The Trump administration made an interesting pivot on Friday in the major case on gender-transitioning legislation. The case involving the Tennessee ban on the use of puberty blockers and hormone therapy for transgender minors is expected to establish new and significant precedent in the area. The oral argument appeared to favor the state. The problem is that, if the Trump Administration were to withdraw its challenge, it would work against the interests of Tennessee and other states in seeking a final resolution before the Court. Accordingly, the Trump Administration created a type of Pushmi-Pullyu position: it renounced the Biden position and then retained the challenge by encouraging the Court to move forward with a final decision.
Roughly half of the states (24 states, to be exact) have banned hormone therapy for transgender youth. In July 2023, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals rejected challenges to such laws in Tennessee and Kentucky. The Supreme Court agreed to hear the case, now listed as U.S. v. Skrmetti.
Three transgender teens and their parents originally filed the Tennessee lawsuit against the state officials responsible for enforcing the ban. They argued that the state law, SB1, violates the Constitution because it prohibits doctors from prescribing puberty blockers and hormone therapy while allowing the use of the same treatments for other purposes.
The Biden administration supported their challenge with regard to the equal protection claim.
The problem is that the justices granted only the Biden administration’s petition for review on the equal protection question. While a lawyer for the families was allowed to argue in the December 4th oral arguments with the Biden Administration, a withdrawal of the case by the Trump Administration would have prevented the Court from issuing the opinions currently being written by the justices.
While the tradition had been for the federal government to maintain positions already argued before the Court by the prior administrations, both the Biden and Trump Administrations departed from that tradition.
However, Deputy Solicitor General Curtis Gannon wrote the Court a letter that adopted a more nuanced position. It notified the justices that “the government’s previously stated views” in the Tennessee case “no longer represent the United States’ position.” It did not come as a surprise. Indeed, just a week ago, President Donald Trump issued an executive order restricting gender-affirming care for transgender people under the age of 19.
However, Gannon added that, while it “would not have intervened to challenge” the law, it supported the Court moving to a final decision in the case. Gannon cited the need for a “prompt resolution of” the equal protection question given the “many cases pending in the lower courts.”
Hence, the Pushmi-Pullyu position.
Notably, when Dr. Doolittle unveiled his Pushmi-Pullyu, the reaction of his duck was likely the same as many this week after the Gannon letter: “Lord save us! How does it make up its mind?”
The answer is that the novelty is precisely what appeals: “This is the pushmi-pullyu—the rarest animal of the African jungles, the only two-headed beast in the world! Take him home with you, and your fortune’s made. People will pay any money to see him.”
Indeed, they will.
A decision in the case is expected by summer.
OT
Message from [Elon Musk]:
“DEBT, DEFENSE, AND GENERAL WELFARE”
“That’s All, Folks!”
– Porky Pig
______________
It’s time for the communist Supreme Court to finally adhere to its sworn oath duty, support the Constitution, read Article 1, Section 8, and cut taxation and funding for 90% of the federal government.
It’s simple.
Most governmental agencies and departments are unconstitutional.
If it’s done in America, it must be done by self-regulated private enterprises, in private industries, in the free markets of the private sector, to include charitable endeavors, understanding that the clear and unambiguous definition of general welfare is ALL, or THE WHOLE, WELL PROCEED—not one, some, or a few, not individual, specific, or particular welfare, or charity, or favor.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Article 1, Section 8
The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States…
JD Vance makes a good point about radical judges claiming executive authority.
https://x.com/JDVance/status/1888607143030391287
It is truly remarkable that an unelected Article III judge at the lowest level dares to order an executive not to run the agency which he has been appointed to run and who has been nominated by the top ELECTED Article II executive and approved by the ELECTED Article I Senate.
So much for the Will of the People and the Constitution.
One wonders just who in the hell does this judge think he is?
I hope that the legal geniuses around Trump can find a way to make of this judge a terrifying example as Voltaire said of the fate of British Admiral Byng, ‘to encourage the others.’
Of course I am not recommending he be shot on his quarterdeck or its judicial equivalent. Only that he receive prominent legal suffering and shame.
Judges like this corrode the reputation of our judicial system. We have had quite enough of that in the last several years. Stop before there is nothing left.
Monica Showalter makes the same point and adds that the failing judiciary maybe needs a good hosing out.
https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2025/02/after_the_failures_of_lawfare_a_leftist_judge_plows_forward_to_new_heights_of_judicial_overreach.html
That made me wonder if this is really a smart time for judges to attract the attention of the guys with hoses and the will to use them and with growing cynical public support.
I made the point yesterday that Trump’s brilliant Gaza statement changed the universe of discussion about what to do with the Gazans.
Melanie Phillips in the video found in the link below makes the same point and much, much more. She is well worth hearing.
https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2025/02/outsiders-inside-israel.php
Young, you hit the nail on the head. I hope Traveler will listen to the video. He concludes while standing on two telephone books, telling everyone to listen to MacGregor, for MacGregor has the answer, but Traveler has no answers. MacGregor is a coward because he won’t tell us his thoughts, except two foxes and a chicken should decide where Israel is the chicken.
It’s sad when someone constantly stands behind a figure with no substance in the subject matter.
https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2025/02/outsiders-inside-israel.php
S. Meyer–
Thanks. I watched MacGregor videos early on in the Ukraine war and thought he made good points but I waited to see if his conclusions were correct. They weren’t and I stopped watching. I skipped anything he said regarding Israel because he seemed too likely to be biased.
On another note I was interested to see that Jewish DNA signals appeared in Natufian remains from the beginning of the Neolithic and found on Mount Carmel. The Natufians, as you know, were the first humans to shift from hunter/gatherer roaming to permanent [or semi-permanent] homes. The foundations of some Natufian houses are still seen in Israel.
Jewish people are not the only ones with DNA in those sites, but anyone with Jewish ancestry likely has a family tree stretching back to those people. They have been there for a very long time it seems.
Colonel McGregor a coward? I think not, he has a stellar reputation and has a regular podcast where he provides his analysis as an expert military strategist, a graduate of West Point. He’s been pretty spot on and clear with his analysis and opinions of the ME conflict and the Ukraine war as well. I would tell everyone to watch his podcasts and make up their own minds. He called it 6 months ago on what was coming for the Ukraine and Gaza as well.
Funny, someone from the soapbox trying to belittle someone on his telephone books.
Traveler, MacGregor’s analysis of specific Middle East issues is cowardly. That is why you can’t clearly state what he stands for based on the ground situation. But, you say, “been pretty spot on and clear with his analysis and opinions of the ME conflict .“ Is that why you can’t provide a spot-on analysis (his or yours)? His words on the situation evaporate before your electronic ink dries.
This Superbowl is as bad as MacGregor’s opinion on the ME. I may turn it off like you should do to him.
Traveler-
I seem to recall McGregor predicting early in the Ukraine conflict that as soon as winter hardened the ground Russian forces would crush Ukraine and it would all be over.
I think he did that for a couple of winters and Ukraine wasn’t crushed.
His arguments seemed logical but his logic maybe wasn’t operating on all the facts, like an equation perfectly ‘solved’ with a missing variable. It could be his superior knowledge made him more susceptible to wrong conclusions. Many thought that WW I would be over quickly but it wasn’t.
There were experts on both sides of the Ukraine question who were too sure what would happen if they held to the course they thought true. But they couldn’t seem to understand that they were likely edging closer to a world war more deadly than the last two and that even if they finally realized what was happening it could be too late to stop it.
Kaiser Wilhelm, when he realized war was about to begin but had not yet been declared, asked his generals if they could stop the mobilization before hell. No, sorry, too late for that. Train schedules, don’t you know. We are in the grip of plans and train schedules. And the war began.
Thank God Trump won because he seems to get it and we seem just a little safer though we can’t yet be sure because there may be things like train schedules, but more complex, that are unseen and can’t be stopped, too late for that, and are driving us to hell.
Let them all fund their own wars. America is broke.
MacGregor suggests we should ask Israel’s enemies, specifically those who went to war, to erase Israel from the map what they want. He interprets Trump’s statements literally, which overlooks Trump’s approach of shifting the dynamics of the issue.
It is easy to advocate for no U.S. interference. I am in step with that; however, that alone is not a comprehensive policy and, indeed, not a policy for one who is an “adviser.” It is narrow-minded at best and lethal at worst.
I am not asking the U.S. to send troops or money to Israel, but it should honor its commitment to send those things Israel purchased from the U.S. It should look at the threats in the region; Iran’s nukes threaten the world. MacGregor should be considering the billions America is spending through a circuitous route reaching Hamas and is not intended to be repaid. That is the problem; money to Israel is repaid as a loan or in kind. The U.S. was indirectly aiding Hamas while tying Israel’s hands. MacGregor’s answer is deaf to the circumstances and deaf to our national security in this area.
To make things worse, his predictions about other areas of the world were wrong.
Washington Exposed
Jauy Martin and Col. Douglas Macgregor. It appears the difference between us is that you have Israeli’s interests above America”s interests. The referenced podcast shines light on this very topic, the legal corruption and the influence it buys at the cost to American citizens.
Mr. Meyer
How did the Moussad and the IDF both come to be unaware of the October attack? I mean they had the pager and cell phone numbers for nearly every known terror suspect in the region. They had enough intelligence reach and resources to preemptively plant explosives to remotely kill or maim them. Yet given this, they dropped the ball? Eerily similar to our 9/11, and the multiple Trump assassination attempts don’t you think? Perhaps things are not always what we think they are.
“How did the Moussad and the IDF both come to be unaware of the October attack?”
Traveler, this failure is a heavily debated question under review. We don’t know the exact details, but we know there were problems with the government at the time. It appears Netanyahu was not notified about what was happening, but we do not know for sure.
What we do know is that the US was doing to Netanyahu what the left was doing to Donald Trump. They have been successful, and Israel is paying the price for Biden’s success. Our government’s intervention with its intelligence agency likely contributed to what happened.
The American people strongly support Israel, as do many in our government. As we have learned, the deep state anywhere can cause horrific problems. We are also learning that American taxpayer money and agencies were working to topple the Netanyahu government and impair Israel’s independence. I don’t want to go further with things that are likely true but presently controversial enough to be left for another discussion.
Doesn’t it strike you as quite odd that the IDF and Moussad would have the extent of intelligence on these cretins to kill them at will from afar yet a well organized plan of a multi pronged attack slipped through the cracks? They can plant explosives yet no electronic surveillance of the known terrorists?
If a war had not started Netanyahu would have been tried and found guilty of bribery and corruption in Israelis courts and gone the wayside. It surely seems suspicious to me.
Peace and no more wars…
Traveler, you are trying to resurrect yourself by grasping at straws. It isn’t working and won’t work. You continue to demonstrate a lack of knowledge and an inability to pull together the little knowledge you have. You are not making yourself look good.
A tight group planned the planting of the pager devices over many years. What you are talking about involves external and internal sources, which were open to interference even by American intelligence.
“If a war had not started Netanyahu would have been tried and found guilty of bribery and corruption”
You sound like a leftist American conspiracy theorist from the US. How do you get such an idea to imply what you did? I guess you would find Donald Trump guilty of everything the Democrats claimed. Really, you are making yourself sound foolish by stating things you have little knowledge of. The left’s treachery goes far and wide.
What is Netanyahu accused of? Accepting cigars and alcohol, getting positive political coverage, etc. These indictments are political; if any hold water, they are penny ante. Did Trump receive gifts? Did he induce politicians to stay at his hotels? Trump was convicted in NY, but that will be overturned. Are you developing a double standard where Israel is concerned? I think you see the stupidity of the left’s accusations against Trump, but Netanyahu is different. He is from Israel.
Israel is strange when it comes to the court system. Their Supreme Court is left-wing, with justices similar to Merchan and Chutkan and prosecutions like Jack Smith, Bragg and Willis.
Netanyahu is a hero and likely will be found innocent. If he is found guilty, whether fair or not, he will be fined or incarcerated. That will be his problem.
Young
The Ukraine military is crushed, the last number I read was over a million dead. Easy to end the madness, end the money and war utensils. It’s over.
Jonathan: Well, it turns out the hypothetical I posited in an earlier comment (2/9@1:34pm) was not just a mental exercise. After Judge Engelmayer ordered DOGE not to access the Treasury Department’s data base Elon Musk went ballistic. He posted this on X this morning at 1:11am: “A corrupt judge protecting corruption. He needs to be impeached NOW!”.
In a separate post on X, @amuse posted this in a long attack on Judge Engelmayer: “This is lawfare at it’s most brazen.; a raw, partisan power grab dressed up in legalese. If allowed to stand, this decision sets the precedent that any left-wing judge can unilaterally strip the President of his authority and hand it to the administrative state….The Trump administration should treat this for what it is–an unconstitutional usurpation–and consider defying it outright”.
For Elon and @amuse court orders that do not support lawbreaking are just a “power grab” and those orders should be defied. AG Pam Bondi now has her marching orders from Musk!
Go Musk! I hope Trump ignores this judge! This is a hill worth dying on.
The TRO will not be ignored.
It will be appealed. The judge will lose. This is pretty much a no brainer.
In the meantime DOGE will conduct other audits returning to Treasury later.
Or they will find other means of accessing the same spending information.
It is likely that the left will find other sympathetic judges to obstruct this.
It will take time to overcome the lawfare.
But this is actually extremely popular – contra Dennis.
The wasted spending at USAID that Musk found – amounts to $150/year for each man women and child in the US.
Democrats do not seem to grasp it is better to just rip off the bandaid than to protract the pain as long as possible.
I am overjoyed that the left is obstructing this. They will not win in the long run – and they look bad for even trying.
Honestly who thinks it is a good look for Schumer and Waters and Omar and AOC and … to be out ranting that corrupt wastefull government spending needs to be protected ?
This is not only about Trump’s promise to cut spending – which is part of what won him the election.
It is also about the mid-terms in 2 years. The party in power almost never holds or gains in the midterms.
But democrats are doing their best to assure they take even greater losses.
Never interupt your enemy when they are making a mistake
Sun Tzu.
Dennis – this is a TRO – it will be appealed, and overturned.
Whether you like it or not – the president has the authority to audit executive spending.
And he does not have to go to treasury to do it personally himself.
He can use anyone in the govenrment – or even hire outside contractors.
Meanwhile DOGE has moved to other targets while the legal battles continue.
Do you honestly think that efforts to stop DOGE are going to succeed ?
Are you so stupid that you would actually want them to ?
Not only do 80% of americans want to see federal spending cut – 67% of democrats do.
You and a few idiot democrats in congress are all alone fighting this.
I would further note – that Musk hired these people – because they are brilliant – they think outside the box.
The judge might have temporarily closed the front door – but there are myriads of ways of getting the information DOGE is auditing.
I would note that they ALREADY found hundreds of BILLIONS of likely fraud, as well as absolutely abysmall processes.
Treasury as an example does NOT check their payments against existing – though out of date records of KNOW fraudulent payees.
They have the information to check payments and withhold payments to known fraudsters.
They have the information to update the fraudster database daily – they do it yearly – and then do not use it.
Hundreds of billions in Payments are NOT coded as to what they are for. Treasury is paying – just because they were asked to pay.
No one is providing them with even the reason for the payments.
There is atleast $50B in fraudulent SS payments going out each year.
These are payments to people who have no social security number, or who have a known bogus social security number.
It is likely that a significant portion of these are …. Illegal immigrants.
While Musk did not go ballistic, and I am perfectly content to have left wing nuts delay this as long as possible – it just makes them look all the worse.
Regardless – Musk is correct – DOGE’s actions are within executive powers of the president.
Trumps EO to audit the federal government – is not likely even re-viewable by the courts – it is likely within the exclusive powers of the president.
Regardless, Musk’s assertion is correct – Why is this Judge trying to get in the way of uncovering corruption ?
The courts can not stop DOGE from auditing federal spending and reporting their findings and recommendations to the president.
Nor do they have authority over those that the president directs to take on that audit.
As a MAGA-hating conservative the only thing left for us is to derive some pleasure and entertainment in watching the Trumptards spend an inordinate amount of energy on an utter non-issue like transgenderism. The American Society of Plastic Surgeons reports that since 2020 there have been about 1,200 genital sex-change surgeries in the US. Only a tiny fraction of those were people under 18. Do the math. There are 333 million people in the US. That’s .00003% of the population. But the very idea of it riles the ig’n’ant hillbillies up and gets them to the voting booth. If it weren’t for transgenderism they’d be all up in arms over alien abduction anal probes.
You’re a cock sucking liar is what you are, libturd.
ATS – almost no one cares about adults having elective surgery or taking hormones or dressing as the opposite sex.
If you think that is the issue – your off in lala land.
The FIRST issue – is the permanent damage being done to children – puberty blockers, sex hormones – and even surgery.
Contra the left these are NOT trivially – if even at all reversable.
The next issue is biological males competing in women’s sports.
and in their lockers and gym classes.
Self surveys of GenZ have 20% of them reporting a gender different from their sex – The largest single group being transgendered.
That is not 0.000003%.
BTW the correct number of Sex Assignment surgeries in the US PER YEAR is 13,000 not 1200 over several years. According to JAMA
And that does not include the much larger numbers performed on americans in Brazil, and Thailand – where surgery is much cheaper.
Murder, assault, battery, mayhem, mutilation, including hormonal mutilation, etc., are violations of law—which physicians and parents would be wise to avoid.
21, the age of adulthood, is as appropriate for the consumption of alcohol as it is for experimental attempts to change the gender (i.e. sex) and lives of individuals, especially individuals who lack the maturity and experience to make such profound and consequential decisions.
______________________________________________________________________________________________
AI Overview
Some changes from hormone therapy are reversible, while others are permanent. The reversibility depends on the type of hormone therapy and the change.
– Reversible changes
Estrogen therapy: Changes to skin, fat distribution, and muscle mass can be reversed.
Puberty blockers: The effects of puberty blockers are reversible because they stop the hormone signals from the brain to the gonads.
– Permanent changes
Feminizing hormone therapy: Breast development is permanent.
Masculinizing hormone therapy: Voice deepening, facial and body hair growth, scalp hair loss, and clitoral enlargement are permanent.
Estrogen-based HRT: Breast growth, decreased testicular volume, and (potentially) sperm production are permanent.
The long-term effects of hormone therapy on fertility are not fully understood.
Democrats are saying they are ready to shut down government to block Trump reforms.
Brer Rabbit says, “Please don’t throw me in the briar patch!”
I would advise the prog/left to stay their indefensible course for all the world to see. Just keep maxine and chuckles out their screaming and threatening, it’s even better than electing hogg to be the deputy DNC chair. Please, dems, don’t stop digging that hole.
Conservatives used to support the Reagan/Goldwater ideal of American liberty. That the individual has maximum freedoms as long as one citizen doesn’t infringe on another citizen’s rights.
So what about gun rights? Using this precedent, any state could outlaw anyone under 18 years old from hunting or owning a gun. Even if the child’s parents made those choices for their own children.
A federal or state government could outlaw your kids from hunting or target shooting, taking that right away from parents. If Trump can bypass the constitutional-amendment process to change the 14th Amendment, the very same thing could be done to the 2nd Amendment or any freedom of any American.
Personally, even many adult LGBTQ+ Americans would not allow permanent surgery on children under 18 years old (Republican or Democrat). It’s probably a bad idea to perform irreversible surgery on children. The question is do parents make those choices -or- petty politicians running for re-election?
Do you really want any government official intruding into our personal lives like this or do you support Reagan and Goldwater’s vision of American liberty?
“It’s probably a bad idea to perform irreversible surgery on children. The question is do parents make those choices -or- petty politicians running for re-election?”
No, there is no “probably” about it. It is child mutilation. Nobody should allow that to happen to their child. IMHO, Jazzy Jennings parents should be in prison for the rest of their lives.
Your logic leads to laws allowing for theft or murder as long as it is the criminal’s choice to do such acts…that is preposterous in a civilized nation. Of course, the problem is that one needs a homogeneous culture for that and we do not have that, thanks to the nutty multicultural social (failed) experiment in social engineering pushed by the prog/left. If you study history you will note that once a culture loses control of its core values, it is not long before that culture is dead in the water.
We have an extraordinary opportunity, here, to restore our original culture to save our nation OR, we can continue the downward spiral into societal chaos (which was the plan all along because you cannot replace a culture unless you destroy it first)
There is a Supreme Court practice issue here. I don’t know the answer. What is the duty of candor owed by the Solicitor General, sometimes described as the 10th Justice, and as an officer of the Court, to inform the Court that its position has changed before the Court rules? Beyond that, Jonathan nailed it.
I’m sure that there are medical cases in which various gender-specific hormones would be a benefit to patients with genetic or other gender-related issues. The problem seems to be that ideology and economics play way too big a part in expanding the patient base. I hope the ban is upheld but that there is sufficient leeway for honest physicians to do good work.
Jonathan: Elon Musk is the “Darth Vader” of the DJT administration. They are both at war with the universe. But DJT/Musk’s wings are being trimmed by the courts left and right. In three weeks 41 cases have been filed against the duo’s illegal and unconstitutional orders. In all but one case courts have stopped that illegality–whether it’s ending birthright citizenship, cuts to federal aid to the states authorized by Congress, shutting down USAid, firing federal workers without notice, preventing DOGE from access to Treasury Dept. sensitive information about millions of Americans. etc.
I am on several other legal blogs. A Q has come up about the extent the courts can enforce their orders against a lawless DJT/ Musk administration? Case in point? On Friday NY AG Letitia James and 18 other state AGs filed suit in NY US District Court asking for an emergency order to prevent Musk’s access to the sensitive and confidential Treasury Dept data base. Yesterday US District Judge Engelmayer issued a TRO prohibiting DOGE access to the data and he ordered Musk to destroy any data he may have downloaded onto his servers. On 2/14 there will be a show cause hearing before a different judge whether a preliminary injunction should be ordered. It is like the judge will grant the injunction. What happens next?
On 2/3 acting DC AG Ed Martin posted a letter to Musk on X asking him to “utilize me and my staff to assist in protecting the DOGE work and the DOGE workers…Let me assure you this: We will pursue any and all legal action against anyone who impedes your work or threatens your people”. It’s extraordinary and unprecedented for the DOJ to issue such threats in defense of a private citizen who has no official position in government.
Given the position of the DOJ to defend Musk and DOGE what happens on 2/14 when the federal judge in NY likely confirms the earlier TRO and imposes a preliminary injunction on DOGE? Will the DOJ attorneys sent in by Pam Bondi and Ed Martin simply comply with the court’s order or will they resist?
So here is a hypothetical. Suppose the DOJ takes the position that a preliminary injunction is “illegal” and they will not comply. What happens next? Courts can issue contempt citations against any DOJ attorney who fails to comply. That means fines or jail time. What DOJ attorney wants to face being taken into custody by US Marshalls and put in jail? See a problem?
US Marshalls fall under the jurisdiction of the DOJ. Suppose AG Pam Bondi decides she doesn’t want to see her attorneys put in jail and orders the US Marshalls to stand down. What recourse does a judge have to enforce his/her orders? There is none. Orders of a court rely on voluntary compliance. Without that judges are powerless.
Now I know this is only a hypothetical. But if DJT and Musk are willing to violate the law and the Constitution every day since taking office–virtually setting up a fascist dictatorship–what is to prevent them from ignoring the orders of judges? We saw that happen in Nazi Germany. Hitler ignored orders of the courts. Independent judges were replaced with Nazi judges. What makes anyone think this couldn’t happen here?
Dennis, It’s clear what you think of Trump. I have thought the same thing about the Left’s attacks on my nation for many years. That is the uncrossable divide. It is Trump’s turn now. Enjoy🤣
As OldFish just stated, we are 2 separate and irreconcilable cultures inhabiting one piece of real estate and only one can survive and thrive and the prog/left has shown us quite clearly that their agenda is failing on all counts, – socially, economically, legally and shows not a hint of functionality. I would suggest that those adhering to prog/left agendas that they need to find a different homeland – perhaps that is the reason that Trump wants to purchase Greenland – all the progs could live their at their leisure and put up solar panels, wind farms, and hold drag shows on the ice.
# If it were possible and if I were competent in the area, I’d travel to Jordan and see the 40 million dollar school Americans built via USAID and check the books. Then fly to Peru and check up on the comic books …
Thanks Dennis. I’ve seen other scholarly pieces about this— what happens if King Donald simply ignores Court Orders and stripper haired Bondi prevents US Marshals from enforcing a finding of contempt? We know that stripper hair will do as she is told and that Court Orders mean nothing if King Donald chooses not to comply. So, what then?
I’ve heard this described as the “doomsday scenario”— a true national crisis— tangible proof that our Founders assumed that good faith and patriotism would never cause this situation to happen— that a president would honor the rule of law. And literally no one doubts for one minute that King Donald wouldn’t do it or that stripper hair would let something as petty as an oath to the Constitution stand in the way of King Donald getting away with ignoring Court Orders. And we all know that MAGA media will spin such a scenario as “lawfare” or other nonsense. They already are.
Trump may just force the American people to take to the streets if we can’t rely on the DOJ honoring the oath to the Constitution and enforcing Court Orders.
Trump has no reason to ignore court orders.
Though I would note as a matter of constitutional law – the courts do not have jurisdiction over much of this.
The president can fire anyone in the federal government for cause.
That person can challenge their firing in court – but it is still in the power of the president.
The president is required to comply with labor union contracts for federal employees.
But it is likely that he can still lay federal employees off – if he closes the departments they are employed by.
There is absolutely no doubt that the president can offer federal employees a buyout to quit.
The president can audit the spending of any executive branch department.
The president has the authority to stop any payments that are not specifically authorized by congress
None of the USAID spending that Trump ended was authorized by congress. They were budgeted $44B for foreign aid.
But outside of specific line items in the Budget Trump is free to shutdown USAID and spend that money on anything else that meets the requirements of the budget.
It is likely that Trump is going to try to refuse to spend it. And that will get interesting.
Congress is not going to court to stop him – though democrats might.
They will not have standing – and even if a court found they did – it is unlikely the supreme court would rule in favor of any group outside of congress itself challenging a presidents decision not to spend budgeted money.
First He will win on appeal,
second – he wins anyway – just by your fighting them.
But lets imagine Trump wants to make this REALLY difficult for you and left wing nut stupid courts.
He can go down to Treasury himself personally and demand the records DOGE wants be provided to him personally.
He can then leave with them, and later turn them over to whoever he wishes – without even telling the courts.
While constitutionally there is no difference at all between Trump ordering sec TReas to turn records over to DOGE and ordering they be turned over to the president directly.
How long do you think a court order telling the president he can not access the records of the Treasurry will survive ?
I do not know exaclry what Trump will do – except that what he will do is what will make democrats and the courts look the most like fools.
Why do you think it is a good idea to be actively stopping an audit to find waste and corruption ?
Do you really think Working class americans are going to be behind you on this ?
Of course this is lawfare. One way you will be able to tell is that you will lose on appeal.
All you are doing is delaying the inevitable – and making yourself look bad in the process.
“Trump may just force…” How do you think that will go? Your lawfare may lead to warfare if the “American people” you refer to decide an uprising is appropriate in order to stop the transformation of our “government” that real Americans voted for last year. Think about that. Then by all means take to the streets in your shithole blue cities and continue the destruction of those once-great metropolises…but if you step one foot in my realm, all bets are off.
Dennis – you have already lost several of these.
With the exception of the Birth Right Citizenship EO,
You will ultimately lose all or nearly all of these.
But you will slow the process down – wasting money int he process and angering voters.
Instead of just ripping the bandaid off – you will make it take loner and be more painful.
If you are frequenting a legal blog that thinks Trump will lose these challenges – you should find a legal blog run by Real lawyers – not left wing nuts.
I honestly do not understand the incredible stupidity of the left here.
Politicians have promised to end wasteful spending in government since the begining of time.
They never do it.
Trump is actually doing so – and the left is stupid enough to fight him on it ?
This is enormously popular -something like 80% approve – even 67% of democrats.
A few wiser democrats even talked of working with Musk/DOGE to cut spending.
Warren and Sanders wanted Musk to look at DOD – Guess where DOGE is auditing now ?
But instead you have given republicans a major issue for 2026.
Democrats are actively thwarting cutting federal spending.
Do you honestly think that the average Blue collar worker is offended that Federal employees have to return to work ?
Do you think they are offended that Federal Employees are being offered 9 months severance – if they voluntarily resign ?
Yes, they are offended – they think that is far too generous.
Do you think they are angry because the DOJ attorney’s lawlessly going after Trump were fired ?
Trump’s popularity is only 53% – but trump’s issues have 70-80% support.
Why would those of you on the left deliberately choose to be in the losing side of these issues ?
Even Trump’s birthright citizenship EO – which he is certain to lose – is still a win for Trump – even if he loses it,
and a loss for democrats even if they win it.
your being rope-a-doped.
OT
“Federal judge blocks Elon Musk’s DOGE from accessing Treasury records after Democratic AGs file lawsuit”
– Fox News
______________
“The difference between God and a federal judge is that God knows He’s not a judge.”
– Rep. Tim Burchett (R-TN)
______________________________
The singular American failure is the judicial branch, with emphasis on the Supreme Court.
I think the judicial branch has, do to so much infiltration of those who buck the founding fathers and would rather use the courts for their social engineering. Now if we could get the angry latino and the budding Broadway lgbtq+ star off the court we could find some sustained judicial logic and rid ourselves of those who would use the courts to implement agendas rather than follow the constitution.
Steps like this are taken by “real” attorneys – not by political supporters with a lawyer-like title and paycheck in a bidne/harris no-Justice Department. I trust that the present USA Justice Department will be staffed by attorneys who know the law and enforce the law – unlike the lackeys in the Garland no-Justice department who made up law, sought political outcomes against political opponents and demeaned good and decent attorneys who practice or have practiced in accordance with their ethical obligations.
A lot of weirdness on this comments page methinks.
Also, I am weary of judges running the country. Oh, Doge cannot do its work that Americans want because the judge don’t like it. Put a sock in the piehole and go away! Oh, we must mutilate children’s body parts say the Honorable Blah Blah Blah.
That lawyer who represented the trans side of things really got on my nerves. But she even admitted that the suicide-fear-mongering was bogus. But also, sometimes in Life, you get what you ask for, which is why I wrote this Irish Poem!
Sick Trans-it Gloria Mundi???
An Irish Poem by Squeeky Fromm, Girl Reporter
There once was a lawyer so sick,
That she got tired of being a chick –
Doctors cut off her boobs,
And inverted her tubes,
Then she truly became a big prick!
Note 1: The Latin phrase, sic transit gloria mundi, means all glory is fleeting.
Note 2: Sic Transit Gloria Mundi is also the name of Emily Dickinson’s first published poem! This is a kewl stanza from it –
I climb the “Hill of Science,”
I “view the landscape o’er;”
Such transcendental prospect,
I ne’er beheld before!
I think we can all safely say that about the weird trans stuff!
https://owlcation.com/humanities/emily-dickinsons-sic-transit-gloria-mundi
Yeah Jonathan, the question is: What gender is the Pushmi-Pullyu ?
My wife and I have this discussion once a week, It goes like this: Hey Babe what’s up for tonight? do you want to be on top? or do you want me to be on top? Marriage is a never ending question.
Then there’s this thing about puberty blockers, admittedly when you hit 65+ you’ll have to contend with a Salt-N-Pepper display in the nether region, so I can see if these Blockers make you go au naturel bald it can make life easier. I tried mowing the hedge and using Grecian Formula #1, but the roots started to give me away, The wife went to a landing strip with a cover of Wella Hair coloring. Either way, if you get to sweating between the sheets, you’ll have to deal with a Rudy Giuliani hair dye incident, and undoubtedly someones going to have to sleep in the Giuliani Spot . Anyway I figure when we hit Biden’s age we’ll just let it go silver all the way and use a comb-over.
Until we get this figured out, I just tell the Wife; Push Me, Pull Me, and Hold Me Tight, cause I’ll be loving You with all my might!
# 2 problems-
The FDA has not approved cross gender hormone use.
Cross gender treatment centers have not concluded experiments using children in such treatments including hormones and surgeries. They are in progress.
European nations have withdrawn having concluded in the negative.
Attorney Strangio argued for and Justice Alito through questioning established the disorder was not immutable.
Justices Sotomayor and Jackson through questioning suggested that there are dangers in taking aspirin.
Yeah, I heard Sotomayor’s and Jackson’s questions. They were divorced from reality. What we know is the following:
1. Between 80% and 85% desist on their own. Simply put, they outgrow their confusion.
2. Approximately 80% are gay and that may be one of the sources of the so-called ‘gender confusion.’
3. Almost all have one or more concomitant mental illness.
4. A significant portion are Asperger’s or functional Autistics.
5. Studies indicate the self-deletion rate does not change after transitioning.
6. Puberty blockers are not safe and never were.
We also know that children are pushed into by parents. We know many parents when children grow out of it attempt to force/coerce their children to continue then lie about it (like they have lied about everything). We know that there are inadequate safeguards thanks to the provisions of Obama care that removed those safeguards (that’s a story in itself).
MosesZD-Very well summarized. You should read the Cass Review from the UK NHS if you have not already. An excellent summary of evidence which was very weak on the use of puberty blockers and/or gender affirming surgery and yet despite the paucity of evidence the referrals for genders services exploded in the UK even without any real support from the NHS. Similar to what happened in the US as people rushed towards gender affirming treatments even with little to no support of science.
A lot of people outside of medicine do not realize that with all of our push to treat on the basis of the “science” a lot of processes and treatments in medicine and surgery rush through to common use before there is a sound basis for the treatment. Sort of like a stampede mentality. The Movie “Tremors” had a good answer on how many individuals does it take to be labeled a Stampede.
Coronary artery bypass grafts were being done in centers all around the nation in the 1970’s and 1980’s with little to no actual proof that they affected survival. Eventually science caught up and there were protocols for appropriate use of CABG in specific situations and not Willy Nilly. This also occurred in Bone Marrow Transplants for the treatment of Solid Organ Cancers.
Bone Marrow transplants were effective for Leukemia and certain types of Lymphoma but there was a sudden jump to using these transplants in colon cancer, breast cancer and other cancers when there was no scientific support for it. Legitimate Cancer Programs all around the country set up programs to promote bone marrow transplants centers for solid tumors (it was financially very lucrative). It then all crashed when the initial study which kicked this all off was exposed as a fraud.
Medicine for all its Ivory Tower protestations sometimes gets down and dirty. Sorry to say that since it’s my profession. But not all of it is brightness and light.
What about lobotomies? I think they were once the rage. Or, the anti-depressants for kids, SSRI’s?
Floyd-the lobotomies were. Never had any role in that. Mostly gone as a procedure when I got into medicine. Never treated children.
SSRI’s are highly effective in adults which I treated but children are whole different matter. Not my expertise so I can’t say much about kids and SSRI.
There is actually a third, non-gendered third-person pronoun already, and does not require the use of a plural for the singular. that word is “it.”
As in, “it puts the lotion in the basket or else it gets the hose again.”
Miyule
That makes me wonder whether you are expressing your love of Christmas.
I think that “mi” and “yu” are cis pronouns, and therefore, constitute a microaggression!