This Weekend in Politics, Bulletin 87

… JD Vance made another cranky post whining about citizens bothering him again: “Today while walking my 3 year old daughter a group of ‘Slava Ukraini’ protesters followed us around and shouted as my daughter grew increasingly anxious and scared. I decided to speak with the protesters in the hopes that I could trade a few minutes of conversation for them leaving my toddler alone. It was a mostly respectful conversation, but if you’re chasing a 3-year-old as part of a political protest, you’re a shit person.”

… Ann Henry, who was one of the people talking to Vance, then shared her video of the incident to local WCPO, which showed that JD was full of shit. She said she and others with her spontaneously passed Vance as they were headed to the nearby protest: "No one was chasing him. I just wish he wouldn't have characterized it the way he did on Twitter. We all wanted it to be respectful and calm. We just really wanted him to know what was really bothering us."

… UK journalist James Rushton responded: “You came to Europe to lecture us about free speech and now you're whining about entirely peaceful, ‘mostly respectful’ protesters, who were exercising their First Amendment rights and who posed zero threat to you or your family due to your Secret Service protection.”

… Ukrainian journalist Oleksandra Povoroznyk: “My 4 year-old gets anxious whenever he has to take his nap in the daycare’s makeshift bomb shelter, which is almost daily. He also gets anxious whenever we wake him up in the middle of the night to take him to the bathroom because there are explosions outside our home. STFU.”

… Zelensky posted about the latest carnage from Putin after the US cut off intelligence to Ukraine: “Today, all day long, work continued in the city of Dobropillya following a Russian strike. It was one of the most brutal attacks, a combined strike carefully planned to cause maximum damage. Missiles, along with Shahed drones, targeted the central part of the city. 9 residential buildings, a shopping center, and stores were hit. Unfortunately, 11 people - my condolences to their families and loved ones. The second strike came while rescuers were already working.”

… “50 people were injured. Among the wounded are 7 children, with the youngest being a 10-year-old girl. There were also other attacks today in the Donetsk, Kharkiv, and southern regions. In Kherson, FPV drones once again targeted civilians. Russia continues to prove with its cruelty, day after day, that nothing has changed for them in Moscow – they are not thinking about how to end the war, but how to destroy and capture more while the world allows them to continue. Of course, we are doing everything we can to protect lives.”

… Janis Kluge with the German Institute for International and Security Affairs says that American defense contractors are about to lose billions in business from Europe after the US disabled jamming equipment in F-16s and is withholding maintenance and parts for systems already purchased: “US weapons have become toxic, just as Europeans are making plans to spend hundreds of billions on arms procurement. You'd think that this would never happen, because it is against US interests on so many levels. But for Trump, the end of US supremacy just can't come soon enough.”

… Polish Minister of Foreign Affairs Radek Sikorski responded to Musk’s threat to cut off Starlink access for Ukraine: “Starlink access for Ukraine is paid for by the Polish Digitization Ministry at the cost of about $50 million per year. The ethics of threatening the victim of aggression apart, if SpaceX proves to be an unreliable provider we will be forced to look for other suppliers.”

… Musk responded: “Be quiet, small man. There is no substitute for Starlink.”

… Poland is one of the most loyal, pro-US countries in Europe. Musk and Trump are intentionally and systematically dismantling every valuable alliance we have painstaking built for many decades all over the globe.

We make the full Weekend Bulletin available for free subscribers. During the week, the first 30% is available to free subscribers. Many people in the comments have asked me how I gather the information and put together this bulletin every day. At the end of tomorrow’s column, I am going to explain in some detail how I do it and the sources I consider most valuable for news and information.

… Trump was peppered with questions from his friend Maria Bartiromo on Fox, who was panicked about his handling of the economy:

• Bartiromo: Are you expecting a recession this year? Trump: There is a period of transition because what we're doing is very big.

• Trump: Elon Musk found hundreds of billions of dollars worth of fake contracts. What he’s done is make people realize how many people should be cut. Normally, you cut 4% of your workforce. He said cut 50%, 60%, 70%.

• Bartiromo: Now we have tariffs and the market has been going down. Trump: Well, not that much. You can’t really watch the stock market. You can’t go by that - you have to do what’s right.”

• Bartiromo: Why did you roll back or put a pause into some of the tariffs until April 2nd? Trump: Because I wanted to help Mexico and Canada to a certain extent. They do a lot of their business with us whereas in our case it's much less significant. We do very little with Canada by comparison. And I wanted to help the American car makers until April 2nd.

• Bartiromo: CEOs want to see predictability. Can you give us a sense of whether or not we are going to get clarity for the business community? Trump: Well, I think so. You know, the tariffs could go up as time goes by. They may go up. Bartiromo:-But that’s not clarity. Trump: Well, they say they need that. It sounds good to say.

… The Atlantic reported that issues in the FAA go beyond a shortage air traffic controllers: “Many jobs with critical safety functions are indeed being sacrificed .. records show that employees classified as eligible for early retirement—and therefore allowed to walk off the job—include aviation-safety technicians and assistants, quality-assurance specialists, and engineers. Meanwhile, the buyouts reach far beyond air-traffic safety, affecting other core elements of the agency. Top officials in the finance, acquisitions, and compliance divisions have left or are expected to go.”

… CNN’s Jake Tapper to Sen. Rick Scott: How can you look at experts in nuclear weapons being fired then rehired and think, 'Oh, this process is working exactly as it should be'? SCOTT: I'm a business guy. You do the best you can every day. What they're trying to do is rein in govt. Are they gonna be perfect? No.”

… Rep. Dan Goldman (D-NY) on Musk’s DOGE cuts: "It’s notable that somehow none of Musk’s own $13 billion of government contracts he has determined to be waste, fraud, and abuse."

… Another scam has come into focus behind these DOGE cuts - Trump and Musk want members of Congress to come to them and beg for funds for their districts to be reinstated. Rep. Tom Cole (R-OK) disclosed the quiet part out loud to his constituents: “After working closely with DOGE and the Admin, I am thrilled to announce that common sense has prevailed, as the Nat Weather Center in Norman, the Soc Security Admin Ofc in Lawton, and the Indian Health Services Ofc in OK City will remain operational. All 3 of these places provide vital and valuable services to OK and I am so proud to have advocated for them. As the Rep for OK’s 4th District, I will always fight for Oklahomans and my constituents!”

… This is exactly what they want Zelensky to do - come to them and beg.

… And what they want countries to do to avoid tariffs.

… And what they want corporations and industries to do for tariff waivers.

… Sickening. This is what an autocracy of oligarchs looks like, and in no way how our democratic republic was set up to function under the Constitution. We are moving towards a Russian style of government under Putin. Republican members of Congress are bragging to their constituents that they saved them from Trump while praising Trump at the same time.

… The US government is being set up as a mafia organization, where everyone is being extorted to benefit a handful of billionaires, while largely rural, white, working class people cheer them on convinced by social media and Fox that this will all somehow benefit them in the long run.

… All they know is the libs are upset, so it must be good.

… Canadian PM candidate and former Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland to CNN: “Your president is killing the US market. Your stock market is actually performing worse than the stock market in Europe or in Canada. And all for what reason? Because Canadians aren't nice enough? And the end result has been to do something which is really hard to do - antagonize Canadians.”

… Secretary of Trump Ass Kissing Howard Lutnick continued to absurdly claim on NBC that Trump’s tariffs are about stopping fentanyl trafficking: "If fentanyl ends, I think these will come off. But if fentanyl does not end, or he's uncertain about it, they will stay this way until he is comfortable. This is black and white."

… Clear as mud.

… Sen. Adam Schiff to ABC: "I was just listening to your guest Kevin Hassett trying to say that these on-again off-again tariffs are not about trade. It's a drug war, but next month it's a trade war, but now it's a drug war. It was incomprehensible. And he was also trying to say that jobs numbers that came in less than expected are somehow good news. They're destroying the economy - that's where we need to keep the focus."

… NBC’s Kristen Welker then asked Trump’s Commerce Secretary Lutnick: The CEOs of Target and Best Buy this week warned that they will have to increase prices as a result of tariffs. Do you acknowledge that prices will go up for consumers? LUTNICK: “Trump is going to try to balance the budget. Yes, some products that are made foreign might be more expensive.”

… Trump responded on Truth Social to the NYT story detailing a huge blowup between Musk and Marco Rubio in their Cabinet meeting: “ELON AND MARCO HAVE A GREAT RELATIONSHIP. ANY STATEMENT OTHER THAN THAT IS FAKE NEWS!!! DJT”

… Which means that Trump just confirmed that Musk and Rubio hate each other.

… Bloomberg reports that DOJ has removed the 3 top officials in the highly sensitive National Security Division, which is charged with working with the FBI and other intel agencies to protect the nation from threats: “The removals reflect the Trump admin’s effort to push out experienced career officials from nonpartisan roles at DOJ, likely paving the way for Trump and his allies to install people in these traditionally nonpartisan positions who align ideologically with the president.”

… Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) to MSNBC: "This is what Viktor Orban has done in Hungary - clear out the civil service with real expert professionals and people devoted to the public interest and replace them with a bunch of party hacks and sycophants to the dear leader."

… Bloomberg reported that Kristi Noem’s DHS has begun giving polygraph tests to employees to try and catch and prosecute people who may have leaked information about ICE raids.

… Trump filled out the remaining seats of the Board of the Kennedy Center by naming Fox hosts Laura Ingraham and Maria Bartiromo: “We look forward to restoring the Center to Greatness, and ushering in America’s Golden Age. Together, we will Make the Arts Great Again!”

… I don’t think that is going to convince Hamilton to come back.

… Fortune: “A few months ago, the US economy and financial markets looked unstoppable, while Europe and China were struggling to break out of prolonged weakness. But that is turning upside down as President Trump presses ahead with a tariff agenda.”

… AP reported that the Economic Policy Uncertainty Index has spiked 41% to a level that in the past signaled a recession. Stanford economist Nicholas Bloom: “I have an increasing fear we will enter into what may become known as the ‘Trump recession’. Ongoing policy turbulence and a tariff war could tip the US economy into its first recession in 5 years.”

… In other words, first recession since the last time Trump was president.

… WaPo reported that retail giants Macy’s, Best Buy, and Target are expecting a bad year. Best Buy CEO Corie Barry: “This is bigger than just a discussion about tariffs. It’s just kind of a volatile environment for the consumer.”

… Target has given up on announcing sales projections due to volatility of what is being announced each week from the WH. CFO Jim Lee: “There is a wide range of potential scenarios and uncertainty.”

… Shares of Target were down last week 7.4%, Best Buy was down 11.7% percent, and Macy’s down 2%. Abercrombie & Fitch was down 16.5% after executives said they expect tariffs to affect freight costs and consumer spending this year.

… HuffPost reports that Trump has now played golf 14 of the 49 days he has been in office, almost all of the golf trips to Florida - costing taxpayers millions for each trip.

… Rep. Nancy Mace was asked on Fox if she thought Musk was exceeding his authority and infringing on Congress: “I don’t think Elon Musk can cut enough. I’d like to see him cut more. As a member of Congress, we don’t have the time or ability to find all the waste, fraud, or abuse.”

… She doesn’t have time. She is on full-time bathroom patrol at the Capitol with her social media film crew.

… CNN reported that young DOGE staffers Tyler Hassen and Bryton Shang flew to CA to pressure the head of the Bureau of Reclamation to allow them to personally open the pumps at the Jones Pumping Plant under Trump’s orders during the wildfires so they could get a photo of themselves doing it for social media. The problem is that the water in that reservoir is used for the central valley and would not have gone anywhere near the fires.

… They failed in their mission because the power was off at the pumps due to planned maintenance, and Shang wasn’t an official federal employee yet so he couldn’t access the pump. CNN’s source: “They didn’t get their photo op. This incident represents what DOGE has been this entire time - this slapstick operation of 20-somethings who are seen as whiz kids but have zero knowledge.”

… The DOGE X social media account had to settle for posting a photo of Shang and Hassen in front of a map.

… Lawfare’s Anna Bower reacted to a report that DOGE staffers are moving in to govt buildings and installing expensive appliances: “DOGE cut off payments for the electricity, cell phone, and internet service of U.S. government employees who work in a high-risk area abroad. Meanwhile, DOGE apparently plans to spend $25,000 to install a washer/dryer for personal use in a fed office building in DC.”

… Trump and Johnson have conceded that they can’t pass a budget, and want to continue Nancy Pelosi’s 2022 budget for another 6 months. Trump: “The House and Senate have put together a very good funding Bill (“CR”)! All Republicans should vote (Please!) YES next week. Great things are coming for America, and I am asking you all to give us a few months to get us through to September so we can continue to put the Country’s “financial house” in order. We have to remain UNITED — NO DISSENT — Fight for another day when the timing is right. VERY IMPORTANT.”

… But Democrats who have gotten a look at the CR say it is not a “clean” CR that keeps those 2022 spending levels in place, but an attempt to slip in many of Musk’s DOGE cuts attached to it. Rep. Dan Goldman: “This is not a ‘clean CR’ - this is a green light for Trump and Musk to continue their campaign of corruption and destruction. If Republicans want to hand over the power of the purse to Trump and his billionaire buddies, they can pass this bill themselves.”

… NBC reports that Mike Johnson plans to bring the CR to a vote on Tuesday, and since he did not attempt to negotiate it with Democrats he is going to need near unanimity from Republicans - which mean votes from people who are completely against a CR. He has also promised “no more CRs” for the past 18 months while passing several of them.

… Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), ranking Democrat on the Appropriations Committee: “I strongly oppose this full-year continuing resolution, which is a power grab for the WH and further allows unchecked billionaire Musk and Trump to steal from the American people. By essentially closing the book on negotiations for full-year funding bills that help the middle class and protect our national security, my colleagues on the other side of the aisle have handed their power to an unelected billionaire.”

… More DeLauro: “Republicans are zeroing out the Toxic Exposures Fund (to care for vets exposed to burn pits, Agent Orange, and other toxic substances) on October 1. They cut $23 billion from their own bill they passed last year. You can’t make this stuff up.”

… Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA): “This is a slush fund continuing resolution that would give Trump and Musk more power over federal spending — and more power to pick winners and losers, which threatens families in blue and red states alike.”

… House Democratic leaders Jeffries/Clark/Aguilar issued a joint statement: “The partisan House Republican funding bill recklessly cuts healthcare, nutritional assistance and $23 billion in veterans benefits. Equally troublesome, the legislation does nothing to protect Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, while exposing the American people to further pain throughout this fiscal year. We are voting No.”

… Former Rep. Matt Gaetz says that continuing Pelosi’s 2022 budget yet again is an epic fail for Johnson with right-wingers: “So the way to stop Schumer is to extend the government-funding deal approved by Biden/Schumer/Johnson? Doesn’t a CR neuter many of the DOGE cuts? This seems like a pretty typical DC move. I’m confused, but open to being convinced otherwise.”

… MD Gov. Wes Moore to Meidas Touch on firing of vets: “Telling people who have worn the uniform of this country, who have been willing to pay the highest price to be called American—people who have done things that the vast majority of this country have not signed up to do and wouldn’t sign up to do—and now looking at the service they are performing and saying that maybe they’re not fit to serve—hearing that come from somebody who was never willing to take that oath is very rich. And as a veteran myself, very offensive, because these are patriots. These are people who are willing to sacrifice something on behalf of this country with one simple ask: that the country does not forget that, does not forget the service they did, and does not forget their family members. And that is not being honored right now with this admin.”

… Teacher’s Union President Randi Weingarten to Meidas Touch on Trump’s plan to abolish the Dept of Education: “It’s really only the Congress that can abolish the DOE. What the president can do is make govt basically ineffective by a thousand cuts. And that’s what they’re doing. If you fire everybody, or you make it unfeasible for it to work, then none of the laws that are supposed to be effectuated by the dept will work.”

… “So, if Title I is supposed to go to a HS in Staten Island, and they’re supposed to get $5 million and all of a sudden it doesn’t, then that means the programs go away. The reading programs, the computer programs, the after-school programs—all the programs that are funded by Title I. Every schoolteacher in America understands what that means—they go away. The same goes for the programs for kids with disabilities under IDEA. If the funding goes away, a kid doesn’t get physical therapy or occupational therapy”

… Boebert, Rep. Andy Ogles and Rep. Tim Burchett stopped by the Oval Office to try and cast out the evil spirits.

… Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) said he disagrees with what Gavin Newsom said to Charlie Kirk on his podcast about trans athletes: "I was perplexed by the governor, because he supported a law in California in 2013 that says trans kids do get to participate in sports - is he saying we need to repeal that law? I believe that law has worked in CA, and I don't think there should be a federal ban."

… Actor Kevin Sorbo joined the MAGA chorus annoyed with AG Pam Bondi: “It’s been a week and we still don’t have to Epstein documents.”

… Christopher Scalia from the American Enterprise Institute (you probably heard of his father), posted that Jack Posobiec’s conspiracy about Justice Amy Coney-Barrett is off base: “I'm sorry to dampen the discourse, but ACB inviting someone to sing songs from Hamilton at KBJ's welcome party is not a sign that she's a liberal. It's Supreme Court tradition for the formerly junior-most justice to organize a party for the newest justice; those parties may include surprises in keeping with the new justice's interests. KBJ likes musical theater, so ACB invited someone to sing songs from one of the most popular musicals in recent history. Get a grip.”

… Politico did an in-depth interview with Tim Walz about the campaign: “We shouldn’t have been playing this thing so safe.” He blamed consultants cautious approach on the fact that they had to scramble to put together a campaign with only 107 days to go: “These are things you might have been able to get your sea legs, if you will, 18 months out, where the stakes were a lot lower.”

… Walz said in hindsight, “I think we probably should have just rolled the dice and done the town halls, where voters may say, ‘you’re full of shit, I don’t believe in you.’ I think there could have been more of that .. in football parlance, we were in a prevent defense to not lose when we never had anything to lose because I don’t think we were ever ahead.”

… One senior Harris aide on Walz: “He was underutilized and that was the symptom of the larger campaign of decision paralysis and decision logjam at the top … he was in a box and we didn’t use him the way we could’ve.”

… Another Harris campaign staffer: “By the time they finally let him do anything at all, it’s like 20 days left, and he’s doing four states a day, and there’s only so much you could do. It was too short.”

… Walz was asked what Democrats should do going forward, and he said at a rally that they “should be everywhere. Our way back out of the wilderness is sitting at each and every one of these tables. I’m staying on the playing field to try and help because we have to win. And I will always say this, I will do everything in my power to help.”

… Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) on Real America’s Voice talking about Rep. Al Green’s censure: “For him to shake his pimp cane at President Trump was absolutely abhorrent.”

… Jamie Raskin on Green’s censure: "Really, if we were censuring anyone, it should've been Trump, who I don't think had been back to our chamber since he incited a violent insurrection against us. And then he used his pulpit in order to call a sitting member of the Senate 'Pocahontas.'"

… Raskin said that Democrats need to organize, protest, and show up at town halls: "I say a rally a day keeps the fascists away."