Week 9: Cutting Through the Noise

Here's your no bs analysis, organized by key themes

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The Big Picture

✍️ Let’s try something a little different. We’re gonna focus on key themes of this week, break them down, and then do a bulleted list of everything else that happened this week. I want to deliver the news in a way that’s helpful and informative to you. I also don’t want to inundate you. So, bear with me as I trial and error with formats that best navigate the barrage of daily news.

P.S. paid subscribers, keep an eye out for an audio version coming soon :).

Alright, let’s get into it. 

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Key Themes This Week: 

• Trump vs. the Courts: the heat is on

• Trump’s Transgressions: seemingly some vendettas to carry out 

• The Republican Resistance?: are Republican members of Congress starting to form a check on the Trump admin? 

• What does it actually mean to shutter the Department of Education?: discussing action and implications 

• Plus: Where is the U.S. on the situations abroad, and what happens next? 

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📢 Quick Housekeeping Note: Thanks to those of you who voted. If you have not voted yet, please give your input before next week, as that will help me determine April’s publishing schedule. Thank you! 

ICYMI: Given the constant influx of news, I’m considering publishing Smartt Takes on Fridays instead of Sundays. I’d love your input on whether this is the right move. Please take an extra second and answer the poll below. It helps me so much and would mean a lot. Thank you! :)

Alright, nowwww let’s get into it. 

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✍️ Key Themes: 

Trump vs. The Courts: It’s A Full-On Brawl

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✍️ PS: in the event you are more of a listener than a reader, check out this video update on the courts situation (note: video provides update only thru Tuesday 3/18). 

At the moment, federal Judge Boasberg—who has been dragged online by Trump and every other MAGA-head—is deciding whether the administration violated his order and what their punishment should be. 

Remember how we reported that Trump invoked a 1798 law known as the Alien Enemies Act (AEA) to deport persons who Trump claimed were affiliated with a so-called gang? And that a federal judge told Trump to stop deporting people under the AEA and to “turn the planes around?” Well, that was Boasberg. And Trump didn’t turn the planes around–Boasberg is pissed.

All week, Trump officials have been grilled by Boasberg to provide any information on the flights that the judge has requested. All week, they have been saying that they’re unauthorized to do so, and that they didn’t violate an order because flights were out of U.S. airspace, and Boasberg’s stricter order was orally declared. Boasberg says that’s a load of crock and has scheduled two more hearings for next week, insistenting upon receiving more information about these flights. 

Trump, meanwhile, has started an all-out war on Boasberg, calling him a “crooked judge” saying that he and other judges who refused to carry out his orders should be impeached. Which led to Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts making a rather unprecedented statement that impeachment should not be weaponized as a tool during judicial disagreements.

Rather than worry about Trump’s attempt to tilt the federal system of checks and balances, the MAGA branch—from the bottom up (including the president of El Salvador) has been accusing Boasberg (and other federal judges) of inciting a “judicial coup.” Elon Musk has been tweeting to impeach judges and punish political criminals**. And some members of the House + Senate have made statements, as well as introduced resolutions, to impeach Boasberg. 

Not all Republicans, however, are on board. Some are hesitant to wade into the battle, worried about disrupting the system of government as set out by the Constitution. While others are selfishly worried about the time such a process could take. Like House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) for example, who is painfully aware of how much time impeachment proceedings could take.

For a federal judge to be impeached, the House must first pass a resolution, by a simple majority. As they have the majority, House Republicans could likely pass it easily. Then, the Senate conducts the trial. 3/4 of the Senate, however, has to vote to impeach the judge, meaning that 67 Senators—14 Democrats in the current congressional session—would have to vote alongside Republicans. Never. Gonna. Happen. 

In the meantime, Trump is deporting every non-U.S. citizen under the sun, including cancelling Temporary Protected Status of half a million migrants. (Check out our report on this.) He’s also newly focused on foreign-born academics, who have, in turn, hired their own lawyers to combat the administration, adding to the barrage of lawsuits the admin faces. 

As this is ongoing, Trump is now saying that he never invoked the Alien Enemies Act but that he supports it; however, a document effectuating the AEA with his signature was entered into the Federal Register—the official location for all government documents. 

Perhaps he signed with an auto-pen? Naughty, naughty. 

Speaking of auto-pens…it’s time to talk about Trump’s transgressions.

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Trump’s Transgressions 

✍️ Anyone that has wronged Trump at any time appears to be in his firing line. Let’s start with the explicit, move to the implicit, and then the inbetween.