memeorandum: Why President Trump isn't signing many laws (Punchbowl News)

10:20 AM ET, April 15, 2025

Top Items:

Adam Serwer / The Atlantic:

The Constitutional Crisis Is Here — Between the path of outright defiance of the Supreme Court and following its order to “facilitate” the return of Kilmar Abrego Garcia from El Salvador's infamous Centro de Confinamiento del Terrorismo (CECOT), the Trump administration has chosen a third way …

Discussion: Today's Edition Newsletter, HuffPost, Mother Jones, OutsideTheBeltway, Alternet.org, CNBC, The Forward, Blaze Media, The Daily Caller, Boing Boing, New Republic, UPI, To the Contrary, The Post Millennial, KDFX-TV, NextDraft and New York Times

Roger Parloff / Default:

Abrego Garcia and MS-13: What Do We Know? — The allegation seems to stem from double hearsay in a document authored by a later suspended police detective. — Meet The Authors … In multiple filings, the government has conceded that it wrongfully removed Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia …

Discussion: Baltimore Sun and The Gateway Pundit

G. Elliott Morris / Strength In Numbers:

Trump's immigration agenda is not popular — To start this post, I am going to ask you a key question about immigration policy. But first, I need to establish a few facts based on recent news: — On Monday, April 14, 2025, Donald Trump met with the President of El Salvador, Nayib Bukele, in the Oval Office.

Discussion: Associated Press, RVM News, Truthout and ProPublica

Chris Geidner / Law Dork:

Trump told us the horrifying reason why Kilmar Abrego Garcia is not back in the U.S. — We are approaching one month since the United States illegally sent Kilmar Abrego Garcia to the CECOT “terrorism” prison in El Salvador on the third March 15 flight that took people to the prison.

Discussion: MeidasTouch News, The Message Box, The Hill, New Republic, Breitbart, Slate, Raw Story, New York Daily News, Techdirt, CBS News, Rolling Stone and New York Times

Edward Luce / Financial Times:

Trump is halfway to making America a police state — The president's refusal to accept a Supreme Court ruling on illegal deportation is a turning point — At around noon on April 14 2025, America ceased to have a law-abiding government. Some would argue that had already happened on January 20, when Donald Trump was inaugurated.

Discussion: NOTUS, Reuters, The Guardian, The Hill, New Republic and Vanity Fair

Joyce Vance / Civil Discourse with Joyce Vance:
The Supreme Court Got It Badly Wrong

Discussion: The Fucking News, NBC News, Daily Kos and New York Post

Mike Masnick / Techdirt:
Trump & Bukele Plot US Citizen Detention In Salvadoran Torture Camps, While Defying Supreme Court Via Gibberish Responses To Reporters

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, HuffPost, The Hill, New York Post, Axios, The Atlantic, The Nation, Blaze Media, Townhall, El País, American Greatness, Los Angeles Times, Associated Press, The Independent and Semafor

Politico:
Trump, in a rare move, deferred to another world leader. It's a clear legal play.

Discussion: Mother Jones, Michael-In-Norfolk, Bloomberg, ABC News, Patterico's Pontifications, Rolling Stone, NBC News, Vox, NPR and The Hill

Harvard University President:

The Promise of American Higher Education — For three-quarters of a century, the federal government has awarded grants and contracts to Harvard and other universities to help pay for work that, along with investments by the universities themselves, has led to groundbreaking innovations across …

U.S. Department of Education:
Joint Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism Statement Regarding Harvard University

Discussion: The Bulwark, USA Today, Blaze Media, The Post Millennial, RedState, PinkNews, The Independent, The Hill, Ars Technica, Politico and The Washington Free Beacon

Vimal Patel / New York Times:
Trump Administration Will Freeze $2 Billion After Harvard Refuses Demands

Discussion: The Washington Free Beacon, New York Magazine, The Harvard Crimson, The Guardian, Robert Reich, Hartford Courant, Bloomberg, New York Post, New York Daily News, Raw Story and The Dialogue Dilemma

Jack Blanchard / Politico: The Great Fightback? — With help from Eli Okun, Garrett Ross and Bethany Irvine — Good Tuesday morning.

Michael Casey / Associated Press:
Trump administration freezes $2.2 billion in grants to Harvard over campus activism

New York Post: Harvard may be free to target Jews — but not on the taxpayers' dime

Elisabeth Bumiller / New York Times:
Harvard's Decision to Resist Trump Is ‘of Momentous Significance’

Discussion: Al Jazeera and One America News Network

Jenna McLaughlin / NPR:

A whistleblower's disclosure details how DOGE may have taken sensitive labor data — In the first days of March, a team of advisers from President Trump's new Department of Government Efficiency initiative arrived at the Southeast Washington, D.C., headquarters of the National Labor Relations Board.

Discussion: Alternet.org and Raw Story

NBC News:

Democratic lawmakers say they'll travel to El Salvador to push for Kilmar Abrego Garcia's release — Sen. Chris Van Hollen said if the Maryland man whom the administration acknowledged mistakenly deporting was not back in the U.S. by ‘midweek,’ the senator would travel to El Salvador.

Discussion: Washington Times, Mediaite and The Hill

Caroline Foreback / CBS News:

Maryland senator requests meeting with Salvadoran president to discuss deported Maryland man — Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen requested a meeting with El Salvador President Nayib Bukele during his visit to the United States to discuss the return of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Maryland man who was wrongly deported.

Discussion: The Hill, New York Times, RVM News, Associated Press, Bloomberg, Daily Caller News Foundation, CNN, Breitbart, Axios, Washington Examiner, Fox News, Baltimore Sun and Politico

Chris Van Hollen:
Van Hollen Requests Meeting with President Bukele to Discuss Return of Kilmar Abrego Garcia; Announces Intent to Travel to El Salvador This Week if Abrego Garcia is Not Returned

Discussion: Off Message, Letters from an American, Axios, Racket News, PolitiFact, The Hill, National Review, USA Today, The Daily Wire, Foreign Policy, Reason, Talking Points Memo, Washington Examiner, NPR and Lawyers, Guns & Money

Sohrab Ahmari / UnHerd:

JD Vance: My message to Europe America doesn't want a vassal continent — “It's not good for Europe to be the permanent security vassal of the United States.” So says JD Vance during a phone conversation with UnHerd on Monday, his first major interview with a European outlet since taking office as Vice President.

Discussion: Bloomberg, UPI, The Gateway Pundit, The i Paper, The Independent, PinkNews, The Kyiv Independent, Semafor, Politico and CBS News, more at Mediagazer »

Punchbowl News:

Why President Trump isn't signing many laws … Trump and Republican congressional leaders often claim his new administration has been the most productive in recent memory. — Except when it comes to passing laws. — Trump has signed fewer bills into law at this point in his presidency …

Punchbowl News:
4/15/25 ☀️ AM: — News: NRCC gets on track with $21M raised in March

Discussion: Fox News and The Kyiv Independent

Don Moynihan / Can We Still Govern?:

This Tax Day, an IRS in Crisis — Every year during tax season, please spare a thought for the IRS. It is our least loved agency, but one of our most important. Last year, I noted how an IRS modernization effort was making real progress in terms of improved service quality.

Discussion: The Hill, Bloomberg, Reuters, Washington Examiner, 19FortyFive and Fox News

Paul Krugman:
Happy Tax Evasion Day!

Discussion: USA Today, Fox News, Staten Island Advance and New York Post

New York Times:

Columbia Activist Arrested by ICE at His Appointment for Citizenship — Mohsen Mahdawi, a legal permanent resident, has lived in the United States for 10 years and was arrested in Vermont. He has not been charged with a crime. — Mohsen Mahdawi, an organizer of pro-Palestinian demonstrations …

Michelle Goldberg / New York Times:

The Vibe Shifts Against the Right — Alex Kaschuta's podcast, “Subversive,” used to be a node in the network between weird right-wing internet subcultures and mainstream conservatism. She hosted men's rights activists and purveyors of “scientific” racism, neo-reactionary online personalities …

Discussion: Raw Story and Alternet.org

Bloomberg:

US Derails G-7 Condemnation of Russian Missile Strike on Ukraine — The US has told Group of Seven allies it won't endorse a statement condemning Russia's deadliest attack on Ukraine this year because it wants to keep negotiations with Moscow on track. — Russia fired two short-range …

Discussion: The Kyiv Independent, Raw Story, Associated Press, Al Jazeera, BBC, New York Times, Politico, Reuters, WSVN-TV and The Defense Post

Punchbowl News:

State Dept. to propose major overhaul of U.S. diplomatic footprint … The document, part of a broader FY 2026 budget proposal due to the Office of Management and Budget later today, outlines a consolidation of outposts in countries such as Japan and Canada, that includes “resizing” …

Discussion: Raw Story and Politico

New York Times:

White House to Ask Congress to Claw Back Funding From NPR and PBS — Trump administration officials want legislators to rescind $1.1 billion for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which provides some support for public media. — The White House is planning to ask Congress to claw …

Discussion: Politico, Blaze Media, Fox News, Shore News Network, The Hill, Raw Story, Associated Press, Twitchy, Mediaite, Scripps News, New York Post, Bloomberg and The Post Millennial, more at Mediagazer »

Coral Davenport / New York Times:

Inside Trump's Plan to Halt Hundreds of Regulations … At the Department of Health and Human Services, Trump administration officials want to reverse a regulation that has required nursing homes to have more medical staff on duty. — At the Mine Safety and Health Administration …

Popular Information:

North Carolina Supreme Court throws out hundreds of ballots based on flawed data — This is a special collaboration between Popular Information and Anderson Alerts, a newsletter about North Carolina politics. — Josiah Young was born and raised in North Carolina.

Discussion: Fox News, The Atlantic, Associated Press, Anderson Alerts and USA Today

Sadie Gurman / Wall Street Journal:

This Lawyer Defended Republicans and Democrats. His Candor Cost Him His Job. — Erez Reuveni, a career Justice Department attorney, made no excuses for the government's error in deporting a man to an El Salvador prison — WASHINGTON—When a judge expressed outrage that the first Trump administration had …

Discussion: CBS News and American Greatness

Bloomberg:

China Orders Boeing Jet Delivery Halt as Trade War Expands … Beijing has also asked that Chinese carriers halt any purchases of aircraft-related equipment and parts from US companies, the people said, asking not to be identified discussing matters that are private.

Discussion: The Guardian, CBS News, Quartz, Live and Let's Fly, Fox Business and New York Post

Laura Nahmias / Bloomberg:

Billionaire Ackman Donates $250,000 to Cuomo's Run for NYC Mayor — Billionaire hedge fund manager Bill Ackman has donated $250,000 to a super PAC supporting former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo in New York City's mayoral race. — Ackman's contribution to the pro-Cuomo PAC “Fix the City …

Discussion: Politico

Yuki Noguchi / NPR:

DOGE cut a CDC team as it was about to start a project to help N.C. flood victims — In and around Asheville, N.C., there are still visible signs of devastation that remain from the floods of Hurricane Helene six months ago: rusted debris in the yards of water-damaged residences in ruins.

Discussion: Carolina Journal

Benjamin Wittes / Default:

The Situation: Court Orders, Kidnapping, and Smuggling — Meet The Authors — Published by The Lawfare Institute in Cooperation With — The Situation on Friday asserted that “it's going to take a lot of work” for U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis and her colleagues on the federal bench …

Discussion: ABC News, The Federalist and UPI

Politico:

Tariff carve-outs underscore weak US position in China trade war: ‘This is going to get really ugly’ — With its electronics exceptions, the United States has demonstrated that it is more willing to bend than the Chinese. — The White House says it has the upper hand in its trade war with China.

Discussion: The Hill, fmprc.gov.cn, Raw Story and The Daily Wire