News of the Week for April 27th, 2025
- Abortion
- Gun Rights
- Hide the Decline
- Obamacare
- War & Terror
- National News
- Economy & Taxes
- International News
- Opinion
Abortion
Dobbs Decision
Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee Signs Bill Protecting Doctors From Being Forced to Do Abortions
Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee has signed a pro-life bill protecting the conscience rights of medical professionals like doctors and nurse who don’t want to be forced to participate in abortions.
Gun Rights
SCOTUS Sidesteps Two More 2A Cases
The Supreme Court once again took no action on Monday on a challenge to Maryland’s ban on so-called assault weapons and a request to intervene and grant an injunction blocking Rhode Island from enforcing its prohibition on “large capacity” magazines while litigation proceeds to trial. Presumably the Snope and Ocean State Tactical cases will once again be re-listed for this week’s conference, which will take place on Friday, so we could potentially hear something on Monday, April 28th.
Hide the Decline
Environment &“Green Energy”
Supreme Court Case Could Spell The End For California’s EV Mandate
The Supreme Court heard oral arguments Wednesday in a landmark case that could spell the end of California’s Clean Air Act waiver, which created what has been widely referred to as a de facto electric vehicle (EV) mandate in more than a dozen states.
Obamacare
Government in Healthcare
RFK Jr.’s autism study to amass medical records of many Americans
The National Institutes of Health is amassing private medical records from a number of federal and commercial databases to give to Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s new effort to study autism, the NIH’s top official said Monday.
Why is Ed Martin So Interested in Medical Journal Publication Practices?
Just what the doctor ordered – more lawyers and prosecutors meddling with scientific journals!
RFK Jr.’s major autism study to use private health records
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) will provide private health data to researchers for U.S. health chief Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s new autism study.
In Canada, Euthanasia Might Sometimes Be Easier to Access Than Medical Care
The Canadian health care system is melting down — and yet the country still embraces radical euthanasia policies.
War & Terror
Sweden Has the Tanks. Finland Has the Troops. Welcome to the Pan-Nordic Army.
Nordic countries, hawkish on Russia, pool resources to punch above their weight
Sensitive documents, including White House floor plans, improperly shared with thousands
Government officials under both Joe Biden and Donald Trump improperly shared sensitive documents with thousands of federal workers, including potentially classified floor plans of the White House, according to internal records reviewed by The Washington Post.
Former Top Pentagon Spokesperson Details ‘Month From Hell’ Inside the Agency
The total chaos at the Department of Defense is becoming a major distraction for the Trump administration, writes John Ullyot.
We Are Not at War with Venezuela
The Trump administration thought it had a reasonable basis for ignoring the due process petitions of Venezuelan nationals subject to deportation. These are not mere illegal migrants, it argued. Rather, they are combatants prosecuting a foreign invasion of the United States.
How Tight a Ship Are They Running Over There at the Pentagon?
Something genuinely odd is going on over at the Pentagon. To hear former Pentagon press secretary John Ullyot tell it in Politico, three longtime loyal aides to Hegseth — senior adviser Dan Caldwell, deputy chief of staff Darin Selnick and Colin Carroll, chief of staff to the deputy secretary of Defense, were falsely accused of leaking and dismissed; he writes “Hegseth’s team has developed a habit of spreading flat-out, easily debunked falsehoods anonymously about their colleagues on their way out the door.”
Knife-Fighting in the Trump Administration
By my count now, 15 people have been fired amid the bureaucratic and press knife-fighting among supporters of National Security Adviser Mike Waltz and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth. Among the latest group to be let go, there was no notice of the investigation into leaks having been concluded and no cause given. I know good men with great reputations on both sides of this turf war who have been cashiered. Some of what’s going on now is personal. Some of it is the ongoing fight between hawks and restrainers. Given what we currently know, none of those fired seem to have done anything as bad as the principals: Waltz, in adding a journalist to a private chat among government officials, and Hegseth, in sharing details of the attack with a compromised chat.
How Europe Can Defend Itself
Barry Posen has a wonderfully helpful and practical piece in Foreign Affairs today demonstrating that Europe can build an effective deterrent against Russia so long as it doesn’t bog itself down in a fruitless endeavor in Ukraine, instead focusing on a highly maneuverable force. “That means they must stop distributing European military forces over the continent’s east and southeast simply as symbols of their commitment, linked to a U.S. cavalry that may no longer ride to the rescue,” Posen writes, “Rather, they must conceive of European military formations as scarce, expensive, and potentially lethal combat power, which can be deployed as a concentrated fist with the ability to fight independently, under either a NATO or an EU banner.”
At Least 24 Tourists Gunned Down by Militants in Kashmir
Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India called the shooting, the worst against civilians in the region for years, a “terror attack” and vowed to bring the perpetrators to justice.
Is This Ukraine Peace Deal Worth a Trans-Atlantic Schism?
The scene that is being set as the United States presents the Trump administration’s “final offer” to Russia and Ukraine does not inspire confidence.
Revealed: How China is fuelling Putin’s war
Beyond the detained soldiers, Beijing is sustaining Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine with military supplies
Negotiating with Beijing and Moscow from a Position of Weakness
Widely quoted China expert Gordon Chang examines the way Beijing has responded to the tariffs and observes, “In the last two days, both Prez Trump and Treasury Secretary Bessent have softened their tone on China tariffs, so how did Beijing react? It upped its demands. Unfortunately, China’s regime does not reciprocate friendly gestures. It only respects strength.”
India and Pakistan ramp up tit-for-tat spat as tensions mount over Kashmir attack
India and Pakistan cancelled visas for their nationals to each other’s countries and Islamabad warned New Delhi for suspending a water-sharing treaty Thursday.
Hegseth orders makeup studio installed at Pentagon
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth recently ordered modifications to a room next to the Pentagon press briefing room to retrofit it with a makeup studio that can be used to prepare for television appearances, multiple sources told CBS News.
Syrian President Is Apparently Interested in Joining the Abraham Accords
On the menu today: It’s early, and it’s just one conversation with one Florida GOP representative. But raise your hand if you ever foresaw a former member of al-Qaeda and ISIS, who set up his own Islamist fighting force, running the country of Syria and telling an American elected official he’s open to joining the Abraham Accords and normalizing his country’s relationship with Israel.
A Moment of Truth in Ukraine
The missile strike on civilians is clarifying about the war’s causes.
National
Trump’s Maga faithful want to get even. They have nothing left to lose
The president’s heartlands are holding their nerve as his trade war threatens painful price rises
The Architect
Behind Trump’s imperial presidency (and Elon), there’s Russell Vought.
JD Vance’s meeting with Pope Francis before his death sparks conspiracy theories, fumed netizens ask ‘What did you do?’
JD Vance paid tribute to Pope Francis, who died at the age of 88 on Monday. The demise of the Argentine pontiff comes a day after he met the US Vice President on Easter Sunday at Vatican.
The House Freedom Caucus and the 10-Year Battle Between ‘Yes’ and ‘No’
What started a decade ago as a conservative organization focused on principles and fixing the legislative process has morphed into a group primarily focused on supporting Donald Trump. Would a group like that actually oppose Trump’s reconciliation bill?
John Kennedy admits Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s deportation was ‘a screwup’
Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) issued his own criticisms of the Trump administration when it came to the deportation of Kilmar Abrego Garcia.
How Democrats Won Wisconsin In 2025: Turnout.
Democrats swelled with confidence after their victory in the State Supreme Court race in Trump-won Wisconsin. It seemed that public opinion swung sharply against Donald Trump and the GOP despite Elon Musk’s eight-figure investment in the state. But the full story is not so simple.
Plaintiff Alleges Her Children Were “Trafficked by Members of the Democratic Party’s Babylonian Talmud-Adherent Ashkenazi Jewish Cartel-Controlled Foster Care Sex Trade”
A short excerpt from Magistrate Judge Paul Evangelista’s long Report and Recommendation Mar. 31 in Uzamere v. Gregg (N.D.N.Y.), which was adopted Thursday
What’s in a Name? For AARP, It’s ‘We’re Not Alien Enemies!’
What exactly are the due process rights of Venezuelan aliens who’ve been designated as “alien enemies” under President Trump’s proclamation pursuant, the administration maintains, to the 1798 Alien Enemy Act (AEA). Does the government have to give them an explanation, in their native Spanish as well as in English, that the courts have held they have a right to challenge their designation in a habeas corpus petition? Or will a curt English-only admonition that says they will be deported within 24 hours — leaving them to try to figure out what to do, find a lawyer, etc. — suffice? And what is the substance of their challenge? Is it just whether they are members of Tren de Aragua, or may they further claim that, even if they may be TdA members, the president has not properly invoked the AEA because there is no declared war, TdA is not a foreign power, and TdA has neither invaded nor carried out a predatory invasion of the United States?
FBI Director Kash Patel replaced as temp ATF director weeks earlier than previously disclosed
FBI Director Kash Patel was quietly replaced as acting director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives more than a month earlier than was made publicly known, according to internal Trump administration discussions.
CFPB admits misstep, files joint motion to vacate baseless Townstone settlement
Today, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) jointly moved with Townstone Financial Inc. to vacate its settlement with the company and return the $105,000 fine paid by Townstone. The motion is the result of an internal investigation CFPB recently conducted, which concluded that the lawsuit against Townstone was legally and factually baseless and that agency staff misled their superiors and targeted Townstone for its speech.
GOP Senator Pushes Conspiracy Theory That 9/11 Was an Inside Job: ‘My Eyes Have Been Opened’
Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) suggested Monday that the US government may have played a role in the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks during an interview with MAGA influencer Benny Johnson on The Benny Show.
Dick Durbin Announces He Won’t Run for Reelection
The No. 2 Democratic senator’s retirement sets up a competitive primary in Illinois.
Senate Republican wants to hold hearings on a 9/11 conspiracy theory
Sen. Ron Johnson could use his gavel of a far-reaching committee to probe the 2001 attacks.
Oops! Justice Department Lawyers Send Pessimistic Internal Memo to the Judge
About the only thing worse for a lawyer than going into court empty-handed is going into court having accidentally told the judge that you’re empty-handed. That’s exactly what appears to have happened to Justice Department lawyers representing the Transportation Department in Metropolitan Transportation Authority v. Duffy, a lawsuit in federal court in New York over DoT’s effort to revoke federal approval of New York Governor Kathy Hochul’s much-despised congestion pricing plan imposing tolls on drivers through Manhattan below 60th Street.
D.N.C. Will Send More Cash to Red States, Aiming to Strengthen Party’s Reach
A 50-state program announced by the Democratic Party seeks to build on past efforts and help recruit candidates to take on Republicans in less-friendly terrain.
Democratic astronaut explores Texas Senate launch
In the latest sign that Democrats are turning a new leaf after their dismal 2024 defeat, astronaut and political neophyte Terry Virts is planning to launch a run for the US Senate in Texas, GZERO Media has learned. He plans to challenge incumbent Sen. John Cornyn, a Republican, according to a Democratic operative familiar with the race. Virts’ pending announcement comes as former Rep. Colin Allred, a fellow Democrat, is reportedly planning another Senate bid, just six months after his eight-point loss to Republican Sen. Ted Cruz.
Michele Fiore says she’s been pardoned by Trump after federal guilty verdict
Michele Fiore, the former Las Vegas councilwoman found guilty of defrauding donors who believed they were giving money for a statue to honor a fallen Las Vegas police officer, said President Donald Trump has given her “a full and unconditional pardon.”
Groomer Schools 4: Drag Queen Story Hour
Before the last year or so, two terms you wouldn’t have expected to encounter together are “drag queen” and “early childhood education,” but we’re now about three years into a full-fledged Communist revolution in the Western world, which has made it not only commonplace but shoved all in our faces. Here we are in the midst of June, “Pride Month,” 2022, and the Leftist collision of drag queens and young children has been center-stage all month long, including in schools. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the idea of using drag queens, or specifically a program called Drag Queen Story Hour, as an intentional educational methodology in schools isn’t just some fringe activist project but also appears in the scholarly education literature.
Trump Offers Private Dinner to Top 220 Investors of His Memecoin
The offer, which caused President Trump’s memecoin to surge in price, was his family’s latest effort to profit from cryptocurrencies.
Trump Takes His Biggest Step Yet Toward Restoring Meritocracy
The administration’s executive order eliminating disparate-impact theory restores the 1964 Civil Rights Act to its original meaning.
Tuberville tells senators he’s running for governor
Tommy Tuberville is telling his Senate colleagues that he’s planning to run for governor of Alabama, according to two people familiar with the conversations.
Trump administration to restore foreign students’ legal status, for now
The Trump administration said on Friday that it is restoring the student visa registrations of potentially thousands of foreign students in the United States whose legal status had recently been abruptly terminated.
The Downballot’s calculations of presidential election results by congressional district, sponsored by Grassroots Analytics
Our one-of-a-kind collection spans from 2008 to the present
Senate Democrat: Party needs to lose ‘weak and woke’ reputation
Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.) wants Democrats across the country to focus on ways to “retake the flag” from President Trump and Republican majorities in the House and Senate and told one media outlet she thinks they should start by shedding public perception of the party as “weak and woke.”
Youngkin asks Richmond radio host John Reid to withdraw from LG race over alleged sexually explicit posts Reid denies are his
Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin has asked Richmond-area radio host John Reid to withdraw as the Republican nominee for lieutenant governor after GOP researchers found sexually explicit posts online that they believe are connected to Reid, according to two sources familiar with the situation.
Judge says 2-year-old US citizen appears to have been deported with ‘no meaningful process’
The girl was deported Friday with her mother to Honduras, despite her father’s efforts to keep her in the United States.
Short Circuit: An inexhaustive weekly compendium of rulings from the federal courts of appeal
Electronic monitoring, secret GPS trackers, and a speck in the recesses of interstellar space.
A 2-year-old U.S. citizen from Louisiana was deported to Honduras, federal judge says
The girl was deported with “no meaningful process,” the judge wrote in a court order calling for a hearing.
Here’s what the Nevada Legislature is doing to expand, regulate the use of AI
State agencies are using the technology more to speed up tedious tasks, but lawmakers worry about the ways machine-made decisions could harm consumers.
Trump-aligned club for the ultra rich launches in Washington
The launch of “Executive Branch” comes as Trump world looks to remake Washington.
Economy & Taxes
Tariffs Don’t Strengthen an Economy
The Trump administration is filled with people who are giddy at the prospect of “getting America going again” through tariffs. That’s a notion that many voters find appealing, especially when Trump tells them that those nasty foreigners have been ripping us off. (This is the flip side of the Democrats’ revving up their base by saying that Americans are being ripped off by the superrich who don’t pay their fair share in taxes.)
“It could break us”: Valley farmer says Chinese tariffs have crushed the alfalfa export market
Shannon Schulz has been farming in the Harquahala Valley for decades
The Fire Jerome Powell Market Rout
Investors render a verdict on tariffs and politicizing the Fed.
Layoffs coming at Mack, Volvo truck plants in Pennsylvania, Maryland
Hundreds of workers will be laid off at two truck plants in Pennsylvania and Maryland as company officials say orders are down amid market uncertainty.
Trump Team Signals the Great Climbdown
Donald Trump said yesterday that he has “no intention” of firing Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, telling an Oval Office gaggle, “None whatsoever. . . . Never did.” Trump also signaled that he is looking for a deal that will exit his trade war with China, such that his punitive tariff on Chinese goods will “come down substantially, but it won’t be zero.”
Rand Paul Fights Trump on Tariffs as Other Republicans Duck
Kentucky senator, who also voted against GOP budget plan, has spent years trying to rein in presidential power
Somehow the World’s Fiscal Role Models Are Now Greece and Argentina
While most major countries, led by the U.S., continue to grow their government debt, the fiscal disasters of yesteryear are reporting budget surpluses.
The Multiple-Personality Trade War with China
If you’re going to get into a trade war with China — easily justifiable considering the Beijing regime’s abuses and belligerence on a wide variety of fronts — you had better have a plan.
Trump’s Impossible Trade Policy
The premise of Donald Trump’s trade war is that other countries should face tariff rates commensurate to the extent of their “cheating” in global trade. Trump insists that this extends well beyond tariffs, which are already zero or near-zero for most goods traded between the U.S. and its major trading partners.
Taiwan Semiconductor’s Arizona Factory Faces $441 Million Loss Amid Supply Chain, Labor Cost Challenges
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s Arizona factory’s substantial losses reflect the repercussions of Washington’s attempt to restructure global semiconductor supply chains through political intervention.
An American Small Business-Owner Explains Why President Trump’s China Tariffs Are Catastrophic … Even If Cut in Half
Following remarks from Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent earlier this week suggesting that a tariff de-escalation with China would be coming soon, the Wall Street Journal on Wednesday reported that the Trump administration is considering slashing its tariffs on Chinese imports to between 50 and 65 percent. Given that the average US tariff rate on Chinese imports currently sits at 124 percent, this cut would provide some relief to a US economy that imported nearly $440 billion worth of goods from China in 2024. Yet, it would nevertheless mean that the average import from China would continue to be subject to rates around two to three times higher than the average tariff rate on Chinese imports when the second Trump administration began—and about 13 to 17 times higher than before the first Trump administration’s trade war with Beijing began in 2018.
Trump tariffs have Democrats seeing an outside chance in this red state
With two marquee statewide races in Iowa and a state economy that is especially rattled by Trump’s trade war, a party marginalized in the Hawkeye State is looking for glimmers of hope for climbing back into competition with Republicans.
Dollar Poised for Worst First 100 Days of Presidency Since Nixon
A dollar gauge is on track for its worst performance during the first 100 days of a US presidency in data going back to the Nixon era, when America abandoned the gold standard and switched to a free-floating exchange rate.
More Americans are financing groceries with buy now, pay later loans — and more are paying those bills late, survey says
A Lending Tree survey found 25% of buy now, pay later users are funding grocery purchases with the loans, up from 14% in 2024. The survey said 41% of respondents said they made a late payment on a BNPL loan in the past year, up from 34% in the year prior. The figures are the latest evidence that some consumers are having trouble affording essentials such as groceries under the pressure of high prices and interest rates.
Intel CEO announces impending layoffs.
Licking County chip plant now delayed until 2031.
Albertsons tells suppliers to eat the cost of tariffs: ‘We are not accepting cost increases’
Grocery chain Albertsons is taking a hard-line approach to tariffs, telling its suppliers it won’t accept any price hikes, according to a letter from the company’s head of merchandising. “We are not accepting cost increases,” the letter states, before spelling out a multipart approval process for suppliers hit by levies.
Homesellers in Las Vegas Valley dropping prices but buyers aren’t biting
Las Vegas Valley home sellers are cutting prices on their listings at an increased rate compared with last year, but it doesn’t appear buyers are biting, according to a new report from Zillow.
Massive blow to Trump as Japanese car giant moves manufacturing OUT of US in tariff twist
President Donald Trump’s tariffs just cost America a chunk of Canadian business. Subaru, which sold 68,043 cars in Canada in 2024, is reshuffling its supply chain in response to escalating car trade scuffles.
China cancels 12,000 metric tons of US pork shipments
China canceled 12,000 metric tons of United States pork shipments amid a high-stakes trade standoff between the superpowers, according to data released Thursday.
Dyspro-what? Why an Obscure Element Has the EV Industry in a Panic
Caught in the middle of the U.S.-China trade war is a Chiclet-size magnet that is vital to every new electric vehicle on the road.
Trade Winds 2025—Seriously and Literally
The third and final installment of my April trilogy on Trump and tariffs. This one summarizes my discussions over the past week. (If you’re short on time, scroll down for the headers and graphics.)
Hyundai Canada plans to source more Tucsons from outside the U.S.
Most come from Alabama, but Hyundai plans to add more Mexican-built ones to the Canadian mix
International
Pope Francis, first Latin American pontiff who ministered with a charming, humble style, dies at 88
Pope Francis, history’s first Latin American pontiff who charmed the world with his humble style and concern for the poor but alienated conservatives with critiques of capitalism and climate change, died Monday. He was 88.
UAE Cabinet approves first-of-its-kind AI regulatory ecosystem
AI to power real-time law impact tracking, accelerating legal reform
‘Flesh-eating’ vulva infections reported in three cases — gynecologists should know the signs, experts warn
Doctors in the U.K. have warned gynecologists of the risks of necrotizing fasciitis in the external genitalia after seeing several cases.
Wild chimpanzees filmed by scientists bonding over alcoholic fruit
Footage of apes consuming fermented breadfruit leads researchers to ask if it may shed light on origins of human feasting
Five killed, more than 700 people injured after massive explosion in Iranian port
Five people have been killed and more than 700 injured in a huge explosion at the port of Bandar Abbas in southwestern Iran, according to official Iranian media.
‘It’s done wonders’: trading card game featuring middle-aged men revives Japanese town
Ojisan trading cards bear the faces of real people – local men whose competing professional qualities determine the outcome of each game
Opinion
Pro-Natalism Isn’t Always Pro-Family
President Donald Trump will soon release policy proposals to reverse declining birthrates — the New York Times released a report today on the pro-natalist movement behind the proposals.
A US Trade Strategy for Latin America
There are ways in which the United States can reshape its economic relationships with Latin American nations to the mutual benefit of all parties.
So let’s talk about what we mean when we say “rule of law.”
More specifically, let’s talk about what the Nobel Prize–winning economist Friedrich Hayek wrote about it.
Tax Like the Estonians
A new report suggests that the answers to America’s taxation problems may be found in the Baltics.
Reclaiming Citizenship
We live in a legal culture besotted by the myth of judicial supremacy. According to this myth, the Constitution means whatever five Supreme Court justices claim it means, and all other governmental actors are duty-bound to abide by that supposed meaning.
When governors sabotage democracy just because they feel like it
The power to schedule special elections is a gift to governors intent on doing political mischief.
Trump’s ‘Team of Vipers’ Is Back
When Donald Trump’s administration runs aground, an almost-cliched response from his disappointed supporters is that “the president is getting some very bad advice.” That bit of blame-shifting exonerates Trump from the consequences of his decisions and actions and lays responsibility at the feet of whichever cabinet member or top staffer has Trump’s ear at any given moment. Trump cannot fail, he can only be failed.
Ceding Crimea Will Cede Eurasia
A Russian Crimea could cut off American and European access to Central Asia, while benefiting China.
Radicalized By Your Opponents
People on the left and right in this postmodern age have a disturbing habit of being radicalized by their opponents.
Regardless, Good.
Trump supporters think the President always strategizes ahead of others — multidimensional chess. Trump critics think the man who beat Democrats twice is too stupid to think, much less strategize. Those closest to Mr. Trump say he is doing what he does best — going with his gut, letting others fight it out in front of him, then deciding and often improvising. That sounds closest to the truth.
Plot Holes
Hubris and nemesis at the White House.
Principled, Enforceable, and Strategically Sound: A Just Peace for Ukraine
President Donald Trump has made ending the war in Ukraine a central pillar of his foreign policy. While his desire to broker peace appears sincere, any resolution needs to preserve Ukrainian sovereignty and the long-term security interests of the United States and its allies. A ceasefire that allows Russia to regroup and rearm would only delay a larger conflict. The war’s outcome will shape Ukraine’s future as well as the future of transatlantic security.
Quinn Slobodian Bastardizes Hayek and Mises
A historian tries to tie two classical liberal economists to the racialist right, and scrambles their words in the process.
There are four types of people, generally, under the sway of a totalitarian movement.
Totalitarianism is called totalitarianism because it creates a totalizing environment where everything in the environment must reflect, support, and amplify the cult belief structure of the movement. It’s not just that it tells people what to do, it’s that it must contour every aspect of their existence.
What Makes a City Wealthy?
Two juxtaposed buildings in South Carolina’s largest city raise questions of what wealth really means.
Trump’s Job Is to Enforce Congress’s Immigration Laws, Not Make Up His Own
The president has no power of his own to deport anyone; he has the power that Congress has given him.
The DOJ Should Not Investigate Woke Medical Journals
The editors of medical journals such as the New England Journal of Medicine and The Lancet are ruining the once venerable reputations of their publications by continually publishing hard-left-wing polemics about controversial political issues — such as race relations, gun regulation, and climate change — in the guise of deeming them matters of public health.
