Today in Politics, Bulletin 65. 2/6/25

Today in Politics Ron Filipkowski Feb 7 ∙ … Zelensky said Tucker Carlson is “working for Putin” and “licking his ass.” On Piers Morgan’s podcast: “This journalist, I do not remember his surname - Tucker. He needs to more deeply understand what’s happening in Ukraine. Just stop working for Putin. Just stop licking his ass. It seems to me that the person, no matter where he lives, must understand things. Has he for one time in his lifetime lost his close ones? I wish to his family peace and no losses, but one must have his own opinion and understand that he probably influences many people. He’s simply disinforming them, misinforming the people.” … I think Tucker knows that very well. … Probably the most pro-Ukraine Republican in the House, Rep. Joe Wilson used a little psychology on Trump by denouncing Russia State TV for displaying old nude photos of Melania while mocking her: “War criminal Putin has ignored peace initiatives with record rocket attacks on civilians in Ukraine, with Putin's state television shamefully broadcasting nude pictures of America’s First Lady, who is so beloved, Melania Trump.” … A federal judge in Seattle appointed by Reagan issued a scathing order granting an injunction against the enforcement of Trump’s executive order denying birthright citizenship. Judge Coughenour: "It has become ever more apparent that, to our president, the rule of law is but an impediment to his policy goals. The rule of law is, according to him, something to navigate around or simply ignore, whether that be for political or personal gain. Nevertheless, in this courtroom and under my watch, the rule of law is a bright beacon which I intend to follow." … Trump claimed that Tommy Tuberville coached Super Bowl QB Patrick Mahomes during his college career. With Tuberville in attendance at his press conference, Trump claimed that he had this conversation with him: “Tommy Tuberville, a great coach. You know, his quarterback was named Mahomes. He was a great college coach. And I said, how good was he? He said, ‘you don't want to know how good.’” … Except the entire thing was made up. Tuberville never coached Mahomes. … So Tommy had a bit of a dilemma today when he appeared on Megyn Kelly’s show - Does he say that Trump lied, or does he lie to try and cover for the Cult Leader. Of course, Tommy chose Option 2 but tried to hedge it by saying that he “recruited” him but didn’t coach him: “Patrick Mahomes was one of the best players I ever had the opportunity to recruit and get to know.” … Except that was also a lie. Mahomes: “He did not recruit me. I don't remember if I ever even met him.” … After lawsuit was filed by multiple government employee unions and set for an emergency hearing today on Musk’s DOGE being given access to sensitive Treasury payment systems that control $6 trillion dollars of annual disbursements, the Trump Administration filed a proposed order where they agreed to temporarily restrict access for DOGE officials. … The Administration likely made this move because they knew the judge was about to issue a restraining order blocking Musk’s people from access. However, the proposed order does give just two DOGE employees the ability to read to data without being allowed to do anything with it, neither of whom will be Musk. It is unclear whether the judge or plaintiffs with accept their proposed temporary resolution. … WaPo reports that Musk has also gained access to highly restricted government records on millions of federal employees as part of his attempt to take control of every aspect of the federal government through the Office of Personnel Management. The data includes addresses, demographic profiles, salary details and disciplinary histories of federal employees. … ABC reports that a federal judge has temporarily blocked the Trump administration and DOGE head Elon Musk from implementing their federal employee buyout plan. U.S. District Judge George O'Toole Jr. set a Monday afternoon hearing to consider blocking the buyout offer further: "I enjoined the defendants from taking any action to implement the so-called directive pending the completion of briefing and oral argument on the issues. “ … Three federal unions asked the court to issue a temporary restraining order so OPM can provide a legal basis for the offer. The unions represent a combined 800,000 federal civil servants, and argued that the "deferred resignation" offer is unlawful, arbitrary, and would result in a "dangerous one-two punch" to the federal government. … Sen. Mark Warner on Musk’s scheme to bribe federal employees to resign: “I've been saying to all the fed employees, beware of this offer. I don't believe it's been funded. Trump has no history of ever paying his bills. I'm also incredibly discouraged by the fact that you've got these buyout offers at the CIA at the NSA. What happens if we lose some of our top cyber talent? You're going to replace that with a DOGE Bro that's a coder? I think these folks are messing with national security in a way that is, frankly, unprecedented.” … Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced that he is going to allow Musk to make immediate changes the the country’s air traffic control systems: “Big News - Talked to the DOGE team. They are going to plug in to help upgrade our aviation system. We’re gonna remake our airspace.” … Musk responded to the announcement: “My team will aim to make rapid safety upgrades to the air traffic control system." … Trump was asked about Musk’s latest project: "We're all gonna sit down and do a great computerized system for our control towers. Brand new. Not pieced together, obsolete, like it is, land-based. You can't hook up land to satellites and you can't hook up satellites to land, it doesn't work. Let's spend less money and build a great system. When I land in my plane, privately, I use a system from another country because my Captain tells me he uses a system from another country." … Rep. Tim Kennedy (D-NY) told Politico: “I think it’s petrifying to the American people, especially after we just suffered another horrific tragedy here in Washington, D.C. Now is not the time to put someone with zero experience in dealing with our national air traffic controllers into any position of authority.” … I will be driving everywhere for a while. … Hillary Clinton denounced the move: “They have no relevant experience. Most of them aren't old enough to rent a car, and you're going to let them mess with airline safety that's already deteriorated on your watch?" … Duffy then responded to Hillary: "‘Experienced' Washington bureaucrats are the reason our nation’s infrastructure is crumbling. You need to sit this one out." Trump promised an Infrastructure Bill throughout his entire first term and never delivered a single proposal. … Fox Host Laura Ingraham: “If these Democrats ever win back the House, they will start subpoenaing everyone.” … Sen. Chris Murphy: "We need to act like a real opposition party in the middle of a constitutional and democracy crisis. That means we should not be moving forward nominees or legislation in the Senate. Democrats should not be giving votes to nominees or legislation in the Senate until Republicans get serious about this crisis." … Fox reported Reps. Judy Chu (D-CA) and Gwen Moore (D-WI) forced themselves into a meeting House Speaker Mike Johnson was having with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. A source who witnessed the interaction said they were “rude” and “extremely aggressive.” The same source told Fox that Johnson was “gracious” and let them come in so he could hear their concerns. … Chu’s office disputed the details of the Fox report: “Given the gravity of the situation and Secretary Bessent's presence in the Speaker's Office today, the Congresswoman took the opportunity to get answers for Americans across the country concerned with the safety of their personal information, tax dollars, and Social Security checks. She never barged into anything. She politely joined the meeting already occurring and the Speaker invited her in for a brief, civil discussion. The Secretary was not present, and she left immediately afterwards." … Sen. Lisa Murkowski and many others say they have been beseiged by angry constituents: “ I want to thank Alaskans who have been reaching out to my offices in D.C. and across AK. The Senate phone system has been receiving around 1,600 calls each minute, compared to the 40 calls per minute we usually receive, which has disrupted our call systems. Thank you for your patience as my staff works to review your messages and share them with me.” … Sen. Susan Collins told HuffPost she is concerned: “There's no doubt that the president appears to have empowered Elon Musk to go far beyond what I think is appropriate.” … Press Secretary Leavitt was asked what measures are being put in place to ensure that no conflicts of interest arise between the work Musk is doing and his various businesses: “The president said if Elon Musk comes across a conflict of interest, then Elon will excuse himself.” … So the person who decides whether Elon Musk has a conflict is Elon Musk. … Rep. Dan Goldman: “So Elon Musk has the same ethics rules as the Supreme Court - none.” … Musk’s approval with the American people continues to sink. In the latest poll by The Economist/YouGov, only 13% said they wanted Musk to have “a lot” of influence in the Trump administration. 25% said they were ok with “a little” influence. In their poll right before the election in November, those numbers were 34% and 22%. … The same poll shows that even Republicans aren’t thrilled with Musk. Only 26% of Republicans said they wanted Musk to have “a lot” of influence in the Admin. … ARS Technica reports that sales of Tesla in Europe have taken a nose-dive because of Musk’s politics: “So far this year, Tesla sales are down 59% in Germany, 12% in UK, 44% in Sweden, 38% in Norway, 42% in the Netherlands." … Sen. Adam Schiff: “Why is this firing of FBI agents such an important piece of this whole effort by Trump, Musk, and their enablers? Because if they're going to raid the treasury, if they're going to take people's private data, if they're going to try to illegally shut down agencies, they don't want an FBI that's going to examine anything they're doing.” … Sec of State Marco Rubio: “I will NOT attend the G20 summit in Johannesburg. South Africa is doing very bad things. Using G20 to promote ‘solidarity, equality, & sustainability’. In other words: DEI and climate change. My job is to advance America’s national interests, not waste taxpayer money or coddle anti-Americanism.” … We used to boycott South Africa for apartheid. Now we are doing it because they are concerned about equity and climate change. … The State Department issued the following statement after Rubio’s visit to Panama: “U.S. government vessels can now transit the Panama Canal without charge fees, saving the U.S. government millions of dollars a year.” … But Panama says Rubio is lying: “In response to a publication released by the US Dept of State, the Panama Canal Authority, which is authorized to set tolls and other fees for transiting the canal, reports that it has not made any adjustments to them.” … HuffPost reports that a seasoned State Dept employee was asked how it’s going with Marco Rubio so far. "He has a minder, like a Trump campaign minder. Someone in his office, not of his choosing. They sent somebody over because he wasn't totally within the fold." … Trump gave more details today on his plan to take over Gaza: “The Gaza Strip would be turned over to the US by Israel at the conclusion of fighting. The Palestinians, people like Schumer, would have already been resettled in far safer and more beautiful communities, with new and modern homes, in the region. They would actually have a chance to be happy, safe, and free. The US, working with great development teams from all over the World, would slowly and carefully begin the construction of what would become one of the greatest and most spectacular developments of its kind on Earth. No soldiers by the U.S. would be needed! Stability for the region would reign!!!” … Netanyahu thinks it all sounds great: “This is the first good idea that I have heard. It's a remarkable idea and I think it should be really pursued, examined, and done.” … SecDef Pete Hegseth says he is ready to send US troops into Gaza if needed: “The President is willing to think outside the box, look for new and unique, dynamic ways to solve problems that have felt like they're intractable. So we look forward to more conversation about that, creative solutions to that. And as the man tasked with leading the Defense Department here, we're prepared to look at all options." … Lindsey Graham doesn’t like it. To Fox: “I've been on the phone with Arabs all day. That approach, I think, will be very problematic. The idea of Americans going in on the ground in Gaza is a non-starter for every senator .. No Arab leader can embrace the idea that the Palestinians will be dislodged.” … Sen. Rand Paul: “The pursuit for peace should be that of the Israelis and the Palestinians. I thought we voted for America First. We have no business contemplating yet another occupation to doom our treasure and spill our soldiers blood.” … Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-ND) to CNN: “We've got all the land we can handle right now. I get that the US has a leadership role in the Middle East, but Gaza’s not ours, Israel seems to have a pretty good handle on things." … Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-AK): “What is the plan? It’s quite vague. Is that aid? Is that troops? I mean, it’s a big issue.” … Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV): “It surprised us all, I’ll say that." … John Fetterman: “I didn't take it is like a serious situation and it's just about shaking things up. But I'm not going to freak out on it, any more than when he announced that Gaetz was going to be the next AG. And that didn't work out that way. There's going to be a lot of balls coming down to the plate. And I'm only waiting for a strike when I'm going to start to swing.” Meidas+ is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. … ‘Arab Americans for Trump’ has decided to change the name of their group after Trump’s recent announcements that the US will clear out Gaza and take it over. Chair Bishara Bahbahab told AP his group will now be called ‘Arab Americans for Peace’: “The talk about what the president wants to do with Gaza, obviously we’re completely opposed to the idea of the transfer of Palestinians from anywhere in Historic Palestine. So we did not want to be behind the curve in terms of pushing for peace, because that has been our objective from the very beginning.” … Press Secretary Leavitt on Trump’s Gaza statement: “President Trump is an outside of the box thinker and visionary leader who solves problems that many others, especially in this city, claim are unsolvable.” … Mike Johnson was asked by CNN what he thought about it: “Yeah, we're trying to get the details of it, but I think this is a good development.” … A reporter then asked him at his press conference today if it is an America First policy to send American soldiers into Gaza, one of the most volatile regions in the world? Johnson: “The initial announcement yesterday I think was cheered by people all around the world. I think you have to do something to eradicate the threat to Israel.” … Rep. Byron Donalds: “Age-old problems necessitate innovative solutions and President Trump is the visionary leader working to change the status-quo in Gaza. There is plenty of money in the Middle East to pay for this endeavor. American leadership with support from our allies can bring historic and lasting peace to this troubled region.” … Senate Majority Leader John Thune didn’t really want to comment: “Trump wants a more peaceful and secure Middle East and put some ideas out there." …House Democratic Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar to Fox: “What Republicans say in the hallways and the elevators is very different from what they say at a podium when it comes to pushing back against Donald Trump.” … But Kayleigh McEnany said on Fox that Trump really doesn’t mean it and he has a plan so complicated and secretive that nobody else has the brainpower to figure it out: “The lesson is maybe Trump is not trying to take Gaza. Maybe, this is a grand part of a negotiation to get Iran to come to the table. President Trump is playing four dimensional chess, you all are playing checkers.” … Rep. Jake Auchincloss (D-MA): "Two decades ago, George W. Bush made promises about nation building in two countries that had harbored terrorists, and it led to 20 years of forever wars that cost $2 trillion and thousands of American lives. Now Donald Trump is proposing the same irresponsible concepts." … Rep. Jim McGovern (D-MA): People voted for lower egg prices, not for a Middle East Mar-a-lago. People did not vote to send their sons and daughters into the tunnels of Gaza so that Jared Kushner and Trump can build Trump Tower Gaza. He wants to invade Greenland and take over Panama. He wants to annex Canada and now wants to occupy Gaza. We have 42 million people in this country who are hungry. Whatever happened to America First? Whatever happened to helping people in this country and whatever happened to lowering prices? Instead we get this.” … The latest big hoax pushed by Elon Musk and his MAGA minions is that USAID paid Politico $8 million in taxpayer dollars to bribe them to go easy on Joe Biden. Russian propagandist Benny Johnson got things going to his millions of MAGA followers: “This is the biggest scandal in news media history: No employee at Politico got paid yesterday. This is a crisis. Now we learn Politico - a ‘news company’ which spent the last 10 years trying to destroy the MAGA Movement, was being massively funded by USAID. Trump & Elon deleted their funding. Now Politico will go out of business. The corruption is endless. Good riddance!” … Trump then chimed in on Truth Social, went with the all-caps, and spelled ‘stolen’ wrong again: “IT LOOKS LIKE BILLIONS OF DOLLARS HAVE BEEN STOLLEN (sic) AT USAID, MUCH OF IT GOING TO THE FAKE NEWS MEDIA AS A ‘PAYOFF’ FOR CREATING GOOD STORIES ABOUT THE DEMOCRATS. THE LEFT WING ‘RAG,’ KNOWN AS ‘POLITICO,’ SEEMS TO HAVE RECEIVED $8,000,000. Did the NYT receive money??? Who else did??? THIS COULD BE THE BIGGEST SCANDAL OF THEM ALL, PERHAPS THE BIGGEST IN HISTORY! THE DEMOCRATS CAN’T HIDE FROM THIS ONE. TOO BIG, TOO DIRTY!” … Editor of Reason Billy Binion: “This is so inaccurate it's laughable. That $8.2 million was spent by government agencies on POLITICO Pro, a subscription service that tracks legislation. Of that, USAID spent $44,000. Once again, the people who complain about ‘fake news’ are so often the worst offenders. Humiliating.” … Fox host Jesse Watters: “The Biden Administration was paying a DC insider publication that happened to never report anything bad about the Biden Administration.” That’s not I how remember their reporting, but OK. … Press Secretary Leavitt: "I was made aware of the funding from USAID to media outlets, including Politico, who I know has a seat in this room. I can confirm that the more than 8m taxpayer dollars that have gone to essentially subsidizing subscriptions to Politico will no longer be happening. The DOGE team is working on canceling those payments." … Former Trump lawyer Sidney Powell and several other MAGA influencers with huge followings were passing around a Russian propaganda video that was doctored to made it look like it was a report from ENews that claimed USAID paid Hollywood stars to travel to Ukraine to get pictures with Zelensky: Van Dam - $1,500,000 Ben Stiller - $4,000,000 Sean Penn - $5,000,000 Orlando Bloom - $8,000,000 Angelina Jolie – $20,000,000. … Ben Stiller responded: “Totally false. Untrue. These are lies coming from Russian media. I completely self-funded my humanitarian trip to Ukraine. There was no funding from USAID and certainly no personal payments.” … Eggs have gotten so expensive now that people are robbing them. NBC reports that thieves stole 100,000 eggs from the back of a distribution trailer at Pete and Gerry’s Organics in Greencastle, PA. The eggs are worth $40,000. Statement: “Pete & Gerry’s is aware of a recent incident in Franklin County, PA, and we are actively working with local law enforcement to investigate. We take this matter seriously and are committed to resolving it as quickly as possible.” … International Business Times says the USDA’s January Cattle Inventory report shows that the American beef herd is now at it’s lowest level since 1961 at 86.7 million cattle and calves. The number of new calves born also hit a record low. … Popular Russian musician and radio host Vadim Stroykin just joined the long list of Putin antagonists to “commit suicide” by “jumping out of window.” He was accused of donating money to the Ukrainian Army, called Putin a “bitch”, and said he “declared war on his own people.” He reported “fell” of a 10th story window in St. Petersburg just minutes before police entered. Sounds plausible. …AOC’s former Chief of Staff and Campaign Manager Saikat Chakrabarti announced he will run against Nancy Pelosi: “I returned to SF where for 5 years I’ve led a policy think tank that develops comprehensive solutions to the problems that both America and SF face. Watching Trump and Elon freely unleash chaos in their illegal seizure of government, it’s become clear to me that the Dem Party needs new leadership. I respect what Nancy Pelosi has accomplished in her career, but we are living in a totally different America than the one she knew when she entered politics 45 years ago,” … Democrats on House Oversight attempted to vote on issuing a subpoena to Elon Musk to appear before the committee and it was voted down by one vote. One issue is that 8 Democrats missed the vote because they said they weren’t given notice of the plan. Ro Khanna: “I would have voted yes. They called a procedural vote without notice and I, like 8 others, didn’t make it there on time. Musk’s attacks on our institutions are unconstitutional. He should be subpoenaed and answer to our committee. They should call the vote again with notice.” … Tesla is in Khanna’s district. Musk responded to Khanna: “Don’t be a dick.” … Rep. Yassamin Ansari (D-AZ): “Trump and an unelected billionaire Musk are illegally dismantling our government and illegally stealing your data, your money, and your services. I would love for Musk to come here and testify so we can understand his qualifications to do this because last I checked, running a social media platform does not qualify you for making sure the government can operate and serve the American people.” … Mike Johnson was asked about Trump’s plan to eliminate the Dept of Education: “The teachers unions will viciously fight. But the time has come. We've all seen the ratings. I mean, the US is falling far behind other countries because the system is not working. We assured the people that we would make big, bold decisions to change things. And I think that is an idea whose time has come.” … Trump Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt explained why she thinks the Department of Education is not necessary: “As a mother of a child, I want an education system that helps my child read, write and teaches him math and nothing else in the classroom.” … After announcing that they will not accept packages from China and Hong Kong, the USPS has now reversed less than 24 hours later after a flood of complaints. As usual, no reason was given by the Trump Admin why the original order was handed down or why it was reversed. … Musk just reposted Michael Flynn’s latest QAnon conspiracy that USAID used Lutheran Family Services as a money laundering operation. Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi asked Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds about it: “You don't believe that Lutheran Family Services is a money laundering operation, correct?” Reynolds then tried to change the subject. Krishnamoorthi asked again: “Is the Lutheran church a money laundering operation? Of course not!” Reynolds: “I can't speak to that.” … Iowa has one of the largest populations of Lutherans per capita in the country. … Fox is reporting that Senate Budget Committee Chair Lindsey Graham and other Republican Senators are tired of waiting for Mike Johnson and House Budget Committee members to reach an agreement amongst themselves, so they are going to work on their budget. Johnson: “I don't agree with it. I am trying to catch Sen. Graham and talk to him by phone tonight. We have serious business to do in the House and we are getting very close. This needs to be a single bill strategy.” … Fox asked House Ways and Means Chairman Jason Smith about what Lindsey is doing: “They’re doing a process that won’t be successful.” … CNN’s Manu Raju says that despite his best efforts, Sen. and physician Bill Cassidy continues to refuse to answer any questions about his vote for RFK Jr. … Charlie Kirk on Susan Collins’ vote for RFK Jr: “Susan Collins is always there when we need her. This is a courageous vote and extremely appreciated.” … The Trump administration has released 461 arrested migrants back into the US out of 8,000 so far detained, something they criticized the Biden Admin for. Leavitt to Fox: "Some of the factors include a lack of significant likelihood of removal in the foreseeable future, lack of detention availability. And then other serious medical conditions have also been the reasons for some of the release of these individuals. Many of them are probably contesting their immigration status." … Former Proud Boys Co-Leader Enrique Tarrio told Newsmax after Trump pardoned him and he is out of prison that he going to run for office: “Two weeks ago I was in prison, and just last night I was in Mar-a-Lago at the president’s house .. I think my future is in politics. I think I’m gonna take a serious look at running for office at some point in 2026 or 2028. I believe that there is a path for that because it is my passion. I am gonna take my time with picking what office specifically, what district.” … The other Co-Leader of the Proud Boys Joe Biggs complained that a person on Zillow refused to rent to him, asking him: “Are you Joe Biggs the J6 insurrectionist?” Biggs was outraged: “This person is refusing to rent to me over something the president has forgiven!” … Fox announced that Lara Trump will be given a show on their network every Saturday night at 9. Since Trump appointed half of their hosts to senior positions in his Administration, it was the least Fox could do. Fox said the show will be about “the return of common sense to all corners of American life.” … Semafor reports that MI Dems are open to the idea of Pete Buttigieg running for Senate less than three years after he moved to the state. In a new poll, Buttigieg was the best-liked potential candidate among likely Democratic primary voters, with 77% viewing him favorably. AG Dana Nessel drew favorable views from 72% of the potential primary electorate. No other Democrat came close. … Retiring Sen. Gary Peters: “He has high name ID. And probably, from his previous run for president, also has got a network of fundraising. I would certainly expect he’d be able to raise a lot of money. So certainly he’d be very strong.”