8 h. ago Trump is steamrolling congressional Republicans. What’s in it for them? | David Kirp

The budget bill was a reminder: the president and House speaker don’t care about lawmakers’ views. Why not just quit?Like soldiers in a well-disciplined army, Republican members of US Congress do whatever Commander Donald Trump demands. While the foot soldiers may occasionally grumble, they quickly fall in line when Trump intervenes.Republican representatives go through contortions to satisfy the bully in the White House: we hated deficits, goes the party orthodoxy, but now we vote for adding trillions to the deficit; we supported Ukraine, but now we cozy up to the Russians; we scrutinized cabinet nominees, but now we give our “advice and consent” to a cabinet of knaves and charlatans.David Kirp is professor emeritus at the Goldman School of Public Policy, University of California, Berkeley Continue reading...

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6 d. ago White House says it will spare some Aids programs that were on the chopping block

Congressional Republicans voice concerns over cuts to signature HIV prevention program, forcing rethink ahead of consequential vote on planned federal funding cuts

Events

8 d. ago Stop bending the knee to Trump: it’s time for anticipatory noncompliance | David Kirp

US institutions have been doing Trump’s bidding before he even comes after them. Here’s the counterstrategyDuring the first 100-plus days of his presidency, Donald Trump has done his damnedest to remake the US in his image. Fearing Hurricane Donald, a host of universities, law firms, newspapers, public schools and Fortune 500 companies have rushed to do his bidding, bowing before he even comes calling. Other institutions cower, in hopes that they will go unnoticed.But this behavior, which social scientists call “anticipatory compliance”, smoothes the way to autocracy because it gives the Trump regime unlimited power without his having to lift a finger. Halting autocracy in its tracks demands a counter-strategy – let’s call it anticipatory noncompliance. Continue reading...

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1 week ago Musk’s tax bill attacks have rattled Republicans. But Trump still reigns supreme | Lloyd Green

In the end, we’re likely to see a legislative pastiche – a Frankenstein’s monster forged by political necessityThe feud between Elon Musk and Donald Trump is a godsend for Democrats, a headache for the president and a problem for Mike Johnson, the Republican speaker of the House. Between now and the Fourth of July, Trump expects congressional Republicans to deliver a badly needed win. After more than four months back in the Oval Office, he still lacks a major legislative achievement.Republicans control both the House and Senate, but the public sees goose eggs on the scoreboard. Almost daily, the courts upend the president’s executive orders. Slim legislative majorities and government by rage come with drawbacks.Lloyd Green is an attorney in New York and served in the US Department of Justice from 1990 to 1992 Continue reading...

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1 week ago Obama says Republicans are putting millions of Americans’ healthcare at risk

Rare intervention from former president urges people to call their senators to oppose Trump tax billBarack Obama has warned that Congress is putting millions of Americans at risk of losing healthcare coverage, in a rare intervention from the former president as the Republican party advances legislation that would gut major provisions of the Affordable Care Act.“Congressional Republicans are trying to weaken the Affordable Care Act and put millions of people at risk of losing their health care,” Obama posted on social media. “Call your Senators and tell them we can’t let that happen.” Continue reading...

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3 w. ago ‘Roadmap for corruption’: Trump dive into cryptocurrency raises ethics alarm

The president’s hawking of $Trump memecoin has sparked a firestorm of criticism over potential influence buyingDonald Trump’s push to sharply ease oversight of the cryptocurrency industry, while he and his sons have fast expanded crypto ventures that have reaped billions of dollars from investors including foreign ones, is raising alarm about ethical and legal issues.Watchdog groups, congressional Democrats and some Republicans have levelled a firestorm of criticism at Trump for hawking his own memecoin $Trump, a novelty crypto token with no inherent value, by personally hosting a 22 May dinner at his Virginia golf club for the 220 largest buyers of $Trump and a private “reception” for the 25 biggest buyers. Continue reading...

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3 w. ago Republicans are dodging fired federal staff: ‘They will not even look in our direction’

Members of Congress are accused of hiding out when workers have sought answers on why their jobs were axedWorkers hit by the Trump administration’s sweeping cuts of federal government jobs, programs and services turned to congressional Republicans for help. But Republicans don’t want to talk about it, according to people who have tried to reach the politicians.Sabrina Valenti, a former budget analyst for the Coastal Wetland Planning, Protection, and Restoration Act at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Noaa), was fired in February, then reinstated, and fired again weeks later. Continue reading...

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4 w. ago January 6 officer calls Trump ‘petty’ for Republican refusal to hang Capitol plaque

Michael Fanone slams Mike Johnson and Republicans for long delaying congressionally approved officer tributeDonald Trump and his Republican allies are “petty bitches” for refusing to display a congressionally approved plaque honoring police officers who protected the US Capitol when the president’s supporters attacked the complex on 6 January 2021, says one of the cops in question, Michael Fanone.Speaking recently on the show hosted by political broadcast journalist Jim Acosta, the famously candid and oft profane Fanone said he also had a suggestion about where Republican US House speaker Mike Johnson could position the commemoration. “I think that it would be perfect if the plaque was shoved up his ass,” said Fanone, who retired from the Washington DC police force after being wounded during the January 6th attack. Continue reading...

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