memeorandum: How the Trump-Kennedy Alliance Is Pushing the Boundaries of Public Health (New York Times)

10:40 AM ET, August 30, 2025

Top Items:

Bernie Sanders / New York Times:

Kennedy Must Resign — Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the secretary of health and human services, is endangering the health of the American people now and into the future. He must resign. — Mr. Kennedy and the rest of the Trump administration tell us, over and over, that they want to Make America Healthy Again.

Christopher Wiggins / Advocate:

RFK Jr.'s damage to the CDC is ‘past the point of no return,’ Dr. Demetre Daskalakis warns — The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, once regarded as the nation's premier agency against illness, is now damaged beyond repair, according to one of its most prominent departing leaders.

Discussion: Axios, New Republic, NOTUS and Wall Street Journal

Dave Lawler / Axios:

Bonfire of expertise: Trump drives scientists, spies and soldiers out of government — Centuries' worth of experience walked out of key government agencies this summer, including high-level departures from the CDC, Pentagon and intelligence community just in the past week.

Apoorva Mandavilli / Associated Press:
Will the C.D.C. Survive? — Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s assault may have dealt lasting damage to the agency …

Discussion: Techdirt and Newsweek

Adam Cancryn / CNN:
New CDC chief was part of meetings where officials pressed ousted leader on vaccines

Discussion: The Guardian, Al Jazeera, Washington Post and The National Pulse

Steve Benen / MSNBC:
RFK Jr. targets CDC with a ridiculous complaint as chaos grips the agency

Discussion: Reason, CNN, New York Times and NOTUS

Dietrich Knauth / Reuters:

Most Trump tariffs are not legal, US appeals court rules — A U.S. appeals court ruled on Friday that most of Donald Trump's tariffs are illegal, undercutting the Republican president's use of the levies as a key international economic policy tool. — Trump has made tariffs a pillar …

Discussion: New York Times

New York Times: Trump's Sweeping Tariffs Invalidated by Appeals Court

Ilya Somin / Reason: Federal Circuit Rules Against Trump's Massive IEEPA Tariffs in Our Case Challenging Them

Axios:
Most of Trump's sweeping global tariffs not legal, appellate court says

Discussion: Politico

Erik Larson / Bloomberg:
Bessent Warns of US ‘Embarrassment’ If Tariffs Ruled Illegal

Discussion: New York Times and Reason

Blake Brittain / Reuters: Court extends suspension of 98-year-old US circuit judge Newman

Washington Post: Appeals court strikes down Trump's tariffs as illegal

Jon Passantino / Status:

Burying the Bruises … On Monday, press photographers gathered in the Oval Office to capture President Donald Trump meeting with South Korean President Lee Jae Myung when one unusual detail stood out. A large bruise on the back of Trump's right hand. — It wasn't the first time the 79 …

Discussion: Public Notice

Mark Hertling / The Bulwark:

Honoring Ashli Babbitt Dishonors the Military — ON JULY 1, 1971, I STOOD ON THE PLAIN at the United States Military Academy and raised my right hand for the first time. Along with hundreds of other new cadets, I swore an oath every service member takes: “to support and defend the Constitution …

Discussion: New York Post

Aaron Pellish / Politico:

Social Security data chief resigns after whistleblower complaint over DOGE data access … In his whistleblower complaint, Borges said DOGE employees built a copy of the Social Security database in a cloud-based system that “circumvents oversight,” and disregarded an agency security assessment that their action posed a high risk.

Washington Post: Social Security whistleblower quits after saying Americans' data was compromised

NBC News: Social Security whistleblower submits ‘involuntary resignation,’ citing ‘intolerable’ work conditions

Marianne LeVine / Washington Post:

Judge blocks Trump's broad expansion of expedited removal of migrants — The ruling says the administration's policy violated due process rights as it sought to speed up the president's mass deportation agenda. — Just now — A federal judge on Friday temporarily blocked the Trump administration …

Zach Montague / New York Times: Judge Blocks Pillar of Trump's Mass Deportation Campaign

Claudia Grisales / NPR:

With newly approved maps in Texas, GOP puts its gains with Latinos to the test — SEGUIN, Texas - Under a broiling sun, there's a popular, frozen drinks stop here in the seat of Guadalupe County known as Milly's where locals cool off in the summer. — But business owner Tomas Hernandez Jr …

Jen Rice / Democracy Docket: Texas GOPer Who Blocked Filibuster Shared Approach to Immigrants: ‘Shoot, Shovel and Shut Up’

Associated Press: Missouri's Republican governor orders redraw of US House districts as redistricting fight expands

New York Times:

The Nobel Prize and a Testy Phone Call: How the Trump-Modi Relationship Unraveled — President Trump's repeated claims about having “solved” the India-Pakistan war infuriated Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India. And that was only the beginning. — Eric Lee/The New York Times

NBC News:

Angry constituents confront Congress on immigration, Medicaid cuts and Gaza — The few lawmakers who held town halls this summer faced voters furious with Republicans about Trump's agenda and with Democrats for not doing enough to fight back. — With political tensions running high …

Richard Winton / Los Angeles Times:

CHP to protect ex-VP Kamala Harris after Trump pulls Secret Service detail, sources say — Former Vice President Kamala Harris will receive protection from the California Highway Patrol after President Donald Trump revoked her Secret Service protection, law enforcement sources said Friday.

Discussion: New York Times, Washington Post, CNN and Associated Press

Tyler Pager / New York Times:
Trump Administration Live Updates: President Revokes Kamala Harris's Secret Service Protection

Discussion: Axios and Reuters

Jonathan Freedland / The Guardian:

Step back and take it in: the US is entering full authoritarian mode — Trump's dictator-like behaviour is so brazen, so blatant, that paradoxically, we discount it. But now it's time to call it what it is — If this were happening somewhere else - in Latin America, say - how might it be reported?

Minho Kim / New York Times:

Trump Officials Move to Fire Most Voice of America Journalists — The layoffs set up a potential battle with a federal judge who blocked previous efforts by Kari Lake, a fierce Trump ally, to restructure the agency. — The Trump administration on Friday moved to lay off nearly …

Discussion: The Hill and NPR, more at Mediagazer »

Ken Bensinger / New York Times:

He Plagiarized and Promoted Falsehoods. The White House Embraces Him. — Benny Johnson, a right-wing podcaster, has enjoyed rare access and promotion from the Trump administration. — The day after President Trump announced the federal takeover of law enforcement in Washington …

Dani Anguiano / The Guardian:

Mother of boy, 15, held at gunpoint by US immigration agents files $1m claim — Trump officials accused of false imprisonment and ‘unconstitutional racial profiling’ over incident in LA — The mother of a 15-year-old boy who was detained at gunpoint by federal immigration agents is seeking $1m …

Associated Press:

Trump administration cancels $679 million in funding for offshore wind projects — The Transportation Department on Friday canceled $679 million in federal funding for a dozen offshore wind projects, the latest attack by the Trump administration on the reeling U.S. offshore wind industry.

Discussion: The Economist

New York Times:

How the Trump-Kennedy Alliance Is Pushing the Boundaries of Public Health — The mutually beneficial relationship between President Trump and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is based on a striking alignment of some of their views. — Before he began his remarks on health care policy …

Discussion: Reuters