Weekly US politics news and updates thread - week of December 15

Trump designates street fentanyl as a WMD, escalating militarization of the drug war

President Trump on Monday signed an executive order designating the street drug fentanyl a weapon of mass destruction.

"It is not evident that there is any basis or need for, or net benefit to, officially designating fentanyl compounds as weapons of mass destruction," concluded a 2019 report by the Center for the Study of Weapons of Mass Destruction at the National Defense University.

During a Cabinet meeting with Trump earlier this year, Attorney General Pam Bondi argued that seizures of illegal drugs by federal agents during the first hundred days of Trump's second term had already "saved, are you ready for this media, 258 million American lives."

Drug policy researchers interviewed by NPR described that assertion by Bondi as wildly exaggerated.

I think it's pretty clear at this point where this is all going.

Trump orders blockade of ‘sanctioned oil tankers’ into Venezuela, ramping up pressure on Maduro

“Venezuela is completely surrounded by the largest Armada ever assembled in the History of South America,” Trump said in a post on his social media platform. “It will only get bigger, and the shock to them will be like nothing they have ever seen before — Until such time as they return to the United States of America all of the Oil, Land, and other Assets that they previously stole from us.”

Traditionally, a blockade is an act of war. From legalclarity.org:

Another recognized act of war is the blockade of a state’s ports or coasts. By cutting off a nation’s access to maritime trade, a blockade has profound economic and military consequences. This action is viewed as an aggressive use of naval power intended to coerce the targeted state.

White House adds plaques below Biden and Obama portraits, calling them ‘the worst President in American history’ and ‘divisive’ (The Independent)

Newest additions appear to be part of the administration’s ongoing ‘troll’ campaign against former presidents and Trump’s opponents

‘Who’s Gonna Stop You?’ Listen to Trump Press Georgia Speaker Over 2020 Vote.

In a newly obtained recording of a phone call from late 2020, President Trump can be heard pressing the speaker of the Georgia House of Representatives to hold a special legislative session to overturn Mr. Trump’s election loss.

Related story on raw story, which is mostly just a repost of the Times story: New audio emerges of Trump directing Republicans on how to overturn election results

"Who’s gonna stop you for that?" Trump is heard saying.

"A federal judge, possibly," Ralston replied with a laugh.

Later in the call, Trump is heard giving direction on how Ralston would conduct the special session, and baselessly alleged that he had won Georgia by hundreds of thousands of votes (he in fact lost by roughly 12,000 votes statewide). Trump repeated debunked conspiracy theories about ballot boxes being stuffed at Atlanta's State Farm arena, as former Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani frequently argued.

"If we had a special session, we will present, and you will say, ‘Here, it’s been massive fraud. We’re going to turn over the state,'" Trump said.

Ralston never committed to holding the special session, though the call was used as evidence in Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis' Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) prosecution of Trump and his associates. Willis alleged that Trump illegally solicited Ralston to violate his oath of office by calling a special session "for the purpose of unlawfully appointing presidential electors from the State of Georgia." Judge Scott McAfee ultimately quashed those initial charges, saying Willis was not specific enough in naming what specific statutes had been violated.

Patriot Games, White House UFC fight: America 250 plans revealed – NBC4 Washington

THE PATRIOT GAMES

WHERE ONE MALE TEEN AND ONE FEMALE TEEN FROM EACH DISTRICT STATE AND TERRITORY....

GO TO THE CAPITOL D.C.

TO COMPETE IN THE PATRIOT GAMES

Irony is dead.

All while someone builds a giant ballroom and gilds the White House

The Hill: House GOP will not allow amendment vote to extend ObamaCare subsidies

Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said there will not be an amendment vote on extending expiring ObamaCare enhanced subsidies as part of a House Republican health care bill this week[..]

“Many of them did want to vote on this ObamaCare COVID-era subsidy the Democrats created,” Johnson said. “We looked for a way to try to allow for that pressure release valve, and it just was not to be.”

The House Rules Committee will meet at 2 p.m. EST Tuesday to tee up the House GOP health care bill — dubbed the “Lower Health Care Premiums for All Americans Act” — that includes funds to pay for “cost-sharing reductions,” reforms to the pharmacy benefit manager industry, and expansion of association health plans.

Johnson said he expects all Republicans will unite around the underlying health care bill, which is set to hit the House floor Wednesday, arguing it would reduce costs for all Americans rather than the small percentage of Americans who get health coverage through the Affordable Care Act marketplace.

Trump Media to merge with nuclear fusion company that wants to power AI

Now we can add "Trump-and-dump stock scheme" to the economic fraud lexicon.

‘They’re Delusional If They Think This Is Going to Go Away’

The Trump administration’s release of the long-awaited Epstein files didn’t provide what survivors were looking for.

... The Epstein Files Transparency Act, signed by Trump on November 19, requires the attorney general to make public, within 30 days, “all unclassified records, documents, communications, and investigative materials” in the DOJ’s possession that relate to Epstein and his associate Ghislaine Maxwell. The cache was believed to include flight logs, internal DOJ communications, and even records concerning the “destruction, deletion, alteration, misplacement, or concealment” of Epstein-related evidence.

The law tries to preempt a possible work-around by the DOJ. It explicitly bars the department from withholding, delaying, or redacting records because of “embarrassment, reputational harm, or political sensitivity,” even for “any government official [or] public figure.”

Members of Congress and staff for the House Oversight Committee told me that they were alarmed by the DOJ’s silence in the days and hours before the release. Staff for Senator Jeff Merkley and Representatives Ro Khanna and Thomas Massie had repeatedly sought guidance from DOJ officials on what would be released and how the department was preparing. The lawmakers never got a response.

New research shows Ex-Trump voters swung hard to support democrats over cost of living issues in New Jersey and Virginia

Democrat newly elected sheriff in Pennsylvania - agreeing to partner with ICE was a losing proposition

US strikes another boat in eastern Pacific, killing 4 (CNN)

The US military conducted a strike against another alleged drug-trafficking boat in the eastern Pacific Ocean on Wednesday, killing 4 people, according to US Southern Command.

US suspends green card lottery scheme after Brown shooting (BBC)

President Donald Trump has suspended the US green card lottery scheme in the wake of a mass shooting at Brown University last week in which two people were killed.

The suspect, a Portuguese man who was found dead on Thursday, entered the country through the diversity lottery immigrant visa programme (DV1) in 2017 and was granted a green card.

Found this on Reddit:

Take a Tour of Ivanka Trump's Childhood Bedroom in New York City 💰 🏙️ 👑

If you have any friends or family who were at all into Qanon or Pizzagate, send them this video and ask them about her expression at 30 seconds in; see if the people who care so much about child abuse can actually recognise it when they see it.

The DNC is scrapping its report on what went wrong in 2024 (gifted link)

D.N.C. officials provided a summary of some of the report’s findings. The prescriptions were more tactical than strategic. For example, the audit found that so-called peer-to-peer text messaging had not actually generated meaningful conversations — or moved the needle in persuading voters.

The research also found that the party had been too focused on the overall numbers of doors knocked on and calls made rather than on quality interactions. In 2024, Trump campaign officials had mocked the statistics that the Harris team was releasing and argued that the Republican operation was more narrowly and effectively targeting its outreach to lower-propensity voters.

Other findings include that Democrats did not spend sufficiently on streaming services to reach younger voters — whom it described as a new swing coalition — and that the party’s data infrastructure showed signs of strain.

The unreleased report also said, according to the officials, that the party had operated from a defensive posture on issues like public safety and immigration, while ceding ground on the economy to Republicans.

I hope they learn from that lesson. I also hope to see Ken Klippenstein or someone get a hand on this report. I wonder if it had any mention of, oh I don't know, an issue that many people in the base were angry about. 2024 was a long time ago, but I have faint memories of protests going on across the country.

Stefanik drops out of NY gov race and announces upcoming retirement from the House of Representatives

Dissident republican representatives joined democrats to force a January vote on the cost of Affordable Care Act health insurance

US quietly removes sanctions from firms accused of supplying Russia’s military

The United States has removed sanctions from several foreign companies previously accused of supplying equipment to Russia, including items linked to its defense and military-industrial sectors.

The changes were published on the US Treasury Department’s website on December 18, without any explanation for the move.

Trump shifts NASA priority to Moon mission, not Mars (Le Monde)

In an executive order, President Donald Trump shifted his previous goals for NASA, now aiming to get Americans to the Moon by 2028, instead of a goal to put the American flag on Mars before the end of his four-year term.