Trump Executive Action thread

[ChumpDumper]

:tu

Why thumbs up?

[Winehole23]

wants to RETVRN to the 19th century in every respect

[Winehole23]

Why thumbs up?

Snake Boy hides behind Trump like a scared loser and thinks he's winning when he can't even stand up for himself on an anonymous board

:lol

[Winehole23]

states get a permanent injunction against Trump's effort to defund various US agencies


JOHN J. MCCONNELL, JR., United States District Court Chief Judge. This case concerns the Trump administration’s efforts to dismantle federal agencies that are responsible for, among other things, funding museums and libraries, mediating labor disputes, supporting minority-owned businesses, and preventing and ending homelessness in the United States. By now, the question presented in this case is a familiar one: may the Executive Branch undertake such actions in circumvention of the will of the Legislative Branch? In recent months, this Court—along with other courts across the country—has concluded that it may not. That answer remains the same here.


Plaintiffs are twenty-one states (the “States”) that challenge the legality of Executive Order 14238, “Continuing the Reduction of the Federal Bureaucracy” (“Reduction EO”). The Reduction EO had the effect of dismantling the Institute of Museum and Library Services (“IMLS”), the Minority Business Development Agency 2 Case 1:25-cv-00128-JJM-AEM Document 99 Filed 11/21/25 Page 3 of 47 PageID #: 5399 (“MBDA”), the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (“FMCS”), and the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness (“USICH”) by withholding alreadyappropriated federal funding from these agencies, terminating numerous grants and programs that these agencies administer, and placing many of the agencies’ employees on administrative leave.https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.rid.59257/gov.uscourts.rid.59257.99.0_2.pdf

[Winehole23]

Trump, et al broke law and violated the constitution


The Court determines that the States are entitled to further injunctive relief. First, the States have demonstrated actual success on the merits of their claims: Defendants’ implementation of the Reduction EO violated the APA, the Take Care Clause, and the Separation of Powers doctrine.

[Winehole23]

Defendants are hereby permanently enjoined from taking any future actions to implement, give effect to, comply with, or carry out the directives contained in the Reduction EO with respect to IMLS, MBDA, FMCS, and USICH.

[Winehole23]

IRS blocked from sharing info with ICE

Trump administration has been violating the APA all year long


A federal judge in Washington on Friday issued an order blocking the IRS from sharing taxpayer information (https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/immigrants-fear-deportation-filing-taxes-irs-ice-agreement-rcna200822) with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, finding the practice is "unlawful."
The Court "concludes that the Plaintiffs have shown a substantial likelihood that the IRS’s adoption of the Address-Sharing Policy and the IRS’s subsequent sharing of taxpayer information with ICE were unlawful under the Administrative Procedure Act," U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly wrote in a 94-page ruling (https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.dcd.277519/gov.uscourts.dcd.277519.54.0.pdf).

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/immigration/judge-issues-order-blocking-irs-sharing-taxpayer-information-ice-rcna245262

[Winehole23]

"Furthermore, Plaintiffs have shown that the IRS’s disclosure of confidential taxpayer address information to ICE was contrary to law because it violated several provisions of Internal Revenue Code," the judge wrote

[Winehole23]

motif


https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:euynv325eix7glyek377orak/bafkreid6ltctyg45qynwjd53omqcgl66tbsyttdnc367usdxh r5jtehtne@jpeghttps://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.cadc.41769/gov.uscourts.cadc.41769.01208802438.0.pdf

[Winehole23]

rich immigrants can skip the line, and the money goes into a private executive kitty

there's a platinum card too


https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_fullsize/plain/did:plc:4usmserhjqkvhldgedfjb3jw/bafkreidrzqahooa3xn4swtd7dms36pyeirmlzk3tuzxs2ddkf eivq2gveu@jpeg

https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:2vtbmhmrwzbqcfv4we4uxzzt/bafkreidotvq6xql2uylaxouwvh33ztplwyopbta7hhhskubj4 7chigpu6e@jpeg

[Winehole23]

wildly illegal and unconstitutional

[Winehole23]

anyone who pays $1M will be deemed to have "exceptional business ability"

[Winehole23]

illegal taxation and spending

Charles I situation


Trump says the Gold Card proceeds will go "an account where we can do things positive for the country. Many billions of dollars"

[Winehole23]

Trump's new standing pretext for brisk military action anywhere; a newly-braindead drug war


https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:36eqtmzysqf7wsslczw4uxcd/bafkreihtx5mupy2jv7fdqs4rri4ph6l5x42g3t3zvlpf7xz4h iosenako4@jpeg

https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_fullsize/plain/did:plc:36eqtmzysqf7wsslczw4uxcd/bafkreie54xhhwkpv5774h2zcg5geqozbwbjlzn4dgbftfnlvr gbkgmkcxu@jpeg

https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/12/designating-fentanyl-as-a-weapon-of-mass-destruction/

[Winehole23]

Are life-support ambulances WMD now?

Pain patients with valid scripts?

Surgery rooms?

[Winehole23]

hard to know whether this is aimed more at China or Mexico

it could also be aimed at Canada or India

[Winehole23]

Trump/Vought's war on regulatory curbs against financial crimes and misdemeanors hit a setback

making the world safer for fraud, waste and abuse is job number one

it rhymes so well with streamlining normal business practices along Trumpian lines


In an order issued today, a federal judge in Washington clarified that any effort by Acting Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) director Russell Vought to allow funding to lapse based on a theory that the Federal Reserve has no “combined earnings” from which to draw would violate her previous ruling to keep the agency open.

Judge Amy Berman Jackson intimated that Vought could be held in contempt of court if he used this dubious interpretation of the CFPB’s funding structure.Vought’s reasoning “is contrary to the text and intent of the statute and the way it has been consistently interpreted by both the Federal Reserve and the CFPB,” Jackson wrote (https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/69624423/167/national-treasury-employees-union-v-vought/).
https://prospect.org/2025/12/30/judge-warns-vought-contempt-order-if-back-door-shuts-down-cfpb/

[Winehole23]

NIH grant terminations will stand, but grant applications stalled by political directives will be evaluated for scientific merit rather than compliance with executive orders


Earlier this year, the American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Massachusetts, Protect Democracy, the Center for Science in the Public Interest, and Emery Celli Brinckerhoff Abady Ward & Maazel LLP filed a lawsuit (https://www.aclu.org/cases/apha-v-nih) challenging the abrupt cancellations and stalled application of grants on behalf of individual researchers, along with the American Public Health Association (APHA); the International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America (UAW); and Ibis Reproductive Health.

This agreement does not impact the first phase of the case, in which the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts found NIH’s directives to be unlawful and vacated grant terminations. In August, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled (https://www.aclu.org/press-releases/supreme-court-issues-partial-stay-in-nih-research-grants-case) that the district court likely lacked jurisdiction to review the termination of research grants by the NIH. However, the Supreme Court declined to stay the district court’s conclusion that the directives violated the Administrative Procedures Act (APA). The District Court’s decision is on appeal and oral argument will be heard in the First Circuit Court of Appeals on January 6, 2026.


The agreement can be found online here (https://www.aclu.org/documents/apha-v-nih-stipulation-agreement).
htps://www.aclu.org/press-releases/nih-agrees-to-evaluate-and-complete-review-on-stalled-scientific-grant-applications

[Winehole23]

every time Trump violates the Administrative Procedures Act and the Impoundment Act of 1974 it's per se impeachable

[Winehole23]

the anti-civilizational oomph of Trump is underrated, even when entirely visible


https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:dry4szhzrm3uq6c4xex5kfrc/bafkreibmnjhwm3wcej4fexgyktffyxsytfckcoaro3ikvxtdx tzthxtygy@jpeghttps://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/31/climate/nasa-goddard-library-closing.html

[Winehole23]

sounds dramatic, is dramatic

off the top of my head, I would say the US is giving up a lot of influence for not very much money saved if it goes this route

https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2026/01/withdrawing-the-united-states-from-international-organizations-conventions-and-treaties-that-are-contrary-to-the-interests-of-the-united-states/

[ChumpDumper]

sounds dramatic, is dramatic

off the top of my head, I would say the US is giving up a lot of influence for not very much money saved if it goes this route

https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2026/01/withdrawing-the-united-states-from-international-organizations-conventions-and-treaties-that-are-contrary-to-the-interests-of-the-united-states/
Trump is a moron who does not act in the interest of the United States or its people save a few billionaires.

[Yonivore]

the anti-civilizational oomph of Trump is underrated, even when entirely visible

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/31/climate/nasa-goddard-library-closing.html
Behind a paywall. So, here's what NASA says will happen.

NASA says historic materials will be preserved as Goddard research library shuts down (https://wtop.com/prince-georges-county/2026/01/nasa-says-historic-materials-will-be-preserved-as-goddard-research-library-shuts-down/?utm_source=chatgpt.com)


“The physical library space at Goddard is closing as part of a long-planned facilities consolidation,” Isaacman said. He added that the goal is to digitize materials, transfer them to other libraries, or preserve them for historical purposes."
...
"'At no point is NASA ‘tossing out’ important scientific or historical materials, and that framing has led to several other misleading headlines,' Isaacman wrote."

[ChumpDumper]

:lol remember when yoni tried to convince himself that Trump was following the laws regarding impoundment?

[Winehole23]

when the government can't pass rational basis review it's not really trying


Judge Mehta rules that Trump/Russ Vought's termination of environmental grants during the shutdown — targeted solely at states that voted for Kamala Harris — violated the 5th Amendment's Equal Protection clause and orders them restored. www.documentcloud.org/documents/26... (https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26468878-mehtavought/)

[Winehole23]

https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:euynv325eix7glyek377orak/bafkreifrgdqsb47dcgkhoc2c6sbdwyzpuwfloimhbshwhtp7j xsqx7bjzi@jpeg

[Winehole23]

EPA excludes harm to humans with regard to pollution

Under Trump 2.0, your life is literally worthless


E.P.A. to Stop Considering Lives Saved When Setting Rules on Air Pollution
In a reversal, the agency plans to calculate only the cost to industry when setting pollution limits, and not the monetary value of saving human lives, documents show.
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/12/climate/trump-epa-air-pollution.html

(paywalled)

[Winehole23]

The Trump Administration has been basically one continuous violation of the Administrative Procedures Act

Stop work order on Revolution Wind got struck down


A federal court struck down the Trump administration’s three-month stop work order on Orsted’s Revolution offshore wind farm, once again allowing construction to resume (for the second time (https://heatmap.news/energy/revolution-complaint-eaton-fire)).


Explaining his ruling from the bench Monday, U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth said that project developer Orsted — and the states of Rhode Island and Connecticut, which filed their own suit in support of the company — were “likely” to win on the merits of their lawsuit that the stop work order violated the Administrative Procedures Act. Lamberth said that the Trump administration’s stop work order, issued just before Christmas, amounted to a change in administration position without adequate justification. The justice said he was not sure the emergency being described by the government exists, and that the “stated national security reason may have been pretextual.”

htps://heatmap.news/sparks/trump-revolution-wind-order

[ChumpDumper]

yoni says the impoundment intent letter to Congress is coming any day now

[Winehole23]

Trump was released on cash free bonds three times in 2023


https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:7upoypvlxudsiv4pzbi5jtwf/bafkreidlyjxkma4ntqlrwzahw6dsdwcvlfrgrf27avavvwbtq wjikbo3iq@jpeg

[Winehole23]

all stick no carrot is one hell of a way to run a country

TACO'd on this one, for the time being



The Trump administration is delaying its plans to withhold pay from student loan borrowers who default on their payments, backing off a measure that threatened to deliver a financial blow to millions of Americans.


The Education Department announced Friday involuntary collections on federal student loans will remain on hold as the agency finalizes new repayment plans. The shift reverses course on earlier plans to restart wage garnishments this month after a pandemic-era pause.


Nicholas Kent, the department’s higher education chief, said the agency is “committed to helping student and parent borrowers resume regular, on-time repayment, with more clear and affordable options.”
https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/nation/trump-administration-delays-plan-to-withhold-wages-for-student-loan-borrowers-in-default/

[Winehole23]

https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:3dz4xvhdemciftzsaonk5gu5/bafkreibfuowklzt3tdhznlzzsxobynhioaz6peu5ewwe4ou2s undwqc4ea@jpeg

[Winehole23]

*civilizational suicide in progress*


The chair of a federal vaccine advisory panel charted a new course for the committee in a podcast released Thursday, suggesting the public might want to reconsider the use of polio vaccines. www.statnews.com/2026/01/22/v...

[Winehole23]

President Miller announces the forthcoming judicial purge

https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:moejpt72sm743idbk3xc46mx/bafkreigft7zb23kcs2g2367ujs3hehwvzrydiao7mmewc2bx5 7qfvsa6k4@jpeg

[Winehole23]

US flag taken down at World Health Organization


https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:nb6uhiglzowsdcbgwv2itwa7/bafkreibh4ql4lsykv7vuyemfnopplhgay67vr7akxma5ecfnf mfo75iohm@jpeg

[Winehole23]

California flag will go up at WHO

https://www.abc10.com/article/news/local/california/california-joins-who-public-health-network-following-us-exit-marking-a-first-for-any-state/103-07ba6111-1915-44f8-bebf-13b40e43bcd8

[Winehole23]

another APA violation

all Trump would have to do to get his way on this and approximately all his policies getting slapped down in court is to post a two week notice of the changes, offer some reasonable basis for them and allow public comment

"arbitrary and capricious" for the L, these have been legion in the last year


-A federal judge on Friday ruled President Donald Trump (https://www.reuters.com/world/us/donald-trump/)'s administration unlawfully suspended funding awarded to support the expansion of electric vehicle charger infrastructure, in a victory for 20 Democratic-led states that sued over the action.
U.S. District Judge Tana Lin in Seattle ruled (https://fingfx.thomsonreuters.com/gfx/legaldocs/lgvdqbbrgpo/01232026dot_ruling.pdf) in favor of 20 states as well as the District of Columbia, which had filed their lawsuit after the U.S. Department of Transportation in February suspended an EV charger infrastructure program enacted by Congress in 2021 under Democratic President Joe Biden.

Lin, a Biden appointee, said the DOT and the Federal Highway Administration "yanked the NEVI Formula Program’s cord out of the outlet," without working within the statutory confines of established administrative law as required.https://www.reuters.com/world/trump-administration-unlawfully-suspended-ev-charger-infrastructure-program-us-2026-01-23/

[Winehole23]

pretextual impoundment of federal funding for blue states announced by Co-President Russ Vought



The Trump administration this week ordered a review of federal funding for 14 Democratic states and Washington, D.C., the latest step in the administration’s effort to target states that do not cooperate with the administration.


An OMB spokesperson confirmed the initiative, mandated by the agency in a memo (https://www.politico.com/f/?id=0000019b-e709-d1ea-a5df-f78daa330000) dated on Tuesday and reviewed by POLITICO. All federal agencies except the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Department of Defense have been charged with responding to the request.


“This information will be used to better understand the scope of funding in certain States and localities in order to facilitate efforts to reduce the improper and fraudulent use of those funds through administrative means or legislative proposals to Congress,” OMB wrote in the memo.
https://www.politico.com/news/2026/01/22/trump-administration-federal-funding-blue-states-00741440

[Winehole23]

When I say that Trump has stolen appropriations, I'm referring to stuff like this

US agencies played with the money and tried to conceal it


A federal judge ordered the Trump administration to reveal legally binding plans to spend congressionally appropriated funds today in a lawsuit brought by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington against Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought and the Office of Management and Budget. CREW represented itself alongside Public Citizen Litigation Group.


In response to a previous order in the case, OMB posted thousands of apportionments it had approved since its abrupt removal in March 2025 of the legally required database, but in many instances it still controlled agency spending in secret through “spend plans” it incorporated by reference in legally binding footnotes that it withheld from the public. CREW and Public Citizen Litigation Group subsequently filed a motion to enforce, asking the district court to require that OMB make public the contents of those spend plans that included hidden conditions on spending and rules for apportioned funds.


“Transparency won today,” said CREW President Donald K. Sherman. “Vought and OMB tried to dodge accountability and leave the American public in the dark by burying the real information the public needed in secret spend plans in footnotes, and we could not let that slide. We are grateful for the Court’s thorough decision which will ensure Americans know exactly how their government is spending—or not spending—their tax dollars.”


In at least 131 apportionment documents OMB approved between March and September, it included hidden rules in these incorporated spend plans. Those plans, which included legally binding terms for apportioned money, were not made public. Any individual or organization without access to the amounts and terms in these undisclosed yet legally binding plans could not rely on the “apportioned” amounts in the publicly posted documents to be accurate.


“At every opportunity in this case, the Trump administration tried to leave the public in the dark, regardless of what the law mandated,” said Sherman. “CREW asked the court to step in again and force OMB to release everything: the numbers, the terms and the spending plans, and we will watch closely to make sure this order is followed.
https://www.citizensforethics.org/news/press-releases/court-once-again-shuts-down-omb-attempts-to-keep-spending-secret/

ruling:https://www.citizensforethics.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/2026-01-28-46-Order-to-Enforce.pdf

[Winehole23]

In particular, CREW states that “at least 131 of the 2,245 apportionment documents in the database that OMB approved between March 24, 2025, and September 5, 2025, include a legally binding footnote that incorporates by reference the contents of an undisclosed spend plan.” Wentworth Decl., ECF No. 39-1 ¶ 6.

[Yonivore]

US flag taken down at World Health Organization


https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:nb6uhiglzowsdcbgwv2itwa7/bafkreibh4ql4lsykv7vuyemfnopplhgay67vr7akxma5ecfnf mfo75iohm@jpeg
Now, if we an just get out of the UN and boot them out of the prime real estate they're wasting in New York. The Board of Peace may be a good start.

[ChumpDumper]

Now, if we an just get out of the UN and boot them out of the prime real estate they're wasting in New York. The Board of Peace may be a good start.No.

It's a bad joke, you rube.

[Winehole23]

more partisan impoundment

stealing appropriations is impeachable every time Trump does it


“Dr. Deb Houry, who served as the C.D.C.’s chief medical officer before she resigned in August, noted that Congress had already appropriated the funds.

“It is concerning that H.H.S. is cutting public health funding to local communities that cover core functions in the middle of a measles outbreak”htps://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/09/health/trump-public-health-cuts-california.html?unlocked_article_code=1.K1A.UTpr.o 8t-VDAy7aq8&smid=url-share

[Winehole23]

imagine Obama stealing money from red states and saying some shit like this



“These grants are being terminated because they do not reflect agency priorities,” a spokesman for the Department of Health and Human Services said.

[Winehole23]

Donald Trump is suing IRS for $10 billion for a single similar disclosure


Background:


IRS and DHS in April agreed to share info to help detail suspected undocumented immigrants.

That data sharing began in Aug.

In Nov, a judge said the whole process was illegal.

Now in recent weeks, IRS discovered that it violated its own internal process (that a judge already said was illegal).


The Internal Revenue Service improperly shared confidential tax information of thousands of individuals with immigration enforcement officials, according to three people familiar with the situation, appearing to breach a legal fire wall intended to protect taxpayer data.


The erroneous disclosure was only recently discovered, the people said. The IRS is working with officials from the Treasury Department, Justice Department and Department of Homeland Security on the administration’s response.





Federal law mandates strict protections of the identities of taxpayers, including the sharing of data within the federal government. Undocumented immigrants have for years paid taxes with assurances from the federal government that doing so would not result in them being targeted by immigration enforcement.





But in a controversial decision, Treasury, which oversees the IRS, in April 2025 agreed to provide DHS with the names and addresses of individuals the Trump administration believed to be in the country illegally, pursuant to DHS requests.


Follow



Federal courts have since blocked the data-sharing arrangement (https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2025/11/21/judge-blocks-irs-dhs/), holding that it violates taxpayers’ rights, though the government appealed those rulings.



Before the agreement was struck down, DHS requested the addresses of 1.2 million individuals from the IRS. The tax agency responded with data on 47,000 individuals, according to court records.



When the IRS shared the addresses with DHS, it also inadvertently disclosed private information for thousands of taxpayers erroneously, a mistake only recently discovered, said the people familiar, who spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of retribution.


The affected individuals could be entitled to financial compensation for each time their information was improperly shared. And government officials can personally face stiff civil and criminal penalties for sharing confidential tax information.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2026/02/11/immigrants-irs-dhs-tax-data/

[Winehole23]

In a statement, a DHS spokesperson said that under the data-sharing agreement, “the government is finally doing what it should have all along.”




“Information sharing across agencies is essential to identify who is in our country, including violent criminals, determine what public safety and terror threats may exist so we can neutralize them, scrub these individuals from voter rolls, and identify what public benefits these aliens are using at taxpayer expense,” the spokesperson said.



There is little evidence that undocumented immigrants have attempted to participate in U.S. elections, nor is there a link between undocumented immigrants and higher levels of crime.



“With the IRS information specifically, DHS plans to focus on enforcing long-neglected criminal laws that apply to illegal aliens,” the DHS spokesperson said.




Treasury and Justice Department spokespeople declined to comment, citing agency policies not to comment on active litigation. The Office of the Deputy Attorney General is monitoring the ongoing litigation, but the office is not making any decisions on the matter, according to a person familiar with the matter who was not authorized to comment publicly.





When the IRS began conversations with DHS over data sharing shortly after Trump returned to the White House, senior IRS employees warned administration officials that the program was likely illegal and could sweep up misidentified people, The Post has reported (https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2025/02/28/immigration-enforcement-trump-administration-irs/).
Ask The Post A
During early meetings on the project, one agency staffer asked immigration authorities how many people with the same name may live in the same state, according to one of the people, illustrating how easy it would be for the Trump administration to inadvertently breach taxpayers’ privacy, including those who are not targets of immigration investigations.

[Winehole23]

Donald Trump's privacy?

$10 billion, all day

Ours collectively?

Bupkis (https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/5447386/jewish/What-Does-Bupkis-Mean.htm)

[Winehole23]

USDA's attempt to withhold SNAP funding to Minnesota gets judicially blocked

"arbitrary and capricious"

(this could also filed under "Trump declares war on Americans")


CONCLUSION

The primary function of a preliminary injunction “is to preserve the status quo until, upon final hearing, a court may grant full, effective relief.” Missouri, 128 F.4th at 990 (citation omitted). By all accounts, Minnesota has operated its SNAP recertification process in compliance with federal law and with the express blessing of the USDA. The Recertification Letter and Enforcement Letter seek to upend that status quo, and, without any reasoned explanation, demand that Minnesota implement an entirely new process within 30 days. This sort of haphazard decisionmaking is precisely what the APA is intended to prevent and what a preliminary injunction is to remedy. Accordingly, because Minnesota is likely to succeed on at least one of its APA claims, and because all other factors for injunctive relief fall in Minnesota’s favor, the Court grants Minnesota’s motion for a preliminary injunction.

ORDER

For the reasons stated above, Minnesota’s motion (ECF No. 5) is hereby GRANTED, and the USDA is PRELIMINARILY ENJOINED from taking any adverse action against Minnesota based on the Recertification Letter, and PRELIMINARILY ENJOINED from withholding any of Minnesota’s administrative funding for the first quarter of calendar year 2026 as threatened in the Enforcement Letter.

LET JUDGMENT BE ENTERED ACCORDINGLY.

Dated: January 16, 2026

s/Laura M. Provinzino
Laura M. Provinzino
United States District Judge
https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/72074911/44/state-of-minnesota-v-united-states-department-of-agriculture/

[Winehole23]

lol @ all the big law firms who bent the knee


Trump Administration to Drop Defense of Law Firm Sanctions
Justice Department plans to withdraw appeals defending punitive executive orders issued by the president, people familiar with the matter saidhttps://www.wsj.com/us-news/law/trump-administration-to-drop-defense-of-law-firm-sanctions-cb839c39

[Winehole23]

morally wrong, strategically dumb


Paul Weiss, Covington & Burling, WilmerHale, Perkins Coie, and Jenner & Block

[Winehole23]

Kari Lake's losing streak in court continues


A federal judge in DC rules that Kari Lake was not lawfully appointed and that actions she took as the claimed head of USAGM "shall have no force or effect," including last August's RIFs at the Voice of America.

https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_fullsize/plain/did:plc:v63y3emmbz5dlvzkejca2mcc/bafkreicc4nuvqshoczuqipintt75rfa6boj5acrsbli3whjvi mdixqfzsa@jpeg
https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_fullsize/plain/did:plc:v63y3emmbz5dlvzkejca2mcc/bafkreiffmk7uz42st6i3sgfjps7h24b24zdvlegewkaosaxzy 4cq3uagr4@jpeg

[Winehole23]

(if I understand this right, Judge Lamberth has instructed the government to put Humpty-Dumpty -- er, Voice of America and the rest of the USAGM (https://www.usagm.gov) -- back together again)

[Winehole23]

OMB is selling off the crown jewel of US atmospheric research



Science has learned that one proposal is expected to come from the University of Oklahoma, an academic powerhouse in severe weather research. Another will likely come from Lynker, a NOAA contractor that wants to take over NCAR’s space weather research. The details of the bids are sparse, but atmospheric scientists hope any new scheme will preserve NCAR’s functions and expertise.https://www.science.org/content/article/white-house-plan-break-iconic-u-s-climate-lab-moves-forward

[Winehole23]

"cover the war the way we want or we'll yank your broadcast license"


https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_fullsize/plain/did:plc:7r477jd7q7p2mzmyqfm7jmp7/bafkreigneih2nadmuyf476fhgng2j77g5ffl4zgpxj2btsgcf taunwm6wy

[Winehole23]

Russ Vought's attempt to defund CFPB hits a roadblock

"Shall take care that the laws be faithfully executed" means nothing to these ssholes, even though it's in the oath of office

If the executive branch can just ignore appropriations it doesn't like, we don't have a democracy anymore



A federal judge ruled Friday that the Trump administration unlawfully took the position last year that it couldn’t request more funding for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB).
U.S. District Judge Edward Davila ordered (https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.cand.460880/gov.uscourts.cand.460880.42.0_2.pdf) the agency’s acting director, Russ Vought, (https://thehill.com/people/russ-vought/) to continue requesting the necessary funds from the Federal Reserve to carry out the CFPB’s obligations.

It’s a legal loss for top Trump administration officials as they look to curtail the consumer watchdog agency (https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/5612934-cfpb-nominee-stuart-levenbach-russ-vought/). Created in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis with largely Democratic support, many conservatives have targeted the CFPB as unaccountable.
https://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/5783614-cfpb-consumer-watchdog-trump-vought/

[Winehole23]

Whether it’s the head of the FCC demanding that networks run pro-Trump propaganda or a kid at Oberlin asking for a trigger warning, there’s been plenty of frightening anti-free speech rhetoric on both sideshttps://bsky.app/profile/nytpitchbot.bsky.social/post/3mh4m4pqcps2q

[Winehole23]

using US humanitarian aid as a club to beat Zambia into line


https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:4kshoaytrzhgsziro6ywozul/bafkreib3nl4yxbjfgafdwtjc2v44lthtpssn7nynpxocz2p4f dgwhytdbe

[Winehole23]

Trump has gone from unlawful attempts to deny permission to wind energy projects, to heavy bribes with public money

https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_fullsize/plain/did:plc:kb63zrj57n4a6dys6mat3oaz/bafkreido4ykk3qrjlk7fgcfi3nkdcj3u4r6h4tzu5be7sbdxj iwh3xz3jm

[Winehole23]

this is just dumb


https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:k5nskatzhyxersjilvtnz4lh/bafkreigvlxlssror77ag5asd2kguqegau44dtt23lodmbvjie ba2qxlpxa

[Winehole23]

depriving the public of honest services gets taken to a whole 'nother level in Trump 2.0

(granular info @https://www.cato.org/people/david-bier)


The US government is taking fees from immigrants and US sponsors for services that it has no plans to provide. The government took their money, and now it won’t even adjudicate their applications—in many cases, it refuses even to issue denials. The State Department is actually telling consular officers not to notify (https://x.com/curtismorrison/status/2025120130783666467) future applicants that the government has banned them.

During testimony before the US Senate (https://x.com/David_J_Bier/status/2021606603414204860), I called it the largest fraud in the history of the US immigration system. In fact, it is likely the first $1 billion fraud—a theft of processing fees for services never rendered. Even Republican Senator John Kennedy of Louisiana told (https://x.com/David_J_Bier/status/2021606961456759218) me at the hearing that he was shocked it was happening. It is happening, and it is shocking.

https://www.cato.org/blog/banned-immigrants-us-sponsors-paid-over-1-billion-fees-defrauded-government

[Winehole23]

US Forest Service shuttered

https://morethanjustparks.substack.com/p/breaking-trump-administration-orders?utm_medium=ios
https://www.usda.gov/about-usda/news/press-releases/2026/03/31/usda-prioritizing-common-sense-forest-management-moves-forest-service-headquarters-salt-lake-city

[Blake]

this is just dumb


https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:k5nskatzhyxersjilvtnz4lh/bafkreigvlxlssror77ag5asd2kguqegau44dtt23lodmbvjie ba2qxlpxa

BECAUSE FENTANYL AND GANGSTERS AND STUFF

[Blake]

2040181419226415184

BECAUSE COLLEGE SPORTS IMPORTANT RIGHT NOW IN THE WORLD. I FIXED IT LIKE EVERYTHING ELSE. IT'LL BE THE BEST COLLEGE SPORTS EVER.

[Winehole23]

who are you and I, Blake, to interfere with the president meddling in college football as if it were his own little fiefdom?

[Winehole23]

lol the most own-branded mfer in the universe denouncing "fraudulent NIL"

[Blake]

lol the most own-branded mfer in the universe denouncing "fraudulent NIL"

Calling it now..... at some point he'll have an executive order to have his own Trump Bowl

[Winehole23]

the executive branch wants all your personal medical information, for some reason



Last December, OPM published an information collection request (https://www.govexec.com/workforce/2026/04/opm-wants-federal-workers-medical-records/412698/) in the Federal Register that would require insurers who participate in the Federal Employee Health Benefits and Postal Service Health Benefits programs to provide monthly reports with identifiable health data on their enrollees, prompting unease from both health ethicists and health care providers alike. The notice (https://www.regulations.gov/document/OPM-2025-0206-0049) would require the collection of medical visits, prescriptions and treatment data, and fails to task insurance carriers with redacting personally identifiable information.


In a letter (https://admin.govexec.com/media/gbc/docs/pdfs_edit/schiff-warner-letter.pdf) to OPM Director Scott Kupor on Monday, more than dozen senators, led by Sens. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., and Mark Warner, D-Va., demanded the agency rescind its request, arguing that the agency’s general “oversight” rationale is insufficient, given the extraordinary nature of OPM’s request.
“Such sweeping access to personal health information would violate the core principles of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, which was enacted to strictly regulate how protected health information can be disclosed to ensure that patient data is shared only for limited, clearly defined purposes,” they wrote. “Mass, centralized access to identifiable medical records absent individualized consent, clear necessity or narrowly tailored legal authority undermines those protections and lacks a valid statutory basis.”
https://www.govexec.com/pay-benefits/2026/04/senators-demand-opm-withdraw-plan-access-feds-medical-records/412961/

[Winehole23]

two years ago, applicants would have crawled over broken glass for DOJ positions, now DOJ needs bonuses to attract lawyers


The Justice Department is taking a new tack to overcome hurdles in attracting qualified legal talent and to prevent current lawyers from leaving: offering signing and retention bonuses throughout the Civil Division.

New vacancy postings show signing bonuses of $25,000 are newly available to staff offices investigating youth transgender treatments and litigating the Trump administration’s immigration agenda.

Further, the head of the Civil Division—which plays a crucial role advancing and protecting the president’s policies in court—informed all his attorneys Monday that they’ll begin receiving a “retention incentive allowance” ranging from around $60 to $220 every pay period through Thanksgiving, according to an internal email reviewed by Bloomberg Law.
https://news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/doj-offers-lawyers-25-000-signing-bonuses-as-recruitment-lags

[Winehole23]

Trump to create J6 Truth and Reconciliation slush fund

https://abcnews.com/US/trump-administration-create-1776b-truth-justice-commission-compensate/story?id=133005480

[Winehole23]

Trump is a thief


https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_fullsize/plain/did:plc:2amnkge5a6hplfwyesmxqkfl/bafkreigqc4xk27ts6jz4ybiuddmwcgheab5oswlectkxl7o4u hejfxkrv4
https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_fullsize/plain/did:plc:2amnkge5a6hplfwyesmxqkfl/bafkreihfohg65vxdnon42induktxammhechibtxw3p77xdoqg 42qwg5jwu
https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_fullsize/plain/did:plc:2amnkge5a6hplfwyesmxqkfl/bafkreihykdgjj54iruvlezstfn5s6x7mvle2tpocwfckp5nrj eik64nnne

[Winehole23]

stealing money for a J6 slush fund


https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:yokssolxkvz4lobktvx6yvxb/bafkreibtw3uerlqd2vlmqrz5eeu65ffmuqxtspemoaez6pm65 sr57ks3da

[Winehole23]

people about to learn about 14A, Section 4



https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:kjjhbsc3pp3vkqjsivk6z2yd/bafkreiccprwiajj4umyf5d3djstnhjfqywvkmkdv3gkmnbcot u3hcdtthm

[Winehole23]

money in exchange for an official act -- US justice is for sale


The administration of United States President Donald Trump has moved to dismiss criminal fraud charges against Indian billionaire Gautam Adani in a case where he is accused of bribing Indian officials for as much as $265m to secure contracts and lying to US investors to land a solar energy project in India, allegations that his company has long denied.


The case was dropped by the US Department of Justice (DOJ) after Adani pledged a $10bn investment in the US.
https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2026/5/18/us-drops-fraud-charges-after-billionaire-adani-pledges-10bn-investment

[Winehole23]

shady af


COONS: Will you commit to making reports fully public so Americans know who is getting taxpayer dollars out of this settlement fund?

BLANCHE: There are privacy laws that may prevent some of the information from being fully public

[Winehole23]

if I'm reading this right, Trump's defense lawyer Todd Blanche -- the current acting US Attorney General -- has just shielded Donald Trump from any future tax audit


https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:v6dt2gvwx4kgxujlwpsolo6h/bafkreicyn4ikjwhcp44kexjpng5k4oibuyepfrt3k5c5pgvz3 o5np3r5la

[Winehole23]

y u wonder?


The [IRS] concluded in its long-running investigation that Trump effectively claimed the same massive write-off twice on his failed Chicago tower.https://www.propublica.org/article/trump-irs-audit-chicago-hotel-taxes

[Blake]

if I'm reading this right, Trump's defense lawyer Todd Blanche -- the current acting US Attorney General -- has just shielded Donald Trump from any future tax audit


https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:v6dt2gvwx4kgxujlwpsolo6h/bafkreicyn4ikjwhcp44kexjpng5k4oibuyepfrt3k5c5pgvz3 o5np3r5la

Lol "forever barred". Unless the next president declares "executive action" to audit the felon.

[Winehole23]

https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:z4go2duon4pxlvtvx6l7uleu/bafkreihot7pbc5wpzjwk7d3kkmgrfs6i2gl5fsjxyiwajhrdr fxwtapvjihttps://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/24/us/how-prediction-markets-and-crypto-firms-steamrolled-a-watchdog-agency.html

[Winehole23]

Markwayne Mullin threatening to remove BPS from airports serving sanctuary cities

This is really stupid and I hope he does it


"We are currently drawing up plans to say, listen, in these sanctuary cities where the local radical left Democrats aren't allowing us to do our job and enforce federal laws, then we shouldn't be processing international flights into their cities."https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/travel-industry-worries-after-trump-administration-reiterates-threat-to-sanctuary-city-airports

[Winehole23]

doing so would of course be wildly illegal and per se impeachable


"No Preference shall be given by any Regulation of Commerce or Revenue to the Ports of one State over those of another"​https://www.law.georgetown.edu/constitution-center/constitution/port-preference-clause/

[Winehole23]

California will impose a 100% tax on payments distributed from Trump’s Jan. 6th “slush fund.”

[Winehole23]

https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:z6rujpf4u56jfie7aqic2nfg/bafkreigltgv4rsqrytmntocnxcxwlqpmuihc2yl4fea4bmdbk op6tp2zci

[Winehole23]

judicial roadblock for Trump's slush fund for aggrieved MAGAs


A federal judge in Virginia has temporarily blocked the Trump administration from moving ahead with plans to create a nearly $1.8 billion fund to compensate people who it says were wrongly targeted by the government in the past.

The brief order (https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/28173352/tro-on-weaponization-fund.pdf) from US District Judge Leonie Brinkema says the administration cannot take any action “pursuant to the creation or operation of the Anti-Weaponization Fund, which includes the transferring of money to the Fund; the consideration of any claims submitted to the Fund; and the disbursing of any funds from the Fund.”

ttps://www.cnn.com/2026/05/29/politics/federal-judge-halts-work-on-trumps-anti-weaponization-fundttps://www.cnn.com/2026/05/29/politics/federal-judge-halts-work-on-trumps-anti-weaponization-fund

[Winehole23]

why would he do that?

:lol


A rookie federal prosecutor who brought a case accusing former FBI Director James Comey of (https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/justice-department/legal-experts-shellshocked-new-comey-indictment-rcna342583)threatening President Donald Trump’s life by posting a photo of seashells on Instagram (https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/national-security/secret-service-agents-questions-comey-trump-social-media-post-rcna207407)has stepped off the case.https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/justice-department/lead-federal-prosecutor-james-comey-seashells-photo-case-steps-rcna345342

[Winehole23]

Judge Kathleen Williams orders Trump legal team to respond by June 12 to Florida federal court filing questioning if fraud or collusion were part of Trump’s lawsuit vs IRS and its dismissal

[Winehole23]

USAG Todd Blanche acting like he's still Trump's defense attorney


https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:afucvpwfwrd35te62yqccbhz/bafkreifxo753hf27h5xj3wwx5o4spz5kxhsjb7ihsyoihw226 4xhvazfgqhttps://bsky.app/profile/nytdiff.bsky.social/post/3mndrwdxlwe2z

[Winehole23]

DOJ suggests settling collusive lawsuits as a way to reward J6ers and other aggrieved MAGAs



https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:vgzwdyiwzdnfrga2xcvblvr4/bafkreig4yxdhhqwvrez3kxfoyecdvlabnwuudzm7qceurlqnh y7zcqywdy

[Winehole23]

There is no IRS Commissioner because they made up a position called CEO of the IRS to give to Frank Bisgiano, so he could avoid Senate Appointment. No statute recognizes the CEO of the IRS, which means anything done by this made-up person may be ultra vires.

[Winehole23]

the spiteful and vandalistic demolition of US public capacity is a Trump hallmark


President Trump has issued an executive order turning an estimated 8,000 federal workers into at-will employees, which means the government could fire them without providing any reason.

The move culminates an effort Trump launched during his first term to strip vast numbers of federal employees of civil service protections designed to insulate their work from political interference.

Nearly all of the 8,000 people affected are at the highest level of the civil service, known as GS-15. The Trump administration characterizes the roles as senior positions with significant influence over policy. They include leaders of policy offices and their chiefs of staff, heads of regional offices, program managers, senior public affairs officers and those overseeing spending and grants.

[Winehole23]

https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:jmte4w4x7ukciit6lci6ziau/bafkreiayuagki6k4rfjisqisazyiditwbdqcvbsngybqokzum akonedffe

[Winehole23]

subsidies for an uneconomical energy source that employs fewer Americans than bowling alleys

https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:qqx7bauacsfwi7yufzfqio32/bafkreiaqmjm2lg6nwbdlciqkiwfy6rtzw34jdiryhrjf53zee gmjmfpqke

https://www.bls.gov/cps/cpsaat18b.htm

[Winehole23]

all Trump does is fuck shit up and hurt people


@gao.gov (https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:sfajlkmreyoot2etotf2y4xt)

finds the Trump administration's last-minute changes to the "2026 Census Test" raise the risk of cost and quality challenges for the #2030Census (https://bsky.app/hashtag/2030Census) as the Census Bureau struggles with agency-wide skills gaps after last year's slashing of the bureau's workforcewww.gao.gov/products/gao... (https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-26-108848)

[Winehole23]

work requirements for cancer patients


One of those concerning policies was work reporting requirements for people covered by Medicaid. The then-proposed legislation mandated that states verify Medicaid enrollees’ monthly work status at least every six months to ensure that they are engaging each month in a minimum of 80 hours of community service, educational activities, and/or work. But undergoing cancer treatment is already a full-time job; many patients are unable to work because of their condition.

Our meetings with congressional staff and lawmakers were tense. Many lawmakers were surprised to hear our concerns, given that the legislation they were considering included an exemption for people with serious conditions like cancer. When we shared that exemptions previously failed to protect patients, many lawmakers told us we were misinformed or being lied to. Lawmakers were clear (https://energycommerce.house.gov/posts/chairman-guthrie-op-ed-don-t-fall-for-the-lies-about-the-gop-s-plan-for-medicaid-we-re-actually-strengthening-it) that the legislation’s protections were rock solid: No one with cancer would lose their coverage.

A few weeks later, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) — and Medicaid work reporting requirements — became law (https://www.statnews.com/2025/07/03/trump-tax-cut-bill-changes-for-health-care-medicaid-cuts-aca-obamacare-hsa-rural-health-hospitals/). On Monday, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services issued its interim final rule on work reporting requirements (https://www.statnews.com/2026/06/01/trump-medicaid-work-requirement-rules-verification-eligibility/). It breaks lawmakers’ promises to patients.

The rule is catastrophic for cancer patients and forces states to go far beyond what Congress included in its legislative text. It narrows the “medical frailty exemption,” a mechanism that allows patients with cancer and other serious health conditions to be exempt from work reporting requirements. In effect, it means that cancer patients, including those in active treatment, could be forced to work the same number of hours as a healthy person — regardless of whether that’s physically possible, just to keep the health insurance coverage that they rely on to stay alive.
https://www.statnews.com/2026/06/04/medicaid-work-requirements-final-rule-cancer-patients/

[Winehole23]

The rule also limits patients’ ability to attest that they qualify for their exemption. I don’t know a single cancer patient who would choose not to work if they could. But rather than trusting patients to certify that they have a health condition that precludes them from work reporting requirements, starting nationwide in 2028, patients now face red tape. We don’t know exactly how states will require patients to “prove” their inability to work 20 hours a week, but it seems likely that some patients will need to work with their doctors to submit a written assessment of their ability to work to Medicaid to prevent loss of their insurance.


As a result, patients will be inundated with paperwork. One small misstep by a patient, provider, contractor, or state employee could mean the difference between having health coverage and losing it. Research shows that continuous access to Medicaid is critical (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39348628/) to the survival of children and young adults with cancer.


The interim final rule is in direct conflict with OBBBA. While Congress chose to implement these work reporting requirements, it also carefully chose to exempt people with serious medical needs, like cancer patients, from them.

[Winehole23]

The right hand doesn't know when the left hand is lying

Trump 2.0 is largely coercive funding and official oppression


Energy Secretary Chris Wright was unrepentant on Capitol Hill this week, firing back at a congressman’s charge that the Trump administration canceled clean energy projects in blue states to exact political revenge.

“No decisions were made on politics,” Wright told the House Science, Space and Technology Committee on Wednesday. “I keep hearing that charge. It’s bullshit. We’re going to say it a million times. It’s not true. It’s actually false.”

Across town, a federal judge was drafting a court order based on Wright’s lawyers admitting the Energy Department had done just that. The Thursday ruling by U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta in D.C. restored 11 clean energy grants in states President Donald Trump lost in 2024; government attorneys had acknowledged those election results influenced why the funding was nixed.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2026/06/12/energy-dept-head-says-agency-didnt-punish-blue-states-his-lawyers-admit-it-did/

[Winehole23]

arbitrary and capricious

[Winehole23]

Trump crypto firm to be given a banking license by Trumpy regulators

Direct self dealing, official actions undertaken to benefit the president


President Donald Trump’s family crypto business is expected to soon be allowed to operate like a bank — a decision that would give U.S. companies a new route to steer money to the president.

World Liberty Financial, the stablecoin and trading platform co-founded by Trump and his three sons, applied for a national trust bank charter with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, or OCC, on Jan. 5. The Trump-appointed head of the OCC, Jonathan Gould, is due to announce his decision soon, and industry experts and congressional aides expect it to go in the Trump family’s favor.

Two former staffers at the banking regulator, speaking on the condition of anonymity for fear of professional reprisals, said it is all but certain that the OCC will approve the charter for Trump’s firm, with one saying it was “inconceivable” that the application would be denied.https://www.notus.org/economy/trump-family-crypto-firm-federal-banking-charter

[Winehole23]

proving government is bad by governing badly is typically Republican


The Trump administration’s sweeping federal spending reviews slowed government efforts to contain the New World screwworm, according to three former Agriculture Department officials and a fourth person with knowledge of the matter.

USDA reviews held up funding for the construction of one facility that is crucial to slowing the flesh-eating pest’s threat to the U.S. cattle supply, according to the three former officials, who like the fourth person were granted anonymity to discuss internal decision-making. A $100 million research initiative (https://www.aphis.usda.gov/funding/new-world-screwworm-grand-challenge-funding-opportunity) designed to create new tools to slow the screwworm’s advance was also delayed, two of the former officials said.



Skepticism from the White House budget office meanwhile delayed plans for a second facility at a Texas air base, said two of the former officials and the person with knowledge of the matter.

“That sense of urgency wasn’t there,” said one of the former officials. “Even though screwworm was given a high priority, it did not help us get things done faster.”

https://www.politico.com/news/2026/06/17/trump-reviews-slowed-screwworm-response-00964448

[Winehole23]

another mass impoundment scheme

every instance is impeachable


Donald Trump's administration is threatening to withdraw federal funding for unemployment assistance in all 50 states as part of the president's nationwide campaign against "fraud" in government spending. (https://www.aol.com/news/vance-says-stealing-1b-treasury-213222402.html)


In a letter to the governors of 53 states and territories, acting Labor Secretary Keith Sonderling warned that the federal government would use "every available tool" to combat "waste, fraud and abuse (https://www.aol.com/news/trump-administration-cut-4-3-175852087.html)" within state-run unemployment insurance programs, including "withholding administrative funds from states" for the first time in history.
https://www.aol.com/articles/trump-threatens-pull-unemployment-benefits-200204000.html

[Blake]

Trump pledged to house 6,000 homeless vets. His budget funds zero

https://www.npr.org/2026/05/28/nx-s1-5836556/trump-homeless-veterans-la

[Winehole23]

All lip service

Sounds about right

[Winehole23]

lots of spending exempted from normal review this year

https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_fullsize/plain/did:plc:2rrp7amblhg3xoly5n5huiqv/bafkreidmkfdghsmjupaueimzg7rtpamrxiwt4mzmf5jwnucsz cobqzikgu

[Winehole23]

arbitrary and capricious government and impoundment are Trump signatures


https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_fullsize/plain/did:plc:dsa4uibhvbldyrnkkziijpsg/bafkreifcm5x2dyj53zky6qeliylzehue5geff6rfe2vwf7t4h 2j4hx5znehttps://www.wsj.com/politics/policy/judge-permanently-blocks-trump-from-withholding-hudson-tunnel-funding-43773351

[Winehole23]

this runs afoul of the Antideficiency Act (http://ttps://taxproject.org/the-anti-deficiency-act-explainer/), POTUS isn't supposed to be able to spend money all by himself, nor can he solicit private companies for money to go around Congress


Trump begins construction of unannounced White House helipad

The project, funded with a Lockheed Martin donation, is intended to resolve a years-long problem with the new Marine One helicopters: They run the risk of scorching the White House’s grass.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2026/06/30/trump-adds-white-house-helipad-resolve-marine-one-helicopter-issue/

[Winehole23]

Trump 2.0 disdains public notice and comment of intended bureaucratic changes

arbitrary and capricious all the way


One of the corrupt features of this administration is that it could, if it wanted, make regulatory changes ... through the normal notice-and-comment process under the APA.https://bsky.app/profile/gabrielmalor.bsky.social/post/3mowe2kmjam27

[Winehole23]

Partisan disaster relief, not for the first time


President Donald Trump denied disaster aid to four Democratic-led states in a move that is raising new questions about whether he’s injecting political motivations into emergency management decisions.


Trump on Friday rejected $227 million in aid requests from New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts and Rhode Island for help recovering from a major snowstorm in February. Two days earlier, Trump approved Federal Emergency Management Agency disaster aid for six Republican-led states, while extolling the political virtues of GOP politicians and candidates in the states.
https://www.politico.com/news/2026/07/08/donald-trump-denies-disaster-aid-democratic-states-00989418

[Winehole23]

Trump sics FBI on NYT for reporting he didn't like


The White House directed Kash Patel, the F.B.I. director, to oversee a leak investigation (https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/11/business/media/new-york-times-trump-subpoenas.html) into reporting by The New York Times about security issues with the new Air Force One, leading to a flurry of subpoenas to several Times reporters Friday night, according to people with knowledge of the situation.


Mr. Patel scuttled a planned trip to Chicago and spent roughly eight hours at the White House on Friday, running the investigation from there rather than F.B.I. headquarters — a major departure from historical practice. Mr. Patel also briefed senior administration officials on the investigation, two people said. The people spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe sensitive internal discussions.


The White House’s deep involvement in the case came after officials said that President Trump was enraged about the coverage of the Qatari-donated plane, which The Times reported (https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/09/us/politics/new-air-force-one-defensive-countermeasures.html) Thursday lacks the same defensive countermeasures of the previous Air Force One.



Mr. Patel’s role in the investigation, in close coordination with top administration officials, reflects a further dismantling (https://www.nytimes.com/2025/01/28/us/politics/trump-kash-patel-fbi-independence.html) of the wall that had separated the White House and the F.B.I. in previous administrations. The government’s effort to immediately seek information from journalists, when such cases are typically centered first on identifying potential internal wrongdoing by officials, comes as the Trump administration has intensified pressure on news organizations.
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/11/us/politics/white-house-patel-investigation-times.html?unlocked_article_code=1.w1A.NCR-.9wuN36DzKmX5&smid=nytcore-ios-share

[Winehole23]

subtext: Trump is big mad he had to ditch his deluxe bribery jet


Mr. Trump has basked (https://www.nytimes.com/2026/06/19/us/politics/new-air-force-one-trump.html) in the luxury of the new plane, which is more than a decade old but has the kind of opulent furnishings the president prefers. He has repeatedly described the Qatari jet as cost free to the United States. But in reality, hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars (https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/27/us/politics/air-force-one-trump-cost.html) were spent to upgrade its security systems. Officials have said that he plans to take the plane with him as a donation to his presidential library when he leaves office.While Mr. Trump has said the Qatari plane was upgraded with the necessary security “bells and whistles,” The Times reported on Thursday that it lacks (https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/09/us/politics/new-air-force-one-defensive-countermeasures.html) the defensive countermeasures that were security features of the old model, including its advanced antimissile capabilities.

[Winehole23]

Trump has gone from unlawful attempts to deny permission to wind energy projects, to heavy bribes with public money

https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_fullsize/plain/did:plc:kb63zrj57n4a6dys6mat3oaz/bafkreido4ykk3qrjlk7fgcfi3nkdcj3u4r6h4tzu5be7sbdxj iwh3xz3jm

[Winehole23]

Federal judge finds that Trump's IRS suit was improper because Trump controlled both sides of the litigation.

Judge Kathleen Williams also sanctions Trump's lawyers, issues monetary sanctions, and harshly criticizes DOJ's "untenable" conduct.


https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:36eqtmzysqf7wsslczw4uxcd/bafkreiaeq6ryrg7pu2ymbafnbe3wplvuj4ijxaso3aqxoha3o 5z5w6nble


https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_fullsize/plain/did:plc:fa4sqqfpxtph72bsadmoet7l/bafkreia3vgb733pae6zka4y7kjn4eh3k4n6nucugp3te43sbn nondim5ya
https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.flsd.706172/gov.uscourts.flsd.706172.106.0.pdf

[Winehole23]

But perhaps the most startling misstatement advanced by Plaintiffs is their characterization of this case as “ordinary.” (DE 89 at 9). The Parties here are not private actors to a mine-run dispute, recounting their proficiency in the art of the deal they negotiated. Lead Plaintiff and Defendants are public servants—the pinnacle of the Executive Branch—sworn to uphold the law, faithfully perform the duties of their office, and protect the interests of the American public. The issue before the Court is whether, instead, they ignored ethical norms, court rules, and legal authority to manipulate the judicial process. The issue is whether they did so to gild their efforts to gain unprecedented access to the public fisc with the patina of legitimacy. There is nothing “ordinary” about this case; it is the very definition of sui generis.

[Winehole23]

Trump tried to steal $2B from the USA

Trump and everyone who tried to help him do it should be impeached, removed and prosecuted

[Winehole23]

lol @ all the big law firms who bent the knee

https://www.wsj.com/us-news/law/trump-administration-to-drop-defense-of-law-firm-sanctions-cb839c39lol Trump is attacking them again

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/14/us/politics/trump-subpoenas-law-firms-epshteyn-aba.html?unlocked_article_code=1.x1A.npjF.3FFC9vwi x3mM&smid=url-share

[Winehole23]

(once you identify the sheep, remember to shear them every year)

[Winehole23]

Todd Blanche btw vowed to revive the Comstock Act

Trump is coming after mifepristone

[Winehole23]

POTUS directing IRS to start or cease audits is impeachable all by itself, firing the official who warned against breaking the law probably is too


Assistant Treasury Secretary Kenneth Kies has been ousted after he reportedly warned that the Trump administration was potentially violating a law prohibiting White House officials from intervening in IRS audits, The Wall Street Journal reported (https://www.wsj.com/politics/policy/top-treasury-tax-official-ousted-after-clashes-with-white-house-over-irs-audits-60d5b1df?mod=author_content_page_1_pos_1) on Thursday.

Kies also serves as acting chief counsel of the IRS. Citing sources familiar with the matter, the Journal said Kies will be exiting in the coming weeks. The report said:

Kies at times clashed behind the scenes with White House officials, the people said. That included a recent meeting in which he contended that a potential White House request would violate Section 7217 of the Internal Revenue Code, one of the people said. That law prohibits the president, vice president, White House staff and certain agency heads from directly or indirectly requesting that the IRS conduct or terminate an audit or investigation of any particular taxpayer.



Section 7217 (https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/26/7217) of the IRS code deems it “unlawful for any applicable person to request, directly or indirectly, any officer or employee of the Internal Revenue Service to conduct or terminate an audit or other investigation of any particular taxpayer with respect to the tax liability of such taxpayer.”
https://www.mediaite.com/media/news/treasury-official-fired-after-he-reportedly-warned-white-house-might-be-violating-law/

[Winehole23]

Trump shook down media companies for 10s of millions of dollars in 2025, promising the money would go to his presidential library

Nobody will say where the money went


Last September, the original recipient of the settlement payments, the Donald J. Trump Presidential Library Fund Inc., was administratively dissolved (https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26186340-trumppresidentiallibraryfundstatus/) by Florida’s Department of State after it failed to file a mandatory annual report.


In May 2025, a second entity, the Donald J. Trump Presidential Library Foundation, Inc. (https://search.sunbiz.org/Inquiry/CorporationSearch/ConvertTiffToPDF?storagePath=COR%5C2025%5C0523%5C0 0177827.Tif&documentNumber=N25000006299), was incorporated in Florida with nearly an identical mission, but whether it received the settlement money has not been publicly documented. (In an April (https://www.warren.senate.gov/wp-content/uploads/media/doc/warren_blumenthal_stansbury_letter_to_president_tr ump_re_presidential_library_fund_donations.pdf) letter to Trump, the lawmakers directly questioned why two entities with the same purpose had been created, and why the foundation was “preferred instead of the fund.”)


The lawmakers wrote to executives at the four companies in March to ask what happened to their money after the original fund’s dissolution. According to the letter, (https://www.warren.senate.gov/wp-content/uploads/media/doc/warren_blumenthal_stansbury_letter_to_president_tr ump_re_presidential_library_fund_donations.pdf) the companies indicated they had no information they were willing to share publicly about where most of the settlement money had gone.
https://www.ms.now/news/trump-library-corporate-settlements-democrats-letter

[Winehole23]

Taylor Farms pleads for special treatment after sickening hundreds with infected produce


https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_fullsize/plain/did:plc:7migibs2fyj2psyy6lmkul3h/bafkreifm25kp43ftv7kxvl3dyi4k45wwe6snz525qei7q3iqu vsvrb2gqahttps://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/18/health/taylor-farms-iceberg-lettuce-recall.html?unlocked_article_code=1.ylA.VROC.7EiNb ImWn1Rw&smid=url-share

[Winehole23]

corrupting justice



https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:4u3hwe3p7oy3hoy3amlw7rp2/bafkreieiu2sjrw6necmfd3dd35dydbqculyoutcw2seqmdull 7xt77xlrm

[Winehole23]

(executive) impoundment (of appropriated funds) violates the law and the US Constitution

it is 100% an impeachable offense -- Trump has already been impeached for it once before, in 2019


The Trump administration is pausing $1 billion in ​Medicaid payments to California and Minnesota over "suspected fraud and noncompliance," U.S. Health Secretary #Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said on Tuesday.


"If those states want that money they need to provide documentation that these payments are legitimate," Kennedy said at a news conference alongside U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid ​Services Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz.https://www.reuters.com/world/us-health-secretary-kennedy-says-cms-is-pausing-medicaid-payments-california-2026-07-21/

[Winehole23]

Noting promotes disunion quite like partisan impoundment, brute force censorship and coercive funding

White House used AI to vet "DEI" keywords in grant applications for UCal -- that's facial viewpoint discrimination as well as arbitrary and capricious administration of government

It's 100% impeachable


Federal agencies that terminated more than a thousand research grants at the University of California last year admitted that they used keywords related to diversity, gender, vaccine hesitancy and COVID-19 to screen for projects that ran afoul of the Trump administration’s priorities.


It’s an admission that lawyers for the research professors say is proof (https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.cand.450653/gov.uscourts.cand.450653.210.0_2.pdf) that the agencies illegally cancelled nearly $2 billion in grants. And that’s a major development in a lawsuit filed by UC researchers against the Trump administration to permanently get their grants back. The researchers’ legal team is now asking the judge in the case to skip a trial and formally declare that the White House repeatedly violated the constitution, including the First Amendment. A court hearing on whether that’ll happen is scheduled for Oct. 20.
https://apnews.com/article/california-research-grants-terminated-keywords-lawsuit-a0ddb01413ecb68d9668490a20be6207

[Winehole23]

three constitutional violations


By using keyword searches to review hundreds of grants and terminate them en masse rather than reviewing them individually on their merits, the Trump administration targeted research it found politically disfavorable, which is a First Amendment violation.


In terminating 283 Department of Energy grants from states where a majority voted for Harris in 2024, and leaving untouched hundreds of grants that went to “red” states, the Trump administration wrongly punished researchers for merely living in states the White House politically opposed.


And by terminating billions of dollars in grants, and never rerouting that money to other grant opportunities, the Trump administration violated the constitution by not spending money in ways Congress specifically required through laws it passed on how research funds should be used.https://bsky.app/profile/ubiquity75.xyz/post/3mr77i7m4ss2l

[Winehole23]

counterpoint: fuck whatever government thinks private broadcasting companies should put on-air


https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:z6rujpf4u56jfie7aqic2nfg/bafkreibczrgsjmdnzx7ubkttffgnglwx2yoggwts62dy6yuai siimjrxty


"... when you have the president of the United States standing inside the White House delivering an important speech, I think that’s something that broadcasters should be carrying,” Carr said. variety.com/2026/tv/news... (https://variety.com/2026/tv/news/fcc-abc-trump-speech-review-station-licenses-1236818342/)

[Winehole23]

Taylor Farms pleads for special treatment after sickening hundreds with infected produce

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/18/health/taylor-farms-iceberg-lettuce-recall.html?unlocked_article_code=1.ylA.VROC.7EiNb ImWn1Rw&smid=url-share...and they got it

Trump administration seemingly rests content with pointing the finger at Taco Bell -- the party in all this who demonstrated civic bona fides by investigating public reporting, diagnosing the Cyclospora problem and getting out in front of the public health issue with a press release recalling its own affected ingredients well before the US government involved itself to muddy the waters for Taylor Farms, the vendor of the tainted produce.

https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_fullsize/plain/did:plc:7migibs2fyj2psyy6lmkul3h/bafkreiaodrogq4zpqhryo67ulytlwqnlxq76dbcfd3i5lnrya vhlsrd47e

[Winehole23]

As Parasite Spawned Chaos, Taylor Farms Slow-Walked Responsehttps://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-07-21/as-parasite-spawned-chaos-taylor-farms-slow-walked-its-response

[Winehole23]

imagine Obama stealing money from red states and saying some shit like this


“These grants are being terminated because they do not reflect agency priorities,” a spokesman for the Department of Health and Human Services said.

[Winehole23]

admission in open court that CA grant cancellations were 100% politically motivated

maybe the government preferred to stipulate political animus rather than go through discovery about it


https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_fullsize/plain/did:plc:a23wa52b3acjeswnv357suj5/bafkreidkakofidqto4nysu6kajyp6wgjgsd7aerzi5pm76fry jfyd3gbsehttps://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/24/business/trump-state-grants-canceled.html

https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.txsd.2041312/gov.uscourts.txsd.2041312.25.0.pdf

[Winehole23]

the evident politicization and corruption of the DOJ is beginning to draw some tart judicial rulings


https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:6ubw622ecoiwoihngsxrsx6n/bafkreif5gypcx7plvgx6ky677hopvt3ug5ajroff542crasbw tljawlvz4

[Winehole23]

background (https://bsky.app/profile/inafutureage.bsky.social/post/3mrg3xx2cvs2f):


The long-standing quasi-consent decree case about the Portland Police Bureau's pattern of excessive force against people with mental illness. DOJ tried using it as a wedge to get backdoor discovery about the City's ICE facility response and to punch at perceived Antifa boogeymen.https://www.oregonlive.com/crime/2026/01/judge-to-hear-portlands-challenge-to-justice-departments-demand-for-protest-footage.html

[Winehole23]

DOJ Civil Rights Chief Dhillon threatened to bury PPB with litigation and asked that Judge Immergut be impeached for ruling adversely


https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:24vva42nxim6zbcmnozegoef/bafkreihxoc4zchnyzya4kh5blerk3wmxzhp6e5n7qwmapgjm2 pvlncbb6m


https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:24vva42nxim6zbcmnozegoef/bafkreidcx5b6gvlbmojhnmxvpaebtt57qu5fda3de4io4ekua 2ydcni5by

[Winehole23]

Judge Immergut's deep background:


Immergut briefly stepped into the national spotlight in 1998 when she worked as associate independent counsel for Kenneth Starr during the investigation that led to the impeachment of President Bill Clinton.

She was one of two lawyers who personally interviewed Monica Lewinsky about her relationship with the president.

Critics accused the team of asking invasive questions, but Immergut later defended her approach. She said she needed "very detailed information about those [sexual] contacts because the perjury allegation was dependent on the details of the President's testimony."https://www.timesnownews.com/world/us/us-news/who-is-judge-karin-immergut-us-president-donald-trump-oregon-national-guard-article-152953556

[Winehole23]

The lawful response to losing a case is to appeal it. Threatening impeachment was a political choice by Dhillon unrelated to the merits. It was a threat.

Particularly because DOJ elected to dismiss its appeal from Judge Immergut's order after it became clear they were going to lose on appeal. Bad faith indeed.

[Winehole23]

official oppression is the current status quo, maybe if DOJ leaders could keep their mouths shut they'd be better at it


For our non-lawgeek friends, the clean hands doctrine is the idea that parties asking the courts for equitable relief must "come with clean hands."

In short, you can't ask the court for equity if you have behaved inequitably.

[Winehole23]

https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_fullsize/plain/did:plc:36eqtmzysqf7wsslczw4uxcd/bafkreifmp6fhpbmfiihnct72qu4wk4f6aovvqlbyjzwlct7bm b7teynwcm

[Winehole23]

radical and extreme constitutional rot



https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_fullsize/plain/did:plc:l75esfhx2yv7bwuspplasjh3/bafkreibxyynu54hcr7whefbkdqkzzfos7ljstl43efbwicfsn lbip4xysm

[Winehole23]

Trump is promoting disunion


In little-noticed court documents (https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.cand.450653/gov.uscourts.cand.450653.211.6.pdf), federal officials acknowledged this month that they had terminated the funding “based solely” on political criteria, targeting projects in states that were represented by Democrats and had voted for Kamala Harris, the party’s presidential nominee, in the 2024 election.


The admission showed how President Trump has weaponized the provision (https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/04/us/politics/trump-shutdown-punish-foes.html) of federal education, energy, health, housing and infrastructure aid in his second term. Far from rooting out the sort of misspending that Mr. Trump sees as rife in Washington, the White House has instead sought to leverage the budget as a tool to assist its allies — or as a cudgel to hurt the president’s foes.


The saga illustrates the stakes as the Trump administration is completing a set of rules (https://www.nytimes.com/2026/06/02/us/politics/trump-budget-grants-omb-vought.html) that would provide the president even greater control over more than $1 trillion in annual federal grants. To critics, the new regulation would only make it easier for Mr. Trump to strike wider tranches of congressionally approved funding over political differences.

[Winehole23]

Arbitrary and capricious


President Donald Trump overruled his own agencies when he denied disaster aid for four Democratic-led states this month.

Emails between state and federal officials obtained by POLITICO along with more than 150 pages of documents submitted to FEMA by three states — New Jersey, Massachusetts and Rhode Island — provide new details about Trump’s low rate of approving disaster aid for his political adversaries. He also denied a request by New York after administration officials verified that it had met federal standards for approval, according to state officials.

Trump’s rejections came after regional offices of the Federal Emergency Management Agency and NOAA determined that the states met government thresholds for receiving aid following a record-breaking snowstorm in February.https://www.eenews.net/articles/fema-said-yes-to-democratic-disaster-requests-trump-killed-them-anyway/

[Winehole23]

abuse of power, illegal surveillance, corruption of justice


On the night of May 15, 2025, agents at the U.S. Secret Service faced what some considered an improper and possibly illegal request from higher-ups in the administration: secretly access former FBI Director James Comey’s phone so they could monitor his movements.


President Donald Trump and his top aides were riled up the Thursday night that Comey (https://www.ms.now/news/comey-asks-dismiss-seashell-case-trump-surveillance)had posted on social media a picture of seashells on a beach, which had been arranged to spell out the words “86 47 (https://www.ms.now/news/news-analysis/86-47-trump-opposition-rallying-cry)”, according to two people briefed on the incident. The slang phrase was a threat on the life of the 47th president, Trump’s close advisers claimed.


But some Secret Service agents and supervisors were deeply concerned that night and early the next day about that dubious claim — and the pressure they faced to surveil the former director, newly released internal records show. They argued the Secret Service did not have the legal authority to surreptitiously track Comey’s phone without a warrant. Law enforcement agents could invoke emergency powers, but only if they had a reasonable belief that Comey posed an imminent threat to someone’s life.


“At the time we did not believe anyone’s life was in danger and legally it was a bad idea,” a midlevel supervisor in the Washington field office wrote in an email memorializing his handling of the request. It was one of several internal records newly released Tuesday night in court filings by Comey’s attorney Patrick Fitzgerald.


But then, a top Justice Department official told them he wanted them to do it anyway, the records show.
The next day, May 16, Secret Service agents were following that directive.
https://www.ms.now/news/secret-service-james-comey-seashells-case-8647-trump

[Winehole23]

sham investigation for political purposes


Secret Service agents who questioned the former FBI director James B. Comey were told to send details of the interview to Air Force One so President Trump could review them....One government document said that 'POTUS was requesting a copy of the interview notes to use in his 6pm press conference.'"

[Winehole23]

Presidential shakedowns and bribes

‘
The Boss Wants This Money’: Inside Trump’s Unprecedented Fundraising Operation
Meredith O’Rourke, nicknamed ‘princess of darkness,’ carries out president’s desire to wring hundreds of millions from companies for his projects


Almost every night in the White House, President Trump calls his fundraiser, Meredith O’Rourke, for an update.

Trump asks O’Rourke which companies and donors have cut checks and which haven’t, and for how much. He often asks her to make much larger financial requests than she was planning—for some donors the ask is $5 million, for others it is $50 million. And the president gives her names to call, often including people who have recently met with him, according to people with knowledge of the calls.

“This is very important to the president. He’s asked me to call you and ask you for this donation,” O’Rourke has relayed on phone calls with companies, persistently following up with them. In some calls, she has referred to Trump as the boss, saying “the boss wants this money.” In turn, Trump has called her the “princess of darkness” because she is such a “killer” with donors, according to people who have heard his comments.

SoftBank donated $50 million toward Trump’s presidential library. Apple cut a check for around $25 million toward his White House ballroom project, while Microsoft gave around $10 million and Amazon chipped in around $5 million, according to people familiar with the contributions. Meta Platforms recently gave $10 million to a Trump-aligned political committee, people familiar said, on top of a multimillion donation to the ballroom and a prior $22 million payment to the planned presidential library.https://www.wsj.com/politics/policy/trump-donations-company-fundraising-1e34a78f?st=rKxd2A&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink

[Winehole23]

principals for the companies should go to prison too, for bribing Trump

[Winehole23]

using agency action as a political cudgel is normal

censorship and official oppression are SOP in Trump 2.0


ABC accused Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr of “attempted censorship” in a regulatory filing posted Thursday, saying the agency is creating a potential chilling effect across the media by helping President Donald Trump attack his perceived adversaries.


“The retaliation against ABC is a signal to every media company in the country: accommodate the Administration’s view of what news coverage should look like or pay the price,” the Disney-owned television network wrote, in its sharpest response yet to the potential loss of its eight TV broadcasting licenses (https://www.politico.com/news/2026/04/28/carr-throws-abc-licenses-into-jeopardy-in-clash-with-disney-00896133).
https://www.politico.com/news/2026/07/30/abc-accuses-fcc-of-attempted-censorship-01016992

[Winehole23]

FCC altering legislation all by itself

Commish should be impeached, tbh


Tom DeLay, the Texas Republican who was House majority leader from 2003 to 2005, said the Federal Communications Commission has no legal authority to repeal the National Television Ownership Rule. Despite DeLay’s warning, the Trump FCC appears ready to eliminate the rule at its meeting this week.


DeLay wrote an op-ed describing how he helped write the law that prohibited any single broadcast station owner from reaching more than 39 percent of all TV households in the US. DeLay said that only Congress, not the Trump FCC, can change the cap because the 39 percent limit is specified in US law and wasn’t chosen by the commission.
https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2026/08/can-trump-fcc-repeal-39-tv-ownership-cap-republican-who-wrote-cap-into-law-says-no/

[Winehole23]

there's a bunch of lawless shitbirds that need to be removed from office, tout suite

[Winehole23]

Trump using National Parks as a piggy bank for vanity projects


in America’s national parks under President Trump, the most dramatic sight might be the rapid shifting of taxpayer and donor money.
Internal park service records obtained by Scott MacFarlane Reports reveal a controversial and overwhelming re-routing of money to Trump vanity projects.
The topline dollar figures are astounding, according to multiple sources inside the US Department of Interior, who requested anonymity because they are not authorized to speak to news media.
The records show more than $323 million have been made available for upgrades and projects on the White House grounds this year.



The internal park service records show declines in the money allotted to – or projected for use at - dozens of other major U.S. parks this year. There were multi-million dollar reductions in funds for Yellowstone, Yosemite and Grand Canyon national parks, which are some of the flagship attractions of America’s National Park Service.https://macfarlanenews.substack.com/p/trump-turns-national-parks-into-piggybank

[Winehole23]

lock them up


“Secretary Burgum is running the National Park Service as a personal trust or a personal valet service of the President. He’s viewing his role as pleasing the President and he’s using funds that were appropriated and collected by the National Park Service to do that.”


About the use of tens of millions of dollars of donated funds for the White House grounds, Whitehouse said, “What are these private funders getting in return? Why is the National Park Service being thrust into chaotic reorganizations and downsizing, while huge amounts of money are flowing into the coffers of Donald Trump from his donors?”

[Winehole23]

Trump's deranged jihad against wind power is deindustrialization and rips off the US taxpayer

It also puts the USA further behind in electrification and shackles us to a retrograde technical base


The Trump administration has reached a deal with the German energy company RWE to cancel offshore wind leases and redirect funds to fossil fuel investments. This agreement is worth over $1.2 billion dollars. These funds are being drawn from the Department of the Interior which, in turn, is utilizing taxpayer dollars. Wind turbine projects will be cancelled near New York, California and Louisiana.
https://www.engadget.com/2232653/trump-administration-spends-another-1-2-billion-to-kill-offshore-wind-farm-projects/

[Winehole23]

dumb as shit losers like Trump and RFK Jr. want to dictate vaccine policy based purely on political vibes


President Donald Trump on Monday signed an executive order calling for revamped childhood vaccine recommendations (https://apnews.com/article/childhood-vaccine-schedule-trump-rfk-hhs-d04ba53d6820cc7194a4885e2418d132) that promote his long-held but discredited theory that childhood shots should be spaced out into separate medical visits.


The order advocates separating the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine (https://apnews.com/article/measles-vaccines-mmr-babies-south-carolina-outbreak-85b2ab8ec8baec808f258987b13af9dc) into three different shots administered in separate appointments, and directs the nation’s health department to improve vaccine research, according to a White House fact sheet on the order. Separate measles, mumps and rubella vaccines for children are not currently available in the United States, and vaccines are already extensively researched.


Speaking about the order at the Oval Office on Monday, Trump repeatedly suggested the number or timing of vaccines could play a role in rising rates of autism spectrum disorder, even as scientific consensus and decades of studies have firmly concluded there is no link (https://apnews.com/article/rfk-vaccines-autism-measles-obesity-food-dye-f26089856550e978d28fd25b653d8103). He also touted several changes to the childhood vaccine schedule that his health department has already attempted, but that have been blocked by a federal judge.
https://apnews.com/article/vaccine-research-autism-trump-kennedy-rfk-d10f81f221c4ae9f5b2f83dd0ee98b29

[Winehole23]

Trump's deranged jihad against wind power is deindustrialization and rips off the US taxpayer

It also puts the USA further behind in electrification and shackles us to a retrograde technical base

https://www.engadget.com/2232653/trump-administration-spends-another-1-2-billion-to-kill-offshore-wind-farm-projects/e.g.,


President Donald Trump said Friday the federal government will fund $180 million in grants for mining schools across the country as part of his administration’s goal of rebuilding the U.S. coal industry.


The grants will include $100 million from the Department of Energy spread across the 14 accredited mining schools in the U.S., while the Department of Defense will dedicate just over $80 million for three major schools of mining and metallurgy: the Colorado School of Mines, the South Dakota School of Mines and Johns Hopkins University
https://minnesotareformer.com/2026/08/10/repub/trump-announces-180m-for-mining-education-as-administration-recommits-to-coal/

[Winehole23]

coal has been in a decades long funk because coal is relatively expensive compared to other energy sources

the coal sector employs fewer people in the USA than bowling alleys

[Winehole23]

money in exchange for an official act -- US justice is for sale

https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2026/5/18/us-drops-fraud-charges-after-billionaire-adani-pledges-10bn-investmentJudge dropped some but not all charges, and smacked a US Att'y around


https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:bbp2b224lro3bfnzcqwwnkfo/bafkreicrufk5527mh24shhj5u7ohxc3rhdg2q6fphchwudney ngfjucmkistorage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us... (https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.nyed.522760/gov.uscourts.nyed.522760.49.0.pdf)

[Winehole23]

Ender's Game-ass bullshit, what could go wrong?


https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:g6asx7scljsgdu3vqwtyfszj/bafkreiej42hm6kc5pllxdtdelh55imha7emtry55advdv5lmh igh5lttva

[Winehole23]

dumb as shit losers like Trump and RFK Jr. want to dictate vaccine policy based purely on political vibes

https://apnews.com/article/vaccine-research-autism-trump-kennedy-rfk-d10f81f221c4ae9f5b2f83dd0ee98b29...and undermining confidence in the most effective countermeasure during the worst measles outbreak since 1991



https://www.randalolson.com/assets/2026/05/us-measles-elimination-status-at-risk.png

[Winehole23]

asleep at another televised presser

https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:f423oluqwkacexrk4q3tuu4r/bafkreietf4dzl36if2n23ofuo5jbx6f2tjsq2jarkaz55m5ka xz7ps7cga

[Winehole23]

https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_fullsize/plain/did:plc:nyjm4ylfid2a7mjm6varxuiq/bafkreia36fzbqc7rwnmw5uyciqg3rjz324lbqapghjkltf6km w4q54t2wm

[Winehole23]

stupid assholes don't know how vaccines work


https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_fullsize/plain/did:plc:svawqo4jxobyyuqmixplvcux/bafkreihdooonk5xlbrz3znddqiuhidclat4qox6p43ihps5fr xugkm2vhmhttps://www.medicaleconomics.com/view/trump-signs-executive-order-calling-for-split-mmr-one-vaccine-per-visit

[Winehole23]

SPR is near tank bottoms, Trump is running out of wiggle room

https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_fullsize/plain/did:plc:z6rujpf4u56jfie7aqic2nfg/bafkreifwyvlukky3pk65wibywcii72tw7fgqagzxwtlyysktc lvlbykdhq

[Winehole23]

objectively pro-corruption and (little doubt) covering up ongoing official crimes

deleting their own files is a nice touch


https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:hnsmxoaoxzjmz7xbuicwxpgn/bafkreie5gkgoyxvv5ex2ci5ryqyyrkccceoo4szmxiabj4gjy ncaxf2oeahttps://www.fincen.gov/system/files/2026-08/BOIFinalRuleforFR.pdf

[Winehole23]

https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:hnsmxoaoxzjmz7xbuicwxpgn/bafkreiayha4ipmbgc6l44n67x5fe3br7yacbybgcxlmsrhhza i4ybaihwi

[Winehole23]

^^^Congress overrode Trump's veto of The Corporate Transparency Act, now Trump is just ignoring it

Actions like this are what impeachment is for

[Winehole23]

Too bad Congress isn't alive to see shit like this

[Winehole23]

if your state didn't vote for him, the president is against you


https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:2rrp7amblhg3xoly5n5huiqv/bafkreiekqwpwu2sot2gpkv3xfckx4tces5c5rphyfz6ymvvtv pqbgrzku4

[Winehole23]

Trump 2.0 is manifesting waste, fraud and abuse


Starting last fall, the Department of Homeland Security spent $464 million on a no-bid contract to buy 10 used airplanes from a firm in Northern Virginia.

That was an enormous price tag, but the department said it had no time to consider other offers. The planes were needed urgently for deportation flights.

But since then, the department has barely used this new fleet — for deportations, or anything else.

Three of the aircraft are luxury business jets. Just months after acquiring them, the department sought to loan or lease two to other agencies, including one for the use of F.B.I. director Kash Patel, according to a letter to the department sent Wednesday by top Democrats on the Senate Appropriations Committee.

The other seven are older Boeing 737 passenger jets, which the government has left parked at an airport in Lake Charles, La., for months at a time. An internal government document, obtained by The New York Times, said the agency did not have the staff necessary to operate them.
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/13/us/politics/homeland-security-parked-airplanes.html?unlocked_article_code=1.5FA.7vzp._5 vLmmm6f5Xb&smid=nytcore-ios-share

[Winehole23]

the US government now provides concierge services for top regime officials


On July 12, what began as an unattended campfire grew into the Cabin Creek Fire, which spread to a few acres on a ridge in the Sawtooth Forest. While at his ranch, Boren called Forest Service officials in the Sawtooth Forestat the regional level and national operations in Washington multiple times to question why there weren’t more aircraft battling the fire, according to one Forest Service official with knowledge of the situation. This official, who like several others interviewed for this article spoke on the condition of anonymity out of fear of retaliation, said Boren asked when more assets would arrive. Two other agency officials said he called those offices, including at least once in the middle of the night.

Six current and former Forest Service officials said the response was greater than what is typical fora fire of that scale that did not pose a significant threat to life or property.

In those calls, according to the Forest Service official with knowledge of the situation, Boren pushed for more aircraft to fight the fire even though “it was easily accessible by ground,” the official said.

He “was on the phone calling people that day asking why there weren’t more resources on the fire and when there was going to be more,” the official said.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2026/08/14/top-trump-official-asked-more-resources-fight-small-fire-near-his-idaho-ranch/?utm_campaign=wp_main&utm_source=bluesky&utm_medium=social

[Winehole23]

I wonder if Trump gets kickbacks for trading on public information and official actions


A mining CEO bought 74,000 shares days before Trump shrank Bears Ears. House Democrats want answers.CEO of the White Mesa Mill purchased thousands of shares less than a week before the uranium-rich monument was shrunk by 90%.

On July 7, 2026, CEO Ross Bhappu bought 74,000 shares (https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1385849/000091228226000955/xslF345X06/form4.xml) of Energy Fuels, the largest insider purchase of stock in the company’s history, according to a news release (https://democrats-naturalresources.house.gov/media/press-releases/huffman-dexter-open-investigation-into-insider-trading-at-energy-fuels-after-trump-guts-bears-ears) issued by the House Natural Resources Committee Democrats. The trade bumped Bhappu’s ownership to 41%. Board chair Bruce Hansen acquired 4,000 shares the following day.


Less than a week later, Trump removed 1.24 million acres from Bears Ears National Monuments (https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2026/07/modifying-the-bears-ears-national-monument/)— making the land available again for mining.
https://www.sltrib.com/news/environment/2026/08/13/democrats-investigate-energy-fuels/

[Winehole23]

.

[Winehole23]

Trump extorted Colorado to compel an official action

coercive funding is a Trump hallmark

it's 100% impeachable


https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:2rrp7amblhg3xoly5n5huiqv/bafkreigben7u2v2es2qftzkko5hjjtdt5cdfv3qfsiedrdpmx e5q55p5zihttps://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/14/us/colorado-trump-tina-peters.html?unlocked_article_code=1.5lA.et-Q.8jidc-0Gq37n&smid=url-share

[Winehole23]

federal agencies provide concierge service for the Trump crime family


Trump-appointed regulator OKs banking license for Trump-linked crypto firm


The decision would give new powers and federal credibility to a venture in which the president and his family retain a substantial financial interest.

The Trump administration has granted preliminary approval for a cryptocurrency venture backed by President Donald Trump’s family to operate a federally chartered trust bank,https://www.politico.com/news/2026/08/14/trump-world-liberty-bank-charter-crypto-01038464

[Winehole23]

FDA gave Taylor Farms a month to get rid of any evidence of Cyclospora

https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:oqr5mp25r7z3vfr3igeerxbw/bafkreie6f36ybndtwhl7nu62ygaobmgppn3twvh2raxece7f5 73rmlqufe

[Winehole23]

Trump's attempts to circumvent Senate advice and consent keep hitting judicial roadblocks -- it's illegal

https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:vrmx2e5gsi23srsy2n7vljvb/bafkreif2aokumg3wn32qety4axj3yrktrgwcnfrb33ekx5ubi gy4rlnedy


Ninth Circuit upholds disqualification of US Atty Sigal Chattah (D. Nev.) Rejects AG Bondi's maneuvers to avoid Senate confirmation requirement. www.documentcloud.org/documents/28...

[Winehole23]

FCC sued by Disney and ABC for viewpoint discrimination


Disney and ABC allege the FCC is violating the First Amendment "by launching pretextual regulatory investigations and threatening the Stations' valuable broadcast licenses through early license renewal proceedings—all to punish Plaintiffs for content and viewpoints the Administration dislikes."https://www.reuters.com/world/disney-abc-sue-us-regulator-over-threats-broadcast-licenses-2026-08-18/

[Winehole23]

https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:353gzbhcjbznfxegvayffqek/bafkreiefsttqqh4f4jqs3iqc2tygbhhav4aw7pwgpr4dn4qvi tkyxwxt4i

[Winehole23]

official actions that steer money into Trump's pocket, as one does now


The GENIUS Act requires stablecoin issuers to get a federal or state license by January 18, 2027. Treasury's notice went out August 17, 2026, opening 60 days of public comment on how that licensing actually works: home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/sb0605 (https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/sb0605)

[Winehole23]

also -- through yet more Trump-friendly federal rulemaking -- WLF is about to become a chartered bank


World Liberty Financial issues a stablecoin called USD1. It's run by Trump family members and allies, including Donald Trump Jr, Eric Trump, and Barron Trump. The same administration writing the rulebook for stablecoins owns one of the companies the rulebook covers.

[Winehole23]

bullshit civil rights investigations as a fig leaf for institutional extortion


The Trump administration’s findings that three Ivy League schools violated civil rights law by tolerating antisemitism were predetermined by political priorities that blew past the evidence and cast aside standard investigative procedures, according to a whistleblower account provided to Congress.

The disclosure, by Haley Van Erem, a veteran Justice Department civil rights attorney, involves investigations into whether Harvard, Brown and Columbia universities broke the law by allowing antisemitism to flourish on their campuses.

The whistleblower account (https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28562760-title-vi-whistleblower-disclosure-for-congress/) comes just days after a federal judge dismissed a Justice Department lawsuit against Harvard that was based on the investigation, which was conducted by the Department of Health and Human Services and lawyers detailed from the DOJ.

Both Brown (https://www.brown.edu/news/2025-07-30/brown-united-states-resolution-agreement) and Columbia (https://www.columbia.edu/content/federal-resolution-agreement) reached settlements, with Columbia agreeing to pay $200 million over three years and Brown agreeing to spend $50 million on Rhode Island workforce development, with no admission of wrongdoing.

Harvard fought and won.

U.S. District Judge Richard Stearns ruled in that case (https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/13/us/harvard-antisemitism-case-dismissed.html) that the Trump administration’s allegations relied on incidents that occurred more than a full academic year before it filed its lawsuit — incidents he said were “too isolated and episodic to support a plausible inference” that Harvard was violating Title VI of the Civil Rights Act.

Van Erem’s whistleblower account, reviewed by MS NOW, says the findings “overrode knowing deviation from investigative procedures, statutory noncompliance, and potential constitutional violations.”

“Hundreds of millions of dollars were suspended from these universities prior to the completion of Title VI investigations and the investigative team’s conclusions were frequently disregarded,” the complaint says.

In a letter to Harmeet Dhillon (https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28562761-raskin-to-dhillon/), head of the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division, the ranking Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee said the whistleblower findings exposed a “large scale fraud.”

“Antisemitism at American universities and medical schools is real,” Rep. Jamie Raskin wrote.

“But your ‘investigation’ into antisemitism was fake, a pre-baked frame-up operation thoroughly political in nature. Before an actual investigation took place and regardless of what you actually found, the whole project was designed to harass professors and administrators at major universities, to curtail their freedom of speech and academic freedom, and to strip targeted institutions of hundreds of millions of dollars in grants that they had already been awarded on the merits of their applications.”

A Department of Justice spokesperson told MS NOW, “While at the DOJ, Ms. Haley Van Erem did not work on university investigations. And for all matters, the Department stands behind the integrity of these investigations.”

The whistleblower complaint says the investigation was launched based on a single article in the New York Post (https://nypost.com/2025/01/27/us-news/us-medical-schools-plagued-by-antisemitism-pro-terror-antics-at-graduations-study/) that described antisemitic activities at medical school graduations.
https://www.ms.now/news/frame-up-whistleblower-says-probes-into-antisemitism-at-colleges-were-ploys-to-harass-and-strip-millions

[Winehole23]

https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:ozma3timm5c32fa7bimb4zaj/bafkreic2lpqddrl64lc3cnf2z2aruw5fio56bcwblrfvbtvfi 27n6ufvzm

[Winehole23]

bullshit pretexts and coercive funding

Trump 2.0 is mostly corruption, extortion and oppressive government

[Winehole23]

this is official stupidity

immigrants make the USA richer and safer, according to 40 years of state and US data


Your food or your family. That's the choice facing immigrants now under the new "public charge" rule that will deny green cards to those deemed a burden to America, in a manner that makes it easier to deny all green cards. Patrick Dimasin reports.prospect.org/2026/08/18/t... (https://prospect.org/2026/08/18/trump-immigrants-green-card-public-benefits/)

[Winehole23]

The study below compiled public records from the last 40 years for its analysis


Highlights:

Illegal immigrants pay more in taxes than they receive in benefits, every single year;

Illegal immigrants are more likely to be working than US natives;

Illegal immigrants consume fewer government services than US natives;

Illegal immigrants cost less per capita than the US average;

Illegal immigrants are much more likely to be in poverty but not more likely to be receiving welfare;

Illegal immigrants are less likely to commit or be incarcerated for crimes than US natives

https://www.cato.org/white-paper/imm...gets-1994-2023 (https://www.cato.org/white-paper/immigrants-recent-effects-government-budgets-1994-2023)

[Winehole23]

MAGA is wrong on the vibes and the facts

[Winehole23]

Face it, y'all been demagogued by Republicans for 30 years

[Winehole23]

court losses keep piling up because what Trump is doing -- stealing and repurposing congressional appropriations -- is illegal

https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_fullsize/plain/did:plc:wbqdteupqk66bh5lxyex4y6n/bafkreicyglvgbagkfneigtl6y5xrain4eqcfrs57uz5jswlb2 wlbyar5ou
https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_fullsize/plain/did:plc:wbqdteupqk66bh5lxyex4y6n/bafkreigx3qldog6fycp2oljrklkx7xonhlk74cqxetsunkz4s u6ehkkgga

[Winehole23]

Trump administration is pro-scam


Citadel Securities, the market-making firm founded by billionaire Ken Griffin, on Monday urged the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to reconsider a proposal to scrap a longstanding Wall Street ​regulation requiring the execution of stock trades at the best available price.



The firm #said the SEC's proposal, which has become one of the biggest U.S. market structure issues in years because the rule sits at the center of how stocks are traded, could divert trading from public exchanges, ​harm retail investors and reduce market liquidity.

https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/citadel-securities-urges-sec-reconsider-proposal-scrap-key-stock-trading-rule-2026-08-18/

[Winehole23]

censorship and official oppression are Trump hallmarks


https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_fullsize/plain/did:plc:ddc4e2e5gie5qzys5dnr36s3/bafkreibuwlgwidumul453mfazufnvvsolbfo54rwsr5p6vkah mkf7m7tuihttps://techfreedom.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/ABC-v.-FCC-Mark-Fowler-Declaration.pdf

[Winehole23]

another lawless policy struck down

100% impeachable


A federal judge in New York has vacated a Trump administration policy that suspended the processing of visas from 75 countries (https://apnews.com/article/trump-immigration-visas-79909bd01e9e1e3dedde144f865a1b9d), including Afghanistan, Iran, Russia and Somalia, whose nationals the Trump administration deemed likely to require public assistance in the United States.


U.S. District Judge Jeannette Vargas, an appointee of former President Joe Biden, set aside the policy Friday as “contrary to law and in excess of statutory authority.”


Secretary of State Marco Rubio exceeded his authority by issuing the policy, which “runs afoul” of the Immigration and Nationality Act by mandating “the refusal of visas to eligible applicants without any basis in law,” the judge ruled.
https://apnews.com/article/trump-administration-visa-ban-immigration-64feb19b54d1bce50891437a5ba25d50

[Winehole23]

attempted evasions of Senate confirmation for AUSAs continue to lose in federal court

Trump's contempt for law as expressed by repeated lawbreaking is 100% impeachable


A federal appeals court on Friday said the top federal prosecutor in the Northern District of New York was unlawfully serving in his role when he subpoenaed (https://www.cbsnews.com/news/justice-department-subpoenas-letitia-james-trump-civil-rights/) New York Attorney General Letitia James as part of two investigations into her last year.


A Justice Department spokesperson quickly said the Trump administration intends to appeal the ruling directly to the Supreme Court, setting up a showdown over the Trump administration's repeated attempts across the country to make an end-run around federal law to keep their choice of prosecutors in office without Senate confirmation.


In a 2-1 decision (https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.ca2.b5d18709-d989-455f-8336-44a93564644c/gov.uscourts.ca2.b5d18709-d989-455f-8336-44a93564644c.96.1.pdf), the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit ruled against John Sarcone, who has been leading the U.S. Attorney's Office in Albany for more than a year.


The two judges in the majority said Sarcone's appointment in 2025 did not conform with a federal law known as the Federal Vacancies Reform Act, meaning he was not lawfully serving as the acting U.S. attorney when he secured the subpoenas targeting James.


"Text, structure, and history all point the same way," Judge Guido Calabresi wrote. "We hold that only the First Assistant in place when a vacancy arises may become the acting officer under [the Vacancies Act]. Sarcone was not." https://www.cbsnews.com/news/appeals-court-john-sarcone-letitia-james-federal-prosecutor/

[Winehole23]

bad faith negotiation

Trump keeps losing in court


The Trump administration’s losses keep piling up in grievance cases over its return to office and telework policies for union employees.

The latest loss came earlier this week when an arbitrator ruled (https://federalnewsnetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/usda-arbitrator-decsion-aug-2026.pdf) that the Agriculture Department violated its collective bargaining agreement and committed unfair labor practices when it ended its telework and mandated that union-represented workers at the Rural Development Agency return to the office without negotiating the terms first.


Margaret Donaghy, the arbitrator in this case, found USDA “committed unfair labor practices (ULPs) when it engaged in bad faith bargaining and implemented a rule that conflicted with the existing agreement. The nature and scope of the agency’s breaches amounted to a repudiation of the agreement.”


The agency changed the remote work and telework agreements for 135 employees, 46 of whom required remote work as a condition of employment.


Donaghy’s ruling on Aug. 19 is at least the 12th grievance that the Trump administration has lost over the last year. Suzanne Summerlin, attorney for the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, which represented the RDA workers, said different arbitrators have ruled in favor of workers in grievances at the IRS (https://federalnewsnetwork.com/workforce/2026/07/irs-return-to-office-orders-violated-union-agreement-arbitrator-rules/), the departments of Health and Human Services (https://federalnewsnetwork.com/workforce-rightsgovernance/2026/07/hhs-violated-5000-probationary-employees-rights-with-2025-terminations/) and Housing and Urban Development (https://federalnewsnetwork.com/workforce/2026/02/arbitrator-orders-hud-to-restore-telework-for-thousands-of-federal-employees/), the Social Security Administration (https://federalnewsnetwork.com/unions/2026/04/ssa-appeals-arbitrators-order-to-restore-telework-for-its-employees/), the Environmental Protection Agency (https://federalnewsnetwork.com/unions/2025/12/despite-epa-violation-of-union-contract-ruling-cant-be-enforced/) and the Forest Service (https://federalnewsnetwork.com/workforce/2026/07/arbitrator-orders-forest-service-to-roll-back-return-to-office-requirements/).
https://marylandmatters.org/2026/08/22/losses-keep-piling-up-for-white-house-over-handling-of-return-to-office-mandate/

[Winehole23]

kickbacks


"GEO donated $1 million to Trump's PAC on July 16, three days after the company announced it had signed an $85m contract with ICE.

"On July 29, GEO announced it had received another $80m ICE contract; two days later, GEO gave Trump's PAC an additional $413,000..."https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/21/us/politics/geo-group-maga-inc-donations-ice-contracts.html

[Winehole23]

more impoundment

Rs starting to get pissed too


Congress funded the CDC's Alzheimer's work, the sickle cell and epilepsy data programs and a rape prevention unit, and Vought simply will not release the money. Grassley told him to his face he lacks the authority. The pocket rescission alone took 4.9 billion.https://www.alternet.org/russell-vought-2677770299/

[Winehole23]

"Congress has appropriated money, and you don’t have the authority to impound it,” Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) said in a Senate Budget Committee hearing (https://www.politico.com/live-updates/2026/04/16/congress/vought-slammed-on-impoundment-00877112) with Vought.


Rep. Mark Amodei (R-Nev.), who is also a senior Republican on appropriations, told Politico (https://www.politico.com/news/2026/08/21/in-year-2-of-trumps-funding-grab-congress-fights-back-01045146), “Pocket rescissions would be a very interesting way to curry favor with the legislative branch — especially the one part of the legislative branch which has delivered on all of the administration’s s——."

[Winehole23]

definitional weaponization


A whistleblower complaint (https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28562760-title-vi-whistleblower-disclosure-for-congress/) released by the Government Accountability Project sheds new light on this aspect of the Justice Department’s transformation into a glorified pro-Trump law firm (https://ballsandstrikes.org/law-politics/trump-justice-department-pro-trump-law-firm-blanche-bove/). In the complaint, a career government lawyer named Haley Van Erem describes how she was pulled off her cases and (involuntarily) detailed to the White House’s “Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism,” a blunt instrument for bullying Ivy League universities that have not cracked down on Woke as much as Donald Trump, personally, would prefer. Once reassigned, Van Erem says that she and her team were pressured to conduct investigations with “little to no factual predicate justifying opening them”; forced to work on “compressed timelines” that made it impossible to “ensure that findings were justified and accurate”; and “admonished” when they had the gall to ask questions about the legitimacy of the enterprise.


In light of the “extraordinary procedural irregularities” they encountered and the “disregard” for the requirements of federal law they witnessed, Van Erem and company eventually drew the only reasonable conclusion: that “certain enforcement outcomes had been determined before the relevant evidence was collected and evaluated.” In other words, political appointees at the Justice Department decided who to punish, and tasked non-political appointees like Van Erem with cobbling together legal justifications for it.
https://ballsandstrikes.substack.com/p/career-doj-lawyers-cannot-believe

[Winehole23]

In her complaint, Van Erem says that at first, she tried her best to do what she thought her job was, and assumed the Justice Department wouldn’t bring down the hammer unless it could substantiate the allegations. Quickly, she found out how wrong this assumption was: After the team failed to unearth legal violations related to the medical schools, Justice Department leadership simply expanded the scope of the investigations to encompass entire universities, with a special focus on—prepare to be shocked—Muslim faculty members and professors in Middle East Studies departments. Their goal was to coerce skittish school administrators to cave; essentially, Van Erem says, she was instructed to “work backward from desired settlement terms,” and to “generate proposed findings” to support those terms.

[Winehole23]

Trump's mystery meat remains mysterious


The most senior government official in charge of U.S. agriculture policy said Tuesday she has no idea where President Donald Trump plans to get 300,000 metric tons of beef.
In a bid to lower grocery prices, Trump announced last week (https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/117133120342300539) the government would allow “up to 300,000 metric tons of product for ground beef to be imported with no out of quota tariff,” with the beef sold to consumers at a 25% discount.

“There’s a lot of ground beef that’s sitting in other countries that would potentially help serve Americans, especially lower income Americans,” U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins told Spectrum News (https://x.com/TaylorPopielarz/status/2092294683967758435) on Monday.

Reporter Taylor Popielarz asked what countries the beef is coming from.

“I am actually not part of any of those conversations, so I am not sure what what that looks like. I think we’ll know very soon,” Rollins said, deferring to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative.

Trump’s mystery meat announcement has prompted wild speculation that the U.S. will accept low-quality meat in a desperate bid to lower beef prices ahead of the midterm elections. It’s also prompted pushback from Republicans in beef-producing states.
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/live-updates_n_6a8c103ae4b0a833ba431916/liveblog_6a8df8d8e4b0bc51108c5ed6

[Winehole23]

Trump's attempts to trample the law and steal Congressional power keep getting slapped down in federal court

Expect it to happen more as Trump gets weaker and more unpopular


A federal judge in New York has vacated a Trump administration policy that suspended the processing of visas from 75 countries (https://apnews.com/article/trump-immigration-visas-79909bd01e9e1e3dedde144f865a1b9d), including Afghanistan, Iran, Russia and Somalia, whose nationals the Trump administration deemed likely to require public assistance in the United States.

U.S. District Judge Jeannette Vargas, an appointee of former President Joe Biden, set aside the policy Friday as “contrary to law and in excess of statutory authority.”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio exceeded his authority by issuing the policy, which “runs afoul” of the Immigration and Nationality Act by mandating “the refusal of visas to eligible applicants without any basis in law,” the judge ruled.

Vargas said the policy also undermines the congressional requirement that puts consular officers at the forefront of any visa decision.

“Congress imbued these officers with exclusive authority and discretion to determine if an immigrant is eligible for a visa based upon review of specific and detailed criteria set forth in the statute,” she wrote. “The Policy, which categorically prohibits the issuance of immigrant visas based upon the nationality of the applicant, represents a direct abrogation of this statutory scheme.”

https://www.kxii.com/2026/08/22/judge-strikes-down-trump-administrations-75-country-immigrant-visa-ban/

[Winehole23]

WSJ op-ed page


In a Thursday op-ed (https://www.wsj.com/opinion/donald-trump-lisa-cook-federal-reserve-supreme-court-856ceaf5?mod=opinion_lead_pos4), the conservative-leaning board chimed in on Trump's attempts to remove Cook from the Federal Reserve. Trump tried to summarily fire her last year after accusing her of mortgage fraud, but the Supreme Court (https://www.rawstory.com/trump-retreats-lisa-cook-appeal/) overturned the move in June. The White House (https://www.rawstory.com/tag/white-house) sent a letter to Cook on August 5 that let her know that Trump "is considering removing you," and The Journal sounded exhausted by the ongoing feud.


"Are we really doing this again?" The Journal's op-ed opened. "It's no secret that these claims about Ms. Cook's mortgage are a pretext, dug up by MAGA chihuahua Bill Pulte.
https://www.rawstory.com/lisa-cook-trump-2677788608/

[Winehole23]

selling off a part of Yosemite so politically-connected developers can have private access


Since the spring of 2025, the Trump administration has been looking into ways it could cede a roughly quarter-mile strip of land inside Yosemite to a company that, through a web of limited-liability companies, is operated by real-estate developer and investment firm Kingsbarn Realty Capital. Officials are proposing the Park Service give up the land or “interest” in the land in the form of an easement, and in return receive land of equal value somewhere in California that has yet to be decided.


The private developers own an 83-acre plot of land just outside the western boundaries of Yosemite, about five miles from one of the park’s defining ancient sequoia groves. Jeff Pori, the CEO of Kingsbarn, wants to build a short road connecting the property to one of Yosemite’s central thoroughfares. The new road would give the land exceptionally rare private access to a park that is otherwise almost entirely buffered by national forests.
https://www.notus.org/agencies/trump-administration-yosemite-private-developer-deal

[Winehole23]

Trump treating national parks as personally exploitable resources is fairly radical and extreme, tbh


The planning process has created a tense environment inside the National Park Service for the people involved; Kingsbarn’s proposal is backed by the full weight of the Interior Department’s top political leadership, sources said.

“They want us to be responsive to the property owner and their lobbyists or people, and they want us to work with these folks,” said one person familiar with the conversations.

“The political pressure being brought to bear is very unusual,” said another person familiar with the conversations and the park’s history.

[CosmicCowboy]

Blondie should suggest he rename the San Andreas fault after himself.

[CosmicCowboy]

And he could rename Canadian Geese as Donald Ducks.

[Winehole23]

sure, why not

[Winehole23]

And he could rename Canadian Geese as Donald Ducks.you called it


https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:3bqvbzpwgi5mqeqs6qlym26j/bafkreies5wi2hqcu7khaxjbmfggovpyzayecnth7mmjumzg5q bxy47rqr4

[Winehole23]

Trump administration, embarrassed by measles deaths, fudges the numbers


Erica Schwartz, the new CDC director, ordered agency officials to challenge two measles deaths reported by PA, shunning the agency’s normal procedure of accepting state data and amplifying comments made by her boss, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.www.nytimes.com/2026/08/31/h... (https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/31/health/measles-deaths-pennsylvania-schwartz-kennedy-shapiro.html?unlocked_article_code=1.9lA.Vb8q.5UXo-EKbn56Z&smid=nytcore-ios-share)

[Winehole23]

Rift between state health officials and federal ones

Is that good for public health?

OXa5PL7zxyQ

[Winehole23]

political interference with science is now halal


https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:2vtbmhmrwzbqcfv4we4uxzzt/bafkreic6diluiax7e5iub7y3spelo66nckqnkqm2kfmkhpzb6 jprnsvclqhttps://www.npr.org/2026/08/31/nx-s1-5948057/department-commerce-census-bureau-scientific-integrity

[Winehole23]

The responsibilities of [the Dept of Commerce's] major operating units include weather forecasting, climate monitoring, and fisheries management (NOAA (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NOAA)); promoting U.S. exports and attracting foreign direct investment (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign_direct_investment) (International Trade Administration (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Trade_Administration)); producing the decennial census and other vital and economic statistics (Bureau of the Census (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bureau_of_the_Census)); regulating the export of sensitive technologies (Bureau of Industry and Security (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bureau_of_Industry_and_Security)); registering patents, trademarks, and copyrights (U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._Patent_and_Trademark_Office)); managing and preserving the United States customary system of weights and measures (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_customary_units) (National Institute of Standards and Technology (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Institute_of_Standards_and_Technology)); maintaining the national interoperable broadband emergency network (FirstNet Authority (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FirstNet_Authority)); and coordinating economic recovery following a major disaster (Economic Development Administration (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economic_Development_Administration)).[1] (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Department_of_Commerce#cite_note-comgov-1)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Department_of_Commerce

[Winehole23]

The Department of Commerce’s mission is to create the conditions for economic growth and opportunity for all communities.

[Winehole23]

MAGA politicizes everything


This change grants Commerce political appointees veto power over data and research releases by scientists and statisticians at NOAA, NIST, Census, and BEA.

[Winehole23]

disaster relief as political patronage


https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:4usmserhjqkvhldgedfjb3jw/bafkreicescbyxmcsfwrls7k6u5dx2gddpqd6kiz4wc4nsjl7n 2drm6fjje


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[Winehole23]

Trump wants to level the playing field for big businesses trying to get loans and government contracts through the Small Business Administration


The Small Business Administration is seeking to vastly expand the definition of small businesses, aiming to give much larger companies access to government contracts, loans and other assistance.

The proposal (https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2026/08/20/2026-17042/small-business-size-standards), which the Trump administration says would allow businesses to continue to benefit from the agency’s programs as they grow, amounts to a sweeping overhaul of standards that have changed little in decades.

Many business owners support some increase in the limits on revenue and employees that determine what qualifies as a small business. But the scale of the proposed increase would also place small businesses in direct competition with significantly larger rivals for contracts and loans, raising alarms that the agency could hamstring the very businesses it was created to help.

ttps://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/26/business/economy/trump-small-business-administration.html?unlocked_article_code=1.-VA.7pvF.HzPSwk_SAgAW&smid=url-share

[Winehole23]

military prosecutors, civilian defendants


The Trump administration has sent dozens of military lawyers to prosecute civilians in three major American cities in the past year, as part of a streak of overwhelming federal law enforcement crackdowns across the country.


The decision to detail those members of the Judge Advocate General’s Corps (JAGs), who ordinarily advise military officials on the legality of orders and defend or prosecute service members in courts-martial, has little precedent in American history and has caused former JAGs and civil liberties advocates to worry about the blurring of traditional boundaries between everyday law enforcement and the military. Democratic lawmakers tried (https://www.defenseone.com/policy/2026/06/gop-lawmakers-axe-provision-limit-use-jags-civilian-roles/413992/) to limit the use of JAGs in this summer’s negotiations over the must-pass defense appropriations bill, arguing they were distracting from “critical military work,” but saw those provisions axed by the GOP.
https://prospect.org/2026/09/04/military-lawyers-prosecuting-civilian-crimes-across-the-country/

[Winehole23]

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Tennessee, which covers Memphis and has housed (https://www.justice.gov/usao-wdtn/pr/department-war-assigns-20-military-lawyers-serve-special-assistant-us-attorneys) at least 20 detailed JAGs, did not respond to questions about how the office is ensuring the separation of military and civilian affairs, and about the necessity or wisdom of calling up military lawyers to prosecute street crime.

[Winehole23]

Judge finds Trump's anti-weaponization fund and IRS lawsuit were brought for improper purposes, calls out DOJ lawyer and Trump for operating in bad faith

There's a paywalled Bloomberg article today that says Judge Williams has ordered DOJ to give the names of the people involved in creating the anti-weaponization fund, but I haven't seen anything else on that yet.


A federal judge on Monday imposed professional penalties against lawyers representing President Trump in a civil lawsuit he brought against the IRS and harshly criticized the Justice Department for its handling of the case, concluding that the suit was brought for an "improper purpose."


In a scathing 56-page decision (https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.flsd.706172/gov.uscourts.flsd.706172.106.0.pdf), U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams referred one of Mr. Trump's lawyers, Alejandro Brito, to the Florida Bar for potential disciplinary action. The judge limited the ability of a second lawyer, Daniel Epstein, to practice in the Southern District of Florida.


Williams also barred the Justice Department, IRS and Mr. Trump from citing or using provisions of a deal the two sides reached in judicial, administrative, regulatory or other proceedings as evidence of a settlement in the case.


The case, Williams wrote, "was brought for an improper purpose — to gain the imprimatur of judicial legitimacy for a 'settlement' that had no viable basis in law or fact." Additionally, the president and his two older sons, who were plaintiffs alongside Mr. Trump, "acted in bad faith," she concluded.


"In sum, the facts before this Court demonstrate there was never adverseness between the Parties; there was never a case or controversy; and there was never a question as to who would prevail," she said.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/judge-trump-justice-department-irs-lawsuit-anti-weaponization-fund-settlement/

[Winehole23]

the federal government quibbling with state mortality determinations is a novelty and undermines the credibility of public health institutions generally

for some reason the feds want to minimize the worst outbreak of measles in the US in 30 years rather than fight it


Escalating a political fight over two deaths in Pennsylvania, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Friday (https://www.cdc.gov/measles/data-research/index.html) that it did not have any records to indicate “measles is the underlying cause” of any deaths in the country this year.https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/04/us/politics/cdc-measles-deaths.html?unlocked_article_code=1.-lA.qc2l.F1Gs_Nq4cDZ6&smid=url-share

[Winehole23]

secret transfer of appropriated funds



https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:xtytenkhytpek3zszl3rh44t/bafkreibet4oq56led2lieouhokhmygq57vbxfkyoz6cobsxnv rtyhg66a4

[Winehole23]

The US National Institutes of Health (https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-026-02584-4) (NIH) is seeking to redirect research projects worth hundreds of millions of dollars from its infectious-diseases institute to military biodefence programmes at the US Department of Defense (DOD), according to two NIH employees.


They confirmed to Nature that the NIH and the DOD, also called the Department of War, have signed an agreement for the arrangement. The NIH is now identifying projects it would transfer to the DOD and aims to complete the agreement by the end of September, when the fiscal year ends and some funds expire, according to a third NIH employee who is a senior official at the agency. (The employees spoke on the condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to speak to the press.)


An NIH spokesperson says, “This partnership will only take place on a project-by-project basis, and all research will be within the scope of NIH’s mission. There is no blanket transfer of funds”.
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-026-02799-5

[Winehole23]

secret immigration courts


Immigrants are being told last minute about new in-person hearings at previously undisclosed courtroom locations (https://www.npr.org/2025/08/25/nx-s1-5503595/immigration-court-new-york).

That's according to five immigration attorneys who reviewed notices or observed the hearings and spoke to NPR about them.

The last-minute notifications appear to be another tactic in a broader strategy from the Trump administration to short-circuit immigrants' already limited due process options to speed up arrests and deportations.

NPR has learned that over the past few weeks, immigrants who were scheduled to appear in coming months for hearings out of the Hyattsville and Baltimore immigration courts in Maryland and the Sterling court in Virginia have instead been rescheduled to two other buildings: one in Washington, D.C., and another in Falls Church, Va. Neither of these buildings currently has an immigration court that's set up for in-person hearings. The D.C. location has no listed affiliation with the Justice Department. Instead, the building is listed as being occupied by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, according to one source familiar with the project who was not authorized to speak publicly.https://www.npr.org/2026/09/04/g-s1-142042/immigration-court-hidden-tribunals

[Winehole23]

moar sekrit media influencers on the government payroll




https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:nyjm4ylfid2a7mjm6varxuiq/bafkreib2jodhqxqj2enhtnvbsqjsofbxvrlbg22fqgl4ukxw3 yp4cbwkka

[Winehole23]

DC Circuit panel blocks IRS from sharing taxpayer information with ICE


https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:36eqtmzysqf7wsslczw4uxcd/bafkreie4wtmopg7wn3kts4uh3pxlhxx2wxzervjyacjlidiqo kk2mwomm4https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.cadc.42769/gov.uscourts.cadc.42769.2191763.0.pdf

[Winehole23]

https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:euynv325eix7glyek377orak/bafkreia3cd3rbo2dfhsinu5i7z3n53mcluftvzvgip5757t67 ekijjvdc4


https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:euynv325eix7glyek377orak/bafkreichiyrjhlkiiprbvc7tetuqhdb7ngqvehgfjfr3vgu7t offrob5um

[Winehole23]

Jimmy Kimmel takes James Talerico interview off-air after FCC threats

The FCC pulled the same shit when Talerico went on Colbert -- still millions watched and Talerico raked in $2.5 million


“You know, for a lot of years, for the whole 20-plus years of our show, in fact, I’ve been interviewing Americans who are running for office with no problem at all, just like Letterman did, Leno did, Arsenio, etc. etc., I’ve interviewed a lot of political candidates. From Hilary Clinton to Ted Cruz to Donald Trump,” Kimmel said. “I interviewed Donald Trump when he was running for president in 2015, and at that time, when he was the one sitting next to me, he seemed to have no problem with the idea of talk show hosts interviewing candidates. In fact, he was very eager to come back for another interview, which he did just before he became the nominee in 2016. But for some reason, and I can’t seem to figure out what that reason is, something has changed.”https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/jimmy-kimmel-james-talarico-interview-fcc-brendan-carr-1236696255/

[Winehole23]

coming from a guy who has been accusing Democrats in public for various crimes for 30 years -- evidence-free -- this is quite the statement

Joe Di Genova was in charge of Trump's deep-state conspiracy prosecution


https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:t4x2ruk2qmob2b2cx55h4v7r/bafkreie6d6y7njhubr35yswjjvozumrkqld73ujr3yt4wrfzd p4jinddve

[Winehole23]

blast from the past


https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:fvdxmcpuxyohkq7oyywyoiar/bafkreiejlc5ntzc6jhei4yrt7zv55fqzztr5cc2wdalfmrn5w qyxr4vlhy

[Winehole23]

Pirro and DiGenova both refusing to bring political prosecutions -- stumbling blocks for Trump's weaponization of justice

[Winehole23]

Trump's favorite question -- a political loyalty question for civil service applicants -- is temporarily blocked

Deprofessionalization and politicization of federal bureaucracy is a big theme in Trump 2.0


“Requiring federal job applicants to answer politically motivated questions goes against the very nature of the nonpartisan civil service, and we are pleased the judge has put an immediate stop to the administration’s loyalty question,” said AFGE National President Everett Kelley. “Federal employees should be hired based solely on their ability to perform the job—not their allegiance to any particular administration.”


“For more than a century, civil servants have been hired based on their merits, not based on allegiance to a partisan political agenda,” said Skye Perryman, president and CEO of Democracy Forward. “Today’s decision—stopping the Trump-Vance administration’s required loyalty question for public servants—reaffirms the importance of a nonpartisan civilian workforce that serves the American people.”
https://www.govexec.com/workforce/2026/09/judge-halts-favorite-eo-question-federal-job-applications/415952/

[Winehole23]

DOJ appeals order nullifying the corrupt settlement of Trump's collusive lawsuit against the IRS


DOJ appeals judge's order nullifying settlement in Trump v. IRS. Deal was to have set up the Anti-Weaponization Fund & still ends all existing tax claims against Trump. Acting DAG McCotter files appeal though DOJ never formally appeared in case. www.documentcloud.org/documents/28... (https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28617937-dojirsappeal091126pdf/)

[Winehole23]

Trump 2.0 is a war on the rule of law and the US constitution

Any officer who effected or enforced illegal deportations should be put in prison


Once exceedingly rare, illegal deportations have become a routine part of President Donald Trump’s mass deportation push — the most extreme consequences of the administration’s incursion on the due process rights of its deportation targets.

Since last year, judges have ruled that the Trump administration has deported more than 170 people in in violation of court orders, in defiance of legally mandated due process protections, or to countries from which they had sought or received protection from torture and persecution. Most of those came in one operation last year, (https://www.politico.com/news/2025/12/22/alien-enemies-act-james-boasberg-ruling-00704244) but POLITICO has tracked nearly 30 individual cases since then — including at least (https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.casd.864749/gov.uscourts.casd.864749.12.0.pdf) three (https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.txsd.2099670/gov.uscourts.txsd.2099670.10.0.pdf) in the past week (https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.nvd.181505/gov.uscourts.nvd.181505.27.0.pdf).https://www.politico.com/news/2026/09/14/trump-ice-illegal-deportations-courts

[Winehole23]

when you remove 10% of the parts of a working car, it doesn't work anymore


https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:q6jn3toyld7jmf4fqr7wleyg/bafkreibpfqvhszmawn3gftwywnpejyreoywqeii35dodwleza ddi62b2y4

[Winehole23]

ordering DhS officials to impersonate voters to break state laws and flag valid voters for investigation is 100% impeachable


Agents working on the Department of Homeland Security’s “Unlawful Voter Initiative” were reportedly expected to complete at least 40 investigations during each eight-hour shift — leaving roughly 12 minutes to examine each voter.


The rushed reviews relied on questionable data and may have improperly flagged eligible U.S. citizens, The New York Times reported (https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/14/us/politics/homeland-security-voter-fraud-investigation.html) Monday.


“In other words,” the whistleblower’s account said, “the current process is knowingly sweeping known U.S. citizens in as potentially ‘unlawful voters.’”


Investigators reportedly used personal information, including birth dates and partial Social Security numbers, to access state websites intended for voters checking their own records. The whistleblower warned that doing so could violate state laws.



Homeland Security attorneys told agents they would not be “personally liable” for properly documented searches conducted as part of their official duties, according to the Times reporthttps://www.rawstory.com/trump-voter-fraud-2677857406/

[Winehole23]

https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_fullsize/plain/did:plc:2vtbmhmrwzbqcfv4we4uxzzt/bafkreih5r56ondertivijsml7jvqkpnmffw5pfv3xyazlnizd cqvnrzm4e

[Winehole23]

The plaintiff is Trump, the counterparty is own executive agency, the IRS

The judge in this case quashed Trump's collusive lawsuit, sanctioned his attorneys for abusing legal process, and has referred them to the bar for discipline


In light of the serious irregularities presented by this matter, on May 27, 2026, thirty-five non-party movants (“Thirty-Five Former Federal Judges”) filed an amicus brief urging the Court to reopen this case pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 60 and investigate whether there was a genuine underlying case or controversy. (DE 63). On May 29, 2026, rather than reopen the case pursuant to Rule 60, the Court ordered, pursuant to its authority under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 11, that Plaintiffs detail their position on “(1) the charges of collusion and whether the Parties are truly adverse; (2) the assertion that the dismissal in this case was premised on deception by the Parties; and (3) the question of whether the case should be reopened because the Court was the victim of a fraud.” (DE 65 at 3).7 Plaintiffs responded on June 12, 2026. (DE 89). On July 13, 2026, the Court issued its Order setting forth its findings and imposing sanctions for Plaintiffs’ bad faith conduct and misuse of the judicial system. (DE 106) (“Sanctions Order”).8 Thereafter, Plaintiff and their attorneys—Alejandro Brito and Daniel Epstein (together with Plaintiffs, the “Movants”)—filed the instant Motion to Stay.https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.flsd.706172/gov.uscourts.flsd.706172.130.0_2.pdf

[Winehole23]

in principle, POTUS bringing a collusive lawsuit and settling it corruptly to establish a political slush fund should be impeachable

[Winehole23]

POTUS takes an oath to faithfully execute laws

US appropriations are laws

Trump impounding 10% of discretionary funding because he doesn't like the recipients breaks the oath and steals the power of the purse -- and your duly appropriated money


The Trump administration has cut or frozen up to $177 billion in federal grants since the president took office for his second term, according to a tracking tool released Wednesday by a pro-democracy nonprofit and a group of researchers and scientists.


The cuts affected all 50 states and the District of Columbia, with health, nutrition, the environment and disaster relief making up the largest share of cuts, the States United Democracy Center and Grant Witness organization found.


Among the grants that were eliminated, frozen or delayed were ones related to maternal health in Michigan, education research in Mississippi and assistance to minority farmers in Iowa, the researchers found. California, Texas, New York, Illinois and North Carolina saw the highest amounts of interrupted grant money. The tracking tool is called Lost Funds (https://www.lostfunds.org/).


“By bringing thousands of funding disruptions from the Trump administration together in a publicly accessible, verified database, Lost Funds puts the magnitude of their impact on full display,” Scott Delaney, co-founder of Grant Witness, said in a statement.
https://apnews.com/article/trump-administration-federal-grants-cuts-edbdf9f49b1235bf38834417ef8dc130

[Winehole23]

there's a lot of burnt toast to butter in the Persian Gulf right now

politically directed agency action has become normal under Trump


The Federal Communications Commission on Thursday approved Paramount’s petition to allow 49.5% of its equity to be held by foreign entities once the Warner Bros. Discovery deal is complete.

Paramount owns 28 TV stations, and thus must get the FCC (https://variety.com/t/fcc/)‘s approval for foreign ownership over 25%. Its acquisition of WBD is backed by three Gulf state sovereign wealth funds.

In approving the petition, the FCC dispensed with concerns over national security and improper influence, noting that the foreign funds — from Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Abu Dhabi — will not own voting stock.
https://variety.com/2026/film/news/fcc-approves-49-5-foreign-ownership-paramount-warner-bros-1236866217/

[Winehole23]

RFK Jr selling access to public officials


https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_fullsize/plain/did:plc:pnx2fjuannbdpy3337ggthpp/bafkreib544zyprw63crj63pmbh3kdyolnlapzelfo6fi6ezep ig2txc33e
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[Winehole23]

not content to impound federal funds for scientific research, Trump wants to direct them

https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:6vwezbhj7wwowu4sbur5npjk/bafkreigjhqtnptfyjiqomgwdzrl25v3lewscaqqqerkwsse5y g32eduzfe

[Winehole23]

knives out for Bhattacharya


Traditionally, the N.I.H. selects projects based on expert review of their scientific merit. But Mr. Trump has sought through a series of recent directives in his second term to bring that process under political review, arguing in part that the government has been funding “woke” liberal priorities.
Friday’s meeting brought to a head months of conflict between two of the attendees: Mr. Vought of the O.M.B., who wants to impose greater political control over N.I.H. grant approvals, and Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, the N.I.H. director, who is resisting those efforts, according to two people close to Dr. Bhattacharya.

Their relationship has grown so contentious that Mr. Vought had refused to meet with Dr. Bhattacharya, the people said. During the session on Friday, Mr. Vought accused the N.I.H. director of funding projects that were in conflict with administration priorities, such as supporting research related to diversity and equity.
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/20/science/nih-omb-grants-bhattacharya-vought.html

[Winehole23]

JD Vance leaked a story on background to Politico, Trump banned Politico from the white house for it


https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:cu5awgjuatuagbu625ib2onr/bafkreidqkpjbokyxz4pb72jnk56ge2opn2xvnhb3jmcvvrsb3 b2t277req

[Winehole23]

this DOJ lawyer is defending the white house media ban case


https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:sxv7dyuxnni75qbjug4efbfe/bafkreifas3mnahnfawjjq67664qxvhowzmmp3g3oegoxqrdxa wkfbkrcx4https://www.bostonglobe.com/2025/09/02/metro/trump-harvard-doj-lawyer-antisemitism-hitler/

[Winehole23]

TRO issues in the middle of the night

Federal district courts and Trump-appointed judges are working hard to protect the constitution from Donald Trump's depredations


https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:36eqtmzysqf7wsslczw4uxcd/bafkreifa7x4fpfbsekjuuc5eskxvmzgeqxt6ruc3bbwmcjx23 zyrzk6bayhttps://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.dcd.296754/gov.uscourts.dcd.296754.24.0.pdf

[Winehole23]

middle finger raised to the judiciary


Yesterday evening, after briefly taking the case under consideration, a federal judge ordered the White House to temporarily restore access to CNN, MS NOW, and Politico, the three outlets the president banned from the building via a social media post last week.


White House security may not have gotten the memo, according to Thursday morning reports from the three news outlets involved. All three reported that they had journalists turned away from the White House early in the morning.


Politico (https://www.politico.com/news/2026/09/24/politico-barred-from-white-house-after-court-ruling-restoring-access-01091259) wrote this morning that a reporter showing up for work was blocked from entering the White House on Thursday and had his press credentials seized. The alleged denial of entry came after a federal judge instructed the Trump administration last night to allow the news outlets their usual access while their lawsuit against the president over the ban moves forward.


CNN (https://edition.cnn.com/2026/09/24/politics/trump-press-lawsuit-ruling-white-house-access) reported that some its staff – including reporter Betsy Klein and a photojournalist – were barred from entering the White House early on Thursday around 6a.m., without receiving a reason for being denied entry. However, the channel said one of its producers gained entry to the building using their pass.


Some CNN staff, however, were unable to gain access to the White House early Thursday morning. CNN reporter Betsy Klein and a photojournalist were denied access to the White House grounds in the 6:00 a.m. hour.


The Associated Press also reported that a CNN journalist told the outlet she was denied access to the White House on Thursday morning.


CNN said would it continue trying to gain access to the building as the day goes on.


MS Now also reported on Thursday morning that one of its journalists, too, had been barred entry.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/live/2026/sep/24/white-house-press-xi-jinping-netanyahu-trump-latest-news-updates

[Winehole23]

Trump bends the knee


In court filing, Trump White House acknowledges that it has restored press passes for CNN/MSNOW/Politico

[Winehole23]

Trump doubles down, bans MSNOW and CNN from state dinner with XI

[Winehole23]

TV pool embargo continues


Trump's state dinner for Xi will not be televised as White House continues to deny CNN full access
Donald Trump just welcomed Xi Jinping back to the White House for a state dinner in honor of the Chinese leader that will not be televised because the White House continued to deny full access to the event to CNN journalists on Thursday, despite a court order.

[Winehole23]

lol


The White House blocked CNN from traveling aboard Air Force One to Tennessee on Saturday. It was set to serve as the designated TV pooler.

[Winehole23]

more illegal impoundment

too bad the US Congress is no longer alive to see this


President Donald Trump is canceling nearly $1 billion in spending approved by Congress, the White House announced on Friday, using a rare and contested power to axe funding for immigrant services and diversity-focused initiatives.


Trump’s Office of Management and Budget described the funding cut as focused on “the most harmful government spending.”
https://apnews.com/article/trump-rescissions-fundind-46b356590699e6225f783c74e7ee3597

[Winehole23]

the executive branch needs to be audited

[Winehole23]

https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:swgxwbir4rrimj57pf75jckf/bafkreibjic2htdrwze2y3fp6k4bamhmj7ajgxq2mxldrwblln tlvmnhqqu

https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:drfb2pdjlnsqkfgsoellcahm/bafkreih4t27eufkaqpdhculmodmcikzdt53ju5inp44jcqj3i qbazw3owi
https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:drfb2pdjlnsqkfgsoellcahm/bafkreibejgto6r2zktuy2sukxltaemevlijruben7ux2vw6o3 5352jfnre

[Winehole23]

https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:uo5snu37sijlz7ksssubjatc/bafkreicf7ps2xdwjvmjja7qsvanagbd7yifvqu3i2ywagarct bqb5stmta

www.gao.gov/blog/what-po... (https://www.gao.gov/blog/what-pocket-rescission-and-it-legal)

[Winehole23]

GOP Sen. Mike Rounds, who sits on the Appropriations Cmte, says Trump’s $810 million unilateral rescission undermines a funding deal, including GOP goals of more military money: “It’s going to make it very hard for us to actually get an outcome in the next appropriations bill."

[Winehole23]

fell asleep during another televised event today


https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:dr6qp776cako3dakwmubpx5k/bafkreiepaps4nkpfyltecenpiia3qrqgna65s6plsdv744jhk ssruk62ui