions to redact the names of members of Epstein’s influential circle from some of the files. The review will focus on how the Justice Department identified the more than 3 million documents it has made public since late last year, the guidelines used to determine what information to redact or hold back, and how officials have addressed concerns raised over the disclosures in the months since.”

Michael Gold & Megan Mineiro of the New York Times: “The Senate early Thursday morning adopted a Republican budget blueprint that would pave the way for a $70 billion increase for immigration enforcement and the eventual reopening of the Department of Homeland Security. Republicans pushed through the plan on a nearly party-line vote of 50 to 48. It came after an overnight marathon of rapid-fire votes, known as a vote-a-rama, in which the G.O.P. beat back a series of Democratic proposals aimed at addressing the high cost of health care, housing, food and energy. The debate put the two parties’ dueling messages on vivid display.... Republicans, who are using the budget plan to lay the groundwork to eventually push through a filibuster-proof bill providing a multiyear funding stream for ... [Donald] Trump’s immigration crackdown, used the all-night session to highlight their hard-line stance on border security.... Democrats tried and failed to add a series of changes aimed at addressing cost-of-living issues....” Politico's story is here.

Anthony Tommasini of the New York Times: “Michael Tilson Thomas, the American conductor, composer and pianist whose 25-year tenure as music director of the San Francisco Symphony became a model of collegial music-making, artistic adventurousness and community engagement, died on Wednesday at his home in San Francisco. He was 81.” 

A photo is worth a thousand words … -- Martina Navratilova ~~~

~~~ Marie: If you can't figure out what's wrong with this picture, check out Akhilleus' post below. Also, several news outlets have stories about it: the Independent's story is here; the Guardian's report is here. ~~~

Patrick figured out you're paying for Trump's ballroom, after all. See today's Comments. And of course those actual taxpayer costs don't account for the price of the quo in the secret quid pro quo deals that will be made as part of the "generous" donors' recompense.   

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The New York Times' liveblog of developments in the Iran war is here. From the pinned item at 5:45 am ET: “Oil was trading above $100 a barrel again on Thursday, after Iranian forces claimed to have seized two cargo ships near the Strait of Hormuz, injecting fresh fear into energy markets with no public indications of a breakthrough in efforts to restart peace talks.... [Donald] Trump told Fox News on Wednesday that there was 'no time pressure' on holding a new round of talks or on the cease-fire, and “no timeline” for ending the war with Iran. Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, told Fox separately that Mr. Trump did not view Iran’s reported ship seizures as a violation of the cease-fire.” ~~~

Marie: "No time pressure"? Maybe we should ask JayDee about that. He seems a bit impatient. ~~~ 

     ~~~ Here is Mr. Bean in screenshots from the 2007 film "Mr. Bean's Holiday." These images since have become a popular meme used to signify interminable waiting for something: 

     ~~~ Now this from Iran's embassy in Indonesia: 

~~~ Elian Peltier of the New York Times: “Pakistani officials remained optimistic on Wednesday they could still bring the United States and Iran back to the negotiating table even after Iran’s seizure of two cargo ships in the Strait of Hormuz posed a new obstacle to their efforts to broker a long-term peace. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif of Pakistan met with Iran’s ambassador on Wednesday. One Pakistani official who was briefed on talks said a second round of negotiations could happen within the next few days.... The current cease-fire, which ... [Donald] Trump extended on Tuesday after receiving a request from Mr. Sharif and Pakistan’s army commander, Field Marshal Asim Munir. The extension came just hours after Vice President JD Vance had postponed a highly anticipated trip to Islamabad, where he led the U.S. delegation for a first round of talks earlier this month.”

Peter Eavis of the New York Times: Iran's “latest attacks [on ships trying to navigate the Strait of Hormuz] show that Tehran still has a stranglehold on the strait that allows it to ratchet up the pain on the global economy, even though the U.S. military has struck some 13,000 targets in Iran and set up a naval blockade against it. This strategic move gives Iran leverage in any talks with the United States to end the war.... On Friday, after Iran and the United States said the waterway was fully open, many ships started to move toward the strait with the apparent aim of passing through. But hours later, Iran said it would crack down on ships entering the strait because the United States had not ended its blockade of Iranian vessels....”

Dan Lamothe, et al., of the Washington Post: “It could take six months to fully clear the Strait of Hormuz of mines deployed by the Iranian military, and any such operation is unlikely to be carried out until the U.S. war with Iran ends, the Pentagon has informed Congress.... A senior Defense Department official shared the estimate during a classified briefing Tuesday for members of the House Armed Services Committee, said three officials.... The timeline — met with frustration by Democrats and Republicans alike, two of these people said — is the latest sign that gasoline and oil prices could remain elevated long after any peace deal is reached.”

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.'...” (Also linked yesterday.)

Robert Jimison of the New York Times: “Democrats have tried and failed several times to invoke a provision of the 1973 War Powers Resolution, a law aimed at curbing a president’s ability to wage war without congressional approval, to challenge the conflict in Iran. The latest defeat came on Wednesday, when Senate Republicans blocked such a measure for the fifth time since the war began. Yet the law also establishes a set of deadlines, the first of which is coming on May 1.... Although the war began at the end of February, Mr. Trump formally notified Congress of the operation on March 2, starting the 60-day period that ends on May 1. Some Republicans have already signaled they will not support any extension beyond 60 days....

“Under the statute, once the initial 60-day deadline passes, the president’s options for continuing a military campaign without congressional approval become limited. At that point, Mr. Trump would effectively have three choices: seek congressional authorization to continue the campaign, begin winding down U.S. involvement or give himself an extension. The law allows a one-time, 30-day extension of the deployment if the president certifies in writing that additional time is necessary to facilitate the safe withdrawal of U.S. forces, but it does not grant authority to continue waging an offensive campaign.”

Navy Secretary Fired in Midst of Naval War. Greg Jaffe, et al., of the New York Times: “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.” (An earlier version of this report, which was part of a Times liveblog, was linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Dan Lamothe, et al., of the Washington Post: “Five officials said that Phelan, a billionaire art collector and fundraiser for ... Donald Trump’s reelection campaign, was forced out after repeated clashes with both Hegseth and Feinberg over his management of shipbuilding and a variety of other issues. One administration official ... said Phelan was asked to step down.... Hegseth ... has overseen a near-continuous purge of the military’s most senior ranks. The high-profile ousters, often made with little public explanation, include the top generals and admirals of every branch of service except for the Marine Corps, several military lawyers and even the head of the Army’s chaplain corps. A disproportionate number of those he’s removed are women and other minorities. The disputes between Phelan, Hegseth and Feinberg are part of a broader pattern of infighting that has occurred during Hegseth’s tenure leading the Pentagon.” ~~~ 

     ~~~ 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....” (Also linked yesterday.)

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.” (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ 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!'” (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Regrets, They Have a Few. Tim Balk, et al., of the New York Times: “Frustrated Republicans looked Wednesday to rebound from another setback in a nationwide redistricting chess match, as the high-stakes contest turned to Florida and the courtroom. A Democratic victory on Tuesday in Virginia, where voters approved a change to the state’s House map that could give the party up to four more seats in the midterms, left Republicans with little to show for a tit-for-tat they started last year in Texas at the urging of ... [Donald] Trump. Republicans are holding out hope that Virginia’s top court might reverse Tuesday’s result. And they are eying a chance to gain ground by redrawing the House map in Florida, where they control the governor’s office and hold supermajorities in the Legislature. But there is growing doubt in the party about its broader strategy.” A Politico item is here. ~~~

~~~ Justin Papp & Dan Mangan of CNBC: “A Virginia circuit court judge on Wednesday issued an order blocking the results of a congressional redistricting referendum that could net Democrats four extra seats in the U.S. House of Representatives in 2026. Virginia Attorney General Jay Jones, in a statement, vowed to fight the order issued by Tazewell County Circuit Court Judge Jack Hurley, a Republican appointee, a day after Tuesday’s referendum approved the newly drawn districts. 'My office will immediately file an appeal in the Court of Appeals,' Jones said.” ~~~

~~~ Nick Mourtoupalas, et al., of the Washington Post: map “where the redistricting fight stands and where it's headed.” ~~~

~~~ Gary Fineout & Erin Doherty of Politico: “... Donald Trump’s redistricting war now rests on Florida — and his onetime primary rival Gov. Ron DeSantis. The Sunshine State is the GOP’s likely best remaining chance to claw back an edge to keep their House majority, after voters approved a gerrymander in Virginia.... Florida [could] deliver a new map that could net the party anywhere from three to five seats, with legislators scheduled to hold a special session next week. National and state Republicans are counting on DeSantis to deliver on the White House priority and ensure their nine-month redistricting war doesn’t end in a wash.”

Adam Taylor & Mustafa Salim of the Washington Post: “The Trump administration has suspended some deliveries of U.S. currency to the Iraqi government amid Washington’s growing anger at the actions of Iranian-aligned militias in the country and its corresponding campaign to influence the selection of Iraq’s next prime minister, according to people familiar with the matter. The move affects roughly $500 million in proceeds from Iraqi oil sales.... The cash deliveries are part of a years-long arrangement set up during the U.S. occupation of Iraq that sees revenue from international sales of Iraqi oil sent first to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.... The pause has roiled the government in Baghdad, with officials there increasingly worried about the extent of leverage that the Trump administration has over the country’s oil revenue, which accounts for the vast majority of the country’s income. The regular infusions of U.S. cash are used to prop up Iraq’s currency, the dinar.”

Paul Krugman: “In February 1777 George Washington issued an order requiring that American soldiers be inoculated against smallpox.... By contrast, Pete Hegseth, the Secretary of Defense who insists on being called the Secretary of War, is a bloodthirsty religious fanatic. He’s more comfortable with fascism than with America’s founding principles. And in another attempt to prove his manhood, he announced on Tuesday that he was ending the sissy requirement that members of the military be vaccinated against the flu. This was, he said, to 'restore freedom' to our armed forces:... One place where it isn’t and never has been appropriate is in the military. When Americans sign up to serve the nation under arms, they agree to temporarily forego many of the freedoms of civilian life.... [Hegseth] has banned most beards from the U.S. military.... This isn’t simply about vaccines and facial hair. These directives are part of a larger project, another step in Hegseth’s drive to cultify the US military.” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: It is astounding that almost 250 years ago -- when very little was understood about inoculations and the first true vaccine would not be developed for 20 years] -- that George Washington was more avant garde than Pete Hegseth is today, when the science behind vaccinations is taught to millions of school children. 

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.” (Also linked yesterday.)

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." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ 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.” (Also linked yesterday.)

Then There's This. Sarah Rumpf of Mediaite: “Laura Loomer’s defamation lawsuit against HBO and Bill Maher over a joke he told on an episode of Real Time With Bill Maher was tossed out by a Florida judge on Wednesday who granted summary judgment to the defendants because his comments were nothing more than a 'well-known comedian…making a joke.' The dispute arose from the September 13, 2024 episode of Real Time, in which Maher made the following joke about Loomer and President Donald Trump: 'I think maybe Laura Loomer’s in an arranged relationship to affect the election because she’s very close to Trump. She’s 31, looks like his type. We did an editorial here a few years ago…it was basically, who’s Trump f*cking? Because I said, you know, it’s not nobody. He’s been a dog for too long, and it’s not Melania. I think we may have our answer this week. I think it might be Laura Loomer.'”

Lauren Hirsch & Niraj Chokshi of the New York Times: “Spirit Airlines is in advanced talks to secure a loan of as much as $500 million from the Trump administration as part of last-minute efforts to avoid shutting down, two people familiar with the situation said Tuesday. The move would be the latest in a series of government interventions in the private sector that ... [Donald] Trump has made in his second term. It could help prevent, or delay, the loss of thousands of jobs, but it would also raise questions about whether the government was spending money wisely. Spirit Airlines has been struggling for years and is in its second bankruptcy in two years. The government’s loan would have a more senior claim to Spirit’s assets than loans the airline has taken from other creditors.... The government would also receive the right to purchase a significant ownership stake in Spirit through financial instruments known as warrants.... Mr. Trump previewed the rescue on Tuesday, saying in an interview on CNBC that 'maybe the federal government should help' the company. He also said he would 'love somebody to buy Spirit.'” MB: Ya gotta wonder what's in this deal for the Trump Crime Family.

Charlie Savage of the New York Times: “The Trump administration has agreed to pay $1.25 million to settle a lawsuit brought by Carter Page, a 2016 Trump campaign adviser who was wiretapped during the investigation into Russia’s interference in that year’s election, a person familiar with the matter said on Wednesday. There is no dispute that the F.B.I. significantly botched its applications for four rounds of court orders authorizing surveillance of Mr. Page’s phone calls and emails between late 2016 and mid-2017. An inspector general report uncovered numerous errors and material omissions that made Mr. Page look more suspicious. But whether Mr. Page had a legal right to compensation from taxpayers was in doubt. Lower courts had dismissed his lawsuit, leading him to appeal to the Supreme Court. The solicitor general, D. John Sauer, told the justices on Wednesday that there was a settlement. This was the latest payout by the Justice Department to someone aligned with ... [Donald] Trump.... Mr. Page was never charged with a crime. While his wiretapping was a minor part of the Russia investigation, it took on major political significance as Mr. Trump and his allies sought to use its flaws to discredit the broader effort.”

Trump Administrations Aims for a Sex Scandal a Day. Brendan Rascius of the Independent:  “A high-ranking official at the Department of Homeland Security has been suspended following allegations that she solicited tens of thousands of dollars from 'sugar daddies.' A formal complaint was filed against Julia Varvaro, a 29-year-old counterterrorism official, accusing her of keeping transactional relationships that posed a security risk, The Daily Mail reported on Wednesday. 'Varvaro is on administrative leave as a result of the investigation and she is no longer serving in her capacity as a Deputy Assistant Secretary at DHS,' a department official told The Independent. She was appointed to her senior position in May 2025, shortly after earning a degree in Homeland Security from St. John’s University.” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Generally speaking, a young person old just out of school (with perhaps only an undergrad degree) most likely is not qualified for a "senior position" in anything, much less counterterrorism. We had all better watch out for ourselves, because the Trump administration isn't covering us. 

Sheryl Stolberg of the New York Times: “Over four days and nearly 20 hours of testimony, under harsh questioning from Democrats, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has repeatedly backed away from his longstanding criticism of the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine. On Wednesday, he made his strongest statement yet — albeit on behalf of his department and not himself. 'We promote the M.M.R.,' Mr. Kennedy told the Senate Finance Committee on Wednesday morning, referring to the combined vaccine for measles, mumps and rubella. 'We have advised every child to get the M.M.R. That’s what we do.' The comment stands in stark contrast to Mr. Kennedy’s past advice, and senators wondered aloud why he hasn’t told the public what he said on Capitol Hill this week. Last week, he conceded the measles vaccine is 'safe and effective' for most people. When measles broke out in Texas last year, Mr. Kennedy did not recommend vaccination; he said it should be “a personal choice.” Last year, asked if he would advise parents to vaccinate newborns, he said it was not up to him to provide medical advice. His advice, he said, was: 'Do your own research.'” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Kennedy has been testifying on the Hill over several days. It appears that if enough people browbeat Secretary Roadkill for long enough, he will back down (more-or-less) from even his most preposterous and long-held wacko ideas. 

Chris Cameron of the New York Times: “Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. defended ... [Donald] Trump’s frequent incorrect calculations of percentages when talking about discounts on prescription drug prices, arguing on Wednesday that the president 'has a different way of calculating.' 'If you have a $600 drug, and you reduce it to $10, that’s a 600 percent reduction,' Mr. Kennedy said during a congressional hearing. Mr. Kennedy is mathematically incorrect. A price reduction from $600 to $10 would be a discount of more than 98 percent. A price discount cannot be more than 100 percent, because that would lower the price to zero — or suggest that the company was giving you money for buying the product.... Mr. Trump has been making mathematically impossible claims about drug pricing for as long as he has been promoting the TrumpRx service, which began with deals announced last year with pharmaceutical companies to reduce some drug prices. He soon lashed out at the media for not repeating the claims or for pointing out that the claims were impossible.” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: RFKJ did his math during questioning by Sen. Elizabeth Warren. As he probably knows, Warren was formerly a professor at Harvard Law with a specialty in bankruptcy law. There is, therefore, a high probability that she can do basic arithmetic. But Kennedy's arrogance knows few bounds, and he thought it was appropriate to assert that he and President Dummkopf knew more about 7th-grade arithmetic than she did. (Kennedy's hobby -- slicing up roadkill -- probably does not require much knowledge of math). 

Mariana Alfaro of the Washington Post: “Rep. David Scott (D-Georgia) has died at age 80, according to his office, ending a more than two-decade tenure in the House in which he rose to the rank of committee chairman. In a statement, Scott’s office did not provide a cause of death and said his death was unexpected. Scott, who had served in the chamber since 2003, was seeking a 13th term in his safely Democratic district in the Atlanta area. He had faced calls from some colleagues and other Democrats to step aside to make way for a new generation of Democratic leadership in Georgia. After his previous reelection, colleagues voted Scott out as the top Democrat on the House Agriculture Committee due to various health issues that led to absences. With Scott’s death, Democrats now hold 212 seats and Republicans hold 217. The chamber also includes a former Republican who is now an independent.” ~~~

~~~ Yes But. GOP Member MIA. Michael Luciano of Mediaite: "Rep. Tom Kean Jr. (R-NJ) last cast a vote on March 5, and no one in Congress seems to have heard from him since last month – not even his Republican colleagues. Kean, 57, is reportedly experiencing unspecified health problems. Politico reported on Wednesday that Kean’s fellow New Jersey House Republicans have not heard from their colleague.”

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

     ~~~ Heather Cox Richardson: "This pattern — expecting Republicans to behave wildly and cheat to grab power while expecting Democrats to behave according to the rules of normal times — has been going on now for years, and it is a dynamic that reflects the political patterns of the years before the Civil War. Then, Americans expected southern Democrats to bully and bluster and rig the system while northerners tried to jolly them into honoring the laws."

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New York. Matthew Haag of the New York Times: “Two Long Island school districts violated New York State law in barring transgender students from bathrooms and locker rooms that aligned with their gender identity, the state’s Education Department ruled this week. Board members at both school systems, the Massapequa School District and the Locust Valley Central School District, had approved restrictions weeks apart that required students to use facilities that were gender neutral or corresponded with their sex assigned at birth. On Monday, the state’s education commissioner, Betty A. Rosa, struck down the policies, calling them discriminatory and illegal, the latest political fight in the United States over transgender rights and gender identity.”