politics

Summary

Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) broke the record for longest Senate floor speech at 25 hours and 5 minutes, surpassing the 24-hour, 18-minute filibuster by former Sen. Strom Thurmond, who opposed the 1957 Civil Rights Act.

Booker said it “irked” him that Thurmond’s record symbolized efforts to block civil rights.

He used the speech to protest potential GOP spending cuts and Trump-era policies.

Supported by fellow Democrats, Booker remained standing and speaking for over a day, calling his action a symbolic reclaiming of the Senate’s legacy.

Summary

A GOP-led procedural vote in the House failed after nine Republicans joined Democrats, halting legislative action for the week.

The vote's collapse blocked Republican efforts to pass the No Rogue Rulings Act, aimed at limiting federal judges’ power, and the SAVE Act, which would require proof of citizenship to vote.

The failed rule also sought to derail a bipartisan resolution allowing proxy voting for new parents, led by Rep. Anna Paulina Luna.

With the rule defeated, Speaker Mike Johnson canceled all remaining votes until Monday evening, stalling key GOP priorities.

Summary

Emails reveal that Social Security Administration acting chief Leland Dudek canceled Maine’s vital records contracts as retaliation against Democratic Gov. Janet Mills after she clashed with Trump.

Despite warnings this could increase identity theft and fraud, Dudek said, “no money will go from the public trust to a petulant child.”

The termination briefly blocked parents from obtaining Social Security numbers for newborns. Dudek reversed the decision within 24 hours amid backlash.

Lawmakers called for his resignation. Dudek, a former IT staffer, was controversially elevated after aiding Elon Musk’s DOGE team.

Summary

Elon Musk’s job approval dropped to 41%—his lowest since joining the Trump administration—according to a Marquette Law School poll.

His favorability fell to 38%, while 58% disapproved of his work leading DOGE.

The decline follows backlash over Musk’s political involvement, including his $22 million support of Brad Schimel, who lost Wisconsin’s Supreme Court race.

Musk’s alignment with controversial Trump policies, such as calls to annex Canada, has further eroded public support.

Summary

Senator Cory Booker’s speech on TikTok live surpassed 350 million likes as he stood for over 25 hours speaking in the Senate chamber.

Booker broke Strom Thurmond’s record for the longest Senate speech, which lasted 24 hours and 18 minutes in 1957 to block civil rights legislation.

Summary:

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Lawmakers are calling on the Social Security Administration chief to resign after internal emails revealed that the administration shut Maine off from the late-age insurance program in retaliation for publicly defying the MAGA agenda.

Representative Gerry Connolly called Tuesday for the resignation of Leland Dudek, the acting commissioner of social security. In a release, Connolly’s office shared emails sent by Dudek in which the DOGE acolyte inquired to his staff about which contracts Maine had with his agency and ultimately chose to cancel them, despite being aware that doing so would increase fraud and waste.

“Despite reinstating the contracts on March 7, 2025, and claiming that he did not intend to harm the people of Maine, the emails obtained by the Committee show that Acting Commissioner Dudek knew of the negative impacts of cancelling the programs and was willing to hurt the people of Maine and waste taxpayer money to avenge President Trump,” Connolly’s office wrote.

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Link to text of bill

H.R. 2578: To require drug testing for special Government employees, and for other purposes.

Introduced on April 1, 2025

This bill is in the first stage of the legislative process. It was introduced into Congress on April 1, 2025. It will typically be considered by committee next before it is possibly sent on to the House or Senate as a whole.

Sponsor: Mikie Sherrill

Representative for New Jersey's 11th congressional district

Democrat

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More detail from Axios:

A House Democrat is introducing long-shot legislation that would force billionaire Trump lieutenant Elon Musk and his staffers at DOGE to undergo routine drug testing, Axios has learned.

Why it matters: Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D-N.J.) cited a Wall Street Journal report from 2024 that alleged Musk has used illegal drugs including LSD, cocaine, ecstasy, mushrooms and ketamine as the impetus for her bill.

• DOGE spokespeople did not respond to requests for comment.
• An attorney for Musk told the Journal that Musk is "regularly and randomly drug tested at SpaceX and has never failed a test."

Driving the news: Sherrill's bill, a copy of which was first obtained by Axios, would require special government employees to undergo a drug test before they begin work and enter into a random drug testing program.

• Anyone who tests positive for certain illegal drugs would be barred from federal service for at least a year.
• Citing Signalgate, Sherrill said it is "more important than ever to protect the American people from the Trump Administration's reckless incompetence and blatant disregard for national security."

Between the lines: Musk and many DOGE staffers have been designated as special government employees.

• The Justice Department defines a special government employee as "anyone who works, or is expected to work, for the government for 130 days or less in a 365-day period."
• The title is usually used for subject-matter experts who are brought on to assist with specific projects.

What they're saying: "Those with access to sensitive information must be thoroughly vetted, clear-eyed, and exercise good judgment," said Sherrill, a former Naval aviator running for New Jersey governor.

• She argued the special government employees at DOGE should "be held to the same standard as other executive branch employees."
• That includes "conflicts of interest or passing a drug test to maintain employment or a security clearance," she said.

Reality check: Sherrill's bill is highly unlikely to become law any time soon as Republicans control both chambers of Congress and the White House.

EDIT: updated with Axios article and link to text of bill

Summary

Democrats celebrated Susan Crawford's 10-point win in Wisconsin’s state supreme court race over Elon Musk-backed Brad Schimel, preserving the court’s 4-3 liberal majority.

Musk, who spent $25M supporting Schimel, faced online ridicule, including a post from the Democrats’ official account showing him in a cheese head labeled “Loser.”

They cast the result as a rejection of Trump’s agenda and Musk’s influence. Crawford called it a victory over the “richest man in the world.”

Republicans questioned Musk’s impact. Trump stayed silent but celebrated narrower GOP House wins in Florida

Summary

Trump's approval rating dropped to 43%, the lowest since his January return to office, amid backlash over new tariffs and a mishandled military strike disclosure.

The Reuters/Ipsos poll found only 37% approve of his economic leadership, and 34% support his foreign policy.

A majority view his tariff hikes as harmful, while 74% criticized the use of Signal to discuss a Yemen operation.

The poll, conducted online with 1,486 adults, showed bipartisan concern and a 2-point decline since March, reflecting rising unease over Trump's policies.

Well that's just the normal functioning of a very cool and very legal government.

Good to know

What the fucking fuck!?

Archived copies of the article:

• archive.today
• web.archive.org

> KEY FINDINGS > -- > - Just 100 billionaire families poured a record-breaking $2.6 billion into federal elections in 2024, one of every six dollars spent altogether by all candidates, parties and committees. > - That’s two-and-a-half times the roughly $1 billion spent by individual billionaire donors in 2020. > - Billionaire political spending is up 160-fold since the Supreme Court’s 2010 Citizens United decision allowed for unlimited campaign donations. > - The vast bulk of billionaire-family donations went to so-called independent expenditure groups–which thanks to Citizens United can raise unlimited amounts from each donor–rather than directly to candidates or parties, which still work under campaign-contribution limits. > - Billionaire spending heavily favored Republicans. Over two-thirds (70%) of billionaire-family contributions went in support of GOP candidates and conservative causes. Less than a quarter (23%) backed Democratic hopefuls and progressive causes. (The remainder went to committees without a clear partisan or ideological identity.) > - In the three Senate races that gave Republicans control of the Senate, billionaire giving constituted a huge amount of Republican outside spending: Montana 58.1%, Pennsylvania 56.8%, and Ohio 44.5%. > - Almost three-quarters (71%) of the total amount used by outside spending groups to attack the Democratic presidential candidate, Kamala Harris, came from billionaires. Billionaires supplied over three-fifths (61%) of all the outside dollars spent praising Donald Trump. > - While the potential undue influence on government policy of billionaire donors has always been a concern, the second Trump administration has seen a blatant and unprecedented swapping of campaign contributions for political power, most notoriously in the case of Elon Musk. > - Musk’s 2024 campaign contributions were four times more than what he paid in annual federal income taxes between 2013 and 2018. > - The Trump-Musk attempt to dismantle the federal government and the Republican tax-cutting agenda could potentially save billionaire-family donors trillions of dollars in taxes, turning a huge profit on their 2024 political investment.

Democrats just won their biggest electoral victory of the second Trump era. And Elon Musk lost big.

FTA:

> Two Democratic legislators are introducing a bill on Wednesday aimed at Mr. Musk and the so-called Buffalo Billion project, in which the state spent $959 million to build and equip a plant that Mr. Musk’s company leases for $1 a year to operate a solar panel and auto component factory.

> The bill would require an audit of the state subsidy deal to “identify waste, fraud and abuse committed by private parties to the contract.” It would determine whether the company, Tesla, was meeting job creation targets, making promised investments, paying enough rent and honoring job training commitments.

> If Tesla was found to be not in compliance, the state could claw back state benefits, impose penalties or terminate contracts.

Same business leaders that supported Trump.

Summary

Reps. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.) and Brittany Pettersen (D-Colo.) halted the House by pushing a bipartisan bill allowing new parents to vote by proxy for 12 weeks.

Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) tried blocking the vote with a special rule, but nine Republicans joined Democrats to defeat it.

Luna and Pettersen’s move paused GOP legislation and forced Johnson to cancel votes for the week.

Johnson argues proxy voting is unconstitutional, while Luna accused GOP leaders of using threats to stop the bill. The measure will likely return for a vote.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.zip/post/35486520

> > U.S. Customs and Border Protection is detaining families with young children for days and weeks at crossings along the New York-Canada border

Summary

U.S. stock futures dropped sharply Wednesday evening after Trump announced sweeping global tariffs, including a 10% baseline on all imports and 25% on autos.

As of 6:30 p.m. ET, Dow futures fell 2.43%, S&P 500 futures 3.60%, and Nasdaq futures 4.46%, contrasting with modest gains earlier in the day.

Trump framed the move as “Liberation Day,” but investors and economists raised alarms.

Goldman Sachs now sees a 35% recession risk, citing falling consumer confidence and the administration’s readiness to endure short-term economic pain to advance its trade agenda.

>The Republican-led Senate has delivered a rare rebuke of President Donald Trump and his signature trade agenda.

>Senators voted 51-48 Wednesday to reject the national emergency Trump declared earlier this year to justify his plan to slap 25 percent tariffs on Canadian imports. The vote took place hours after Trump delivered remarks from the White House rolling out his latest plans to slap new tariffs on a wide range of products.

>Republican Sens. Susan Collins, Mitch McConnell, Lisa Murkowski and Rand Paul joined all Democrats in backing a resolution from Virginia Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine that would end that national emergency. Paul, of Kentucky, co-sponsored the measure.

>McConnell offered Paul, a fellow Kentuckian, a fist-bump on the chamber floor. They broke out into applause as the gavel went down and closed the vote.

Summary

Christopher Stanley, a senior advisor at the DOJ and former SpaceX engineer, previously ran websites promoting hacking, piracy, and video game cheats under aliases like "Reneg4d3."

Archived posts show he bragged about exploits and posted a 2014 video of a database breach.

Despite his past, Stanley holds a security clearance, and Attorney General Pam Bondi expressed full confidence in him.

Critics argue his history poses national security risks. His old websites disappeared after Reuters began investigating.

Article intro:

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President Donald Trump has launched the United States into a trade war, the likes of which has not been seen in decades. On April 2, 2025, the date that the president and his advisers are calling “Liberation Day,” the Trump administration is expected to announce a sweeping set of tariffs against “all countries.”

The Trump administration’s “reciprocal tariffs” are ostensibly designed to charge other countries what they charge the United States—an eye-for-an-eye approach to trade relations. Given their regressive nature, the economic burden of the Trump administration’s tariffs will fall on U.S. consumers—particularly low- and middle-income households—as well as on U.S. producers that rely on imports to manufacture in the United States.

White House aide Peter Navarro recently said that the administration’s new auto tariffs, for example, would raise $100 billion annually and that other tariffs would generate $600 billion annually. This comes at a time when the administration is looking for opportunities to raise substantial revenue to offset the cost of massive tax breaks for its wealthiest donors. Taking Navarro’s numbers at face value, the Center for American Progress estimates Trump’s tariffs could cost American households an average of $5,200 every year.

The Trump administration has already placed 25 percent duties on most imports from the United States’ two largest trading partners, Canada and Mexico; imposed 20 percent tariffs on Chinese imports; and last week announced a 25 percent tariff on all imported cars and auto parts. Taken together, these actions—and the retaliatory measures they have already provoked—will cause significant damage to the U.S. economy. They are likely to reduce job prospects; raise prices for electricity, cars, and other everyday goods; and ultimately make it harder for businesses to compete in global markets.

This article raises questions about the cost of Trump’s reckless trade wars for Americans. Will Trump’s trade wars affect U.S. jobs? Will they increase or decrease working families’ prosperity? Will the administration’s policies position the country’s industrial base to compete effectively in the future? And, recognizing that economic supply chains and security challenges are heavily interconnected, what will the consequence be for U.S. foreign relations?

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WASHINGTON/PARIS, April 2 (Reuters) - U.S. officials have told European allies they want them to keep buying American-made arms, amid recent moves by the European Union to limit U.S. manufacturers' participation in weapons tenders, five sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.

The messages delivered by Washington in recent weeks come as the EU takes steps to boost Europe's weapons industry, while potentially limiting purchases of certain types of U.S. arms.

In a March 25 meeting, Secretary of State Marco Rubio told the foreign ministers of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia that the United States wants to continue participating in EU countries' defense procurements, the sources told Reuters.

Okay, GTFO. Did he ever even say Thank You?!

Pawall - Archive.ph link here

Summary:

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China has taken steps to restrict local companies from investing in the US, according to people familiar with the matter, in a move that could give Beijing more leverage for potential trade negotiations with the Trump administration.

Several branches of China’s top economic planning agency, the National Development and Reform Commission, have been instructed in recent weeks to hold off on registration and approval for firms that are looking to invest in the US, the people said, asking not to be identified discussing sensitive issues.

While China has previously placed restrictions on some overseas investments for reasons linked to concerns about national security and capital outflows, the new measures underscore tensions playing out between the world’s two biggest economies as Donald Trump ramps up tariffs. China’s outbound investments into the US totaled $6.9 billion in 2023, according to the latest available figures.

There’s no sign that existing commitments by Chinese companies in the US and elsewhere, or China’s purchases and holdings of financial products including US Treasuries, would be affected, the people said. It’s unclear what prompted the NDRC to halt the processing of applications or how long this suspension might last.

The NDRC and the Ministry of Commerce, both in charge of initial approvals for companies’ foreign investment, didn’t immediately reply to a request for comment. US equity futures dropped to session lows after the Bloomberg report. European stocks also extended their decline.

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