The Weekly Topline
Donald Trump’s strategy of shock and awe ran headlong into an opposition ready to take the new administration to court. Already two of Trump’s central initiatives — ending birthright citizenship and stopping federal grants and loans — have been blocked by several different federal judges, ranging from an 83-year-old Ronald Reagan appointee in Washington State to one of Joe Biden’s last appointees to the federal bench in Washington, D.C. Yes, political and public pressure helped, but this was a victory of the courts.
Surprise of the Week
It is no surprise that, despite the denials, Project 2025 has served as a blueprint for Donald Trump’s second term. What has been surprising is how incompetently it has been handled by an administration that had months to prepare. We were told that this time Trump’s team was more seasoned, experienced and prepared. We were told that Elon Musk was a genius who would apply his special talents to the government. Instead, this was a week of stumbles and bumbles — ranging from the two lawsuits mentioned above to the odd effort to pay federal workers to resign. And then there was Trump’s unhinged press conference after the tragic airline disaster.
Outrage of the Week
Republicans in North Carolina continue their effort to try to steal a state Supreme Court seat by suing to throw out 60,000 lawful votes. To make matters worse, local reporting revealed how a fellow GOP state judge is financially supporting Griffin’s legal challenge. This continues to be the outrage that too few in legacy media cover. That too is an outrage.
The Week’s Heroes
It won’t surprise you that I am going to single out the lawyers who successfully fought Trump and Republicans this week. There are many, but I want to give a special mention to two of them: Democracy Forward is a nonprofit that has led the Project 2025 response effort and scored several big victories this week, including blocking OMB’s memo attempting to impound federal grants. The other is New York Attorney General Letitia James who was not only involved in the state attorneys general lawsuits against Trump but separately won a big court victory to protect the New York Voting Rights Act.
The Week’s Cowards
Senate Republicans don’t even rise to the level of villains. Being a villain requires some agency, and the Senate GOP has none. In the confirmation hearings they have debased themselves repeatedly by excusing the inexcusable, defending the indefensible and pretending that they don’t know better. Sure, House Republicans behaved no better, but less is expected from them. Honorable mention: Meta for paying $25,000,000 to settle a bogus Trump lawsuit (most of which will go toward a Trump presidential library).
Watching Next Week
At what point does the legacy media reach bottom and stop sucking up to Trump? He’s had a very bad week and yet still received laudatory coverage by media outlets who seek his favor (or at least to minimize his wrath). I have some hope that next week we will see signs of this changing. Until then, support independent media!
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