Vance's anti-interventionist bona fides — critical for 2028 positioning, especially contra-Marco Rubio — are in the toilet as he stays silent amid Trump's new war.
05.03.2026 20:53
👍 64
🔁 12
💬 8
📌 2
Vance's anti-interventionist bona fides — critical for 2028 positioning, especially contra-Marco Rubio — are in the toilet as he stays silent amid Trump's new war.
Super surreal, all the cops asked prepared questions about working with dhs and/or big buckets of flattery. Noem at one point mentioned attending an event with Trump on Saturday - guess we'll see if that's still on the books!
CSPAN!
eek Noem is currently taking questions about immigration from local law enforcement at the major cities conference ... not clear that she knows Trump has fired her ...
Bonus: Montana’s Other Senator, for Whatever Reason, Decided to Beat up a Marine on Wednesday
Come for Daines' seat gifting, stay for Montana's other senator extracurricularly helping break a veteran/protester's arm talkingpointsmemo.com/news/daines-...
if I'm Paxton, I am holding out for a very sweet job offer to lighten the blow of dropping out of the race where i'm arguably the favorite
Talarico will be the standard bearer for the Dems, while the Republicans duke it out for 3 more months. His plan to succeed in a Senate race where so many other Dems have failed is premised on expanding a welcoming big tent to those led astray by Trump/apathy. talkingpointsmemo.com/news/talaric...
Breaking: AP calls that Paxton and Cornyn are into the runoff. This is the Dem dream: three more months of bruising (expensive!) Republican infighting. The pressure campaign on Trump to endorse Cornyn will only intensify, as Paxton is seen as weaker candidate talkingpointsmemo.com/news/cornyn-...
Not enough being said about how little preemptive work the Trump admin put into getting Americans evacuated from countries near Iran. Only telling people on a long list of nearby countries to leave yesterday "via commercial means" when it was already too late to fly out?
For court watchers waiting for the Supreme Court decision that could doom the Voting Rights Act, Monday’s emergency docket ruling out of New York was ominous.
talkingpointsmemo.com/news/new-yor...
If it happens, they’ll have a party line to coalesce behind, while Dems — who overwhelmingly oppose the new war — will have to indignantly splutter their defense. All of a sudden, it’s a both sides story. talkingpointsmemo.com/where-things...
In fact, Republicans are already laying the groundwork to protect themselves from the greatest current political threat: retaliatory violence on American soil. Multiple GOP lawmakers are putting out suspiciously similar tweets pointing to Democrats' DHS shutdown as "dangerous" amid the war.
There have already been at least 6 American casualties from Trump's Iran war — more than in Benghazi. Democrats, not learning from that experience, are reluctant to blame Trump for deaths that are actually his fault. They miss a chance to shape the narrative that the GOP never would.
Trump's new war is another episode in the withering of the legislative branch. Congress won't get to weigh in on Iran for days (thanks to GOP leadership). When it does, the delayed move to deny the ongoing war may not pass — and if it does, Trump will veto it. talkingpointsmemo.com/news/congres...
He expresses sympathy for DOJ lawyers who have been put in an "impossible position" by their superiors: "What those attorneys 'didn’t deserve' was the Admin sending 3000 ICE agents to Minnesota to detain people without making any provision for handling the 100s of lawsuits that were sure to follow."
"The Court is not aware of another occasion in the history of the United States in which a federal court has had to threaten contempt—again and again and again—to force the United States government to comply with court orders," he writes.
In back and forth over migrant detention case, U.S. District Chief Judge Patrick Schiltz in MN (a Bush appointee) unloads on the government, noting that ICE has violated over 100 court orders. "One way or another, ICE will comply with this Court’s orders," the he writes, threatening contempt. 🧵
Breaking: Hegseth appeals the ruling granting Mark Kelly a preliminary injunction, which blocked Hegseth from reconsidering his rank/retirement benefits after Kelly spoke out against the administration. Hegseth vowed to appeal the day the ruling came down a couple weeks ago
“It’s clearly evident that the public trust has been lost,” Paul said. “To restore trust in ICE and border patrol, they must admit their mistakes, be honest and forthright with their rules of engagement and pledge to reform.”
talkingpointsmemo.com/news/rand-pa...
“If legislators do not feel free to express their views and the views of their constituents without fear of reprisal by the Executive, our representative system of Government cannot function!” Judge Leon exclaimed.
talkingpointsmemo.com/news/judge-r...
A lot of color (and exclamation points!) in this ruling: "Defendants respond that Senator Kelly is seeking to exempt himself from the rules of military justice that 'Congress has expressly made applicable to retired servicemembers.' Horsefeathers!'"
Judge Leon (Bush appointee): "After all, as Bob Dylan famously said, 'You don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows.' To say the least, our retired veterans deserve more respect from their Government, and our Constitution demands they receive it!"
Breaking: Judge grants Mark Kelly a preliminary injunction against Hegseth, who is reconsidering his rank: "This Court has all it needs to conclude that Defendants have trampled on Sen. Kelly's First Amendment freedoms & threatened the constitutional liberties of millions of military retirees."
🤨 ICE Chief Lyons on what he learned from the Minnesota surge: "People can go out there and protest but why are we gonna encourage individuals to go out there and impede and put themselves in harm's way — I think that’s the lesson learned from this."
More Paul ICE/CBP criticism: "You have to look at what your rules are for drawing weapons, because it appears to me they’re not using the same standard as the police."
Adds: "I think the police, frankly, are better trained."
Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-OH) jumps in to fight Paul, asking whether the agents who killed Pretti don't have constitutional rights.
Interesting dynamic to begin the hearing, Paul & Gary Peters (D-MI) essentially teaming up to question the agency heads on use of force frame-by-frame in the Pretti video
Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) telling ICE/CBP heads that if the Pretti probe wraps and they find "nobody is to blame" and "no changes" are being made, "it destroys the trust in ICE." Says people don't trust it'll be a real investigation after administration comments — there have to be "repercussions"
"You guys are always talking about religion here and the Bible, I mean it's okay for me to ask a question right?" she quipped when the chairman intervened. More: talkingpointsmemo.com/news/house-i...
More McIver (D-NJ) to ICE chief at today's hearing:
-"How do you think Judgment Day will work for you, with so much blood on your hands?"
-"Do you think you're going to hell, Mr. Lyons?"
-"How many government agencies are you aware of that routinely kill American citizens and still get funding?"
Really strange moment when Lyons lauds the ICE agents who took five-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos, saying they played his favorite songs and took him to McDonalds. His father to MPR News this week: "The truth is, he’s not the same boy he was before...he’s very scared."