Washington Post - President Donald Trump said Wednesday that he will impose a new 10 percent tariff on all imported goods along with an additional punitive import tax tailored for each of about 60 countries that his advisers say maintain the most unfair barriers against U.S. products.
Already, economists are warning that Trump’s tax increase on imported goods will mean sticker shock on some of Americans’ most important purchases, including groceries, cars and homes.
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In a recent piece, The Price of Power, your editor raised this issue:
The price of the success of Trump and Musk has been a rotten status among decent humans. I don’t have to keep calling my lawyer, pushing some untruth on a journalist, driving up car prices, or pretending I’m someone I’m not. And unlike Trump, I’ve only needed one wife over the past 58 years.
Why lie, manipulate, and intimidate others in order merely to have power? And still be stuck with tens of millions who hate you?
Reader Bob Berg responds:
Dan Balz, Wahsington Post - Almost no part of government is immune from President Donald Trump’s thirst for power and control. Last week he signed executive orders aimed at the Smithsonian Institution, the District of Columbia and the administration of elections. No president has sought more change in more institutions more rapidly, through executive orders than Trump...
The [election] orderthan legislation. It is rooted in Trump’s long-standing, though false, claims that the election system is rife with fraud. Its legal foundations are questionable. But like other executive orders the president has signed, it could produce chaos and change before it is fully litigated...
He is dismantling the Department of Education, arguing that states and local governments should run the nation’s schools (which they already do). Now he is attempting to order state and local election administrators to adopt his rules for running future elections.
The Constitution grants most power over elections to the states. When Democrats were pushing a multifaceted voting rights bill known as H.R. 1 during the administration of President Joe Biden, conservative opponents decried the measure as a federal takeover. So far, there’s been no notable public outcry on the right over the federal takeover that Trump is seeking.
“This is clearly an attempt to federalize election administration to a historic degree, as was H.R. 1,” said Charles Stewart III, a political science professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. “Certainly liberals and Democrats are going to press the federalism button really hard. And you will get probably some Republican secretaries not pressing it quite as hard, but privately, many of them are going to be pushing back.”
Another election analyst who spoke on the condition of anonymity to offer a candid opinion described what he saw as the goal of the order: “It is to reduce turnout by people he thinks won’t vote for him,” the analyst said.
Newsweek - Elon Musk's job approval dropped to 41 percent in a new poll, the lowest rating recorded since the Trump administration entered power. The top Trump advisor's work as head of the Department of Government Efficiency was disapproved of by 58 percent of respondents, according to a survey from Marquette Law School. Musk's personal favorability was even lower, with just 38 percent approving of his general behavior.
Dace Potas, USA Today, February 2025 -- For those unfamiliar with the U.S. budget process, Congress has the power of the purse, meaning lawmakers get to decide how much is spent and on what. The president’s responsibility is to facilitate that spending and ensure funding reaches its intended destination. You may ask, “What if the president simply chooses not to spend money on purposes he dislikes?”
This practice, referred to as impoundment, may be unconstitutional and has been addressed by legislation. The Impoundment Control Act (ICA) requires the president to notify Congress of a proposed withholding of funds for 45 days, and Congress must affirm the impoundment if funds are to be withheld.
However, an important caveat is that the act does not obligate Congress to provide any feedback at all. If Congress simply ignores the impoundment request, the funds must be released after 45 days regardless. Presidential impoundment under the ICA, therefore, functions more as a recommendation to Congress.
Prior to becoming president for a second term, Trump hinted that his administration would have a hostile stance toward the ICA, and his actions thus far indicate that they are attempting to get a case addressing it to the Supreme Court.
Congress should be voting on these presidential impoundments in a timely manner, as the process is intended to function. However, lawmakers have no incentive to do so. For the GOP-controlled Congress, this system is working in its favor, and Republicans can allow Trump to stall funding for 45 days at a time.
However, funds being withheld for 45 days with no congressional action can cause problems for agencies that rely on appropriations. Some experts have suggested that Congress should amend the ICA to require lawmakers to vote one way or the other on presidential impoundments, but legislators typically aren't too keen on creating more work for themselves....
Per usual, the likely outcome is that the Supreme Court will be tasked with sorting out the mess between Congress and the executive. So Trump can insist that he has the power to withhold funds as long as Congress continues to do nothing.
BBC - President Vladimir Putin has called up 160,000 men aged 18-30, Russia's highest number of conscripts since 2011, as the country moves to expand the size of its military. The spring call-up for a year's military service came several months after Putin said Russia should increase the overall size of its military to almost 2.39 million and its number of active servicemen to 1.5 million.
That is a rise of 180,000 over the coming three years.
Vice Adm Vladimir Tsimlyansky said the new conscripts would not be sent to fight in Ukraine for what Russia calls its "special military operation". However, there have been reports of conscripts being killed in fighting in Russia's border regions and they were sent to fight in Ukraine in the early months of the full-scale war.
The current draft, which takes place between April and July, comes despite US attempts to forge a ceasefire in the war.
Axios - A Trump administration freeze on Title X family planning funds will limit or entirely cut off program support for reproductive health services in at least eight states, potentially affecting as many as 1.25 million people, per the Guttmacher Institute. Health providers said the cutoff would create unnecessary barriers to contraception and other reproductive care. The administration said the purpose was to ensure program recipients are in compliance with the law and program guidelines.
Planned Parenthood announced Monday that nine of its affiliates had received notices from the Trump administration about plans to withhold their Title X funds starting Tuesday. "We know what happens when health care providers cannot use Title X funding: People across the country suffer, cancers go undetected, access to birth control is severely reduced, and the nation's STI crisis worsens," Alexis McGill Johnson, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Action Fund, said in a press release.
Guttmacher, a research organization that supports abortion rights, said the freeze will fall hardest on low-income women, noting that in 2023, 83% of patients served by Title X–funded clinics had family incomes at or below 250% of the federal poverty level.
NPR- The federal student loan system is in disarray, leaving borrowers with pressing questions. Eight million federal student loan borrowers are waiting for the courts to decide whether their repayment plan is legal. Meanwhile, nine million borrowers are behind on their payments and at risk of defaulting. The U.S. Department of Education, which oversees student loans, has been cut in half. Loan management may be transferred to a different federal agency. NPR spoke with student loan experts and sought clarification from the Trump administration. Here's what borrowers need to know:
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| Data: Climate Central; Note: Includes weather stations in cities with sufficient data quality; Chart: Kavya Beheraj/Axios |
NBC News - A judge has permanently dismissed federal corruption charges against New York City Mayor Eric Adams. In February, the Department of Justice motioned for the charges against Adams to be dropped, arguing that the case interfered with his ability to govern and threatened President Donald Trump’s “federal immigration initiatives and policies.”
