Snarky News About The SnarkMistress Herself-

Karoline Leavitt’s Briefing Blunder Accidentally Undoes Key Trump Policy, Sparks Mockery Online

Lee Moran Thu, March 20, 2025 at 2:02 AM CDT 1 min read

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt faced mockery on Wednesday after another apparent slipup during a press briefing.

Leavitt stated that President Donald Trump is “committed to passing a big reconciliation package later this year,” which includes “ending no taxes on tips.”

(or https://bsky.app/profile/atrupar.com/post/3lkqpjjvszu2r , just in case. It’s worth the click.-A.)

Critics quickly seized on the phrase, interpreting it as an accidental double negative that contradicted Trump’s 2024 election campaign promise to nix taxes on tips. Trump has yet to implement the policy.

Leavitt on Monday drew similar mockery after she accidentally claimed the Department of Justice will focus on “fighting law and order” when “fighting for law and order” was likely what she meant.

Leavitt says Trump is committed to "ending no taxes on tips" pic.twitter.com/bA0QBiXgxB
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) March 19, 2025

(Or https://x.com/atrupar/status/1902412161777070590 snip-see story post for embedded replies. )

Open Windows-Ann Telnaes

Trump’s broadway hits by Ann Telnaes

The self-anointed chairman of the Kennedy Center fancies himself a producer Read on Substack

One of his favorite musicals is Fiddler on the Roof and “when he was a young man Mr. Trump had dreams of one day becoming a Broadway producer himself. Now, he said, the Kennedy Center’s focus would be on producing ‘Broadway hits.’”

(with apologies to the original poster creator)

For What It’s Worth,

Judge Rules Appointments Clause Challenge against DOGE Likely to Succeed

Judge Rules Appointments Clause Challenge against DOGE Likely to Succeed

March 18, 2025/11 Comments/in emptywheel /by emptywheel

You’ve likely heard that Judge Theodore Chuang has enjoined DOGE in the context of its destruction of USAID.

Just as importantly, he has ruled that an Appointments Clause challenge to DOGE is likely to succeed. As I have repeatedly argued, such a challenge — arguing that to wield as much power as Elon Musk does, you have to be Senate confirmed in a position created by Congress — would be most likely to survive a SCOTUS review. (It’s the same basis Aileen Cannon used to throw out the Jack Smith case.)

To be sure, I’m a bit skeptical about the order and injunction. The latter only enjoins DOGE from doing anything on their own; if they get USAID approval, they can do whatever they want to do.

But the opinion notes that the Appointments ruling only applies to two things that, the record before the court shows, Elon did himself: shutting down USAID as an agency and shutting down the building. While the injunction requires USAID to stop any further terminations and let employees start accessing payment systems again, even though it notes that Gavin Kliger sent the email that terminated at least a few of the plaintiffs, those decisions involved Marco Rubio and Pete Marocco.

The opinion is most fun for the two extended sections where it dismisses the government’s claim that Elon is not in charge of DOGE.

Most notably, on February 19, 2025, President Trump publicly stated, “I signed an order creating the Department of Government Efficiency and put a man named Elon Musk in charge.” J.R. 568. Musk spoke on behalf of DOGE at a joint press conference with the President on February 11, in a joint interview with the President on February 18, and at the Cabinet meeting on February 26.

Musk’s public statements and posts on X, in which he has stated on multiple occasions that DOGE will take action, and such action occurred shortly thereafter, demonstrate that he has firm control over DOGE.

[snip]

Althought the White House announced on February 25, 2025, that Amy Gleason is now the Acting USDS Administrator, that same day, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt maintained that “the president tasked Elon Musk to oversee the DOGE effort” while noting that others “are helping to run DOGE on a day-to-day basis.” J.R. 616. Notably, at the February 28, 2025 hearing on this Motion, Defendants’ counsel could not identify, despite having made an inquiry, who the USDS Administrator was before Gleason.

We shall see how this survives appeal (the suit was filed in Maryland, so it’ll go through a different Circuit than most DOGE challenges, including the New Mexico one that is closest to this stage).

But for the moment, it has held that Elon has absolutely no authority to do most of what he has done.

Thanks, Republicans …

Rescind EO 14126 “Good Jobs” Executive Order

Trump declared all of Biden’s pardons “void” and the reason is just dumb enough to be dangerous

Maga Parents BRAINWASH Their Kids For Trump

About Michael Knowles; It’s a Couple of Years Old, I Missed It Then, So Here It Is In Case Others Missed It, Too.

This publication is not one that I read, except when items like this are brought to my attention by publications I do read, so there’s that, too.

Conservative who called for ‘transgenderism’ to be eradicated played queer character in student film

Michael Knowles, who used his CPAC speech to call for the eradication of ‘transgenderism’ from public life, also reportedly appeared in drag in 2016

Abe Asher Tuesday 21 March 2023 17:23 EDT

Michael Knowles, The Daily Wire commentator who called for “transgenderism to be eradicated” from public life at CPAC last month, reportedly starred in a student film as a queer character and dressed in drag in previous years.

The Daily Dot reported on Monday that when Knowles was in college at Yale University in 2012, he starred in a student film entitled The House of Shades. In the film, which runs just over 15 minutes, Knowles plays a queer man who seduces another young man at a nightclub he belongs to.

Near the end of the film, which is available on YouTube, Knowles’ character confesses that he has feelings for the man. A friend advises him not to get caught up on him. The unearthing of Knowles’ portrayal in the film comes after the same outlet reported that he had dressed in drag on at least two occasions in 2016 in a racist portrayal of Sen Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts.

Ordinarily, Knowles’ performance in the student film would be unremarkable. But the Daily Wire pundit has aggressively argued in recent years for the upholding of traditional gender roles and strictly heteropatriarchal sexual mores, calling gay marriage “the most radical political shift our civilization has ever embraced” and attacking drag shows.

Knowles defended himself from charges of hypocrisy in a tweet on Friday. (snip-MORE he’s an arrogant little human, and hypocritical.)

2 More From Clay Jones

MAGA Fire In The Sky by Clay Jones

Oops, there goes another one of Elon’s rockets Read on Substack

A second SpaceX rocket has blown up this year. And remember, the year is less than three months old. Debris from the explosion shut down air traffic in the state of Florida, or it was because they found a trans flight attendant in Orlando.

MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow had some snark about the explosion, using a metaphor for Elon Musk’s and DOGE’s dismantling of federal government agencies, Maddow said, “Rapid unscheduled disassembly is kind of Elon Musk’s specialty these days, especially in a way that really messes with other people through no fault of their own.”

Just think of all those inconvenienced by Elon’s rocket explosion delaying flights. Florida alligators are waiting to eat those people, Elon!

MSNBC’s Michael Steele said, “For Elon, his response to all of this was, ‘Rockets are hard.’ And Mr. Musk, if they’re so hard, why don’t you go back to your day job and work that out and leave those of us who do government to do government because you can’t do both. Clearly, you’re failing right now at both. Your rockets are blowing up, and the government is blowing up.”

Poor Kayleigh Menaney flipped her blonde wig over at Fox News, saying to the liberal media, “Don’t you dare root against SpaceX.” You would think they had put a shit-covered flag into a blender to serve as smoothies to World War II veterans, but then again…Elon’s making cuts at the Veteran’s Administration. It’s getting harder and harder to use analogies with these bastards.

There was a lot of wig flipping over on Trump TV. (snip-MORE)

=====

BRAAAAAAINS by Clay Jones

Where are the brains in the Trump/Elon Administration? Read on Substack

During Trump’s address to Congress last week, he repeated Elon Musk’s lie that 150-year-olds are collecting Social Security. The lie is even more malicious than originally thought because Trump repeated and enhanced it after it’s been debunked.

It’s a lie.

Elon previously posted on X in February, when it was working, that DOGE found beneficiaries in their 100s, 200s, and even 300s who were still receiving Social Security payments.

Nobody’s actually against the government rooting out waste and fraud. What we’re against is the lack of transparency by a Trump-appointed, corrupt, lying unelected bureaucrat with huge conflicts of interest and a lack of any qualifications to make decisions on government spending without any input from the three branches of government. Why is this so hard to understand?

We know there’s waste and fraud in government, but you don’t elect lying swamp creatures to drain the swamp.

In his address, Trump said, “We are also identifying shocking levels of incompetence and probable fraud in the Social Security program for our seniors and that our seniors and people that we love rely on. He then went on to list the number of people who are past the age of 100. “Money is being paid to many of them, and we are searching right now,” King Grifter said.

At one point during the speech, he criticized “unelected bureaucrats,” which made the Democrats laugh. (snip-MORE)

Bad News.

Simply very bad news. Precisely what Project 2025/Agenda 47/Republican National Platform said they want to do. I’m sorry; I don’t like to bring bad news. But people need to prepare. This is written in editorial/opinion style, but facts are within and there are citations. For people like us who need time to prepare for austerity, it’s news we ought to read.

Also, there are Senator names included for who we should write to regarding this bill. That’s our last chance. Shutdown is on Republicans, not Democrats, no matter how they try to deflect. We need to tell the Dem senators to speak what’s in this bill, every chance they get, and to refuse to vote in favor, pointing at Republicans the entire time.

There are parts in the article complaining about Democrats and their choices, etc., et. m. Read it if you want (you’ll have to click through for it,) but it won’t help anyone to read more complaining about Democrats. We the people need to energize Dem. Senators to speak out, and to vote no. Especially the speak out portion; Sen. Mark Kelly does that especially well, and is among those the author of this piece feels is wavering. I intend to start first thing in the morning, and I hope all of us will devote some time to this. It’s vital.

Senate Democrats’ Choice: Block the Republican Spending Bill or Dissolve Congress

The House’s continuing resolution would effectively hand over spending decisions to Donald Trump and Elon Musk.

by David Dayen March 11, 2025

Snippets:

Without the luxury of Republicans falling apart, Democrats in the Senate need to decide whether to prevent a dangerous and harmful budget that shrinks the power of Congress in the government. Since operating on principle goes against their “adults in the room” mindset, they are wavering on what to do. But it should be an open-and-shut case.

A normal continuing resolution funds the government at the same level as the previous budget. This bill does not. It cuts non-defense discretionary spending by $13 billion below last year’s level, while increasing military spending by $6 billion. It zeroes out funding for programs that fund homeless shelters and prevent child abuse. It cuts health care funding for clinics and hospitals, emergency preparedness for communities, clean water projects and tribal assistance. Meanwhile, it adds money for mass deportations, just as Immigrations and Customs Enforcement has illegally detained a green card holder for his political beliefs.

Most of the budget cuts are achieved by removing earmarks, which members of Congress put in to direct projects. But usually when earmarks are removed, the money goes back to the agency to decide how to distribute it. This maneuver cuts the earmarks and the money.

The House Republican bill also fails to fix a carryover of a $20 billion rescission to IRS money from the Inflation Reduction Act, effectively doubling that cut. This was kind of pre-ordained when Democrats punted on this in a prior continuing resolution last December, but it still means that practically all of the IRA’s funding for greater enforcement of tax collection is now gone.

The bill not only adds $6 billion to the Department of Defense’s enormous budget, but adds $8 billion in “transfer authority” that allows the agency to shift spending where they deem important, a flexibility no other agency gets.

While Republicans tout a $6 billion increase in veterans health care in the bill, they neglect to mention the removal of a $23 billion appropriation to the Toxic Exposure Fund to implement the PACT Act, which cares for veterans exposed to burn pits and other cancer-causing chemicals. While there’s an extra $2.2 billion for the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s disaster relief fund, there’s no additional money to support the rebuilding in southern California after the January wildfires.

But most important, the bill grants an open invitation to Trump and Elon Musk to continue to ignore Congress and toss out disfavored spending. Vice President JD Vance, while selling the deal to House Republicans, stated outright that “Trump would continue cutting federal funding with his Department of Government Efficiency initiative and pursue impoundment — that is, holding back money appropriated by Congress.” This has been reiterated by others in the Trump administration.

In fact, the House Republican bill gives the president more leeway to move money around. It appropriates money for things that Musk has eliminated, meaning that money can operate as a floating slush fund for Trump’s priorities, as long as the courts don’t roll back the illegal impoundments.

… The Trump administration is saying that they will sign a bill appropriating specific funding, and then go about cutting funding anyway. If you’re a member of Congress, you’re being told that your work product doesn’t matter, that the constitutional power of the purse doesn’t matter, and that there’s no guarantee that anything you pass will actually reach the people you serve.

I can see why Republicans would take this deal: they want budget cuts but know they don’t have the votes for them, so they’re plenty happy to outsource that to the president, even if it turns Congress into a separate and unequal branch of government. But why would Democrats willingly submit to a fake budget on paper that can be so easily circumvented? As Rep. Greg Casar (D-TX), chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, said on X, “The Republican spending plan will supercharge Musk’s theft from working people to pay for billionaire tax cuts. Senate Democrats must stop it.”

…

So far, only Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) has committed to voting yes. But as Josh Marshall has documented at Talking Points Memo, a number of Senate Democrats have stated no position on the bill, leaving their options open. In general, senators have been hedging their bets until forced to make a decision. That time has come.

Credible sources indicate that the most likely Democrats to offer up the remaining seven votes to avoid a shutdown are Mark Kelly (D-AZ), Ruben Gallego (D-AZ), Michael Bennet (D-CO), John Hickenlooper (D-CO), Jon Ossoff (D-GA), Gary Peters (D-MI), Elissa Slotkin (D-MI), Maggie Hassan (D-NH), and Mark Warner (D-VA).

Taking another swing at the melon

Hello All. I recently managed to completely confuse everyone with a post titled “I differ from Belle a bit on This”. It may help to put the rest of this post into context…Scottie insisted that I take my medication before I try to express myself a bit better with this second swing. I’ll have you know that my doctor says I’m feeling much better now, so… here goes; strap up buttercup!

I would like to preface this attempt at face-saving with the reminder that just because something sounds incredibly insane does not mean that it isn’t in fact, uh, fact. Let’s face it, America just voted back in a guy who… well, you know who he is. I don’t think I need to explain more there.

For those of you brave (crazy?) enough to have gone back and read that previous post, I begged for help with an eventuality that I see in our future. I told Scottie that it is like seeing something horrifying coming towards you on a fog covered road; too indistinct to quite make out, to loathsome to articulate. And for those of you keeping score, I still don’t want to say it because I don’t want to speak it into existance and I’m truly afraid of the outcome. Nonetheless…

Despite drumpf’s denials, he is plugging right down the perditious road of project 2025. We have seen him bring on banana-nut musk and his flying monkeys as they take a reaping scythe to a functioning government, mostly to the rabid applause of the far right.

For those of you who know people who work in the government, they are typically non-political. Why? Because politicians come, politicians go, and these folks have to be to work on Monday morning to do the work that needs to be done. But, drumpf and his crew of merry men fired thousands for being “unfit”.

They said that this was to “save money”, “to be more efficient” and to “root out corruption”. They told you they were going to do this in their project 2025. They also told you that they would replace them with right minded compatriots. That was such batshit craziness that no one believed them, including the now fired government workers who voted for them.

Now, for some things that they didn’t tell you that I alluded to in the previous post:

I believe that the project 2025 is a grass-roots restructuring of the American Government. The replacement of the top people every four years is expected, and has a limited effect. The rank and file ignore them and do their job around them.

The replacement of the rank and file in relevant positions will change the structure of the government in the same way that the take over of the school boards drove home the confusion and dismantling of personal freedom for young people… who grow to be the upcoming generation. The removal of DEI and reasonable minded government workers, is only the pretext for replacement of those people who mirror the very American population with compatriots who demonstrate their “fitness” by being willing to violate any law, any policy, any moral code upon direction of their Dear Leader.

In short: I believe that the drumpf administration is seeking to create the very deep state they accused the democrats of having.

I believe this grass roots movement will mirror the change in the top, but will be around for 20-30 years, long after we would presume, hope!, drumpf to be gone.

I believe this movement will not only facilitate the end goals of project 2025, but normalize it.

I believe this is designed to not just dismantle the normalcy of the government, not just open the very institution to pillaging by the powerful, but to bring about a future that would not be recognizable pre-maga.

And, the ramifications of this terrify me.