Not Business as Usual
The events playing out in Texas and being planned out in Washington bring two fresh examples of how the second Trump administration has changed the nature of the two-party government Americans are used to.
First, the latest from Austin, where state legislators are trying to give President Donald Trump what he wants by expanding a special legislative session to redo congressional district lines.
Democrats left the state to deny the Republican majority the quorum needed to execute the unusual mid-decade redistricting, and Gov. Greg Abbott (R) ordered that they be arrested and returned to the state House.
Those arrest warrants don’t carry any criminal charges and can’t be enforced across state lines. Still, while the Texas Democrats are getting support from Democratic officials in blue states like New York and Illinois, they can’t stay away forever.
Texas is “demonstrating the willingness to drive the car off the road – and by off the road, I mean off the road and over a cliff where there is no road whatsoever,” said Justin Levitt, a professor at Loyola Law School.
Greg Giroux lays out the possible domino effect as a result of the effort to make it harder for Trump’s party to lose seats in 2026 — other red-state redistricting and retaliatory blue-state remaps. Read More
Another kind of Make-Trump-Happy rule change is under consideration in the US Senate, which has deliberately set itself up to give the majority party incentives to play ball with the party out of power. Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) told reporters over the weekend that the process for confirming routine nominations is “broken,” and that there’ll be talks this month about how to improve it.
That could mean doing away with long-standing Senate rules that give the minority party some room to slow-walk nominees and tie up action on the floor for hours or days at a time, as Kelllie Lunney, Ellen M. Gilmer, and Erin Durkin explain. Read More
See also:
- Missouri Republicans Weigh Joining Texas to Redraw House Maps
- ‘Fight Fire With Fire:’ California Democrats Plan Redistricting
Lining Up for the Ernst Seat
While Iowa Republican Joni Ernst hasn’t said whether she’ll seek a third Senate term, there’s already a contested opposition-party primary.
Des Moines School Board Chair Jackie Norris, a former teacher, announced today that she’s entering the race for the Democratic nomination. “I taught, if you work hard, government should be a helping hand, not the middle finger,” Norris said in a video. “That’s why I’m running for the United States Senate.”
Norris had been former First Lady Michelle Obama’s chief of staff. Democrats already in the race are state Rep. J.D. Scholten, state Sen. Zach Wahls, and military veteran Nathan Sage.
Ernst was re-elected 52%-45% in 2020. Rep. Ashley Hinson (R) is a likely Senate candidate if Ernst chooses to retire.
Democrats may have to put Republican-leaning Iowa in play to have any chance of making the net gain of four seats required to topple the 53-47 GOP majority. — Greg Giroux
Eye on the Economy
About half of all Americans surveyed said the cost of groceries is a “major” source of stress in their life right now, according to a poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.
Only 14% of respondents told surveyers it’s not a source of stress, underscoring the pervasive anxiety most Americans continue to feel about the cost of everyday essentials. Read More
Tariff Watch
The next foot to fall in Trump’s trade war could turn an imprecise threat against India into a specific one.
Trump said he’ll be “substantially raising” the tariff on Indian exports to the US because the Asian nation buys Russian oil.
“India is not only buying massive amounts of Russian Oil, they are then, for much of the Oil purchased, selling it on the Open Market for big profits,” Trump wrote on social media Monday. “They don’t care how many people in Ukraine are being killed by the Russian War Machine. Because of this, I will be substantially raising the Tariff paid by India to the USA.”
Trump didn’t add a crucial detail: how much he would increase the levy above the already-announced 25% rate. Read More
See also:
- Swiss President, Economy Minister to Fly to US for Trade Talks
- Trump’s Staffing Gaps Complicate India’s Bid to Ease US Tensions
- Thailand’s Zero Tariff Pledge to Trump Still Limits US Imports
- CBS Interview: Fed Official Expects Businesses to Start Passing Tariff Costs to Customers
- Trump Administration Posts Guidance Ahead of Tariff Rollout
- How Tariffs Work, Explained: Who Pays, Who Collects
Banking Executive Order
The Wall Street Journal reports that the White House has drafted an executive order directing regulators to investigate whether financial institutions have discriminated against conservatives and crypto companies.
According to the report, the draft doesn’t name specific banks but appears to refer to a dispute over whether accounts of a Christian organization operating in Uganda were shut down because of its beliefs. The bank involved said it doesn’t serve small businesses operating outside the U.S.
The Justice Department said in April that a task force would examine allegations of banks in Virginia refusing customers access to credit or other services based on “impermissible factors.”
Before You Go
Not a Done Deal: The reinstatement of Democrat Rebecca Kelly Slaughter to the FTC, now temporarily paused, may turn out to be just a speed bump for an administration determined to reduce the independence of independent agencies. Benjamin Hernandez reports on the Supreme Court’s interest in revisiting a precedent in effect since 1935 that says commissioners can’t be removed except “for cause.” Read More
Venue Unclear: The Justice Department has opened a criminal investigation into claims that national security officials participated in a conspiracy in late 2016 and early 2017 to link Trump to Russia’s election interference.
Attorney General Pam Bondi directed prosecutors to use a grand jury to investigate allegations made by Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, according to a person familiar with the matter. Some details about the probe aren’t yet clear, including what specific actions are under investigation and in which city and court the case will be presented. Read More
‘Structural Defanging': When acting CFPB Director Russell Vought said the agency had $712 million in a Treasury account that could cover all expenses needed to run a “streamlined” operation, it actually had around $412 million in unobligated funds to pay for future costs, according to a court declaration from its CFO.
The Republican budget reconciliation measure prevents the bureau from asking for more, Evan Weinberger reports. “What we’re seeing isn’t just a budget cut,” said Amanda Jackson, the consumer campaigns director at advocacy group Americans for Financial Reform. “It’s a structural defanging.” Read More
ICE Buildup: The Department of Homeland Security is now flush with cash to hire thousands of agents, build immigrant jails, and expand the border wall, Gilmer reports, and key Republicans who oversee the department have outlined plans to keep tabs where it goes. Critics are skeptical, however, given how GOP lawmakers yield to Trump in repeated political battles. Read More
Reminder of Why Pasteurization Came to Be a Thing: Raw milk has been linked to an ongoing E. coli and campylobacter outbreak in Florida that has already sickened 21 people, including six children under the age of 10, the state’s health department said.
While the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advises people to drink pasteurized milk to protect themselves, raw milk has grown in popularity, embraced by celebrities who haven’t been to medical school, like Gwyneth Paltrow. HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. also has said he’s into it. Read More
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