@bcgister thanks! Though he appears a little camera shy. 
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Indiana Republican state Sen. Greg Walker, who has consistently stood against the Trump administration’s redistricting pressure campaign in the state, announced that he will no longer retire from the Indiana legislature.
This seems pretty significant to me. I haven’t previously heard of a situation where a Republican representative retired in the face of Trumpian threats - real threats, mind you, to person and family - then decide to unretire. This tells me that as horrific and dangerous as things are right now, a new day might be breaking. I say this not just because of this, but multiple examples of pushback by Republicans in the House and Senate in recent days. I think they finally recognize, to some degree, that events are out of control, the situation in this country is unstable and unsettled and unsustainable. We are ruled by a madman and he needs to be reined in, if not entirely stopped.
I still want out of this absurdist, unimaginable timeline though. Where’s the manager?
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A couple of things. First, the murderer in Minneapolis hasn’t been arrested yet because he’s a federal law enforcement officer and the State’s power to arrest him when he was acting in a federal capacity is not at all clear. The police in the Floyd case were local cops, so they were subject to State control.
Second, the item on the “minibus” is incomplete, because in fact the bill restores many cuts Trump made in the continuing resolution. GovExec had a summary, which I reproduce here because the link requires a subscription:
While Democrats largely fended off the massive cuts President Trump and House Republicans had sought, they still accepted some reductions. Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., who sits on the Senate Appropriations Committee, said the package of bills was “not perfect” and conceded that “we had to make tough decisions when it comes to what programs to cut and what to protect.” The Environmental Protection Agency would see its funding decreased by 4%, though its budget level would still be $4.7 billion more than Trump proposed. NASA would see its funding cut by 2%, though its core functions would survive. The Energy Department would see its funding remain virtually flat, rejecting the nearly $4 billion cut Trump wanted.
Pumping the brakes on reorganizations
Lawmakers rejected Trump’s efforts to reshape agencies throughout government. The president proposed merging all wildfire fighting efforts into one agency and last year signed an executive order to that effect. Lawmakers specifically blocked that proposal, however, opting to instead maintain the current structure in which federal firefighting operations occur at the U.S. Forest Service within the Agriculture Department, the Interior Department and other agencies. Congress required a study into the feasibility of Trump’s proposal, including how it would differ from the current leadership provided by the National Interagency Fire Center.
The Trump administration also hoped to merge the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives with the Drug Enforcement Administration but Congress killed the effort in the spending package. The Interior Department is in the midst of consolidating thousands of employees away from their bureaus and into the Office of the Secretary, though lawmakers instructed it that any shift of more than 10 employees required Interior to go through the formal reprogramming process. At NASA, the package “directs NASA to provide a briefing on the future of NASA Headquarters, including any plans for NASA to move staff outside of the Washington D.C. region,” lawmakers said in a statement accompanying the bill.
Science survives
In several instances, the White House had looked to decimate spending on scientific efforts at federal agencies. It proposed gutting the National Science Foundation with a 57% funding cut, but lawmakers agreed to just a 3% trimming. The Office of Science within Energy would have seen a $1 billion cut under Trump’s proposal, but lawmakers rejected the suggestion. The president sought to cut NASA’s science budget in half, but lawmakers largely left it in place. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration would receive nearly $1.7 billion more than Trump requested.
Rebuilding workforces The Trump administration has slashed workforces in agencies across government and Congress is now looking to unwind some of those efforts. The National Park Service has shed nearly one-quarter of its permanent staff in the last year, but Congress requested briefings on staffing levels every 60 days and Democrats said the funding was meant to restore staffing to fiscal 2024 levels. The Indian Health Service would receive $38 million to ensure adequate staffing at new facilities. Lawmakers noted in a bipartisan statement accompanying the bill that they were “deeply concerned” about staffing at the National Weather Service and provided $10 million to ensure all Weather Forecast Offices are fully staffed. Congress said the cuts “jeopardize the ability to maintain 24/7 operational coverage critical for timely and accurate weather forecasting, warnings, and emergency response.”
Lawmakers also voiced concerns about the workforce levels within the Executive Office of Immigration Review, the Justice Department agency that houses the nation’s immigration courts, and asked for updates on federal officials being detailed to serve as judges.
Eliminating eliminations
Congress is looking to mostly reject Trump’s effort to kill off federal entities and programs. The White House sought to eliminate the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities, but Congress opted to keep both flat funded with $207 million for each. Trump looked to eliminate forest and rangeland research at the U.S. Forest Service, but the spending package would fully fund the efforts at $308 million. The president would have nearly eliminated climate research at NOAA, but Congress opted to provide $224 million for the projects.
At Energy, Trump requested a nearly 75% to the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, but lawmakers are seeking a more modest 10% cut. Trump would have eliminated the department’s Weatherization Assistance Program, which seeks to lower energy costs for low-income households by improving efficiency, but Congress instead boosted its funding.
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Trump‘s meeting with the oil executives did not go well. They are not going to spend billions of their own money without knowing their investment is safe for decades ahead, and won’t be nationalized again. Chevron is already there and will no doubt get a windfall with taxpayer money to make a small boost in production. That’s about it. Free gifted link:
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It looks like his gun to me owing to the flash and its origin. YMMV.
Well, we’ll just have to leave it there. Now a commercial break and afterwards, results from a focus group, “How badly will nuclear war affect your pocketbook?”
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It’s the weekend.
Two shots of Heather with a Paul chaser:
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I’m pretty sure that video came from Ross’s phone camera, not a body cam. And for the life of me I can’t figure out how the video exonerates him.
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After the events of this past week, I don’t want him to die, I want him perp-walked and held to account in multiple courtrooms both here and abroad. I want to see him an utterly broken man, then I want the rest of his Cabinet, his family, and his billionaire benefactors who have broken the law held accountable. Nothing less is acceptable. Though how we get there from here, I don’t know. Because the Constitution apparently constrains only Democrats while Republicans and this Republican SCOTUS, bought and paid for by billionaires, run roughshod all over it.
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I think, ‘embarrassed:’ I caught the cat at a moment where he might have been sensitive about what he’d just done.
Now, I happily let him go in and out of my space as he pleases; so, the picture is an artifact of an earlier time.
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Sure. I wasn’t there to witness it. I’ll accept your interpretation.
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This isn’t funny. That song of a bitch is about to start a fucking war with Europe.
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Ice beats fat ICE. Obviously, fat ICE belongs only in an Old Fashioned, and not on our streets…
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You guys see the reporting that Netanyahu was talking about winding down U.S. military aid to Israel and Linseed Grahams has said he will be introducing legislation to wind down/end military aid to Israel? What the hell could that mean?
Behind the scenes, Russia, Israel, Chump, and all the Rs are in on a plan that they are keeping quite secret but is animating all this international adventurism that Chump is proposing. And it isn’t for the benefit of the U.S. or U.S. citizens…it is to benefit Putin, Chump, and their billionaire buds.
And we are at this point because of kompromat that Chump accumulated. The world order being turned upside down because of Chump’s ultra-sleazy past. Nice.
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I agree totally. Moreover, I want to see financial judgements against him and his toxic brood which will strip their ill gotten wealth and use it to pay for damages they’ve caused. I know, it won’t be enough even if 100% was confiscated, but impoverishing Donald Trump is important.
After all, he won’t need all that filthy lucre in prison, will he?
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Ok… what is that?
NYT does not like my browser cuz it blocks ads
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Yes, away from justice because even the criminals at DHS know he screwed up.
Fugitive.
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It’s the ICE Capades!
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