Thanks Joyce— appreciate the review of the upcoming events and the strange things we are living through. No other elected president has caused so much harm to our people and our democracy. It’s horrific.
And also devastating harm to the people across the world that our country usually helps! It's also strange that the Republicans aided, abetted, and shield him from accountability.
What gets litle mention is all of the unbudgeted spending he does. He has literally confiscated Congress' power of the purse. Hundreds of billions in new 'tRump Class' battleships - surely giant floating targets in modern warfare. The DC National Guard deployment. His desecration of monuments in DC... His failed war on Iran. Last time I read the Constitution, I just could not find any justification for the things he is doing.
I would love to hear from a military expert as to how many giant, floating, relatively slow-moving targets are actually needed in modern warfare of drones and more remotely activated and controlled offensive devices. AND to supply economic justification for them. "The only constant is change" so why get bogged down with extremely expensive equipment that has seen its heyday?
The military even says the bigger ships are of little use in today's warfare. The smaller ships are able to maneuver better and are ample for using as aircraft carriers. I would hope no one has started to build any of these monstrosities 🤬🤬😡😡
The citywide drop in crime in D.C. is structural, spanning dozens of neighborhoods and multiple crime categories. It's not limited to the period or areas of the federal surge. Independent data* show the decline is broader, longer-running, and not solely attributable to federal intervention. So yes, crime is down in D.C., but not because of anything Pirro or Trump did alone. Their actions likely contributed to some reductions, but the overall decline is broader, longer-term, and documented independently of their initiative. As for the Blanche referral to the NY Attorney Grievance Committee (AGC), typically the AGC defers to the DOJ Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR) for a first review of the complaint in these situations (DOJ official acting in their federal capacity) and the OPR never announces if a complaint has been filed.
The DoJ's plan is to keep them there for at least three years. The stats show they haven't made a positive difference to the crime rate and indeed Free DC has been posting on Instagram instances of violent interactions between the National Guard and residents.
The deployment has always been about the projection of power for its own sake and Trump clearly wants it to continue until he leaves office.
and I might add usually causes the emrgencies himself. His argument about the ballrom being stopped endangers future and present occupents of the White House is ludicrous. The White House is the most secure building on the planet.
With all of the usual effluent flowing from the White House, you may have missed Demento's attempt to again fire Federal Reserve Governor, Lisa Cook which the Imperial Court said he botched the first time around --- not that he couldn't mind you, but that essentially he didn't follow procedure. So Deputy Chief of Staff Dan Scavino sent her the necessary notice this time in the form of a letter. Scavino’s letter claims that alleged misstatements on mortgage forms show a lack of "trustworthiness and care in financial matters," which he argues is relevant to a Fed governor’s duties. This is the only hook that plausibly connects the allegation to the statutory required "cause" for removal. But it is extremely weak because: the alleged conduct predates her Fed service and it is not related to monetary policy, supervision, or ethics rules. Fraud requires knowingly making a false statement to deceive the lender. Experts say nothing in the Cook allegations clearly shows intent. When both mortgages come from the same lender, courts and regulators often view it as the lender’s underwriting choice, not borrower deception. Btw --- this was part of Trump’s own defense when confronted with his dual mortgages in the 1990s. Trump’s renewed attempt to fire Lisa Cook is not based on new evidence or a stronger legal theory. It is simply an effort to redo the process correctly after the Imperial Court said he screwed up. But it still remains performative and political, with no new serious fraud theory and thus, again, nothing approaching the required statutory "cause."
With persistent inflation concerns keeping the possibility of a quarter-point rise actively on the table, he's now more likely to be huffing and puffing about keeping rates steady in what I understand are regular, ethically dubious phone calls with Warsh.
The White House is unique in terms of presidential prerogatives, but not in a way that gives a president a free‑floating Article II power to rebuild it. The uniqueness lies in use, not construction. Yes, past presidents did make major alterations but, every ballroom comparable project had congressional authorization and no president has ever asserted inherent Article II power to rebuild the White House. The only unilateral changes were temporary or aesthetic.
And yet as the building starts to rise above ground, who is going to stop Trump building this monstrosity? What if the Supreme Court rules that he must obtain congressional approval or that even with this approval he has exceeded his powers? What then? Do we seriously think that they will order him to tear the whole thing down and re-build the East Wing? I fear that future presidents are going to be landed with whatever emerges from the rubble.
If (with "if" in large red capitals), the Imperial Court ultimately rules that Trump exceeded his authority, the legal consequence is not mysterious or dramatic --- it’s actually very predictable. The Court would order the project stopped, and then the federal government would have to restore, remediate, or remove whatever was built, depending on what is structurally feasible. The key principle: courts unwind unlawful executive actions, even if the unwinding is expensive, messy, or politically awkward. Courts routinely order remediation when unlawful construction occurs on federal land.
The exact scope depends on engineering realities --- but the legal obligation is clear: undo the unlawful act as much as possible. Once the Imperial Court says Trump exceeded his authority, the ball moves entirely to Congress. If the project was indeed financed privately, that does not save it. Federal property cannot be altered without congressional authorization even if someone else pays for it. Private funding does not create presidential authority.
I'm guessing there will now be around the clock work being done on the 'ballroom' to take advantage of the time allowed to appeal. For the life of me, I can't understand how/why work is allowed to continue while it's being appealed. So more work is done. If the courts do finally establish that he is doing it unlawfully, then there is that much more to tear down, at taxpayer's expense. Am I missing something here?
Apparently, there is no soul on earth who can stop his madness. There certainly hasn't been anyone who has tried very hard yet. He thumbs his nose (ignores) at any & all rulings by judges. I still can't understand SCOTUS's giving, what seems to be, blanket immunity for anything done in an "official" capacity. What did they think he was going to say was NOT in his official capacity?? He never intends to leave the WH. Even if he was no longer pres and one of his kids was elected (heaven forbid!) he probably plans to continue to live there and tell the elected kid what to do. None of us is going to be here on earth forever, Nobody is so special that we will be granted eternal life on earth.
Looking forward to how things go Thursday. If Judge Sullivan believed that the documents he examined were properly redacted, he wouldn't be bothering with a hearing. Obviously, he has cause to be suspicious about the DOJ's honesty.
Trying to get this DOJ to release all the files properly redacted is a lost cause. Chipping away at the files a few documents at a time could prove fruitful.
Kevin, yes, and the difficult part is that there are no consequences and have not been any for Trump's entire time in office and what happened in between. When there are no consequences for anyone in Trumplandia, it is hard to see anything changing until the cowardly incompetent Republicans are tossed out of office by our votes! Let's hope we can do that in November!
I've created a document to save the link to DC Fed Ct call in # to listen for new ag's replies to Judge Sullivan's questions. ag and potus/tenant have no caps because i can't give that respect of capital letters to either.
We are in this together. No Kings.
Peace.
Christopher and family in Upstate SC
PS always love pics of the extended Vance family sharing your home.
The National Guard in Washington are just standing around looking for something to do. I have been to Washington several times during the occupation and never saw them patrolling or chasing away vagrants or doing anything. When I was a little turned around, a group of young men eagerly gave me directions, which I greatly appreciated. However almost 2 million a day wasted when we cannot afford to feed children or provide head start benefits is the real crime.
Thank you, Professor. I am surprised they are still in DC and what for? We are spending 1.4 million dollars a day for nothing. The soldiers are without their families. The American taxpayers must be really tired of this administration and its paranoia about DC being invaded so to speak which it is not.
"We are spending 1.4 million dollars a day for nothing." We are spending gazillions of TAX dollars for trump's golfing weekend, millions on the ballroom, even if the construction is supposed to be on hold, millions and more on putting fake gold on statues and in the Oval Office....And this is only the tip of the iceberg. When is enough enough so that at least SOME of the 37% who are still supporting the current president see the light of day?
Thank you, Joyce, for sharing the NOTICE OF HEARING. And I greatly appreciate that Judge Sullivan “posted a call-in number for the 1:00 p.m. hearing on his docket,” scheduled for this Thursday.
How awesome would it be if an untold number of callers dialed in. A tangible way to put the Attorney General on notice that the American people are paying attention. He is, after all, the people's lawyer.
The difficult part of constantly noting, is that Trumplandia keeps getting all the breaks. No matter what the courts say, Trumplandia will figure out just how to get around them. Examples include what was done to the Kennedy Center, the White House, the Reflecting Pool, and so much that has been going on. I think We the People are paying for a cadre of evil that has no other job than to figure out how to get around what the courts have ordered, even the Supreme Court. They already have the Roberts 6 in their pocket, but even when those fools decide to stand with our Constitution, which is not often lately, Trumplandia will just try another tactic, like with Birthright citizenship which is clearly stated in the first sentence of the 14th Amendment. I get it the whiny white boys of Trumplandia hate the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments as well as most of the rest of them, but that does not give them the right to stand against them.
Kay, you are so right, but it seems nearly everything Republicans do these days, even on a local level is about dividing us and pretending they aren't doing that. We the People do need to work harder to call out the dividing when it happens and as often as we can to draw notice. Without the notice, people will just continue the divisions and think it is just fine since "it's the way it always was." It may be that Divisions have always been present, but that is no excuse for continuing the process. We did that and it was really bad for us!
Thank you! I always look forward to your daily posting & am always appreciative of th Stine & effort you put into them. Your view of ‘reality’ is greatly appreciated.
Thanks Joyce— appreciate the review of the upcoming events and the strange things we are living through. No other elected president has caused so much harm to our people and our democracy. It’s horrific.
And also devastating harm to the people across the world that our country usually helps! It's also strange that the Republicans aided, abetted, and shield him from accountability.
I can't believe cassidy had the nerve to go on meet the press yesterday........they really do think americans are dum...
What gets litle mention is all of the unbudgeted spending he does. He has literally confiscated Congress' power of the purse. Hundreds of billions in new 'tRump Class' battleships - surely giant floating targets in modern warfare. The DC National Guard deployment. His desecration of monuments in DC... His failed war on Iran. Last time I read the Constitution, I just could not find any justification for the things he is doing.
There is no reason to build battleships in today's military. He's stupid and venal and congress is corrupt.
Our democracy is being stolen by billionaires and the smug corrupt Roberts court.
I would love to hear from a military expert as to how many giant, floating, relatively slow-moving targets are actually needed in modern warfare of drones and more remotely activated and controlled offensive devices. AND to supply economic justification for them. "The only constant is change" so why get bogged down with extremely expensive equipment that has seen its heyday?
He has bankrupted the country, as he did the companies he used to control, both literally and morally.
The military even says the bigger ships are of little use in today's warfare. The smaller ships are able to maneuver better and are ample for using as aircraft carriers. I would hope no one has started to build any of these monstrosities 🤬🤬😡😡
We need to prioritize statehood for both D.C. and Puerto Rico.
It would go a long way towards correcting the disproportionate power of Republicans in the Senate.
The citywide drop in crime in D.C. is structural, spanning dozens of neighborhoods and multiple crime categories. It's not limited to the period or areas of the federal surge. Independent data* show the decline is broader, longer-running, and not solely attributable to federal intervention. So yes, crime is down in D.C., but not because of anything Pirro or Trump did alone. Their actions likely contributed to some reductions, but the overall decline is broader, longer-term, and documented independently of their initiative. As for the Blanche referral to the NY Attorney Grievance Committee (AGC), typically the AGC defers to the DOJ Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR) for a first review of the complaint in these situations (DOJ official acting in their federal capacity) and the OPR never announces if a complaint has been filed.
*Metropolitan Police Department’s citywide NIBRS‑aligned (FBI National Incident-Based Reporting System) crime dataset
*Council on Criminal Justice multi-city crime trend analysis
*Criminal Justice Coordinating Council Statistical Analysis Center
The Niskanen Center has reached the same conclusions.
https://www.niskanencenter.org/washington-dc-crime-decline-and-its-lessons-for-american-policing/#introduction
To make matters worse, keeping all these federal agencies and the National Guard deployed in DC is costing US taxpayers $1.65m a day.
https://www.hsgac.senate.gov/wp-content/uploads/NationalGuardReport.pdf
The DoJ's plan is to keep them there for at least three years. The stats show they haven't made a positive difference to the crime rate and indeed Free DC has been posting on Instagram instances of violent interactions between the National Guard and residents.
The deployment has always been about the projection of power for its own sake and Trump clearly wants it to continue until he leaves office.
Russel and Dale:
Thanks for these analyses. They give DJT credit where it is due but also place that due in its broader context.
Please forward them to the DNC.
Trump manifests his own national emergency.
Yep. If there wasn't a national economic emergency when he first declared one, there certainly is one now.
and I might add usually causes the emrgencies himself. His argument about the ballrom being stopped endangers future and present occupents of the White House is ludicrous. The White House is the most secure building on the planet.
He IS a national emergency.
With all of the usual effluent flowing from the White House, you may have missed Demento's attempt to again fire Federal Reserve Governor, Lisa Cook which the Imperial Court said he botched the first time around --- not that he couldn't mind you, but that essentially he didn't follow procedure. So Deputy Chief of Staff Dan Scavino sent her the necessary notice this time in the form of a letter. Scavino’s letter claims that alleged misstatements on mortgage forms show a lack of "trustworthiness and care in financial matters," which he argues is relevant to a Fed governor’s duties. This is the only hook that plausibly connects the allegation to the statutory required "cause" for removal. But it is extremely weak because: the alleged conduct predates her Fed service and it is not related to monetary policy, supervision, or ethics rules. Fraud requires knowingly making a false statement to deceive the lender. Experts say nothing in the Cook allegations clearly shows intent. When both mortgages come from the same lender, courts and regulators often view it as the lender’s underwriting choice, not borrower deception. Btw --- this was part of Trump’s own defense when confronted with his dual mortgages in the 1990s. Trump’s renewed attempt to fire Lisa Cook is not based on new evidence or a stronger legal theory. It is simply an effort to redo the process correctly after the Imperial Court said he screwed up. But it still remains performative and political, with no new serious fraud theory and thus, again, nothing approaching the required statutory "cause."
Yep! Hopefully Lisa Cook wins this battle again. Totally absurd and wasteful but then again isn’t that Trump?
I wonder how long it will be before he starts firing Truth Social salvoes at Kevin Warsh for not lowering interest rates?
With persistent inflation concerns keeping the possibility of a quarter-point rise actively on the table, he's now more likely to be huffing and puffing about keeping rates steady in what I understand are regular, ethically dubious phone calls with Warsh.
no sane person would take financial advice from donald j. trump bankruptor of all
The White House is unique in terms of presidential prerogatives, but not in a way that gives a president a free‑floating Article II power to rebuild it. The uniqueness lies in use, not construction. Yes, past presidents did make major alterations but, every ballroom comparable project had congressional authorization and no president has ever asserted inherent Article II power to rebuild the White House. The only unilateral changes were temporary or aesthetic.
And yet as the building starts to rise above ground, who is going to stop Trump building this monstrosity? What if the Supreme Court rules that he must obtain congressional approval or that even with this approval he has exceeded his powers? What then? Do we seriously think that they will order him to tear the whole thing down and re-build the East Wing? I fear that future presidents are going to be landed with whatever emerges from the rubble.
If (with "if" in large red capitals), the Imperial Court ultimately rules that Trump exceeded his authority, the legal consequence is not mysterious or dramatic --- it’s actually very predictable. The Court would order the project stopped, and then the federal government would have to restore, remediate, or remove whatever was built, depending on what is structurally feasible. The key principle: courts unwind unlawful executive actions, even if the unwinding is expensive, messy, or politically awkward. Courts routinely order remediation when unlawful construction occurs on federal land.
The exact scope depends on engineering realities --- but the legal obligation is clear: undo the unlawful act as much as possible. Once the Imperial Court says Trump exceeded his authority, the ball moves entirely to Congress. If the project was indeed financed privately, that does not save it. Federal property cannot be altered without congressional authorization even if someone else pays for it. Private funding does not create presidential authority.
hope it's not the same contractor of reflecting pool ability...
I'm guessing there will now be around the clock work being done on the 'ballroom' to take advantage of the time allowed to appeal. For the life of me, I can't understand how/why work is allowed to continue while it's being appealed. So more work is done. If the courts do finally establish that he is doing it unlawfully, then there is that much more to tear down, at taxpayer's expense. Am I missing something here?
Apparently, there is no soul on earth who can stop his madness. There certainly hasn't been anyone who has tried very hard yet. He thumbs his nose (ignores) at any & all rulings by judges. I still can't understand SCOTUS's giving, what seems to be, blanket immunity for anything done in an "official" capacity. What did they think he was going to say was NOT in his official capacity?? He never intends to leave the WH. Even if he was no longer pres and one of his kids was elected (heaven forbid!) he probably plans to continue to live there and tell the elected kid what to do. None of us is going to be here on earth forever, Nobody is so special that we will be granted eternal life on earth.
Looking forward to how things go Thursday. If Judge Sullivan believed that the documents he examined were properly redacted, he wouldn't be bothering with a hearing. Obviously, he has cause to be suspicious about the DOJ's honesty.
Trying to get this DOJ to release all the files properly redacted is a lost cause. Chipping away at the files a few documents at a time could prove fruitful.
Kevin, yes, and the difficult part is that there are no consequences and have not been any for Trump's entire time in office and what happened in between. When there are no consequences for anyone in Trumplandia, it is hard to see anything changing until the cowardly incompetent Republicans are tossed out of office by our votes! Let's hope we can do that in November!
Joyce,
Thank you for all you do.
I've created a document to save the link to DC Fed Ct call in # to listen for new ag's replies to Judge Sullivan's questions. ag and potus/tenant have no caps because i can't give that respect of capital letters to either.
We are in this together. No Kings.
Peace.
Christopher and family in Upstate SC
PS always love pics of the extended Vance family sharing your home.
Is this CST?
I believe it is Eastern time, assuming it is in DC. I've placed the entry in my phone's calendar for 11 am since I live in the Chicago zone.
The National Guard in Washington are just standing around looking for something to do. I have been to Washington several times during the occupation and never saw them patrolling or chasing away vagrants or doing anything. When I was a little turned around, a group of young men eagerly gave me directions, which I greatly appreciated. However almost 2 million a day wasted when we cannot afford to feed children or provide head start benefits is the real crime.
Thank you, Professor. I am surprised they are still in DC and what for? We are spending 1.4 million dollars a day for nothing. The soldiers are without their families. The American taxpayers must be really tired of this administration and its paranoia about DC being invaded so to speak which it is not.
"We are spending 1.4 million dollars a day for nothing." We are spending gazillions of TAX dollars for trump's golfing weekend, millions on the ballroom, even if the construction is supposed to be on hold, millions and more on putting fake gold on statues and in the Oval Office....And this is only the tip of the iceberg. When is enough enough so that at least SOME of the 37% who are still supporting the current president see the light of day?
Thank you so much for remembering the chickens last night. Now post paddling pictures like Heather does.
And of course, thanks as always for laying it down like it is with history and back up. We needn't dread the week ahead.
Thank you, Joyce, for sharing the NOTICE OF HEARING. And I greatly appreciate that Judge Sullivan “posted a call-in number for the 1:00 p.m. hearing on his docket,” scheduled for this Thursday.
How awesome would it be if an untold number of callers dialed in. A tangible way to put the Attorney General on notice that the American people are paying attention. He is, after all, the people's lawyer.
"He is, after all, the people's lawyer" - well, he SHOULD be. Let's see.
Thank you as always, a year of this in DC incredibly nauseating..
Thank you Joyce.
The difficult part of constantly noting, is that Trumplandia keeps getting all the breaks. No matter what the courts say, Trumplandia will figure out just how to get around them. Examples include what was done to the Kennedy Center, the White House, the Reflecting Pool, and so much that has been going on. I think We the People are paying for a cadre of evil that has no other job than to figure out how to get around what the courts have ordered, even the Supreme Court. They already have the Roberts 6 in their pocket, but even when those fools decide to stand with our Constitution, which is not often lately, Trumplandia will just try another tactic, like with Birthright citizenship which is clearly stated in the first sentence of the 14th Amendment. I get it the whiny white boys of Trumplandia hate the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments as well as most of the rest of them, but that does not give them the right to stand against them.
We have enough division. Denigrating an entire race of people, my race, further divides when unity is very necessary at this pivotal time.
Kay, you are so right, but it seems nearly everything Republicans do these days, even on a local level is about dividing us and pretending they aren't doing that. We the People do need to work harder to call out the dividing when it happens and as often as we can to draw notice. Without the notice, people will just continue the divisions and think it is just fine since "it's the way it always was." It may be that Divisions have always been present, but that is no excuse for continuing the process. We did that and it was really bad for us!
Yes, thank you for the review. Hope my nausea this failure flop of a pretend nobody's actions gets ditched in about less than 90 days. Onward.
Thank you! I always look forward to your daily posting & am always appreciative of th Stine & effort you put into them. Your view of ‘reality’ is greatly appreciated.