February 23, 2025

Sunday, February 23, 2025. Annette’s Roundup for Democracy.

Fighting Oligarchy with Bernie Sanders

A national tour. Rousing Americans.

Almost 3,000 came in person in Omaha, another 130,000 watched online.

Yesterday was Iowa.

Republican Senator Murkowski speaks for Congress and the Constitution.

Murkowski urges Congress to "stand up" and assert authority if Trump withholds funding

Washington — Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska on Wednesday urged her colleagues in Congress to reassert their constitutional authority and stand up to President Trump if he withholds funding approved by lawmakers through his mass firings of federal workers or severe cuts to federal agencies.

"If the president, for instance, should seek to withhold federal funding that has already been authorized and appropriated, that violates the Budget Act, it violates the Impoundment Act and it cannot be allowed to stand. And so, if we in Congress allow that, we effectively cede some of our authority, and so, your question as to, what do we do about it? We have to stand up," she said in a virtual town hall with constituents.

"Now, the 'we' has to be more than just me. And this is where it becomes more of a challenge, but it requires speaking out. It requires saying, 'That violates the law. That violates the authorities of the executive,'" she said.

The Alaska Republican said Congress has an "obligation to the Constitution" that requires "speaking out and standing up, and that requires, again, more than just one or two Republicans — it requires us as a Congress to do so."

The president's moves to essentially shutter several agencies and fire thousands of workers have already run into legal challenges, with federal courts across the country weighing whether his actions were lawful. The administration has been temporarily blocked from ousting workers and freezing funding in a handful of cases so far.

Murkowski is a moderate Republican who has been in the Senate since 2002 and won reelection in 2022 despite longstanding differences with Mr. Trump. She said more than 1,000 people dialed into the call on Wednesday, and that many of her constituents were concerned about the Trump administration's cuts, which are being spearheaded by Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency. Alaska has one of the highest concentrations of federal government workers per capita outside the Washington, D.C., Maryland, and Virginia region.

Most Republican lawmakers have so far shown little interest in objecting as the Trump administration tries to whittle down agencies established and funded by Congress.

On the war in Ukraine, Murkowski said "we were all more than a little bit stunned" by what she called a "radical switch" in the president's rhetoric about the war and Russia. Mr. Trump this week referred to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as a "dictator" and wrongly blamed Ukraine for Russia's invasion, while his top aides met with Russian representatives in Saudi Arabia about the war without inviting Ukrainian officials.

Murkowski said she thought Mr. Trump's comments about Zelenskyy were "uncalled for and unfortunate."

It is wrong to suggest that somehow or other Ukraine started this war, asked for this war. It is clear for all the world to see and to know that Putin invaded Ukraine and started the war," Murkowski said.

Mr. Trump has repeatedly said Russia wants to end the war, without mentioning that Russia started the conflict and could end it at any point by withdrawing troops from Ukraine. Asked if he trusts Russia to negotiate in good faith on ending the war, the president said he does.

"I do, I think the Russians want to see the war end," the president said. "And I do, I really do. But I think they have the cards a little bit because, you know, they've taken a lot of territory, so they have the cards."

A handful of other Republicans have expressed their disagreement with Mr. Trump's stance on Russia and Ukraine, without directly crossing the president.

"Russia's the aggressor here," Senate Majority Leader John Thune said Wednesday.

"Putin started this war," Republican Rep. Don Bacon wrote on X Wednesday. "Putin committed war crimes. Putin is the dictator who murdered his opponents. The EU nations have contributed more to Ukraine. Zelensky polls over 50%. Ukraine wants to be part of the West, Putin hates the West. I don't accept George Orwell's doublethink."

Murkowski separately told CBS News on Capitol Hill earlier Wednesday she has been hearing from constituents who have been worked for the federal government for years or decades. She said she heard from one woman who used to work for her before accepting a position with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Because the woman was recently promoted, Murkowski said, she was considered a probationary employee and was terminated as part of the administration's cuts. Now the woman has a "black mark" on her record, Murkowski said.

"She's been terminated and given no opportunity to appeal it, no opportunity to even think about it," Murkowski said. "You get a notice on Friday saying you're gone. Now that, to me, doesn't demonstrate much due process. But even more, it doesn't show respect for those who have worked hard as federal servants." (CBS News)

Murkowski is not the only worried Republican.

The private GOP panic over the slash-and-burn DOGE firings - POLITICO

White House aides are inundated with congressional calls as Republicans fret.

Kansas Sen. Jerry Moran is among the Republicans concerned about Trump administration cuts affecting veterans.

A growing number of congressional Republicans are desperately trying to back-channel with White House officials as President Donald Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency ramps up its slash-and-burn firings of federal workers.

GOP lawmakers unleashed a frantic flurry of calls and texts after federal agencies undertook the latest firings this past weekend, with Republicans particularly worried about cuts affecting public safety and health roles. Trump’s legislative affairs team, headed by former JD Vance aide James Braid, took the brunt of the frenetic fallout, according to four Republicans granted anonymity to discuss the conversations.

For the most part, Republican members are publicly cheering the administration’s push to slash the federal government, which is being led by billionaire tech mogul Elon Musk with Trump’s blessing. But privately, many are feeling helpless to counter the meat-ax approach that has been embraced so far, with lawmakers especially concerned about the dismissal of military veterans working in federal agencies as well as USDA employees handling the growing bird flu outbreak affecting poultry and dairy farms.

“I thought we were supposed to be in a new era of meritocracy. Not the indiscriminate firing of people,” said one Republican congressional aide granted anonymity to speak candidly.

White House spokesperson Anna Kelly said the administration’s efforts are “already uncovering waste, fraud, and abuse across federal agencies and ensuring better stewardship of taxpayer dollars, including for American farmers and families.” The president, she said, will eventually “cut programs that do not serve the interests of the American people and keep programs that put America First.”

Republican lawmakers are growing particularly uneasy with cuts impacting veterans, who are given preference in the federal hiring process and have been disproportionately affected by the dismissals. GOP members are also concerned that federal services for veterans could be affected.

Republicans have quietly warned the White House to reinstate many of the 1,000 employees at the Department of Veterans Affairs who have been dismissed in recent days.

Senate Veterans Affairs Chair Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) said in an interview that he and his staff have been communicating their concerns with the White House legislative affairs team, along with Veterans Affairs Secretary Doug Collins.

“Certainly on the veterans side, we’re asking for information from the administration,” Moran said. “We are being reassured that no one at the VA who has any direct care responsibilities are being terminated or laid off, and we’re just looking for the positions and circumstances in which it’s occurring.

Other Republicans consider federal agency officials powerless to call off DOGE. They’re instead focusing their efforts on the White House as their offices are inundated with calls from frantic constituents.

Their strategy to back-channel with any White House official who will pick up the phone has yielded some small, scattered successes. The Agriculture Department said Monday it would reverse some of the firings impacting the bird flu response after GOP lawmakers complained to the White House legislative affairs team and other Trump officials.

The fears of Republican lawmakers in rural districts go deeper, though. They’re also worried about the long-term fallout of Trump’s moves as the federal government struggles to hire the next generation of federal employees who will keep farm and public health programs running across rural America.

Vulnerable GOP incumbents on Capitol Hill are also wary that Musk is turning his ire toward Medicare and Medicaid, posting claims of widespread fraud and abuse within those systems.

“I worry what his plans are,” said one Republican lawmaker who questioned whether cuts would be limited to waste, fraud and abuse or would curtail benefits for legitimate program participants. House GOP leaders are separately pushing for major Medicaid cuts to help pay for Trump’s legislative agenda.

While the DOGE buzz saw continues to spin, many GOP lawmakers from leadership to the rank and file have settled on a strategy of keeping a careful eye on Musk’s team while refraining from public criticism.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune told reporters Wednesday that GOP lawmakers will intervene with the Trump administration “if there are things that we think that need to be addressed” or if there are issues “perhaps they’re not considering when they make these decisions.”

Thune added he thought it was key “that we don’t undermine important services,” including health and safety. But he put his support behind the administration’s efforts to give the federal government a careful “scrub” with the goal of a more limited presence.

Many other Republicans are praising efforts to slash federal funding. Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky said he suggested to Vance during Senate Republicans’ private lunch this week that Congress should codify the DOGE cuts, so that they “become real.”

Speaking to the Conservative Political Action Conference on Thursday, Speaker Mike Johnson praised DOGE: “What Elon and the team are doing is what Congress has not had the ability to do. … They are exposing this massive fraud, waste and abuse that we have not been unable to uncover because the deep state has hidden it from us.”

But some GOP lawmakers have found reasons to be critical as they watch Musk exert more influence than they have ever enjoyed as elected officials. Fiscal hawks, for instance, were taken aback this week when Musk floated sending $5,000 rebate checks to Americans, representing a portion of DOGE’s savings.

“Happy to do that once we balance the budget,” Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) posted on X.

Less than 24 hours later, Trump himself suggested it may happen. (Politico).

Everything that Trump touches dies.

The Kennedy Center

According to the Post's Travis Anderson, "In the week following Trump’s announcement, ticket sales dropped by roughly 50 percent compared to the previous week, a stunning aberration, according to several Kennedy Center staff members who spoke on the condition of anonymity out of fear of reprisal."

That drop in tickets sold has scheduled artists weighing whether to pull out of appearances. (Washington Post)

Oh, poor USA hockey.

NYTimes: Canada’s Hockey Victory Sends a Message to Trump: Hands Off

The routine friendly bet between leaders of Canada and the United States before hockey games was replaced by taunts and heightened stakes on Thursday.

Some sports rivalries are generational. Others are about an underdog fight or national pride.

Sidney Crosby celebrates Team Canada’s win at the 4 Nations Face-Off Championship.

Canada’s hockey victory over the United States on Thursday was a bit of both. Against a backdrop of taunts by President Trump about annexing Canada and the looming economic threat of 25 percent tariffs on Canadian goods, a lot was symbolically riding on the game.

“Canada needed a win, and the players beared that on their shoulders,” Jon Cooper, Canada’s coach, said after the game. “This one was different. This wasn’t a win for themselves. This was a win for 40-plus million people. The guys knew it and they delivered.”

The game capped off a round-robin tournament called the 4 Nations Face-Off between Canada, Finland, Sweden and the United States. It was the first international tournament since the 2016 World Cup of Hockey to feature some of the National Hockey League’s best players representing their countries.

The championship on Thursday took on geopolitical consequences unfamiliar to Canadian sports fans. After Canada lost the first-round match, there was a sense of urgency weighed by heavy stakes and a responsibility to prove something very important to the world.

Instead of the usual electric anticipation before sports matchups between Canada and the United States, this championship’s buildup held a bitterness. Social media was abuzz with insults in both directions. My group chat plotted how many Canadian flags would sufficiently offend at a sports bar. Bygone were the playful pregame bets between world leaders.

A fan flipped President Trump’s taunt about Canada outside of the TD Garden in Boston before Thursday’s game.

Despite being an infrequent sports watcher, the tone felt unusually familiar. The intensity reminded me of the hostile soccer rivalry between Albania, my family’s home country, and Serbia. The two nations have a fraught political relationship and have been involved in wars against each other.

On the flip side, Canada and the United States, as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has remarked in recent weeks, fought alongside each other as close allies that share a friendship unparalleled on the global stage. That was, of course, before Mr. Trump’s threats of annexation.

“You can’t take our country — and you can’t take our game,” Mr. Trudeau wrote in a post on X after the nail-biting victory.

Thursday began with more needling from Mr. Trump that Canada should “someday, maybe soon, become our cherished, and very important, Fifty First State” led by “Governor Trudeau.”

Typically, Canada’s matches against the United States are about sport supremacy and pride, equally so in the women’s hockey league and in soccer and basketball, said Dave Bidini, a Canadian musician and author of 13 books about hockey. That’s changing.

“This geopolitical climate adds an entirely new depth, I think, to these kinds of games and probably will for the next four years,” Mr. Bidini told me. The last time he recalled feeling heightened political tension during an international hockey event was during a match in 1972 between Canada and the Soviet Union. Canada scored the winning goal with 34 seconds to spare. As a child, Mr. Bidini feared the Soviet Union would consume his country if the team lost.

“Looking back, I think how utterly absurd that was,” Mr. Bidini told me before the game on Thursday. “But that was the climate of the times, and tonight is the closest it has come to mirroring that.”

“I hope Canada wins because I think it’ll quiet the noise a little bit,” he added, referring to Mr. Trump’s threats.

Bitterness tinged the lead up to the game.

As for other noise, sports-watching venues across Canada were raucous. At a packed sports bar in Toronto’s east end, fans around me booed the United States. They erupted in jubilation after Canada’s first two goals by Nathan MacKinnon and Sam Bennett, and into enthusiastic cheers after three impressive saves by the goaltender Jordan Binnington. The viewers more than once broke into the melody of “Seven Nation Army” by the White Stripes. Pizza Pizza, a Canadian fast-food franchise, put out ads during the game for a 25 percent “reverse tariff” discount on pizza.

Connor McDavid, who played alongside the fellow national treasure Sidney Crosby, scored the winning goal in overtime.

Then came the finale: the national anthem.

Matthew Roberts, a spectator who was sitting not far from me, belted out the first words of “O Canada.” Others quickly joined.

“I sang ‘O Canada’ as loud as I could to get the crowd going,” Mr. Roberts said.

As exhilarated fans filed out of the bar, Mr. Roberts told me he normally isn’t the most patriotic or invested sports fan, but the atmosphere that night called for it.(New York Times).

One more thing.

Trump is always crazy.