Latest news with #CoalitiontoEmpowerOurFuture
Politico
08-03-2025
- Politics
- Politico
The next front in the war on ‘woke'
Presented by the Coalition to Empower Our Future PARDON PRESSURE — The conservative crusade to rehabilitate once-disgraced figures has landed on a new and even more contentious target this week: Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis Police Department officer convicted of killing George Floyd in 2020. The latest pro-Chauvin campaign began on Tuesday, when the conservative commentator Ben Shapiro devoted a segment of his popular internet show to arguing that President Donald Trump should pardon Chauvin of all federal charges stemming from Floyd's murder. 'It would be incredibly controversial, but I think that it is absolutely necessary,' said Shapiro, who posted a clip of his monologue to social media alongside a link to a petition urging Trump to intervene in Chauvin's case. Shapiro's segment quickly gained traction with influential conservative influencers and members of Trump's circle, who elevated and endorsed his arguments. 'I'll say it again,' posted the conservative activist Jack Posobiec, who has been embraced by the Trump White House as the face of new pro-Trump media, and who recently traveled to Ukraine with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. 'Derek Chauvin didn't kill George Floyd.' 'Nothing controversial at all,' added DOGE impresario Elon Musk in a post on X that also shared a clip of Shapiro's monologue. 'Derek Chauvin did nothing wrong.' The online pressure campaign to pardon Chauvin represents the opening of a new front in the escalating conservative battle to roll back the perceived excesses of 'wokeism' and 'cancel culture,' principally by rehabilitating controversial right-coded figures. In recent weeks, conservative activists have successfully called for the return of the far-right influencer Andrew Tate and his brother to the United States — a move that Trump's special envoy Richard Grenell reportedly had a hand in facilitating — despite the fact that the brothers are facing human trafficking and rape charges in Romania. In early February, meanwhile, Musk, conservative activist Christopher Rufo and Vice President JD Vance publicly intervened to reverse the firing of a DOGE employee who had posted racist comments to an anonymous social media account. Around the same time, conservatives including Vance publicly embraced Daniel Penny — the former Marine who was acquitted of strangling a man to death on the New York subway — as a MAGA icon. Taken together, these moves illustrate the newfound sense of cultural confidence that anti-woke activists are feeling under the second Trump administration — as well as the real power they wield with a sympathetic administration in the White House. During Trump's first term, the president was surrounded at least in part by more cautious conservative advisors who were intent on insulating him from the Republican Party's rightward fringe. Now, many of the president's closest advisors view the members of that same fringe as Trump's most loyal allies, and those figures seem intent to leverage their influence — both to shape federal policy and, of course, to maximally troll the libs. Nevertheless, the campaign to pardon Chauvin — which would require the president to overturn a clear and legitimately reached judicial verdict — marks a clear escalation of conservatives' war on wokeness. In the months after Floyd's death, Chauvin became a uniquely visible symbol of police violence in America, and his trial was widely seen as a referendum on the American legal system's capacity to reckon with centuries of state-backed violence against African Americans. Moreover, Chauvin's role in Floyd's death was not broadly disputed: In April 2021, a jury found Chauvin guilty of unintentional second-degree murder and other charges stemming from Floyd's death, and Chauvin pleaded guilty to two violations of federal civil rights law in December 2021. He was sentenced to 22 and a half years on the state charges and 21 years on the federal charges, which he is currently serving concurrently. Yet a vocal group of conservative activists have sought to cast doubt on Chauvin's conviction. In his recent monologue, for instance, Shapiro pointed to evidence — highlighted by Chauvin's defense team during his trial — that Floyd had relatively high levels of fentanyl in his system at the time of his death, as well as a pre-existing heart condition. Others have sought to contest the finding of the county medical examiner, who testified at Chauvin's trial that the cause of Floyd's death was 'cardiopulmonary arrest complicating law enforcement subdual, restraint, and neck compression,' and that the 'manner of death' was homicide. In his post on X sharing Shapiro's clip, for instance, Musk included a page from Floyd's autopsy report stating that there had been 'no life-threatening injuries identified.' (The office that released the report has previously clarified these limited findings do not contradict its primary finding regarding the cause of death.) Meanwhile, some X users pointed to former President Joe Biden's pardon of his son, Hunter, to suggest that a pardon of Chauvin by Trump would be appropriate. It remains to be seen whether Trump will heed these activists' calls. On Friday, Trump appeared to throw cold water on the idea, telling reporters in the Oval Office that he 'hasn't even heard about' it. Yet even if Trump were to change his mind, it's not clear if a pardon would immediately affect Chauvin's fate. As CNN reported this week, Trump only has the authority to pardon Chauvin of his federal charges, and because Chauvin is serving his state and federal sentences concurrently, a presidential pardon would not clear him of prison time, though it might affect where he serves the remainder of his sentence. At most, a federal pardon might increase Chavin's chances of getting out of jail earlier, since federal prisoners are ineligible for parole. Given this reality, it's safe to assume that actually freeing Chauvin is ultimately secondary to Shapiro and others, whose primary goal is striking a blow against the legacy of the Black Lives Matter movement. As Shapiro said in his monologue, Chauvin's conviction was the 'inciting event' in the BLM protests that, according to Shapiro, 'set American race relations on their worst footing in my lifetime.' A Trump-issued pardon of Chauvin would be a symbolic gesture that America had turned its back on the legacy of the Black Lives Matter movement — and that, for many conservative activists, would be enough. Welcome to POLITICO Nightly. Reach out with news, tips and ideas at nightly@ Or contact tonight's author at iward@ or on X (formerly known as Twitter) at @ianwardreports. What'd I Miss? — A $400 million punishment for Columbia University from the Trump administration: Columbia University faces the immediate loss of grants and contracts totaling about $400 million for failing to address antisemitism, a Trump administration task force said Friday. The Justice Department task force to combat antisemitism, led by Leo Terrell, has been probing 10 institutions because of their responses to antisemitic incidents on campuses since the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attacks on Israel. But Columbia, which faced intense scrutiny for its students' high-profile antiwar encampment and building occupations last spring, is the first institution to have its grants and contracts frozen. — Trump administration declares TSA screener union contract void: The Department of Homeland Security on Friday announced that it plans to terminate the collective bargaining agreement that covers frontline workers at the Transportation Security Administration — a move likely to spark a court battle. In a statement, DHS said its decision to invalidate a 2024 collective bargaining agreement that covers about 45,000 people — including its baggage screeners — 'removes bureaucratic hurdles that will strengthen workforce agility, enhance productivity and resiliency, while also jumpstarting innovation.' The agency claimed that TSA employees are exploiting the current system by abusing sick leave policies, in turn overburdening other screeners who have to pick up extra shifts, among other tasks. — Trump seeks to restart nuclear talks with Iran: President Donald Trump said Friday that he is seeking a new agreement with Iran to curb the country's nuclear program, warning ominously of a conflict if a deal can't be reached. The president earlier told Fox News that he sent a letter to Ali Khamenei, Iran's supreme leader, calling for an agreement to replace the one that the Trump administration canceled in May 2018 in favor of what they called a 'maximum pressure' campaign. He suggested, without specifics, that the issue could quickly lead to conflict with Iran, which has accelerated its production of weapons-grade uranium since 2018. 'We're at final moments,' Trump said. 'We can't let them have a nuclear weapon.' — DOJ opens investigation into egg companies for price-fixing: The Justice Department is investigating whether the nation's largest egg producers are conspiring to keep prices high as the bird flu outbreak worsens and grocery stores start setting rations for customers, two people familiar with the matter told POLITICO. The price-fixing investigation is in very early stages and targets large egg producers such as Cal-Maine Foods and Rose Acre Farms, the people said. — Kamala Harris sets a deadline for her next move: Former Vice President Kamala Harris is seriously considering a run for governor of California — and has given herself a deadline to decide. At a pre-Oscars party last weekend, Harris was asked by another partygoer when she would make a decision about jumping into the California governor's race. She gave a definitive answer, according to two people with knowledge of the conversation: the end of the summer. And in calls to supporters, allies and trusted aides in recent weeks, Harris has made clear that she plans to make a decision in a few months. Harris' timeline, reported here first, is the clearest indication to date that she may enter the race to succeed the termed-out Gavin Newsom in the Golden State. AROUND THE WORLD POLAND BUILDS UP — Poland will look at gaining access to nuclear weapons and also ensure that every man undergoes military training as part of an effort to build a 500,000-strong army to face off the threat from Russia, Prime Minister Donald Tusk told the parliament on Friday. Poland's dramatic military expansion comes as fears grow across Europe that President Donald Trump is aligning with the Kremlin and turning his back on America's traditional Western alliances — a geopolitical shift that Warsaw regards as a potentially existential threat. Tusk said that Poland 'is talking seriously' with France about being protected by the French nuclear umbrella. President Emmanuel Macron has opened the possibility of other countries discussing how France's nuclear deterrent can protect Europe. BIG SPENDER — Chancellor-in-waiting Friedrich Merz is promising a constitutional revolution to allow Germany to become Europe's unlikely big spender — on arms and infrastructure — to contend with a new world order in which America is no longer a dependable ally. To pull off such a sensational U-turn in the way the world's third-biggest economy traditionally operates, however, he must secure a political consensus by an ultra-tight deadline: March 25, when a new configuration in the Bundestag will make reform difficult. It's hard to exaggerate the scale of the change Berlin is targeting after U.S. President Donald Trump's withdrawal of military support to Ukraine and his demand that Europe should step in and provide Kyiv with security guarantees against Russia. Merz is not only suggesting loosening Germany's own fiscal straight-jacket — the notorious debt brake — but is also pushing the EU at large to relax spending rules so the whole continent can dramatically up its defense programs, rather than just relying on America. Nightly Number RADAR SWEEP THE HOLDOUTS — Most of the world's residents found themselves confined to their homes in March 2020 as Covid-19 spread at an alarming pace. But some countries didn't impose any lockdown restrictions. Sweden, Taiwan, Uruguay, Iceland and a few others never enacted a lockdown that involved severe restrictions on the movement of people. They instead chose other measures, such as restrictions on large gatherings of people, extensive testing and quarantining infected people or travel restrictions. Five years later, Chris Baraniuk writes for the BBC, scientific studies and data have piled up, offering a detailed, long-term assessment of whether these countries were right to reject the most drastic of public health interventions. Parting Image Did someone forward this email to you? Sign up here.
Politico
07-03-2025
- Politics
- Politico
Gavin Newsom's declaration of independence
Presented by the Coalition to Empower Our Future NEWSOM'S NUKE — Gavin Newsom kicked off his new podcast today with a bang. The California governor and prospective presidential candidate broke with Democratic Party orthodoxy on a host of issues, including one of the most polarizing of all — the participation of transgender athletes in female college and youth sports. In his debut podcast episode, Newsom departed from the party line by suggesting that Democrats were wrong to allow transgender athletes to participate in female youth sports, distanced himself from the left's use of pronouns and the gender-neutral term 'Latinx,' called police defunding 'lunacy,' and agreed that there had been some questionable practices in the leadership of the Black Lives Matter organization. The governor's comments, which came during a conversation with Charlie Kirk, the Donald Trump ally and campus culture warrior who leads the organization Turning Point USA, weren't especially controversial — they were largely in line with how most Americans think, according to polls. Yet they stood out because, in the wake of Trump's November victory, so few Democratic officials have been willing to publicly acknowledge where the party may have gone off the rails, and also because the party has shown little tolerance for dissent on social issues in recent years. Newsom and Kirk discussed the attack ads that Trump's campaign used to politically ruinous effect against Kamala Harris, featuring her support for taxpayer-funded gender transition-related medical care for detained immigrants and federal prisoners. 'She didn't even react to it, which was even more devastating,' Newsom said. 'Then you had the video [of Harris] as a validator. Brutal. It was a great ad.' On the issue of transgender athletes in female college and youth sports — currently headline news in California, where a high school trans athlete's recent record-smashing performance has attracted international attention — Newsom made clear his support for trans rights generally but called it 'an issue of fairness. It's deeply unfair.' Newsom expressed sympathy for trans people and flagged their higher rates of suicide and depression. 'The way that people talk down to vulnerable communities is an issue that I have a hard time with,' he said. But the governor conceded there was a question of fairness in competition. 'I am not wrestling with the fairness issue,' he told Kirk, who contended that it was unfair for transgender women to compete in women's sports. 'I totally agree with you.' Newsom's remarks were immediately denounced by many Democrats, though the criticism was relatively muted because of his pioneering support for LGBTQ+ rights as mayor of San Francisco. Provoking a reaction may have been the point. In breaking with his party on trans athletes and underscoring his willingness to go toe-to-toe with top conservative communicators and leaders — such as Kirk, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Fox News' Sean Hannity — Newsom is claiming a distinctive space in a party and remaking the 2028 Democratic fault lines. And as the governor of the nation's biggest blue state, he provided cover for other Democrats who are seeking a different kind of messaging in their support for trans rights. To better understand Newsom's move and its political implications, Nightly reached out to Christopher Cadelago, the California bureau chief at POLITICO who's covered Newsom for years. Gavin Newsom's suggestion that Democrats were wrong to support allowing transgender athletes to participate in female college and youth sports is generating quite a bit of buzz today. It's a contentious issue that Republicans have zeroed in on with considerable success, since polls show a majority of Americans favor requiring trans athletes to compete on teams that match their sex assigned at birth. What's Newsom's motivation here? I've spoken with Newsom about transgender issues and the broader culture wars several times, publicly and privately, over the last two years. Some of the impulse for speaking out on trans youth athletes in girls sports comes from the fact that he's a dad of four school-age kids — including two daughters — who hears directly from other parents of school-age kids in gyms, on the soccer field and on baseball diamonds. 'Every one of my friends is freaked out about this,' Newsom told me today. There's also a part of Newsom that delights in walking up to the line on taboo issues and saying things you're not supposed to say out loud. He sees his brand as being on the leading edge of political debates. He resists going small, trusts his radar for seeing around corners and loves stretching out and reaching for the next bold stroke. That's the part of him that looks at Donald Trump and, while he disagrees with most of what the president is doing, Newsom can't help but admire and even envy the chutzpah with which Trump does it. In granular detail, Newsom is always talking about ways he can break through the noise; ensure his face and ideas and work are appearing in more group text chats and social media feeds. He's always thinking about how he can be a better media maestro. Then there's the cold political reality. Newsom has now closely watched his old friend and sometimes rival Kamala Harris lose two presidential campaigns. Harris' 2024 campaign has fought like hell — sometimes to the point of gaslighting — in arguing that the Trump campaign's attacks on her over trans issues didn't add up to much. We all know that's nonsense because it contradicts not only data, but common sense. Some of her aides were in denial. Others just couldn't bring themselves to admit it because it's not politically correct. But Democrats have to confront why they're clinging to the losing side of an 80-20 issue. Because if they don't move past the denial stage, they risk losing again in 2028, and perhaps for longer. Newsom knows this. So, he decided to trot out with another Paul Revere moment. His remarks came on his debut podcast, called 'This is Gavin Newsom.' I can't help but ask: Since the job of governing the nation's biggest state is pretty demanding — and since Newsom already has a national profile — why is he doing a podcast? It's cliche now, but 2024 was the 'podcast election.' Newsom wants to be on the leading edge of platforms and issues, and podcasting allows him to combine those two subjects. This came up in the Charlie Kirk interview, but there's growing consensus that Democrats can't subordinate their old, tired talking points and be original and authentic and defend their positions in real time. They too often struggle to defend their positions in spontaneous, unscripted environments. There's so much caution; it just doesn't work anymore. We've all become too skilled at calling out bullshit. Newsom is trying to carve out a lane in a space that's dominated by MAGA voices. I think Newsom envisions a time two years into the future where he's hosting a top podcast in politics and public affairs. What does he get from that? Well, potentially a lot. Let's face it. Lots of people still see him as a cardboard cutout, his hair perfectly shellacked by a metric ton of goop. Or they view him as the woke-serving whipping boy of Fox News from liberal California — the 'failed state' and land of fruits and nuts. Think what you want of him, but the guy is not just a pretty-boy resistance warrior. He can actually go pretty deep in the weeds on policy. He has nuanced views. And the way to reveal that is in multiple hour-long conversations. Newsom's comments were made during a one-on-one discussion with a guest that many of his podcast listeners might not have expected — influential MAGA-world figure Charlie Kirk, an influential campus culture warrior and close ally of Donald Trump. Was Newsom trying to make a particular point? Democrats won't win by staying in their comfortable information bubbles. You can only do so many hits on Rachel Maddow's MSNBC show. Not only should Democrats venture out of their comfort zones, they should go to places where they have to actually defend their ideas. But many in the party are scared. Everyone freaks out about everything. Let's face it — folks on the right just don't trigger so easily. When I asked Newsom recently about who else he wants to have on, he pointed to CPAC's lineup. The challenge will be how to calibrate the level of pushback. Newsom wants to have real conversations. But there's still an expectation from Democrats that he won't let ideological opponents just drone on without sufficiently challenging, if not their motives, at least their views. That's the balancing act I'm eyeing. Newsom's comments about transgender athletes come with some risk, at least within his own party. Massachusetts Rep. Seth Moulton, for example, faced a torrent of criticism from Democratic Party activists and officials for saying something similar after the November election. What has the Democratic reaction been like today? Newsom's bonafides on LGBTQ+ rights are better than Moulton's. There aren't many rising Democrats out there who have done as much for as long for the community. Newsom upset leaders in his own party when, as San Francisco mayor in 2004, he defied state law and issued marriage licenses to same-sex couples. Even the late Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein, a close Newsom supporter, blamed him for John Kerry's defeat that year at the hands of George W. Bush, saying the marriages were 'too much, too fast, too soon' and that they helped energize conservatives. Some liberals, and especially folks inside Newsom's own Capitol community in Sacramento, are telling me and my colleagues that they're upset and disappointed with him. A few rolled their eyes or shook their heads. One Democratic state lawmaker licked a finger and hoisted it upward to catch a brief gust of imaginary wind while offering a knowing look. And there's still a question about whether he's really taking on his own party. After all, polls show a solid majority of Democrats don't believe trans athletes should play girls' sports. It means that while he is challenging Democratic orthodoxy, and certainly the views of some politicians and activists, he's not necessarily taking on the voters. Are Newsom's remarks on trans athletes -- and his criticism of language policing, cancel culture and defunding the police -- an attempt to carve out a distinct lane in the 2028 Democratic Party presidential primary? Newsom can't run for president as a California progressive, or even a progressive at all. He can't pass their purity tests. His only credible lane is center-left. It's the Joe Biden lane. He's only one show into the podcast, but a clear motivation seems to be an attempt to give people a view of him in full. Embedded in this calculation is a belief that some of the old rules of politics just don't apply anymore — that there's no reason why you can't be both politician and pundit rolled into one; that the more you talk, the more leeway you'll get. Still, Newsom can be a polarizing figure. It's hard to find people with subtle views of the governor. What listeners are going to see — if he's true to himself — is a risk-taker who is very much the author of his own words (Newsom, for example, detests giving teleprompter speeches). He cites flurries of numbers and statistics, but he also operates on feel and vibes. He debated Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis; trades texts with his old 'pal' Sean Hannity of Fox News and much prefers crashing a NewsMax set to sitting for a staid interview with a public radio broadcaster. In the chat with Kirk, Newsom talked about the asymmetric nature of appearing on CNN for three minutes when politicians on the right can plug into an entire network of connected broadcasters. He wants to be seen as unscripted and unpredictable and authentic. And for that to happen, he's going to have to keep saying interesting and newsworthy and, yes, controversial things. But it all raises a question: Can he be both Bill Maher-like and the next president? Welcome to POLITICO Nightly. Reach out with news, tips and ideas at nightly@ Or contact tonight's author at cmahtesian@ or on X (formerly known as Twitter) at @PoliticoCharlie. What'd I Miss? — Trump puts new limits on Elon Musk: President Donald Trump convened his Cabinet in person today to deliver a message: You're in charge of your departments, not Elon Musk. According to two administration officials, Trump told top members of his administration that Musk was empowered to make recommendations to the departments but not to issue unilateral decisions on staffing and policy. Musk was also in the room. The meeting followed a series of mass firings and threats to government workers from the billionaire Tesla founder, who helms the Department of Government Efficiency, that created broad uncertainty across the federal government and its workforce. — Trump delays tariffs on many Canadian, Mexican imports for one month: President Donald Trump, in an abrupt about-face, announced today that he will delay 25 percent tariffs on a significant portion of Mexican and Canadian goods until next month. The carve-out applies to autos and all other goods from the two countries that comply with the duty-free terms of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, White House officials said. The update marks a significant retreat of the tariffs on the two North American neighbors that went into force on Tuesday, and would apply to approximately 38 percent of imports from Canada and 50 percent from Mexico. — Democratic congressman censured for joint session outburst: The House voted 224-198 today to censure Rep. Al Green (D-Texas) for disrupting President Donald Trump's joint address to Congress this week. Green shouted at Trump during the Tuesday night address and was ordered removed from the House chamber by Speaker Mike Johnson, prompting a flurry of GOP efforts to punish him for the disruption. The censure measure was introduced and called up by Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-Wash.) through a fast-track process allowing for quick consideration on the House floor. Democratic leaders didn't formally whip against the measure, and 10 Democrats voted with all Republicans in support of the censure. — Trump targets prominent Democratic-linked law firm: President Donald Trump on Thursday signed an executive order targeting Perkins Coie, a prominent Seattle-based law firm that regularly represents Democratic and liberal groups. The executive order suspends security clearances for employees of the law firm, which has long provided legal work for the Democratic National Committee, other Democratic entities and Democratic campaigns, including Hillary Clinton's 2016 presidential campaign. The firm was central to the commissioning of the infamous 'Steele dossier,' which was published shortly before Trump was inaugurated in 2017. Former British intelligence officer Christopher Steele was commissioned by Fusion GPS, a research firm that had been hired by Perkins Coie, to dig up information about Trump's business relationships overseas. — Veterans cuts spark GOP backlash on Capitol Hill: Military veterans have been disproportionately affected by the administration's early cuts, and GOP lawmakers have unleashed a rare tide of public pushback. That reached a crescendo this week as the Trump administration raises the possibility of large-scale dismissals of Department of Veterans Affairs employees. Mass firings at the VA began weeks ago, spurring a flurry of panicked calls from GOP lawmakers to the White House. But a new memo outlines the potential for 80,000 more firings across a roughly 480,000-person department, according to an internal memo obtained by POLITICO. Senate Veterans' Affairs Chair Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) said in a statement that while the massive department is 'in need of reform,' efforts to downsize 'must be done in a more responsible manner,' after the AP first reported the 80,000 figure Wednesday. AROUND THE WORLD COLLATERAL DAMAGE — Northern Ireland could suffer collateral damage in President Donald Trump's impending trade war with the European Union — thanks to its hybrid status post-Brexit. The EU is firmly within Trump's sights in his escalating tariff raid, with the president promising retribution for the bloc's 'brutal' trade practices by threatening 25 percent tariffs, claiming the bloc was created to 'screw the United States.' In turn, the EU has warned that Trump's protectionist policies 'will not go unanswered.' U.K. ministers, meanwhile, are scrambling for an exemption to fresh tariffs, in the hope that the country's 'balanced' trading relationship with the U.S. could mean Trump takes a softer approach to Britain than its neighbors across the channel. But tariffs from any side could create a fresh Brexit headache for traders in Northern Ireland, which is part of the U.K. but has no hard border with the Republic of Ireland. The prospect has already got unionists hot under the collar, while others spy an investment opportunity. SANS ORBAN — European Union leaders have endorsed military support for Ukraine but without the support of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán. At an emergency summit today in Brussels, Orbán, who hasn't hidden his admiration for Russian President Vladimir Putin, vetoed an EU-wide push to replace American military aid. President Donald Trump announced the freezing of military assistance to Kyiv on Monday. The EU's other 26 leaders moved forward without Hungary and published their own conclusions. 'Achieving 'peace through strength' requires Ukraine to be in the strongest possible position, with Ukraine's own robust military and defense capabilities as an essential component,' the joint statement said. 'The European Union remains committed, in coordination with like-minded partners and allies, to providing enhanced political, financial, economic, humanitarian, military and diplomatic support to Ukraine and its people.' The text also vows to step up pressure on Russia by imposing further sanctions and better enforcing existing ones 'in order to weaken its ability to continue waging its war of aggression.' While that enables a technical fix, it again exposes the difficulties the EU has in formulating a consistent position toward Putin ― and Trump. CAN THE U.S. BE TRUSTED? — Intelligence sharing among NATO countries is in danger as members become increasingly wary of one another, and the earthquake unleashed by Donald Trump risks making things worse, current and former alliance and security officials from across the alliance told POLITICO. There have long been strains caused by distrust between the alliance's traditional Western members and newcomers from the ex-communist east. That grew worse following Russia's attack on Ukraine, when pro-Russia Hungary, joined recently by Slovakia, are seen as unreliable, said eight current and former NATO and security officials with knowledge of intelligence sharing at the alliance. Many were granted anonymity to discuss the sensitive matter. But now the U.S. shift toward Russia under Trump is shaking the core of the alliance — prompting countries to wonder about the risk of sharing intelligence with Washington, said five of the officials. Nightly Number RADAR SWEEP CHEATGPT — AI tools like ChatGPT and Google Gemini now make it possible to obtain college essays with little more effort than it takes to snap your fingers. Ask one of these chatbots for a paper on Plato's Republic, or on the ethics of buying and selling kidneys — or just input an exam prompt — and, within seconds, out pops a paper that will look to a lot of people like something a human wrote. If your instructor doesn't know what to look for, or if the AI you are using is good enough, you can convince them you have mastered the topic without needing to learn anything about it at all. Troy Jollimore writes in the Walrus magazine how he once believed university was a shared intellectual pursuit, but that his faith has been obliterated by the rampant and lazy use of AI by so many of his students. Parting Image Did someone forward this email to you? Sign up here.
Politico
04-03-2025
- Politics
- Politico
A tale of two speeches
Presented by the Coalition to Empower Our Future FULL GALLOP — If you were betting on the least likely sentiments to emerge from Donald Trump's speech to the Congress, you might choose among these: — a hat tip to Black history month and the civil rights movement; — a call for a long-term agreement on immigration reform; — strong support for NATO, 'an alliance forged through the bonds of two world wars that dethroned fascism, and a Cold War, and defeated communism;' — a summons to 'direct, robust and meaningful engagement with the world…based on vital security interests that we share with our allies all across the globe;' — a shout-out to Justin Trudeau and Canada; — support for paid family leave; — repeated calls for unity, proclaiming that 'we are one people, with one destiny. We all bleed the same blood. We all salute the same great American flag. And we all are made by the same God.' Those of you with strong memories or a taste for the improbable may have realized that all of them come from the first speech the new President Trump delivered to Congress eight years ago. A look back at that address is a bracing reminder of how astonishing the shift has been in the political terrain. Trump entered the presidency under circumstances that 'improbable' doesn't begin to cover. Apart from his lack of public engagement, he had survived a mortal threat to his candidacy: after a tape of him making crude, obscene boasts about his predatory sexual behavior emerged, a raft of key Republicans — senators, governors, the national party chair — all urged him to drop out of the race. He won despite finishing almost three million votes behind Hilary Clinton in the popular vote; victories in three states by a fraction of a percent won him the Electoral College. He came into office with the lowest approval ratings of any incoming chief executive in memory. And while he had a Republican Senate, which cheerfully confirmed his Supreme Court nominee, many of those same Republican senators — roughly one-fifth of their membership — had either refused to endorse him or called on him to drop out. Back then, Trump had nothing like the chokehold he would later develop over his party, Had he, for example, proposed the mix of Cabinet nominees he named this time around, a platoon of GOP senators — John McCain, Jeff Flake, Rob Portman, Pat Toomey, and more — would have laughed them out of the chamber. Instead, his choices then were drawn squarely within traditional boundaries: generals like Jim Mattis, high powered executives like Rex Tillerson, senators like Jeff Sessions and Dan Coats. The limits of his power can be seen throughout his speech to the Congress. The grim, almost apocalyptic tone of his Inaugural Address — 'American carnage'as it came to be called — were modulated in his talk to Congress. Indeed, the tone of his speech was the key takeaway of the post-speech analyses. 'Mr. Trump's speech to Congress was a more optimistic vision of America and what he called the promises ahead,' the New York Times said. 'The themes were largely Republican orthodoxy, delivered soberly and almost verbatim from a prepared text. Mr. Trump read from teleprompters and appeared restrained and serious.' It was, said NPR, 'his most successful, if not his first, effort at assuming the public persona and personal demeanor associated with his new office. He stuck to the script on his teleprompter, spoke graciously to individuals in the audience and refrained from attacks on critics, rivals or adversaries.' And when he acknowledged the widow of Randy Owens, a Navy SEAL killed in a raid in Yemen, CNN's Van Jones proclaimed, 'he became president of the United States in that moment, period.' This time? The president faces a Republican Senate whose members are acutely aware of Trump's power over their political destinies. A survivor of sexual assault who has made the issue her special cause, cast the key vote to confirm a nominee credibly accused of sexual harassment. A senator who as a physician has made the case for vaccination a central cause, cast the vote confirming a vaccine-skeptic who already has begun to ignore the assurances he gave. Agencies authorized and funded by the Congress have been decimated, with only the mildest of cautionary words from his party. An alliance with Europe that has endured for 80 years — enthusiastically supported by Republicans — now seems on life support, and many of the same voices that denounced Putin's invasion of Ukraine were muted even before Friday's Oval Office confrontation with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The Donald Trump who tread cautiously eight years ago is in full gallop; in less than 50 days, he has — with the eager assistance of Elon Musk and his team — reshaped the American government more fundamentally than any president, FDR possibly excepted. What he says to Congress and the nation tonight is a matter of conjecture. But it is a safe bet that if the words match the deeds, it will be as if this Donald Trump and the Trump of 2017 were two very different presidents. Welcome to POLITICO Nightly. Reach out with news, tips and ideas at nightly@ Or contact tonight's author on X (formerly known as Twitter) at @greenfield64. What'd I Miss? — Trump's trade war sparks broad backlash: It's dawning on the world — and several Republicans on Capitol Hill — that sometimes President Donald Trump should be taken literally after all. Trump levied sweeping tariffs on key trading partners Mexico, Canada and China early Tuesday morning, sparking retaliation from Beijing and Ottawa, sending the stock market into a tailspin, and alarming government officials around the globe as they brace for potentially the worst trade war in a century. — House and Senate GOP leaders split on Trump's tariffs: President Donald Trump's decision to slap steep tariffs on Canada and Mexico is revealing something of a split screen between the top two Republicans on Capitol Hill. In the Senate, Majority Leader John Thune — who hails from an agricultural state that was hit hard by the trade wars of the first Trump administration — told reporters he hoped the new tariffs will only be in place as long as it takes to limit the flow of fentanyl into the United States. — Vance sparks British fury as he mocks Ukraine peacekeeping plan: Vice President JD Vance was hit by a wave of criticism from British and French politicians Tuesday as he mocked Europe's plan to deploy troops on the ground in Ukraine to keep the peace. In an interview with Fox News' Sean Hannity, Vance dismissed peacekeeping assistance from 'some random country that hasn't fought a war in 30 years' — interpreted by politicians across the divide in London as an attack on the U.K., which has been pushing such a plan alongside France. — Trump: American students will be 'permanently expelled' or arrested for campus protests: President Donald Trump on Tuesday threatened colleges' federal funding for allowing 'illegal protests' and said American students will be expelled. 'All Federal Funding will STOP for any College, School, or University that allows illegal protests,' Trump wrote on Truth Social. 'Agitators will be imprisoned/or permanently sent back to the country from which they came. American students will be permanently expelled or, depending on the crime, arrested. NO MASKS! Thank you for your attention to this matter.' The social media post comes after a federal task force on antisemitism last week announced it would visit 10 college campuses that had antisemitic incidents since the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attacks on Israel. — No more in-person town halls, NRCC chief tells House Republicans: The chair of the House GOP's campaign arm told Republican lawmakers Tuesday to stop holding in-person town halls amid a wave of angry backlash over the cuts undertaken by President Donald Trump's administration. Rep. Richard Hudson (R-N.C.), the NRCC chair, delivered the message inside a closed-door meeting of House Republicans. Trump on Monday dismissed the town hall uproar — much of it trained on the sweeping cutbacks made by the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency — as being the work of 'paid 'troublemakers.'' Many other GOP leaders have adopted a similar tack, asserting that the protests Republican lawmakers have encountered have been concocted by Democrats and do not reflect genuine voter anger over the Trump cuts. AROUND THE WORLD ANNEX THIS — Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau denounced President Donald Trump for launching a trade war with his country, saying that he won't back down from a tariff fight with the United States. 'Today, the United States launched a trade war against Canada. At the same time, they're talking about working positively with Russia, appeasing Vladimir Putin — a lying, murderous dictator. Make that make sense,' Trudeau said in Ottawa. 'Canadians are reasonable and we are polite, but we will not back down from a fight, not when our country and the well being of everyone in it is at stake.' Trudeau pledged relief to Canadian workers caught in the trade war's crosshairs, and told the American people that his quarrel was not with them. MAKING THINGS RIGHT — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy proposed a limited truce with Russia and said his country is willing to move forward on a minerals and security deal with the United States on Tuesday, days after a bitter clash in the Oval Office with President Donald Trump sent shock waves through the global order. 'Our meeting in Washington, at the White House on Friday, did not go the way it was supposed to be. It is regrettable that it happened this way,' wrote Zelenskyy on social media platform X. 'It is time to make things right. We would like future cooperation and communication to be constructive.' In his social media post, the wartime Ukrainian president said he and his team are 'ready to work under President Trump's strong leadership to get a peace that lasts,' proposing Ukraine and Russia both release prisoners and agree to a 'truce in the sky' and 'truce in the sea immediately.' Zelenskyy's Tuesday social media post marks a dramatic turn in the negotiations around the Russia-Ukraine war, which has been raging since Russia launched its full-scale offensive in 2022. Trump and Vice President JD Vance's dressing down of Zelenskyy last week dramatically escalated diplomatic tensions, raising questions about America's commitment to the embattled Western nation and sending European leaders scrambling to voice their support. MILITARY LOANS — The EU's latest response to Donald Trump's decision to walk away from America's longstanding protection of Europe is to announce a plan to send loans of up to €150 billion to governments to help them boost military spending. Facing the most serious crisis within the western alliance since 1945 as the U.S. sides with Russia, Europe is desperate for ways to fire up defense expenditure, which is paltry compared with America's contribution. The EU has not traditionally involved itself in funding armed forces ― preferring since the 1950s to build roads, subsidize farmers and establish cross-border cultural projects ― but the pivot to financing military power underscores the radical and rapid reshaping of global dynamics. NGO NON GRATA — German conservatives and the Hungarian far right may have little in common, but they do agree on one thing: Non-governmental organizations rank high on their list of enemies. In a significant political maneuver, incoming German Chancellor Friedrich Merz's center-right Christian Democratic alliance (CDU) last week submitted an inquiry targeting NGOs, which involved 551 parliamentary questions for organizations such as Greenpeace and Grandmas Against the Far Right. Critics saw the inquest as an assault on civil society after NGOs joined protests against the CDU's January alignment on migration with the far-right Alternative for Germany. More broadly across Europe, authoritarian leaders have increasingly sought to limit the influence of NGOs, particularly those that support environmental concerns, human rights or equality in opposition to their politics. In Hungary, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has made suppressing civil society one of his government's consistent priorities, while Slovakia's leftist-populist Prime Minister Robert Fico has also sought to bring NGOs to heel. Nightly Number RADAR SWEEP PIZZANOMICS — Pizzas at Domino's and Pizza Hut essentially cost the same as they did in the 1990s. How is it that pizza prices barely budged in 26 years? Elsewhere across the American casual dining landscape, prices have kept up with or surpassed inflation. A Big Mac Extra Value Meal costs nearly $11, compared to $4.59 in 1993. A crunchy taco at Taco Bell that went for 59 cents in 1990 is $1.79 today. The truth is that since inflation ramped up in 2021, pizza chains like Pizza Hut and Domino's have hiked prices — just not by as much as their fast-food peers. And their prices today are vastly lower than what they charged in the '90s, adjusted for inflation. The trick, it seems, has been volume and hidden fees. Mark Dent explores the economics of franchise pizza for The Hustle. Parting Image Did someone forward this email to you? Sign up here.
Politico
04-03-2025
- Politics
- Politico
This pivotal county is still standing by Trump
Presented by the Coalition to Empower Our Future AS STARR COUNTY GOES — If you're not yet familiar with Starr County, Texas — and we don't expect you would be — remember the name. Since President Donald Trump's November victory, it's emerged as a key reference point in the debate over the future of the Democratic Party, a potent example of MAGA's advance among Latino and working class voters. The historically blue border county flipped to Trump in 2024, but that description does a disservice to the stunning nature of what happened. Until last year, Starr County hadn't voted for a Republican presidential nominee in over a century. As recently as 2016, Hillary Clinton destroyed Trump there, 79 percent to 19 percent. For comparative purposes, that's roughly the same margin that Trump lost by in Brooklyn that year. While Clinton romped across heavily Hispanic South Texas, by 2020 the cracks in the Democratic wall were beginning to show. The Rio Grande Valley, along the border with Mexico, shifted unmistakably toward Trump in 2020 — and Joe Biden only managed a 5-point victory in 97 percent Hispanic Starr County. Four years later, the dam broke. Aside from Starr County, Trump turned most of the border red. Swings of the magnitude seen in Starr County rarely happen over a short period. And if you examine the voting data over a broader time frame, the numbers are even more stark. Starr County residents went from delivering an 86-13 landslide victory to Barack Obama in 2012 — the highest vote share of any county in Texas — to giving Trump a very comfortable 58-42 win in 2024. Although Republicans have prioritized South Texas in recent years, that kind of voting behavior isn't a function of better GOP messaging or organizing. It's a sign of Trump's appeal with Latino working class voters, but also of something much deeper and more emotional — as in, anger, deep alienation or disgust with the ancestral party. It hardly needs to be said that the Democratic dream of a Blue Texas is a mirage as long South Texas is spiraling away. POLITICO's David Siders spent some time in Starr County recently to better understand the political tectonic changes and what he found should be disturbing to Democrats as the party plots its path back from the wilderness. He notes that Trump's victory there in November was motivated largely by frustration with rising prices and Biden's immigration policies, among other factors. While prices at the grocery store aren't any better now than before, there's little sign of buyer's remorse. Though few said they voted for Trump because of his plans to shrink the size of the federal bureaucracy, many welcomed the slashing cuts anyway. The left-leaning voters Siders spoke with were hopeful the effects of the government cutbacks might eventually increase opposition to Trump, but they weren't convinced the message is breaking through. 'In fact,' Siders writes, 'the only thing about Trump's first month in office that I found near universal opposition to was the administration's detainment, briefly, of migrants at Guantánamo Bay. But not because of any sympathy for the migrants. It's because the Texas land commissioner, Dawn Buckingham, has offered Trump 1,400 acres of land just outside Rio Grande City, the county seat, to build a deportation facility. Republicans and even some Democrats want the economic benefits associated with new construction — and a new federal operation — to be located in Starr County, instead.' Starr County isn't a national bellwether — it's more like an indicator species that offers clues to the atmospheric conditions of the political ecosystem. And what it's indicating at the moment is that national Democrats have a long way to go in winning back the voters they're losing to Trump. Welcome to POLITICO Nightly. Reach out with news, tips and ideas at nightly@ Or contact tonight's author at cmahtesian@ or on X (formerly known as Twitter) at @PoliticoCharlie. What'd I Miss? — Trump says Canada, Mexico tariffs take effect Tuesday: President Donald Trump reaffirmed plans to impose new 25 percent tariffs on all Mexican and Canadian goods beginning Tuesday, likely triggering a trade war with the United States' biggest trading partners. There is 'no room left for Mexico or for Canada' to make a deal to avoid the tariffs, Trump told reporters at the White House. 'They're all set. They go into effect tomorrow.' Trump also reaffirmed that he intends to raise his most recent tariff on all Chinese goods to 20 percent, from 10 percent currently. — Top HHS spokesperson quits after clashing with RFK Jr.: The top spokesperson at the Health and Human Services Department has abruptly quit after clashing with Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and his close aides over their management of the agency amid a growing measles outbreak, two people familiar with the matter told POLITICO. Thomas Corry announced on Monday that he had resigned 'effective immediately,' just two weeks after joining the department as its assistant secretary for public affairs. — Musk accuses Zelenskyy of pushing 'forever war' with Russia: Elon Musk took a fresh shot at Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Monday, accusing the embattled Ukrainian president of wanting a 'forever war' with Russia. Musk, a close adviser of President Donald Trump who leads his efforts to pare down the federal government, often weighs in on U.S. foreign policy and European politics via his social media platform, X. In the early days of Russia's full-scale invasion, Musk was hailed as one of Ukraine's most important allies after donating thousands of Starlink satellite internet system terminals to replace communications services destroyed by Moscow's forces. But that changed after he began spreading what Kyiv said was pro-Russian propaganda. — Melania Trump lobbies Congress to combat 'revenge porn': On the eve of her husband's address to a joint session of Congress, Melania Trump made her second-term debut on Capitol Hill, using her first public comments on policy since October 2019 to take on deep fake 'revenge porn.' The first lady sat down on Monday with members of Congress, advocates and teenage victims to push the House to advance the 'TAKE IT DOWN Act,' which would criminalize 'non-consensual intimate content' — otherwise known as 'revenge porn' — including compromising images generated by AI. — Spending bill text expected over weekend: GOP congressional leaders are aiming to release text of a government funding stopgap this weekend, according to lawmakers and other Republicans involved in the ongoing talks. Republican leaders said in private meetings on Monday that they're aiming to release the text Saturday, according to three people familiar with the conversations. The release, they added, could slip into Sunday. House Appropriations Chair Tom Cole told a small group of reporters later Monday that 'sometime this weekend' would likely be the case, given the need to put the bill on the House floor next week ahead of the March 14 deadline. AROUND THE WORLD INDECENT PROPOSAL — French Prime Minister François Bayrou on Monday declared the alliance with the U.S. is seriously wounded and called President Donald Trump's attitude toward Ukraine 'an indecency.' 'On Friday evening, a staggering scene unfolded, marked by brutality and a desire to humiliate, the aim of which was to threaten Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy into surrendering to the demands of his aggressor,' Bayrou said in a speech to the National Assembly, referring to Trump's verbal assault on Zelenskyy at the White House after weeks of growing alignment with Russian President Vladimir Putin. While Bayrou has limited weight on foreign affairs, which are under the president's remit, his words contrast with carefully calibrated comments from Emmanuel Macron and other leaders, who are trying to salvage what's left of the transatlantic alliance. SOUND OF MUSIC — Austria's President Alexander van der Bellen swore in the country's new three-party government Monday, ending five months of political deadlock that followed the far right's election victory last September. Conservative People's Party (ÖVP) leader Christian Stocker will be the prime minister, with the center-left Social Democrats (SPÖ) and the liberal Neos party also part of the coalition government. 'Good things come to those who wait,' Van der Bellen said at the beginning of his speech, as he thanked the parties for 'stepping out of their comfort zones for the good of the whole country' to form the coalition. With this alliance, the centrist parties prevented the far-right, pro-Russian Freedom Party (FPÖ) from coming to power despite it winning the most votes in the election. TESLA TROUBLES — Elon Musk's political meddling in Europe is cratering Tesla's sales — and that's putting at risk its revenue from selling credits to other automakers looking to avoid paying penalties for not meeting European Union emissions targets. European automakers face fines should they fail to meet this year's carbon dioxide reduction goals, but those selling too many CO2-emitting cars can dodge the fee by pooling with a company doing better than the EU demands. That's been a lucrative earner for all-electric Tesla. Since its founding, the electric vehicle company has brought in billions from such schemes. In 2024, it made $2.76 billion on emissions deals, a 54 percent year-over-year increase, its annual financial earnings report shows. That revenue stream is now in jeopardy as consumers across Europe shun the brand after Musk, a key adviser to United States President Donald Trump, threw his support behind far-right parties and made incendiary remarks about Germany letting go of its Nazi past. Nightly Number RADAR SWEEP CONNECTION SEEKERS — Gen-Z is, by many metrics, the unhappiest generation alive. This has been largely studied — members of Gen-Z are lonelier, more anxious and more depressed than others. So, the magazine Dazed asked many young people, through an extensive survey, what actually would make them happy. The answer, overwhelmingly, was more community. It's somewhat ironic, given that most of Gen-Z is hanging out with each other much less than previous generations. But as broad swaths of young people sit at home, they say they want to build stronger, more durable communities. Halima Jibril reports. Parting Image Did someone forward this email to you? Sign up here.
Politico
03-03-2025
- Politics
- Politico
Education Department clarifies DEI guidance
Presented by the Coalition to Empower Our Future With help from Rebecca Carballo and Erin Schumaker HEDGING A BIT — The Education Department late Friday unveiled a new document that appears to soften the agency's stance on programs it could deem illegal after firing off a letter two weeks ago that threatened to pull federal funding from schools with diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. — The Education Department's Office for Civil Rights Dear Colleague letter told Pre-K to higher education leaders it was illegal to consider race in all aspects of student, academic and campus life. The letter also gave them just two weeks to examine their programs that could face scrutiny. The agency also launched an 'End DEI' hotline last week to encourage the public to report school programs they believe are discriminatory. — Friday's question-and-answer document seems to be a little less sweeping than the initial guidance. The department acknowledged that is cannot control the content of school curricula and the agency said the letter does not direct schools to restrict any First Amendment rights. — Department officials said schools with programs 'focused on interests in particular cultures, heritages, and areas of the world' are not illegal if they are open to all students regardless of race. This includes celebrations like Black History Month, International Holocaust Remembrance Day or similar events, the agency said, 'so long as they do not engage in racial exclusion or discrimination.' — But schools cannot have affinity graduation ceremonies, administer or advertise scholarships and other opportunities offered by third parties based on race, or craft admissions essay prompts to require applicants to disclose their race. — The agency also said whether a school policy or program violates the law 'does not depend on the use of specific terminology such as 'diversity,' 'equity' or 'inclusion.'' Several school districts and colleges have been moving to remove the terms from their policies or scrubbing their websites. But the Education Department also said some schools have 'sought to veil discriminatory policies with terms like 'social-emotional learning' or 'culturally responsive.'' The Education Department said it would continue to update its document. IT'S MONDAY, MARCH 3. WELCOME TO WEEKLY EDUCATION. Let's grab coffee. Drop me a line at bquilantan@ Send tips to my colleagues Rebecca Carballo at rcarballo@ Mackenzie Wilkes at mwilkes@ and Juan Perez Jr. at jperez@ And follow us: @Morning_Edu and @POLITICOPro. Want to receive this newsletter every weekday? Subscribe to POLITICO Pro. You'll also receive daily policy news and other intelligence you need to act on the day's biggest stories. Congress BIG VOTE AHEAD — Senators are poised to vote today on whether to confirm Linda McMahon to be President Donald Trump's Education secretary. She cleared a key procedural vote last week that advanced her nomination without the support of any Democrats. — McMahon will likely be confirmed by another party-line vote. But many are bracing for what will come after the vote. The fierce Trump loyalist has promised to carry out the president's agenda, including his request that she put herself out of a job by shutting down the Education Department. The Trump administration has also been working on finalizing plans to dismantle the agency through an executive order. — While Trump has been vocal about closing the department and his executive order plans have been widely reported on, many believe the administration has been waiting for McMahon to be confirmed before unveiling it. There were concerns that the order could have put McMahon in a difficult position to answer questions about the president's agenda. — The order is expected to lay out a two-part strategy for shuttering the agency. It would direct the department to craft a plan to wind down its functions using its existing administrative authority and then examine the set of laws needed to delegate the department's powers to other agencies. Then the agency would close. — But Trump and McMahon need congressional buy-in to shutter the department and reshuffle its core functions. McMahon, during her confirmation hearing with the Senate HELP Committee last month, said Congress would be involved in decisions about the Education Department's future. ALSO: Senate Majority Leader John Thune filed cloture on S. 9, the 'Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act,' teeing up an initial floor vote as soon as today. The bill seeks to restrict transgender athletes from competing on women's and girls' sports teams. In January, House lawmakers passed a similar measure, H.R. 28, with some Democrats joining Republicans in the vote. Higher Ed A LONG NIH FUNDING BATTLE AHEAD — A federal court has temporarily blocked the across-the-board cut Trump wants to make to how the National Institutes of Health pays for universities' 'indirect costs,' such as facilities and administration. But even if the courts reject the plan, Trump could turn to Plan B — renegotiating the payments one university at a time, POLITICO'S Erin Schumaker reports. — That would seemingly make institutions that command the highest amounts most vulnerable. At stake is $4 billion, a shortfall the universities say would devastate the nation's scientific enterprise. The indirect funding, which is added to health research grants to help universities and other grantees cover their overhead, adds an average 27 percent to the cost of a grant, but varies widely. In early February, the NIH announced it would cap fees for new and existing grants at 15 percent. — Top research universities like Harvard, Yale and Johns Hopkins command some of the highest indirect cost rates, in part because they have specialized and state-of-the-art equipment, which is expensive. But a reduction in reimbursements will hit research universities in rural red states and urban blue ones alike. Less well-funded universities could feel the sting more than wealthy ones, even if their rates aren't slashed as much. Teacher Unions AFT's DAY OF ACTION — American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten along with educators, students and activists across the country will hold a press conference Tuesday to kick off more than 100 'Protect Our Kids Day of Action' events. The group is rallying against the Trump administration's efforts to wind down the Education Department, which they say could especially hurt low-income children, kids with disabilities and first-generation college students. In the Courts TITLE IX RULE FIGHT CONTINUES — The Victim Rights Law Center and 'Jane Doe,' a college student who has an ongoing Title IX investigation, are seeking to intervene in a case that blocked the Biden administration's 2024 rule on Title IX, the federal education law that bars sex-based discrimination. Their goal is to appeal the case, at least narrow the scope of the ruling and uphold the parts of the Biden administration's rule that oversaw sexual misconduct procedures. — In January, a federal judge in Kentucky vacated the Biden administration's rule nationwide. Since then, the Trump administration has already advised schools the Education Department will return to enforcing Title IX on the basis of biological sex. —The agency also said it will enforce the 2020 regulation from the first Trump administration that overhauled how schools handle sexual misconduct allegations, offered new rights to those accused of misconduct and required colleges to respond to formal complaints with courtroom-like hearings. — 'Reversion to the 2020 Rule once again removes protections against sex-based harassment and imposes disproportionate burdens on survivors,' lawyers wrote in the motion to intervene in the case. 'It reduces schools' responsibility to respond to sex-based harassment—in some cases requiring schools not to respond at all.' DOGE WATCH $25K TO GO AWAY — The Education Department is offering a buyout of up to $25,000 to most of its employees, according to a department-wide email sent Friday. Employees have until today at 11:59 p.m. to make a decision, our Rebecca Carballo reports. The deal comes after the Trump administration ordered federal agencies to submit plans by mid-March for laying off employees in 'large-scale reductions in force.' — Those who take the offer can stack it with retirement benefits. They will receive the equivalence of severance pay or $25,000, whichever is less, Jacqueline Clay, a chief human capital officer, wrote in an email sent on Friday afternoon. The offer would take effect March 31. Student Loans DISMISSED — Former Consumer Financial Protection Bureau staff are raising the alarm after the Trump administration dropped several lawsuits that accused student loan companies and other lenders of violating consumer protection laws. — One of the cases dropped was against the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency, which was accused of illegally collecting on student debt that was discharged in bankruptcy and reporting to credit agencies that borrowers weren't making payments. Others dismissed included cases against Capital One and Heights Finance. — 'These six cases are just the beginning,' said Eric Halperin, a former CFPB associate director for enforcement during the Obama administration. 'The Trump led CFPB is intent on shutting down virtually all enforcement activity and has sent a clear message that its open season on consumers.' Syllabus — It could be months before affordable student loan repayment plans return: The Washington Post— After monthlong pause, Trump admin resumes investigating disability complaints at schools: USA Today— America's college chaos: Axios— Iowa governor signs law removing civil rights protections for transgender Iowans: Iowa Public Radio— Professor, scrutinized for ties to China, sues to get his job back: The New York Times
