Attention to the Unseen

Politico reports: In an administration full of disruptors, Russ Vought is a different beast. Vought, as head of the White House’s budget arm, has assembled one of the most powerful and exacting teams in Washington, all aimed at slashing the federal bureaucracy and ensuring what’s left bends to the administration’s will. He has increased the number of policy lieutenants typically operating at the Office of Management and Budget and supercharged their mandate to ensure White House priorities are pushed into…

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Politico’s West Wing Playbook reports: The Trump administration’s strained relationship with federal courts began as cracks in a windshield: refusing to identify the true head of DOGE; suggesting that a judge’s oral ruling in an emergency case wasn’t binding; dismissing the criminal case against New York City Mayor Eric Adams in an apparent quid pro quo over immigration policy. Nine months into President Donald Trump’s second term, however, those cracks have spread across the glass. Judges are routinely skeptical of…

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Asha Rangappa writes: So far, the Trump administration has killed twenty-one people using military strikes in the Caribbean. Meanwhile, back at the ranch, President Trump has escalated his attempt to deploy the military in cities throughout the United States, on the heels of the Secretary of Defense informing his military brass that they are no longer going to be bound by “stupid rules of engagement.” And last week, Attorney General Pam Bondi assured Trump that the United States is “going…

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The New York Times reports: The United States killed six men aboard a boat in international waters “just off the Coast of Venezuela,” President Trump wrote on social media on Tuesday, asserting without evidence that they had been transporting drugs. The strike was the fifth known attack by the U.S. military on such boats since Sept. 2. The military has now killed 27 people as if they were enemy soldiers in a war zone and not criminal suspects. “Intelligence confirmed…

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David Sirota and Jared Jacang Maher write: On the 20th anniversary of the creation of the Roberts Supreme Court, one point of consensus persists: Most Americans believe money corrupts the political process — and they want to overturn the Citizens United precedent that empowers oligarchs to buy elections. And yet, in two little-noticed cases — including one spearheaded by Vice President J.D. Vance — the high court could soon do the opposite, eliminating the last restrictions on campaign donations and…

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Adam Klasfeld writes: Donald Trump’s efforts to demonize and try to criminalize peaceful protest have grown more flailing and desperate as No Kings 2.0 approaches on Sat., Oct. 18. There’s been Trump’s absurd campaign to brand “antifa” as terrorists, even though anti-fascist activists are not a formal group and there is no such thing as a domestic terrorist organization under U.S. law. The First Amendment wouldn’t allow it, which is why Trump’s identical declaration about antifa during his first term…

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Don Moynihan writes: As Trump deploys a combination of ICE, National Guard troops and other paramilitary forces to multiple American cities, he is implementing a three-step plan. The plan involves different parts of the national security state, immigration enforcement, and the military: Purge – eliminating those deemed not to be aligned with Trump. Merge – combine different components into a single omniforce. Surge – impose Trump’s control over Democratic cities; instigate enough unrest to justify escalation; find examples to brutalize…

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