The 19th News: Thousands of LGBTQ+ veterans were supposed to get pardons. A year later, only four have succeeded.

President Biden pledged to use his clemency powers to right ‘an historic wrong.’ Why did it fall so short of its promise?

The email came while James Harter was on vacation with his husband in Quebec City, Canada. He was checking his computer in their RV when he read the no-nonsense subject line: Certificate of Pardon.

He had no idea just how uncommon that email was ….

Fast forward one year:

Diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives have been erased under the new administration’s zeal to refocus the military on lethality. Thousands of transgender service members are being discharged and banned from serving. And the Pentagon is considering renaming ships, including the USNS Harvey Milk, named for the slain gay rights activist and veteran who was discharged over his sexuality, among other ships that don’t fit a “warrior” ethos. 

While The War Horse had previously reported on the low number of pardon applications for LGBTQ+ veterans, records disclosed last month by the Office of the U.S. Pardon Attorney are the first to reveal just how few have been granted: two from the Navy, one from the Air Force, and one from the Army.

What a difference a year makes, when bigots like Hegseth & Trump are now running the show.

https://19thnews.org/author/leah-rosenbaum-the-war-horse

Alternet: This obscure Supreme Court decision could impact Trump’s agenda — and restore faith in the court

But there is one recent decision where the court was unanimous in its ruling, perhaps because its holding should not be controversial: National Rifle Association v. Vullo. In that 2024 case, the court said that it’s a clear violation of the First Amendment’s free speech provisions for government to force people to speak and act in ways that are aligned with its policies.

The second Trump administration has tried to wield executive branch power in ways that appear to punish or suppress speech and opposition to administration policy priorities. Many of those attempts have been legally challenged and will likely make their way to the Supreme Court.

The somewhat under-the-radar – yet incredibly important – decision in National Rifle Association v. Vullo is likely to figure prominently in Supreme Court rulings in a slew of those cases in the coming months and years, including those involving law firms, universities and the Public Broadcasting Service.

In May 2024, in an opinion written by reliably liberal Sonia Sotomayor, a unanimous court ruled that the efforts of New York state government officials to punish companies doing business with the NRA constituted clear violations of the First Amendment.

Following its own precedent from the 1960s, Bantam Books v. Sullivan, the court found that government officials “cannot attempt to coerce private parties in order to punish or suppress views that the government disfavors.”

https://www.alternet.org/trump-supreme-court-2672423710

Miami Herald: ‘Have We No Shame’: Judge’s Swift Ruling Defies Trump

A federal judge in Boston declared that President Donald Trump’s termination of NIH research grants was unlawful. He described the action as “arbitrary and capricious.” Judge William Young’s ruling alleges potential racial bias and condemns the administration’s approach to diversity matters.

Young urged government officials to clarify the meaning of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) during a hearing. He raised concerns over canceled grants targeting health disparities and noted a troubling pattern of discrimination against racial minorities and the LGBTQ community.

Young said, “I’ve never seen government racial discrimination like this.” Young added, “Have we no shame.” He added, “This represents racial discrimination and discrimination against America’s LGBTQ community.”

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/have-we-no-shame-judge-s-swift-ruling-defies-trump/ss-AA1HcuZk

Washington Post: As Trump shuts out migrants, Spain opens its doors and fuels economic growth

As the Trump administration’s crackdown on immigrants and asylum seekers brings tear gas, protests and raids to the streets of the United States, Spain is positioning itself as a counterpoint: a new land of opportunity.

In this nation of 48 million with long colonial links to the New World, an influx of predominantly Latin American immigrants is helping fuel one of the fastest-growing economies in Europe. The Spanish economic transformation is unfolding as the center-left government of Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has streamlined immigration rules while offering legal status to roughly 700,000 irregular migrants since 2021.

A landmark bill now being negotiated in the Congress of Deputies could grant legal amnesty to hundreds of thousands more — most of them Spanish-speakers from predominantly Catholic countries in Latin America. Those newcomers often enjoy visa-free travel to Spain, even as Madrid controversially works with Morocco, Mauritania and other countries to block irregular arrivals from the African coast, though Sánchez has also called for tolerance toward migrants fleeing poverty and violence in Africa.

Spain’s approach is attracting at least some migrants rejected or barred from the United States, including Venezuelans who are now subject to President Donald Trump’s travel ban.

Yet the legislative amnesty push came not from a government plan but a grassroots effort backed by civil actors including small-town mayors, companies, migrant advocates and the Catholic church. Spain also has a history of normalizing irregular migrants who can prove steady work, with the last large-scale amnesty under the center-left government of José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero in 2005.

Should Sánchez survive the corruption crisis — and Spain’s economy continue to thrive — his policies could set up this nation as the antithesis of Trump’s America: a migrant-friendly progressive paradise.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/as-trump-shuts-out-migrants-spain-opens-its-doors-and-fuels-economic-growth/ar-AA1H5Kjo

AFP: Balloons, bubbles, tear gas: LA anti-Trump protests turn chaotic

For hours, thousands of people in Los Angeles peacefully celebrated their defiance of US President Donald Trump Saturday with music, marching, bubbles and balloons — then police unexpectedly moved in, and chaos and confusion broke out.

The demonstration — part of the nationwide “No Kings” day of protests across the country — was by far the largest in more than a week of protests ignited by anger against immigration raids the Trump administration has been carrying out across the country’s second-largest city. 

Like those before it, Saturday’s had been largely peaceful. A march that began in the morning had finished, with demonstrators milling about on a sunny afternoon as the scene took on the air of a street festival. 

But then:

Then police unexpectedly began moving people away from the area, igniting confusion and anger among demonstrators caught off guard and unsure of where to go.

Police on horseback pushed crowds back as law enforcement fired tear gas and flash-bang grenades hours ahead of an 8:00 pm (0300 GMT) curfew. 

A police spokeswoman later told local TV channel KTLA that a “small group of agitators” had begun throwing rocks, bottles and fireworks at officers, prompting the decision to order the crowd to disperse.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/balloons-bubbles-tear-gas-la-anti-trump-protests-turn-chaotic/ar-AA1GJd8h

Axios: Judge orders Trump admin. to restore hundreds of terminated NIH grants

A federal judge Monday ordered the National Institutes of Health to restore grants that the agency cut based on gender ideology or diversity, equity and inclusion, calling the move illegal.

District of Massachusetts Judge William Young told the attorneys that the case raises serious concerns about racial discrimination on the basis of health and said some evidence points to potential discrimination against women’s health.

“I’ve never seen a record where racial discrimination was so palpable,” Young said Monday afternoon. “I’ve sat on this bench now for 40 years. I’ve never seen government racial discrimination like this.”

https://www.axios.com/local/boston/2025/06/16/nih-grants-ordered-restored

Associated Press: Judge rules some NIH grant cuts illegal, saying he’s never seen such discrimination in 40 years

A federal judge ruled Monday it was illegal for the Trump administration to cancel several hundred research grants, adding that the cuts raise serious questions about racial discrimination.

U.S. District Judge William Young in Massachusetts said the administration’s process was “arbitrary and capricious” and that it did not follow long-held government rules and standards when it abruptly canceled grants deemed to focus on gender identity or diversity, equity and inclusion.

In a hearing Monday on two cases calling for the grants to be restored, the judge pushed government lawyers to offer a formal definition of DEI, questioning how grants could be canceled for that reason when some were designed to study health disparities as Congress had directed.

Young, an appointee of Republican President Ronald Reagan, went on to address what he called “a darker aspect” to the cases, calling it “palpably clear” that what was behind the government actions was “racial discrimination and discrimination against America’s LGBTQ community.”

After 40 years on the bench, “I’ve never seen government racial discrimination like this,” Young added. He ended Monday’s hearing saying, “Have we no shame.”

https://apnews.com/article/nih-research-trump-cuts-dei-rfk-4fec9f308f3ff427185a12e88f260c81

Mirror: Trump executive order lets VA doctors deny care to Democrats or unmarried veterans

An executive order from President Donald Trump has given the VA the power to deny healthcare to veterans based on their political affiliation and marital status

President Donald Trump has issued an executive order that allows the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to refuse healthcare to veterans based on their political beliefs and marital status, sparking fears that Democratic or single veterans could be denied medical services.

On January 30, Trump signed an executive order titled “Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government.” While its primary aim was to roll back federal protections for transgender people, it also brought about sweeping changes within the VA.

Caplan expressed concern that under the new policies, doctors might ask patients inappropriate questions, such as whether they have attended a Trump rally or support the LGBTQ+ community. “These personal views are irrelevant to patient care. So, why should we risk denying anyone access to care for such reasons?” he questioned.

The VA, serving over 9 million vets through its extensive network of 170 hospitals and 1,000 clinics, has made sweeping changes to its policy by striking down shields against bias tied to political leanings, marital status, sexual preference, and country of origin. Its latest regulations now permit healthcare workers at VA institutions to refuse care for characteristics not covered by national laws.

https://www.themirror.com/news/us-news/trump-executive-order-lets-va-1211769

Esquire: Somehow Republicans Are Defending Kristi Noem After the Forceful Removal of Senator Alex Padilla

I thought assaulting someone holding federal office was a crime. Not anymore, apparently.

So, apparently we’re bum-rushing US senators now. From The Guardian:

In video taken of the incident that has since gone viral on social media, Padilla is seen being restrained and removed from the room by Secret Service agents.“I’m Senator Alex Padilla. I have questions for the secretary,” Padilla shouts, as he struggles to move past the men removing him from the premises. “Hands off!” he says at one point.Emerging afterward, Padilla, who is the ranking member of the judiciary subcommittee on immigration, citizenship and border safety, said he and his colleagues had repeatedly asked DHS for more information on its “increasingly extreme immigration enforcement actions” but had not received a response to his inquiries.

This tinhorn governor of a state where nobody lives, this puppy-murdering hack whose political career outside of MAGA World was as dead as Custer, now gets to sic her black-shirted thugs on the senior senator of a state that she and her criminal boss and all their attendant lords have been lying about, and about which she had flown to Los Angeles to lie about some more.

Dumbass in a ballcap says what? She just admitted they’re blowing up the town to get rid of the mayor and governor. If the courts ever get their teeth back, this gaffe will figure prominently in many filings.

Meanwhile, Padilla is hauled into a backroom and driven to the floor and handcuffed.

And not for nothing, but threatening and/or assaulting the holder of any federal office is a felony and could draw you five to ten in the pokey. And these goons are pretty identifiable.

And, of course, the administration’s prevarication mill went into full operation almost instantly. From The New Republic via Yahoo:

In posts on X, the official DHS account and Assistant DHS Secretary Tricia McLaughlin released a statement attempting to justify wrestling Padilla to the ground and handcuffing him. “Senator Padilla chose disrespectful political theatre and interrupted a live press conference without identifying himself or having his Senate security pin on as he lunged toward Secretary Noem,” the statement read.

Tricia learned to lie like this at the AEI’s Leadership Institute.

But in a video of the altercation from Padilla’s office, the senator could be heard clearly identifying himself. “Hands off! I’m Senator Alex Padilla, and I have questions for the secretary,” said the California Democrat as a security guard pushed him out of the room.

It’s clear that the goons looked at him and just saw another angry brown face. And by their reactions, Tricia and her boss are similarly afflicted.

This is also all my bollocks. Noem knows who Padilla is and, if she doesn’t, she should, and he did identify himself. Third-rate hack with a fourth-rate alibi.

And what about Speaker Moses? What did you expect?

That sanctimonious sumbitch wants Padilla censured. And he spent the afternoon hiding. If he’s a Christian, I’m an Ostrogoth.

The day was not without its burlesque, however. In a House Oversight Committee hearing, Rep. Maxwell Frost asked Chairman James (Jughead) Comer to issue a subpoena for Noem regarding the events of the day. Comer, of course, refused, probably because Padilla was not carrying Hunter Biden’s laptop at the time. And then we were off.

https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/politics/a65058840/senator-padilla-kristi-noem-james-comer-marjorie-taylor-greene

Travel Bucketlist: Multiple Countries Issue Travel Warnings for USA After Immigration Crackdowns Target Foreign Visitors

  • Germany Warns Citizens After Border Detentions
  • United Kingdom Issues Stern Entry Warnings
  • Ireland Updates Guidance on Gender Requirements
  • Netherlands and Belgium Join the Warning Wave
  • Denmark and Finland Issue Gender-Specific Warnings
  • Norway Overhauls Travel Advisory System
  • France and Spain Join European Response

Thank you, King Donald. Under your divine leadership, we’ve gone from being the leader of the free world to a pariah.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/multiple-countries-issue-travel-warnings-for-usa-after-immigration-crackdowns-target-foreign-visitors/ss-AA1FM8eV