The Supreme Court released its annual end-of-year report on Wednesday, a 13-page document that is chock-full of surprising revelations. The report is usually a bland overview of the number of cases the court heard, their outcomes, and other data points about their workload. The chief justice also writes an introductory letter accompanying the document, in which they often comment on whatever matters the court is facing. Here are five things that stood out from this year’s report. Trump is making the Supreme Court work moreThe Supreme Court heard more cases this term than it had in any term over the last decade, according to the report. There were more than 4, 200 total filings to the court, representing a 9% increase from the previous year. Chief Justice Roberts steered clear of TrumpWhile Roberts has previously used the end-of-year report to criticize threats the court has faced, this year’s report seemed to steer clear of one particular threat: Donald Trump. Trump has routinely attacked judges who ruled against him, leading some to speak out about making lifestyle changes and needing to purchase weapons to protect themselves. The president has also clashed with the Supreme Court at times when he didn’t get his way. Stressed the importance of ‘equal rights’ for the poor and richRoberts noted that the court must continue to protect the right to equal treatment under the law. “Those of us in the Third Branch must continue to decide the cases before us according to our oath, doing equal right to the poor and to the rich, and performing all of our duties faithfully and impartially under the Constitution and laws of the United States,”’Oblique’ references to judicial independenceRoberts made an “oblique” reference to the importance of judicial independence, NBC News reported. He cited the control King George III exercised over the judiciary in England. “The Constitution corrected this flaw, granting life-tenure and salary protections to safeguard the independence of federal judges and ensure their ability to serve as a counter-majoritarian check on the political branches,” Roberts wrote. “This arrangement, now in place for 236 years, has served the country well.”Closer to the founding idealsRoberts also took time to argue that America appears to be headed in the right direction, despite the recent challenges that Trump has presented. “These national accomplishments illustrate that the responsibilities for living up to the promises of the Declaration rest on all three branches of our government as well as on each successive generation of Americans,” he wrote.
Tag: Trump
‘Ship has sailed’: MAGA Republicans abandon Trump’s scheme as tempers flare
In the aftermath of President Donald Trump’s failed push to get Indiana Republicans to pass an extreme mid-decade gerrymander deleting all Democratic congressional seats in the state, GOP officials there who supported the effort are admitting defeat and facing recriminations from within their own party. Trump threw everything he could at getting Indiana to pass the new map, sending Vice President JD Vance to the state multiple times, and Gov. Mike Braun and the congressional GOP delegation endorsed the plan. But after a bitterly divisive session that involved GOP holdouts being targeted with violent threats, Braun has acknowledged it’s not going to happen anytime soon.“I don’t intend to call another special session to push early redistricting. I think that ship has sailed,” said Braun, according to State Affairs. Meanwhile, according to the Indiana Capital Chronicle, bad blood is still simmering within the state GOP from how officials turned on each other over the proposal. Sen. Jean Leising of Oldenburg, a 25-year lawmaker who voted against redistricting, said in no uncertain terms that Braun should make nice with Senate President Pro Tempore Rodric Bray, who came under heavy MAGA fire as the voice of the majority of the GOP caucus who opposed the plan. “If he were asking me, ‘What should I do next?’ I’d say, ‘You need to apologize to Senator Bray, our pro tem.’ Because he actually said that he wanted to work against him,” she said. Meanwhile, another redistricting opponent, Sen. Sue Glick of LaGrange, said of the current atmosphere, “I don’t think anybody wants to have a lasting impact. There will be some hard feelings. But I thought that we kept it under control. There didn’t seem to be the acrimony on the floor that you might have anticipated. Most of that was coming from outside.”Some external GOP groups, like Turning Point USA, campaigned hard for redistricting and have threatened to commit time and money to primary challenges against those who voted it down. Trump himself has echoed these threats.
‘Moment of truth’ imminent as military brass pushed to turn of Trump: DC insider
Donald Trump’s attack on members of Congress who served in the military for advising those currently serving not to follow illegal orders could have a ripple effect that blows up on him, an expert warned Tuesday. During an appearance on MS NOW, longtime Washington D. C. observer John Heilemann suggested the president may face a reckoning now that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is going after Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ), a popular former Navy pilot and astronaut. Speaking with the hosts on “Morning Joe,” Heileman made the case that it is only a matter of time before retired and active duty military personnel turn on the president, whose popularity is already slipping. Admitting that he was stunned that Hegseth is focusing on Kelly, he added that it could be the straw that broke the camel’s back within the military ranks.“The question for me is, when do we get to the point where active duty senior military officials start to speak up, because they have kept quiet?” he told the panel. “When Trump gave speeches at Fort Bragg and West Point, a lot of them were upset about it because they were so partisan and political.”“They have kept quiet in the face of the discussions of sending in the military to a place like Chicago and Los Angeles and other places, but I think there’s a moment that’s coming, and I think a lot of people in the military recognize this, where not just retired, but where current active duty senior military who are clearly, quietly troubled by everything that’s going on with this, are going to face a moment of truth where they’re either going to have to speak up, or they’re going to have to end up obeying orders that are at least questionably legal and possibly blatantly illegal.”“That’s going to be a big moment in this country. We haven’t seen anything like that from active duty military speaking out publicly, really, in our lifetimes,” he reminded the panel. YouTube youtu. be.
Dismantling the Endangered Species Act will hurt a lot more than just wildlife
Dismantling the Endangered Species Act will hurt a lot more than just wildlife
Donald Trump Expresses Caution About Lifting FCC Limits On Ownership Of TV Stations
Donald Trump weighed in on what has been a key priority for broadcasters during his administration: Lifting a cap on the number of TV stations any one entity can own. Trump posted on Truth Social on Sunday, “If this would also allow the Radical Left Networks to “enlarge,” I would not be happy. ABC & [.].
‘Crime of serious proportion!’ Trump unloads on Dem military vets in midnight ‘outburst’
Donald Trump at around midnight had an “outburst” in which he said Democratic military veterans have committed “a crime of serious proportion.”Trump took to Truth Social to respond to a video in which several Dem lawmakers with military and intelligence backgrounds reminded troops about their constitutional duty to deny “illegal” orders. Trump and MAGA analysts have suggested that the video was encouraging troops to ignore lawful orders, which was explicitly not what was stated in the video.”THE TRAITORS THAT TOLD THE MILITARY TO DISOBEY MY ORDERS SHOULD BE IN JAIL RIGHT NOW, NOT ROAMING THE FAKE NEWS NETWORKS TRYING TO EXPLAIN THAT WHAT THEY SAID WAS OK,” Trump wrote on Saturday night at 11: 17 PM. “IT WASN’T, AND NEVER WILL BE! IT WAS SEDITION AT THE HIGHEST LEVEL, AND SEDITION IS A MAJOR CRIME.”The president then added, “THERE CAN BE NO OTHER INTERPRETATION OF WHAT THEY SAID!”In a follow-up post, Trump added an additional claim, but didn’t provide supporting evidence.”MANY GREAT LEGAL SCHOLARS AGREE THAT THE DEMOCRAT TRAITORS THAT TOLD THE MILITARY TO DISOBEY MY ORDERS, AS PRESIDENT, HAVE COMMITTED A CRIME OF SERIOUS PROPORTION!” Trump wrote. An MSNBC host hours later called Trump’s comments an “outburst.”Read it here.
Trump ‘terminating’ deportation protections for ‘Somalis in Minnesota’
Trump ‘terminating’ deportation protections for ‘Somalis in Minnesota’
Trump accuses six Democratic lawmakers of “seditious behavior”
President Trump posted on social media that Democratic lawmakers who urged members of the military to disobey illegal orders should be arrested and face trial for “seditious behavior.”.
Trump nominates new CFPB director, but White House says agency is still closing
Trump nominates new CFPB director, but White House says agency is still closing
6 former US military leaders warn Trump against using troops for ‘partisan’ goals
A new report published by former U. S. military officers this week decried president Donald Trump’s politicized use of the military and warned of the “eroding” effects his continued use of it will have, per a report from The Guardian. Since returning to power in January, Trump has become increasingly reliant on domestic military deployments in furtherance of his agenda. This has most notably included the use of National Guard forces to aid in immigration enforcement efforts, particularly in major cities, like Chicago and Los Angeles, that are run by Democratic elected officials. His administration has also seen numerous firings of high-ranking officers and lawyers who have been unwilling to support certain parts of the president’s agenda. All of these issues are at the heart of a new report, titled “The Perils of Politicizing the U. S. Military,” which warned that Trump’s use of the military for partisan purposes are damaging to the separation of the armed forces from political matters and the public’s trust in it to act apolitically. “The use of troops, bases, and ceremonies in partisan settings has blurred the line between military service and political messaging, eroding morale and public trust in the military’s apolitical character,” the report read. Released on Monday, the report was authored by retired Navy Admiral Steve Abbot, retired Coast Guard Admiral Thad Allen, former Army Secretary Louis Caldera, retired Army General George Casey, former Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James and former Navy secretary Sean O’Keefe. The former officials continued: “When service members, senior leaders, or military symbols are perceived as aligned with political agendas, the public begins to see the institution as partisan rather than national and once eroded, that trust is difficult to rebuild. This loss of trust makes it harder to recruit across the political spectrum, harder to retain talent, and harder to reassure allies and deter adversaries abroad.”.