Good Morning! First, the climate: We maintain getting edged by snow. First, we get some huge, fluffy, stunning flakes that refuse to really accumulate; Then they flip into black ice on the roads; Then we get guarantees of snow sooner or later. Properly, anticipate extra of that this week. Highs within the 40s, lows within the 20s, and occasional snow frolicking.
Okay, let’s begin with the Trump of all of it.
RFK Clears the First Hurdle: This morning, the Senate Finance Committee voted alongside occasion strains (14-13) to maneuver the nomination of RFK Jr. to the complete Senate. The party-line vote wouldn’t sometimes be shocking on this loyalty-testing atmosphere we’re in, however a kind of Republicans is Louisiana’s Invoice Cassidy, a doctor who specialised in treating liver illness. (Learn: an individual who no less than theoretically believes in science.) Simply earlier than the vote, Cassidy, who was thought of a possible deciding vote, tweeted: “I’ve had very intense conversations with Bobby and the White Home over the weekend and even this morning….With the intense commitments I’ve obtained from the administration and the chance to make progress on the problems we agree on like wholesome meals and a pro-American agenda, I’ll vote sure.” This morning, carrot sticks and fascism beat vaccine science.
DOGE Goes After DOE: In accordance with the Washington Submit’s sources contained in the White Home, Trump is drafting an order that goals to “finally” dismantle the Division of Training. In a shocking second of self-awareness, the order acknowledges that the DOE can solely be shut down by Congress, so within the meantime, the admin has instructed the DOE to “diminish itself,” WaPo stated. Elon’s DOGE is already on it, placing dozens of staffers on administrative go away, and pressuring workers to give up voluntarily. As a little bit glimmer of hope: each Dems and Republicans informed WaPo that it’s extraordinarily unlikely that Congress would ever summon up the supermajority required to really defund the DOE. At the least we agree on one factor.
“Chaotic and Vindictive”: This week, the Trump administration warned greater than 1,100 EPA staff who work on local weather change, lowering air air pollution, and implementing environmental legal guidelines that they could possibly be fired at any time. In accordance with NYT, an e-mail was despatched to workers members who’d been employed throughout the previous 12 months and have probationary standing. The paper reported that a lot of these staff have been a part of the Biden administration’s effort to rebuild the company, after it had been depleted by Trump in his first time period. “EPA is on the middle of the bullseye for President Trump’s vindictive purge of public servants,” stated Michelle Roos, govt director of the Environmental Safety Community, a gaggle of EPA alumni. In an interview with the Occasions, she known as it “essentially the most chaotic and vindictive transition within the historical past of the Environmental Safety Company.”
Stepping Again for a Sec: For those who’ve been feeling disoriented and overwhelmed by the regular onslaught of govt motion by Trump—nicely first, that’s by design. It’s Stephen Miller’s “flood the zone” philosophy in motion. However it’s getting arduous to see the forest for the bushes. NYT’s chief White Home correspondent, Peter Baker, took a useful step again to have a look at the scope of what’s occurred within the final two weeks. Spoiler alert: your emotions are legitimate. Baker known as the admin’s model “a Gatling gun strategy to governing,” the place “Trump has left just about no nook of Washington untouched as he seeks to tear down the previous equipment and refashion it to his liking.” In accordance with the advisers that Baker spoke to, this onslaught isn’t anticipated to decelerate, so plan for a protracted haul, and handle your self. It’s a marathon, not a dash.
Joe Kent is Again?: Regardless of what number of occasions southern Washington rejects him, former Congressional candidate Joe Kent retains coming again like a coiffed punch-me clown. Trump’s former “Younger Weapons” is again within the information as Trump’s nominee to direct the Nationwide Terrorism Heart. “As a Soldier, Inexperienced Beret, and CIA Officer, Joe has hunted down terrorists and criminals his whole grownup life,” Trump wrote. That’s—aside from all these years when he was busy dropping elections to Democrats in purple districts. Besides then.
UW Will get a New Prez: Yesterday, the College of Washington Board of Regents introduced that they’d chosen Robert J. Jones because the thirty fourth President of the UW. At present the chancellor of the College of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, he plans to hitch UW on August 1. This would be the third giant, public, analysis college he’s run. He’s a revered authority on plant physiology. Jones is changing Ana Mari Cauce, the primary girl to run UW, and Jones would be the first Black individual to run the college in its 164-year historical past—however that element was notably absent from the messaging on the college’s web site. Ought to we learn into the truth that a college that “receives extra federal analysis {dollars} than some other US public college” isn’t touting a range win? You inform me.
Sara Nelson Racks Her Mind: In our favourite proof-reading error to this point this week, somebody on Metropolis Council President Sara Nelson’s crew by chance left placeholder textual content in an e-mail touting that her reelection marketing campaign had “raised greater than over [sic] $100,000 in file time.” Just a few paragraphs into their victory lap, they wrote: “Underneath Nelson’s management as President, Council handed fifteen items of public security laws, added cell medicine models bringing remedy to hard-hit areas, elevated assets and partnerships for a safer, extra vibrant Downtown, and [something more left-leaning].” Some poor schmuck pressed ship earlier than anybody may provide you with one single left-leaning factor Nelson did. It’s like that one time you misspelled “detail-oriented” in your resume, however, you recognize, worse.
“It Was Mayhem”: For as soon as, we’re not speaking about mayhem within the federal authorities. We’re (weirdly) speaking about Women’ Excessive College basketball. Within the remaining seconds of a Garfield vs. West Seattle recreation in January, a number of gamers bought right into a fist combat. Teammates tried to separate them, coaches and oldsters bought concerned. Gamers bought suspended for a recreation or two. It was a bummer. However then the video bought onto Twitter, and commenters bought actual gross and racist in regards to the two groups from predominantly Black colleges. Then Barstool Sports activities weighed in with their not-so-subtle dogwhistles about how women’ basketball may want “enforcers” now. And yesterday, nearly a month after the combat, the Seattle Occasions demanded “solutions” from SPS. What solutions? We’re actually unsure. However we’re fairly positive we already know extra about these minors’ lives than we have to. However in case you’re questioning, West Seattle gained that recreation, 48-39.
Gaiman Will get Sued: Bear in mind the New York Journal cowl story detailing fantasy author Neil Gaiman’s alleged historical past of intercourse crimes? It was every week earlier than the inauguration, which was a whole-ass lifetime in the past. This week, a lady filed a lawsuit for sexual assault, saying he raped her a number of occasions whereas she labored for his household as a live-in nanny. The swimsuit additionally included claims of human trafficking, claiming that he coerced her into pressured sexual encounters with him as a situation of her employment.
RIP Shelley: Wildrose co-owner Shelley Brothers handed away this week. She devoted her life to preserving one of many nation’s solely lesbian bars alive, and have become an area movie star just by being herself, unapologetically, in that house. The Rose is holding a celebration of life for her on February sixteenth. Go pay your respects.