DL Open Thread: Friday, May 2, 2025
Trump Judge Declares Trump Deportation Policy Illegal:
A Trump-appointed federal judge has ruled that the US president cannot use the Alien Enemies Act to deport Venezuelan migrants.
US District Judge Fernando Rodriguez said Donald Trump’s use of the wartime power was “unlawful” and had been improperly invoked.
The law was written in 1798 to allow the removal of non-citizens in times of war or invasion. It has been used by Trump to deport Venezuelans to El Salvador on the basis they were members of the Tren de Aragua gang and “conducting irregular warfare”.
The judge said the act only applied when the US was facing an “armed organised attack”, which it is not. The administration has not commented.
“The historical record renders clear that the president’s invocation of the AEA… is contrary to the plain, ordinary meaning of the statute’s terms,” the judge wrote.
“As a result, the court concludes that as a matter of law, the executive branch cannot rely on the AEA… to detain the named petitioners… or to remove them from the country.”
Waltz Waltzes To UN. Not sure he can find enough dancing partners in Senate. I’m sure they’re thrilled that they might have to vote on this:
President Trump on Thursday removed his national security adviser, Michael Waltz, and nominated him as ambassador to the United Nations, the first significant personnel overhaul of top White House aides and the kind of shake-up that Mr. Trump had sought to avoid in his second term.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio will serve as interim national security adviser and will remain the nation’s top diplomat, Mr. Trump said.
Mr. Rubio now has a lengthy list of job titles. He holds the position of secretary of state and national security adviser, something that no other official has done simultaneously since Henry Kissinger held both titles under the Nixon and Ford administrations. Mr. Rubio has also been serving as the acting head of both the gutted U.S.A.I.D. and the National Archives.
The Kissinger experiment has not been considered a success by most historians. The national security adviser is supposed to help adjudicate among competing arguments inside a national security establishment, and thus must often resolve differences among the State Department, the Pentagon and the intelligence agencies, among others. Mr. Kissinger was ultimately removed from the post of national security adviser and replaced with Brent Scowcroft.
Trump (Pretty Much) Caves On Ukraine:
Ukraine managed to wrangle some more favorable terms out of the United States before signing the long-awaited minerals deal on Wednesday.
The agreement on natural resources was finally struck late on Wednesday, after weeks of tense bargaining that at times turned sour and temporarily halted Washington’s aid to Ukraine.
Kyiv eventually convinced US President Donald Trump to drop some of his key demands but failed to make American security guarantees part of the agreement.
Ukrainian officials touted the final accord as an equal partnership between Kyiv and Washington – a notable shift from some of the earlier drafts which were described by Ukraine’s leader President Volodymyr Zelensky as the US asking him to “sell my country.”
The signed deal, seen by CNN, does indeed appear to be more favorable to Ukraine than some of the previous versions.
What Would DOGE Say? A huge military parade on Trump’s birthday? Hey it only would cost around $100 mill.
Rethugs Come Closer To Stealing An Election. In North Carolina:
Two weeks after the November 2024 election, the Republican-controlled legislature in North Carolina convened a lame-duck session for the ostensible purpose of passing a hurricane relief bill. But, with no public notice, they snuck provisions into the bill stripping power from the state’s incoming Democratic governor and attorney general and drastically changing how elections were administered.
Most notably, the bill prevented North Carolina’s incoming Democratic governor, Josh Stein, from appointing a majority of members on the state election board and 100 county election boards and transferred that authority to the state auditor, who, for the first time in more than a decade, was a Republican. Democrats and voting rights experts warned at the time that the bill could allow Republicans to overturn Democratic victories by refusing to certify election results and tilting the rules to favor the GOP.
That chilling hypothetical is now much closer to becoming a reality, after a ruling on Wednesday by the GOP-controlled state court of appeals cleared the way for Republicans appointed by the auditor to take over the state election board effective May 1—at the very moment the board finds itself at the center of an unprecedented legal dispute over the Republican attempt to steal a state supreme court race.
Under Democratic control, the state board has objected to the efforts by Republican candidate Jefferson Griffin to throw out tens of thousands of votes and overturn the election of Democratic Justice Allison Riggs, who leads by 734 votes after two recounts, in the last uncertified contest from November.
No way to put lipstick on this pig: This is about blatantly stealing an election.
Call Me Shallow, But–I admit it, I want to read everything I can about this:
That’s not all. According to the Athletic, Hudson played an instrumental role in shutting down production of the NFL docuseries Hard Knocks after North Carolina agreed to be the first college program featured on the show, costing the school a mammoth recruiting opportunity. Hudson has also reportedly taken an active role in the football program’s public relations, demanding to be copied on email correspondence to steer strategy even though she is not employed by the university. Despite that massive technicality, Hudson is said to have advised UNC’s social media team to promote the accomplishments of defensive coordinator Stephen Belichick instead of stating what many believe – that he got to where he is because he’s Bill’s son. Hudson is even mentioned in the acknowledgements for Belichick’s book, while Kraft – the owner he won six titles with – was left out. (For what it’s worth, Stephen’s wife called Hudson’s conduct in the CBS interview “unprofessional”.) Belichick even lets Hudson on the field for football practices, which he has historically kept off-limits to outsiders.
Sadist in his professional life, masochist in his private life? Birds would have three Super Bowl rings if Belichick hadn’t figured out how to steal the Eagles’ signs. He’s a Nixonian asshole, hope she takes him for everything.
Et Tu, Matt? Meyer looks to rescind EV mandates. Yes, the issue may be nuanced, but the opponents don’t deal in nuance:
“I’m a big believer in electric vehicles,” Meyer said to Delaware Online/The News Journal. “However, with respect to the regulation in the state, I believe that every Delawarean should have a choice about what car they want to buy.”
Refinery workers, industry stakeholders and union members from Delaware and New Jersey gathered in protest of the states’ similar electric vehicle mandates in June 2024.
“This hurts workforce development,” New Castle County Councilman Tim Sheldon said at the protest. “Why can’t I buy the car I want to buy? … That’s what America is about.”
As is the pollution caused by fossil fuels.
What do you want to talk about?
Everyone keeps forgetting it’s not illegal to “be a gang member.” To violate a statute you have to be convicted of a specific crime. In court. The media used to remind us of this old-timey “Constitution” stuff, but no more.
I believe the work-around is deeming it a terrorist organization.