Week 17
By 
A bunch of court decisions, again mostly going against the administration. They are getting harder and harder to follow, partly because each one is so specific. A big decision, say that the Alien Enemies Act cannot be used because we are not at war, would help my understanding a lot. I do understand why the cases need to be so specific, but the bit-by-bit slog can be discouraging to those of us not lawyers. Last night’s by the Supreme Court seems important, but I don’t understand the details. At least it seems to have stopped the deportations.
Donald Trump had a fun visit with his friend Prince Bonesaw and others in the neighborhood. It seems significant that he didn’t visit Israel, but he also didn’t say anything about Israel ramping up its campaign to destroy Gaza. He did say that he made a lot of money on the trip, and I doubt that he was talking about the national interest.
We also heard about the gold-interiored plane his friends in Qatar have offered him. Free for nothing! An offer he can’t refuse! But spoilsports pointed out that it would be a security nightmare and probably cost more than what Boeing is now building to bring it up to Air Force One standards. Trump has turned the conversation to other things, so we’ll probably hear that it’s a done deal in six months.
Follow the court-watchers for the details of the lawsuits, now up to 241, including 8 closed. Chris Geidner (LawDork, Bluesky), Roger Parloff (Lawfare, Bluesky), and the Just Security tracker.
As usual, keep it to things that have actually happened, not hypotheticals. What is actually happening is bad enough.
My real life situation is getting busier. I am selling my house and plan to move to Oregon in July. My rate of posting may decrease.
Caring for yourself and loved ones is resistance too. Post your pets.
Here’s what the Trump administration did this week, in no particular order
- A series of decisions on deporting alleged Tren de Aragua members and their rights. The Trumpies got one saying that the Alien Enemies Act can be used, but three said no.
- Intimidating scientists.
- Ksenia Petrovna released, but charged with felony smuggling frog embryos. She is willing to go to France, but the administration wants to send her to Russia, where she will be persecuted.
Continuing
- Trump’s losses in the courts.
Pushback
- Badar Khan Suri released.
- Democrat wins as Omaha mayor.
- Due process upheld. There was a big decision last night by the Supreme Court that due process must be followed even in the Northern District of Texas. Maybe our lawyers can explain it.
- Trump said that a “deal” is close in the negotiations with Iran, but Supreme Leader Khamenei called him a liar.
Perhaps we need a new category, Splits in the Coalition
- MAGA and Silicon Valley split over the Library of Congress. I’m not clear that The Verge has the right interpretation here, but let’s go with it for now. I have also seen the resistance attributed to the librarians.
- John Thune murmured something about Congress’s responsibilities.
Here’s a slightly different take on events. I am inherently an optimist, but I’m not sure this take isn’t right. So it’s a corrective to what may be overoptimism on my part.
191 more weeks to go. What are you doing?
Previous weeks: Week 1, Week 2, Week 3, Week 4, Week 5, Week 6, Week 7, Week 8. Week 9, Week 10
Week 11, Week 12, Week 13, Week 14, Week 15, Week 16