This Weekend in Politics, Bulletin 67. 2/9/25

… Elon Musk, JD Vance and their MAGA minions are fuming at US District Judge Engelmayer’s decision to halt DOGE’s attempts to seize control of the US Treasury. The emergency order temporary prevents “special government employees” access to Treasury Department systems. The court also ordered that any person who was granted access “destroy any and all copies of material downloaded from the Treasury Department’s records and systems.”

… A court hearing was set to resolve the matter on February 14 before Judge Jeannette Vargas, who is now assigned the case on a permanent basis.

… NJ AG Matt Platkin, who brought the lawsuit: “To be clear: the Judge ordered Elon and the DOGE bros to delete any data they illegally acquired since Trump took office. We are going to make sure they comply. Billionaires don't get to write their own rules.”

… Since the ruling late on Friday, Musk, Vance and their allies have called for the judge to be impeached, and have also suggested that DOGE and Musk will simply ignore the order of the court and continue with what they are doing illegally.

… Elon Musk: “A corrupt judge protecting corruption. He needs to be impeached NOW!”

… JD Vance: “If a judge tried to tell a General how to conduct a military operation, that would be illegal. If a judge tried to command the Attorney General in how to use her discretion as a prosecutor, that's also illegal. Judges aren't allowed to control the executive's legitimate power.”

… This is utterly and completely false. It basically just tears up 230 years of US constitutional law and throws it in the trash can. Certainly everything since Marbury v. Madison was decided in 1803.

… Rep. Dan Goldman: “It’s called the ‘rule of law’, JD Vance. Our constitution created three co-equal branches of government to provide checks and balances on each other (“separation of powers”). The judiciary makes sure that the executive follows the law. If you do, then you won’t have problems.”

… Sen. Tom Cotton: “Outrageous. Obama Judge Engelmayer didn’t just bar Musk and DOGE from Treasury systems, he barred the Sec of the Treasury himself. Without citing a single law or even allowing Trump admin to appear in court! This outlaw should be reversed immediately and Engelmayer should be forbidden by higher courts from ever hearing another case against the Trump admin.”

… Marge Greene: “We need to impeach rogue judges.”

… Rep. Darrell Issa: “I’m immediately introducing legislation next week to stop these rogue judges and allow Trump and DOGE to tell you where government is spending your money.”

… Charlie Kirk: “Judge Engelmayer just forbade all political appointees based on Blueanon conspiracy theories!! The judge’s ruling is, in essence, that Scott Bessent simply occupies a ceremonial position without real power, like the King of England. This is a grenade thrown into the functioning of the Treasury Dept. It forbids the elected government from accessing information about budget and finances. Instead, only the permanent, deep-state government can know what's being spent.”

… Sen. Mike Lee: “This sounds like a good time to file a petition for an extraordinary writ of mandamus. Here, it’d be a way of seeking immediate, judicial relief from an order issued by a judge who has severely abused his discretion.”

… Dan Goldman and Elon Musk then had this exchange:

Goldman - It wasn’t just a freeze on Musk and DOGE accessing Americans’ personal data. He was ordered to DESTROY any data they already took. Elon must confirm he has followed the court order.

Musk - We don’t have any personal data of Americans, you corrupt moron.

Goldman - Tell it to the judge under oath.

… DOGE announced they have identified just over $1 billion in spending cuts during the first 3 weeks of the Trump Administration, despite their pledge to cut at least $2 trillion this year. At this pace, it will only take them a few hundred years to fulfill their promise.

… Elon also announced that he wants to eliminate Radio Free Europe and Voice of America. Kari Lake was so excited recently when she was appointed head of VOA by Trump. Now Elon wants to abolish it. Poor Kari.

… Kristi Noem was asked on CNN why she wasn’t concerned about Musk’s DOGE Bros having access to everyone’s data. Dana Bash: “I remember a time when Republicans were very careful about the government having access to personal data.” Noem: “Well, we can't trust the government anymore.” Bash: “You are the government.”

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… Sen. Chris Murphy on ABC responding to John Fetterman’s comments that many Dems are being over-dramatic about what Trump and Musk are doing: "I think this is the most serious constitutional crisis the country has faced, certainly since Watergate. The president is attempting to seize control of power, and for corrupt purposes. He's trying to crush his opposition. This is a red alert moment ... our democracy is at risk."

… Trump told the NY Post that he has spoken to Putin recently to set up talks to resolve their invasion of Ukraine. According to the report, Trump said this to NSA Mike Waltz on Air Force One after the call: “Let’s get these meetings going. They want to meet. Every day people are dying. Young handsome soldiers are being killed. Young men, like my sons.”

… While Russia wants to seize occupied territory and get assurances that Ukraine will never be allowed to join NATO (at a minimum), Trump also wants a piece of the action to extort our ally. Trump said he wants $500 million worth rare-earth minerals and gas from Ukraine as part of any agreement to end the war. So this is essentially like Nazi Germany and Soviet Russia agreeing to carve up Poland in 1939.

… Waltz was asked today on NBC about US aid to Ukraine: "We need to recoup those costs. And that is going to be a partnership with the Ukrainians in terms of their rare earth, their natural resources, and their oil and gas and also buying ours."

… Waltz was also asked if Trump is serious about trying to take over Canada: “Look, I think the Canadian people, many of them, would love to join the United States.” They all have to act the fool to attempt to normalize Dear Leader’s insanity.

… Right-wing commentator Charles Downs says MAGA should be rooting for the Chiefs in the Super Bowl: “During the 2024 election, KC Chiefs CEO Clark Hunt donated to Rick Scott, Bernie Moreno, Kari Lake, Marsha Blackburn, Eric Hovde, and Mike Rogers. Eagles minority owner Christina Weiss Lurie loves spending her Eagles money on donating to failed candidates Kamala Harris and Bob Casey.”

… MAGA rapper Forgatio Blow showed up in New Orleans for the game today in some interesting attire.

… New CBS/YouGov poll results:

• Trump's focus on lowering prices is: Not enough-66% Right amount-31%

• Do you think Trump's policies will make the price you pay for food and groceries:

  Go up-51% Go down-28% Not change-20%

• Do you think Trump's policies will make you financially better off: Better off-35% Worse off-40% Stay the same-25%

… AL Sen. Katie Britt was upset about the recently announced cuts by DOGE of NIH funding for cancer research and other things. Naturally, she is upset at Emperor Musk’s edict because this also hurts her state. She told AL.com: “Every cent of hard-earned taxpayer money should be spent efficiently, judiciously, and accountably — without exception. A smart, targeted approach is needed in order to not hinder life-saving, groundbreaking research at high-achieving institutions like those in Alabama.”

… The University of Alabama-Birmingham alone has received over $1 billion in NIH funding.

… Gary Marcus, one of the US’s leading experts on neuroscience, cognitive science, and psychology: “Drastically cutting NIH & NSF funding and reducing grant ‘overhead’ to 15% are among the dumbest ideas I have ever seen. America will never be the same. Science will take a huge hit; academic stars will leave; university reputations will crumble, and homegrown talent will be even harder to find. Asia and Europe will profit.”

… Republican Sen. Jerry Moran from Kansas was freaking out for a while about foreign aid getting cut off by Musk, since so many Big Ag corps in his state make millions from it: “GOOD NEWS: State Dept. has approved shipping to resume, allowing NGOs to distribute the $560 million of American-grown food aid sitting in US & global ports to those in need. Thanks to Sect Rubio for helping make certain this life-saving aid gets to those in need before it spoils.”

… Amazingly, the only time these kinds of programs are worthwhile to Republicans is when people in their states, friends, relatives, and political donors benefit from them.

… Punchbowl reports that Rep. Byron Donalds just committed a clear and serious House ethics violation by giving his voting card to someone to cast two votes for him while he was in California to appear on the Bill Maher Show.

… House Republicans just passed a law last year to ban this, and Donalds promptly violated it. This is what Donalds posted on X on 1/9/23 in support of the bill: “Today, House Republicans will vote to END proxy voting once and for all. The House of Representatives isn’t a tech company. Its members should work IN PERSON in the People’s House!”

… NYT reports that a mystery crypto trader who seemed to have inside knowledge because they made a $1 million investment in Trump’s new digital currency hours before launch, cashed out with a $100 million profit a short time later - which caused the price of the coin to plummet and people to lose almost everything. 810,000 people lost money on Trump’s crypto so far, and Trump has collected over $100 million on it just in transaction fees alone.

… Trump Budget Director Russ Vought announced they are going to eliminate the Consumer Financial Protection Act by starving the agency of funding: “I have notified the Federal Reserve that CFPB will not be taking its next draw of unappropriated funding because it is not ‘reasonably necessary’ to carry out its duties.”

… Before Vought made that announcement, Musk posted on X: ‘RIP CFPD’ with a grave headstone emoji. CFPD’s website was also taken down.

… NYT noted that CFPB was created by Congress in 2011 as a financial industry watchdog, so only Congress can legally shut it down completely, “but its director can freeze most of its actions by halting enforcement, weakening or repealing regulations and softening its supervision of banks and other lenders.”

… Sen. Chris Van Hollen: “This is the richest man on earth bragging about destroying an agency that’s returned BILLIONS of dollars to working Americans who were cheated by big corporations. Well guess what - the CFPB is protected by law and we will fight to ensure it can continue to fight for consumers.”

… After imposing his blanket 10% tariff on China with much fanfare, Trump quietly carved out a big loophole, exempting packages of goods coming in from China valued at less than $800, which nullifies the effect of his tariffs almost completely. So he backed down on this just like he backed down on his Canada and Mexico tariffs - except Xi simply refused to pretend to give Trump anything in exchange before he surrendered.

… WSJ on Trump’s latest tariff surrender: “Again Trump uses ‘tariff’ as a press release red flag for clicks and trolls, not real policy. In real policy he tears open a loophole he just said he was closing, allowing millions of Chinese imports to avoid inspection and doing big favors for China and Jeff Bezos.”

… WaPo reports that staffers and allies of Musk have sought access to sensitive data while disrupting operations in at least 15 different government agencies. DOGE continues to refuse to disclose the names of any of the people working for it. WaPo identified at least 30 people working for DOGE by reviewing “the internal directories of multiple agencies and interviewing numerous federal workers, virtually all of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation.”

… The story says that Musk’s DOGE team has focused primarily on gaining control of 3 key agencies: OPM, which oversees the federal workforce; GSA, which controls real estate and logistics; and the Department of the Treasury.

… Bloomberg reports that Musk also has the critical National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration targeted for possible elimination as well. NOAA provides daily weather forecasts through the National Weather Service. The agency cooperates with others around the world, from the exchange of satellite data to the coordination of aircraft that track hurricanes. NOAA is considered the world leader in weather forecasting.

… UCLA climate scientist Daniel Swain: “Weather does not respect political boundaries. It is not possible to predict the weather in the United States without cooperation from other parts of the world.”

… Craig McLean, who was NOAA’s chief scientist during the first Trump Admin: “It’s a circus. If Trump’s goal is to destabilize, humiliate and embarrass the loyal people who have chosen to work for their country and federal government, he is succeeding.”

… Bloomberg: “NOAA employs more than 12,000 people across an array of labs and forecasting offices nationwide, watching everything from fish supplies in the ocean to the atmosphere of the sun. The agency’s research and observational data are the bones that support and protect billions of dollars of global markets, industry and real estate. It even has an unarmed uniformed service of about 330 officers to fly its planes and sail its ships.”

… Sen. Cory Booker: “Trump is making a deliberate attempt to overwhelm the system, and to overwhelm you. It can be difficult to keep up. And that’s by design. But we can keep up – and respond. Trump's attempt to flood the zone is not a sign of strength – it’s an attempt to project strength, and to convince you that he’s more powerful than he is. Don’t let him. Stand up, speak out, and remember that democracy depends on those who refuse to be silenced.”

… AP reported that over 300,000 protesters rallied in Munich, Germany on Saturday against the far-right, anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany party that is being supported by Elon Musk in their election on February 23. The party is currently second in the polls in the multi-party election, as far-right political movements in the US and around the globe continue to seize on the issue of liberal immigration policies in the recent past in their countries.

… Vanity Fair reported that Musk has not been notifying Trump Chief of Staff Susie Wiles about his plans before he implements them, so the White House is typically in the dark finding out things the same time we are.

… The story cites sources close to Trump who say that while Musk might be annoying him, Trump will stick with him for a while: “Republicans I spoke to said Trump can’t, or won’t, challenge Musk because Trump understands Musk’s unprecedented power. Musk is reportedly worth nearly $400 billion and has more than 216 million followers on X.

… One former Trump staffer: “How can he say no to Elon? You think he wants to go to war with him?” Another Trump ally: “Elon is autistic and that scares people. He’s unpredictable and prone to tantrums.”

… HOWEVER, one prominent Republican strategist: “Trump has a limit to others getting credit.”

… The Trump ally said that eventually, “Elon is going to blow himself up.”

… Trump announced on Truth Social that he is making himself the Chairman of the Kennedy Center: “At my direction, we are going to make the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C., GREAT AGAIN. I have decided to immediately terminate multiple individuals from the Board of Trustees, including the Chairman, who do not share our Vision for a Golden Age in Arts and Culture. We will soon announce a new Board, with an amazing Chairman, DONALD J. TRUMP!”

… The Kennedy Center issued a statement: “Per the Center’s governance established by Congress in 1958, the chair of the board of trustees is appointed by the Center’s board members. There is nothing in the Center’s statute that would prevent a new administration from replacing board members; however, this would be the first time such action has been taken with the Kennedy Center’s board.”

… So Musk runs the country while Mad King Trump pretends he runs the Kennedy Center.

… Auto industry monitor FuelArc cites new data showing that fire fatalities are 17 times more likely in a Tesla Cybertruck than in the infamous Ford Pinto. At the current rate of fire deaths, FuelArc projects the Cybertruck will have 14.52 fatalities per 100,000 units — far eclipsing the Pinto's 0.85 while setting what would be a world record in death by vehicle fire.

… The Byte, which covers science and tech: “The Cybertruck, an almost 3-ton vehicle which is apparently allowed to drive itself, has never passed independent crash testing by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, and has refused to release its in-house safety testing data, which means other drivers and pedestrians are in the dark as to its safety.”

… While shutting down asylum claims for everyone else on earth, Trump issued an executive order to prioritize White people from South Africa to flee persecution to the US. From the XO: “The US shall not provide aid or assistance to South Africa. The US shall promote the resettlement of Afrikaner refugees escaping government-sponsored race-based discrimination.”

… The order then says that the Sect of State shall “prioritize admission and resettlement through the US Refugee Admissions Program for Afrikaners in South Africa.”

… Not all White people though. Only the Dutch/German Afrikaners.

… It might shock you to learn that Elon Musk was the first one who pitched this idea to Trump.

… But AP reports that Afrikaners aren’t interested. Dirk Hermann, CEO of the Afrikaner Trade Union ‘Solidarity’, which represents 2 million people: “Our members work here, and want to stay here, and they are going to stay here. We are committed to build a future here. We are not going anywhere.”

… Kallie Kriel, CEO of the Afrikaner lobby group AfriForum: "We have to state categorically: We don’t want to move elsewhere."

… South Africa’s Foreign Ministry: “It is ironic that the executive order makes provision for refugee status in the U.S. for a group in South Africa that remains amongst the most economically privileged, while vulnerable people in the U.S. from other parts of the world are being deported and denied asylum despite real hardship.”

… Spokesperson for South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa: “South Africa is a constitutional democracy. We value all South Africans, Black and White. The assertion that Afrikaners face arbitrary deprivation and, therefore, need to flee the country of their birth is an assertion devoid of all truth.”

… As Trump rages about deportation numbers far lower than he promised, Tom Homan continues to blame the media and immigration activists. NY Post reported that last week in Chicago they only arrested 2 migrants despite 100 ICE agents spending 5 hours trying to hunt them down.

… ABC reports that 400 ICE agents were deployed on Wednesday to Colorado to arrest purported gang members who were migrants. After contacting people at hundreds of residences, only one alleged gang member was arrested. Homan predicted they would get at least 100 during the operation.

… Homan claims that local media is “tipping off” migrants prior to the raids and continues to threaten them with FCC action and arrests.

… SecDef Pete Hegseth weirdly attacked his former Fox colleague Jennifer Griffin after she simply reported that House Dems sent a letter to DOD demanding to know why he was spending well over $100K of taxpayer money to make “repairs” to his official govt residence while Musk was cutting spending everywhere. He posted on X: “Fake News of the Day (not surprising from Dems & Jen Griffin; same thing) Any/all house repairs were going to happen no matter who was moving in—and were all initiated by DoD. But Dems/Jen don’t care about facts; they’re just Trump haters.”

… Marco Rubio’s new Spokesman at the State Dept Darren Beattie recently responded to a shooting involving black people in ATL by saying that Black people should be sterilized. His post on X: “When a population gets feral, a little snip snip keeps things in control. Could offer incentives - Air Jordans, etc.”

… Mark Zaid, who had a security clearance because he has represented govt officials including senior intelligence officials for decades, on Trump canceling it: “If he and his partisan minions thinks this will deter me from holding them accountable to the rule of law, they are sadly mistaken. By existing law, I am entitled to lawful due process, to include being informed why after 25 years of authorized access to classified info I am suddenly untrustworthy. I have represented US govt officials at the most senior levels during every admin since Clinton, and have prided myself on being a non-partisan registered independent. This highly politicized action reflects far worse on the Trump Admin than it does me.”

… Oil and Gas Industry Expert Patrick De Haan responded to Trump bragging again about how cheap gas was when he left office last time: “Gas prices did not fall below $2.00 a gallon while Trump was President until Covid hit in 2020. Had Covid not hit, gas prices would not have fallen below $2. Gas prices rose every year under Trump until the pandemic.”

… Musk is upset about all the stories citing gaming experts that have outed him for cheating at video games by hiring people to play for him so he can make himself appear much better than he really is to his bros. He posted today: “Video game ‘journalism’ is garbage.”

… MAGA voter registration point man Scott Presler was embroiled in controversy this weekend as many of his right-wing fans suddenly discovered that he is gay. One of his friends recently posted this photo below of the two of them together, which went viral when it was reposted by a MAGA account with the caption: “This guy should be exiled from MAGA. This is disgusting.”

… Some of Presler’s MAGA fans came to his defense and said being gay should not disqualify you from the movement, but the post also drew hundreds of anti-Presler posts and over 9 million views from people who want him out of MAGA regardless of how many voters he registers.

If you missed Friday’s bulletin, you can check it out here.