House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) said Tuesday that Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) should remain at the top of the party ranks despite the outcry over his support for a GOP spending bill last week, The Hill reports.
Chinese Nationalists Cheer Demise of Voice of America
“Chinese state media is gloating about drastic budget cuts to Voice of America and Radio Free Asia, U.S. government-funded media outlets that have for decades drawn protests from Beijing over their coverage of human rights abuses in China,” the New York Times reports.
“Voice of America and Radio Free Asia had long transmitted news into countries where access to accurate information from the outside world was severely limited.”
Trump Held Another Million-Dollar ‘Candlelight’ Dinner
An invitation to a “candlelight” dinner held this past Saturday at President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club asked prospective guests to spend $1 million per seat, Wired reports.
Trump attended the dinner along with Elon Musk.
Houston Man Jailed for 18 Years Without a Trial
“Last spring, as local officials were taking a closer look at the thousands of inmates in the Harris County Jail, they discovered something shocking: a man who had been locked up for 18 years without a trial,” the Houston Chronicle reports.
Who Is Government?
Just out: Who Is Government?: The Untold Story of Public Service edited by Michael Lewis.
“Who works for the government and why does their work matter? An urgent and absorbing civics lesson from an all-star team of writers and storytellers.”
Sale
Who Is Government?: The Untold Story of Public Service
- Hardcover Book
- English (Publication Language)
- 272 Pages - 03/18/2025 (Publication Date) - Riverhead Books (Publisher)
Vance Bridges Divide Between Populists and Tech Leaders
“Vice President J.D. Vance made an explicit attempt on Tuesday to bridge warring factions within the Republican Party, arguing that the “tensions” between the populist and tech wings of the conservative movement could be overcome,” the New York Times reports.
“Mr. Vance’s remarks, delivered at a technology conference in Washington, amounted to the most intentional effort from the administration to date to manage these groups within President Trump’s movement. Some conservatives have worried that the uneasy alliance between Mr. Trump’s populist base and his new support from Silicon Valley was destined to unravel.”
Key House Republican Warns Trump on TikTok
Rep. John Moolenaar (R-MI), chair of the House’s select committee on countering China, “drew a hard line this morning against any deal for TikTok that keeps control of the app or its underlying technology in the hands of Beijing-based ByteDance,” Politico reports.
Said Moolenaar: “The law is clear: any deal must eliminate Chinese influence and control over the app to safeguard our interests.”
He added: “ByteDance must fully divest its control of TikTok and have no say in its operations; nor can the two share data, content, or algorithms. These are non-negotiable, and any deal that doesn’t meet these requirements simply isn’t legal.”
MAGA Already Looking to Annoint J.D. Vance
“Just eight months after President Trump picked J.D. Vance to be his vice president, Vance is already positioned to be MAGA’s heir apparent for 2028,” Axios reports.
Said Sen. Jim Banks (R-IN): “I think it’s inevitable at this point that Vance will be the nominee in 2028. He’s the future of the America First movement and he’s already proven himself.”
“Many of Trump’s longest-serving aides and most fervent supporters now see the vice president as the vehicle to lock in Trump’s worldview for at least the next decade. In their view, Trump broke the old Republican Party — and Vance can finish building the new one.”
Tim Walz Knocks Chuck Schumer Over Shutdown Stance
“Tim Walz took a jab at Chuck Schumer over his decision to avert a government shutdown, accusing the party of ceding to Republicans,” Politico reports.
Said Walz: “I believe that Chuck 100 percent believes that he made a decision that reduced the pain and the risk to Americans. I see it now that we’re in a point where… that pain is coming anyway and I think we gave up our leverage.”
This Isn’t a Constitutional Crisis, It’s an Attack
Jonathan Bernstein: “The problem with the language of ‘crisis’ is that it simply doesn’t prepare supporters of the republic for the reality of the situation, which is a series of long fights, some high profile and some not, many of which will have unclear and complicated outcomes…”
“The worst temptation — and I think a ‘crisis’ framework encourages it by treating single conflicts as the final battle until it’s over and the next final battle approaches — is for supporters of the republic to declare defeat and even to mock those still fighting.”
Schumer Insists He’s the Best to Lead Senate Democrats
“Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer argued Tuesday that he remains the ‘best leader for the Senate’ despite backlash from some Democrats over his decision to allow a Republican-led measure to advance, avoiding a government shutdown,” CBS News reports.
Said Schumer: “We have a lot of good people. But I am the best at winning Senate seats.”
Trump Suggests Hosting Kennedy Center Honors
President Trump mused about hosting the Kennedy Center’s annual honors ceremony since he was “the king of ratings, whether we like it or not,” The Guardian reports.
Texas Arrests Midwife on Charges of Providing Abortions
“A midwife and an associate have been arrested and charged with illegally performing abortions in greater Houston, according to court records and the Texas attorney general, apparently the first criminal arrests of abortion providers since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022,” the New York Times reports.
Trump Calls for Impeachment of Federal Judge
“President Donald Trump on Tuesday called for the impeachment of the federal judge who ordered a two-week halt to his efforts to remove Venezuelan migrants using extraordinary war powers that haven’t been invoked for decades,” Politico reports.
“Trump’s call to remove U.S. District Judge James Boasberg — the chief judge of the federal district court in Washington, D.C. — is the first time since taking office for his second term that he’s asked Congress to seek a judge’s removal, joining increasingly pointed calls by his top donor and adviser Elon Musk and a segment of his MAGA base.”
Newsom Sends Burner Phones to Tech CEOs
“Gov. Gavin Newsom is making sure California’s business elite can call him, maybe,” Politico reports.
“Roughly 100 leaders of state-headquartered companies have received a curious package in recent months: a prepaid, inexpensive cell phone (commonly known as a burner, for those of you who haven’t seen ‘The Wire’ or ‘Better Call Saul’), programmed with Newsom’s digits and accompanied by notes from the governor himself.”
Said one note to a prominent tech CEO: “If you ever need anything, I’m a phone call away.”
Trump Urges Immigrants to ‘Self-Deport’
President Trump has recorded a video for social media in which he urges unauthorized immigrants to “self-deport” — and use a newly launched app to report that they’re leaving the U.S., Axios reports.
Business News Networks Enter the Eye of the Storm
The Wrap: “The chaos of the Trump administration’s opening weeks, with his back-and-forth, on-and-off actions related to tariffs and wanton cuts to reduce government, has propelled the business channels into the eye of the storm.”
“Amid this economic roller coaster, with wild fluctuations in the stock market — punctuated by the Dow dropping nearly 900 points in one day, or more than 2% — pressure to capture Wall Street’s skittish state of mind has increasingly taken center stage.”
Abundance
Just out: Abundance by Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson.
“To trace the history of the twenty-first century so far is to trace a history of unaffordability and shortage.”
Thompson, writing in The Atlantic: “For the first time in decades, America has a chance to define its next political order. Trump offers fear, retribution, and scarcity. Liberals can stand for abundance.”
Sale
Abundance
- Hardcover Book
- Klein, Ezra (Author)
- English (Publication Language)
- 304 Pages - 03/18/2025 (Publication Date) - Avid Reader Press / Simon & Schuster (Publisher)
