Tag Archives: Russell Vought

Raw Story: ‘He’s definitely not well’: Internet pounces on new Trump pics after ‘dead’ hashtag trends

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At least one popular liberal influencer suggested that the new photos showing Trump “alive and well” were actually from 2023.

Donald Trump has been criticized for not being as visible lately, some say due to the large bruising he is suffering on his hands and swelling in his ankles, leading a #Trumpdead hashtag to trend on the popular right-wing hot spot X.

After the rumors spread online, the conservative New York Post over the weekend published a story called, “President Trump is alive and well after bizarre, false online speculation suggested he died,” in which the outlet published new photos of the president.

But the new pictures didn’t impress everyone, with critics noting his diminished appearance in the photos.

Ron Filipkowski said, “He may be alive, but he’s definitely not well,” in reference to the Post’s new pictures.

Conservative attorney George Conway on Saturday joked, “Has anyone checked in on President Vance,” to which political scientist Norman Ornstein responded, “George come on, the president is [Project 2025 architect] Russell Vought!”

Conservative Reed Galen asked, “Where’s Donald?”

Conservative analyst Brigitte Gabriel hit back against some of the comments on Saturday, saying, “It’s sickening to see so many leftists on social media spreading false rumors about President Trump and his health.”

“The Democrats have no class,” said Gabriel, who previously speculated about Joe Biden’s death when Biden was still the U.S. president. The comment section on Gabriel’s post was flooded with reminders of her asking if Biden was secretly deceased.

At least one popular liberal influencer suggested that the new photos showing Trump “alive and well” were actually from 2023.

https://www.rawstory.com/trump-hashtag-not-well

Reuters: Trump cancels $4.9 billion in foreign aid, escalating spending fight with Congress

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  • Trump bypasses Congress with ‘pocket rescission’ tactic
  • Funds earmarked for foreign aid, UN peacekeeping, democracy efforts
  • Republican Senator Collins calls action illegal, urges bipartisan process

President Donald Trump has moved to unilaterally cancel $4.9 billion in foreign aid authorized by Congress, escalating the fight over who controls the nation’s spending.

In a letter posted online late Thursday, Trump told House of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson that he plans to withhold funding for 15 international programs.

The U.S. Constitution grants funding power to Congress, which passes legislation each year to fund government operations.

The White House must secure Congress’ approval if it does not want to spend that money. Congress did this in July when it approved the cancellation of $9 billion in foreign aid and public media funding.

The latest move — known as a “pocket rescission” — bypasses Congress entirely.

Trump budget director Russell Vought has argued that Trump can withhold funds for 45 days, which would run out the clock until the end of the fiscal year on September 30. The White House said the tactic was last used in 1977.

According to a court document filed on Friday, the money at issue was earmarked for foreign aid, United Nations peacekeeping operations, and democracy-promotion efforts overseas. Most of that had been handled by the U.S. Agency for International Development, which Trump’s administration has largely dismantled.

“This is going to make our budget situation or liquidity situation that much more challenging, but we will follow up with U.S. authorities to get more details,” U.N. spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said on Friday.

Democrats say the administration froze more than $425 billion in funding overall.

Most Republican lawmakers have said they support spending cuts in any form even if it erodes Congress’ authority.

But Republican Senator Susan Collins of Maine, who oversees spending legislation as chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, said the action is illegal.

“Instead of this attempt to undermine the law, the appropriate way is to identify ways to reduce excessive spending through the bipartisan, annual appropriations process,” she said in a statement.

Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said Trump is aiming to force a government shutdown at the end of September by indicating that he is willing to ignore any spending laws passed by Congress.

“Republicans don’t have to be a rubber stamp for this carnage,” Schumer said in a statement.

Trump cancels $4.9 billion in foreign aid, escalating spending fight with Congress
President Donald Trump has moved to unilaterally cancel $4.9 billion in foreign aid authorized by Congress, escalating the fight over who controls the nation’s spending.

https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/trump-cancels-49-billion-foreign-aid-escalating-spending-fight-with-congress-2025-08-29

Reuters: US consumer watchdog scraps $95 million ‘illegal fees’ settlement with Navy Federal Credit Union

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The top U.S. watchdog agency for consumer finance this week canceled a $95 million settlement reached last year with Navy Federal Credit Union, a lender officials in the prior administration had accused of illegally charging surprise overdraft fees, according to an order published Wednesday.

In a separate order also published Wednesday, the CFPB likewise canceled a November action against the nonbank mortgage company Fay Servicing over alleged violations of mortgage servicing laws. 

The decisions were the latest moves by the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to undo cases already concluded by the agency, which President Donald Trump has sought to shrink drastically if not eliminate outright.

Cancelling existing settlements is outrageous! Trump & Co. could care less about us little people.

US consumer watchdog scraps $95 million ‘illegal fees’ settlement with Navy Federal Credit Union

https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/us-consumer-watchdog-scraps-95-million-illegal-fees-settlement-with-navy-federal-2025-07-01

Talking Points Memo: The ‘Invasion’ Invention: The Far Right’s Long Legal Battle to Make Immigrants the Enemy

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The Trump administration is using the claim that immigrants have “invaded” the country to justify possibly suspending habeas corpus, part of the constitutional right to due process. A faction of the far right has been building this case for years.

When top Trump adviser Stephen Miller threatened on May 9 that the administration is “actively looking at” suspending habeas corpus in response to an “invasion” from undocumented immigrants, he was operating on a fringe legal theory that a right-wing faction has been working to legitimize for more than a decade.

…

Hard-liners have referred to immigrants as “invaders” as long as the U.S. has had immigration. By 2022, invasion rhetoric, which had previously been relegated to white nationalist circles, had become such a staple of Republican campaign ads that most of the public agreed an invasion of the U.S. via the southern border was underway.

Now, however, the claim that the U.S. is under invasion has become the legal linchpin of President Donald Trump’s sweeping anti-immigrant campaign.

The claim is Trump’s central justification for invoking the Alien Enemies Act to deport roughly 140 Venezuelans to CECOT, the Salvadoran megaprison, without due process. (The administration cited different legal authority for the remaining deportees.) The Trump administration contends they are members of a gang, Tren de Aragua, that Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro is directing to infiltrate and operate in the United States. Lawyers and families of many of the deportees have presented evidence the prisoners are not even members of Tren de Aragua.

The contention is also the throughline of Trump’s day one executive order “Protecting the American People Against Invasion.” That document calls for the expansion of immigration removal proceedings without court hearings and for legal attacks against sanctuary jurisdictions, places that refuse to commit local resources to immigration enforcement.

So far, no court has bought the idea that the U.S. is truly under invasion….

And therein lies the problem: The Trump regime is off pursuing an unconstitutional tangent to solve a problem that is improperly framed as an “invasion”.

It’s a long well-researched article. Please click on the link below and read the entire article.

The ‘Invasion’ Invention: The Far Right’s Long Legal Battle to Make Immigrants the Enemy
This article first appeared at ProPublica, a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative newsroom. Sign…

https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/the-invasion-invention-the-far-rights-long-legal-battle-to-make-immigrants-the-enemy

USA Today: Thousands of federal employees are on a roller coaster of being fired, rehired

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‘Inefficency in the name of efficiency,’ according to one federal employee who was fired, rehired and may be fired again.

In recent months, tens of thousands of federal workers have been fired, rehired and threatened with firing again.

For now, they have a two-week reprieve, after a federal judge in California ordered the Trump administration not to carry out any additional firings for two weeks, but the administration has asked the Supreme Court to overturn that ruling.

But employees describe weeks of uncertainty, worry and doubt as their jobs are off, then on, then off again.

Thousands of federal employees are on a roller coaster of being fired, rehired
‘Inefficency in the name of efficiency,’ according to one federal employee who was fired, rehired and may be fired again.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2025/05/18/federal-employees-fired-rehired-await-court-decision/83600693007

Associated Press: Judge blocks Trump executive order targeting elite law firm, a blow to his retribution campaign

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A federal judge on Friday permanently blocked a White House executive order targeting an elite law firm, dealing a setback to President Donald Trump’s campaign of retribution against the legal profession.

U.S. District Beryl Howell said the executive order against the firm of Perkins Coie amounted to “unconstitutional retaliation” as she ordered that it be nullified and that the Trump administration halt any enforcement of it.

…

The ruling was most definitive rejection to date of Trump’s spate of similarly worded executive orders against some of the country’s most elite law firms, part of a broader effort by the president to reshape American civil society by targeting perceived adversaries in hopes of extracting concessions from them and bending them to his will. 

Judge blocks Trump executive order targeting elite law firm, a blow to his retribution campaign
WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge on Friday permanently blocked a White House executive order targeting an elite law firm, dealing a setback to President Donald Trump’s campaign of retribution against the legal profession. U.S. District Beryl Howell said the executive order against the firm of Perkins Coie amounted to “unconstitutional retaliation”…

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/judge-blocks-trump-executive-order-targeting-elite-law-firm-a-blow-to-his-retribution-campaign/ar-AA1E4P4H