24 votes

Weekly US politics news and updates thread - week of February 24

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Tags: politics, usa, recurring.weekly

This thread is posted weekly - please try to post all relevant US political content in here, such as news, updates, opinion articles, etc. Extremely significant events may warrant a separate topic, but almost all should be posted in here.

This is an inherently political thread; please try to avoid antagonistic arguments and bickering matches. Comment threads that devolve into unproductive arguments may be removed so that the overall topic is able to continue.

23 comments

  1. [2]
    Bet
    Link
    "A woman is like a child": MAGA quickly turns its sights on stripping Republican women of power To think that some people spend their days scheming on how to strip away basic human rights from...

    "A woman is like a child": MAGA quickly turns its sights on stripping Republican women of power

    To think that some people spend their days scheming on how to strip away basic human rights from others.

    Well, I suppose we’ll see how far these ideas go, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they gained traction.

    17 votes
    1. tanglisha
      Link Parent
      Handmaid's Tale is not meant to be a manual.

      Handmaid's Tale is not meant to be a manual.

      8 votes
  2. Bet
    Link
    Trump administration retreats in fight against Russian cyber threats Hegseth orders halt on all Russia-related cybersecurity operational planning So the U.S. is to be left a sitting duck.

    Trump administration retreats in fight against Russian cyber threats

    A person familiar with the matter who spoke to the Guardian on the condition of anonymity said analysts at the agency were verbally informed that they were not to follow or report on Russian threats, even though this had previously been a main focus for the agency.

    The person said work that was being done on something “Russia-related” was in effect “nixed”.

    Hegseth orders halt on all Russia-related cybersecurity operational planning

    Sources reported that Cyber Command has begun compiling a "risk assessment" of the order—a report listing the halted ongoing actions or missions and outlining potential threats from Russia.

    So the U.S. is to be left a sitting duck.

    12 votes
  3. [2]
    cfabbro
    Link
    U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development TVs Hacked to Play Video of Trump Kissing Musk’s Feet

    U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development TVs Hacked to Play Video of Trump Kissing Musk’s Feet

    11 votes
  4. [2]
    psi
    (edited )
    Link
    "Judge blocks Trump administration’s mass firings of federal workers." The Washington Post. This quote in particular is golden:

    "Judge blocks Trump administration’s mass firings of federal workers." The Washington Post.

    This quote in particular is golden:

    “Congress has given the authority to hire and fire to the agencies themselves. The Department of Defense, for example, has statutory authority to hire and fire,” Alsup said from the bench as he handed down the ruling Thursday evening in federal court in San Francisco. “The Office of Personnel Management does not have any authority whatsoever, under any statute in the history of the universe, to hire and fire employees at another agency. They can hire and fire their own employees.”

    10 votes
    1. elight
      Link Parent
      This only means that Trump will direct cabinet secretaries to perform the firings.

      This only means that Trump will direct cabinet secretaries to perform the firings.

      6 votes
  6. Bet
    Link
    Trump administration memo orders Pentagon to identify and fire transgender members of US military Immediately followed by: Washington stands with trans military personnel in multi-state amicus filing

    Trump administration memo orders Pentagon to identify and fire transgender members of US military

    Immediately followed by:

    Washington stands with trans military personnel in multi-state amicus filing

    Washington was joined by the attorneys general of 20 other states in the filing, which was co-authored by Brown’s office and the Vermont Attorney General’s Office. The other states joining are Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, and Wisconsin.

    6 votes
  7. [2]
    moocow1452
    Link
    In auto-centric Michigan, Trump’s proposed tariffs polarize a community cc: @kingofsnake, this would be the steel issue I was talking about in the A/S/L thread.

    In auto-centric Michigan, Trump’s proposed tariffs polarize a community

    cc: @kingofsnake, this would be the steel issue I was talking about in the A/S/L thread.

    5 votes
    1. kingofsnake
      Link Parent
      Very interesting. I guess we'll see how this plays out (and is hopefully retracted) in the coming weeks

      Very interesting. I guess we'll see how this plays out (and is hopefully retracted) in the coming weeks

      1 vote
  8. [4]
    skybrian
    Link
    Judge orders Trump administration to pay millions in USAID funds ...

    Judge orders Trump administration to pay millions in USAID funds

    A federal judge on Tuesday ordered the Trump administration to pay hundreds of millions in foreign assistance funds that have been in limbo despite his previous directive that such aid resume — action targeting President Donald Trump’s broad pause in aid, which has led to chaos globally and dire warnings about escalating famine.

    U.S. District Judge Amir H. Ali gave the government until 11:59 p.m. Wednesday to fulfill its contractual obligations and restart payments to contractors whose work in impoverished parts of the world had been largely stopped during an ongoing legal battle. Administration officials must also provide examples of communication sent to partners on the ground about resuming assistance, Ali ruled.

    ...

    During the contentious 90-minute hearing, Justice Department lawyer Indraneel Sur told Ali he was “not in a position to answer” whether the Trump administration had taken needed steps to allow the assistance to begin moving. Sur said the administration would provide further details in a status report due at noon Wednesday.

    “I don’t know why I can’t get a straight answer from you,” Ali responded. “We are now 12 days in. You can’t answer me whether any of the funds … covered by the court’s order have been unfrozen?”

    4 votes
    1. [3]
      tanglisha
      Link Parent
      What's the "or else" that the judge has? Seems like there might not be one.

      What's the "or else" that the judge has? Seems like there might not be one.

      3 votes
      1. psi
        Link Parent
        You can't throw the government in jail, but maybe judges can start sanctioning the lawyers? Justice department lawyers would be less likely to sign recalcitrant/illegal/unconstitutional pleadings...

        You can't throw the government in jail, but maybe judges can start sanctioning the lawyers? Justice department lawyers would be less likely to sign recalcitrant/illegal/unconstitutional pleadings if they knew that they would be held personally liable.

        5 votes
      2. skybrian
        (edited )
        Link Parent
        Here’s an article about that: What Courts Can Do If the Trump Administration Defies Court Orders Civil contempt can’t be pardoned by the president. What if US federal marshals don’t enforce court...

        Here’s an article about that:

        What Courts Can Do If the Trump Administration Defies Court Orders

        Civil contempt is primarily remedial, meaning that the court’s goal is to enforce future compliance with the court order, and a party can avoid punishment by simply complying with the court order. For instance, a civil contempt order might impose a daily fine that accrues until an order is complied with, such as in 2022, when a New York state court held President Trump in civil contempt and fined him $110,000 in total — $10,000 a day for each day his legal team failed to submit explanations for not turning over documents.

        Civil contempt can’t be pardoned by the president.

        What if US federal marshals don’t enforce court orders? Another article says that judges could deputize state and local officials. Perhaps they could send court orders directly to the banks where government officials have accounts?

        Edit: another article:

        https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/16/opinion/what-if-trump-defies-courts.html

        A finding of civil contempt is not a criminal conviction, and judicially imposed sanctions to enforce civil contempt (including fines and jailing) are not criminal sentences, so they are not covered by the president’s pardon power. Still, to carry out the jail order, some federal law enforcement agency with arrest authority would need to be involved. Most likely, that would be the United States Marshals Service, which would be responsible for executing a court order to imprison a federal official. The marshals are part of the Justice Department — that is, part of the executive branch. Federal law specifies that “the primary role and mission of the United States Marshals Service” is to provide for “the security and to obey, execute and enforce all orders of” the federal courts.

        Here again, the president may raise the stakes by ordering line-level U.S. marshals not to enforce the court order or by directing the head of the Marshals Service or the attorney general not to issue such an order.

        Yet even that question reveals something important about the dynamic at work here. Executive branch defiance of the courts is not a simple, one-time-only decision. A prudent court will give the government officials covered by its order multiple opportunities to comply with the order and will escalate things only when the officials by their own actions (or inaction) make their defiance clear.

        The other side of that same coin is that as matters escalate, a presidential administration determined to flout court orders will have to do so repeatedly and publicly and will need to continually expand the circle of federal officials who are in violation of the law — perhaps to include even the U.S. marshals themselves.

        4 votes
  9. [2]
    dustylungs
    Link
    The popularity of the ‘Mar-a-Lago face’ soars in Trump’s inner circle Nope, this isn’t from the Onion. It’s actually an interesting observation about the display of tribal social instincts...

    The popularity of the ‘Mar-a-Lago face’ soars in Trump’s inner circle

    Botox, visible facial fillers and exaggerated tans comprise the aesthetic popular among Donald Trump’s entourage. What’s behind this new fad?

    Nope, this isn’t from the Onion. It’s actually an interesting observation about the display of tribal social instincts (Richerson, Henrich) among status scramblers in Trump’s orbit.

    4 votes
    1. tanglisha
      Link Parent
      Good. Some of this will prove to be permanent, marking these people out for the rest of their lives. I don't care what's popular now or how popular it is, it will eventually fall out of favor.

      Good. Some of this will prove to be permanent, marking these people out for the rest of their lives. I don't care what's popular now or how popular it is, it will eventually fall out of favor.

      2 votes