#Congressional Research Service

[govtshutdown]

CRS Report IN12433 The Fiscal Responsibility Act (FRA) in FY2025: Current Status

A CRS Insight into the act passed in June 2023 to raise the Debt Ceiling ad its impact on the new fiscal year.

[timeclonemike]

Recent Developments Regarding KOSA (February Edition)

Some folks may have been following the recent congressional hearings on internet content and content handling, which involved big names in the industry. Given both the topic and the timing, it comes as no surprise that some of those involved in it have been trying to push the Kids Online Safety Act both in terms of congressional and public support. It's gone through some superficial changes but the heart of the legislation that makes it a threat to free speech on the internet is the same.

Quick reminder that if it does pass into law, it will allow various states to:

Block access to / sue the providers of any information on abortion resources

Block access to / sue the providers of any information on gender affirming care and transition resources

Censor any talk of what is happening in Palestine / Sudan / other regions threatened by genocide, as well as any protests against such treatment

Monitor and surveil internet use in general, both in terms of what people say and in what they search for

Allow state attorneys general the power to arbitrarily criminalize content with no appeals process

Allow conservative states to get a head start in pushing their Project 2025 agendas

The good news is that this legislation has been pushed back over and over again throughout the whole of 2023, and 2024 is an election year with a LOT of seats up in the air, meaning that the danger of losing voter support carries much more weight than it normally does. In other words, we pushed this back before and we can do it again. You can find the contact information for the senators from your state at the official Senate website, and given the timing of the hearings any such calls / messages / letters should have a somewhat greater impact than they otherwise might.

Remember to be polite and respectful, and to phrase your concerns in such a way that it aligns with the politics of the senator you are calling; conservatives WANT to restrict access to stuff like abortion services and HRT, so you have to scare them with something else, like gun control. Be sure to do your research on who and what has bought your senator and tailor your complaints accordingly for maximum impact. For most democratic senators, the abortion rights issue might be enough on its own, since they've been watching the GOP step on that rake every election since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade and they want that to work for them, not against them.

[misfitwashere]

February 4, 2025

ROBERT B. HUBBELL

FEB 4

LISTEN TO POST · 18:52

With the benefit of 48 hours to organize, we are beginning to see strong signs of resistance from grass-roots groups, congressional Democrats, and a few media outlets as they challenge the unfolding coup driven by Musk for Trump. This is welcome news, indeed!

[After proofreading this newsletter, I realized that I “buried the lead.” Here it is: There is a protest in D.C. on Tuesday at 5 p.m. in front of the Treasury Building, organized by MoveOn and Indivisible. See article below or just sign up here.]

I start with a quick note about the continued reluctance to recognize what is happening as a coup. Jen Psaki on MSNBC referred to the events as a “hostile takeover of the government.” In 100% of the other instances of a “hostile takeover of a government,” Jen Psaki would call it a “coup,” but apparently, special rules apply to Trump.

Likewise, the New York Times published a well-researched, exhaustive article (accessible to all, here) that details the dozens of actions taken by Musk and Trump to overthrow the Constitution. But that 75-paragraph article does not use any of the following words: “legal, illegal, Constitution, unconstitutional, or coup.” The strongest description of Trump's actions the NYT reporters could muster is this cold sauce:

Mr. Musk’s aggressive incursions into at least half a dozen government agencies have challenged congressional authority and potentially breached civil service protections.

Although the facts constituting the coup are contained within the four corners of the NYTimes’ article, the reporters can’t rouse themselves to speak the truth about what is happening. So, the NYTimes’ reporters get an “A+” in “Homework” but a “D-“ in “Citizenship.”

Apart from independent commentators on BlueSky, Substack, and YouTube, no one in the mainstream press has called Trump's actions a “coup.” (Notably, Timothy Snyder did so in his Substack article, The Logic of Destruction.” Snyder includes the following, “All of this work was preparatory to the coup that is going on now.”)

But The Guardian broke ranks with the legacy media on Monday with an editorial entitled, “The Guardian view on Donald Trump’s power grab: a coup veiled by chaos.

The Guardian editorial board writes,

Donald Trump is provoking a US constitutional crisis, claiming sweeping powers to override or bypass Congress’s control over spending in a brazen attempt to centralize financial power in the executive branch. If he succeeds, Nobel laureate Paul Krugman warns, it would be a 21st-century coup – with power slipping from elected officials’ hands. The real story hidden behind the president’s trade war, he says, is the hijacking of government. And Mr Krugman’s right.

We need to raise the alarm if we expect our leaders to respond vigorously and urgently to the dagger aimed at the beating heart of our democracy—the Constitution. It’s a coup. Say its name. It’s not an outrage. It’s not a hostile takeover. It’s not a “challenge to congressional authority.” It is a coup that seeks to neutralize the framework of checks and balances carefully crafted by the Framers. 

[queersatanic]

[This post is a series of images from an infographic by the Slow Factory Foundation originally posted May 2021. The first image is a photo with text over it. The photo shows a massive fireball in the middle of a group of buildings, with a massive black cloud rising from the flames that is bigger than the buildings themselves. The building just behind the fireball is low, rectangular, and lit up bright orange. Behind that building, there is a city lit up at night. Hundreds of buildings stretching into the distance, a thousand glimmering lights.]

What is happening in Palestine is not complicated; it's settler colonialism & ethnic cleansing.

Debunking Misinformation around Palestine.

Myth ❌ Palestine and Israel are in "conflict."

Fact ✅ What is happening in Palestine is settler colonialism, military occupation, land theft and ethnic cleansing. A conflict means there is equal footing, which is not the case. There is an active oppressor (Israel) and an oppressed (Palestine). A colonizer (Israel) and a colonized (Palestine). This is not a conflict.

[Three images of headlines with the word 'conflict' crossed out in red ink.]

Note: According to the Congressional Research Service,

Israeli military occupation has been supported by US aid with $3.8bn a year paid for by U.S. tax dollars since 2016 for the next 10 years.

It's also supported by other colonial countries including Canada, Australia, France and Belgium.

Myth ❌ Before Israel came to Palestine, it was "just a desert" and Israel made the desert green.

Fact ✅ Before the occupation of Israel, Palestine had green, rich and lush land. In fact, Palestine respected the biodiversity of their Indigenous land: Palestinians were producing 92% of Palestine's grain, 99% of its olives and 95% of its melons to name a few.

Since Israel's occupation, biodiversity has decreased. Israel removed Indigenous plants from the land to plant European Invasive species. This phenomenon is called green colonialism, which has been discussed in depth by many, including Naomi Klein in "Let Them Drown."

Myth ❌ Sheikh Jarrah is the only neighborhood in Palestine that is in danger.

Fact ✅ Israel has been gradually stealing Palestinian land, destroying and ethnically cleansing entire Palestinian villages, violently displacing families and building illegal settlements on top them since the first Nakba ('catastrophe' in Arabic) in 1948, where almost 600 Palestinian villages were destroyed, Palestinian history erased and half the Palestinian population were expelled from their homes.

Myth (cont'd.) ❌ Sheikh Jarrah is the only neighborhood in Palestine that is in danger.

Fact ✅ Over the past few decades, the state of Israel has continued the settler colonial project, and Sheikh Jarrah is the latest and not the last neighborhood being violently threatened with dispossession, which Israel has no legal right to do.

[Images of a map showing the drastic decrease in Palestinian landmass from 1946 to 2019. In 1946, Palestine was 99% Palestinian land. In 1947, it decreased to 40%. In 1967, to 30%. And in 2019, less than 20% of Palestine is Palestinian land. The remaining areas are being encroached on by occupied Palestinian land, meaning occupied by Israelis. The rest is Israeli land.]

The mainstream media has been supporting these myths by spreading misinformation that conceal Israel's ongoing genocide and ethnic cleansing of Palestine by saying it's a two-sided conflict, framing Palestinian resistance as terrorism and normalizing the state of Israel.

To learn more about Palestine and the ongoing fight for liberation, follow Palestinian-led organizations, media and frontline activists. [@Instagram / Facebook]

@theimeu / Institute for Middle East Understanding ( IMEU )

@eye.on.palestine

@palestinianyouthmovement / Palestinian Youth Movement (PYM)- حركة الشباب الفلسطيني

@jewishvoiceforpeace / Jewish Voice for Peace

@visualizing_palestine / Visualizing Palestine

@wolpalestine [Censored by Meta]

@mohammedelkurd / Mohammed El-Kurd

@muna.elkurd15 / Muna Nabeel Elkurd

@nouraerakat / Noura Erakat

Sources & Suggested Reading

Freedom is a Constant Struggle by Angela Davis

Let Them Drown by Naomi Klein

Black Power and Palestine by Michael Fischbach

Orientalism by Edward Said

The Question of Palestine by Edward Said

Palestine by Joe Sacco

"Zionist Logic — Malcolm X on Zionism" in The Egyptian Gazette, Sept. 17, 1964

On Palestine by Noam Chomsky and Ilan Pappé

The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine by Ilan Pappé

[End of images]

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

Steve Brodner

* * * *

The resistance begins to coalesce.

February 4, 2025

Robert B. Hubbell

With the benefit of 48 hours to organize, we are beginning to see strong signs of resistance from grass-roots groups, congressional Democrats, and a few media outlets as they challenge the unfolding coup driven by Musk for Trump. This is welcome news, indeed!

[After proofreading this newsletter, I realized that I “buried the lead.” Here it is: There is a protest in D.C. on Tuesday at 5 p.m. in front of the Treasury Building, organized by MoveOn and Indivisible. See article below or just sign up here.]

I start with a quick note about the continued reluctance to recognize what is happening as a coup. Jen Psaki on MSNBC referred to the events as a “hostile takeover of the government.” In 100% of the other instances of a “hostile takeover of a government,” Jen Psaki would call it a “coup,” but apparently, special rules apply to Trump.

Likewise, the New York Times published a well-researched, exhaustive article (accessible to all, here) that details the dozens of actions taken by Musk and Trump to overthrow the Constitution. But that 75-paragraph article does not use any of the following words: “legal, illegal, Constitution, unconstitutional, or coup.” The strongest description of Trump's actions the NYT reporters could muster is this cold sauce:

Mr. Musk’s aggressive incursions into at least half a dozen government agencies have challenged congressional authority and potentially breached civil service protections.

Although the facts constituting the coup are contained within the four corners of the NYTimes’ article, the reporters can’t rouse themselves to speak the truth about what is happening. So, the NYTimes’ reporters get an “A+” in “Homework” but a “D-“ in “Citizenship.”

Apart from independent commentators on BlueSky, Substack, and YouTube, no one in the mainstream press has called Trump's actions a “coup.” (Notably, Timothy Snyder did so in his Substack article, The Logic of Destruction.” Snyder includes the following, “All of this work was preparatory to the coup that is going on now.”)

But The Guardian broke ranks with the legacy media on Monday with an editorial entitled, “The Guardian view on Donald Trump’s power grab: a coup veiled by chaos.

The Guardian editorial board writes,

Donald Trump is provoking a US constitutional crisis, claiming sweeping powers to override or bypass Congress’s control over spending in a brazen attempt to centralize financial power in the executive branch. If he succeeds, Nobel laureate Paul Krugman warns, it would be a 21st-century coup – with power slipping from elected officials’ hands. The real story hidden behind the president’s trade war, he says, is the hijacking of government. And Mr Krugman’s right.

We need to raise the alarm if we expect our leaders to respond vigorously and urgently to the dagger aimed at the beating heart of our democracy—the Constitution. It’s a coup. Say its name. It’s not an outrage. It’s not a hostile takeover. It’s not a “challenge to congressional authority.” It is a coup that seeks to neutralize the framework of checks and balances carefully crafted by the Framers.

But there is much to celebrate from actions on Monday as the resistance began to coalesce. Let’s take a look!

Join MoveOn and Indivisible at a protest in front of the Treasury Building in DC on Tuesday, February 4.

The grassroots organizations MoveOn and Indivisible have called for a protest in front of the Treasury Building in Washington, D.C. on Tuesday, February 4 at 5:00 p.m. EST. The protest is called “We Choose to Fight: Nobody Elected Elon! · MoveOn.”

If you live within driving distance of D.C. and can make it to the protest, every attendee matters! This will be the first protest of many, but your presence will give it credibility and impact!

Here is MoveOn’s description of the event:

Rally at the Treasury building to stop Elon Musk’s billionaire takeover. Nobody elected Elon! We need everyone to fight this hostile takeover at every level—that includes Democrats in Congress, who need to unite and do everything in their power to get Musk’s hands off our money and stop the Musk takeover.

Click on this link to register (so organizers can plan accordingly): “We Choose to Fight: Nobody Elected Elon! · MoveOn.”

If you attend, please post in the Comment section of this newsletter (or Wednesday’s) to share your experience. Send me photos that are okay to use in the newsletter. Thanks!

Senator Schatz to place “hold” on all GOP Nominees

At last! Democrats in the Senate are going to do what they can to slow down the confirmation of Trump's nominees to protest the effort to shut down USAID. (See story below about Senator Brian Schatz’s statement.)

From Reuters, Democratic senator to block Trump nominees over US aid agency shutdown:

Under the chamber’s rules, one senator can hold up nominations even if the other 99 all want them to move quickly, forcing the Senate to consume many hours of floor time to move nominations or promotions ahead.

Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries releases 10-part resistance plan for Democrats.

Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries released a ten-part plan to resist Trump's efforts to overthrow the Constitution. The letter is here: Dear Colleague re: Ongoing House Democratic Caucus Activity | Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries.

Take a moment to read the letter. Jeffries explains what Democrats in the House can do—even though they are in the minority. Sometime in the next month or two, Speaker Mike Johnson is going to need dozens of Democratic votes to raise the debt limit. All of the steps are important, but Minority Leader Jeffries emphasizes the role of communication to his colleagues, who have been strangely docile to this point:

Lastly, we urge all Members to once again conduct district-wide outreach today, or as soon as possible this week, in order to connect directly with our constituents and discuss the challenges we are decisively addressing on their behalf. For example, I will conduct a telephone town hall meeting in my district this evening. We will track participation throughout the Caucus.

Keep up the pressure, Leader Jeffries! The House Democratic caucus needs motivation!

Congressional Democrats hold a “protest conference” in front of the USAID building

On Monday, Musk claimed to have “shut down” the USAID agency, which was created by congressional statute. Over the weekend, per the BBC, Musk said that USAID was

"evil", a "criminal organization" and a "radical-left political psy op" - short for "psychological operation", a term commonly used online to allege a conspiracy or cover-up.

USAID staff members were locked out of their offices on Monday. Secretary of State Marco Rubio attempted to walk back Musk’s comments, claiming that he (Rubio) was the “acting director” of USAID and would be proposing “reforms” to Congress.

Democrats created a “photo opportunity” for the media showing push-back against the coup. A dozen congressional representatives gathered in front of the USAID building and sought entrance to view the mischief. However, someone denied entry to the USAID building to US Congress members. See Axios, Congressional Democrats denied entry to USAID building.

Let’s reflect on that fact for a moment. The USAID building has been taken over and shut down by a small group of Musk affiliates who may--or may not--have security clearances allowing them to seize control of the building. And those anonymous interlopers are refusing access to members of the US Congress. The world has gone mad—and the only word to describe that turn of events is “a coup.”

Of course, neither Musk nor Rubio has the authority to shut down an agency created by Congress simply because they hope Congress will pass reforms in the future. The weak cover provided by Rubio fooled no one. The offices are closed, the website is dark, and projects across the globe have been shut down.

Federal Judge halts OMB Freeze Memo

Eons ago—last Monday—the OMB issued a “freeze memo” that was the first salvo in Trunp’s effort to unilaterally freeze payment of all grants and loans by the US government. Last week, US District Judge AliKhan issued an “administrative” stay to allow the parties to brief the merits. On Monday, Judge AliKhan issued a temporary restraining order that will halt the “freeze memo” until a hearing on a preliminary injunction.

The lawsuit was brought on behalf of the National Council of Nonprofits by Democracy Forward. See Democracy Forward, Judge Issues Temporary Restraining Order on OMB Freeze. A copy of Judge AliKhan’s order is here.

Judge AliKhan’s order requires the Trump administration to “file a status report on or before February 7, 2025, apprising the court of the status of its compliance with this Order, including by providing a copy of the written notice described above.”

CREW files a lawsuit to block Trump's plan to fire government workers.

Citizens for Responsibly and Ethics in Washington (CREW) and Democracy Forward have filed a lawsuit seeking to block Trump's plan to fire tens of thousands of federal workers in violation of civil service and union protections. See CREW, Democracy Forward sue to block Trump's illegal plan to fire government workers.

So, it took a few days, but the pushback is happening thanks to terrific pro-democracy organizations like CREW and Democracy Forward. I will look for opportunities to showcase their work to readers of this newsletter in an online conference.

Tariffs update

As always, there is more news to cover, but the forward movement in the resistance on Monday was the main story. But I can’t leave this newsletter without mentioning that Trump's effort to impose sanctions on Mexico and Canada collapsed after a negative reaction by the markets. Both Mexico and Canada promised to do things they had already announced, which gave Trump the cover necessary to retreat in defeat while claiming victory. HuffPo’s headline was, Paper Tiger Prez? Backs Off Tariff Threat Fast.

But the 10% sanctions against China went into effect on Monday evening and China’s reaction was swift and harsh. Per the NYTimes,

The Chinese government responded with a series of retaliatory steps, including additional tariffs on coal, natural gas, farm machinery and other products from the United States. It also said it had implemented restrictions on the export of certain critical minerals, many of which are used in the production of high-tech products. In addition, Chinese market regulators said they had launched an antimonopoly investigation into Google. Google is blocked from China’s internet, but the move may disrupt the company’s dealings with Chinese companies.

Based on his surrender to Mexico and Canada, it is possible that Trump will quickly retreat on his threats against China, as well. More chaos from a president who hasn’t a clue how to run a country.

Opportunity for reader engagement

Join VoteRiders in a letter-writing campaign for the first big election of 2025!

I received this note from my good friends at VoteRiders—a great organization dedicated to helping voters secure the identification they need to register and vote! VoteRiders is always looking for volunteers and support:

The first big election of 2025 is coming up right away! Wisconsin voters will vote Feb. 18 in primary elections, including for a pivotal state Supreme Court race.

Wisconsin has some of the nation’s strictest voter ID laws, which could keep many eligible voters from participating in this important election. That’s why we need your help!

Join us this Thursday, February 6 at 7pm ET (4pm PT / 6pm CT) to write letters to Wisconsin voters! Sign up here!

Concluding Thoughts

Emotional check: I continue to receive a higher volume of emails than normal. The despair that was prevalent last week is transitioning into bewilderment, indignation, and anger. Many readers include some variation of the questions, “How can this happen? Why can’t we do anything to stop it?”

The answer to the “How can this happen?” question is simple and disturbing: Trump told voters that he would do exactly what he is doing, and a plurality of those who voted on November 5, 2024, voted for Trump.

The second question needs to be reframed. Many readers say things like, “Why doesn’t the FBI arrest Musk? Can’t Democrats impeach Trump?”

The FBI isn’t going to arrest Musk because Trump would fire the FBI agents and grant Musk a pardon. And Democrats don’t have the votes to impeach Trump, much less convict him.

But I like the way the readers are thinking. Introducing a futile impeachment resolution would be an aggressive sign of resistance. Trump would howl and bluster—and a point would be made.

The “unsuccessful” rally by congressional Democrats outside the USAID building today gave me great hope that the Democratic party is finally starting to “get it”—i.e., it is no excuse to refrain from action merely because we believe the action will not succeed in the short term.

We will never know whether our actions will succeed if we quit without trying. And we cannot know in advance which protest or act of resistance will spark the flames of a massive movement against Trump’s attempt to overthrow the Constitution. Your action might turn out to be that spark!

[Robert B. Hubbell Newsletter]

[govtshutdown]

CRS Report R48214

Overview of Continuing Appropriations for FY2025 (Division A of P.L. 118-83)

The Congressional Research Service breaks down the first part of the continuing resolution extending Federal funding until Dec. 20th.

[darkmaga-returns]

In two short weeks, President Donald Trump has issued scores of executive orders, many of them related to gender identity. Outraged critics claim that he lacks the authority to do so. Do they have a case?

Consider first the orders themselves. In addition to recognition of a formal two-sex policy for the whole of government, Trump issued executive orders barring trans-identified individuals from service in the military, requiring the removal of preferred pronouns in all government communiques, and directing all federally funded educational institutions to maintain athletic programs separated by biological sex, rather than gender identity.

One particular executive order of January 28, 2025—“Protecting Children from Chemical and Surgical Mutilation”—directed all federal agencies, among others, to “immediately take appropriate steps to ensure that institutions receiving Federal research or education grants end gender-affirming medical care for people under nineteen.” It also directed the Secretary of Health and Human Services to “end the chemical and surgical mutilation of children,” including through Medicare or Medicaid conditions of participation or conditions for coverage,” and through “section 1557 of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act,” the ACA’s non-discrimination provision.

[justinspoliticalcorner]

David Smith at The Guardian:

Donald Trump and his Republican allies are planning to target progressive groups they perceive as political enemies in a sign of deepening “authoritarianism”, a US watchdog has warned. The president-elect could potentially use the justice department and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to target non-profits and researchers, launch politically motivated investigations and pass legislation to restrict their activities. “Trump has made it clear that he plans to use his second term to attack the progressive ecosystem and his perceived enemies,” Adrienne Watson of the Congressional Integrity Project (CIP) told the Guardian. “This is a worrying progression of Trump’s authoritarianism that would undermine our democracy.”

The CIP announced on Wednesday that it will aim to counter such abuses of power with a new initiative to defend progressive groups and individuals. The Civic Defense Project will be led by Watson, a former White House and Democratic National Committee spokesperson. Fears have been raised by the Trump second term agenda’s considerable overlap with Project 2025, a policy blueprint from the Heritage Foundation think tank that includes plans to attack non-profits, researchers and civil society groups that have challenged election denial narratives.

Activists say the threat extends beyond political investigations and includes leveraging government agencies such as the justice department and IRS to investigate, prosecute and shut down organisations that oppose the administration’s policies. Trump has nominated individuals with a record of targeting non-profits they disagree with to key positions, including Billy Long for IRS commissioner and Pam Bondi for attorney general. Kash Patel, Trump’s nominee for FBI director, has vowed to “come after” media outlets and non-profits that he claims “helped Joe Biden rig presidential elections”. Congressional Republicans have a history of targeting non-profits including charities, advocacy groups and universities, the CIP says. This includes recently seeking to investigate and restrict the activities of tax-exempt organisations supporting causes they oppose.

The Guardian reported that Donald Trump's regime in his 2nd term would plan to go after progressive watchdogs and nonprofits to put a stamp on his authoritarian rule. This reeks of Project 2025 bullpucky.

[mariacallous]

This summer, the Supreme Court is poised to overturn a cornerstone of administrative law known as "Chevron deference." Established in the 1984 case Chevron v. NRDC, this doctrine instructs courts to defer to federal agencies' interpretations of laws where the underlying statute is ambiguous (or even silent). Absent Chevron, Congress could be forced to be much more specific in how it crafts legislation, delegates authority, and conducts regulatory oversight. If it refuses to adapt, agencies could be incapacitated and service delivery could stall.

Ironically, the effort to dismantle Chevron and return responsibility to the legislative branch may happen amid a historically unproductive and divided Congress. Briefing and oral arguments for Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, the case challenging the 1984 decision, raised questions about Congress' preparedness. And outside the Court, commentators fear Congress may be too broken to fix.

As close watchers of efforts to modernize Congress over the past decade, we don't share that pessimism. But a lot will have to change. In the 40 years since Chevron was decided, Congress has seen worsening dysfunction and atrophy. Staffing on House committees has shrunk by 41 percent. Critical support offices like the Congressional Research Service and the Government Accountability Office have downsized by more than 25 percent. Meanwhile, the complexity of the federal bureaucracy has increased immensely.

While Chevron is often described as diminishing congressional authority, that's not entirely accurate. Rather than stealing authority from Congress, the ruling created the political conditions for Congress to be deliberately ambiguous, and punt contentious policy details to the executive branch. This change was then followed by a hollowing out of committee expertise, increased dependence on lobbyists, centralization of power in leadership, and more gridlock. As attorney Paul Clement argued in Loper Bright v. Raimondo:

Chevron is a big factor in contributing to gridlock. And let me give you a concrete example. I would think that the uniquely 21st-century phenomenon of cryptocurrency would have been addressed by Congress, and I certainly would have thought that would have been true in the wake of the FTX debacle. But it hasn't happened. Why hasn't it happened? Because there's an agency head out there that thinks that he already has the authority to address this uniquely 21st-century problem with a couple of statutes passed in the 1930s.

A post-Chevron world could force Congress to increase its internal capacity, invest in expertise, overhaul its processes, better monitor implementation, and respond more quickly. If not, depending where SCOTUS comes down, things could start to break.

Massive institutional reforms in Congress are rare and usually come in response to a crisis or scandal, whether post-Nixon budget changes, post-Jack Abramoff lobbying reform, or post-9/11 security changes (including the embrace of email after Anthrax attacks).

More recently, we saw continuity upgrades accelerated during the pandemic, and Congress is now responding with remarkable haste to responsibly adopt AI tools. Since 2019, a bipartisan modernization effort in the House has produced and implemented over 100 reforms, creating a virtuous cycle in which members, staff, and outside experts work together to improve the institution.

Post-Chevron, these efforts need to be dramatically expanded. This will require not just incremental adjustments but a comprehensive upgrade in resources, staffing, and operations. It will require a major increase to the legislative branch's budget even as the U.S. faces a difficult fiscal outlook. Indeed, while Congress is a mere 0.1 percent of federal expenditures, it has long been a salient and politically expedient place for politicians to make cuts.

One key area where Congress will need to improve is its regulatory monitoring and oversight. AEI scholars Kevin Kosar and Philip Wallach proposed a vehicle for this change: a new "Congressional Regulation Office" (CRO). The CRO would undertake critical tasks such as conducting benefit-cost analyses of significant agency rules, performing retrospective reviews to assess the effectiveness and impact of existing regulations, and identifying redundancies or conflicts across the regulatory landscape. Another approach would be to build this function inside of an existing agency, such as the Government Accountability Office or the Congressional Budget Office.

In addition to building a new regulatory support function, Congress will need to bolster its staff capacity and technology resources, with a particular focus on committees with substantial regulatory jurisdiction, as well as support agencies.

Unfortunately, to date, we are unaware of any major hearings or other efforts in Congress to address this challenge. Meanwhile, court watchers see that an upheaval to Chevron is coming. Regardless of where you come down on the merits of the case, it's crucial to get ready. While most will be focused on the November election throughout 2024, some of the biggest changes coming to Congress may soon be decided by nine votes.

[importantwomensbirthdays]

Roseli Ocampo-Friedmann

Botanist and microbiologist Roseli Ocampo-Friedmann was born in 1937 in Manila, Philippines. Ocampo-Friedman was best known for her research on cyanobacteria and other organisms that survive in extreme conditions. In the 1970s, she and her husband, Imre Friedmann, found microbes beneath rocks in Antarctica's frozen deserts. Ocampo-Friedmann collected over 1,000 types of microorganisms from extreme conditions throughout the world. She was a professor of biology and microbiology at Florida A&M University, and later a researcher at SETI's Carl Sagan Center for the Study of Life in the Universe. In 1981, she won the National Science Foundation's Congressional Antarctic Service Medal. In 2005, a mountain peak in Antarctica was named after her.

Roseli Ocampo-Friedmann died in 2005 at the age of 67.

[moontyger]

Enjoy accurate weather forecasts while they last.

President Donald Trump’s march to drastically downsize the government has reached the nation’s climate and weather agency — threatening to disrupt a wide range of economic sectors that rely on federal weather data, from agriculture and transportation to real estate and even insurance, writes Scott Waldman.

The administration is looking to cut NOAA’s 12,000-employee workforce in half, two former officials of the agency, a member of Congress and a congressional staffer told Scott. Democrats expressed concern today that billionaire Elon Musk, who heads the so-called Department of Government Efficiency, may also try to take control of the National Weather Service.

Musk owns the largest satellite fleet in orbit — through his company SpaceX — and would stand to gain from privatizing the weather service, writes Garrett Downs. The agency operates an array of satellites, buoys, balloons and radar installations.

The tech mogul’s bureaucracy-slashing band of volunteers has moved deeper into the nation’s federal agencies, accessing sensitive data, cutting programs and putting personnel on leave. Its officials visited NOAA headquarters in Silver Spring, Maryland, last week.

Reducing NOAA’s staff and commercializing national weather forecasting is in line with recommendations detailed in Project 2025, a conservative wish list written as a playbook for a second Trump administration. It calls for NOAA to be “broken up and downsized” largely because of its climate change research, and says the weather service “should fully commercialize its forecasting operations” — whatever that means.

The Project 2025 authors contended that private companies such as AccuWeather offer more reliable forecasts than the NWS does — though their source for that claim was an AccuWeather press release that didn’t even mention NOAA or the NWS. AccuWeather has come out against the Project 2025 plan, with its CEO emphasizing last year that “it has never been our goal to take over the provision of all weather information.”

NOAA is one of the world’s top climate science agencies, making it a popular target for fossil fuel proponents. That research helps inform its other functions, which includes managing the NWS, the National Hurricane Center and the nation’s fisheries.

[cliff-montgomery]

The Thorny Problem of Straw Purchases in U.S. Gun Law

by Cliff Montgomery - Feb. 15th, 2024

Yesterday’s mass shooting at a parade intended to celebrate the Kansas City Chiefs’ recent Super Bowl victory over the San Francisco 49s once again reminds us of the need for serious gun laws and gun law reform.

On February 9th, two short reviews on current federal gun laws were released by the Congressional Research Service (CRS). The CRS refers to itself as a “ non-partisan shared staff to congressional committees and Members of Congress.” In short, it prepares concise, easy-to understand reports on matters of the moment to members of the U.S. and their affiliated staff members.

We will cover those two short studies for our readers. Tonight, we look at the report Gun Control: Straw Purchase and Gun Trafficking Provisions in Public Law 117-159, better known as the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act.

Straw purchases are defined by the study as “illegal firearms transactions in which a person serves as a middleman by posing as the transferee, but is actually acquiring the firearm for another person.”

Below, we offer readers most of the central statements found in the CRS report:

“On June 25, 2022, President Joe Biden signed into law the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act (BSCA; S. 2938; P.L. 117-159). This law includes the Stop Illegal Trafficking in Firearms Act, provisions of which amend the Gun Control Act of 1968 (GCA, 18 U.S.C. §§921 et seq.) to more explicitly prohibit straw purchases and illegal gun trafficking. Related provisions expand federal law enforcement investigative authorities.

Federal Firearms Law

���The GCA is the principal statute regulating interstate firearms commerce in the United States. The purpose of the GCA is to assist federal, state, and local law enforcement in ongoing efforts to reduce violent crime.

“Congress constructed the GCA to allow state and local governments to regulate firearms more strictly within their own borders, so long as state law does not conflict with federal law or violate constitutional provisions.

“Hence, one condition of a federal firearms license for gun dealers, which permits the holder to engage in interstate firearms commerce, is that the licensee must comply with both federal and state law.

“Also, under the GCA there are several classes of persons prohibited from shipping, transporting, receiving, or possessing firearms or ammunition (e.g., convicted felons, fugitives, unlawful drug users). It was and remains unlawful under the GCA for any person to transfer knowingly a firearm or ammunition to a prohibited person (18 U.S.C. §922(d)). Violations are punishable by up to 10 years’ imprisonment.

“The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) is the principal agency that administers and enforces the GCA, as well as the 1934 National Firearms Act (NFA, 26 U.S.C. §§5801 et seq.).

“The NFA further regulates certain firearms deemed to be especially dangerous (e.g., machine guns, short-barreled shotguns) by taxing all aspects of the making and transfer of such weapons and requiring their registration with the Attorney General.

Straw Purchase Provision

“Straw purchases are illegal firearms transactions in which a person serves as a middleman by posing as the transferee, but is actually acquiring the firearm for another person.

“As discussed below, straw purchases are unlawful under two existing laws. Prosecutions under those provisions have been characterized by some as mere paperwork violations and, hence, inadequate in terms of deterring unlawful gun trafficking.

“P.L. 117-159 amends the GCA with a new provision, 18 U.S.C. §932, to prohibit any person from knowingly purchasing or conspiring to purchase any firearm for, on behalf of, or at the request or demand of any other persons if the purchaser knows or has reasonable cause to believe that the actual buyer

is a person prohibited from being transferred a firearm under 18 U.S.C. §922(d);

plans to use, carry, possess, or sell (dispose of) the firearm(s) in furtherance of a felony, federal crime of terrorism, or drug trafficking crime; or

plans to sell or otherwise dispose of the firearm(s) to a person who would meet any of the conditions described above.

“Violations are punishable by a fine and up to 15 years’ imprisonment. Violations made by a person knowing or having reasonable cause to believe that any firearm involved will be used to commit a felony, federal crime of terrorism, or drug trafficking crime are punishable by a fine and up to 25 years’ imprisonment.

Gun Trafficking Provision

“Gun trafficking entails the movement or diversion of firearms from legal to illegal channels of commerce in violation of the GCA. P.L. 117-159 amends the GCA with a new provision, 18 U.S.C. §933, to prohibit any person from shipping, transporting, causing to be shipped or transported, or otherwise disposing of any firearm to another person with the knowledge or reasonable cause to believe that the transferee’s use, carrying, or possession would constitute a felony.

“It would also prohibit the receipt of such firearm if the transferee knows or has reasonable cause to believe that receiving it would constitute a felony. Attempts and conspiracies to violate these provisions are proscribed as well. Violations are punishable by a fine and up to 15 years’ imprisonment. […]

GCA Interstate Transfer Prohibitions

“The GCA generally prohibits anyone who is not a Federal Firearms Licensee (FFL) from acquiring a firearm from an out-of-state source. [But] Interstate transfers among unlicensed persons may be facilitated through an FFL in the state where the transferee resides. […]

GCA Record-keeping and Straw Purchases

“Under the GCA (18 U.S.C. §926), Congress authorized a decentralized system of record-keeping allowing ATF to trace a firearm’s chain of commerce, from manufacturer or importer to dealer, and to the first retail purchaser of record. FFLs must maintain certain records, including ATF Forms 4473, on transfers to non-FFLs as well as a parallel acquisition/disposition log.

“As part of a firearms transaction, both the FFL and purchaser must truthfully fill out and sign the ATF Form 4473. The FFL must verify the purchaser’s name, date of birth, and other information by examining government-issued identification (e.g., driver’s license). The purchaser attests on Form 4473 that he or she is not a prohibited person and is the actual transferee/buyer. […]

“[However,] straw purchases are not easily detected because they only become apparent when the straw purchase is revealed by a subsequent transfer to a prohibited person.

Other GCA Gun Trafficking Prohibitions

“According to ATF, gun trafficking often entails an unlawful flow of firearms from jurisdictions with less restrictive firearms laws to jurisdictions with more restrictive firearms laws, both domestically and internationally.

“Such unlawful activities can include, but are not limited to, the following:

straw purchasers or straw purchasing rings in violation of the provisions described above;

persons engaging in the business of dealing in firearms without a license in violation of 18 U.S.C. §921(a)(1)(A), punishable by up to 5 years’ imprisonment;

corrupt FFLs dealing off-the-books in an attempt to escape federal regulation in violation of 18 U.S.C. §922(b)(5), punishable by up to 5 years’ imprisonment; and

trafficking in stolen firearms in violation of 18 U.S.C. §922(j), punishable by up to 10 years’ imprisonment.

“Under current law, offenders could potentially be charged with multiple offenses under both the preexisting GCA provisions such as those discussed above and 18 U.S.C. §§932 and 933.

“Since P.L. 117-159 went into effect on October 31, 2023, 250 defendants have been charged with gun trafficking, including 80 charged with violating the law’s straw purchase provision.

“In January 2024, the National Shooting Sports Foundation—an industry trade group for the firearms industry—noted that the ATF has yet to implement two parts of P.L. 117-159: ‘Firearm Handler Background Checks’ (FHCs) and instant point-of-sale background checks when an FFL buys from a private individual.

“The former would allow FFLs to use the NICS to background check FFL employees and has been in regulatory review since September 26, 2023. The latter would allow FFLs to instantly identify if a weapon is stolen at the point of sale by authorizing importers, manufacturers, and dealers of firearms to access records of stolen firearms in the National Crime Information Center; it has been in the interim final rule stage since May 17, 2023.”

[yourreddancer]

WHAT MELANIA AND IVANKA SAID ABOUT USAID

Donald Trump — abetted by his unelected assistant president, Elon Musk — is trying to dismantle the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).

He has called USAID a “tremendous fraud.”

Interesting, then, that both his wife, Melania, and his daughter Ivanka have worked with and praised the agency.

In 2018, Melania Trump — who was First Lady at the time — visited Egypt, Ghana, Kenya, and Malawi with USAID.

She said this:

“We care, and we want to show the world that we care, and I’ve partnered and am working with USAID. And that’s what I want to share — that we care.”

And this:

“I wanted to be here to see the successful programs that the United States is providing to the children.”

And this:

“We are having funding, so we are helping the countries, and we are working hard for helping them and we will continue to help.”

Ivanka Trump, for her part, took credit for leading a $50 million USAID program in 2019 to empower women in developing countries, saying:

“We know there’s a correlation between gender inequality and conflict, there’s tremendous amounts of research. ... It is in our domestic security interests to empower women.”

And on a trip to Africa of her own, Ivanka visited Ivory Coast and Ethiopia to announce millions in USAID assistance for women entrepreneurs.

Ivanka even used some $11,000 in USAID funds to buy video equipment for an event at the White House in 2019, during her father’s first term.

For those not caught up in “DOGE”-driven ideological extremism, supporting the humanitarian work of USAID is common sense.

Public Citizen is suing Trump over his attempt to dissolve USAID. Our earlier note about this new lawsuit is copied below in case you missed it.

On Friday night, a federal judge granted our request for emergency action to stop the Trump regime from putting 2,200 USAID workers on leave and to bring back the hundreds put on leave earlier in the week.

But this is only a temporary interruption to Trump’s (Musk’s?) plans. We will be back in court next week. This lawsuit is far from over.

******

This past Thursday night, Public Citizen sued Donald Trump for shutting down the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).

By dissolving USAID — in clear disregard for the law and the Constitution — Trump has touched off a global humanitarian catastrophe.

Originally established by Congress in 1961 — when John F. Kennedy was president — USAID is a vital humanitarian organization that provides life-saving food, medicine, and support to much of the rest of the world.

But Trump has illegally ordered USAID workers to stop doing their jobs, frozen the agency’s funding, and prepared to lay off or fire nearly all employees.

With USAID in disarray, medical clinics, soup kitchens, refugee assistance programs, and countless other critical projects across the globe cannot operate.

This is a humanitarian nightmare of Donald Trump’s and Elon Musk’s making in service of ideologically bizarre interests.

Last Monday, Elon Musk bragged that he had spent the weekend “feeding USAID into the wood chipper.” The Constitution is clear — Congress created USAID and only Congress can dismantle it. Not MAGA sycophant and Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Not President Donald Trump. And definitely not the unelected Elon Musk.

Public Citizen is representing the American Foreign Service Association and American Federation of Government Employees in this case, with co-counsel at Democracy Forward.

Our lawsuit seeks a permanent injunction barring Trump, and State Department or Treasury Department officials, from taking any action to dissolve USAID absent congressional authorization. We are also seeking a temporary restraining order — mandating a reversal of the Trump regime’s unlawful actions and a halt to any further steps to dissolve USAID — until the court has resolved our suit.

By the way, we have now filed five lawsuits against the Trump regime (and there are more to come). Here are the other four:

1. We’ve told you about the suit we filed, within moments of Trump being sworn in, challenging the secrecy and structure of the so-called Department of Government Efficiency that is being run by Elon Musk.

2. We also sued over the removal from publicly accessible government websites of a broad range of health-related data and other information used by health professionals to diagnose and treat patients.

3. We’ve been emailing you about the suit we filed earlier this week to block the illegal invasion of privacy being carried out by “DOGE” at the U.S. Treasury Department.

4. And, on Friday morning, we filed a lawsuit to block “DOGE” from improperly accessing private information at the Department of Education.

[govtshutdown]

CRS Report R48176

FY2025 Appropriations Status: In Brief

An update from the Congressional Research Service posted on Sept. 30th, the end of the Fiscal Year.

[darkmaga-returns]

Asalary bump for members of Congress, who are currently paid $174,000 per year, is included in the 1,547-page spending bill that was unveiled on Tuesday night.

Congress has to pass a spending bill to keep the government funded before the end of the day on Friday. The current version is a Continuing Resolution that would last until mid-March.

Congress has voted since 2009 to block lawmakers from receiving automatic cost-of-living adjustments.

The House speaker earns $223,500 annually and the Senate majority leader makes $193,400 while other lawmakers earn $174,000 currently. The average salary in the United States is $66,621, according to the latest data from the Social Security Administration. 

A provision in the negotiated spending bill would allow the automatic pay raises to return, which could yield a $6,600 raise next year for lawmakers, according to a Congressional Research Service report��from September that analyses salaries.

According to Gallup polling, Congress has a 19% approval rating among the public. 

The low approval comes after a Republican-led House that swept to power in 2023 with promises to restore normal budgeting and large spending cuts failed to do both,

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Berkeley Lovelace Jr. at NBC News:

Millions of Americans risk losing subsidies next year that help them pay for health insurance following President-elect Donald Trump’s election win and Republicans’ victory in the Senate. The subsidies — which expire at the end of 2025 — came out of the 2021 American Rescue Plan, and increased the amount of assistance available to people who want to buy health insurance through the Affordable Care Act. The American Rescue Plan also broadened the number of people eligible for subsidies, extending them to many in the middle class.  

The looming expiration date means that the incoming Congress and next president will need to decide whether to extend them — something Trump and Republicans have already signaled they don’t support, said Chris Meekins, a health policy research analyst at the investment firm Raymond James. “If Republicans end up winning the House, in addition to the Senate and White House, having a GOP sweep, I think the odds are less than 5% they get extended,” said Meekins, who was a senior HHS official in Trump’s first term. Even Democratic control of the House likely won’t save the subsidies, he added.  Several important House races have still yet to be decided. As of Thursday afternoon, House Republicans had won 209 seats, just nine short of the majority, according to an NBC News tracker.  In 2024, more than 20 million people got health insurance through the ACA, according to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. 

Since the 2021 subsidies went into effect, enrollment in ACA plans with reduced payments doubled, particularly in Southern red states, said Cynthia Cox, the director of the program on the ACA at KFF, a nonpartisan health care policy research group.  The Inflation Reduction Act, passed in 2022, extended the subsidies through 2025. In 32 states where data is available, 15.5 million people receive the subsidies, according to KFF. If the subsidies aren’t extended, the Congressional Budget Office — a nonpartisan agency that provides budget and economic information to Congress — estimates that nearly 4 million people will lose their coverage in 2026 because they won’t be able to afford it.  Enrollment will continue to fall each year, with coverage reaching as low as 15.4 million people in 2030.  

[...] Cox said she expects Republicans to keep dismantling the ACA, similar to Trump’s first term, when they eliminated the tax penalty linked to the law’s individual mandate, which required people to have health insurance or pay a tax. The mandate is technically still in place, but the penalty was reduced to zero. “If Republicans control the House, the Senate and the presidency, then we might see a repeat of 2017,” she said.  Gostin said eliminating the ACA entirely will be a challenge, even if Republicans control all three chambers.

Millions of Americans could face health insurance coverage loss next year, as subsidies for Obamacare are set to expire.

See Also:

The Guardian: Incoming Trump presidency threatens millions of Americans’ healthcare plans