Elon Musk tries to kiss and make up with Trump

Just last week, Elon Musk accused President Donald Trump of having deep ties to notorious sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Now Musk is trying to be friends again.

After a spectacularly public breakup, the tech billionaire issued an early-morning semi-retraction, sort of apologizing for going scorched-earth on the president.

“I regret some of my posts about President Donald Trump last week,” Musk wrote. “They went too far.”

He didn’t say which posts crossed the line—and honestly, there’s no shortage of contenders. 

As Trump threatened to strip Musk’s companies of their government contracts and subsidies, Musk fired back with a veiled threat that he’d outlast Trump politically, suggested the president should be impeached and replaced by Vice President JD Vance, and warned that Trump’s tariffs would “cause a recession in the second half of this year,” and claimed, “Without me, Trump would have lost the election.” 

Oh, and Musk also accused the Trump administration of covering up the files around Epstein in order to protect the president.

“[Trump] is in the Epstein files. That is the real reason they have not been made public,” Musk posted. (That one’s since been deleted.)

President Donald Trump and Tesla CEO Elon Musk speak to reporters from a Tesla vehicle on the South Lawn of the White House on March 11.

Musk is clearly trying to revive their once-close alliance. In recent days, he’s also shared Trump’s Truth Social posts about the brutal immigration raids and subsequent protests in Los Angeles, and he’s even nodded along to a post suggesting the two are “stronger together.” 

Maybe Musk saw the public wasn’t exactly rallying to his side in the breakup. Perhaps he realized he still wants those government contracts. Or maybe the pressure from Trump’s inner circle finally got to him. Who knows.

What’s not clear is whether Trump wants him back.

On Friday, Trump mostly brushed off the drama, telling CNN, “He’s got a problem. The poor guy’s got a problem.” But by the time Musk’s retraction dropped, Trump’s tone had softened.

In a brief interview with the New York Post on Wednesday, Trump said he thought Musk’s apology was “very nice.”

“I thought it was very nice that he did that,” he said, though he dodged whether he was ready to make up.

And in a previously recorded New York Post podcast released Wednesday, Trump said he didn’t blame Musk for anything but was “disappointed” in him.

Will Trump ever forgive Musk?

“I guess I could,” the president replied in the interview, though he quickly pivoted. “My sole function now is getting this country back to a level higher than it’s ever been.”

Trump also walked back earlier threats to yank Musk’s federal contracts or probe his immigration status—attacks egged on by Steve Bannon, an informal Trump adviser and a loud critic of Musk.

Steve Bannon exits court in New York on Feb. 11.

Notably, Bannon isn’t letting it go. He’s publicly urged Trump to launch multiple investigations into Musk, starting with whether the world’s richest man is an “illegal alien.”

He “crossed the Rubicon,” Bannon said of Musk on Friday. “There’s no going back.”

This week, Bannon ramped things up even more, calling for a special counsel to investigate Musk over alleged drug use, referencing a report from The New York Times that claimed Musk was using while working closely with the administration.

“Pull the security clearance for the drugs, temporarily,” Bannon said. “Investigate the whole drug situation.”

The whole meltdown traces back to when Musk’s role in the administration ended. Once the face of Trump’s push to slash spending and gut the federal workforce, Musk turned on his old boss fast, calling Trump’s signature domestic bill a “disgusting abomination.” From there, the spat spiraled into wild accusations and personal jabs.

There’s some chatter that the recent protests in Los Angeles might’ve prompted Musk’s attempted truce, since immigration is one of the few issues he and Trump still largely align on. Musk’s been echoing Trump’s talking points on the protests, seemingly trying to show they’re still ideologically synced.

Still, trying to make peace with someone you just accused of being involved with a sex offender says more about Musk than anyone else. 

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Trump wants you to know he’s definitely not mad about Musk dissing him

President Donald Trump isn't mad about his ugly and public break up with his billionaire benefactor and now-former co-President Elon Musk.

He’s fine! Everything is fine! Never been better!

At least, that's what he called multiple reporters on Thursday and Friday to insist upon, as Americans point and laugh that Trump’s sugar daddy is now trashing Trump’s signature piece of legislation, drawing attention to Trump’s ties to noted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein, and even calling for Trump’s impeachment.

Trump told CNN's Dana Bash in a phone conversation that he's "not even thinking about" Musk and that he won't be speaking to his now former First Buddy anytime soon.

Related | How Trump and Musk went from best friends to frenemies to nuclear war

Bash recounted her conversation with the scorned commander in chief: “He said, ‘He’s got a problem. The poor guy’s got a problem.’ I said, ‘So no call with Elon now?’ And he said, ‘No, I won’t be speaking to him for a while, I guess, but I wish him well.’”

Trump also called CBS News correspondent Robert Costa to say he's "totally" focused on his presidency and not at all focused on Musk. "I don't focus on anything else," Trump told Costa of his presidency.

He told Politico's Dasha Burns that his public breakup with Musk is "okay," and that his presidency is “going very well, never done better.”

In a call with the New York Post—which poked fun at Trump’s break-up with Musk on the tabloid’s front page—Trump said he wasn’t surprised about the fact that his friendship with Musk went south.

“Nothing catches me by surprise. Nothing,” Trump told the Post, adding that everything is awesome! 

“The numbers are through the roof, the stock market is up, billions are pouring in from tariffs, and my poll numbers are the highest they’ve ever been. Other than that, what can I tell you, right?” Trump said.

But Trump got a little fiestier with ABC News' Jonathan Karl, telling him that Musk is “the man who has lost his mind" and that he's “not particularly" interested in speaking to Musk, even though Musk wants to talk.

It’s as if he’s going through the five stages of grief in real time. Denial (insisting that he’s not mad Musk is trashing him), and anger (insulting Musk as having lost his mind) are up first. We’ll see when he gets to bargaining, depression, and later, acceptance.

But it’s safe to say, if Trump is speaking to reporters to insist that he's fine and not thinking about Musk, he is absolutely thinking about Musk—who could use his immense wealth to go after Republicans in the 2026 midterms.

Ultimately right now, Trump is the living embodiment of the infamous Dril tweet :

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Why Republicans plan to impeach judges who haven’t done anything wrong

Congressional Cowards is a weekly series highlighting the worst Donald Trump defenders on Capitol Hill, who refuse to criticize him—no matter how disgraceful or lawless his actions.

Republicans in the House and Senate were quick to follow Donald Trump's March 18 orders to impeach federal judges who ruled against his illegal actions.

But when pressed about which high crimes and misdemeanors the judges committed to warrant such an extreme measure, Republicans had no good answer.

Instead, the only "crime" they came up with was that the judges didn't let the lawless president trample over the Constitution to do whatever he wants, whether that be deporting immigrants without due process; letting co-President Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency bros access sensitive government systems, shut down federal agencies, and chaotically fire federal employees; or remove health data from government websites because it was tangentially related to “gender identity.”

For example, CNN host Kasie Hunt asked Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio what “high crimes or misdemeanors” these judges committed. 

Jordan replied with what can only be described as verbal diarrhea. 

“All I’m saying is, if you’re acting in a political fashion and not just following the law, the ruling on the law, and I would argue that frankly just his ruling in and of itself, remember the Constitution is pretty clear, Article II Section I, very first sentence, says the power in the executive branch shall be vested in a president of the United States. The president has the authority,” Jordan said.

Of course Jordan left out that Article III of the Constitution says that judicial power extends to “all Cases, in Law and Equity, arising under this Constitution, the Laws of the United States”—which is what the judges were doing when plaintiffs argued that the Trump administration was violating U.S. laws while carrying out its destructive agenda.

Rep. Brendan Gill of Texas, who filed articles of impeachment against the judge who tried to stop Trump’s illegal deportations of Venezuelan immigrants (an order the Trump administration ignored), was also asked which impeachable offenses the judge committed—and had a terrible response.

“This is for usurping the executive's authority, for demeaning the impartiality of the court by making a politicized ruling, and forcing a constitutional crisis,” Gill said on Newsmax. “That is a high crime and misdemeanor.”

Other Republicans also backed Trump and Musk’s call to impeach judges who rule against the administration.

“America is a Republic, not a dictatorship of the judiciary. It's time to get rid of the political activists masquerading as judges and re-establish proper separation of powers,” Rep. Anna Paulina Luna of Florida wrote in a post on X. “That's why I'm proud to announce that I will be joining my colleagues in impeaching ALL the activist judges who are unconstitutionally blocking President Trump's agenda.”

And Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri said he was going to introduce a law that would ban judges from being able to order nationwide injunctions.

“District Court judges have issued RECORD numbers of national injunctions against the Trump administration - a dramatic abuse of judicial authority. I will introduce legislation to stop this abuse for good,” Hawley said, without acknowledging that maybe it’s because no other administration has ever initiated so many lawless actions that violate the Constitution.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Chuck Grassley didn’t explicitly say he supported impeaching the judges, but he made it clear he believes what the judges did was wrong—and will use his powerful committee to go after those judges.

“Another day, another judge unilaterally deciding policy for the whole country. This time to benefit foreign gang members,” Grassley wrote in a post on X. “If the Supreme Court or Congress doesn’t fix, we’re headed towards a constitutional crisis. Senate Judiciary Cmte taking action.”

And it seems that Musk read Grassley’s comment as being supportive of impeachment, because after Trump’s demand to impeach the judges, Musk donated to Grassley and six other Republicans who have supported the effort to boot them, The New York Times reported.

From the Times’ report:

Mr. Musk contributed on Wednesday to Representatives Eli Crane of Arizona, Lauren Boebert of Colorado, Andy Ogles of Tennessee, Andrew Clyde of Georgia, Derrick Van Orden of Wisconsin and Brandon Gill of Texas. He also donated to Senator Charles E. Grassley, Republican of Iowa, according to two of the people briefed on the matter.

“This is a judicial coup,” Musk wrote on X of a court ruling that blocked Trump from banning transgender people from the military. “We need 60 senators to impeach the judges and restore rule of the people.”

Of course, it takes 67 senators to impeach—a fact you’d think Musk, who Trump and Republicans have framed as a genius, would know.

Ultimately, this impeachment effort is futile.

Even if House Republicans somehow succeed in impeaching these judges, there is no way that Democratic senators would vote to convict and remove them in an impeachment trial.

The end result of this ridiculous posturing: making judges fear for their own safety as they receive death threats for their legally sound rulings, thanks to Republicans’ vile rhetoric.

Thank you to the Daily Kos community who continues to fight so hard with Daily Kos. Your reader support means everything. We will continue to have you covered and keep you informed, so please donate just $3 to help support the work we do.

House Republicans rally around ‘idiotic’ plan to punish judges

Egged on by wannabe dictator Donald Trump, House Republicans are pushing GOP leadership to let them embark on impeachment proceedings against federal judges who dare to rule against their Dear Leader—a time-consuming and destined-to-fail effort that harms the rule of law and could even wound the Republican Party in elections moving forward.

Multiple Republican lawmakers have filed articles of impeachment against four federal judges who recently ruled against the Trump administration.

“Congress has the constitutional power to impeach rogue activist judges—and we intend to use it,” Republican Rep. Brendan Gill of Texas, who filed articles of impeachment against a federal judge who ordered the Trump administration to turn around planes that were deporting alleged Venezuelan immigrants to a gulag in El Salvador, wrote in a post on X.

House Republicans are pushing for the impeachments to move forward even as Politico reported that some GOP lawmakers view the effort to be “idiotic.”

“You don’t impeach judges who make decisions you disagree with, because that happens all the time,” Republican Sen. John Cornyn of Texas told Politico in early March. “What you do is you appeal, and if you’re right, then you’re going to win on appeal.”

Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts

Even Chief Justice John Roberts warned that impeachment is not the way to handle disagreements with judicial decisions.

“We are going to keep the impeachments coming,” Republican Rep. Andy Ogles Tennessee wrote in a post on X. Ogles himself filed articles of impeachment against a judge who ordered the Trump administration to restore websites it had taken down to comply with Trump's executive order targeting “gender ideology extremism.”

But complicating things for Republican leadership is that Trump blessed the impeachment efforts on Tuesday, saying that the judge who tried to block his effort to deport immigrants without due process is a "Radical Left Lunatic of a Judge, a troublemaker and agitator who was sadly appointed by Barack Hussein Obama."

“This judge, like many of the Crooked Judges’ I am forced to appear before, should be IMPEACHED!!! WE DON’T WANT VICIOUS, VIOLENT, AND DEMENTED CRIMINALS, MANY OF THEM DERANGED MURDERERS, IN OUR COUNTRY. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!!!” Trump wrote in a deranged Truth Social post.

Co-President Elon Musk, who has threatened to fund primary challenges to Republicans who don’t do what Trump says, also wants judicial impeachments.

“This is a judicial coup. We need 60 senators to impeach the judges and restore rule of the people,” Musk wrote in a post on X on Tuesday after another federal judge ruled against the Trump administration, this time on its attempted ban of transgender troops.

Given that GOP leaders acquiesce to all of Trump's wants, no matter how immoral or unconstitutional, his demand puts them in a difficult place of having to choose what’s right or to make their Dear Leader happy. 

“Everything is on the table,” Russell Dye, a spokesperson for House Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan, told Politico. An unnamed spokesperson to House Speaker Mike Johnson also told Politico that judges “with political agendas pose a significant threat” and that Johnson "looks forward to working with the Judiciary Committee as they review all available options under the Constitution to address this urgent matter.”

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson

But as aides for Johnson publicly said all options are on the table, top GOP aides privately admitted the impeachment route is stupid and will take up time the House needs to pass the rest of Trump’s destructive and unpopular agenda.

“It’s never going to happen,” an unnamed senior Republican aide told Politico. “There aren’t the votes.”

Plus, forcing Republicans to vote on impeachment could be politically damaging for the GOP.

Polling from February—when Republicans began crowing about impeaching judges who ruled against Trump—showed that voters want Trump to follow court orders.

"This court issue is a big loser for Trump," CNN's Harry Enten wrote in a post on X, referring to a Washington Post poll from February. "The belief that Trump must follow court orders is more popular than Mother Teresa: 84% of all adults, 92% of Dems, 82% of Indies & 79% of the GOP."

Other polls have similar findings, including an NBC News survey released Wednesday. It found that a plurality of voters (43%) believe the president and executive branch have too much power, as opposed to the 28% who believe the Supreme Court and judicial branch have too much.

The cherry on top of this for GOP leaders is that their members would be taking potentially damaging votes on impeachment for nothing. The charges would be disposed of in the Senate, where there is no way on earth that two-thirds of the chamber would vote to convict and remove judges. Republicans have just 53 votes there. To impeach a judge, they’d need 14 Democrats to also join in. 

But never put it past Republicans to do stupid things in the name of subservience to Trump.  

Thank you to the Daily Kos community who continues to fight so hard with Daily Kos. Your reader support means everything. We will continue to have you covered and keep you informed, so please donate just $3 to help support the work we do.

The Recap: DOGE threatens world peace, and Texas makes first arrest for abortion

A daily roundup of the best stories and cartoons by Daily Kos staff and contributors to keep you in the know.

Now they're coming for judges who dare to enforce the law

“There needs to be an immediate wave of judicial impeachments,” said super legitimate government official Elon Musk.

Unqualified DOGE bro leads raid on agency dedicated to world peace

It’s not the first time these goons have tried to shut down a congressionally funded entity.

Texas makes first arrest under state’s terrifying abortion ban

The state continues to be a leader in oppressing women.

RFK Jr.'s anti-vaxx stance is jeopardizing cancer treatments

Meanwhile, the measles outbreak continues to ravage Texas.

Agriculture head touts falling egg prices—but farmers are still scrambling

“There may be some bumpy times ahead.”

Cartoon: My other car

It might be time to ditch the Tesla …

Oh great, QAnon nut Michael Flynn is back, just like Trump promised

At least that’s one promise he didn’t break, though we wish he did.

Watch Ted Cruz fanboy over Elon Musk in super cringey interview

Maybe he’ll be Musk’s plus-one to Mars.

Click here to see more cartoons.

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Now they’re coming for judges who dare to enforce the law

President Donald Trump on Tuesday said a federal judge who attempted to block his administration from deporting hundreds of immigrants to an El Salvadoran gulag should be impeached and removed.

U.S. District Judge James Boasberg halted Trump's attempt to deport without due process the alleged Venezuelan immigrants he accused of being members of a violent gang. Trump already ignored Boasberg's order to turn around the planes, which were carrying the alleged immigrants to El Salvador.

But now he wants Boasberg removed altogether, saying in a deranged Truth Social post that Boasberg is a "Radical Left Lunatic of a Judge, a troublemaker and agitator who was sadly appointed by Barack Hussein Obama."

"He didn’t WIN the popular VOTE (by a lot!), he didn’t WIN ALL SEVEN SWING STATES, he didn’t WIN 2,750 to 525 Counties, HE DIDN’T WIN ANYTHING!" Trump wrote in his insane and lie-filled screed. "I WON FOR MANY REASONS, IN AN OVERWHELMING MANDATE, BUT FIGHTING ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION MAY HAVE BEEN THE NUMBER ONE REASON FOR THIS HISTORIC VICTORY. I’m just doing what the VOTERS wanted me to do. This judge, like many of the Crooked Judges’ I am forced to appear before, should be IMPEACHED!!! WE DON’T WANT VICIOUS, VIOLENT, AND DEMENTED CRIMINALS, MANY OF THEM DERANGED MURDERERS, IN OUR COUNTRY. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!!!"

Multiple House Republicans want to impeach judges who have ruled against Trump and his administration's other illegal actions, including those largely conducted through the so-called Department of Government Efficiency.

"I’m drafting articles of impeachment for US District Judge Paul Engelmayer. Partisan judges abusing their positions is a threat to democracy," Republican Rep. Eli Crane of Arizona said in a post on X in February, after the judge blocked DOGE staffers from accessing Treasury Department data. Shortly after that post, Crane introduced articles of impeachment against Engelmayer, accusing him of violating his oath and abusing his judicial powers.

And freshman Republican Rep. Brandon Gill of Texas said this past Saturday he was introducing articles of impeachment against Boasberg.

Co-President Elon Musk replied to Gill’s post, writing in an X post that Boasberg’s impeachment is “necessary.”

Elon Musk

But this is the first time Trump has publicly blessed Republican efforts to try to remove judges who are simply interpreting and applying the laws.

Trump got on the impeachment train after Musk, who has not just called for Boasberg’s impeachment but for the disposal of multiple other judges who have ruled against Trump.

“There needs to be an immediate wave of judicial impeachments, not just one,” Musk wrote in a post on X in February. 

Even the right-wing New York Post editorial board has told Republicans to cut it out with their thirst for ousting federal judges.

“Sorry, Elon: Even deporting illegal gangbangers must heed the rule of law,” the editorial board wrote on Sunday. It went on to say that it is “just plain silly for Musk to tweet ‘necessary’ of a Texas rep’s plan to file to impeach the judge.”

“It’s nothing of the kind, and cheering it only makes Musk look reckless—a reputation he doesn’t need when many DOGE actions also face court challenge,” the board wrote.

Meanwhile, the Republican impeachment efforts have led to warnings from sitting federal judges that the campaign to clear the federal bench of anyone who rules against Trump will chill the judicial branch from applying the law out of fear of retribution or even violence.

“Impeachment is not—shouldn’t be—a short circuiting of that process, and so it is concerning if impeachment is used in a way that is designed to do just that,” U.S. Appeals Court Judge Richard Sullivan said at a news conference earlier in March, according to a report from Bloomberg Law.

Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts, meanwhile, issued a statement condemning the calls for judicial impeachments.

"For more than two centuries, it has been established that impeachment is not an appropriate response to disagreement concerning a judicial decision. The normal appellate review process exists for that purpose,” Roberts said in a curt statement on Tuesday—a sign he thinks the impeachment talk is dangerous and not merely bluster.

But Trump doesn't care about any of that. He's been shredding the Constitution to carry out his dream of being a dictator. He's already ignoring court orders and is now backing up the House Republican efforts to impeach judges who stop their illegal actions.

It’s unclear if any of the impeachment efforts will make it to the House floor for a vote. But if they do, we will see just how many Republicans will shred the rule of law to blindly follow Dear Leader. 

Thank you to the Daily Kos community who continues to fight so hard with Daily Kos. Your reader support means everything. We will continue to have you covered and keep you informed, so please donate just $3 to help support the work we do.

Judges have 2 options: Rule in Trump’s favor or face death threats

There were numerous, er, notable moments from President Donald Trump’s address to a joint session of Congress on Tuesday, but perhaps one of the most striking was when he turned to Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts, patted him on the back, and said he “won’t forget it.” 

“Thank you again. Thank you again. Won’t forget it,” the president said while shaking Roberts’ hand after delivering his speech.

We don’t know exactly what Trump meant by this, considering all of the favors Roberts has done for him. After all, Roberts is responsible for authoring the decision that grants former presidents immunity from prosecution, essentially giving them power to commit crimes under the guise of “official acts” in office.

There was also the Roberts-authored ruling that narrowed obstruction charges for defendants accused of participating in the insurrection on Jan. 6, 2021, and the time when the Supreme Court’s conservative majority usurped the Fourteenth Amendment, ruling that states could not disqualify Trump from the ballot despite the Constitution’s ban on insurrectionists holding office.

In short, Trump could have been thanking Roberts for a number of things, but the president insists that his gesture was merely routine. 

“Like most people, I don’t watch Fake News CNN or MSDNC, but I understand they are going ‘crazy’ asking what is it that I was thanking Justice Roberts for? They never called my office to ask, of course, but if they had I would have told these sleazebag ‘journalists’ that I thanked him for SWEARING ME IN ON INAUGURATION DAY, AND DOING A REALLY GOOD JOB IN SO DOING!” Trump wrote on Truth Social, with “MSNDC” being a portmanteau of MSNBC and the Democratic National Convention.

Judge Juan Merchan presides over proceedings in the hush money case against President Donald Trump on May 7, 2024.

But as judges who bow to the president receive gratitude, those who don’t are met with death threats. 

According to Reuters, law enforcement has warned federal judges that they are facing unusually high levels of threat as they attempt to uphold the law despite Trump and his allies’ efforts to undermine it.

Eleven judges expressed concern to Reuters about their physical security, saying that they’ve faced death threats in recent weeks.

These threats come as Elon Musk, the unelected billionaire who seems to have undue influence over the federal government, has made several posts on X attacking judges as “corrupt” or “evil.” In one case, Musk called for a federal judge’s impeachment after he blocked DOGE access to sensitive Treasury Department data.

And Musk isn’t the only one criticizing the judiciary. 

In February, Vice President JD Vance posted on X that “judges aren’t allowed to control the executive’s legitimate power,” suggesting that Trump possesses ultimate authority.

While Roberts hasn’t been as compliant as some other members of the Supreme Court—and has even shown a willingness to break with his conservative colleagues—he’s still unlikely to serve as a check on Trump’s lawlessness. 

At least two judges, Tanya Chutkan and Juan Merchan, faced threats for presiding over cases involving Trump where the verdicts were rejected by conservatives. 

Meanwhile, the six Republican Supreme Court appointees, three of whom were appointed by Trump during his first term, have delivered some stunning victories in the president’s favor. And considering that conservative judges often assist Trump in his continued assault on democracy, he might have even more to thank them for in the future.

Roberts stated in December that “violence, intimidation, disinformation, and threats” jeopardize judicial independence, so it would be hypocritical if he’s now helping Trump dismantle existing statutes.

Trump has previously encouraged his followers to break the law on his behalf, and his actions on Tuesday will only serve to further politicize the courts.

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Your camping plans may be kaput as Trump targets national parks

The future of the National Park System is in doubt as Donald Trump’s federal hiring freeze has put popular sites like Yosemite National Park in limbo and opened the door to privatizing federal monuments and lands. 

Trump’s heavy-handed freeze not only stopped the hiring of workers, it rescinded employment for many who had already received job offers. The staffing situation was characterized as “catastrophic” by former Yosemite Superintendent Don Neubacher.

Summer camping reservations are on hold, impacting park sites from June 15 to July 14. This news comes on the heels of Yosemite officials’ announcement that a new reservation system has been delayed indefinitely. The system was supposed to be fully implemented this year and promised to eliminate the long lines and waits park visitors have faced in recent years.

“We understand the impact this has on visitors who are planning camping trips to the park,” read a statement on Yosemite’s official Instagram page. “We are grateful for your patience. Our goal is to release these campground nights as soon as possible and we will provide at least a seven-day advance notice before reservations go on sale.”

Trump’s federal hiring freeze has affected staffing at all national parks, as at least 5% of parks employees have been fired. Lesser-known parks with smaller staffs, like the Palo Alto Battlefield National Historical Park, face uncertain futures.

During Trump’s first administration, big business pressured Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke to jettison environmental science policy when leasing lands to private interests. Trump then allowed Utah’s Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments to be drilled by a Canadian mining company. America first, and all that.

Trump spent a good deal of time during his first administration signaling his willingness to hand our national parks over to private interests—specifically ones that threw money at him. He even diverted much-needed National Park resources in order to fund a parade for himself.

Now, Trump has teamed up with billionaires and the authors of Project 2025 to craft a much more robust plan to dismantle our country’s administrative state, which includes carving up as much federal land as possible. Their interests are far more naked and ambitious than those of Trump’s first administration.

The cabal is targeting a repeal of the 1906 Antiquities Act, which protected national sites such as the Grand Canyon from becoming mines. Doing so would roll back fundamental protections on national monuments.

Trump ssidekick Elon Musk and his goon squad at the so-called Department of Government Efficiency continue to illegally hamstring congressionally funded programs. The endgame is to force taxpayers to pay billionaires (like Musk) and their private businesses to do the things that our government already does—and could do—for its citizens.

You can help ensure that Daily Kos remains the paywall-free home for our shared fight for democracy and justice. Daily Kos is supported by readers like you. 

Check out the GOP’s pathetic excuses for Trump’s lawlessness this week

Another week of Donald Trump's presidency is in the rearview. And like the two weeks before it, it was filled with lawless actions, lies, and ridiculous behavior that Republicans lined up to defend.

Trump threw Ukraine under the bus and appears likely to let murderous Russian dictator Vladimir Putin seize control of the sovereign nation. He also fired more independent watchdogs, let more corrupt politicians off the hook, slashed grants to medical research, and he even said he might ignore court rulings blocking his unlawful actions.

And like the pathetic lapdogs they are, Republicans defended every move.

After multiple federal judges of all ideological stripes blocked some of Trump’s executive actions, Republicans pushed the country further into a constitutional crisis by backing Trump when he suggested he’ll ignore those court orders and do whatever he wants.

“It seems hard to believe that a judge could say, ‘We don’t want you to do that.’ So maybe we have to look at the judges. ‘Cause I think that’s a very serious violation,” Trump said on Tuesday.

Trump likely got this idea from his own vice president, who wrote in an X post on Feb. 9 that judges shouldn’t be allowed to stop the president’s executive power. 

“If a judge tried to tell a general how to conduct a military operation, that would be illegal. If a judge tried to command the attorney general in how to use her discretion as a prosecutor, that’s also illegal. Judges aren’t allowed to control the executive’s legitimate power,” he wrote.

And other Republicans agreed with the false statement that the courts are not allowed to check the president’s power—when that’s exactly what the Constitution dictates.

“Of course the branches have to respect our constitutional order but there’s a lot of game yet to be played. This will be appealed, we’ve got to go through the whole process, and we’ll get the final analysis. In the interim, I will say that I agree wholeheartedly with Vice President JD Vance, my friend, because he’s right,” House Speaker Mike Johnson said during a news conference on Tuesday.

Later that day, he said that the courts should back off of Trump altogether.

“I think that the courts should take a step back and allow these processes to play out. What we’re doing is good and right for the American people,” Johnson told reporters, specifically referring to the cuts co-President Elon Musk is trying to make with his fake agency, the Department of Government Efficiency.

Republican Sen. Mike Lee of Utah

"I don't believe judges, courts have the authority or power to stick their nose into the constitutional authority of the president,” Republican Rep. Chip Roy of Texas said.

“These judges need to back off and get out of the way of what the executive branch is doing to administer the government,” Roy said on Fox News.

Republican Sen. Mike Lee of Utah also expressed agreement that courts don’t have the power to challenge Trump’s executive orders.

“These judges are waging an unprecedented assault on legitimate presidential authority, all the way down to dictating what webpages the government has. This is absurd,” he wrote on X.

Rep. Darrel Issa, Republican of California, claimed that “nowhere in our Constitution is a single federal judge given absolute power over the President or the people of the United States.”

But, of course, the Supreme Court ruled in the landmark 1803 Marbury v. Madison case that the judiciary has the power to declare laws or actions unconstitutional. 

On the other hand, Sen. Majority Leader John Thune of South Dakota seemed to acknowledge that ignoring court orders is wrong, but he simply couldn’t bring himself to criticize Trump.

“I think what you're seeing right now is the natural give and take between branches of the government,” he said.

A handful of other Trump sycophants went a step further, saying that they would launch an impeachment effort against the judges who block Trump's actions.

“I’m drafting articles of impeachment for US District Judge Paul Engelmayer. Partisan judges abusing their positions is a threat to democracy. The left has done ‘irreparable harm’ to this country. President Trump and his team at @DOGE are trying to fix it,” Rep. Eli Crane of Arizona wrote on X, referring to the federal judge who blocked Musk from accessing Treasury data.

And Rep. Andrew Clyde of Georgia wrote on X that he is backing Crane’s efforts.

“The real constitutional crisis is taking place in our judicial branch. Activist judges are weaponizing their power in an attempt to block President Trump’s agenda and obstruct the will of the American people. [Crane] and I are leading the fight to stop this insanity,” he wrote.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia called for the impeachment of another federal judge who blocked Trump’s freeze on congressionally appropriated federal funds.

“This judge is a Trump deranged Democrat activist. Below is proof he is not capable of making good decisions from the bench. He should be impeached,” Greene wrote on X.

Rep. Warren Davidson of Ohio backed those efforts, saying the judges blocking Trump’s actions “should be mocked and ignored while articles of impeachment are prepared.”

“These clowns are undermining every lower court, leaving the sole burden on SCOTUS. This is not sustainable. Sadly, excesses in judicial and executive authority are a symptom of the real problem: Congress keeps failing to take action. Time for #DeedsNotWords,” he wrote on X.

Meanwhile, Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa, once a fierce defender of watchdogs, was fine with Trump axing the inspector general of the U.S. Agency for International Development who said that Trump's unlawful shuttering of the agency let hundreds of millions of dollars worth of food aid go to waste. 

Grassley said that he "should have been fired," and gave Trump a workaround to make the firing legal. 

"I'm just trying to make the president's job easier," Grassley said, completely ditching his past watchdog advocacy to bow down to Trump.

Other GOP lawmakers chose Trump over their own constituents, who are being directly harmed by the president’s actions.

Sen. Bernie Moreno of Ohio said that Trump’s decision to drastically cut back National Institutes of Health funding for medical research institutions is a good thing, even though it would decimate institutions in his own state and beyond.

“Well, I think what happens is the president is exactly right. I think if you ask the average American if we were spending a billion dollars to cure childhood cancer, how much of the billion dollars would go towards during childhood cancer? They’d probably say a billion. The idea that 60% goes to indirect cost and overhead is insane. And so I applaud the president,” he told the Bulwark

And Rep. Jason Smith of Missouri said that Trump's funding freeze, which is hurting farmers who are not being paid for contracts, is just a "little bit disruptive."

“But that's what this administration promised whenever they were coming to Washington,” Smith said on CNN, “is that they would be disruptive.”

Rep. Jason Smith dismisses farmers in his state who are getting stiffed by the US government not fulfilling contracts: "Right now it's a little bit disruptive, but that's what this administration promised whenever they were coming to Washington is that they would be disruptive."

Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) 2025-02-11T17:38:10.608Z

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Musk’s DOGE minions are already annoying federal employees

The Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency, created by Donald Trump, is now interviewing federal workers at multiple agencies as part of the group’s stated plans to cut government spending.

The Washington Post reports that representatives from DOGE have spoken to employees at the Department of Health and Human Services, the IRS, the Treasury Department, and at the Department of Homeland Security.

Musk was named as the cochair of DOGE along with failed presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy. The advisory committee has no legal authority within the U.S. government and despite its name is not an actual department, as that is a status that can only be conferred via a congressional vote. DOGE can merely make recommendations to the government, like any other group of citizens.

Musk was awarded with the DOGE leadership position by Trump after he donated at least $250 million to political groups designed to win the election for the Republican nominee.

“Send Him Back”

During the presidential campaign, Musk said a commission like DOGE would be able to cut $2 trillion from the federal budget. But in a recent podcast interview with disgraced political strategist Mark Penn, Musk already began to tamp down expectations.

“I think if we try for $2 trillion, we’ve got a good shot at getting $1 [trillion],” Musk said.

Recent political activity by Musk is perhaps an early warning sign of how DOGE will operate once Trump is in office.

In December, Musk used his account on social media site X to agitate against a bipartisan spending agreement in Congress. Musk spread numerous falsehoods about the bill, leading to Republican leaders pulling the legislation. Failure to pass the bill could have led to a government shutdown and triggered billions in lost productivity as has been the case in previous shutdowns. Ultimately a new bill passed, without funds for programs like pediatric cancer research.

Despite these disruptive actions, another Republican leader has adopted a DOGE-style program. Recently elected New Hampshire Gov. Kelly Ayotte announced that she would create a “Commission on Government Efficiency.” COGE will operate outside of the state government and purportedly offer up recommendations to cut spending.

Musk has said that government spending must be curbed, even if middle income people experience “hardship” when services are curtailed. At the same time, Republicans are pursuing legislation that would include continued tax cuts for billionaires like Musk (he is the richest person in the world).

DOGE interfering in federal work is part of the strategy to get a pro-Musk agenda in play, even if it means disruption and problems for everyone else.

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