A former Fox host and current political analyst believes a recent Donald Trump action may have finally spurred a real rebellion among Republicans.
“It’s a revolt,” wrote Howard Kurtz for Fox News. “Practically a revolution.” He said the backlash “seems to be breaking, or at least loosening, Trump’s iron grip on power.”
At issue is Trump’s proposed $1.8 billion slush fund to compensate alleged victims targeted by “political weaponization” from former-President Joe Biden’s Department of Justice.
These so-called “victims” would include rioters arrested for storming the Capitol building during the attempted January 6, 2021 insurrection. The rioters attempted to disrupt the Senate’s certification of the 2020 election results.
Kurtz said for many Republicans, the concept of this massive taxpayer-funded compensation for people who have been convicted of crimes “was a bridge too far.”
“Some of these people had attacked and injured police officers, seized members’ offices and chanted for Mike Pence’s hanging,” Kurtz said.
The former judges, appointed by both Democrat and Republican presidents, wrote that the lawsuit was used as a justification for the "looting" of American taxpayers. They described the case as a type of "collusion" between the president's lawyers and the federal government and asked the judge to re-open the case to determine if the settlement was reached only after the court was "deceived."
Williams, appointed by former President Barack Obama, had initially granted a dismissal of Trump's lawsuit following the settlement, but, in light of the former judges' motion, she said the court is "empowered to investigate serious misconduct."
It follows another judge in Virginia temporarily freezing the fund, which Trump officials have described as an effort to compensate Trump allies, Jan. 6 rioters and others the president says have been unjustly targeted.
That judge, U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema in Virginia, ordered on Friday that Trump officials stop setting up the pool of money to "ensure that no funds are irreversibly disbursed."
Brinkema, an appointee of former President Bill Clinton, set a June 12 hearing for arguments over whether the order should be extended.
When the details of the agreement were first revealed two weeks ago, Democrats and former government officials lodged accusations of corruption and self-dealing, and even some Republicans reacted with scornful disbelief. Some G.O.P. senators were so angry they abandoned plans to approve a measure to finance the administration’s immigration crackdown.
Within days of the agreement becoming public, and before the judge raised questions about it, senior administration officials began preparing to get rid of the fund amid the intense blowback. Those discussions were reported earlier by The Wall Street Journal.
But while the agreement appeared to have emerged abruptly, it fused two ideas that had been kicking around in Mr. Trump’s circle for years: a desire by him and his family to avoid extensive tax audits, and a longing by his allies to obtain financial restitution for legal wrongs they claimed to have suffered during the Biden administration.
As average gas prices top $6 a gallon and household costs surge, Californians are paying the price for Trump’s reckless war with Iran
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), a member of the Senate Budget Committee, along with Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) and Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), led their Senate colleagues in urging the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) to determine the true cost of war in Iran and set the record straight regarding inaccurate and incomplete estimates provided by the Trump Administration. For Californians already struggling with housing, transportation, and grocery costs, every additional federal dollar spent on this conflict matters.
“The American people deserve to know the true costs of this conflict, and they deserve transparency and honesty when their government commits the nation to war,” wrote the Senators.
On April 29, two months into the war, Acting Comptroller of the Department of Defense (DOD) Jay Hurst testified before Congress that the cost of Operation Epic Fury would be about $25 billion. Weeks later, he revised that estimate to be about $29 billion.
However, independent analysts and investigative journalists have produced estimates that are significantly higher – raising concerns that the Administration has not been fully truthful or transparent with the American public. Some Republican lawmakers reportedly heard estimates that the Pentagon is spending as much as $2 billion a day on the war, roughly quadruple the initial estimate that Hurst gave to Congress.
According to public reports, the estimates provided to Congress “did not fully account for damaged or destroyed equipment or U.S. military installations damaged,” with the real cost coming in closer to “$40-50 billion when accounting for the costs of rebuilding U.S. military installations and replacing destroyed assets,” including “extensive damage” to U.S. bases in the Middle East.
Even conservative experts, including President Trump’s former DOD deputy comptroller Elaine McCusker, estimated the cost to be as high as $35 billion at the time of the April 7 ceasefire. When accounting for operations, munitions, equipment losses, and U.S. military aid, other analysts have estimated the war’s cost to be as high as $72 billion in just the first 60 days. These figures could be even higher with indirect costs, when accounting for higher energy prices and long-term care for veterans.
“It is essential that Congress and the American public receive accurate, comprehensive estimates of the costs of the war in Iran,” wrote the lawmakers.
The letter comes as the Administration intends to request as much as $200 billion in additional funding for the war in Iran—in addition to its unprecedented $1.5 trillion defense budget request it recently submitted to Congress.
“[CBO’s] timely and comprehensive estimate of the immediate and long-term budgetary consequences will help ensure that the Iran war remains subject to rigorous and appropriate legislative oversight,” concluded the Senators.
In addition to Padilla, Warren, and Schumer, the letter is also signed by Senators Angela Alsobrooks (D-Md.), Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Tim Kaine (D-Va.), Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), Andy Kim (D-N.J.), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Peter Welch (D-Vt.), and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.).
Trump’s ongoing war with Iran is driving up costs for Californians and exacerbating the affordability crisis nationwide. Americans are facing 3.8 percent inflation and Californians are paying the highest gas prices in the nation – putting added pressure on working families, small businesses, and commuters across the state. To address higher gas prices stemming from the war with Iran, Padilla also joined colleagues in introducing the Transportation Fuel Market Transparency Act to crack down on petroleum market manipulation and protect consumers from unjustified price spikes at the gas pump.
Last month, Padilla criticized Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Russell Vought for refusing to provide an estimate of the war’s costs and released a statement on President Trump’s FY 2027 budget proposal, calling on Congress to reject it and “fight for one that reflects our values, not the whims of Donald Trump.” Padilla slammed Senate Republicans for blocking a previous war powers resolution that he cosponsored to end United States military involvement against Iran unless explicitly authorized by Congress. He also previously condemned Trump’s initial preemptive strikes against Iran without Congressional authorization.
Full text of the letter is available here and below:
Dr. Swagel:
As you prepare your analysis of the war costs associated with Operation Epic Fury, we urge you to take into consideration the significant divergence between the administration’s public estimates and those produced by independent analysts and investigative journalists. We are concerned that the administration has not been fully truthful or transparent in its public accounting of the war’s costs so far.
On April 29, two months into the war, Acting Comptroller of the Department of Defense (DOD) Jay Hurst testified before Congress that “approximately, of this day, we’re spending about $25 billion on Operation Epic Fury.” Weeks later, Hurst informed lawmakers that the cost estimate for the war had risen to $29 billion, despite a ceasefire taking hold since his earlier testimony. Independent investigative reporting has raised further questions about the accuracy of DOD’s figures, including those provided by Hurst. According to public reports, the estimates provided to Congress “did not fully account for damaged or destroyed equipment or U.S. military installations damaged” and that “the real cost estimate is closer to $40-50 billion when accounting for the costs of rebuilding U.S. military installations and replacing destroyed assets,” including “extensive damage” to U.S. bases following strikes in Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, UAE and Iraq.
Other independent assessments have also challenged the administration’s numbers. One analysis estimated that the war cost $16.5 billion in the first 12 days.5 Even conservative experts, including the president’s former DOD Comptroller Elaine McCusker, placed the cost at up to $35 billion as of the April 7 cease fire. Other analysts, when accounting for operations, munitions, equipment losses, and U.S. military aid, have put the war’s costs even higher at nearly $72 billion in the first 60 days. These figures could rise further if the indirect costs, including higher energy prices and long-term care for veterans, are taken into account.
It is essential that Congress and the American public receive accurate, comprehensive estimates of the costs of the war in Iran. The discrepancies between the administration’s public cost estimates and those produced by independent analysts are especially concerning in light of the administration’s stated intention to submit a supplemental funding request for as much as $200 billion. Presumably this would be in addition to the unprecedented $1.5 trillion defense budget
request recently submitted to Congress.
The American people deserve to know the true costs of this conflict, and they deserve transparency and honesty when their government commits the nation to war. Your timely and comprehensive estimate of the immediate and long-term budgetary consequences will help ensure that the Iran war remains subject to rigorous and appropriate legislative oversight.
Sincerely,
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Idiot of the Week10 hours ago
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