“President Donald Trump delivered an unusual, campaign-style speech at Justice Department headquarters Friday, heavy with grievance and meandering from such topics as Al Capone to allegations of judicial corruption as he defied the distance that has traditionally existed between the White House and the federal law enforcement agency,” the Washington Post reports.
CNN: Trump’s public airing of grievances at DOJ was unprecedented.
“As he flew back from the Group of 7 allies meeting in Canada on Friday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio made an announcement that essentially expelled South Africa’s ambassador to the United States, Ebrahim Rasool,” the New York Times reports.
“Mr. Rubio wrote on social media that the ambassador was a ‘race-baiting politician who hates America’ and President Trump.”
“Chuck Schumer is facing one of the most perilous moments of his Senate leadership career,” Politico reports.
“The Senate minority leader came under heavy fire for the second straight day from Democrats enraged at him for backing a Republican bill to avoid a government shutdown, and fallout appears likely to last well past Friday’s vote.”
“A handful of House lawmakers, including some in battleground districts, are floating supporting a primary challenge against him. Activists are organizing efforts to punish him financially. Schumer is facing questions within his own caucus about whether he made strategic errors in handling the high-stakes moment and failed to outline a clear plan about how to deal with the complex politics of a shutdown… Some Democratic senators are even privately questioning whether he should stay on as their leader.”
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“President Donald Trump launched some of his harshest attacks yet on the media on Friday, using a speech at the Department of Justice to baselessly accuse outlets including CNN of illegal and corrupt behavior,” CNN reports.
NBC News: “Across earnings calls and investor presentations in recent weeks, retailers and other consumer-facing businesses warned that first-quarter sales were coming in softer than expected and the rest of the year might be tougher than Wall Street thought.”
The Senate cleared a key procedural hurdle on the House-passed continuing resolution, putting the chamber on a path to averting a midnight shutdown, Reuters reports.
Ten Democrats voted with Minority Leader Chuck Schumer to overcome a filibuster. The vote was 62 to 38.
President Trump used his Justice Department speech to vent years of frustration and grievance against the department and the FBI — agencies he said had been run by “a corrupt group of hacks and radicals” who had “obliterated trust and goodwill built up over generations,” the Washington Post reports.
Said Trump: “They weaponized the vast powers of our intelligence and law enforcement agencies to try and thwart the will of the American people.”
Maggie Haberman: “One thing that can’t be overemphasized: in addition to Trump’s personal criminal lawyers leading the Justice Department, a number of Trump’s close advisers were swept up in the various investigations he faced. They share the same anger he does about what took place, and believe he is taking a victory lap that he’s entitled to.”
Vice President JD Vance expressed confidence Friday that a deal to sell TikTok and keep the social media app running in the U.S. would largely be in place by an April deadline, NBC News reports.
“The Supreme Court on Friday afternoon requested responses from states and groups that have challenged the constitutionality of the president’s order ending birthright citizenship for the children of undocumented immigrants and foreign residents,” the New York Times reports.
“The move is a signal that the justices will consider a request by the Trump administration asking the court to lift a nationwide pause on the policy as the underlying court challenges proceed.”
The U.S. Department of Education has launched investigations into 52 universities in 41 states, accusing the schools of using “racial preferences and stereotypes in education programs and activities,” the AP reports.
“The Trump administration has delivered an extraordinary ultimatum to Columbia University, threatening to permanently end federal funding to the Ivy League school unless it cedes control of an international studies department and implements sweeping changes to other campus policies,” the AP reports.
“President Donald Trump’s choice of Pam Bondi to be attorney general last fall prompted sighs of relief in some Democratic and legal circles,” NBC News reports.
“Bondi was seen as a professional with deep legal experience: she had served as Florida’s attorney general for 10 years. It was true that she had served as one of Trump’s lawyers during his first impeachment trial, and supported his conspiracy theories about the 2020 election. Still, Democrats and Republicans who knew her believed she was someone who’d stand up to Trump in a way Gaetz wouldn’t and refuse if the president asked her to do anything illegal or improper.”
“But since Bondi took the reins, the Justice Department has been operating in a manner dramatically at odds with how it has been run in the 50 years since Attorney General John Mitchell was sent to prison for his role in the Watergate scandal.”
“President Donald Trump is asking the Supreme Court to eliminate a key tool that lower courts have used to block various aspects of his agenda,” Politico reports.
“In an emergency appeal Thursday, Trump asked the justices to rein in or shelve three nationwide injunctions lower-court judges have issued against his bid to end birthright citizenship. But his request could have repercussions far beyond the debate over the controversial citizenship plan.”
CNN: Trump is asking the Supreme Court to end birthright citizenship by arguing about something else.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) opened a massive rift with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Punchbowl News reports.
Jeffries returned to the Capitol after his party’s retreat to lobby against the House GOP continuing resolution, which Schumer said last night he would vote for.
He added that House Democrats are “not afraid of a government funding showdown and we will win that showdown.”
Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ) announced he’s getting rid of his Tesla Model S, saying the car felt like “a rolling billboard” advertising Elon Musk.
Said Kelly: “Elon Musk kind of turned out to be an asshole, and I don’t want to drive a car built and designed by an asshole.”
“Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz will return to a Wisconsin battleground House district next week as part of a multi-state tour to highlight Republicans who have stopped holding in-person town halls following backlash over the Trump administration’s government cuts,” the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports.
“The former 2024 Democratic vice presidential nominee plans to hold a town hall-style event Tuesday in Eau Claire. It will be in western Wisconsin’s 3rd Congressional District — the state’s tightest battleground seat held by Republican Rep. Derrick Van Orden, who like others in his party has declined to hold in-person constituent town halls after GOP leadership advised against them.”
Former New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu (R) is keeping the door open to a possible Republican run next year in the race to succeed retiring Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D), Fox News reports.
Said Sununu: “I’m not saying it’s a high probability. Can’t wait to jump in. Definitely not.”
“One of the four men accused of being a sexual predator by Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) is suing the South Carolina congresswoman for defamation and libel, contending she knowingly made false claims about him both before and after she made her House of Representatives floor speech where she described herself as their victim,” the Charleston Post & Courier reports.
Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites. He also runs Political Job Hunt, Electoral Vote Map and the Political Dictionary.
Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.
Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country.
Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.
Goddard is the owner of Goddard Media LLC.
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