Today is issue #300 of GovBrief Today, the publication I started ten days into Trump’s second term when I was horrified at the speed with which our norms, rules, and laws were battered. We will cross 5,000 curated news stories within the week, and I’m not stopping until we get our country back. If you … Read more
They make up rules, punish the resisters, and defy the courts. Then a damning tape leaks. Trump’s real estate buddy Steve Witkoff is on tape coaching Putin’s foreign policy adviser on how to pitch the president. “Maybe he says to President Trump…” He’s literally scripting Russia’s approach. Trump called it “standard negotiation.” Meanwhile, Senator Mark … Read more
A federal judge dismissed Trump’s prosecutions of former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James today. Career prosecutors refused to bring charges and resigned or were fired. Trump installed his personal lawyer with no prosecutorial experience. She botched the case. She lost, and the judge ruled that her appointment was illegal. … Read more
A keen political strategist I know was concerned after the election that a new presidency would undermine America’s soft power around the globe. Decades of being the superpower willing to invest in health, food, and military protection globally would be dismantled in a second Trump administration. They were right. Within weeks, America’s ability to persuade … Read more
Trump’s flailing is driving him to extremes. Today he told reporters that his 28 point peace plan for Ukraine wasn’t final, but still demanded that Zelenskyy approve it by Thursday. He again wrote just before midnight Saturday that the six Democratic lawmakers who confirmed that troops can refuse illegal orders should be in jail and … Read more
“MTG turns on Trump and resigns. Mamdani and Trump are new best friends. I am so confused.” Political scientist Larry Sabato, the academic who calls elections before the networks, wrote that on X tonight. Marjorie Taylor Greene is disappearing into a chaotic haze of insults she’s been trading with Trump over the Epstein files. Trump … Read more
The authoritarian machine exists, but institutions are gumming up its works. Chicago and DC grand juries are refusing indictments. Federal judges are blocking illegal deployments and dismissing prosecutions with sharp rebukes. Civil rights groups keep winning in court. Meanwhile, a flailing Trump threatened to execute six Democratic lawmakers for telling troops they can refuse illegal … Read more
Legislators and attorneys who should know better showed the world an ugly, lawless side of politics today. Trump’s inexperienced handpicked prosecutor didn’t show the indictment of former FBI director James Comey to the full grand jury. On the Hill, a Democrat was indicted for stealing $5 million in FEMA funds for her campaign while a … Read more
Trump’s own supporters finally forced his hand today. After months of White House pressure to bury the Epstein files, the GOP broke ranks and voted with the Democrats. The House voted 427-1 to compel their release. Hours later, the Senate passed it unanimously. When ABC’s Mary Bruce asked why Trump doesn’t just order the release … Read more
Don’t get distracted from our crumbling healthcare infrastructure. CDC scientists linked measles outbreaks across multiple states today. If transmission continues through January, the U.S. loses measles elimination status after 25 years. NIH cuts halted treatment for 74,000 people mid-clinical trial. And tens of millions face health insurance increases of 25% or more as ACA subsidies … Read more
