<A group of New York Republicans slammed a proposed deal on state and local tax deductions on Thursday, throwing a wrench into House GOP efforts to advance a sweeping tax bill tied to President Donald Trump’s agenda, according to NBC News.

“We reject this offer,” according to a joint statement issued by Reps. Elise Stefanik, Andrew Garbarino, Nick LaLota and Mike Lawler.

The group on Thursday informed House leadership that they were rejecting what they called an “insulting” offer from House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) and House Ways and Means Committee Chair Jason Smith (R-MO). The deal would raise the SALT deduction cap to $30,000 – triple the current $10,000 limit set by Trump’s 2017 tax law – but the New York lawmakers say there’s still no deal, NBC News reported.

“We’ve negotiated in good faith on SALT from the start—fighting for the taxpayers we represent in New York. Yet with no notice or agreement, the Speaker and the House Ways and Means Committee unilaterally proposed a flat $30,000 SALT cap—an amount they already knew would fall short of earning our support,” the group of Republicans said in the statement obtained by NBC News.

“It’s not just insulting,” they added, warning that the proposal “risks derailing President Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill.”

“New Yorkers already send far more to Washington than we get back—unlike many so-called ‘low-tax’ states that depend heavily on federal largesse,” the statement said. “A higher SALT cap isn’t a luxury. It’s a matter of fairness.”

The SALT cap is among “one of several difficult issues” GOP leaders are scrambling to resolve before the committee takes up the bill next week, according to NBC News.>

<President Donald Trump repeatedly labeled Jimmy Carter as one of America’s worst presidents. But with his recent insistence American children can make do with fewer toys, the billionaire real estate developer sounds a bit like the late peanut farmer who once asked Americans to sacrifice for a cause they don’t really believe in.

“Wasn’t there a president — he wore a sweater?” asked Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.), referring to the one-term former Democratic president who wore a sweater in 1977 as he urged Americans to turn down their thermostats to conserve resources in the face of what Carter called a “permanent” energy shortage.

The sweater image and accompanying economic message fueled years of Republican backlash.

“How’d that work out for him?” Coons continued. “I’m just saying Americans in general don’t want to hear their president lecture them about austerity and how they should plan on being less generous to their children at Christmas from a guy who’s a self-described billionaire.”

Trump’s shocking statements defending the prospect of fewer, more expensive consumer products come as his approval slides thanks in large part to public dissatisfaction with his tariff policy, which is essentially a unilateral tax that will increase the cost of a broad range of consumer goods, especially toys and other products made in China, for families with young children.

Speaking about the prospect of his tariffs reducing the supply of consumer goods and raising their prices, Trump said last week on Air Force One, “Maybe the children will have two dolls instead of 30, and maybe the two dolls will cost a couple of bucks more than they would normally.”

In a follow-up interview with NBC News, Trump elaborated and expanded the universe of things children will have to do less without. “I’m just saying they don’t need to have 30 dolls. They can have three. They don’t need to have 250 pencils. They can have five,” he said.

And Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Tuesday that doll-deprived little girls can take solace in the brighter future Trump is building for them with his tariffs.

“I would tell that young girl, that you will have a better life than your parents, that you, your family, thanks to President Trump, can now be confident again that you will have a better life than your parents,” Bessent said. “Which working-class Americans had abandoned that idea. Your family will own a home. You will be able to advance. You will have a good education. You will have economic freedom.”

For Trump, implementing the tariffs is the fulfillment of a decadeslong wish built on a conviction Americans are being screwed by an international trade regime whose details Trump frequently gets wrong. He insists the tariffs will boost manufacturing, bringing back jobs making toys and all sorts of other goods to American shores.

But Americans, for as much as they have been skeptical of free trade at points in the past, do not share his deep-seated convictions. Polling indicates they believe the tariffs will raise prices on consumer goods, will harm the United States more than our trading partners and do not necessarily want jobs in factories making toys or anything else. Sacrificing dolls in order to change the balance of world trade, to them, simply isn’t worth it.

Polling analyst Lakshya Jain said Trump’s rhetoric “seems like something where he’s saying, ‘Your life will become worse and that’s fine, because you’ll understand.’ And, really, no voter is ever fine with degrading their quality of life for the president’s pet project.”

Dan Pfeiffer, a former adviser to Democratic president Barack Obama, said the tariff toy statements “might be the worst, dumbest, most politically damaging message I’ve ever heard,” arguing in his newsletter Trump can’t pitch a message of patriotic sacrifice while also seeking tax cuts for the rich and aggrandizing his own family with a corrupt crypto scheme.

Rep. Maxwell Frost (D-Fla.), one of several younger progressives advocating for an aggressive response to the Trump administration, said the administration’s defense of emptier shelves is nothing to celebrate even if they might be advantageous for Democrats.

“The whole situation isn’t helpful for us,” Frost told HuffPost. “I mean, we don’t want the economy to be bad. We want people to do well. We want our constituents to do well. I mean, I’m not here praying that things go negatively because Trump’s in the White House, but things are going negatively.”....>

<....The prospect of fewer, more expensive dolls is no empty threat. The toy company Mattel — maker of Barbie dolls and Hot Wheels cars — told investors this week that in response to tariffs, it would try to move some of its manufacturing out of China, but that it would also likely be “taking pricing action in its U.S. business” —meaning price hikes.

In a statement to HuffPost, White House spokesman Kush Desai said “cheap Chinese toys” aren’t an important part of American prosperity.

“Real prosperity is American workers being able to support their families and communities because they have good jobs that pay well and provide dignity,” Desai said. “This what the Trump administration’s America First agenda of tariffs, deregulation, tax cuts, and domestic energy is focused on unleashing — not cheap Chinese toys.”

The president’s statements that children don’t need so many dolls have confounded some Republicans on Capitol Hill. Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), a vocal critic of Trump’s tariffs, compared Trump’s directive to that of Big Brother, the leader of a totalitarian sate in George Orwell’s dystopian novel “1984.”

“I think how many dolls you have is up to the people who buy, not up to the president,” Paul told HuffPost. “It sounds like the government choosing for you what is a good amount of things to buy. ... When it’s your own money, you decide. I don’t care if you have four TVs in your house or one TV or no TV. It’s none of my business. But for the government to tell you shouldn’t have so many TVs, that sounds like Big Brother.”

But Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), who has also questioned Trump’s trade policies, said the media should quit fussing over Trump’s toy comments and focus on other issues like President Joe Biden’s immigration policies.

“You guys want to talk about dolls? Give me a break,” Johnson said. “It’s a comment he made and now you guys are obsessing over it. Nobody cares about this other than anybody who wants to poke a stick in President Trump’s eye.”

Rep. Rich McCormick (R-Ga.), meanwhile, said the president was essentially thinking out loud when he mused on the availability of toy dolls.

“I think the president is, he is so accessible that you’re hearing real-time conversations you might hear in a golf club or in a bar or in a church,” McCormick said. “That’s the president. He’s so accessible that you’re hearing things that most presidents don’t even talk about. That’s just his nature, and that’s why people like him, because he’s a guy who says things a lot of people think.”

Democrats have taken the remarks in stride, with several lawmakers saying it simply shows that the billionaire president is out of touch with everyday Americans. Some suggested it was weird for the president to assume American children have so many dolls in the first place.

“What average family gives 20 dolls on Christmas?” Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.) said.

To Rep. Jared Huffman (D-Calif.), however, it makes sense that President Donald Trump is willfully increasing the cost of toys and telling the American people it’s for the best.

“In a way, it explains a lot, because I’ve often wondered if he had toys as a child. There was clearly something wrong there, and maybe that’s it. Maybe he was just never allowed to have toys,” Huffman told HuffPost. “What’s next? Are we going to be hoarding rubber and copper like in World War II? I mean, this is the Trump economic dystopia.”>

<[Event "8. Niedersächsischer Kongress"] [Site "Bad Nenndorf GER"]
[Date "1932.05.15"]
[EventDate "1932"]
[Round "3"]
[Result "0-1"]
[White "Cherubim, Reinhard"]
[Black "Tarrasch, Siegbert"]
[ECO "D34"]
[WhiteElo "?"]
[BlackElo "?"]

<No reason for my ever-present cyberstalker, the wicked perfidubious to concern himself with the new pope. Orange face Al now thinks age 69 is too old for such an esteemed position. Satan's helper is headed straight for hell at top speed, blabbering his dull comments, profanities, perversions and worn-out insults all the way there. He'll worry himself sick-er about the justice department's criminal investigation of the corrupt New York AG Letitia James, the hater of white men. No more Susan Rice dealing off the bottom of the deck for the dirty Clintons. No more Eric Holder running guns for Mexican drug lords to kill cops. Don't ya just luv it when the shoe is on the right foot?

Lett us rejoice for Robert Prevost from Pullman to Durham!

Sorry saffuna, FTB cannot read a word you've written, but it rarely changes so you're likely still cheering for Joe Torre and Catfish Hunter. Just take those old records off the shelf...

I'll sit and listen to 'em by myself
Today's fake news ain't got the same soul
I like that old time Reagan roll

$$$

P.S. You're sooo boring, perhidious. Of course, if you'd kept your big vermin mouth shut, FTB would not have had provocation to entertain everyone at your expense.>

<Full disclosure: Damien Lehfeldt, board chairman of USA Fencing, is a friend and was my son's college teammate. I fenced against him when he was coming up, and he regularly kicked my a** up and down the strip. Often, during open fencing periods at the Boston Fencing Club, he and I fenced against women and, occasionally, girls. Some of them kicked my a** too. It simply is the way fencing works for an overwhelming number of the people who enjoy the sport in the country’s fencing clubs. To its everlasting credit, at its most basic levels, fencing is one of the few competitive mixed-gender sports.

Unfortunately, on Wednesday, it was Damien’s turn to face Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s performance-art Subcommittee on the Voices in My Head. The hearing was yet another exercise in the current conservative mania to make the lives of trans people miserable and to render them second-class citizens in our putative democratic republic. It also was another festival of TV hits for raving conservative nutballs. I knew that the exercise had descended completely into bedlam right from jump when chairloony MTG opened the proceedings with a statement from the roiling steam vents at the bottom of her id.

Female athletes should never be forced to compete against mentally ill biological men who parade around in women’s clothes.

Personally, I don’t think decent folks like Damien Lehfeldt should be forced to appear in front of clearly deranged former Crossfit tootsies, but life is full of trouble and woe. MTG raved on:

USA Fencing makes a mockery out of women’s fencing by allowing biological males to compete in its women’s fencing competitions. We understand there are roughly 200 biological males competing in the USA Fencing Women’s division. This includes males who have won national titles and represented the U.S. in international competition in women’s fencing.

I suspect that some of these numbers were produced in the laboratory of MTG’s director of research, Dr. Otto Yerass.

Then, in a burst of classic McCarthyite bullying, MTG made a big deal of the fact that Lehfeldt was appearing under subpoena, implying that Lehfeldt had been hiding from participating in this legislative freak show—for which, to be fair, I wouldn’t have blamed him.

Lehfeldt explained that USA Fencing was adhering to existing rules and regulations. From The National News Desk:

Lehfeldt said USA Fencing is governed by the Ted Stevens Olympic and Amateur Sports Act, which he said forbids organizations like his from adopting eligibility criteria that are stricter than the sport’s international federation. The International Fencing Federation doesn’t ban transgender participation, he said. And the consensus among national governing bodies, including USA Fencing, is that a transgender ban could violate the Ted Stevens Act, he said. He said USA Fencing is prepared to change participation requirements if the law, research or international consensus changes. But, he said, “Ultimately, fencing is a sport of strategy and technique.”....>

'Dr Otto Yerass'; classic.

<....Arrayed against him were a couple of women who are clearly bucking for careers as professional conservative victims. His principal antagonist was a woman fencer named Stephanie Turner, who “took a knee” rather than fencing against a trans woman in a local tournament. Because she refused to compete in a bout, she was disqualified from the tournament, which she should have been. You walk off the strip rather than fence, no matter what the reason short of injury, you are disqualified from that competition. Full stop. It was that way when I started fencing in the 1970s, and it was that way when my son started fencing in the 1980s. Everybody who’s ever hooked up to fence knows that. Ms. Turner certainly must have known that, and it didn’t stop her having fenced without complaint in a mixed-gender event not long before the tournament in question. She told the committee of the dark night of her soul that this horror occasioned.

“Each time a man competes in the women’s category with USA Fencing’s support, it removes fair sport and takes opportunities from women,” Turner told lawmakers. She said biological males have an advantage with speed and power in the combat sport. “That knee I took in protest was a cry for help and an act of desperation,” Turner said, telling lawmakers that it took her a long time to work up the courage to speak out about the perceived wrongs being committed against female fencers. Turner said she felt “betrayed” and “unwelcome” by USA Fencing.

Oh, give it a rest, lady. As we already have pointed out, Turner had fenced in a mixed-gender competition shortly before she made her brave career move. In addition, the opponent whom she had declined to fence was so terrifying and had such an unfair advantage that she lost her very next bout. On the bright side, somewhere in the vast cubicle farms of the wing-nut welfare universe, there probably is a desk waiting for her even now.

As a role model, Turner can look to her fellow witness, Payton McNabb, a former volleyball player who was injured when a ball spiked by a trans athlete hit her in the head. She now works as a “sports ambassador” for the Independent Women’s Forum, one of the older wing-nut welfare franchises, one that sprang up out of the defense of Clarence Thomas against charges of sexual harassment. In fact, one of the more nauseating aspects of Wednesday’s spectacle was watching the conservatives on the panel pose as defenders of Title IX, the landmark law that established equality for women’s sports. Conservatives hated Title IX. In fact, back in the day, the IWF, for which McNabb now works, joined several lawsuits brought by men’s sports organizations seeking to overturn the law.

So Damien had to sit through this barrage of vicious bafflegab only to find himself virtually ignored by the subcommittee’s Democrats, who spent most of their time bashing the president and his administration. The obvious absurdity of the “issue” at hand was allowed to stand. So when, one day, Secretary of Interior Payton McNabb shows up to testify, don’t blame me.>

<U.S. Senator Katie Britt (R-AL) first introduced the More Opportunities for Moms to Succeed (MOMS) Act in May 2024 during the Biden administration. The bill proposes creating a federally funded website (pregnancy.gov) that will provide grants to nonprofit organizations that “support, encourage, and assist women— (A) to carry their pregnancies to term; and (B) to care for themselves and their babies after birth.”

With President Donald Trump back in the White House and Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. as Secretary of Health and Human Services, the conservative mother of two is pushing harder to get the bill on the Senate floor for a vote.

As seen in the video below, Britt says: “I know firsthand there is no greater blessing in life than our children. I also understand the challenges women may face during their pregnancy journeys. Proud to lead the MOMS Act — commonsense legislation to help support moms, grow families, and help children thrive.”

Any nonprofit organization that “performs, induces, refers for, counsels in favor of abortions, or provides financial support to any other organization that conducts such activities” is not eligible to receive grants.

As seen below, one of the nonprofit organizations that meets the criteria for such grants, Susan B Anthony Pro-Life America, supports the MOMS Act.

(SBA Pro-Life America reported that in the 2024 election cycle, the organization “spent $92 million and reached more than 10 million voters in eight battleground states – including 4.3 million visits to targeted voter homes. Overall, more than 375 federal and state candidates have been elected with the group’s support.”)

Note: Prior to becoming HHS Secretary, and before he ended his presidential campaign in 2024, Kennedy said on his campaign website that if elected president he would support legislation to reinstate Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court case that gave women the federal right to an abortion. At his Senate confirmation hearing in January, Kennedy said: “I agree with President Trump that every abortion is a tragedy.” He added: “I agree with him that the states should control abortion.”>

<Ras Baraka, the Democratic Mayor of Newark, New Jersey, was arrested and taken into custody by federal police officers on Friday. The mayor was attempting to join three U.S. congress members — Reps. Robert Menendez, LaMonica McIver, and Bonnie Watson Coleman — on a tour of a New Jersey ICE detention facility.

Baraka was arrested for trespassing.

Coleman posted on X about the visit: “We’re at Delaney Hall, an ICE prison in Newark that opened without permission from the city & in violation of local ordinances.” The congresswoman said the delegation was “exercising our oversight authority to see for ourselves.”

Interim U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Alina Habba, a Donald Trump appointee who previously served as Trump’s personal attorney, asserted that Baraka “committed trespass and ignored multiple warnings from Homeland Security Investigations to remove himself from the ICE detention center.”

Habba wrote on X that Baraka had “willingly chosen to disregard the law.”

But Baraka, who was released from custody shortly after nightfall, disputed Habba’s version of events in the aftermath.

Baraka told CNN’s Kaitlin [sic] Collins: “The reality is, Alina Habba wasn’t there. She doesn’t know what happened. I was there for over an hour in that space, and nobody ever told me to move. I was in there for over an hour. Not a single person.. I did not enter that place unlawfully. I did not break any law.”

[NOTE: Baraka had made previous trips to protest the facility, which he — like Coleman — contends is operating without required permissions.]

Rep. Menendez Jr. also spoke after the event, saying that ICE brought “20 armed individuals to confront the mayor of Newark and three members of Congress,” calling it an act of intimidation.

“It was an act of intimidation not just to the mayor, not just to us, but to everyone watching,” Menendez said. “We know that the president lied, and the administration lies every day when they say they are going after criminals. It is not true. They feel no weight of the law. They feel no restraint.”

ICE, Menendez said, “put their hands on two members of Congress. How is this acceptable?”>

<The Department of Agriculture is reportedly asking states to supply personal details of people receiving food aid, including Social Security numbers, addresses and, in at least one state, citizenship status.

NPR reported Friday that the information collected has been used to disseminate false accusations regarding undocumented immigrants receiving public assistance and engaging in fraud, as well as to bolster enforcement and deportation initiatives.

The report states that NPR acquired emails indicating that the nationwide guidance for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) was issued in response to a request from federal auditors for information that included citizenship details. The request did not encompass other data usually used to confirm financial eligibility for the program.

In a letter dated May 6 addressed to all states, an advisor for Food, Nutrition and Consumer Services stated that the federal agency would be collecting personally identifiable information from SNAP applicants and recipients, including, but not limited to, "names, dates of birth, personal addresses used, and Social Security numbers" dating back to January 1, 2020.

The letter referenced President Donald Trump's March 20 executive order, "Stopping Waste, Fraud, and Abuse by Eliminating Information Silos," which mandates that agencies ensure the federal government "has unfettered access to comprehensive data from all state programs that receive federal funding," including data from "third-party databases," to help identify fraud.

DOGE has faced backlash for retrieving sensitive information across various federal agencies in recent months by citing allegations of wasteful and fraudulent spending.

Jon Davisson, senior counsel and director of litigation at the nonprofit Electronic Privacy Information Center, told NPR the demands are "absolutely alarming."

"It is an unprecedented extension of the administration's campaign to consolidate personal data," he said, adding that the database could be used as a "surveillance weapon" that "can be put to all sorts of adverse uses in the future."

The NPR report notes that in 2024, the Department of Agriculture reported that SNAP assisted an average of 42 million individuals each month, costing approximately $100 billion.

Eligibility for SNAP benefits is limited to certain categories of lawfully present noncitizens, while those lacking legal status are ineligible. But a noncitizen parent without legal status can still apply for assistance to support their U.S. citizen children.

AlterNet reached out to a DOGE spokesperson for comment.>

<An international student in western South Dakota overcame Kristi Noem’s attempt to stop her from graduating Saturday, while hundreds of people protested on the other side of the state where Noem received an honorary degree and delivered a commencement speech.

The international student is Priya Saxena, from India. She received two degrees from South Dakota Mines in Rapid City: a doctorate in chemical and biological engineering and a master’s degree in chemical engineering.

Noem’s U.S. Department of Homeland Security — which she has led since resigning as South Dakota governor in January — has been trying to deport Saxena since last month, asserting that Saxena’s permission to stay in the country should be revoked because she was convicted four years ago of failing to move over for flashing yellow lights, a misdemeanor. The action is part of a broader immigration crackdown by the Trump administration.

Saxena’s student visa is not scheduled to expire until 2027, and if allowed to stay in the country, she could apply for an extension to work in fields related to her degrees.

Saxena and her attorney, Jim Leach, of Rapid City, sued and won a temporary restraining order that assured Saxena’s graduation and will halt the government’s action against her until at least next week, when she has a hearing on her request for a court order to stop her deportation while the lawsuit proceeds. Saxena and her attorney have said in court filings that she has not committed a deportable offense, and have called the government’s actions “lawless.”

Saxena’s graduation went smoothly Saturday as she crossed the stage and received applause from the audience at Summit Arena in Rapid City. Her attorney and a university spokeswoman said Saxena preferred not to make any public comments.

About 350 miles to the east at Dakota State University in Madison, Noem’s speech and her acceptance of an honorary doctorate in public service went off without a hitch inside the university fieldhouse, where she did not reference the protesters or make any comments about her official duties.

Outside, she was loudly opposed.

Students and community members lined the sidewalks chanting phrases including “no honor for Noem” and “due process.” Protesters said they were spotlighting Noem’s “cruel” immigration policies and the university’s decision to invite her to graduation.

“One thing that immediately came to my brain when I heard she was coming here was I was genuinely scared for the massive amounts of international students that we have on campus,” said student Maya Plummer. “That’s something we take pride in.”

The ceremony in Madison included foreign students from countries such as Vietnam and India.

Noem’s department has pursued enforcement actions against more than 1,000 international students. It has also removed temporary protected status for immigrants who fled danger in their home country, wrongly deported a Maryland man to a notorious prison in El Salvador, aired TV ads warning migrants to self-deport or avoid coming to the United States, and launched an initiative to provide up to $1,000 in “travel assistance” to immigrants without legal authorization who self-deport, among other actions.

This week, U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Connecticut, accused Noem of running a department that’s “out of control,” saying it’s at risk of spending all of its $65 billion in funding before the end of the fiscal year.

The Dakota State University student senate and general faculty both voted against the honorary degree for Noem, citing concerns over Noem’s policies and the message her recognition would send to international students and marginalized communities.

University spokespeople said they extended the invitation for Noem to speak and receive the honorary degree while she was still governor of South Dakota. The invite was based on her longstanding support of the university’s nationally recognized cybersecurity programs.

Dakota State President José-Marie Griffiths said in her speech that Noem is among “a number of individuals who were instrumental in changing the trajectory of this institution” in recent decades. She said the university was transformed from one that was losing enrollment to one that’s thriving as a flagship institution for computer technology.

“And by the way, there were protests for that decision, too,” Griffiths said....>

<....Noem gave students a five-point bullet list of advice during her approximately 10-minute speech.

She told students their education is important, “But I will tell you that the world still revolves on relationships. People will be successful based on the people that they know and the people that they spend time with.”

Her other advice for students included, “You believed in Santa Claus for many years, at least believe in yourself for five minutes.”

Among attendees, there were conflicting views about the protest. Some family members of graduates expressed frustration that the controversy overshadowed the event.

“Honestly, it’s shocking because I feel like we should be here just celebrating the graduates,” said Anico David of Sioux Falls, whose sister graduated. “People are making it bigger than it should be with all this protesting. In my opinion, it’s kind of out of pocket and unnecessary.”

Max Lerchen, who earned a master’s degree, said honoring Noem “does not reflect the values that are held by the university,” such as inclusion. He said university officials should have expected opposition, and protesters should not be blamed for pushing back.

“They knew it was going to be an unpopular decision to begin with,” he said. “I think that’s similar to being picked on by a bully, and you decide to fight back, and then people go, ‘Why did you fight back?’”

Andrew Sogn, a spokesman for Dakota State University, said the institution hoped for “a celebratory atmosphere, and recognition of the graduates and their hard work.”

When asked about the students and faculty who opposed Noem’s honorary degree and speech, he said it was welcome, “because I think that we encourage open conversation and freedom of expression.”>

Time for that condescending <biyatch> to go to a gravel pit.

<Two Democratic antitrust commissioners fighting in court for their jobs this week blasted Trump’s attempt to fire them. In a court filing, they said the move would destabilize the economy and “brush aside a century of precedent.”

The Federal Trade Commission is one of two federal agencies tasked with enforcing antitrust law. In the past several years it has sued huge health care conglomerates, as well as big tech companies like Amazon, Apple, Google and Meta.

It also blocked the merger of grocery giants Kroger and Albertsons. So the FTC might not be terribly popular in some corporate boardrooms these days. Anticompetitive practices by giant players are thought to have resulted in lower wages and higher prices for consumers.

The other federal antitrust watchdog, the Antitrust Division of the Justice Department, has roots going back to 1903. But that department is overseen by the Attorney General, a presidential appointee.

In 1914, Congress passed the Federal Trade Commission Act creating an antitrust watchdog that is more insulated from politics. It provided for a minimum number of appointees from each party, provided them with seven-year terms and allowed reappointment. Crucially, presidents can only remove them for “inefficiency, neglect of duty, or malfeasance in office.”

Despite that, news broke in March that Trump was trying to fire commissioners Alvaro Bedoya and Rebecca Slaughter, both Democratic appointees. Trump was doing so without alleging any of the deficiencies required by the law to allow for their dismissal.

In a social media post, Bedoya said Trump was trying to do a favor for his ultra-rich supporters.

“Now, the president wants the FTC to be a lapdog for his golfing buddies,” Bedoya wrote.

Trump has also tried to remove commissioners from independent agencies such as the Federal Election Commission, the National Labor Relations Board, the Merit Systems Protections Board and the National Transportation Safety Board. Critics, including Slaughter and Bedoya, said that undermining such independent agencies would undermine faith in and the stability of the national economy.

In a court brief justifying the FTC firings, Trump’s lawyers wrote that following the provisions of the Federal Trade Commission Act would improperly limit the president’s authority.

“An order requiring the president to reinstate officials he has chosen to remove from office would be an extraordinary intrusion on the president’s exclusive authority to exercise control over the executive branch,” the filing said, according to Newsweek.

Lawyers for the Democratic FTC commissioners said that’s a gross misreading of the law and history.

Trump is asking the court “to brush aside a century of precedent in favor of an untenable reading of (the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Seila Law v Consumer Financial Protection Bureau) that ignores broad swaths of that opinion, misconstrues the FTC’s authority, side-steps much of U.S. history, and would overturn several Supreme Court decisions and invalidate two-dozen statutes adopted and adhered to by nearly every President and Congress over the last 150 years,” Bedoya and Slaughter’s lawyers said in a court filing.

Late last month, a Trump ally, Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio, made another move that critics said was intended to protect the president’s wealthy supporters — particularly Elon Musk, the world’s richest man — from antitrust enforcement. From his perch as chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, Jordan tried to insert in a spending bill a measure that would move the FTC’s personnel and funding to the Justice Department....>

<....However, it wouldn’t have moved the FTC’s unique enforcement powers along with them. Jordan later withdrew the measure.

The Democratic FTC commissioners are fighting in court to stop Trump’s attempt to fire them, calling it “blatantly illegal.” They and lawyers for the president are asking the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to decide the case on an expedited basis.

In a written statement, a lawyer for a firm representing the Democratic commissioners, Clarick, Gueron, Reisbaum, said Trump is ignoring past decisions of the judiciary.

“… it’s undisputed that his attempted firings violate the plain language of the FTC Act, and the President’s claim to inherent executive authority to fire FTC Commissioners defies 90 years of Supreme Court precedent,” the lawyer, Aaron Crowell, said.

A lawyer for another group representing Slaughter and Bedoya, Protect Democracy, said Trump is trying to ignore not only the courts, but Congress as well. And in so doing, the president threatens to destabilize the U.S. economy, said the lawyer, Amit Agarwal.

“Congress had good reasons for protecting regulators from at-will removal, not the least of which is that agencies like the Federal Trade Commission and the Federal Reserve need to have the ability to make critical decisions with integrity and to apply the law without fear or favor,” Agarwal said. “When the Supreme Court settled this dispute nine decades ago, it decided in favor of Congress’s right to protect the public interest. We hope the courts do so again.”>

<Trump is overplaying his hand.

Not just by usurping the powers of Congress and ignoring Supreme Court rulings. Not just abducting people who are legally in the United States but have put their name to opinion pieces Trump doesn’t like and trucking them off to “detention” facilities. Not just using the Justice Department for personal vengeance. Not just unilaterally deciding how much tariff tax American consumers will have to pay on almost everything they buy.

Polls show all these are tanking Trump’s popularity.

But one thing almost all Americans are firmly against — even many loyal Trumpers — (is) bribery. And Trump is taking bigger and bigger bribes.

Yesterday it was reported that he’s accepting a luxury Boeing 747-8 plane worth at least $400 million from the Qatari royal family, for use during his presidency and for his personal use afterward.

Trump just can’t resist. He’s been salivating over the plane for months. It’s bigger and newer than Air Force One — and so opulently configured that it’s known as “a flying palace.” (No report on whether it contains a golden toilet.)

Apparently he’s been talking about the plane for months. In February, he toured it while it was parked at Palm Beach International Airport.

He’s tried to redecorate the White House into a palace but that’s not nearly as satisfying as flying around the world in one, especially once he’s left the White House (assuming he will).

Attorney General Pam Bondi said it’s perfectly legal for him to accept such a bribe, er, gift.

Hello?

The U.S. Constitution clearly forbids officers of the United States from taking gifts from foreign governments. It’s called the “emoluments clause.” (See Article I, Section 9.)

Anyone viewing Bondi as a neutral judge of what’s legal and what’s not when it comes to Trump can’t be trusted to be a neutral judge of Bondi. Recall that she represented Trump in a criminal proceeding. Presumably he appointed her attorney general because he knew she’d do and say anything he wanted.

Oh, and she used to lobby for Qatar.

So, what does Qatar get in return for the $400 million plane? What’s the quid for the quo?

This week Trump takes the first overseas trip of his second presidency. He’ll land in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday, followed by a visit to Qatar, and then to the United Arab Emirates (U.A.E).

That’s a big boost for Qatar right there.

Trump also just did what Qatar has been wanting done for years — announcing that the Persian Gulf (as it’s been known since at least 550 B.C.) will henceforth be known as the Arabian Gulf.

Trump’s company has just announced a new golf resort in Qatar, reportedly partnering with a company owned by the royal family.

Qatar is also pushing the Trump regime to lift sanctions on Syria.

The payback could be any number of things. The only certainty is that you and I and other Americans won’t necessarily benefit.

This week’s trip to Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the U.A.E. is as much a personal business trip for Trump and his family businesses as a diplomatic trip.

Eric Trump, who officially runs the family business, has just announced plans for a Trump-branded hotel and tower in Dubai, part of the U.A.E.

The Trump family’s developments in the Middle East depend on a Saudi-based real estate company with close ties to the Saudi government. Saudi Arabia has a long list of pressing matters before the United States, including requests to buy F-35 fighter jets and gain access to nuclear power technology.

Trump’s family crypto firm, World Liberty Financial, announced that its so-called “stablecoin” — with Trump’s likeness all over it — will be used by the U.A.E. to make a $2 billion business deal with Binance, the largest crypto exchange in the world. The deal will generate hundreds of millions of dollars more for the Trump family.

I had assumed that Trump’s undoing would be his unquenchable thirst for power. It may yet be, but I’m beginning to think his insatiable greed will do him in. America’s Grifter-in-Chief knows no bounds.>

<Some Americans who have vivid memories of Watergate — including former Watergate prosecutor Jill Wine-Banks and 1970s Washington Post reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein — aren't shy about saying that when it comes to attacking democracy and the rule of law, President Donald Trump is much worse than the late President Richard Nixon. Trump, according to those Watergate-era veterans, has crossed lines that Nixon wouldn't cross.

In an article published by National Public Radio (NPR) on May 12, reporter Scott Horsley describes a parallel between Trump and Nixon: a willingness to use the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) against political adversaries.

"From utilizing tax data to trace immigrants without legal status to threatening Harvard University's tax exemption, President Trump has been trying to use the IRS for his own political purposes, in ways that may seem unprecedented," Horsley explains. "But they're not. Former President Richard Nixon laid the groundwork more than four decades ago, when he tried to use the tax collector to punish his enemies and assist his friends….. Nixon was angry at universities for not cracking down on Vietnam War protesters; Trump has similarly complained about Harvard and other Ivy League schools not doing more to silence protests against the war in Gaza, amid an administration crackdown on antisemitism on college campuses."

Trump, according to Horsley, is "drawing on Nixon's old playbook, despite laws put in place after Watergate to prevent that kind of meddling by the White House."

Joseph Thorndike, director of the Tax History Project at Tax Analysts, told NPR, "One of the things that Nixon did consider was threatening the tax-exemptions of universities. And that sounds very familiar if you're reading the paper these days…. Nixon tried very hard to misuse the IRS. Congress certainly saw that as a danger afterwards."

Thorndike continued, "If the president is developing enemies lists and sending them to the IRS and essentially saying, 'I want you to audit all these people I don't like,' that's worrisome. And so, Congress was very interested in preventing that."

Oval Office recordings from 1971, Horsley notes, "reveal how Nixon sought to install a hand-picked enforcer at the IRS to do his political bidding."

Nixon, in 1971, said, "I want to be sure he's a ruthless son of a bitch, that he will do what he's told. That every income tax return I want to see, I see. That he'll go after our enemies and not go after our friends. It's as simple as that.">