Life in Post Democracy Era: The Trump 2/Elon Dictatatorship

Feel free to discuss debate news, current events, and other entertaining topics here. Civility is a requirement.
TK
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TK
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Posts: 630
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TK wrote: Sat Jun 07, 2025 12:54 pm
Not sure what that has to do with the Trump administration. Seems like it should go in the Ukranian war thread.
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Appeals court allows Trump to ban AP from smaller spaces for now

A federal appeals court is allowing the Trump White House to ban the Associated Press from the Oval Office and other restricted spaces for now in a ruling that blocked a lower court's ruling that claimed the ban was unconstitutional.

In a 2-1 order, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia granted in part a stay of the lower court's April 8 ruling that declared the content-based ban unconstitutional. Both of the judges who ruled in the administration's favor were nominated by President Trump in his first term.

"We grant in part the government's motion for a stay pending appeal," Judge Gregory Katsas and Judge Neomi Rao wrote. "The White House is likely to succeed on the merits because these restricted presidential spaces are not First Amendment fora opened for private speech and discussion. The White House therefore retains discretion to determine, including on the basis of viewpoint, which journalists will be admitted. Moreover, without a stay, the government will suffer irreparable harm because the injunction impinges on the president's independence and control over this private workspaces."

The White House has already assumed control of the White House press pool access and rotation so that wire outlets, including the Associated Press, are not in spaces like Air Force One or the Oval Office as frequently as they once were.

The AP, which says its news reporting reaches roughly 4 billion people daily, filed its lawsuit against three senior White House officials after it was informed in February that it would no longer be allowed in places like the Oval Office and on Air Force One as part of the press pool until the AP revised its influential Stylebook to use the name Gulf of America instead of Gulf of Mexico.

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Newsom floats withholding federal taxes as Trump threatens California

Gov. Gavin Newsom on Friday suggested California consider withholding tens of billions in annual federal tax dollars amid reports Donald Trump is preparing funding cuts targeting the state.

Newsom’s suggestion came after CNN reported the president was considering a “full termination” of federal grant funding for California’s universities.

“Californians pay the bills for the federal government. We pay over $80 BILLION more in taxes than we get back,” the Democratic governor said in an X post Friday afternoon, referencing a recent analysis from the Rockefeller Institute that California contributed about $83 billion more in federal taxes in 2022 than it received back from Washington.

“Maybe it’s time to cut that off,” he added.

White House spokesperson Kush Desai, asked to comment on Newsom’s post, threw cold water on mass funding cuts but blasted California for what he said were “lunatic anti-energy, soft-on-crime, pro-child mutilation, and pro-sanctuary policies.”

“The Trump administration is committed to ending this nightmare and restoring the California Dream,” Desai said in a statement. “No final decisions, however, on any potential future action by the Administration have been made, and any discussion suggesting otherwise should be considered pure speculation.”

Trump has wielded federal funding as leverage to push its politics on California before. The president last month threatened to choke off the state’s cash flow if a transgender athlete participated in a state girls’ track meet.

Newsom’s biting suggestion comes as the governor escalates his anti-Trump rhetoric, even as he asks the White House for economic assistance. Newsom in early May blamed tariffs for ripping $16 billion from California’s state budget, but has at the same time sought federal disaster relief for the recent Los Angeles wildfires and privately consulted Trump officials about ways to bolster the state’s flagging film industry.

Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas also floated withholding federal taxes Friday in a post on the social media site Bluesky shortly before Newsom raised the issue. He dismissed the rumored grant cancellations as “unconstitutional and vindictive.”

“We’re the nation’s economic engine and the largest donor state, and deserve our fair share,” Rivas wrote. “I’ll use every legal and constitutional tool available to defend CA — we must look at every option, including withholding federal taxes.”

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Trump administration asks Supreme Court to allow gutting of Education Department

The Trump administration asked the Supreme Court on Friday to allow it to resume gutting the Education Department after a lower court judge blocked the efforts.

Trump campaigned on abolishing the department, and his administration since taking office has looked to gut its workforce and operations.

U.S. District Judge Myong Joun last month blocked the efforts, ordering the administration to reinstate nearly 1,400 laid off employees and take other actions to reverse the president’s directives.

“Each day this preliminary injunction remains in effect subjects the Executive Branch to judicial micromanagement of its day-to-day operations,” Solicitor General D. John Sauer wrote in the new application.

It marks the Trump administration’s 19th emergency plea to the Supreme Court since taking office.

The legal battle comes in response to two lawsuits filed by Democratic-led states, school districts and teachers’ unions, that argue Trump is effectively shutting down the department and can’t move forward without congressional authority.

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TK
Site Admin
Posts: 630
Joined: Thu Jan 23, 2025 3:17 pm
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Location: In a galaxy far, far away...
TK
Site Admin
Posts: 630
Joined: Thu Jan 23, 2025 3:17 pm
Reactions score: 264
Location: In a galaxy far, far away...
TK
Site Admin
Posts: 630
Joined: Thu Jan 23, 2025 3:17 pm
Reactions score: 264
Location: In a galaxy far, far away...
TK
Site Admin
Posts: 630
Joined: Thu Jan 23, 2025 3:17 pm
Reactions score: 264
Location: In a galaxy far, far away...
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