Kristi Noem's Donations/ VA Contracts...

 

In today’s newsletter: Kristi Noem’s personal cut of political donations; lawmaker responses to “damning reporting from ProPublica” on VA contracts; payday loans in Tennessee; and more from our newsroom.

Kristi Noem Secretly Took a Cut of Political Donations A dark money group paid $80,000 to Noem’s personal company when she was governor of South Dakota. She did not include this income on her federal disclosure forms, a likely violation of ethics requirements, experts say. Read story

Impact Senators Demand Investigation Into Canceled VA Contracts, Citing “Damning Reporting From ProPublica”   Senators this week called for a federal investigation into the Trump administration’s killing of hundreds of contracts for the Department of Veterans Affairs. Democrat Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut and Angus King, a Maine independent, wrote to the agency’s inspector general on Monday asking for an investigation into the administration’s cancellation of the contracts and the consequences for veterans. The senators highlighted “damning reporting from ProPublica” on the cancellations, including how the Department of Government Efficiency used an artificial intelligence tool that marked contracts as “MUNCHABLE.” The senators noted, as we did, that the administration has refused to disclose what contracts it has killed or why, writing that DOGE’s use of AI to scrutinize contracts “adds an entire new level of unease connected to the decision-making, security, governance, and quality control of the entire process.” The VA did not respond to our request for comment about the senators’ letter. Previously, press secretary Pete Kasperowicz said that decisions to cancel or reduce the size of contracts are made after multiple reviews by VA employees, including agency contracting experts and senior staff. Read story

That Stat 279.5% Interest rate on a loan offered by Tennessee payday lender Advance Financial. Adam Friedman, a Tennessee Lookout reporter and member of ProPublica’s Local Reporting Network, wrote about a 2014 state law that made it legal to reborrow or roll over payday loans — actions Advance encouraged, trapping borrowers in a cycle of debt. The company declined to answer detailed questions but has defended its practices, pointing out that it has an A+ rating from the Better Business Bureau. Read story

In the News

 

Has The Supreme Court dealt a “deathblow to the rule of law?” Six radicals, on-the-take Republicans on the Supreme Court, have ruled that federal judges can no longer stop the Trump administration from committing crimes unless and until the cases reach the nation’s top court itself. NYU Law Professor Melissa Murray noted in an appearance on MSNBC, “So make no mistake about this.

The court has given this administration an enormous win. They have [tied] one hand behind the backs of those who are trying to fight against this administration, and they have dealt a deathblow to the rule of law.” In their dissents, both Justices Jackson and Sotomayor essentially called out their rightwing colleagues as neofascist toadies of a wannabe dictator.

As Justice Sotomayor wrote in her dissent, openly calling her Republican colleagues “lawless”: “Yet the order’s patent unlawfulness reveals the gravity of the majority’s error and underscores why equity supports universal injunctions as appropriate remedies in this kind of case.”

The Republicans on the Court also ruled that even though gay marriage is fully legal and the law of the land (and widely accepted), it’s an infringement of the religious rights of people subscribing to bigoted sects of Christianity, Islam, etc. (the complainants were Muslim) to expose their children to a story about two men who fall in love.

The racist and homophobic zealots on this Court are determined to inflict their bizarre notions of morality on every American family in complete defiance of our Founders.

Trump has decided that it’s a crime to be unpatriotic and has also proclaimed you have to be loyal to him to be patriotic. The good news is the fightback. Trump is threatening to sue The New York Times and CNN over what he calls “unpatriotic reporting” that revealed his exaggerations about the “obliteration” of the Iranian nuclear program. The Times answered with a no-nonsense, “No apology will be forthcoming.” Bullying the press is the first and most dangerous hallmark of a fascist regime attempting to end democracy in a free nation. Hopefully our press will continue to hold the line against these efforts at intimidation.

Have Republicans reached the point of no return, no matter what they do? Outside of the pathetic cultists who only watch Fox “News” and consume rightwing radio and social media, most Americans now know that Republicans in Congress are planning to remove over 10 million people from Medicaid and hit Medicare with a huge mandatory cut just to help pay for another $5 trillion tax gift (also funded with borrowed money our kids will repay) to their billionaire donors.

This widespread knowledge is becoming a problem for the GOP, with Republican senators like Thom Tillis (who at least knows how to spell his name right!) worrying out loud it could cost them the House and Senate in the 2026 elections. The big question is whether people who’re just marginally paying attention but know about the tax cut scam will even realize if congressional Republicans back away from gutting healthcare. Odds are that perception is now well-baked-in, which could double the danger to these clowns next fall.

California Governor Gavin Newsom goes to war against Fox and Trump. Following in the footsteps of Dominion Voting Systems, who won a $787 million damages settlement from the billionaire-owned propaganda operation, Newsom is now suing Fox “News” for the same $787 million for defaming him by repeating lies Trump had told on the network about his conversations with the governor. Democrats across the nation are increasingly desperate for leaders who’ll stand up to Republicans and Newsom has positioned himself at the front of that pack, increasing his odds of winning the 2028 Democratic presidential primary. Good on him!

Now that Musk, Big Balls, and his merry band have fired so many people from the Social Security Administration that people are experiencing days-long wait times to sign up for benefits, the agency has stopped reporting wait times. Because of course they would, they don’t want Americans to know how badly they’ve kneecapped the organization in their zeal to gut “socialism” and reduce government expenses to pay for more tax gifts to the billionaires who fund the GOP. As Alex Lawson, President of Social Security Works and a regular guest on my program, told The Washington Post: “If they think this lack of transparency will fool the American people, they’re in for a surprise.

People notice when they can’t get an appointment because their local field office has lost half its staff. When checks and decisions are delayed. When they get the runaround from an AI chatbot on the phone, instead of getting to talk to a real person.” The danger here is that Republicans are correct in believing that if they can destroy the quality of Social Security’s service then people will gladly submit to the agency being privatized and taken over by a massive bank with GOP ties. The key to preventing this is public outrage: tell everybody you know about this nefarious scheme to steal our retirement funds and hand them off to banksters...

Self-censorship: Don’t let this happen to us. The “Spiral of Silence” is a term sociologist have come up with to describe what happens when a political party constantly goes on the attack and characterizes its opponents as evil, enemies of the people, and less-than-human (“scum”) so people simply stop discussing politics. Professor James Gibson documents how this happens in countries when the political dialogue is polluted by this type of near-violent rhetoric, and recent surveys find it’s happening here in the US now. It’s a dangerous sign, and when it goes full-blown it makes it far easier for dictators and authoritarians to do their dirty work. So…keep speaking up!

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"The Quietly Powerful Senate Parliamentarian"

 

Elizabeth MacDonough is not a household name. A “parliamentarian” sounds like a persnickety bureaucrat rapping her gavel when speakers exceed their allotted time limit. But Elizabeth McDonough, the Senate parliamentarian, deserves recognition and respect for her work this week—work that was anything but ministerial.

MacDonough is tasked with ensuring that the reconciliation bill complies with the “Byrd Rule,” which, among other things, excludes measures in which funding is “incidental” to a policy change. She has enforced this rule justly and zealously, leaving a slew of MAGA extreme policy proposals on the cutting room floor.

As Time magazine put it, “She wasn’t elected, and she doesn’t cast votes. But over the past week, …the quietly powerful Senate parliamentarian may have had more influence over Donald Trump’s legislative agenda than anyone else in Washington.” That is because Democrats do not have the numbers, and not enough Republicans have the spines to reject radical, harebrained, and simply cruel measures.

The scope of the items she has rejected and the harm they could have caused if they stayed in the bill boggles the mind. “Gone are GOP-led efforts to curb environmental regulations, attempts to restrict federal judges' powers, plans to bulk up immigration enforcement and to cut funding from the federal agency launched to protect American consumers after the 2008 financial crisis,” USA Today reported. “MacDonough determined that each item was in violation of a critical Senate rule that prohibits extraneous measures in bills like the one Trump wants on his desk for signature by July 4.”

On Friday, she sliced out a slew of critical Medicaid and Medicare provisions that may total $200B, throwing a huge monkey wrench into MAGA Republicans’ scheme. The Senate Budget Committee reported that the parliamentarian nixed measures throwing certain categories of immigrants off Medicaid and CHIP; reducing the federal match for states that expanded Medicaid; barring gender-affirming care; limiting increases in the provider tax (which would “severely limit states’ ability to provide health care to millions of Americans who depend upon Medicaid for their care”); and removing certain immigrants from Medicare and credits/cost sharing in the Affordable Care Act exchanges.

These redactions deal a savage blow to many destructive aspects of the bill. The surgery on MAGA’s cruel handiwork throws the process, already being bogged down as more Republicans air objections, into chaos.

Other items she has tossed include:

A provision selling off millions of acres of federal lands

A provision to pass food aid costs on to states 

A proposed limitations on food aid benefits to certain citizens or lawful permanent residents

Proposed restrictions on the ability of federal courts to issue nationwide injunctions and temporary restraining orders

A proposal for a funding cap for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and for slashing pay of employees at the Federal Reserve

A proposal to slash $293 million from the Treasury Department’s Office of Financial Research

A plan to dissolve the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board

An effort to repeal an EPA rule limiting air pollution emissions of passenger vehicles

An item allowing project developers to bypass judicial environmental reviews if they pay a fee

A measure deeming offshore oil and gas projects automatically compliant with the National Environmental Policy Act

A modified version of the REINS Act, which would increase congressional power to overturn major regulations

A scheme to punish so-called sanctuary cities by withholding federal grants

An increase on Federal Employees Retirement System contribution rate for new civil servants who refuse to become at-will employees

A measure seeking to extend the suspension of permanent price support authority for farmers

A requirement forcing sale of all the electric vehicles used by the Post Office

A change to annual geothermal lease sales and to geothermal royalties, June 24)

A proposal for a mining road in Alaska

Authorization for the executive branch to reorganize federal agencies

New fee for federal worker unions’ use of agency resources

Transfer of space shuttle to a nonprofit in Houston from the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum

And that is merely a partial list.

Several caveats are in order. First, Republicans can revise a rejected measure and resubmit it through the process. Some may pass in altered form. Second, removing these MAGA proposals, however commendable, does not remove the core of this monstrous bill: taking healthcare coverage from 16M people to give tax cuts to the super-rich. 

Kentucky Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell blithely declared those who lose healthcare coverage will “get over it.” One wonders if he, a polio survivor who has had troubling episodes in public would be so nonchalant if he or a loved one lost medical coverage. Third, the partial list of rejected items demonstrates how radical and destructive the MAGA Republicans’ agenda actually is. 

Disregard for vulnerable Americans, competent judicial administration, fact-based government, consumer protection, and planetary survival is now “mainstream” in a radical party. It seems there is no one and no aspect of government that would not be made worse by this bill.

Nevertheless, one cannot help admiring the intellectual consistency, fearlessness, and respect for rules—concepts foreign to MAGA Republicans—that MacDonough has displayed. She’s demonstrating how government is supposed to work: by the book, and without regard to which party is in power.

In doing so, she exposes MAGA Republicans’ constant cowardly dodges, bad faith votes, and proclivity to violate their oaths. Enforcing the War Powers Act? Pish posh. Refusing to vote for abjectly unqualified nominees, some of whom have misrepresented facts and shown utter contempt for Senators? Nah. Not worth it. Putting a stop to Trump’s gross conflicts of interest, self-enrichment, and even receipt of a $400M Qatari jet? Can’t be bothered. Condemning the pardon of Jan. 6 felons? No chance.

In an atmosphere of lawlessness and capitulation, when it is so easy to say “yes” to Trump’s whims, here is someone to stand up and say: “Rules aren’t optional. They matter. They ensure we are a government of laws, not of petulant autocrats.”

MacDonough reminds us all that by sticking to the rules, refusing to give way to cynicism, and doing our jobs competently, we make it that much harder for the autocrats, bullies, nihilists, and callous careerists to achieve their aims. Throughout this week, she has remained a courageous defender of the rules. 

As such, Senate parliamentarian Elizabeth McDonough has earned our admiration, and we honor her for her steadfast and undaunted vigilance.

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His "Reversals, Betrayals, Lies and Bullying"

 

There is no agreement, pledge, or promise Donald Trump won’t break. His unwillingness to constrain his whims, impulses, and narcissism produces moral outrages and an ongoing threat to our democracy. However, it also creates an insoluble problem in our foreign policy: Who would ever make a deal with him?

Trump has been a world-class deal breaker for his entire adult life:

· He broke deals with contractors and lawyers, cheating them out of payment.

· He cheated students who foolishly gave him money to attend Trump U, resulting in a multi-million-dollar settlement.

· He violated his fiduciary duty (ponder the insanity of “Trump” and “fiduciary” in the same sentence), forcing New York to shut down his foundation and exact other penalties.

· He violated his marriage vows, as Stormy Daniels testified under oath.

· He violated his presidential oath of office in allegedly attempting to extort Ukraine for personal gain and again for leading an insurrection.

· He has comically made serial promises (apparently with no intention of fulfilling them) to produce all sorts of decisions and plans in “two weeks.”

· He tore up the Iran deal.

· He flips and flops on whether he will abide by Art. V, the core provision of our most important treaty, NATO.

· He likely invented a pretext (Iran is on the verge of weaponization) to break the War Powers Resolution (requiring congressional consultation at a bare minimum) and then lied about the results (Iran program “obliterated”!).

Constant reversals, betrayals, lies, and bullying risk isolating us from valuable allies and incentivizing our enemies to resort to hard power. In Iran, Trump’s 2018 decision to tear up the Iran nuclear deal, followed by resorting to brute force, gives Iran an incentive to regard negotiations as useless and to instead race to make a bomb to ensure survival.

Our allies are watching as well. They see a reckless president ready to shred agreements, lie to the public, and resort to force that are more garish displays of strength than effective instruments of U.S. policy. Our European allies have learned the hard way not to trust Trump, so they are now rushing to beef up their own defenses, making them that much less likely to cooperate with the U.S. or, as they did in Afghanistan, to rush to the defense of the U.S.

As Kori Shake wrote, “When it comes to burning bridges... nothing matches the speed and destructiveness of Trump’s policies in the past few months. According to a recent survey conducted by the opinion-research firm Cluster 17 and the journal Le Grand Continent, 51 percent of Europeans ‘consider Trump to be an enemy of Europe.’”

When the U.S. president is so fundamentally untrustworthy, other parties find it challenging (if not impossible) to reach agreements, which rely on good faith. With allies, any deal comes with an asterisk—legitimate doubt as to whether Trump will live up to his end of the bargain. That makes them less likely to compromise on their interests and more wary of ceding their freedom of action. Ukraine, for example, cannot possibly rely on any promise from Trump to enforce the terms of a ceasefire; the only rational choice is to keep fighting.

Trump’s untrustworthiness also sends potential allies into the arms of our enemies. When countries in Africa, for example, see Trump renege on foreign aid, they are that much more likely to ally themselves with China, which has been seeking a toe hold in Africa for decades.

Americans understand what is going on. Even before the Iran war, a Reuters/Ipsos poll showed that 59% of Americans believed that Trump had lost the U.S. credibility on the international stage. They are smart enough to realize, as one academic put it, that “[t]he US under Trump is fast becoming untrustworthy. American reliability must now be broadly questioned, from collective security to the rule of law.” The result of “this widespread loss of trust...will be the neutering of US soft power.”

When it comes to adversaries such as China and Russia, we wind up with a comic metaphysical puzzle: How does an untrustworthy actor who does not intend to honor the deal strike a deal with another untrustworthy partner—when both sides know the other is not going to keep the agreement? Diplomacy becomes a farce. Parties have strong reasons to resort to military power.

Trump’s dishonesty also manifests itself in claiming credit for things in which he played little or no part. “Even India, a country with which Trump has often claimed warm relations, has publicly contradicted his assertion several times that US trade policy played a role in diffusing tensions with Pakistan,” the Economic Times reported. “India’s rebuttal underscores a broader shift: traditional US allies are no longer willing to play along with Trump's tactics. This loss of diplomatic credibility suggests a weakening of America’s global standing under Trump’s renewed leadership.”

Trump’s utter lack of credibility, highlighted in his serial lies about Iran, will have long-term implications for America, far beyond this episode and even beyond the Middle East. “Trump and his team are destroying everything that makes the United States an attractive partner,” Schake points out. “If it stays on the path Trump has started down, the United States risks becoming too brutal to love but too irrelevant to fear”—and too untrustworthy to bargain with.

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