Saturday, June 06, 2026

Chump and his hiring and judgment 'skills'

Markwayne Mullin replaced Kristi Noem as Homeland Security Secretary.  on March 24th.  Kristi?  Chump had to call in Tom Homan to fix things.  It appears to be going the same way with Markwayne.  Tom Boggioni (RAW STORY) reports:


Violent clashes between protesters and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents at Newark's Delaney Hall detention facility forced the Trump administration to deploy its top immigration official for emergency de-escalation after newly appointed DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin made the situation dramatically worse.

According to Politico reporting by Myah Ward, tensions that had been escalating nightly cooled only after border czar Tom Homan was dispatched to meet with state and local officials and negotiate a resolution to the standoff.

The crisis began when images and videos surfaced showing violent clashes between pro-immigrant demonstrators and ICE agents outside the 1,000-bed, privately run detention facility. The unrest followed allegations of poor conditions inside the facility and a detainee hunger strike. Democratic lawmakers descended on the site to condemn detention conditions and accuse federal agents of violence against protesters.

Mullin's response made matters worse. The new DHS secretary threatened to pull customs staffing from Newark Liberty International Airport—a threat that shocked administration officials and sparked airline industry fears of travel chaos across the region.


Is Markwayne unqualified for the post he's been given?  Or is he just a slow starter?  


It could go either way.  Unlike with Pete Hegseth who was so obviously wrong from the moment Chump nominated him for Secretary of Defense.  Hegseth was never qualified and that's only become even clearer as he has remained the Secretary.  For example, CK Smith (SALON) reports:


The Department of Defense has significantly reduced the number of recognized religious affiliation codes used across the military, consolidating roughly 200 categories down to 31 in a broader administrative overhaul of how service members’ religious identities are recorded.

Of those 31 categories, 22 are variations of Christianity, most major Protestant denominations.

Social media is also pointing out the list’s inconsistencies. Catholicism is now listed under a single designation under Christianity without similar distinctions of their denominations. Atheists will now be grouped under “Agnostic” — despite each category representing very different beliefs. Jehovah’s Witnesses are categorized under Christianity, while the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Mormons) isn’t. All of Judiasm is under a single category. And it’s odd to see Quaker listed so prominently as their doctrine is famously nonviolent and anti-war.


Who put Hegseth in charge of determining what was a religion and what wasn't one?  Whomever did that might need to explain to the Mormons how the US government has now declared them a non-religion.  And it hasn't gone unnoticed.  Alexander Willis (RAW STORY) notes:


Sen. John Curtis (R-UT) lashed out Saturday at Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s office over a “significant change” it instituted regarding the classifications of religions, one he argued was “unacceptable” and that he was actively working to correct.

This week, the Department of Defense announced that it had significantly reduced the number of recognized religions within the agency, down from more than 200 to 31. The change, according to Sean Parnell, Hegseth’s assistant for public affairs, was to allow “religious support personnel" to better provide "spiritual care to our warfighters.”

The issue, Curtis claimed, was that in whittling down the number of recognized religions, Hegseth’s office had declared the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints – commonly referred to as the Mormon Church – to not be a Christian religion.

“Latter-day Saints are among the most patriotic, service-oriented individuals in our country. They are also unequivocally Christian – just look at who is in the name of the Church,” Curtis said in a statement published on social media Saturday. “It is unacceptable for a government entity to characterize a faith in a manner that contradicts the religion’s own foundational tenets. I am working now to ensure a correction is made.”


Hegseth is not happy about anything in America -- not even his position of Secretary of Defense which is why he lies that he's the Secretary of War.  When he's not attempting to redefine religion -- which is, again, not his job -- he can be found denying promotions to people of color and women.  Konstantin Toropin (AP) notes:


After Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth cut nine Navy officers, including all the women, from a promotion list, several female officers say they see the unusual intervention as a sign that their careers now have a ceiling and worry for the future generation of female military leaders.

The Navy had selected 31 sailors to promote from the rank of captain to one-star admiral, but Hegseth recently intervened to strike nine people from the list, including three women and two Black men, according to a defense official who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss information not permitted to be released publicly.

As a result, the Navy is not promoting a single woman to the one-star admiral rank this year even though women make up about one-quarter of all Navy officers and nearly one-third of the sea service's midgrade ranks, according to military data from 2024.

The Associated Press spoke with eight female Navy officers of varying ranks and time in service after Hegseth's cuts, which were reported earlier by The New York Times, became public. They spoke on condition of anonymity out of fear of retribution from their superiors.

The more junior officers said they saw the development as a sign that their careers would become politicized if they rose too far in the ranks, and some said they felt they now had a limit on how far they could be promoted. Some said it made them feel less valued within the military and wondered whether that wasn't part of the intent.


This would alarm most presidents -- Republicans and Democrats.  It doesn't alarm Chump.  Nothing does.  Because he has no respect for democracy or for We The People.  That's why he's made the  inexperienced Bill Pulte acting Director of National Intelligence.  Lisandra Gomez-Tate (2PARAGRAPHS) reports:


A letter signed by 28 former U.S. national security officials was sent on Wednesday to the leadership of the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, Chairman Tom Cotton (R-AR) and Vice Chairman Mark Warner (D-VA), to voice concern regarding President Trump’s consideration of Bill Pulte (currently Director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency) as Acting Director of National Intelligence, replacing Tulsi Gabbard.

The letter noted that Pulte “does not have any national security experience, let alone the extensive expertise required by law,” and is “clearly unqualified for this role.” The correspondence warned that “with U.S. forces engaged in active operations abroad, there is no margin for error.”

Among the 28 signees were President Trump’s former Secretary of the Navy James E. McPherson (who served in the first Trump administration), former Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall (Biden), former Secretary of the Army Louis E. Caldera (Obama), and former Secretary of the Navy Richard Danzig (Clinton).


A leader with a functioning mind would grasp the problem with Pulte.  Chump doesn't have a functioning mind.  And we're all seeing how poorly that's worked out for the country.


Let's wind down with this from Senator Elizabeth Warren's office:


Lawmakers seek answers from former DOGE personnel about efforts to mark as dead millions of individuals in Social Security records as part of the Trump immigration enforcement agenda

Text of Letter to Bisignano (PDF) | Text of Letter to Gracias (PDF) | Text of Letter to Koval (PDF) | Text of Letter to Rehling

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren(D-Mass.),) a Member of the Senate Finance Committee, and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Ranking Member of the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations (PSI), pressed Social Security Administration (SSA) Commissioner Frank Bisignano and ​​three former Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) staffers on an alarming new whistleblower account detailing Trump administration plans to mark 2.7 million people as dead in a Social Security database as part of its immigration enforcement agenda.

A former SSA career official has publicly come forward for the first time to share firsthand knowledge of actions DOGE officials took to “kill off” more than 6,000 immigrants in SSA’s records and its larger plans to mark as dead 2.7 million more individuals. The whistleblower, Jeremiah Schofield, has shared new details of conversations a DOGE staffer had about the specific motivation for this plan: either “the lives of these individuals would be ruined. . . and they would be driven to ‘self-deport’” or “they would have to go to a local Social Security office, at which point SSA field office staff would send them to DHS offices” where officials would “detain them for deportation.”

“Donald Trump has waged war on Social Security, and DOGE has been the tip of the spear, sowing chaos and corruption everywhere,” said Senator Warren. “This looks like an illegal attempt by DOGE to weaponize Social Security to carry out Trump’s cruel immigration agenda.”

“As always with the Trump Administration, cruelty is the point. Thanks to this brave whistleblower’s disclosure, we have more evidence that the Trump Administration used DOGE not just to recklessly slash government programs – they were looking for ways to purposefully hurt people, especially immigrants,” said Senator Blumenthal. “Senator Warren and I are demanding answers about how DOGE and the Trump Administration weaponized the Social Security Administration to carry out its lawless immigration enforcement agenda.”

Senator Warren spearheaded the launch of Senate Democrats’ Social Security War Room, a coordinated effort to protect Social Security and fight back against Trump administration attacks making it harder for Americans to access their benefits. The War Room has succeeded in stopping many harmful policies in their tracks through rigorous oversight. Senator Warren has specifically sounded the alarm on DOGE’s chaos at Social Security, last year leading senators in pressing SSA Commissioner Frank Bisignano on concerns that DOGE efforts to hastily upgrade Social Security tech infrastructure could cause major disruptions for beneficiaries.

In July, Sen. Blumenthal released a PSI Minority staff report unveiling that DOGE generated at least $21.7 billion in waste across the federal government between January and July 2025. The report, “The $21.7 Billion Blunder: Analyzing the Waste Generated by DOGE,” followed a months-long investigation into Elon Musk and DOGE and detailed a comprehensive account of how taxpayer dollars were squandered by DOGE despite its ostensible goal of eliminating government waste. That report followed an April 2025 memo completed by PSI Minority staff that estimated the legal liability Elon Musk was able to avoid through his previous efforts to gut the federal workforce and exert influence over federal agencies while he was at the helm of DOGE. PSI found that Musk and his companies were able to avoid at least $2.37 billion in potential liability due to federal investigations or other regulatory actions.

###




The following sites -- plus Stan's "SCARY MOVIE (BOX OFFICE MOJO lies about the film)" -- updated:


Diana Ross - Royal Variety Performance [1991]

Diana Ross - I Still Believe

Patti Labelle - You are my Friend

Trump AG fears TRUMP IMMINENT ARREST after Term Ends!!!

Beyoncé - Dance for You (Video)

After 66 Years of Eradication, Trump Policies Have Brought Back The Screw Worm!!

Carly Simon - My New Boyfriend (Official HD Video)

Jasmine Crockett Blasts Roberts Court: “This Court Is Racist. This Court Is Immoral”

Bruce Springsteen & Rosanne Cash - "Deportee" (Woody Guthrie) - Monmouth Univ-Long Branch,NJ -6/4/26

BREAKING: Trump FURIOUS as Celebrities BAIL on UFC Fight and Republicans BREAK

Diana Ross - One Love In A Lifetime (Live on The Midnight Special - 1976)

‘DOGE the hell out of it’: Trump’s plans to gut the national intelligence office explained

Both Sides Now - Brandi Carlile w/ Bonnie Raitt

A Party Comfortable With Its Darkest Elements

Norah Jones - Blue Bayou (Linda Ronstadt Cover) - Live at Home

Trump PANICS and Has DOJ/Treasury LIE to COURTS about SLUSH FUND!?!?

Sade - Hang On To Your Love - Official - 1984

Ivanka DARK PAST Surfaces at WORST TIME for DONALD!!!

Cyndi Lauper - The Goonies 'R' Good Enough

🚨TOP Military Generals GO PUBLIC with FINAL WARNING to Trump!!!

Alicia Keys - Fallin’ (Songs in A Minor: Live at Joe's Pub, 2011)

Trump’s FLAILING Pentagon RIPPED to SHREDS by Navy Commander

Madonna - Love Sensation (Official Visualizer)

Trump DOJ faces skeptical judges on 'criminal fund,' ballroom & BIZARRE Statue of Liberty scandal

Diana Ross - Reach Out, I´ll Be There (Return To Love Tour)

They Fired Scott Pelley. CNN Could Be Next. Who Stops This?

The 5th Dimension- Aquarius / Let The Sunshine In (1969)

Trump FORCED OFF Stage After Health Issue EXPOSED

Nicole Wray - If I Was Your Girlfriend (Official Music Video)

Carny White House (FULL EPISODE) | Titus Podcast/Armageddon Update

Eurythmics, Annie Lennox, Dave Stewart - Here Comes The Rain Again (Remastered)

TERRIFYING Trump Pictures Leak as IT BLOWS UP

Ariana Grande - hate that i made you love me (official music video)

This Is The Man Explaining Why You Can’t AFFORD Anything!

Dionne Warwick - I'll Never Love This Way Again (Live at The 1980 Grammys)

Trump SCRAMBLES OUT of DC as IRAN RETURNS FIRE!!!!

THE SUPREMES "STOP IN THE NAME OF LOVE" on SHINDIG

'The president recently called us CRIMINALS': Judges rise up against Trump's DANGEROUS language

Sonny & Cher 7-8-65 daytime TV performance

🚨 LEAKED: The REAL Truth About Erika Kirk & Blake Neff!

'You got us there!': Nicolle ROASTS Trump's ballroom defense after donors won $50B in contracts

BREAKING: Trump FORGETS Critical Details as Doctors Say he is UNFIT to Serve

Trump doesn’t give a damn about Black unemployment. He caused it!

'Mar-a-Lago Mafia, The Epstein Class': Walkinshaw on those protecting Trump IRS audit immunity

How Trump's 'Stupid' Move Backfired on Him | The Daily Beast Podcast

Trump's WORST NIGHTMARE Gets the Documentary Treatment

Friday, June 05, 2026

Report exposes hidden $50 billion price tag on Trump's ballroom

Trump HIT with NIGHTMARE NEWS as Grand Jury RECONVENES for Jan 6th CRIMES?!?!

Trump CAVES After BRUTAL DEFEAT in Court AGAIN!

Trump REBUKED as He Gets RACE HE FEARED…IN IOWA!!!

Andrew Weissmann Breaks Down Trump's Recent Legal Defeats

Trump Is LITERALLY Falling Apart Right In Front Of Our Eyes

Trump THROWS his LAWYERS under BUS after SUDDEN DISMISSAL

Unreal Number of Sex Scandal Republican Candidates Exposed

THEY WANT YOU TO BELIEVE THIS IS JUST COINCIDENCE!

Study: Dozens of pardoned Jan. 6 rioters faces other charges for sex crimes, assaults, and stalking

FAFO: These LATINOS For Trump Are Finding Out How Expensive Self Hate Is!

Inside the Chaos at 60 Minutes—and What It Means for Journalism

Hot on the Trail of Jeffrey Epstein with Reporter Julie K. Brown | PTFO

Japan's District Mascots: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (Bonus Segments)

Kennedy Center staff begins removing references to President Trump’s name

Who’s Really to Blame for "60 Minutes" Chaos? | Pivot

GOP PANIC after CRITICAL Iran War Vote FAILS

🚨Bondi FULL Transcript EXPOSES Trump EPSTEIN COVER UP!!!

Responding To Comments | James Talarico, Georgia, and More!!

Senate Republicans Pull SHOCK STUNT in MIDDLE OF NIGHT!!!

Pete Hegseth's Fight Against "Wokeness" in the Military is ANTI-Meritocracy

Trump AG BUSTED as GRANDY JURY SECRETS LEAK!!!

Cher - Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down) (Cher - The Farewell Tour, 11/08/2002)

Trump BLINDSIDED as 18 GOP REPS TURN ON HIM!!!

 

The Snapshot

Friday, June 5, 2026.  Donald Chump crumbles as his power decays. 




As Ben (MEIDASTOUCH NEWS) notes this morning, Donald Chump was losing it on social media as his party plans crashed and burned 
 

There was a time when Chump was feared and got whatever he wanted.  Joni Ernst foolishly voted to confirm Pete Hegseth, for example.  Even though she knew better.  Because she was scared. So many people in Congress went along because they were scared.  They aren't scared now.  You can't live your life in fear and that's changed some of the control Chump had.  Then he's also been exposed for a self-serving jerk (at best) who the American people have turned against.  He's a grifter who has run one con job after another and exposed himself in the process.  So here we are and Filip Timotija (THE HILL) reports:
 
The House Armed Services Committee adopted a provision for the annual National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that would demand the Pentagon inform Congress why senior military officers were fired or dismissed within five days. 

The requirement was introduced by Rep. Pat Ryan (D-N.Y.) and was adopted Thursday without objections in a bipartisan voice vote. 
The provision comes as Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has fired two dozen senior military officers since taking the helm at the Pentagon, prompting bipartisan worries that experienced officials are being dismissed without explanation. 

Earlier this year, Hegseth fired widely respected Army Chief of Staff Gen. Randy George, leading some House Republicans to voice opposition to the move, arguing that George is an experienced military leader


Oh, yes, a check is now in place with, no doubt, the hope that balance will be restored.  Because Congress is part of three branch government and each of the branches is supposed to act as a check on the others.  



Several Democratic lawmakers are demanding answers following a report that a White House official intervened to grant a $620 million Pentagon loan to a company linked to President Trump’s eldest son. 

“We write to demand a full explanation for what appears to be an egregious example of Trump administration corruption involving the White House delivering a lucrative Defense Department loan to a company with financial ties to the Trump family,” the lawmakers wrote in a letter to White House chief of staff Susie Wiles on Tuesday. 

The Democrats include Sens. Elizabeth Warren (Mass.), Richard Blumenthal (Conn.) and Mazie Hirono (Hawaii) and Reps. Jason Crow (Colo.) and Mike Levin (Calif.).

Vulcan Elements, a rare-earth magnet startup based in North Carolina, announced last November it had received $620 million in a direct loan from the Pentagon and an additional $50 million from the Commerce Department. The company said in a press release at the time it would use these funds to produce 10,000 metric tons of magnet production in the U.S. annually.  

A ProPublica investigation published last week revealed Donald Trump Jr.’s venture capital firm, 1789 Capital, took an undisclosed stake in the company around three months before this deal was closed.

Additionally, the outlet reported the lending request was made by Peter Navarro, the president’s senior counselor for trade and manufacturing. 


That's Democrats trying to do a check and balance.  And hopefully Republicans will join them in this.  Chump's corruption is the worst.  He's gotten away with it so far.  But he's a lame duck now and the American people have caught onto him.  

The American people have caught on to him.  And that includes members of Congress.  Take John Cornyn.  In the 2002 election, he was voted into the US Senate.  And he remained there winning re-election over and over and over.  And should have been a walk this go round -- at least in the GOP primary.  But Chump endorsed Ken Paxton and Paxton won instead. James Osborne (HOUSTON CHRONICLE) reports:


U.S. Sen. John Cornyn went so far as to push legislation renaming a highway for President Donald Trump as he sought the president's endorsement in his hotly contested runoff with Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.  

Now he says that bill "may not make it into my priorities the next seven months."
A week after losing his reelection bid to Paxton, who Trump endorsed in the final days of the race, Cornyn's political career is seemingly at its end. And the four-term senator - who said he is "looking forward to working in the private sector" - seems to have a new attitude to the president.
[. . .]
[T]there are early signs Cornyn is more willing to split with the president. On Tuesday, he joined moderate Senate Republicans, including Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, in challenging the qualifications of Bill Pulte, the director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, to serve as the acting director of national intelligence.

And then there's Todd Blanche.  Chump wants to make him Attorney General.  That requires Senate confirmation.  And it's not January 2025 anymore.  



Lawrence O'Donnell noting suck up Todd Blanche kissing up to Chump,  "That was Todd Blanche saying to Donald Trump, 'I will do anything for you, sir.  Anything'."




In May 2025, Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, a Democrat, arrived at an ICE detention facility in his New Jersey city and asked for a tour. Though he was initially let inside the facility’s gate, he was soon confronted by about a dozen federal law enforcement officers and asked to leave. And so he did.
For a moment, that seemed like it would be the end of this incident, but then one of the officers had a phone call. A video, later submitted to a federal court, shows this officer turning to his fellow law enforcers after the call and informing them, “We are arresting the mayor right now, per the deputy attorney general of the United States.”

That deputy attorney general was Todd Blanche, who is now the acting leader of the Department of Justice. On Wednesday, President Donald Trump announced that he would nominate Blanche to become the Senate-confirmed attorney general of the United States.

[. . .]

Blanche was Trump’s personal lawyer before he arrived at the Justice Department. As DAG, Blanche oversaw the Justice Department’s criminal investigations and prosecutions, including the DOJ’s 93 regional US Attorneys’ offices and law enforcement agencies such as the FBI.

That means that Blanche’s involvement in the Baraka arrest wasn’t an isolated incident — at a hearing formally dismissing the charges against Baraka, a federal magistrate judge scolded the DOJ for “using the immense power of the government to pursue weak cases or to make examples without sufficient cause.” Blanche was the senior Justice Department executive overseeing political prosecutions targeting a wide range of Trump’s perceived enemies, including former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James.

That is only one reason Blanche isn't qualified.  And Senator John Fetterman's saying he's not voting to confirm Blanche. If he's not going to vote for Blanche it's doubtful any Senate Democrat will.  Fetterman's the one who's been closest to Chump.  But the Republicans, he's got them sewn up, right?  


But in recent days, Blanche has faced backlash from some of the same Republican senators whose support he needs to secure confirmation after he championed plans for a $1.8 billion fund that would have paid out Trump followers and allies who alleged political persecution by prior administrations.

Unhappy Senate Republicans confronted Blanche about the fund at a contentious GOP conference meeting last month. On Tuesday, Blanche said he was abandoning the plan, which threatened to sink an unrelated immigration-enforcement bill.

Many lawmakers worried such a fund could be used to reward people who assaulted police officers during the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. But Trump said he loved the idea and that Blanche was “doing a very good job” leading the Justice Department.

Blanche also continues to face criticism over the Justice Department’s release of millions of files from the FBI’s investigation into convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Asked whether he thought Blanche could get enough votes to secure confirmation, Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R, S.D.) told reporters, “it’s hard to say … this is an environment where nothing is a safe or sure thing.”

Blanche on Thursday described his relationship with senators as good. “I don’t say no to phone calls,” he said. “I’ll meet with anybody who wants to meet with me.”


Senator Thom Tillis (R-NC), who sits on the Senate Judiciary Committee, signaled the issue as a political faultline and a decisive hurdle for Blanche as lawmakers weigh his nomination to permanently lead the Justice Department.
Speaking to CNN journalist Manu Raju in the halls of the Capitol, Tillis made clear that any perceived sympathy for those involved in the 2021 riot would be a dealbreaker.

“I haven’t made a decision yet, the key for Todd or anybody going through the Judiciary Committee is being pretty tight on January the 6th,” the senator said.

He added: “They better not have said for one minute that the people that beat up police officers like these right down here were righteous people. You come even close to saying that. You don’t have a prayer of my vote in Judiciary.”


!





Yesterday, we noted:

Chump's destroyed the economy with tariffs and the Iran War and he's got more he's plotting.   Paul Farrell (INDEPENDENT) notes:

The Trump administration is proposing tariffs of 10 percent or more on products from dozens of major trading partners, following a probe into imports allegedly made with forced labor.

A report released early Wednesday by the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) stated that Canada, Mexico, Taiwan, the United Kingdom, and other countries would face 10 percent additional tariffs for allegedly failing to enforce a forced-labor import ban.
A 12.5 percent additional tariff would be imposed on China, Japan, India, South Korea, Brazil, Switzerland, and dozens of other countries.

The United Kingdom?  

Chump and his never ending lies.


Economist Paul Krugman covers the latest nonsense from Chump:


Yesterday it came in the form of “Section 301” tariffs on 60 trading partners, including the European Union and Japan. Section 301 is titled “Relief from Unfair Trade Practices.” So what are the unfair practices the Trumpists say the whole world is engaging in?

The answer is that the Trump administration is accusing other countries of “failure to impose and effectively enforce a prohibition on the importation of goods produced with forced labor.”

Notice the wording. They aren’t accusing the European Union itself of employing slave labor. Even the Trumpists aren’t willing to lie that shamelessly (yet). No, the claim is that the EU isn’t doing enough to stop countries that do employ slave labor from selling their goods in Europe.

Everyone, and I mean everyone, understands that the alleged justification for these tariffs is a lie. There is absolutely no reason to believe that the EU is less diligent about opposing the use of slave labor than the US. For that matter, there is no reason to believe that Trump and his minions have any particular objection to slave labor. This is nothing but a transparently, one might say sneeringly, bogus rationale for continuing to flout both US law and international agreements.

Why do Trump’s minions keep using legal tricks and lies to impose tariffs? There is, after all, no reason they couldn’t simply ask Congress to impose tariffs through normal legislation. But doing so would run into three problems, from Trump’s point of view. First, Congress might balk. Second, at minimum an attempt to pass legislation would require hearings, in which the weakness of the administration’s arguments would become obvious. Third, one of the reasons Trump loves tariffs is that he gets to issue decrees at will, none of this pesky nonsense of consulting with the legislative branch; having to follow the Constitution would spoil his fantasies of omnipotence.

So here we go again, with another round of tariffs that will probably be ruled illegal some months from now.

Chump's just lying.  Accusing the UK and others of using slave labor.  Lies to get his way.  Lies to try to fool the American people.  Sam Stevenson (NEWSWEEK) explores what this means for American consumers:

For consumers, the implications are direct: tariffs are effectively taxes on imports, and those costs are often passed through supply chains, increasing prices at the checkout.

That means everyday products such as clothing, electronics, household goods and car parts could become more expensive if the proposal takes effect.
Economists broadly note that tariffs tend to raise costs. Previous U.S. trade actions have been linked to higher consumer prices as importers and retailers adjust pricing to cover additional expenses.


Let's move over to Homeland Security where Kristi Noem is gone but not forgotten.  Russell Payne (SALON) explains:


Kristi Noem, the former head of the Department of Homeland Security and current U.S. envoy for the Shield of the Americas, is facing a new Hatch Act complaint over her use of a government jet for a political trip, as well as her use of government social media accounts for self-promotion.
The Hatch Act is a 1939 law limiting the political activities of federal employees with the aim of ensuring that federal programs are administered in a nonpartisan fashion and to prevent executive branch employees, except for the president and vice president, from using their office for political ends.

The complaint alleges that “Noem, and one or more members of her staff violated the Hatch Act by using public resources to travel to and attend part of the Republican Governors Association conference in Nashville, Tennessee, on June 11, 2025.”

American Oversight, the watchdog group that filed the complaint, also requested that the Office of Special Counsel, which handles Hatch Act complaints, investigate the Department of Homeland Security’s use of its official Flickr account to “publicize Noem’s attendance at the partisan RGA event and other similarly-political activities.”
Records show that DHS One, the name of the jet used by the secretary, was used for Noem’s trip to the Republican Governors Association in Nashville. Former advisor to President Donald Trump, Corey Lewandowski, who served as a special government employee during Noem’s tenure at DHS, and who was allegedly engaged in an extramarital affair with Noem, was also CC’ed on some of the communications regarding the RGA trip. Noem has faced questioning before Congress about the alleged relationship, and attacked the reports as “tabloid garbage,” though she stopped short of explicitly denying the allegations while under oath.



The U.S. Department of Homeland Security is canceling most pending contracts initiated under ousted Secretary Kristi Noem, the current ‌secretary said on Wednesday, a move that follows congressional scrutiny and an internal watchdog review of her contracting practices.
During a hearing before the U.S. House of Representatives Homeland Security Committee, Secretary Markwayne Mullin also said he would restore longer training for federal immigration officers, reversing a Noem-era decision that shortened training during a hiring surge ​and drew bipartisan concerns in Congress about whether recruits were adequately prepared.
Mullin faced questions from a top Democrat about what steps ​he had taken to roll back Noem-era contracts.
"We are looking at the contracts that weren't already signed, and we ⁠did go through and cancel most of those," Mullin said.


Homeland Security's actions have appalled the nation.  Last night, THE NEWSHOUR (PBS) did a story on the repulsion. 


Matt Standal:

Just 50 miles from the Canadian border, the town of Froid is home to less than 200 people.

For more than a decade, Roberto Orozco-Ramirez has been one of them.

Marvin Qualley:

Roberto's our neighbor. He's a part of our community.

Matt Standal:

Over the years, Roberto has come to mean a lot of things to a lot of people here. He's a local diesel mechanic, little league coach, and father of four boys.

Sheri Crain:

Great businessman. He's my neighbor, been my neighbor next door for 11 years.

Matt Standal:

But what residents of Froid didn't know until recently is that Roberto is also an undocumented immigrant who had been deported back in 2009.

Keith Nordlund:

Up until six months ago, I didn't know Roberto was illegal.

Matt Standal:

Neighbor Keith Nordlund says Border Patrol vehicles started showing up around town in early January.

Keith Nordlund:

We had -- 24 hours a day, seven days a week, we had at least two Border Patrolmen in our town.

Matt Standal:

Agents staked out Roberto's house and, according to his neighbors, even harassed Roberto's children.

Keith Nordlund:

I personally don't believe that's right. Them four boys are American citizens.

Matt Standal:

Roberto turned himself in on January 25. The government charged him with illegal reentry and immediately took him into detention, telling Montana PBS that this enforcement action represents a community safety priority.

Keith Nordlund:

The beef is donated by local ranchers.

Matt Standal:

Within days, Keith Nordlund found himself organizing the biggest fund-raiser this town had ever seen to help Roberto. More people showed up to the Froid Community Center than the town has residents. They shared a meal. They bid on hay and gravel and tools, raising thousands of dollars for Roberto's family.

A separate legal fund raised thousands more.

Roberto Orozco-Lozcano Jr.:

It's really hard seeing that now he's in jail.

Matt Standal:

Roberto Orozco Jr. is Roberto's oldest son. He says his father fled cartel violence in Mexico as a teenager and came here to build a better life.

Roberto Orozco-Lozcano Jr.:

It's incredible seeing such a hardworking man, I mean, my dad. being in a situation like this. I just don't find it very fair.

Matt Standal:

When Montana attorney Laura Christoffersen heard about Roberto, she says she began studying immigration law and hired an expert thanks to those private donations. And what they found changed everything.

Laura Christoffersen, Attorney:

What we believe is that, even in 2009, at the time of his first deportation, he was not afforded due process, which means he was illegally removed.

Matt Standal:

Christoffersen says she found mistake after mistake in the way federal authorities handled Roberto's deportation and says, since January, ICE agents have repeatedly violated his rights.

Laura Christoffersen:

I think people should understand that this is the person who's been in the U.S. more than 25 years, raised a family with four U.S. citizen children who are contributing members of our community. They pay taxes. They obey the rules. They follow the law. They don't take from our society.

Matt Standal:

In this deep red part of the state, there are mixed feelings about Roberto's legal status. But Keith Nordlund says this ordeal has caused him to question some long-held political beliefs.

Keith Nordlund:

I'm not OK that Roberto was here illegally. I don't believe that's right. However, our system is so broken that a guy like Roberto that's came here, has worked his butt off, has built a business, he's thriving in a niche, and he is a valuable asset to our community, how is there not a way for him to be legal?


ICE has destroyed so many lives.  Aala Abdullahi and Geoff Hing (MOTHER JONES) reported earlier this week:

For about five days in December, Abdullahi Mohamed seemingly vanished into the US immigrant detention system. Immigration and Customs Enforcement had detained him near Portland, Maine, and held him for more than seven weeks in Massachusetts. Then, without warning, ICE began moving him repeatedly across the country, from state to state and facility to facility, faster than his family could keep up. News of his whereabouts came to them in fragments: an email from his lawyer that he was in Mississippi; a phone call from the wife of a fellow detainee who said he was in Louisiana; and at one point, a call from Mohamed himself—that lasted for about two minutes—from an undisclosed airport.

His lawyer laid out what was happening. “They are doing this now more and more—moving people without any notice,” he wrote to the family in an email. The transfers, he explained, can block people like Mohamed from speaking with an attorney and make it difficult to file legal petitions in the right jurisdiction, while distressing families. “This is cruelty,” he wrote.

Quick and repeated transfers have become more common in President Donald Trump’s second term, a Marshall Project investigation has found. From the final year of the Biden administration to the first year of Trump’s latest term, the number of people transferred five or more times more than tripled. The number of people transferred out of state within 24 hours more than doubled, according to a Marshall Project analysis of ICE detention data obtained by the Deportation Data Project.

Immigration lawyers say the many transfers not only cause undue suffering for people being detained and their families but have significantly undermined due process protections. Because detainees have limited access to phones while in transit, and ICE’s detainee locator does not always reflect their real-time location, immigration attorneys say rapid transfers can leave people unreachable for hours or even days. Families can lose track of their relatives, while lawyers struggle to locate or speak with clients.

During those gaps, attorneys say, some detainees have been pressured to sign forms affecting their immigration cases before they can speak with counsel.


Turning to Chump's dead best friend Jeffrey Epstein,  Annie Grayer and Nicky Robertson (CNN) note:


House Oversight Chair James Comer and other Republican lawmakers are calling on the Justice Department to investigate allegations involving two men accused of sexually abusing Jeffrey Epstein’s longtime assistant, according to a letter provided first to CNN.

The new pressure from the Republican lawmakers stems from testimony the panel received last month from the assistant, Sarah Kellen.
In her closed-door interview, Kellen said Frederic Fekkai, a French celebrity hairstylist, and Philip Levine, the former mayor of Miami Beach, sexually assaulted her in separate incidents. She alleged that a third individual, Patrick Demarchelier, a French fashion photographer, exposed himself to her, according to a newly released transcript.

Comer’s letter to Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche asked the Justice Department to investigate  “the allegations against, and any other criminal conduct committed by” Fekkai and Levine in particular, noting Levine appears in the so-called Epstein files 600 times and that Fekkai was known as a “close friend” to Epstein.


Let's wind down with this from Senator Patty Murray's office:

ICYMI: Murray, Kaptur Asked GAO to Look Into Energy Department’s Decision to Steer Hundreds of Millions of Dollars Away from Wind, Solar in Defiance of Spending Law

Washington, D.C. — Today, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) concluded that the Department of Energy’s (DOE) decision last year to steer hundreds of millions of dollars provided by Congress in fiscal year 2025 for the research and development of clean energy sources toward energy sources favored by Secretary Chris Wright violated the law.

GAO’s investigation into the matter was requested last July by Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee and Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development, and Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur (D-OH-09), Ranking Member of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development.

In a statement responding to the decision, Senator Murray and Congresswoman Kaptur said:

“Today, GAO confirmed what’s been clear from the start: the Trump administration broke the law when it gutted investments in affordable, clean energy. Secretary Wright unilaterally rewrote a spending bill signed into law by President Trump, all so he could benefit handpicked industries at the expense of clean energy research Americans are counting on to lower their energy bills. GAO has made clear that this was not merely a policy choice—it was a clear violation of appropriations law.

“The Department of Energy cannot simply ignore the law because the Secretary has a vendetta against the most affordable energy sources. American families have paid the price for this lawbreaking—in higher energy costs, in canceled university and industry research awards, and in national lab scientists who lost their jobs. The administration must take steps to immediately comply with the law, and we must work on a bipartisan basis to insist the Department follows the law.”

In fiscal year 2024, Congress provided $137 million for DOE to support wind energy and $318 million to support solar energy. The fiscal year 2025 full-year continuing resolution—written by House Republicans and signed into law by President Trump in March 2025—continued those funding levels. However, in a spend plan made public on July 2, 2025, the Trump administration revealed it was steering hundreds of millions of dollars away from congressionally directed clean energy technologies to other, favored industries. Rather than fund wind at the enacted level of $137 million, the administration allocated just $29.8 million – a 78% cut. Rather than fund solar at the enacted level of $318 million, it allocated just $41.9 million – an 87% cut.

On July 28, 2025, Kaptur and Murray formally asked GAO to issue a legal decision on whether DOE’s FY2025 spend plan violated the Purpose Statute—which requires that appropriations be used only for the purposes for which they were provided—and the Antideficiency Act, which prohibits agencies from obligating funds in excess of available appropriations.

On February 25, 2026, as DOE began obligating funds in defiance of the law—including issuing a Notice of Funding Opportunity making $146.5 million in FY2025 funds available for geothermal energy despite Congress providing only $118 million—Kaptur and Murray renewed their GAO referral and called on the Department to immediately reverse course. Today’s GAO legal decision responds to that request.

In its decision today, GAO stated: “DOE is required to obligate and expend its FY 2025 appropriations in accordance with the referenced congressional control point amounts in the FY 2024 explanatory statement. …. To the extent that DOE obligated or expended FY 2025 funds in excess of appropriated amounts—that is the FY 2024 levels described above—DOE should report an Antideficiency Act violation.”

###