This is a really bizarre time. The public is being brazenly lied to: No, we’re not sending condoms to Gaza. No, the largest line item of government “fraud” Musk “found” wasn’t fraudulent, wasn’t illegal, and wasn’t $8 billion (it was under $8 million). Yes, in their bungling overambitious power grabs they did just fire 300+ National Nuclear Safety Administration workers only to realize they maintain nuclear weapons (!) and now decided they were needed but didn’t have a way to contact them and are scrambling to unfire them (it’s happened to folks who run the Pacific Northwest electric grid, too).… Read full email…

It’s a good sign that Musk and Trump feel they have to defend their work with a hasty press conference. They sense the tide against them and need to spin their administrative coup attempts. (And yes, it is a coup — the coup-o-meter has officially moved.) Thus far, a key check on this administration has been courts. While the administration is publicly saying they are complying, they are egregiously skirting around court orders. For the moment, we agree with Vox that “slipperiness like this — rather than explicit, unambiguous defiance of court authority — may be the way the Trump… Read full email…

The basic truth: They’re going to get away with as much as they can, until the people stop them. So that’s our job: Get in the gears, slow it down, build pressure to stop them. It can feel daunting. They have started in high gear and are plowing through policy and people. It’s painful to watch Trump’s reckless assault hurting so many people and things we care about. There is phenomenal lurking danger as Musk gains untold access to the government’s backends. (For those who find details helpful, Heather Cox does a very informative substack with the latest twists and… Read full email…

Trump’s flood the zone strategy is exhausting. It’s easy to lose track of important storylines and to feel psychologically overwhelmed. That’s the goal. (It is also an indication of something very important: his policies are not popular!) Trump wants you — all of us — staying frenetic and ungrounded. As folks are gearing into motion (more on that below), we want to help all of us steady ourselves for the times ahead. Whether you’ve been in rapid motion or completely frozen — join with us on Wednesdays at 12:53pm for a one-minute moment of silence. We call it: a Minute… Read full email…

Trump is doing awful things. We won’t try to list them, though we will reiterate we are in the midst of an administrative coup (scary things like Musk seizing all government personnel records and locking out senior workers). Amidst this we remain focused on how people are digging in their heels and keep resisting. As adrienne marie brown writes: “remember the future is unwritten. we are not IN their story even if we are IMPACTED by it. we have to keep writing and living OUR stories, the ones where justice and love and equality and material well-being and care and… Read full email…

Despite his dreams, Trump is not a King. Marisa Kabas may have again broken the news. The Washington Post writes: “The White House budget office on Wednesday rescinded an order freezing federal grants, according to a copy of a new memo obtained by The Washington Post, after the administration’s move to halt spending earlier this week provoked a backlash.” He didn’t back down because it was a good idea. It wasn’t a change of heart. It wasn’t a feint. It was a genuine administrative coup that — for now — has been thwarted. He backed down because people pushed back… Read full email…

Hey friends! We’re seeing a lot of terrible things. We’re not able to cover all of them, but we felt this latest one is a really big deal and needs much more awareness. Our summary is this: It’s an administrative coup. Trump has ordered tens of billions (maybe up to $3 trillion) of budget halted indefinitely in a blatantly illegal move. He’s claiming power to halt and potentially redirect funding that’s already been authorized by Congress — a classic authoritarian move. Here’s what we know. And we’re doing our best to catch up with this story, because it’s moving fast.… Read full email…