Due Process Is Not Negotiable

5.9.25

Happy Friday, readers… the weekend is here! Welcome back to Common Sense, your source for news and analysis on the circus that is American politics and entertainment.

Congressional Republicans take Trump’s dreams of a major spending bill to the chopping block… Politico reports, “President Donald Trump wanted a ‘big, beautiful bill.’ Now Republicans are having to take some of the shine off of it. GOP leaders on Capitol Hill signaled Thursday they are scaling back their tax-cutting ambitions after running into difficulty making deep spending cuts and facing stern warnings from Republican deficit hawks who are threatening to vote against Trump’s sprawling megabill. On the chopping block could be a litany of Trump demands, including a permanent extension of the tax cuts passed during his first term, as well as second-term campaign promises to provide tax relief to seniors while also exempting taxes on tips and overtime earnings. Those provisions could end up getting enacted only temporarily, according to four Republican lawmakers, some of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity. With key committees struggling to meet a $2 trillion spending cut target, Speaker Mike Johnson told a group of House Republicans Thursday he is now targeting $4 trillion of tax cuts. That’s a half-trillion dollars less than many in the GOP had hoped, and it’s likely below the threshold needed to make the 2017 tax cuts permanent — one of Trump’s earliest demands for the party-line megabill.” OUR TAKE: A major reason Congressional Republicans are starting to quietly question Trump and take liberties on key votes (it’s a low bar but it’s something) is because his approval rating is in the dumps.

Top Trump advisor Stephen Miller admits the administration is pretty much done with the Constitution at this point… NBC News reports, “Top Trump adviser Stephen Miller told reporters Friday that the administration is ‘looking at’ ways to end due process protections for unauthorized immigrants who are in the country. ‘The Constitution is clear, and that, of course, is the supreme law of the land, that the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus can be suspended at a time of invasion. So I would say that’s an action we’re actively looking at,’ Miller said in the White House driveway. ‘A lot of it depends on whether the courts do the right thing or not,’ Miller said. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for clarification on whether he was referring to a specific group of people who've entered the country illegally, or all the people who have. It also did not comment on what he meant by the courts doing ‘the right thing.’ In his remarks, Miller maintained that the courts don't have jurisdiction in immigration cases. ‘The courts aren’t just at war with the executive branch; the courts are at war, these radical rogue judges, with the legislative branch as well too. So all of that will inform the choices the president ultimately makes,’ he said.”

U.S. tops 1,000 measles cases and this is not normal or OK… ABC News reports, “The U.S. has surpassed 1,000 measles cases for the first time in five years, according to new data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) published Friday. A total of 1,001 cases have been confirmed in 30 states including Alaska, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Virginia and Washington. The last time the U.S. recorded more than 1,000 cases occurred in 2019, when there were 1,274 confirmed infections over the course of a year, CDC data shows.”

USAID workers fired by Trump and DOGEshit are now under investigation for answering reporters’ questions… CBS News reports, “At least half a dozen USAID employees who spoke to reporters after they thought they had been fired by the Trump administration have now received notices from the foreign aid agency's internal human resources office that they are facing investigation for participating in interviews. The workers, whose formal dismissal date was delayed after leaders encountered bureaucratic snags, received an email in recent days carrying the subject line, ‘Administrative inquiry.’ The email accused them of having ‘engaged with the press/media without authorization’ and threatened ‘disciplinary action’ including ‘removal from the U.S. Agency for International Development.’ The emails were sent by Employment Labor Relations, which is part of the USAID's internal HR structure, and manages most disciplinary and performance complaints. ‘It's total intimidation,’ said Randy Chester, the vice president of the American Foreign Service Association, which is the union that represents USAID employees. He said employees started receiving notices on Monday. The union shared the email exclusively with CBS.”

Today’s Furry Friend

Duckwatchers in Huntsville, Alabama had the foresight to know that new construction as planned would threaten local ducklings hatched in the future. City leaders responded to citizen concerns and the ducklings were saved.

Today’s Buzz

Fox News commentator faints live on air… EW reports, A Fox News commentator who fainted live on air is ‘feeling much better’ and on the mend, according to a spokesperson for the network. Camryn Kinsey, a right-wing political commentator and former staffer under Donald Trump's presidential administration, fainted mid-conversation during Thursday's episode of Fox News @ Night with host Jonathan Hunt. A spokesperson for Fox News told Entertainment Weekly paramedics were called to the studio in the Los Angeles bureau and that Kinsey was promptly treated and cleared. ‘We are happy to hear she is now feeling much better and wish her a speedy recovery,’ the spokesperson said.”

Thank you for reading our newsletter evening in and evening out. We are grateful for you. Have a restful weekend and check back on Monday evening for the next edition of Common Sense.