When last month’s jobs report showed unexpected weakness in the labor market, President Trump fired the head of the agency that produces the data and named a loyalist to run the department that produces those numbers.
Is the Jobs Data Still Reliable? Yes, at Least for Now. (New York Times)
He has dismantled broad swaths of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, part of the Department of Homeland Security, because its mission of defending against foreign and domestic cyberattacks included securing election systems. He even ordered the Justice Department to investigate the agency’s chief during the 2020 elections, for his declaration that it was one of the most secure in history, contradicting his insistence that it was rigged to elect Joseph R. Biden Jr.
The Return of the ‘War Department’ Is More Than Nostalgia. It’s a Message. (New York Times)
The general testified at length, for example, about a mission, code-named Operation Excalibur, in which federal immigration agents on foot and on horseback marched through MacArthur Park, a Los Angeles landmark in a neighborhood now largely home to immigrant families with low incomes.
General Sherman said that he had objected when the administration initially wanted to conduct the mission on Father’s Day and to stage troops and military equipment in the middle of the park in a “show of presence.” The placement of troops, he said, seemed to inappropriately involve the military in what appeared to be a risky and low-value operation.
Only after federal officials planned to reposition the troops outside the park did he recommend approval. But when he expressed his concerns, he said, Gregory Bovino, a Border Patrol chief who is overseeing the federal immigration crackdown in Southern California, questioned his loyalty to the country.
Judge Says Trump’s Use of Troops in L.A. Is Illegal (New York Times)
“What it amounts to is crypto-friendly legislation coming from the president of the United States. Who is in turn, cashing in from the crypto phase. Personally, his family,” Varney said.
“Conflict of interest. They say no, but that’s how it appears,” Simonetti responded.
Varney then appeared to say “That sounds true” right after.
The president on Tuesday repeated his claim — contradicted by a declassified U.S. intelligence assessment — that Tren de Aragua is operating under Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro’s control.
The White House did not immediately explain how the military determined that those aboard the vessel were Tren de Aragua members.
Trump says US strike on vessel in Caribbean targeted Venezuela’s Tren de Aragua gang, killed 11 (Associated Press)
In a scathing opinion delivered today, [federal judge] Breyer said that the administration had acted illegally. Deploying these service members “for the purpose of establishing a military presence there and enforcing federal law,” Breyer wrote, “is a serious violation of the Posse Comitatus Act.”
The Trump Administration Gets a Serious Scolding (The Atlantic)
Following his National Guard takeover of Washington, D.C., Donald Trump has declared the capital “crime free.” In a new post on Truth Social, Trump praised Mayor Muriel Bowser for working with him to “eliminate” violent crime.
“Her statements and actions were positive, instead of others like Pritzker, Wes Moore, Newscum, and the 5% approval rated Mayor of Chicago, who spend all of their time trying to justify violent Crime, instead of working with us to completely ELIMINATE it, which we have done in Washington, D.C., NOW A CRIME FREE ZONE,” Trump wrote on Monday. “Wouldn’t it be nice to say that about Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, and even the Crime Drenched City of Baltimore???” He added, “D.C. is a GIANT VICTORY that never has to end!!!”
According to available crime statistics from D.C.’s Metropolitan Police Department, there were 442 crimes reported in the district in the past seven days. These include 50 reports of violent crime: one homicide, 23 instances of assault with a dangerous weapon, 24 robberies, and two cases of sex abuse. There were also nearly 250 thefts reported over the past week.
Trump Declares D.C. a ‘Crime Free Zone’ Despite 442 Crimes Reported in Past Week (Rolling Stone)
“We’ll have a majority very shortly,” Mr. Trump said ate his latest marathon cabinet meeting about the Fed’s powerful seven-person Board of Governors. “So that’ll be great.”
[…]
“It sends a message that is more akin to a chaotic, dysfunctional system than what the markets in the U.S. and globally have always assumed of the Fed, which is that it is the gold standard for governance, for independence, for prudence and for policymaking.”
Trump’s Plan to Pack the Fed With Loyalists (New York Times)
