Skippy L

-Nat’l Capital Planning Commission delayed final vote on Trump’s proposed ballroom; observers wonder what will happen since East Wing already demolished

-Trump announced DHS Sect Noem will step down @ end of March, picked Oklahoma Sen Mullin as replacement
-Sen Blumenthal announced plan to push for perjury investigation against Noem

-DHS Sect Noem called victims of ICE violence “domestic terrorists”
-US Senators requested official investigation into DOJ leadership’s blocking of civil-rights probe into killing of Renee Good

-House committee voted to subpoena AG Bondi over handling of Epstein files
-County Attorney (Minneapolis, MN) announced Transparency & Accountability Project to review 17 incidents involving “potential unlawful behavior” by ICE & CBP agents in city

-Justice Dept attempted to step into disciplinary cases handled by state bar associations against DoJ attorneys; critics call move “corruption in plain sight”
-per memo seen by NBC, AG Bondi ended restrictions on DoJ appointees participating in political activities

-Minnesota sued that administration to prevent withholding of Medicaid $
-DOJ formally pulled back request to walk away from legal battles w/ 4 law firms
-fed judge in NJ required immigration officials to formally acknowledge court orders that block migrants from being transferred out of state

-SCOTUS temp blocked California law banning schools from telling parents of a student’s transgender identity; final determination will be made in lower courts
-SCOTUS ruled only GOP-held congressional district in NYC does not need redrawn, despite lower court ruling district unfair to POC residents

-Dept of Ed hanged banners on side of HQ featuring Booker T Washington, Catharine Beecher, & Charlie Kirk; critics ? incl of Kirk
-Trump suggested “whole [ed] system is going to go out of business” unless changes made to rules re college sports, suggested could write exec order to force action

-EPA issued reduction-in-force notices to employees working on environmental justice efforts
-FDA vaccine chief announced leave from agency, 2nd time in less than 1 yr

-OpenAI announced agreement w/ DoD hours after above announcement; many immediately called for boycott of company & its product ChatGPT
-publicly, OpenAI CEO claimed co amending agreement w/ DoD; told employees that company doesn’t “get to make operational decisions” abt how DoD uses its tech

-Senate Dems blocked spending bill to reopen DHS, cont to insist on new limits for immigration enforcement
-Trump announced the US govt will no longer do business w/ AI company Anthropic, ordered fed agencies to phase out programs

-Axios pointed out Trump has ordered more military strikes against more countries in his 2nd term than any other modern president
-Senate voted down war powers measure to limit Trump’s military actions in Iran; House narrowly voted down similar measure

-Trump posted on social media calling for Iran’s “unconditional surrender”, told media outlets he wants to be involved in picking nation’s next leader
-many critics pointed out hypocrisy of Trump’s actions after promises to end “forever wars” and put “America first”

-anecdotal evidence shared that Americans in Middle East called the State Dept hotline as instructed only to hear automated message saying “Please do not rely on the US government for assisted departure or evacuation at this time”

-Shiites stormed US embassy in Pakistan over attacks on Iran, resulting in 9 dead & 2 doz wounded
-conflict in Middle East cont to spread, pulling other countries in while others call for halt to attacks

🧵ICYMI: During week 59 of the current federal administration:
🧵
-Trump justified attack on Iran by pushing claims the country interfered w/ US elections in 2020 & ’24
-Iran leader Khameini died; Trump claimed as result of US/Israel strikes
-Iran, US, Israel cont to exchange strikes

-Capitol police arrested Congressional guest at State of the Union when she refused to sit; critics argue arrest was unwarranted
-numerous Dem members of Congress called out Trump’s lies during SotU

-Trump touted “roaring” economy, gave out presidential medals, blamed Dems for issues plaguing nation, vowed action against “cheating” in elections in longest-ever State of the Union address
-35 members of Congress + millions of general population boycotted State of the Union address

-Trump invited both men’s & women’s hockey teams to State of the Union address, joking that if he didn’t invite the women he “probably would be impeached”; women’s team declined
-Trump ranted on social media abt “Woke extremists” who planned to boycott State of the Union

-FBI fired agents who worked on investigation into Trump’s hoarding of classified docs; critics w/in & w/out agency condemned move as unlawful
-FBI director Patel joined US men’s hockey team for party after medal game, reiterating ?s & concerns over Patel’s travel habits & work priorities

-fed Equal Employment Opportunity Commission stated fed agencies may bar employees from using bathroom that aligns w/ gender identity
-Treasury Dept & Bureau of Fiscal Service both terminated collective bargaining agreements w/ Nat’l Treasury Employees Union, following Trump’s EO from March ’25

-Justice Dept filed lawsuits against 5 states for access to complete voter registration lists
-proposed Executive Order leaked that would see Trump declare nat’l emergency over US elections, based on unverified claims of international interference in 2020 election

-fed judge ruled administration policy of summarily deporting immigrants to 3rd countries is unlawful
-fed judge in MN warned feds: comply w/ court orders or face criminal contempt charges

-US District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia appointed interim US Attorney; when White House moved to dismiss, the court shared legislation showing it acted w/in statutory power
-DoD appealed fed judge’s ruling blocking Sect Hegseth from reducing Sen Mark Kelly’s retirement rank & pay

-SCOTUS agreed to hear case seeking to hold energy companies accountable for costs of climate change
-fed judge blocked public release of final report from Special Counsel Jack Smith
-3 judge panel refused to halt new congressional map in Utah

-Congress held multiple sessions of depositions related to info from Epstein files
-numerous high-profile individuals around the world stepped down or were removed from power as Epstein info spreads

-Cuban forces killed 4, injured 6 on US-registered speedboat that entered Cuban waters; Sect of State Rubio said US gathering info if individuals were US citizens or permanent residents
-Trump announced talks w/ Cuba, suggested “friendly takeover” of that country w/out clarifying or giving details

-US & Iran officials met Thursday for talks abt Iran’s nuclear program
-US & Israeli forces launched strikes on Iran Saturday, w/ Trump & Netanyahu calling for Iranian people to take over their govt

-official White House social media posted pic of bald eagle standing on dead Canada goose
-France moved to bar US Ambassador Kushner from access to French govt until he meets w/ officials to answer ?s re comments from the Trump administration

-US Ambassador to Israel stated in interview that Israel has right to much of the Middle East
-Trump proposed deployment of “great hospital boat” to Greenland; both US Navy hospital ships are in maintenance and ?s abound about proposal