As much as I would like to write about something other than the Trump administration, I have to go where the news is.
This week, the new administration ran into its first authentic scandal, as seven Justice Department prosecutors resigned rather than sign on to the corrupt deal Trump worked out with New York Mayor Eric Adams. The gist of the quid pro quo is that DoJ will drop well-founded indictments of Adams in exchange for his cooperation with Trump’s immigration enforcement policies. Such a deal skewers the nonpartisan identity of DoJ, and is as abhorrent to conservative prosecutors as liberal ones. Prosecution is supposed to be about enforcing the law, not manipulating policy outcomes.
This case points out the larger disregard Trump hold for ethical norms, and opens up a question I’ll address in the featured post “Can Ethical People Work in the Trump Administration?” That should be out before 10 EST.
Meanwhile, Elon Musk’s assault on democracy continues. Attempts to block the illegal Trump/Musk actions continue to work their way through the courts, with the first challenge lined up to hit the Supreme Court. Whatever happens there will have sweeping consequences.
Two new foreign-policy positions also deserve attention: on Ukraine and on Gaza.
Popular resistance to Trump is rising. A few weeks ago I cautioned against demonstrating prematurely, because protesting against Trump himself was unlikely to sway anyone who voted for him. However, now that there are clear actions to protest, it’s time to get out there. (“This is wrong” is a very different message than “Trump is bad”.) I went to my first post-election demonstration in Boston Friday.
I’ll try to get the weekly summary out by noon, but it’s hard to gauge.
The Weekly Sift 