Trump's DOJ has been mining for trans children's info via broad, intimidating subpoenas to hospitals. "They’re fishing for someone to prosecute," lead counsel in a DC case told me. But...they keep losing. From me and the great @joshkovensky.bsky.social ⤵️ talkingpointsmemo.com/news/trump-d...

Always galling when reporters pretend pro women's sports don't count, as Ashley Parker does here, but even more so when the WaPo massacre may have claimed 1 of the like 2 total Mystics beat reporters. So hoping Kareem Copeland was somehow spared - women's sports journalism is already so neglected

Hello from DC district court where Mark Kelly is fighting Pete Hegseth’s attempt to go after his rank/retirement benefits. Hegseth targeted Kelly after he participated in a video advising members of the military that they can’t follow illegal orders. Kelly himself just arrived for the hearing

Sen. Ossoff tells me he hasn't learned anything more about the FBI's raid of the Fulton County election office yesterday. When I asked whether he expects to learn more soon, he quips that "it's not an administration known for its transparency"

“It's critical right now that we divide the spending bills so that we can focus on ICE funding & make certain that we get restrictions in place so that ICE stops terrorizing our cities,” Sen Warren tells me. “The details of what it will take to get that done are still in flux, but that is the goal.”

Sen. Andy Kim not won over by Trump's swapping of Bovino with Homan in Minneapolis: "Well, look, I mean this is a guy that allegedly took $50,000 in cash in a CAVA bag — he's not somebody that's high on my list of confidence," he told me.

Today's arguments over the Fed brought up this great quote Peter Shane gave me last year. Catch up on today's proceedings here: talkingpointsmemo.com/news/kavanau...

We're liveblogging these huge Fed Reserve SCOTUS arguments over at TPM — Kavanaugh just said the Trump position would "weaken if not shatter the Independence of the Federal Reserve." Big, consequential, cut and dry assertion from him

Jackson bemoaned in a Wednesday dissent that the Court’s majority had crafted a “bespoke” doctrine allowing candidates to challenge voting laws with far more leeway than it had even been willing to give victims of law enforcement violence. talkingpointsmemo.com/news/jackson...

One SCOTUS ruling today in case I've covered - Court says election denier Rep. Bost has standing to challenge Illinois' grace period for accepting mail ballots. Opens door to more candidate challenges - case made odd bedfellows, w/ ACLU/League of Women Voters/Judicial Watch on same (winning) side

Alito asks if female athletes who oppose trans women's participation are "bigots? Are they deluded in thinking that they are subjected to unfair competition?” Tuesday showcased the majority's growing radicalization on trans issues (in lockstep w/ the GOP's) talkingpointsmemo.com/news/alito-k...

The Supreme Court's right wing on Tuesday sounded amenable to preventing trans people from constitutionally challenging sports bans and beyond. talkingpointsmemo.com/news/right-w...

A lot of nastiness in today's attempt by Idaho and West Virginia to enforce bans on trans women participating in any level of women's sports at the Supreme Court - but particularly acute in the Idaho case, where the plaintiff has tried to drop the case, promising not to play on any women's team

Sen Mark Kelly is suing Pete Hegseth in federal court after Hegseth directed the Navy to reconsider Kelly's rank/pay - "Defendants’ actions violate numerous constitutional guarantees and have no basis in statute. They should proceed no further," complaint says

In major decision, the Wyoming Supreme Court knocked down 2 abortion bans today -- citing an anti-Obamacare amendment! The amendment was initially passed to protect people from ACA "threats" like "death panels." It's now an inadvertent shield for abortion rights talkingpointsmemo.com/news/anti-ob...

Marty Lederman's amicus brief did end up giving SCOTUS a way out on National Guard occupations. Risk now - does Trump invoke the Insurrection Act to deploy active duty military to blue cities? And if he does, will the Court stop him? talkingpointsmemo.com/news/supreme...

In a twist, it was Sen. Kennedy (R-LA) who forcefully grilled a Trump nominee today on his preachings about marriage not being "intended" for disabled people, "transgenderism & homosexuality" being "sexual perversions" & wives' obligation to serve their husbands talkingpointsmemo.com/news/kennedy...

What’s worse, Fetterman working harder to get a pardon for Netanyahu than healthcare for his own constituents….or the fact that he did the Netanyahu letter in secret?

Fetterman expressed surprise when I confirmed we had a copy of the letter he wrote to Israel President Herzog, pushing for a pardon for Netanyahu. “I know you guys use things like leaks but I don’t know who did that.” Story from @joshkovensky.bsky.social + me: talkingpointsmemo.com/news/fetterm...

Scoop, w the incomparable @kateriga.bsky.social: John Fetterman asked Israel's President to pardon Netanyahu in a previously unreported letter talkingpointsmemo.com/news/fetterm...

Scoop: TPM obtained a letter Sen. Fetterman wrote to Israel President Herzog lobbying for a pardon for Netanyahu. In an interview today, he told me the trial is a "pointless distraction.""I fully support it and I stand on the letter," he said. From me & @joshkovensky.bsky.social ⬇️

New: Judge blocks federalization of California National Guard, writing that by sending them into other states, the Trump administration has created "a national police force made up of state troops"

Sotomayor quoted RBG's famous "umbrella" line today, from her dissent in a case that hobbled the Voting Rights Act. it was an appropriate linkage, as the Roberts Court's destruction of voting rights and campaign finance regulations alike form the foundation of its profoundly anti-democratic legacy

Sotomayor using barely veiled language to ask former Trump SG Noel Francisco if he really doesn't think Trump's primary 'major donor' getting a 'very lucrative job' immediately upon his election is not at least the appearance of quid pro quo

Today the Supreme Court is hearing a GOP attempt to get rid of one of the last remaining campaign finance guardrails. Alito kicking us off by citing the "much maligned - unfairly maligned" decision, Citizens United

The conservatives’ bleating about the big bad bureaucracy gets harder to stomach when juxtaposed w the monarchical presidency they’ve created, making him immune from prosecution for his crimes and now likely putting the entire executive branch under his thrall.  talkingpointsmemo.com/news/roberts...

Well Roberts just referred to Humphrey's Executor as a "dried husk" if there are any optimists out there holding out hope

Right-wing justices as a bloc trying to counter the 'what about the Fed' fear by feigning concern about hypothetical super muscular removal protections - what if you could never fire anyone?! "Are there some cabinet departments that Congress could just take over?" Roberts asks. Super bad faith stuff

Jackson on Congress' theory of indy agencies: "Having a president come in and fire all the scientists and the doctors and the economists and the PhDs and replacing them with loyalists and people who don't know anything is actually not in the best interest of the citizens of the United States"

Gorsuch says hey, if the libs are so concerned about putting every agency directly in the hands of the president, maybe we should advance my ongoing quest to make agencies totally powerless, win-win

Roberts keeps jumping to argue that their imminent overturn of Humphrey's Executor does not actually threaten the Fed, entire civil service, article 1 courts, etc. Kagan not buying it, says to SG Sauer: "Once you go down this road, it's a little bit hard to see how you stop"

Sotomayor with the lament: 'Neither the king not parliaments nor prime ministers nor England at the time of the founding ever had an unqualified removal power' 'You're asking us to destroy the structure of government'

In a world where 11 months out counts as the “eve“ of an election, any state can safely pass an illegal gerrymander so long as they even slightly run down the clock talkingpointsmemo.com/news/supreme...

Appeals court administratively stays the district court order. Not a great draw for DC - panel is Judges Millett (Obama), Katsas (Trump) and Rao (super Trump)

New: Trump DOJ appeals district court order saying the National Guard are unlawfully deployed in DC (as expected). Meanwhile we wait and wait for SCOTUS to act on the Guard case out of Chicago

Breaking: Judge rules deployment of National Guard into DC is illegal (puts her order on pause until 12/11 for appeals). "The Court finds that the District’s exercise of sovereign powers within its jurisdiction is irreparably harmed by Defendants’ actions in deploying the Guards," she writes.

Mass repudiation of Trump...Trump's much ballyhooed realignment seems fragile...GOP redistricting suddenly very risky...DOGE/Russ Vought shutdown punishments coming back to bite him...shot in the arm for congressional Dems on the shutdown...and more: talkingpointsmemo.com/news/electio...

absolute bloodbath for Republicans. One easy takeaway: maybe don't send Virginia specifically sliding towards a recession if you're hoping to win there

Took .2 seconds for Schumer to be asked if he voted for Mamdani. He would not say that he voted for the Democratic candidate: "I voted and I look forward to working with the next mayor to help New York City" ...

Wow - in new filing Trump admin tells judge it intends to give eligible recipients 50% of the SNAP benefits they'd usually get for the month of November — with the massive caveat that it might take some states "a few weeks to up to several months" to disburse the reduced money

After a 3-day trial, Judge Immergut grants preliminary injunction blocking the National Guard from Portland: "Based on the trial testimony, this Court finds no credible evidence that during the approximately two months before the President’s federalization order, protests grew out of control..."

Hello from Judge Immergut's (virtual) courtroom in the Portland National Guard case. DOJ's Jean Lin started by explaining that some National Guard were briefly deployed while TROs were being circulated. Immergut says she'll later consider whether this was "contempt"

New: Full 9th Circuit votes to vacate a Trumpy panel's decision allowing National Guard to deploy into Portland. It'll rehear the case, following a successful vote requested by one of the judges. talkingpointsmemo.com/news/9th-cir...

Breaking: AZ AG + Representative-elect Adelita Grijalva are suing the House to compel her swearing in. Mike Johnson has delayed it for weeks; Grijalva has promised to be the last member needed to force a vote on the Epstein files

New: 9th Circuit Judge Thomas requests a vote for a full court rehearing of the Portland Nat'l Guard case. Graber wrote in her dissent today: "I urge my colleagues on this court to act swiftly to vacate the majority’s order before the illegal deployment of troops under false pretenses can occur"

As expected, 9th Circuit panel rules for Trump, allowing deployment of the Oregon National Guard to Portland. Graber, in dissent, asks colleagues on 9th to vacate the order. "I ask those who are watching this case unfold to retain faith in our judicial system for just a little longer," she writes

probably the most critical piece of information in the great Mills-Platner debate www.bangordailynews.com/2025/10/16/p...

The unanimous 7th Circuit panel - of Trump, Obama and Bush appointees - made once banal, now profound comments about the legitimacy of political protest, as Republicans regularly call peaceful protesters "terrorists." It's worth a read ⤵️ talkingpointsmemo.com/news/7th-cir...

7th Circuit denies Trump admin request to stay district court's block of the Guard deployment: "The facts do not justify the President’s actions in Illinois under § 12406, even giving substantial deference to his assertions"

Judge Immergut in Portland National Guard case says she intends to extend her order blocking any Guard deployments into the city for another two weeks