- Friday April 18th, 2025
- "It Is Not A Question of Who Is Right Or Wrong But What Is Right Or Wrong That Counts."
- --Geoff Metcalf
- Providing an on line Triage of the news since 1998
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World & Nation
Trump Wins Supreme Court Ruling: ‘Threat to Our Constitution’
Chief
Justice John G. Roberts Jr. has issued a temporary administrative stay
allowing the Trump administration to pause the reinstatement of
National Labor Relations Board member Gwynne Wilcox and Merit Systems
Protection Board member Cathy Harris. Both officials were terminated by
President Donald Trump earlier in 2025. Both have challenged their
dismissals in federal court as unlawful.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit voted
7-4 to restore Wilcox and Harris, citing Humphrey’s Executor v. United
States, a precedent that limits the president's ability to fire
independent agency members. The ruling prompted an emergency appeal
from the Trump administration.
Justice Clarence Thomas wrote, “The decision in Humphrey’s Executor
poses a direct threat to our constitutional structure and, as a result,
the liberty of the American people.”
Justice Kagan denies emergency appeal to halt deportation of Mexican nationals claiming asylum from cartel
Kagan denies migrants’ request to delay deportation, letting removal proceed without Court review
Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan on Wednesday denied an emergency
appeal by four Mexican nationals facing deportation. The request asked
the court to temporarily block their removal so they could file a
formal petition for review.
Kagan denied the application without comment and did not refer the matter to her colleagues.
The petitioners, Fabian Lagunas Espinoza, Maria Angelica Flores Ulloa
and their two sons, were ordered to report to immigration officials on
Thursday. Their legal team argued they face cartel violence if returned
to Mexico.
Democrats push to bring back deported MS-13 suspect
Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., who flew to El Salvador this week to meet
with deported illegal alien Kilmar Abrego Garcia before being denied
multiple times, was granted his request on Thursday night.
"I said my main goal of this trip was to meet with Kilmar," Van Hollen
said in a post on X. "Tonight I had that chance. I have called his
wife, Jennifer, to pass along his message of love. I look forward to
providing a full update upon my return."
Garcia, a 29-year-old illegal immigrant living in Maryland, was
deported to the El Salvadoran megaprison "Terrorism Confinement Center"
(CECOT) last month, and officials acknowledged in court his deportation
was an administrative error, although now some top Trump officials say
he was correctly removed and contend he's a member of the notorious
MS-13 gang. Both a federal district court and the U.S. Supreme Court
have ordered the Trump administration to "facilitate" his release and
return to the U.S. for proper deportation proceedings.
Trump Signals Tit-for-Tat China Tariffs May Be Near End
U.S. President
Donald Trump signaled a potential end to the tit-for-tat tariff hikes
between the U.S. and China that shocked markets, and that a deal over
the fate of social media platform TikTok may have to wait.
"I don't want
them to go higher because at a certain point you make it where people
don't buy," Trump told reporters Thursday about tariffs at the White
House.
"So, I may not
want to go higher or I may not want to even go up to that level. I may
want to go to less because you know you want people to buy and, at a
certain point, people aren't gonna buy."
Trump's
comments further pointed to a diminished appetite for sharply higher
across-the-board tariffs on dozens of countries after markets reacted
violently to their introduction on April 2.
U.S. ready to pull plug on Ukraine peace push
“If our efforts to stop the war in Ukraine fail within days, we will
inform President Trump that negotiations are no longer a viable
option,” he said, stressing that if both sides are serious about peace,
the “US is willing to help, but otherwise, we will move on.”
The United States has “other priorities” besides Russia and Ukraine.
This signals a major shift toward a hardline stance and a possible end
to U.S. diplomatic involvement in resolving the war in Ukraine.
China Dealt Blow by New Panama Deal
Hegseth said, "Make no mistake, Beijing is investing and operating in
this region for military advantage and unfair economic gain." He added,
"They operate military facilities and ground stations that extend their
reach into space. They exploit natural resources and land to fuel
China's global military ambitions. China's factory fishing fleets are
stealing food from our nations and from our people."
U.S. Navy plans exist to deploy the hospital ship USNS Comfort to
Panama this summer as part of ongoing humanitarian efforts to enhance
bilateral relations. Hegseth stressed the significance of this
partnership in deterring threats in the hemisphere.
Trump Taps Mark Levin, Dietl, McMaster to Homeland Council
President Donald Trump has announced four new members for his revamped
Homeland Security Advisory Council, saying they will do an "incredible
job."
The new members are South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster, syndicated
radio and Fox News host Mark Levin, retired New York City Police
Department detective Bo Dietl, and Florida State Sen. Joseph Gruters.
The HSAC is "comprised of Top Experts in their field, who are highly
respected by their peers," said Trump on Truth Social on Thursday
evening. "It is a big honor to serve on HSAC, and I know the new
members, South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster, Mark Levin, Bo Dietl,
and Joseph Gruters, will do an incredible job."
2 Dead After Shooting at Florida State; Suspect Deputy's Stepson
A gunman opened fire Thursday at Florida State University, killing two
people and wounded at least six others, police said. The 20-year-old
alleged gunman is the stepson of a sheriff's deputy whose former
service weapon was used in the shooting, authorities said.
The two people who died were not students at the university, but the
shooter is believed to be a student, Florida State University Police
Chief Jason Trumbower said.
Police identified the shooter as Phoenix Ikner, 20, the stepson of
Jessica Ikner, an 18-year veteran deputy of the Leon County Sheriff's
Office. Phoenix Ikner was shot and wounded by police.
N.Y. AG Letitia James: Falsifying Charges Are 'Baseless'
New York Attorney General Letitia James claims accusations she falsified real estate records are "baseless."
President Donald Trump has called for James to resign over allegations
she falsified records to secure a home loan on a property in Virginia.
"Let me just say to all New Yorkers and to all Americans: The
allegations are baseless. The allegations are nothing more than a
revenge tour," James told Spectrum's NY1 on Thursday.
Columbia’s ‘antisemitism’ squad is coming down hard — on Catholics like me
Columbia
University has told the Trump administration that it’s cracking down on
antisemitic violence and intimidation and winding down DEI.
But behind
closed doors, the university’s Office of Institutional Equity, a new
bureaucracy supposedly set up to address campus antisemitism, is
targeting me for expressing my Catholic faith.
I recently received an email from the OIE accusing me of “conduct that could constitute discriminatory harassment.”
If not Hochul, who IS stalling Trump’s appeal of Tish James’ civil-fraud case?
Gov. Kathy
Hochul’s people vehemently deny charges that she’s abusing her power
over New York’s courts to blackmail President Donald Trump, but then
what is behind the stall of his appeal of the insane civil-fraud
verdict against him?
It’s been more
than half a year since New York’s Appellate Division, First Department
heard Trump’s appeal, and even that September hearing was six months
after the initial conviction.
This
molasses-slow process follows the junk justice of state Attorney
General Tish James’ initial persecution in Judge Arthur Engoron’s
kangaroo courtroom.
To rewind the
tape: Back in 2020, James massively stretched consumer-protection law
to gin up a case surrounding the Trump Organization’s” dealing years
earlier with Deutsche Bank, alleging that optimistic valuations of
Trump properties somehow deceived the bankers into giving Trump overly
generous loan terms.
