Tag Archives: Kush Desai

Politico: Trump administration considers slashing federal education money for California

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California’s public schools receive nearly $8 billion annually from the U.S. Education Department.

The Trump administration is considering cutting federal education funds to California, according to people familiar with the administration’s thinking. The discussion comes as Gov. Gavin Newsom and President Donald Trump feud over the president’s deployment of the National Guard to LA to stop immigration protests.

A Trump administration employee, who was not permitted to speak publicly about the administration’s plans, told POLITICO the Education Department may stop the disbursement of “formula funds,” which are awards based on a predetermined formula created by Congress. The administration has not yet reached a decision, according to a separate person familiar with the discussions. The timing for a potential decision is also not finalized.

“That is one of the tools and the opportunities that we have with California,” Education Secretary Linda McMahon said of the potential to pull the state’s funds on Tuesday at an event hosted by Bloomberg News. “And I think it’s right that we make them aware that that is a risk that they run.”

Sounds like the childish cry baby in the White House is throwing another temper tantrum! 🙁

Trump administration considers slashing federal education money for California
California’s public schools receive nearly $8 billion annually from the U.S. Education Department.

https://www.politico.com/news/2025/06/10/trump-administration-weighs-pulling-federal-education-grants-for-california-00397026

Politico: Trump administration considers slashing federal education money for California

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California’s public schools receive nearly $8 billion annually from the U.S. Education Department.

The Trump administration is considering cutting federal education funds to California, according to people familiar with the administration’s thinking. The discussion comes as Gov. Gavin Newsom and President Donald Trump feud over the president’s deployment of the National Guard to LA to stop immigration protests.

A Trump administration employee, who was not permitted to speak publicly about the administration’s plans, told POLITICO the Education Department may stop the disbursement of “formula funds,” which are awards based on a predetermined formula created by Congress. The administration has not yet reached a decision, according to a separate person familiar with the discussions. The timing for a potential decision is also not finalized.

“That is one of the tools and the opportunities that we have with California,” Education Secretary Linda McMahon said of the potential to pull the state’s funds on Tuesday at an event hosted by Bloomberg News. “And I think it’s right that we make them aware that that is a risk that they run.”

So far the courts usually block the funding cuts. Bully boy King Donald is too drunk on power (that he doesn’t actually have) to quit and too stupid to learn.

Trump administration considers slashing federal education money for California
California’s public schools receive nearly $8 billion annually from the U.S. Education Department.

https://www.politico.com/news/2025/06/10/trump-administration-weighs-pulling-federal-education-grants-for-california-00397026

Associated Press: NIH scientists publish declaration criticizing Trump’s deep cuts in public health research

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In his confirmation hearings to lead the National Institutes of Health, Jay Bhattacharya pledged his openness to views that might conflict with his own. “Dissent,” he said, ”is the very essence of science.”

That commitment is being put to the test.

On Monday, scores of scientists at the agency sent their Trump-appointed leader a letter titled the Bethesda Declaration, challenging “policies that undermine the NIH mission, waste public resources, and harm the health of Americans and people across the globe.”

It says: “We dissent.”

In a capital where insiders often insist on anonymity to say such things publicly, 92 NIH researchers, program directors, branch chiefs and scientific review officers put their signatures on the letter — and their careers on the line. An additional 250 of their colleagues across the agency endorsed the declaration without using their names.

The letter, addressed to Bhattacharya, also was sent to Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and members of Congress who oversee the NIH. White House spokesman Kush Desai defended the administration’s approach to federal research and said President Donald Trump is focused on restoring a “Gold Standard” of science, not “ideological activism.”

In other words, screw the experts and follow the lead of Robert “Brainworm” Kennedy, Jr.

Got bush meat? The road kill is a bit chewy today.

NIH scientists publish declaration criticizing Trump’s deep cuts in public health research
President Donald Trump’s National Institutes of Health director says some employees’ critical letter to him has “fundamental misconceptions about the policy directions the NIH has taken.”

https://apnews.com/article/nih-letter-bethesda-declaration-bhattacharya-89724aee201f3e99fc1159adcbf9ac94

More here:

An Uproar at the NIH
Jay Bhattacharya, the the agency’s director, has made a point of welcoming dissent. A letter from his officials will test that.

https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2025/06/nih-bethesda-declaration-bhattacharya-letter/683081

Alternet: Trump doesn’t just think of himself as the president | Opinion

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The American Revolution was a result of the tyranny experienced by colonists under the British monarchy. Many Americans had fled from Europe where they had been persecuted under the rule of powerful monarchs. The government produced by the revolution was designed to ensure no such tyranny could be reproduced in the newly formed United States.

The framers of the constitution created a checks-and-balances system of government to ensure that no single branch of the federal government (executive, judicial or legislative) could dominate the others. Each branch has powers to curtail or empower the others.

However, some Americans are concerned about a return of absolute rule due to the steps taken by Donald Trump’s second administration. This has sparked around 100 “no kings” protests all over the US, organised to coincide with Trump’s birthday on June 15.

No kings!

Trump doesn’t just think of himself as the president | Opinion

https://www.alternet.org/trump-doesn-t-think-of-himself-as-the-president

Associated Press: Federal court blocks Trump from imposing sweeping tariffs under emergency powers law

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A federal court on Wednesday blocked President Donald Trump from imposing sweeping tariffs on imports under an emergency-powers law, swiftly throwing into doubt Trump’s signature set of economic policies that have rattled global financial markets, frustrated trade partners and raised broader fears about inflation intensifying and the economy slumping.

The ruling from a three-judge panel at the New York-based U.S. Court of International Trade came after several lawsuits arguing Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariffs exceeded his authority and left the country’s trade policy dependent on his whims.

Federal court blocks Trump from imposing sweeping tariffs under emergency powers law
A federal court is blocking President Donald Trump from imposing sweeping tariffs on imports under an emergency-powers law.

https://apnews.com/article/trump-tariffs-trade-court-0392dbd59f548e49ad4f64254ae3f94a

Independent: White House backed down on China’s tariff after president was told they would hurt ‘Trump’s people’ the most

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Several White House staffers had to warn the president that his tariffs would impact ‘Trump’s people.’

The White House eased tariffs imposed on China after several staffers were forced to warn President Donald Trump that his penalties would cause his supporters – or “Trump’s people,” – to suffer economically, according to a report.

While Trump was reluctant to lower tariffs against Beijing too quickly, several White House staffers – including Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and other aides – warned him the penalties were placing his own supporters in danger, sources told the Washington Post.

…

“The key argument was that this was beginning to hurt Trump’s supporters – Trump’s people,” one person briefed on the talks said. “It gave Susie a key window.”

White House eases China’s tariff after learning it would hurt ‘Trump’s people’ most
Several White House staffers had to warn the president that his tariffs would impact ‘Trump’s people.’

https://www.the-independent.com/news/world/americas/us-politics/china-tariffs-trade-trump-friends-b2751003.html

Fortune: Trump calls emptying U.S. ports a ‘good thing’ despite supply-chain panic because ‘that means we lose less money’

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As logistics professionals sound the alarms on emptying U.S. ports as a result of steep tariffs, President Donald Trump said those major import slowdowns are actually a boon.

…

Trump not only acknowledged the shipping slowdown in a Thursday press briefing announcing a trade deal with the UK; he seemed heartened by it.

“We’re seeing as a result that ports here in the U.S., the traffic has really slowed and now thousands of dockworkers and truck drivers are worried about their jobs,” a reporter said in the press briefing.

“That means we lose less money,” Trump said. “When you say it slowed down, that’s a good thing, not a bad thing.”

Trump is deranged!

Trump calls emptying U.S. ports a ‘good thing’ despite supply-chain panic because ‘that means we lose less money’
The president has repeatedly claimed the U.S. has a $1 trillion trade deficit with China, though economists argue a trade deficit isn’t inherently negative.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/trump-calls-emptying-u-ports-180609056.html

Politico: Judges have a warning about Trump’s rapid deportations: Americans could be next

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A fundamental promise by America’s founders — that no one should be punished by the state without a fair hearing — is under threat, a growing chorus of federal judges say.

That concept of “due process under law,” borrowed from the Magna Carta and enshrined in the Bill of Rights, is most clearly imperiled for the immigrants President Donald Trump intends to summarily deport, they say, but U.S. citizens should be wary, too.

Across the country, judges appointed by presidents of both parties — including Trump himself — are escalating warnings about what they see as an erosion of due process caused by the Trump administration’s mass deportation campaign. What started with a focus on people Trump has deemed “terrorists” and “gang members” — despite their fierce denials — could easily expand to other groups, including Americans, these judges warn.

“When the courts say due process is important, we’re not unhinged, we’re not radicals,” U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes, a Washington, D.C.-based appointee of President Joe Biden, said at a recent hearing. “We are literally trying to enforce a process embodied in probably the most significant document with respect to peoples’ rights against tyrannical government oppression. That’s what we’re doing here. Okay?”

It’s a fight that judges are increasingly casting as existential, rooted in the 5th Amendment’s guarantee that “no person shall … be deprived of life, liberty or property, without due process of law.” The word “person,” courts have noted, makes no distinction between citizens or noncitizens. The Supreme Court has long held that this fundamental promise extends to immigrants in deportation proceedings. In a 1993 opinion, Justice Antonin Scalia called that principle “well-established.”

Judges have a warning about Trump’s rapid deportations: Americans could be next
Judges across the country continue to note that if courts don’t protect the rights of the least popular and most vulnerable, everyone is at risk.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/opinion/judges-have-a-warning-about-trump-s-rapid-deportations-americans-could-be-next/ar-AA1EvZfM

Washington Post: U.S. pushes nations facing tariffs to approve Musk’s Starlink, cables show

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Some countries have turned to the satellite internet firm in conjunction with trade talks, State Department staffers wrote. The U.S. has a strategic interest in countering Chinese internet providers, but Musk’s role complicates the picture.

Corruption at its finest!

Less than two weeks after President Donald Trump announced 50 percent tariffs on goods from the tiny African nation of Lesotho, the country’s communications regulator held a meeting with representatives of Starlink.

The satellite business, owned by billionaire and Trump adviser Elon Musk’s SpaceX company, had been seeking access to customers in Lesotho. But it was not until Trump unveiled the tariffs and called for negotiations over trade deals that leaders of the country of roughly 2 million people awarded Musk’s firm the nation’s first-ever satellite internet service license, slated to last for 10 years.

The decision drew a mention in an internal State Department memo obtained by The Washington Post, which states: “As the government of Lesotho negotiates a trade deal with the United States, it hopes that licensing Starlink demonstrates goodwill and intent to welcome U.S. businesses.”

Lesotho is far from the only country that has decided to assist Musk’s firm while trying to fend off U.S. tariffs. The company reached distribution deals with two providers in India in March and has won at least partial accommodations with Somalia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Vietnam, although this is probably not a comprehensive count.

Hopefully there will be some prosecutions after the 2028 elections!

U.S. pushes nations facing tariffs to approve Musk’s Starlink, cables show
Some countries have turned to the satellite internet firm in preparation for trade talks, State Department staffers wrote. The U.S. has a strategic interest in countering Chinese internet providers, but Musk’s role complicates the picture.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2025/05/07/elon-musk-starlink-trump-tariffs

LA Times: California is first state to sue Trump on tariffs

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It’s Gov. Gavin Newsom’s most direct move against Trump since the president retook office.

Newsom’s lawsuit, announced Wednesday morning with California Attorney General Rob Bonta, is the first challenge from a U.S. state against Trump’s signature foreign policy cudgel.

California, the world’s fifth largest economy, stands to lose billions to tariffs with major state industries from Silicon Valley to agriculture heavily dependent on global trade.

“President Trump’s unlawful tariffs are wreaking chaos on California families, businesses, and our economy — driving up prices and threatening jobs,” Newsom said in a statement. “We’re standing up for American families who can’t afford to let the chaos continue.”

The lawsuit is Newsom’s most direct legal challenge to Trump’s agenda since the president retook office in January. The move instantly reignites California’s war with Trump and cements its place atop the resistance, after Newsom spent months appealing to the president for federal disaster relief.

It’s also notable as a unilateral challenge, underscoring the singular importance of the issue in California. Bonta has worked closely with other blue states on previous lawsuits challenging Trump’s immigration policies and federal funding cuts.

Meanwhile from Trump’s mindless sycophants:

“Instead of focusing on California’s rampant crime, homelessness, and unaffordability, Gavin Newsom is spending his time trying to block President Trump’s historic efforts to finally address the national emergency of our country’s persistent goods trade deficits,” White House spokesperson Kush Desai told POLITICO in a statement Wednesday.

California is first state to sue Trump on tariffs
It’s Gov. Gavin Newsom’s most direct move against Trump since the president retook office.

https://www.politico.com/news/2025/04/16/california-is-first-state-to-sue-trump-on-tariffs-00292637