Accurate, Focused Research on Law, Technology and Knowledge Discovery Since 2002

Category Archives: Courts

Donald Trump, Revenge Junkie

Mother Jones, David Corn: “Now that he’s back in the White House—after his humiliating 2020 defeat—Trump has embarked on a revenge-a-thon that goes beyond what we might have expected even from a vengeance junkie. He has removed security protection from past aides who pissed him off—including former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, former National Security Adviser John Bolton, and former Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman Mark Milley—exposing them to serious danger. Angry at the National Archives for its role in the stolen documents case in which his Mar-a-Lago home was raided and he was indicted, Trump booted out the leadership of that agency. He moved to revoke the security clearance of a private Washington, DC, lawyer who represented the whistleblower at the center of the first impeachment of Trump. He did the same concerning Joe Biden, former Secretary of State Antony Blinken, New York Attorney General Letitia James, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, and others. Trump has tried to freeze out media outlets that draw his ire, particularly the Associated Press, which would not follow his lead and refer to the Gulf of Mexico as the “Gulf of America.” FBI officials and Justice Department prosecutors who worked on the January 6 investigation—which led to the convictions of more than 1,000 Trump supporters who rioted at the US Capitol—have been dismissed or demoted. And Trump’s antagonistic treatment of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy—calling him a “dictator,” blaming him for the war that Russia launched, and berating him on live television during a White House meeting—is likely rooted, in part, in Trump holding him and Ukraine responsible for that first impeachment. (During the infamous call with Zelenskyy that led to the impeachment, Trump referred to a bonkers conspiracy theory that held that Ukraine, not Russia, was involved in the computer hacking during the 2016 election that was blamed on Moscow.)”

Federal Worker Layoffs Climb Toward 250,000 as Deadline Looms

Bloomberg Law: “The Trump administration’s push to drastically shrink the federal government shifts to a new gear Thursday, when agencies face a deadline to submit plans for large-scale layoffs and budget cuts. With them, the list of government job cuts that for weeks had been measured in the tens of thousands — and included retirements,… Continue Reading

Monitor Tracking Civic Space Adds US to Watchlist

Trump administration puts US civic freedoms under severe threat – CIVICUS Monitor Watchlist: “The United States of America (USA) has been added to our Watchlist as the country faces increasing undue restrictions on civic freedoms under President Donald Trump’s second term. Gross abuses of executive power raise serious concerns over the freedoms of peaceful assembly,… Continue Reading

DOGE eliminates critical federal employees, cancels leases on government office buildings across America

TMP Looting Watch by Josh Marshall – In case you didn’t hear the GSA today announced it’s going to sell off many if not all of the central buildings making up the headquarters of the American republic. Those buildings include FBI Headquarters in Washington, DC, the buildings which are the headquarters of the DOJ, HHS,… Continue Reading

Trump Bid to Take Over Postal Service Could Threaten Mail Voting

Democracy Docket: “President Donald Trump may soon attempt to absorb the U.S. Postal Service (USPS), an independent agency, into his administration by issuing an executive order that reportedly would dissolve the service’s leadership. The order could allow the Trump administration to make mail voting — which was used by tens of millions of voters last… Continue Reading

How Elon Musk Executed His Takeover of the Federal Bureaucracy

The New York Times – no paywall: “It was driven with a frenetic focus by Mr. Musk, who channeled his libertarian impulses and resentment of regulatory oversight of his vast business holdings into a singular position of influence. Without ceding control of his companies, the richest man in the world has embedded his engineers and… Continue Reading

The People Carrying Out Musk’s Plans at DOGE

“The New York Times [no paywall] identified 45 people within the so-called Department of Government Efficiency, a group formed by Elon Musk that in a short few weeks has radically upended federal agencies. Few members have formal Washington experience. Many are software engineers. All seem to have a clear mandate: Shrink and disrupt the federal… Continue Reading

Site tracks how much of Project 2025 has been implemented

Project 2025 Tracker – The site tracks overall progress now at 34% as well as well as detailed objectives specific to each government agency. This is a significant and very disconcerting tool. Thanks go out to the folks at the free project you can support via Patreon. See also Searchable Full Project 2025 Text: Mandate… Continue Reading

DOGE’s Millions: As Musk and Trump Gut Government, Their Ax-Cutting Agency Gets Cash Infusion

ProPublica – “The Department of Government Efficiency is funded and acts like a federal agency. But the White House has shielded DOGE from the rules that govern such agencies, ProPublica found as it examines the group and expands a list of DOGE workers. While Elon Musk and his underlings demand budget cuts and layoffs across… Continue Reading

Trump signs executive orders limiting power of agencies

Washington Times: “President Trump on Tuesday [February 18, 2025] signed an executive order [Ensuring Accountability For All Agencies] declaring that only the attorney general or the president, instead of federal regulators or bureaucrats, can speak for the U.S. when interpreting the meaning of laws carried out by the executive branch. The order was among three… Continue Reading

The war on DEI is a smoke screen

The Verge – [unpaywalled] “Violent metaphors abound for what’s happening in Washington: Elon Musk and his allies have taken a “slash-and-burn” approach to the government and a “sledgehammer” to government institutions, doing away with supposed waste and excess while leaving the fundamental structure intact. All of this is being done with the stated goal of… Continue Reading

The Venn Diagram of Trump’s Authoritarian Actions

Kottke.org:  Professor Christina Pagel of University College London has mapped the actions of the Trump administration’s first few weeks into a Venn diagram (above) with “five broad domains that correspond to features of proto-authoritarian states”: Undermining Democratic Institutions & Rule of Law; Dismantling federal government Dismantling Social Protections & Rights; Enrichment & Corruption Suppressing Dissent… Continue Reading