from the end of the shutdown,-and I have huge hope that we the people will continue to stand together to help each other through the days!-we do get the Astronomy Photo of the Day again!
Explanation: Few cosmic vistas can excite the imagination like The Great Nebula in Orion. Visible as a faint, bland celestial smudge to the naked-eye, the nearest large star-forming region sprawls across this sharp colorful telescopic image. Designated M42 in the Messier Catalog, the Orion Nebula’s glowing gas and dust surrounds hot, young stars. About 40 light-years across, M42 is at the edge of an immense interstellar molecular cloud only 1,500 light-years away that lies within the same spiral arm of our Milky Way galaxy as the Sun. Including dusty bluish reflection nebula NGC 1977, also known as the Running Man nebula at left in the frame, the natal nebulae represent only a small fraction of our galactic neighborhood’s wealth of star-forming material. Within the well-studied stellar nursery, astronomers have also identified what appear to be numerous infant solar systems.
For some people, gender shifts over time, often through changes in one’s sense of self. A transgender man may realize they are nonbinary and stop hormone replacement therapy. A trans woman may face so much discrimination that she represses her identity. And some trans people medically reverse their transition to live as their sex assigned at birth.
These experiences are all part of a process known as detransitioning. Although detransitioning does not have a consistent social or academic definition, it generally applies to someone who has sought a gender transition and then stopped, shifted or reversed aspects of it. Their experiences offer a deeper look at how discrimination and gender norms impact our lives, how gender-affirming care can be improved, and how identity is perhaps more fluid than previously thought.
As experts work to understand detransitioners, their vulnerabilities and their highly individualized needs, their identities are being co-opted as part of a national campaign against transgender rights. Health care access and research are being blocked by politicians for both trans people and detransitioners — while anti-trans rhetoric puts everyone at risk.
The Federal Trade Commission and the Justice Department are investigating gender-affirming care as medical fraud, and they are rooting this effort in detransitioners’ stories that fit the narrative the Trump administration wants to advance. The White House wants the National Institutes of Health to study “regret” and “detransition,” even as it cuts any federal funding for researchthat mentions the word “trans.” The U.S. Department of Education hosted a “Detrans Awareness Day” event last March. Meanwhile, its functions have been severely undermined by layoffs and budget cuts.
The White House and agencies like the Justice Department claim that gender-affirming care is mutilating children, overlooking that young trans people live happily after transition and the studies showing that adolescents who regret transition are in the minority. Government officials describe trans people and detransitioners as victims of a medical conspiracy to boost profits and force gender ideology on families. Now, they are seeking evidence to prove those claims by subpoenaing hospitals for patients’ private data, including doctors’ notes, patient addresses and Social Security numbers.
Gender-affirming care has been broadly endorsed by the medical community for its effectiveness in treating gender dysphoria, a persistent distress felt when one’s body is out of sync with their identity. The 2022 U.S. Trans Survey, which polled over 92,000 trans and nonbinary people 16 and older, found that social and medical transition were profound sources of life satisfaction. Experts and advocates agree that more research and more understanding are needed to improve trans medical care. But under Trump, they also expect transgender and intersex health to keep getting worse, not better.
The 19th spoke with two detransitioners who feel harmed and usedby the Trump administration, which has positioned itself as a protector of those who detransition. Adriana lives in New York City, where she feels safe to express herself among so many LGBTQ+ people, but has struggled to access adequate health care. Ara lives in North Carolina, a state that has several laws restricting trans rights and health care access — and where support from a mental health program and her partner has helped her navigate the challenges of detransitioning. As politicians stoke fear about gender non-conformity, their experiences offer a deeper understanding of what it means to live authentically in a politically volatile time.
Still, more young people have been exploring their identities, expanding the boundaries of gender and adding to the cultural and social norms surrounding it. Detransitioners’ experiences are part of that social evolution. Their stories of regret and pain exist alongside stories of joy and empowerment — and these are all part of a journey of self-discovery that may have turned out to be more complicated than they initially thought. The question is, will elected officials support them on this journey or cause more harm?
‘Taking away trans health care is taking away people’s lives’
As providers of trans health care have become political targets, Ara Kareis’ own routine treatments have been disrupted.
‘I just feel like such a power source’
The joy that Adriana Del Orden feels in her body could have only come through exploring her gender. She’s tired of being told that she ruined her life.
The politics of detransition
Political rhetoric doesn’t capture the complexity of detransitioning — or what taking away health care means.
Here’s the latest signature. This was done on my iPad, which was a little sad for me because I hadn’t used it in over a month. I had to reboot my Procreate program, and there was some lag. Don’t worry, baby. Daddy’s coming home.
A hard part about writing my signature is controlling my arm and applying pressure. Someone mentioned that I should strum one of my guitars as physical therapy, but I think there are better exercises. Plus, not being able to strum a guitar only makes me sad. It’s almost as sad as not being able to draw.
So why did six Democrats (one Independent and whatever the fuck Fetterman is) cave in on the government shutdown? They had just overwhelmingly won elections in New York City, New Jersey, and Virginia last week. The public was correctly blaming Donald Trump and Republicans for the shutdown. Proof of that was Donald Trump’s fight with courts to prevent snap benefits from feeding the hungry. Are Democrats upset over flight delays? Are they afraid Thanksgiving would be ruined? What did they get for rolling over?
Michael De Adder correctly has them surrendering.
Fake cartoonists Margolis and Cox have them surrendering, too. I can’t tell what’s going on with the person in the left-hand corner because the artwork is so bad. Why didn’t they finish writing “government?” There is plenty of room.
In the new deal, SNAP and WIC will receive additional funding, and there are a few other modest concessions on spending levels elsewhere in the government. Laid-off federal workers will be rehired, and furloughed federal workers will be given back pay. But remember, this entire fight was over subsidies for the Affordable Care Act being suspended. In exchange for rolling over, Democrats got a promise from Republicans that there would be a vote on healthcare subsidies. Basically, Democrats got a promise from Republicans that they’ll think about it.
Ezra Klein, an opinion columnist for The New York Times, wrote,“This, in the end, is the calculation the defecting Senate Democrats are making: They don’t think a longer shutdown will cause Trump to cave. They just think it will cause more damage.”
I understand why Democrats may get that impression. Donald Trump is flying to Asia, playing golf, traveling to me MAGA-Lardo, going to football games for no fucking reason, and ramping up support to name the new stadium in Washington, DC after him, and it’s obvious he doesn’t care about people starving. So what does Trump care if the government shuts down? And what do Republicans care either? They’re all on vacation. Mike Johnson sent Republicans on vacation. They want Democrats to own the shutdown, but they’re not doing anything to end it.
It is especially frustrating because these Democrats have been in Washington, DC long enough to know better than to trust Republicans. I wouldn’t be surprised if Republicans never even hold a vote on the subsidies for the Affordable Care Act. I mean, House Republicans did not make this deal, so they don’t have to hold a vote on the subsidies. Only Senate Republicans have promised to hold a vote.
Kicking Lucy’s football is a lazy trope, but John Darkow has it right that Democrats are nothing but a bunch of suckers.
Chuck Schumer did not vote for this plan, but do you blame him as the Democratic Senate leader for it happening, as Dave Whamond has cartooned about here? Personally, whether Schumer deserves part of the blame or not, doesn’t matter in concerning his fate, as he has always been a weak leader.
Democrats have the view that Donald Trump is not caving, thus they’re caving into in without even negotiating. Are you telling me that Donald Trump’s strategy of not giving a fuck is working to sway Democrats?
Chris Britt has it right that these eight are nothing but a bunch of chickens.
Mike Luckovich sure this cartoon last week or so, but now I believe it’s the Democrats, who are curving themselves up. If nothing else, they’re serving Obamacare up for the slaughter.
I don’t think anyone has explained the healthcare subsidy situation better than Matt Davies has. As someone who is benefiting from Obamacare and government subsidies, I feel like we’re getting rolled over.
And Steve…
I know you get reprints when you don’t blame anyone specific, but it wasn’t just Congress that was responsible for the shutdown. Maybe someday you’ll be able to cartoon about issues after you understand them.
This was almost as cowardly as…
…when Ramirez was afraid to blame Donald Trump for pardoning George Santos. Seriously, Michael… “they” did not pardon George Santos. Only one person could have pardoned George Santos, and I don’t know if you know how the Constitution works, but it doesn’t say that person is “they.”
Was Rudy Giuliani guilty of trying to help Trump steal the 2020 election? Donald Trump thinks he is. That’s why he got a pardon this week. This isn’t like Joe Biden giving his son and Dr. Anthony Fauci pardons, Fauci being preemptive, because Donald Trump has proved those were necessary as he has turned the entire Justice Department into his personal attack dog, and is ordering it to go after his political enemies and seek revenge. But nobody was really going after Rudy on criminal charges in federal courts. A pardon does not save Rudy from paying out the civil judgment from the Georgia election workers any more than it stops his farts or black shoe dye from running down his skull.
Bill Bramhall, who was a couple of days after Lucko’s turkey, caught that this pardon was in the right season.
Along with Giuliani, Trump pardoned John Eastman, a corrupt lawyer who advised Trump’s 2020 campaign; Mark Meadows, the former White House chief of staff; Boris Epshteyn, a presidential adviser; and Sidney Powell, an insane lawyer who blamed conspiracy theories for Trump’s defeat to Joe Biden. None of these people has been charged in federal courts, though they have been charged in state courts. Trump’s pardons are only symbolic as they don’t protect his friends from state charges.
This is another example of Trump using the presidency to help himself and his friends and not the American people. This is what happens when a felon gets pardon powers.
I’m sick of the new normal, which includes pandering to a 79-year-old toddler. Part of this new normal is naming shit after Trump. There’s talk of renaming the Kennedy Center after Donald Trump. There’s talk of renaming the metro system in Washington, DC after Trump, the $1000 savings account for newborns is called the Trump account, lawmakers had proposed renaming Dulles International Airport after Trump, and now, Trump is demanding that the new football stadium on the old RFK Stadium site be named after him. Donald Trump didn’t have anything to do with securing the stadium deal any more than he did with ending the war between Hamas and Israel.
As for the Metro, a Republican introduced a bill that threatened to withhold federal funding for Washington’s rail system unless the name was changed to the Trump train. Why? There’s no fucking reason given for this fealty to Trump. Republicans want to hold funding hostage, not for any policies or improvement, but just to name the system after Donald Trump. I seriously doubt Donald Trump has ever taken a ride on the Metro.
As you may know from reading this blog, I love Subway systems. I use the Metro more than any other train system, and it’s one I know very well. I will take it as a personal insult if the name is officially changed to the fucking Trump Train. This will be an insult to the entire city of Washington, and no longtime resident of the city will ever refer to it as the goddamn Trump Train.
I have said it before, and I will say it again. This is some Saddam Hussein-level bullshit. Of course, Republicans don’t care about the optics anymore.
I’m very surprised the Supreme Court refused to revisit gay marriage. You know if zealots Clarence Thomas and Amy Coney Barrett had their way, they would try to overturn it the same way they did with Roe. Precedent doesn’t mean anything to the Supreme Court anymore. Neither does the Constitution nor the law. SCOTUS would rather go by the Old Testament than by the United States Constitution.
Donald Trump is promising tariff payments to middle-income Americans. He said, “We’re going to issue a dividend to our middle-income people and lower-income people of about $2,000. And we’re going to use the remaining tariffs to lower our debt.”
Two things: this contradicts his argument that tariffs are not taxes being paid by American consumers, and his tariffs aren’t bringing in enough revenue to give everyone $2,000. If you make Americans pay these tariff dividends from the budget, then aren’t Americans paying for the dividends just like they’re paying for the tariffs? Donald Trump doesn’t even have any details for this new plan. He thinks it’s magic money that’s going to appear out of thin air.
Donald Trump wants the tariffs to pay off the deficit. American consumers are paying the tariffs. Donald Trump wants to pay American consumers out of the debt for paying for the tariffs. You don’t need to be an economics major to know that this is madness.
As Bill points out, it’s the tariff, stupid. If Democrats do come out winning over Trump’s tariff policy, I’m sure they will find a way to blow it.
Donald Trump is now demanding that the BBC apologize to him for editing part of a video of his speech before the January 6 attack, and to pay him lots of money, or he will sue them for $1 billion. This sounds like Dr. Evil threatening the BBC.
As Jack points out, ethics are lapsing with the American media. Now, when 60 Minutes interviews him (after CBS allowed him to bribe them), it’s about as ethical as when Fox News does not give him follow-up questions.
Trump believes the video made him sound more violent than he really was, ignoring that the attack on January 6 was violent and an attempt to overturn the 2020 election. But as usual, Donald Trump is demanding to be bribed. The American press has failed to stand firm against Donald Trump and his threats, so I hope the British press does not give in. I need to believe in something.
Joel Pett points out what Donald Trump wants edited out.
This is one reason why I like to have the BBC as one of the four channels in the multiview feature.
Have you heard of Mar-a-Lago face? Usually, people who have a little work done don’t want to advertise it. Most people lie about it when questioned. But now it seems that they’re all going the Kristi Noem route, and going for the Melania. Having your lips filled and being proud of it is very much a Palm Beach thing, but now it’s extending to Washington, DC. Now there are MAGAts in Washington who are having work done, and they’re proud of it. They want everyone to know, which means their faces look fucking stupid. It seems the facelift of Washington isn’t just going to be in the city. I guess collagen-filled lips are better for kissing Donald Trump’s ass with. Dammit, that’s a political cartoon.
If I see a bunch of Kristie Noems on the “Trump Train,” I’m going to lose my shit. Last June, during Trump’s birthday parade, I did tell some MAGAts on the metro to fuck Trump. A MAGAt’s right to free speech to wear that ugly cap on the Metro also applies to my free speech to tell them to go fuck themselves.
Let’s talk about some stroke stuff. I am currently wearing a temporary heart sensor. I hate it. Since I got out of the hospital, it’s been the bane of my existence.
Please watch. As she says the site is called Dunning Kruger and states it is not fake news or lies because it is totally fictional and made up. But tRump believes it. Hugs
The shutdown may finally be coming to an end. Our health care costs, unfortunately, will not. I’ll be back on Wednesday with a deep dive into just how spectacularly absurd our health care system has become.
In the meantime, RSV and flu are picking up speed, and a concerning infant formula recall has been linked to a rare botulism cluster, thanks to a small but mighty team in California. The FDA is expected to remove the black box warning from hormone replacement therapy—a move that’s scientifically sound but bound to spark drama from HHS. We also have new blood pressure guidelines that could make prevention a lot more personal. And amidst it all, a few more pieces of genuinely good news to end on a high note.
Let’s dive in!
Disease “weather” report: RSV and flu gaining momentum
It will take some time for the CDC data systems to ramp up again after being offline for over 40 days. For now, we’ll continue to rely on the alternative sources, such as Dr. Caitlin Rivers’ updates and the PopHive dashboards.
RSV continues to climb slowly but steadily, especially among children under five. National growth is still linear—not yet exponential—but that acceleration could occur at any time.
Theflu remains relatively low but is beginning to increase, particularly among young children. As Dr. Rivers notes, “Hawaii has moved to moderate activity, Arizona has surpassed its seasonal baseline, and New York cases jumped 49% in the past week.”
Source: New York State Department of Health Respiratory Surveillance Report
U.S. childhood flu vaccination rates have dropped from 62% to 49% over the past five years. Last year saw one of the deadliest seasons on record, with 280 pediatric deaths—the highest since tracking began in 2004. About 90% of those children weren’t fully vaccinated. Our deadliest flu season came at a time of historically low vaccination rates, which can’t be a coincidence. We don’t yet know this season’s coverage, but if it falls further, we could be facing another tragic record.
Covid-19 remains in a lull, though we typically see a winter rise starting in mid-to-late November.
I’m really hoping these three viruses don’t peak simultaneously. Hospitals strain under just a bad flu season; I couldn’t imagine the “big three” all at the same time. Historically, their peaks have staggered, but given how little we truly understand about these overlapping patterns, that may have been more a matter of luck than a rule. Time will tell.
What this means for you: This is the best time to get vaccinated. It’s certainly not too late.
Infant formula outbreak and Listeria in pasta
Over the weekend, a troubling cluster of infant botulism cases was linked to ByHeart Whole Nutrition Infant Formula. Even during a government shutdown and an increasingly challenging environment, outbreak teams have been working around the clock to protect our most vulnerable.
What this is: Infant botulism is extremely rare but serious. It occurs when Clostridium botulinum spores—commonly found in soil, dust, and some foods—germinate in a baby’s intestines and release toxins that can paralyze muscles, interfere with breathing, and require intensive care. In a typical year, the U.S. sees 160–180 cases, often linked to environmental exposure or foods like honey. Even a small cluster of cases is a clear red flag.
What we know:Clostridium botulinum spores have been detected in ByHeart infant formula, resulting in the hospitalization of 13 infants across 10 states. The California Department of Public Health (CDPH) played a key role in identifying this cluster. CDPH is the only source in the world for BabyBIG—the lifesaving antitoxin—and manages all clinician calls and treatment distribution. Their team noticed a spike in requests and discovered that the affected infants all consumed the same formula brand, prompting an alert to CDC. Importantly, ByHeart produces just 1% of U.S. infant formula, so this alone is unlikely to cause a national shortage. (Be sure to sign up for YLE CA for a deeper dive this Thursday.)
What we don’t know: Epidemiologists are investigating whether contamination is truly confined to ByHeart or reflects a broader issue in the manufacturing or ingredient sourcing process.
What to do:Stop using ByHeart Whole Nutrition Infant Formula immediately. Retailers should pull it from shelves, including Amazon, Kroger, Walmart, Whole Foods, Target, and Sam’s Club.
There is also the ongoing Listeria outbreak associated with frozen pasta dishes, including some sold at Trader Joe’s and other grocery chains. We’ve covered this before, but according to the agency’s ongoing investigation, two more brands of food are linked to the outbreak. There’s a long list of recalled products you can find here. Throw out immediately.
In total, there have been 27 illnesses reported, 25 hospitalizations, and six deaths in 18 states since late September.
Number of cases associated with the pasta Listeria outbreak. Source: CDC
HRT ‘black box’ warning may be gone soon
Word is that the FDA will remove the black box warning from hormone replacement therapy (HRT) this week. (It may now be pushed back with the government reopening.) If this announcement reflects the HRT review conducted at HHS last month, it will likely be messy and riddled with inaccuracies. However, if you look at the science without the drama, removing the black label is not unreasonable.
The black box warning—the strictest warning label, meant for drugs with potentially life-threatening risks—was enacted after a 2002 Women’s Health Initiative study found increased risks of stroke and breast cancer. Since then, research has revealed crucial nuance: risks depend on timing, dose, and delivery. Starting HRT earlier, using low-dose or localized estrogen, and tailoring therapy to each woman can be both effective and safe.
What this story is really about: Menopause is universal, yet too often misunderstood. While the science continues to evolve, the major problem is that clinical practice and training have lagged far behind. Women deserve evidence-based care, informed clinicians, and the freedom to make choices rooted in both science and compassion. We are still far from what is needed for women.
POLL
(snip-poll won’t embed here; go to the Substack page. The question is if readers would like to see a deep dive into HRT. If you wish to vote, click “read on Substack”, above.)
New blood pressure guidelines
Major new blood pressure guidelines dropped for the first time in years.
At the center of the update is an enhanced assessment tool called the PREVENT calculator, developed by the American Heart Association. It’s designed to estimate a person’s 10-year risk of cardiovascular disease using factors like blood pressure, cholesterol, smoking, and diabetes. The model was built using data from 6.5 million U.S. adults aged 30 to 79, making it one of the most representative tools available.
Here’s what stands out:
A new threshold for medication. The key number to watch is 7.5%. If your 10-year risk of heart disease is at or above that level, physicians are now encouraged to consider medication even if your blood pressure hovers around 130/80 mmHg. If your risk is below that, lifestyle changes, like healthy eating, exercising, and better stress management, remain the first step.
A focus on home monitoring.The guidelines also emphasize checking blood pressure at home. Growing evidence shows that home readings may actually be more accurate predictors of long-term risk than in-office measurements. So spending $45 on an arm monitor if you have hypertension might be a great (even lifesaving!) idea.
What this means for you: This makes heart health more personalized than ever. You can calculate your own 10-year risk using the PREVENT calculator (although you will need some pretty specific numbers from your last blood panel). Regardless, aim for blood pressure readings below 130/80, and use these new tools to guide smarter—and earlier—prevention.
Good news!
Here are some of the great things worth highlighting:
The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) is standing up for science. The organization filed an updated lawsuit last week against HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., asking a court to disband a panel (ACIP) appointed by RFK Jr. and to overturn recent decisions made by that panel. Then, to proceed under court supervision. The legal move is a direct push to restore expert-led vaccine policymaking.
The Vaccine Integrity Project (VIP) is stepping up on Hep B. With the next ACIP meeting coming up in early December, where the agenda will likely include the Hepatitis B vaccine for infants, the childhood vaccination schedule, and HPV—VIP, an independent group of scientists formed in response to waning trust in RFK Jr.’s ACIP, is conducting an evidence review ahead of what could be a contentious meeting. Their work helps ensure the science remains front and center.
Vaping among youth has seen a decline; but we still have a long way to go. A new study has found that the number of U.S. teens vaping has decreased overall. That’s progress. But among those who still do it, vaping is becoming more frequent and harder to quit—signs that use is shifting from experimentation toward dependence for some. If you have a teen who vapes, check out the EX Program, which is a free, anonymous text-messaging program designed specifically for young people who vape. There’s also SmokefreeTXT for Teens.
Question grab bag: You ask, we answer!
How long does the Covid-19 vaccine last? I got mine in September, do I need to get another?
A study published last week confirmed what we’ve consistently seen: protection against Covid-19 wanes over time. A study of more than 1.8 million Americans from the previous season showed protection against infection and severe disease declined after 4-5 months. The findings underscore the benefit of getting a Covid-19 vaccine every six months, especially for adults over 65, who accounted for nearly 80% of hospitalizations in the study.
In case you missed it
Help shape our AI + Health conversation. Thanks to everyone who responded to our survey last week! We’re running the AI and health survey to hear your thoughts on using tools like ChatGPT, Claude, Copilot, and PerplexityAI to get health information. If you missed it, take the survey here.
New York YLE’s Marisa discussed the state reaching a historic low in youth tobacco use.
California YLE Matt discussed the impact of ICE raids on access to healthcare.
These are among the truest words ever spoken. From Momsrising’s blog, here are resources: we should share them far and wide so that people can at least get by. I write letters and make phone calls with Momsrising; this is good and vital information. And, you don’t have to be a mom to use, share, or help anyone with this info! It’s for all. -A
We moms shouldn’t have to hold the nation together on empty.
Yet here we are in the middle of a government shutdown that has thrown families into chaos. SNAP benefits are being cut; air traffic controllers,
We moms shouldn’t have to hold the nation together on empty.
Yet here we are in the middle of a government shutdown that has thrown families into chaos. SNAP benefits are being cut; air traffic controllers, military school teachers, families in several states are losing child care as Head Start centers start to close; and other federal employees are facing another missed paycheck (while still showing up every day, keeping our country running!). WIC is barely hanging on by thread, and rising costs are pushing families past the brink.
Moms are holding it all together and we see you!!
We see your strength. We see your exhaustion. And we know that love shouldn’t have to come with this kind of struggle.
While the Trump Administration continues to play politics with families’ livelihoods, we want to make sure you have support right now while we keep up the fight.
This Wednesday, the Supreme Court will hear the Trump tariffs case, arguably one of the most important cases it will hear all term.
But, it’s important to understand that this is not a case about tariffs in general or about whether they are good policy. It’s a case about specific tariffs that President Trump imposedin February and whether he had the statutory authority to impose them. In other words, this is yet another example of Trump attempting to seize power that neither the Constitution nor our laws grant him and going to the Supreme Court in hopes they will validate it nonetheless. After argument, the Supreme Court will decide whether Trump had the legal authority to impose these tariffs in two cases.
We’ve been tracking this issue since Trump first threatened to impose tariffs, waffling back and forth seemingly from minute to minute. We studied the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit’s decision that rejected Trump’s effort to impose tariffs using IEEPA (I-E-Pa), the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act, for the very simple reason that the Act, unlike other statutes that do give a president the right to impose tariffs, doesn’t mention tariffs at all. It does not give the president any authority to impose them under the statute that he has expressly said he used to do so. This is the kind of textualist argument conservative justices have backed in other cases, and to abandon that approach here would be a sharp and hypocritical departure for them. Last term, Justice Gorsuch wrote that the justices’ primary focus should be on the text of the statute.
The Constitution gives the power to impose taxes, which includes tariffs, to Congress. Because IEEPA doesn’t extend that power to the president, his use of it here is just a power grab, the kind of practice the Supreme Court should push back against if it intends to remain relevant to the American experiment. The Federal Circuit’s decision pointed out that while other laws expressly give the president the power to impose tariffs, IEEPA does not. Congress knows how to give the president the power to impose tariffs when it wants to and because it did not do so here, that should be the end of the inquiry. The administration should lose here. So what we hear in oral argument, even though it won’t necessarily signal where individual judges will end up, is worth following closely to see what tea leaves can be read for this case. It may also give us some sense of whether the Court intends to act as a check in other cases involving Trump’s power grabs.
The “major questions” will also be in play on Wednesday. You may recall it from recent terms of Court, where a conservative majority has recently used it to say there must be clear guidance from Congress before a federal agency can act on a major question of economic or political significance. Here’s the wrinkle: The Court has only used the doctrine to hamstring the Biden administration, and not to hinder Trump.
In 2022, the Court decided West Virginia v. Environmental Protection Agency, rejecting the EPA’s authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from coal-fired power plants because Congress had not specifically authorized a regulation with such major political and economic consequences.
In 2023, the Court rejected Biden’s student loan relief package in Biden v. Nebraska, holding that even though a federal statute allowed the Secretary of Education to “waive or modify” student loan debt, that authorization was insufficient for the Biden policy because this was a major question.
The Federal Circuit used these cases as precedent against the Trump administration. “Tariffs of unlimited duration on imports of nearly all goods from nearly every country with which the United States conducts trade” is “both ‘unheralded’ and ‘transformative,’” the court wrote, concluding that as a result, the administration needed to be able to “point to clear congressional authorization” for its tariffs. The absence of any language in the statute authorizing them was fatal to Trump’s case in the lower court. But the sardonic joke among appellate lawyers has been that the major questions doctrine only applies to Democratic administrations. On Wednesday, we will see whether that holds up and if the Court’s conservative majority is willing to twist itself into pretzel logic to support this administration’s political objectives.
There are other issues to look at this week:
As the Trump administration continues its extraterritorial strikes on supposed drug traffickers, there is increasing concern about the legality of that conduct. Georgetown law professor Steve Vladeck and I will take up that issue on Monday evening at 9 p.m. ET/8 CT in a Substack Live (if you subscribe to Civil Discourse, you’ll receive an email inviting you to join us when we go live, so mark your calendars and be ready).
As we head into the week, there are billboards up on the expressway heading toward U.S. Southern Command, in Doral, Florida, that tell troops “Don’t let them make you break the law” in response to those attacks.
New billboards are going up near Miami, Chicago, and Memphis, Tennessee, as well, a warning to troops being deployed in American cities. The billboards are part of a campaign by veterans to support and encourage the troops to uphold military order.
If you’ve forgotten about DOGE, unfortunately, it’s time to remember. There are reports that the Pentagon’s DOGE unit “is leading efforts to overhaul the U.S. military drone program, including streamlining procurement, expand homegrown production, and acquire tens of thousands of cheap drones in the coming months.” And the Bulwark reported that Rear Admiral Kurt Rothenhaus was recently removed from his post as chief of naval research, the top post at the Office of Naval Research (ONR), and replaced by Rachel Riley, who has been working in DOGE-related roles in the Trump administration. Although she was a Rhodes Scholar, Riley, 33, has “no apparent naval experience.”
There are also reports of DOGE interfering with the Department of Agriculture. Senator Dick Durbin tweeted that “President Trump and the DOGE cowboys want to close and diminish critical agricultural research at the University of Illinois. The only other soybean lab like that in the world is in…China. Our President is ceding our agriculture research leadership to China.”
Remember back in February, when Trump floated the idea that everyone could get a $5,000 check from all of DOGE’s “savings”? That didn’t work out so well, did it? You may want to remember this for Thanksgiving dinner.
Tuesday is election day. There is the Virginia governor’s race and the New York City mayoral race. Also, the governorship is at issue in New Jersey. A California ballot initiative will determine whether that state will engage in defensive redistricting designed to offset the aggressive way the Trump administration has demanded Republican states use it to spike the balance between the two parties in the House in their favor, effectively letting politicians choose their voters, instead of the other way around. There is also a race in Pennsylvania, where three Democratic members of the state Supreme Court face retention votes that could be highly significant in the potential 2028 battleground state.
Vote.org, a nonpartisan voter registration and engagement platform, announced a “huge spike” in voter registration ahead of the elections, with their online registration platform being used more than twice as many times as they were during the comparable 2021 election cycle.
They reported that:
More than 80% of those users are under the age of 35
Nearly half (46%) are just 18 years old
Compared to 2021, there are more young voters, more women, and more voters of color using the platform
It’s good news for pro-democracy Americans.
The house will remain out of session, yet again this week.
Epstein. Epstein. Epstein.
But as we all know, that means SNAP is still in danger, which means many of our fellow citizens could begin to go hungry this week if the administration tries to skirt compliance with or obtains an injunction staying decisions by a court in Massachusetts, and a more specific one in Rhode Island, which require the administration to use emergency dollars to fund SNAP. There, Chief Judge John J. McConnell Jr. ordered the USDA to distribute contingency funds and to report to the Court on its progress by 12:00 p.m. on Monday, November 3. Expect more litigation this week.
ICE agents are still engaging in “enforcement actions” in American communities and residential neighborhoods. Stories of abuses are circulating; it’s a critical moment for using our skills to ferret out misinformation and focus on the truth. This photo is from a Day of the Dead celebration in New Orleans.
It is clear that this is a week that will require us to summon our courage and continue to pay close attention. The times are far too important for us to look away. Remind yourself that dictators use overwhelm as a tactic for getting people to give up and submit to their rule. Let’s not do that to us.
Scottie's Playtime 