Fight Fascism and Corruption: Full Court Press
Charlie Cooper
Trump Seeking Showdown with Judiciary
Trump began his term defying Congress on impoundment of appropriated funds, illegally shutting down programs established by law, and firing commissioners at independent agencies such as the National Labor Relations Board and the Federal Labor Relations Authority. All these matters are meandering through the federal judicial system . The Republican-led Congress has not challenged him, but Trump – as usual – has had a difficult time in court. (Track 300 cases here.)
In more recent weeks, Trump has shifted to making ever-more blatant moves directly against the Constitutional system. He openly seeks to sharpen the conflict with the Judicial Branch rather than to promote compromise and enriches himself in defiance of the Emoluments Clause.
I attended a talk by University of Michigan Law Prof. Leah Litman regarding her new book criticizing the right-wing Supreme Court. The moderator was Rep. Jamie Raskin. As of May 16-17, legal scholars are reading 7 of the Supreme Court justices as exasperated with Trump administration noncompliance. Both Raskin and Litman stressed two points:
Some of Trump’s brazenness likely is reinforced by the horrendous 2024 Supreme Court immunity decision.
The Constitutional crisis is here and now, not in the future. Popular opinion and the force with which it is expressed is the most important determinant of whether Trump can succeed in defying the Judiciary.
Rep. Raskin said he would help me connect with national organizations that could direct mass expressions of popular opinion toward the Supreme Court. I am hoping to see hundreds of thousands of us standing outside the Supreme Court in the near fture.
Musk-related Corruption
Musk companies have raked in $38 billion in federal contracts over the years. Now the federal government is trying to bully other nations into doing business with Starlink and other Musk corporations. The U.S. Ambassador to Gambia, for one example, pressed a key official to hire Starlink and issued veiled threats to cut aid absent Gambia’s compliance.
DOGE Lies
Actual annual reduction in government spending due to DOGE operations could be as low as 0.25% of what Musk claims.
DOGE did succeed, however, in stopping U.S. aid for international health programs. Musk claimed that cutting off aid to stop Ebola was a mistake that had been corrected. However, Sen. Van Hollen exposed this particular lie.
Trump and Musk have frozen funds for the PEPFAR program, which provides prevention and treatment of AIDS/HIV. The UN says, “PEPFAR has been a leader in the global HIV response, saving more than 26 million lives and averting almost 5 million children from acquiring HIV.”
Referring to Musk's role in stifling the U.S. Agency for International Development, Microsoft founder Bill Gates said that his fellow tech billionaire has blood on his hands. "The picture of the world's richest man killing the world's poorest children is not a pretty one," Gates told the Financial Times. "I'd love for him to go in and meet the children that have now been infected with HIV because he cut that money. (https://www.muskwatch.com/p/the-worlds-richest-man-killing-the
Keep Contacting Congress
Step 1: Your two senators are Angela Alsobrooks and Chris Van Hollen
Step 2: Click here to find your congressional district
Step 3: Click the names of your 3 Members of Congress to send a written message or call them as often as once every weekday.
News Briefs
Budget analysis from Trump’s alma mater:
The two lowest quintiles of households by income (up to about $50,000 per year) will experience net losses under the “Big, Beautiful Bill” averaging a little under $1,000 annually. The top 0.1% will gain an average of nearly $400,000 per year. Federal deficits will balloon and the Congressional Budget Office estimates “that the legislation would reduce the number of people with health insurance by at least 8.6 million in 2034.”
Marc Elias, Democratic Party’s voting rights lawyer:
“The number of attorneys in the DOJ’s voting section dropped from 30 to three, according to one group’s estimate provided to Democracy Docket. It came amid reports that the department will no longer work to protect voting rights.”
From Robert Reich:
“In the 1950s, when banking was a dull and quiet profession, the financial sector accounted for 15 percent of corporate profits. By 2010, it had grown to 50 percent. In the 1950s, finance was the handmaiden of corporations. Today, corporations are the handmaiden of finance.”
From Naomi Klein and Astra Taylor:
The philosophical and theological beliefs of the religious right and the extreme tech bros are quite different, but they have forged a united front of believers that most of humanity will die and they will survive.
From NY Times:
Regarding the SCOTUS hearing on Trump’s obviously unconstitutional birthright citizenship order: “If the government keeps losing in lower courts and chooses not to appeal to the Supreme Court, some justices have said, it is hard to see how the court can rule on the constitutionality of the executive order ending birthright citizenship.”
From Yanis Varoufakis:
The former Greek finance minister explains the objectives behind Trump’s trade war. While Trump lacks discipline and strategic vision, his team – especially Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent – know what they are doing.
Technical glitch solved: In my previous post of May 7, I promised a link to the podcast with Sarahia Benn and me. Here it is: The Benn & Cooper Call: Organize, Expose, Reclaim”(BNP Report #6)