Ungaggable: Costumed Clowns and Lickspittle Surrogates 'R Us
This week saw a seedy, craven parade of MAGA stooges trooping into court to pay fealty to their two-bit mob-boss on trial for cooking the books to hide hush money payments to a porn star so he could get elected to a job he was stupefyingly unfit for, and still is. Then "God's most pathetic Republicans" - from Mike Handmaid’s Tale to the Beetlejuice Lady - brazenly violated his gag order for him to declare the rule of law "a sham." Nope, nothing to see here.
The GOP, of course, is already a toxic mix of idiocy, rancor and racism we always think can't go any lower until they inevitably do. This week, Florida's Ron DeFascist signed a bill deleting the term "climate change" from state laws in the witless name of owning "radical green zealots"; the action forbids any consideration of potential climate effects of greenhouse gas emissions from energy policy in the rapidly sinking state, weakens regulation of fossil fuel pipelines, and thank God "keeps windmills off our beaches." And in law-and-order Texas, his feral colleague Greg Abbott just pardoned racist groomer Daniel Perry after serving just one year of a 25-year sentence for murdering BLM protester and Air Force veteran Garrett Foster in 2020. Abbott, who notably refused to recommend a posthumous pardon for George Floyd for a 2004 drug arrest - years before he was choked to death by police - touted Texas' "‘Stand Your Ground’ laws of self-defense that cannot be nullified by a jury or a progressive District Attorney,'" confirming, one critic said, "There are two classes of people in this state, where some lives matter and some lives do not."
But Republicans sank still lower this week with the servile pilgrimage of multiple MAGA sycophants to the crime-and-bird-shit-stained altar of their ugly shell of a tinpot dictator, now charged with 34 counts of falsifying business records to cover up cheating on his wife when she was home with their infant son and then persistently lying about it. As further illustration of how deeply into ethical loathsomeness the GOP has sunk, these are the same goons who, after he admitted to his pussy-grabbing exploits on the "Access Hollywood" tape, at least had the good grace to scurry to distance themselves while making fake horrified noises. Now, at the mercy of an unshackled, sputtering bully vowing revenge on any turncoats - and their own unfathomable slavish devotion to him - such moral niceties seem quaint. And so they flocked there, cartoon villains in their goofy, unctuous, matching red ties and navy suits - they got the memo! - to kneel before their preposterous monarch. After weeks alone in court - not even grim Melania - he was jubilant. "I do have a lot of surrogates," he beamed when asked, "and they are speaking very beautifully."
Thus summoning the queasy spectacle of the "family-values" party rushing to defend a serial sexual predator banging a porn star, the appearance of the feckless likes of J.D. Vance, Byron Donalds, Doug Burgum, Vivek Ramaswamy and Tommy 'Dumb As A Rock' Tuberville - the Republicans aren't sending their best, or are they? - was widely mocked as a "demeaning," "ridiculous," "embarrassing," “both thuggish and pathetic," "utterly humiliating" act of obeisance by MAGA plus-ones eager to drop their day jobs to win tawdry Brownie points. Serving as ignorant "Mouths of Sauron," they stayed in court for 45 minutes, came out to a press conference and violated Trump's gag order for him: The trial is a sham, a scam, a witch hunt, a Biden show trial (albeit put in motion by juries of regular Americans) and the judge and his family are crooks. Burgum: "The American people have already acquitted (Trump)." Donalds: "There's nothing wrong here, there's nothing that's been done poorly by (Trump), the only thing being done wrong is by this judge." Tuberville, saying the quiet part out loud (see dumb): "We're here to overcome this gag order."
Still, it got weirder. According to Trump's gag order, everything his lackeys did was likely illegal. It forbids him, not just to say what they said, but to direct "others to make public statements" about attorneys, court staff, their family members, the proceedings. Which presumably includes, as several journalists reported, Trump sitting in court editing speeches for his lap-dogs to repeat to the press. The most "gob-smacking" part: The arrival of "shiny-eyed Christian nationalist" and second-in-line to the presidency Mike Johnson with an "all-out assault (on) the federal and state legal systems foundational to the U.S. government." Johnson called the court "corrupt," attacked Judge Merchan's daughter - "Among the atrocities is (her) making millions of dollars fundraising for Democrats" (who's Ginni Thomas?) - said "these are politically motivated trials" and declared Trump "innocent." Jamie Raskin: "I don’t find anything unusual about a fundamentalist theocrat who thinks the Bible is the supreme law of the land attending the legal proceedings of an adjudicated sexual assailant and world-class fraudster for (covering up) payments to conceal (an) adulterous affair. Do you?"
Because the GOP is shameless and irony is dead, the next day Johnson - the Congressional architect of the effort to overturn the 2020 election who's already said it's his "duty" to do it again if needed, a position deemed on "the far-right fringes of American legal thought" - turned up at a House "Back the Blue” event to proclaim, "We've got to make crimes criminal again" and promote a California sheriff, Oath Keeper and Jan. 6 fan-boy who decries "the sick and twisted progressive social experiment." Because Trump, the House also voted to delay their “urgent” hearing to hold A.G. Merrick Garland in contempt for the imaginary crime of refusing to hand over information they already have - specifically, the audio of Biden’s interview with special counsel Robert Hur, though they have the transcript. Ranking Dem Jerry Nadler blasted the "political theater" of Gym Jordan et al who've spent $20 million to investigate conspiracy theories that have "delivered Exactly Nothing" while delaying House business to attend the trial of a madman who just praised "the late, great Hannibal Lecter" and "defend (him) against frankly indefensible acts."
Despite Laura Ingraham's pan of the courtroom - "The air is musty, the floors are old, the benches are hard oak" - a "new band of jesters" arrived Thursday to attend/hold court briefly and attack everyone. This time it was far-right cranks Lauren Boebert, who missed court for her miscreant son facing 22 charges including a felony and multiple misdemeanor property thefts but found time to come trash Judge Merchan's daughter - "millions and millions of dollars" - and Matt Gaetz, who once sought a pardon from Trump while under now-renewed investigation for sex-trafficking a teen girl and said the D.A. made up "the Mr. Potato Head of crimes” against Trump. If irony hadn't died, we'd say Gaetz looked just like Mr. Potato Head - sorry, Potato - when he echoed the Proud Boys ina selfie with other toadies that read, "Standing back and standing by, Mr. President," earning a sublime "Bootlicker" troll: "Not all heroes wear capes." The final cringe: Boebert, her cohort gone, shrieking into the mike, "What is the crime?!" as people yell "Beetlejuice!" at her. "They may have gagged (Trump)," she wrote later. "They didn't gag me. They cant gag me. i have no gag reflex. I am ungaggable."
Later, once the bootlickers returned to D.C., the House held their let's-do-something-to-Merrick-Garland hearing. It did not go well. It went so unwell it may have proved, per one sage, "This country has been stuck in Junior High since 2015." It may have also proved, for the first time, Klan Mom MTG correct when she recently whined, "(Americans) are looking at Republicans in Washington and laughing at us. They think we are a complete joke." Alas, in more (dead) irony, she confirmed it when she and Jasmine Crockett, who's way above her pay grade, got into it after Marge lobbed a "fake eyelashes" barb at her so low Jamie Raskin retorted, "That’s beneath even you, Ms. Greene." So it went. Jeers, yelps, havoc. AOC deemed MTG's puerile rants "absolutely unacceptable" with, "Oh, girl. Baby girl." Crockett asked to clarify the rules if, say, she dissed someone's "bleach blonde, bad-built, butch body." Comer, befuddled: "Uhh, what now?" Raskin face-palmed. After a brief recess, Boebert took the floor: "I just want to apologize to the American people. When things get (so) heated, unfortunately it’s an embarrassment on our body as a whole." Wait. Boebert as the adult in the room? When pigs fly. Nothing to see here.
Green Groups Call US Electric Transmission Rules 'Major Leap Forward'
Green groups on Monday praised U.S. regulators for finalizing rules that supporters say "will help accelerate the transition to a clean and equitable electric system by working to build more transmission capacity."
The two Democrats on the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approved new transmission planning requirements. They and the sole GOP commissioner also advanced an order empowering FERC to greenlight permits for projects rejected or ignored by states.
"The new rules require utilities and regional grid operators to adopt 20-year plans that consider trends in technology and fuel costs, changes to resource mix and demand, more opportunities for state and utility collaboration, and extreme weather events, among other variables calculated by the 'best available data,'" the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) explained. The assessments must be revised every five years.
Sam Gomberg, the manager of transmission policy and a senior energy analyst at UCS, called the rules "a critical step to ensuring our electric grid has the capacity and durability necessary to keep up with our clean energy ambition, meet climate goals, and guarantee affordable and equitable energy access for all."
"I am pleased that FERC will require transmission planners to account for seven broadly recognized benefits of expanding transmission when determining whether to make investments," he said. "This, combined with FERC's inclusion of state-approved plans for utilities' changes in generation, moves the country to more just and reasonable planning standards."
Gomberg was far from alone in cheering the policy changes. Christine Powell, deputy managing attorney at Earthjustice and former commission adviser, said that "we applaud FERC for meeting the moment" and "look forward to engaging with FERC to center equity and environmental justice in transmission planning."
Cullen Howe, senior advocate with the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) Sustainable FERC Project, stressed that "we urgently need every grid operator to determine where and what transmission lines to build. This rule brings everyone to the starting line for scaling up the clean energy transition."
"With climate-fueled disasters posing ever-greater challenges to the grid, this rule will help shape a power grid that optimizes the capabilities of clean energy while prioritizing reliability and affordability," Howe said. "In addition, FERC's backstop siting rule will help ensure that no one state can veto transmission lines that are in the general interest of the nation."
Quentin Scott, federal director for Chesapeake Climate Action Network, declared that "this announcement is a major leap forward to ease the bottlenecks that have slowed the clean energy revolution. These new federal rules will unleash the nearly 2000 gigawatts of clean energy in the transmission queue, putting us back on the pathway for 100% clean energy by 2035."
"When I talk with clean energy developers, their biggest challenge is certainty. The certainty of where they can build their projects, the certainty of how much their project will cost, and the certainty of their ability to connect to the grid. These latest FERC rules will provide that certainty," Scott added. He also urged Congress to "provide the financial incentives to expand transmission capacity."
"This rule will help shape a power grid that optimizes the capabilities of clean energy while prioritizing reliability and affordability."
Congress has already taken some action, as Sierra Club executive director Ben Jealous highlighted, pointing to the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) signed by President Joe Biden in 2022. He said as that law "continues to usher in the clean energy future through deployment of solar, wind, and battery storage, this transmission standard will allow utilities to deliver Americans clean, affordable electricity, even in the face of rising demand and extreme weather caused by climate change."
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and other top Democrats joined advocacy organizations in lauding the rules, enacted as global temperatures continue to soar, underscoring the need to transition away from planet-heating fossil fuels.
"The clean energy incentives included in the Inflation Reduction Act have been a huge success but much of that success would be lost without the ability to bring power from places that generate renewable energy to communities all across the country," said Schumer. "A new historic advancement in our transmission policies is desperately needed, and the rules released by FERC today will go a long way to solving that problem."
"Last year, I pushed FERC to deliver a historic advancement in transmission policies that will lower costs and improve reliability by getting clean energy from where it is produced to where people live," he continued. "This is exactly what we need to see the clean energy revolution we catalyzed with the Inflation Reduction Act come to fruition. FERC's actions will help to fundamentally improve our power grid in the wake of the IRA."
The Senate leader and green groups welcomed the rules, but "the commission's sole Republican member, former Virginia regulator Mark Christie, was not so effusive," notedHeatmap's Matthew Zeitlin. "He issued a harsh dissent to his colleagues' decision, likely previewing a judicial challenge from Republican-governed states."
"While the commission's chair, former District of Columbia Public Service Commissioner Willie Phillips, and its other member, NRDC alum Allison Clements, both Democrats, largely spoke about the rule in terms of reliability and reforming the planning process," Zeitlin reported, "Christie made it seem like a climate change policy in disguise that would function as a 'transfer of wealth' to wind, solar, and transmission developers."
Trump-Appointed Judge Halts Biden Rule Capping Credit Card Fees
A Trump-appointed judge on Friday delivered a win for big banks when he granted the U.S. Chamber of Commerce a temporary injunction halting a Biden administration rule that would cap credit card fees at $8.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) rule, which would have gone into effect May 14, could save U.S. consumers more than $10 billion each year. The decision to pause its implementation, issued by U.S. District of the Northern District of Texas Judge Mark Pittman, will cost ordinary Americans around $27 million each day it is in effect.
"In their latest in a stack of lawsuits designed to pad record corporate profits at the expense of everyone else, the U.S. Chamber got its way for now—ensuring families get price-gouged a little longer with credit card late fees as high as $41," Liz Zelnick, the director of the Economic Security and Corporate Power Program at Accountable.US, said in a statement.
"It's time the U.S. Chamber stops clogging the courts with baseless lawsuits designed to enrich corporate CEOs on the backs of working families—and it's time the judiciary stops legitimizing venue shopping from big industry."
The CFPB issued the rule on March 5 as part of the Biden administration's commitment to crack down on "junk fees." However, the Chamber of Commerce and other banking trade associations—including the American Bankers Association and the Consumer Bankers Association—quickly sued to block it. The executives of Bank of America, Capital One, Citibank, and JPMorgan Chase sit on the boards of the groups behind the suit, according toThe Washington Post.
"Banks make billions in profits charging excessive late fees," Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) wrote on social media Saturday in response to the ruling. "Now a single Trump-appointed judge sided with bank lobbyists to block the Biden administration's new rule capping these junk fees."
Accountable.US also criticized the fact that the suit was before Pittman at all, arguing that the U.S. Chamber of Commerce filed the suit in Texas federal court so that it would end up under the jurisdiction of the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, which has 19 Republican-appointed justices out of a total of 26. The chamber has filed nearly two-thirds of its lawsuits since 2017 with courts covered by the 5th Circuit.
"The U.S. Chamber and the big banks they represent have corrupted our judicial system by venue shopping in courtrooms of least resistance, going out of their way to avoid having their lawsuit heard by a fair and neutral federal judge," Zelnick said. "It's time the U.S. Chamber stops clogging the courts with baseless lawsuits designed to enrich corporate CEOs on the backs of working families—and it's time the judiciary stops legitimizing venue shopping from big industry."
The 5th Circuit's treatment of the case has also come under fire, as Trump-appointed Judge Don Willett has not recused himself despite the fact that he owns tens of thousands of dollars in Citigroup shares. While Willett has argued that Citigroup is not a party to the case, it belongs to trade groups that are, and any ruling on credit card fees would significantly impact the bank. Collectively, all the judges on the 5th Circuit have invested as much as $745,000 in credit card or credit issuing companies, according to the most recent publicly available information.
Donald Sherman, Gabe Lezra, and Linnaea Honl-Stuenkel of Citizens for Ethics in Washington wrote: "Judge Willett's refusal to recuse, and the lack of transparency about the rationale, reinforces the need for more judicial ethics reform to ensure that everyday Americans and government agencies have a level playing field when they go into court against corporate interests."
Far-Right Prime Minister of Slovakia Shot in Assassination Attempt
This is a developing story... Check back for possible updates...
Robert Fico, the right-wing prime minister of Slovakia who has aligned himself with Hungarian authoritarian leader Viktor Orbán and Russian President Vladimir Putin, was in "life-threatening condition" Wednesday after being shot "multiple" times in what the government called an assassination attempt.
Fico was shot in the town of Handlova after attending a government meeting and greeting supporters.
Slovakian outlet Aktualityreported Fico had two gunshot wounds in his arm and one in his abdomen.
Fico was first elected prime minister in 2006, and has faced corruption allegations during his political career. He resigned in 2018 during mass protests over the killing of an investigative journalist who was conducting a government probe, and was again elected last September.
The prime minister has opposed mainstream European Union policies and sending military aid to Ukraine, and Slovakia became the first country to halt such aid in October after Fico took office.
Stunned reactions poured in from leaders in Slovakia and around the world, with President Zuzana Čaputová, a staunch defender of Ukraine, condemning the shooting "in the strongest possible terms."
Orbán said he was "deeply shocked by the heinous attack against my friend."
To End 'Failed Approach,' Biden DOJ Formally Moves to Reclassify Marijuana
As Democratic lawmakers push for the federal decriminalization of marijuana, U.S. President Joe Biden on Thursday announced the Department of Justice was formalizing a proposal to remove the substance from Schedule I—the legal classification which for decades has placed marijuana in the same category as heroin.
The Drug Enforcement Administration's (DEA) proposal to reschedule marijuana under Schedule III—which would place it alongside substances like testosterone and steroids—was submitted as a Notice of Formal Rulemaking in the Federal Register, commencing a 60-day public comment period.
After the comment period and any public hearings that are requested by interested parties, the DEA is expected to issue a final order on reclassifying marijuana.
In a video message posted to social media, Biden called the step his administration has taken "monumental" and said marijuana's current classification suggests it is more dangerous than "fentanyl and methamphetamine—the two drugs driving America's overdose epidemic."
"That just doesn't add up," said the president. "Today's announcement builds on the work we've done to pardon a record number of federal offenses for simple possession of marijuana, and it adds to the action we've taken to lift barriers to housing, employment, small business loans, and so much more for tens of thousands of Americans."
"Far too many lives have been upended because of a failed approach to marijuana and I'm committed to righting those wrongs," added Biden.
With marijuana classified under Schedule III, the federal government would for the first time officially acknowledge the medical benefits of the substance, which is approved for medical use in 43 U.S. states and territories as well as the District of Columbia.
Federal scientists will be able to research the medical benefits of the drug for the first time since 1971, when the Controlled Substances Act placed marijuana under Schedule I.
The new classification could also eliminate tax burdens for legal cannabis businesses.
Paul Armentano, deputy director of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML), said Biden's decision "validates the experiences of tens of millions of Americans, as well as tens of thousands of physicians, who have long recognized that cannabis possesses legitimate medical utility."
"As a first step forward, this policy change dramatically shifts the political debate surrounding cannabis," Armentano added. "Specifically, it delegitimizes many of the tropes historically exploited by opponents of marijuana policy reform. Claims that cannabis poses unique harms to health, or that it's not useful for treating chronic pain and other ailments, have now been rejected by the very federal agencies that formerly perpetuated them. Going forward, these specious allegations should be absent from any serious conversations surrounding cannabis and how to best regulate its use."
Biden's announcement came a week after Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) was joined by 17 other Democratic senators in reintroducing S. 4226, the Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act (CAOA), which would remove marijuana from the Controlled Substances Act and allow states to regulate the substance.
Schumer applauded the White House for "recognizing that draconian cannabis laws need to change to catch up to science and the majority of Americans," but said marijuana must now be decriminalized at the federal level.
"The proposed change fails to harmonize federal marijuana policy with the cannabis laws of most U.S. states," said Armentano, "particularly the 24 states that have legalized its use and sale to adults."
'Most Thorough Legal Analysis' Yet Concludes Israel Committing Genocide in Gaza
The University Network for Human Rights on Wednesday released and sent to United Nations offices a 105-page report that it called "the most thorough legal analysis" yet to find "Israel is committing genocide" against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
The network partnered with the International Human Rights Clinic at Boston University School of Law, the International Human Rights Clinic at Cornell Law School, the Center for Human Rights at the University of Pretoria, and the Lowenstein Human Rights Project at Yale Law School for the analysis, which draws from "a diverse range of credible sources" and the territory's history.
"After reviewing the facts established by independent human rights monitors, journalists, and United Nations agencies, we conclude that Israel's actions in and regarding Gaza since October 7, 2023, violate the Genocide Convention," the report states. "Israel has committed genocidal acts of killing, causing serious harm to, and inflicting conditions of life calculated to bring about the physical destruction of Palestinians in Gaza, a protected group that forms a substantial part of the Palestinian people."
As of May 1, Israel's assault had killed "more than 5% of Gaza's population, with over 2% of Gaza's children killed or injured," the analysis notes. In recent days, Israeli forces have ramped up their attack on Rafah—where over a million people from other parts of the besieged enclave sought refuge—and the total death toll has risen to 35,233, according to Gaza health officials, with another 79,141 Palestinians injured.
"Israel's military operation has destroyed up to 70% of homes in Gaza, and has decimated civilian infrastructure, including hospitals, schools, universities, U.N. facilities, and cultural and religious heritage sites," the document says, noting the "staggering" number of forced displacements. "Civilians in Gaza face catastrophic levels of hunger and deprivation due to Israel's restriction on, and failure to ensure adequate access to, basic essentials of life, including food, water, medicine, and fuel."
"Israel's genocidal acts in Gaza have been motivated by the requisite genocidal intent, as evidenced in this report by the statements of Israeli leaders, the character of the state and its military forces' conduct against and relating to Palestinians in Gaza, and the direct nexus between them," the publication continues, pointing to comments from "officials at all levels of Israeli government, up to and including" Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Israel has faced mounting allegations of genocide since launching its retaliation for the Hamas-led October 7 attack—including an ongoing South Africa-led case at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which in its January preliminary ruling ordered Israel to uphold its obligations under the Genocide Convention.
The Wednesday report declares that "Israel's violations of the international legal prohibition of genocide amount to grave breaches of peremptory norms of international law that must cease immediately."
"These violations give rise to obligations by all other states: to refrain from recognizing Israel’s breaches as legal or taking any actions that may amount to complicity in these breaches; and to take positive steps to suppress, prevent, and punish the commission by Israel of further genocidal acts against the Palestinian people in Gaza," the document adds.
The United States has long provided Israel with billions of dollars in military aid and diplomatic support—which have soared since October 7, despite growing pressure on U.S. President Joe Biden to cut off such assistance. The Democrat has incrementally increased his criticism of the Israeli assault in recent weeks, angering far-right leaders in both countries.
The new legal analysis—which was sent to the U.N.'s Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Office on Genocide Prevention and the Responsibility to Protect, and the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel—came on the same day that 20 human rights groups issued a joint statement.
The rights organizations—including Amnesty International, Mercy Corps, and Oxfam—called on world leaders "to urgently act in bringing to an end, and pursue accountability for," Israel's grave breaches of international humanitarian law in Gaza.
Both documents were released on Nakba Day, which commemorates the ethnic cleansing of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians during the creation of the state of Israel in 1948. Some experts and campaigners contend that the Nakba—Arabic for catastrophe—continues today.
Correction: This post has been updated to clarify the International Court of Justice ruling.
Alito Family's Upside-Down Flag After Jan. 6 Sparks Call for Justice's Recusal
"This behavior is disqualifying for a Supreme Court justice," said one critic.
U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Dick Durbin was among those on Friday who called for Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito's recusal from cases related to the 2020 election after The New York Timesreported the justice flew an upside-down flag outside his home in the days leading up to President Joe Biden's inauguration.
The display of an inverted flag officially symbolizes "dire duress" according to the U.S. code, and has been used at various times by people across the political spectrum to signify distress over U.S. policy and disapproval of the government.
At the time Alito's family displayed the flag, just over a week after then-President Donald Trump urged his supporters to riot at the U.S. Capitol when lawmakers were certifying the election results, the "Stop the Steal" movement had embraced the symbol to show their belief that the election had been stolen for Biden—despite all evidence to the contrary.
Alito told the Times on Friday that he "had no involvement whatsoever in the flying of the flag" and that "it was briefly placed by Mrs. Alito in response to a neighbor's use of objectionable and personally insulting language on yard signs."
But Durbin (D-Ill.) said the display on January 17, 2021—and for several days before that—clearly created "the appearance of bias."
"Justice Alito should recuse himself immediately from cases related to the 2020 election and the January 6 insurrection, including the question of the former president's immunity in U.S. v. Donald Trump, which the Supreme Court is currently considering," said the senator.
The news of Alito's upside-down flag comes after numerous reports about ethical breaches by right-wing Supreme Court justices including Alito and Justice Clarence Thomas.
Both of the justices have accepted luxury travel and have had other financial transactions with right-wing operatives who have been involved in cases before the court, and Thomas has drawn condemnation for continuing to serve on a case regarding documents being turned over to the House Select Committee on the January 6 Attack after it was revealed that his wife had supported efforts to overturn the 2020 election results.
In the coming weeks, the court is set to rule on Trump's claim that he has immunity in his federal election interference case and in a separate case regarding whether January 6 defendants should be charged with obstructing an official proceeding.
Despite four ongoing criminal cases, Trump is the presumptive Republican nominee to face Biden in November.
"The court is in an ethical crisis of its own making, and Justice Alito and the rest of the court should be doing everything in their power to regain public trust," said Durbin. "Supreme Court justices should be held to the highest ethical standards, not the lowest."
The senator added that the latest reporting offers new proof that Congress must pass the Supreme Court Ethics, Recusal, and Transparency (SCERT) Act, which would create an enforceable code of conduct for the high court.
Indivisible co-executive director Ezra Levin applauded Durbin's call and said the news about Alito's flag "just confirms what we already knew: that the Supreme Court is stacked with far-right, partisan justices intent on using the bench to institutionalize MAGA extremism."
"This behavior is disqualifying for a Supreme Court justice," said Levin. "Alito is not an impartial arbiter of the law, especially when Donald Trump is involved. His brazen actions underscore the urgent need for increased congressional oversight of the court as well as structural reforms to restore its legitimacy."
Levin also called on Durbin to use his committee leadership position to "rigorously investigate corruption on the court and lead efforts to expand the court to unrig the MAGA supermajority."
Devin Ombres, senior director for courts and legal policy at the Center for American Progress, said Alito's display of the flag was a "matter-of-fact admission of his partisan sympathy with Donald Trump's 'Stop the Steal' movement, which led to the violent insurrection on January 6."
"His pathetic excuse that his wife hung the flag as part of a political dispute with a neighbor is even more damning because he's admitting it was a partisan act," said Ombres. "It's unacceptable that Alito now sits in judgment of whether Trump's actions deserve the imprimatur of presidential immunity. Chief Justice John Roberts and the other justices must demand Alito's recusal from any case related to the January 6 insurrection. If Alito had any sense of propriety or humility, he would resign."
US Lawmakers Sound Alarm Over Threat to Rooftop Solar in Puerto Rico
"Net metering has proven essential for families in Puerto Rico and essential for Puerto Rico's progress towards its own renewable goals."
More than 20 members of the U.S. Congressional Democratic Caucus on Friday urged a federal colonial oversight board to safeguard affordable access to rooftop solar power in Puerto Rico by protecting net metering, which the lawmakers called essential to the island's clean energy goals and economic growth.
Net metering "makes household renewable energy sources, like rooftop solar, more affordable for families by ensuring they are reimbursed for the extra energy they produce but do not use," the House Natural Resources Committee Democrats explained in a statement.
"A continued commitment to preserving net metering and a renewed focus on solar energy will benefit the island's economy and people."
However, the Financial Oversight and Management Board (FOMB) for Puerto Rico—the controversial unelected federal body tasked with approving and revising Puerto Rico's obligations under a 2016 bankruptcy law—recently directed Democratic Puerto Rican Gov. Pedro Pierluisi and the territorial Legislature to repeal Act 10, which protects net metering through 2031.
"Any attempt to reduce the economic viability of rooftop solar and batteries by paring back net metering should be rejected at this critical stage of Puerto Rico's energy system transformation," 20 congressional Democrats and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) wrote Friday in a bicameral letter to FOMB members. "Net metering has proven essential for families in Puerto Rico and essential for Puerto Rico's progress towards its own renewable goals."
"Net metering has served the people of Puerto Rico well," the lawmakers argued. "It not only compensates homeowners for their contribution to the grid and their reduced dependence on imported fuels, but it also makes renewable energy production economically viable for millions for whom it would otherwise be out of reach."
The letter continues:
Net metering is an engine for economic recovery. Currently, the renewables sector contributes approximately $1.5 billion to Puerto Rico's economy each year and employs more than 10,000 people. In addition to the direct economic benefits, the tens of thousands of solar and storage installations on the island today provide critical backup power for Puerto Rican families and businesses, helping them avoid economic hardship while supporting uninterrupted economic activity during power outages. Many of these systems provide a literal lifeline to people who depend on the uninterrupted operation of medical equipment.
Weakening or ending net metering in Puerto Rico could be devastating. Rooftop solar has added over 800 MW to an electric system whose demand is about 2,500-3,000 MW. As a result, residential solar technology is responsible for most of the progress the archipelago has made toward its ultimate goal of generating 100% renewable energy by 2050. Puerto Rico's net metering and rooftop solar programs have successfully displaced energy that would otherwise be generated by imported fossil fuel, lowering overall costs for all ratepayers.
"Making rooftop solar and battery storage systems less affordable could hurt the lowest-income people most," the lawmakers contended. "Should net metering be eliminated or weakened, the result would be a growing divide between those stuck with exorbitant energy prices from imported fossil fuels and those who can afford their own dependable solar and battery system. Slowing the adoption of rooftop solar and batteries would mean missed opportunities to leverage the private market to protect those most vulnerable to another hurricane's impacts."
After Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico's energy grid in 2017, many Puerto Ricans turned to renewable energy—especially solar—to keep the lights on. Last year, the U.S. Department of Energy announced up to $440 million in residential solar funding for vulnerable households via the Puerto Rico Energy Resilience Fund.
"Undermining net metering would dramatically slow one of the most active solar and battery markets in the country at the time it is needed most."
Puerto Rico "needs more renewable production, not less," the lawmakers added. "Undermining net metering would dramatically slow one of the most active solar and battery markets in the country at the time it is needed most... We urge you to protect net metering in Puerto Rico. We believe that a continued commitment to preserving net metering and a renewed focus on solar energy will benefit the island's economy and people."
The lawmakers' letter follows a call earlier this week from the Solar and Energy Storage Association of Puerto Rico for U.S. President Joe Biden to replace six FOMB members "who are supportive of Puerto Rico, supportive of solar power, and supportive of dissolving the board as soon as possible."
The FOMB has been decried as an anti-democratic colonial body that dictates the island's budget and operates in secrecy. Last year, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 8-1 to protect the board from public scrutiny.
Coral Bleaching 'Off the Charts' in Atlantic as NOAA Warns Ocean Going 'Crazy Haywire'
"We had to add additional bleaching alert levels to appropriately categorize just how hot it was," said a coral reefs expert at the agency.
The phrase "off the charts" is no exaggeration in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's latest warning about a global coral bleaching event that scientists have linked to rising ocean temperatures and heat stress.
Derek Manzello, coordinator of NOAA's Coral Reef Watch Program, told reporters Thursday that about 60.5% of the world's coral reefs are now experiencing heat stress severe enough to cause bleaching, which can make the reefs more vulnerable to disease and harm the biodiversity they support.
Manzello said at the press briefing that after observing the first months of the coral bleaching event, which began in early 2023, NOAA changed its existing bleaching alert system because conditions were so abnormally warm in the Atlantic Ocean, Gulf of Mexico, and Caribbean Sea.
The agency's new bleaching alert system categorizes heat stress for coral reefs on a scale of 1-5, with Alert Level 5 representing ocean heat that could kill "approximately 80% or more of corals on a particular reef," Manzello said.
"We had to add additional bleaching alert levels to appropriately categorize just how hot it was," he said, with Level 5 "analogous to a Category 5 hurricane or cyclone."
"I hate that I have to keep using that word 'unprecedented.'... But, again, we are seeing unprecedented patterns again this year."
The world's oceans, Manzello, said, are going "crazy haywire."
In the Caribbean this year, heat stress off the coasts of Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, and Colombia are now at levels that in previous years weren't seen until the summer months.
"I hate that I have to keep using that word 'unprecedented,'" Manzello toldThe New York Times. "But, again, we are seeing unprecedented patterns again this year."
The bleaching that took place last year resulted in coral mortality of at least 50% and as high as 93% in reefs off the coast of Huatulco, Mexico, according to a team of Mexican scientists.
In the Atlantic, fossil fuel-driven planetary heating has been exacerbated by El Niño—the natural phenomenon that causes warmer-than-normal ocean surface temperatures—and has caused the "most unprecedented and extreme" bleaching-level heat stress observed in the past year.
Manzello said 99.7% of reef areas in the Atlantic have experienced heat stress that could cause bleaching.
"The Atlantic Ocean has been off the charts," he said.
Scientists have recorded four global bleaching events since 1998 and have linked all of them to warmer ocean temperatures. Since 1950, the world has lost half of its coral reefs, according to a 2021 study.
Along with serving marine life, a quarter of which rely on coral reefs at some point in their life cycles, reefs also protect coasts from storms, whose growing severity in recent years scientists have also linked to planetary heating.
The current bleaching event has affected reefs off the coasts of at least 62 countries and territories.
Scientists earlier this year confirmed that 2023 was the hottest year in human history and the warmest year on record for the world's oceans, which absorb more than 90% of excess heat from greenhouse gas emissions.
"I am very worried about the state of the world's coral reefs," Manzello said. "We are seeing [ocean temperatures] play out right now that are very extreme in nature."