“Nothing in the governing statute,” Judge Lin wrote, “supports the Orwellian notion that an American company may be branded a potential adversary and saboteur of the U.S. for expressing disagreement with the government.” www.thebulwark.com/p/two-more-g...

“Again and again, it’s the same story. Trump presides over an administration built in his image: Careless, thoughtless, blunderous, sloppy, arrogant, and foolish…It is authoritarian in its bones, and so finds itself unable to try anything else.” www.thebulwark.com/p/two-more-g...

Two recent losses for the White House—on DHS and Anthropic—have a lot in common. In both cases, the administration held many if not most of the cards. But in both cases, it ended up falling on its face. Today's Morning Shots from @eggerdc.bsky.social and @crampell.bsky.social:

NY Times reports Hegseth just struck 2 Black and 2 female officers from a promotion list — and says Hegseth’s Chief of Staff told the army secretary “Trump would not want to stand next to a Black female officer at military events” More: www.nytimes.com/2026/03/27/u...

Nice to wake up to some good news: a victory for the democratic opposition on no new funding for ICE and Border Patrol. All credit to Senate Dems, who held firm and prevailed. All honor to the people of Minneapolis, who showed the way in resisting and defeating the forces of authoritarianism.

"Who decides when more aggressive opposition should begin? These are relatively new questions for Americans, but they’re familiar to anti-authoritarian movements around the world."

"All Republican senators but one voted again on Tuesday against requiring congressional support for the war that Trump unilaterally launched." And even Trump doesn't like his war! Today's Morning Shots from @billkristolbulwark.bsky.social and Joseph Ramos: lnk.thebulwark.com/3PHFd6P

Trump has no heart. His party has no spine.

Missing in action during wartime: the vice president of the United States and the secretary of state, who doubles as the national security advisor

In the relentlessly repressive climate of Russia in 2026, any protest could be a small crack in the totalitarian edifice. Will the spring and summer of 2026 see a new wave of repression—or, just possibly, the beginning of the end of the Putin regime?

"You're 77 years old. Spring chicken — two years younger than Trump; younger than Biden. Maybe one more walk around the block?" "I'll give serious reflective thought to what you've said, Tim." @timmiller.bsky.social and Al Gore discuss the prospect of a Gore 2028 run.

"Trump seemed pleased by the award. Many commentators have compared him to a child. But this comparison is unfair to children. They have a pretty good nose for phoniness. They often scorn fake awards. They have more self-awareness than Donald Trump." open.substack.com/pub/thebulwa...

“If we deploy ground troops, it will have been done almost completely on the fly, with virtually no planning or preparation. Such a decision would be among the most reckless deployments in American military history.” www.thebulwark.com/p/boots-on-t...

“All of which is why it’s clear that ground troops really are on the table. If you’re in a war, you don’t have an objective, and you need the enemy to agree to a cessation of hostilities, then everything is on the table. The operation has escaped confinement.” www.thebulwark.com/p/boots-on-t...

"The Pentagon is developing military options for a "final blow" in Iran...Officials and sources familiar describe four major "final blow" options for Trump..." I assume "final blow" is Hegseth. Don't believe serious uniformed military would use such a foolish phrase. www.axios.com/newsletters/...

Aaron Friedberg: "We have this fantastic military with a thorough planning process. But there is supposed to be a strategic level that sits above that where there’s consideration of alternative scenarios, and there doesn’t seem to have been any of that." youtu.be/KYE27XTQzig?...

"But normally the secretary of state is front-and-center when an administration makes a major foreign policy decision. And the VP has been a major voice. That’s not happening now. It prompts the question: Do Rubio and Vance want to avoid defending the war?" open.substack.com/pub/thebulwa...

"Democrats can say no to the war. They can say, with even more urgency, no to the introduction of ground troops. They can try to force congressional votes on this. With an escalation to ground troops on the horizon, Republicans should be put on the spot." open.substack.com/pub/thebulwa...

"And what about golden statues? Johnson must be aware of their dubious reputation, from the golden calf to Nebuchadnezzer’s golden idol. But House Republicans are not interested in following the example of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. They continue to bow down." open.substack.com/pub/thebulwa...

"Trump seemed pleased by the award. Many commentators have compared him to a child. But this comparison is unfair to children. They have a pretty good nose for phoniness. They often scorn fake awards. They have more self-awareness than Donald Trump." open.substack.com/pub/thebulwa...

This is Trump admitting that his war with Iran is unconstitutional because it lacks congressional approval: “I won’t use the word ‘war’…They don’t like the word ‘war’ because you’re supposed to get approval. So, I’ll use the word ‘military operation’, which is really what it is.”

“Democrats forced another vote in the Senate yesterday to require congressional approval. Republicans defeated the measure. So we now have a major war, in its fourth week, which Trump is threatening to expand to a ground war, all without congressional approval.” www.thebulwark.com/p/the-bottom...

“Democrats forced another vote in the Senate yesterday to require congressional approval. Republicans defeated the measure. So we now have a major war, in its fourth week, which Trump is threatening to expand to a ground war, all without congressional approval.” www.thebulwark.com/p/the-bottom...

“We are losing a war we didn’t need to fight because we are led by idiots and crooks. And the longer it goes on, the further our position will deteriorate.” open.substack.com/pub/thebulwa...

"Indivisible, the organization primarily responsible for the No Kings protests, posted this: No ICE. No wars. No Kings. These words fitly spoken may not quite qualify as scriptural apples of gold. But they do capture the moment and the message awfully well." open.substack.com/pub/thebulwa...

"If it’s a Tuesday in this 250th year of American independence, Democrats are flipping state legislative seats. Yesterday was Florida’s turn. To add a well-deserved insult to the electoral injury, House District 87 includes Mar-a-Lago. It’s Trump’s home district." open.substack.com/pub/thebulwa...

Trump’s information about the war is coming from two-minute Hegseth sizzle reels, not actual intelligence briefings. What could go wrong? www.nbcnews.com/politics/whi...

"Epstein's accountant and lawyer told House panel government investigators never interviewed them." The lack of interest by the government in learning the truth about Epstein and his confederates--the desire NOT to discover the truth--is horrifying. www.nbcnews.com/politics/con...

"Trump has spewed venom for so long, dancing on the graves of people he hates, that Republicans no longer speak up. In a healthy party, leaders would reprimand the narcissist or try to civilize him. But in today’s degenerate GOP, moral influence runs the other way." open.substack.com/pub/thebulwa...

We’re coming together again on March 28 to make it clear to the president that his fear and intimidation aren’t working. In America, we have NO KINGS and power still belongs to the people. app.sosha.ai/s/N0c8PDst

Dem flips Mar-a-Lago district. 🥂🥂 🥂🎉🎉 🎉 www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

“President Donald Trump's approval rating fell in recent days to its lowest point since he returned to the White House, a Reuters/Ipsos poll found. The four-day poll, completed on Monday, showed 36% of Americans approve of Trump's ‌job performance, down from 40% last week.” x.com/iapolls2022/...

Aaron Friedberg: “It’s hard for me to see how [the war] ends in a way that enhances our position in the world—and, in particular, enhances our position with relation our principal strategic challenge, namely China. And that’s what really worries me.” conversationswithbillkristol.org/conversation...

Having an incompetent, megalomanical, and sociopathic individual as our president...surrounded by shameless sycophants and enablers...with an entire political party pathetically trotting along behind him? Well, it has its downsides. Tim and I discuss. youtu.be/7fkO0IJLUOI?...

"Trump’s Iran war has turned out to be unsuccessful and unpopular. Yesterday morning Trump signaled retreat...It’s important to take advantage of the moment. It’s important to hold Trump accountable for his reckless and incompetent war and to emphasize its costs." open.substack.com/pub/thebulwa...

FYI. know-your-enemy-1682b684.simplecast.com/episodes/w-b...

@billkristolbulwark.bsky.social is back in THE BACK ROOM discussing Trump's Iran "excursion" (war), how and when it might end, what comes next, and more podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/t...

Come for our analysis of Trump, his administration, Congress, Iran, and DHS. Stay for our failure to appreciate Elvis. www.youtube.com/watch?v=pJuC...

"Trump’s Iran war has turned out to be unsuccessful and unpopular. Yesterday morning Trump signaled retreat...It’s important to take advantage of the moment. It’s important to hold Trump accountable for his reckless and incompetent war and to emphasize its costs." open.substack.com/pub/thebulwa...

"He looked old, and he seemed tired. He seemed utterly unattuned to the many crises that are piling up around his careless decisions. He finished speaking, everybody else at the table took turns lavishing him with praise, and then it was time to head to Graceland." open.substack.com/pub/thebulwa...

"Had such a strike been ordered—particularly in the broad, coercive terms in which the president announced it—it would have forced American military leaders into determining whether a presidential order was lawful, and if not, refusing to carry it out.' open.substack.com/pub/thebulwa...

Tim Miller to Trump: "We want to fund FEMA... HSI... other homeland security elements besides your internal secret police. Republicans agree with that. They're ready to do it; but you want to cause harm to Americans and have real security risks by keeping the government shut down."

 "They're corrupt, they're authoritarian...and then it turns out some of them were just crazy." "It's the biggest cheat code for jumping to the front of the line in your career." Bill Kristol and Tim Miller on the insane ramblings of the man in charge of responsive recovery at FEMA.

As someone who’s been sort of intrigued by but pretty ignorant of the thought of the late Jurgen Habermas, I found this essay helpful. open.substack.com/pub/persuasi...

“That’s why we say No Kings. On March 28, millions of Americans will show up to peacefully—and loudly—protest this administration’s corruption, cruelty, incompetence, and lawlessness. They’ll share one thing in common: A commitment to American democracy.” newsletter.ofthebrave.org/p/no-kings-w...

Having an incompetent, megalomanical, and sociopathic individual as our president...surrounded by shameless sycophants and enablers...with an entire political party pathetically trotting along behind him? Well, it has its downsides. Tim and I discuss. youtu.be/7fkO0IJLUOI?...

Trump’s central war aim is now just to fix the situation that his “excursion” caused. Better that than escalation, but talk about lesser of two evils. Today's Morning Shots from @billkristolbulwark.bsky.social and @eggerdc.bsky.social: lnk.thebulwark.com/3PnAUh2

Some of the criticisms of the investigation seem specious when one remembers what was at stake: an adversarial foreign power trying to influence an American presidential election. Never forget that.