02/19/25
Good morning! It’s Wednesday, February 19th.
National Mint Chocolate Day.
Yeah, alright.
And now, the news.
New Executive Orders
-via AP News
As he spent yet another day golfing, as well as preparing for his first joint interview with his most special government employee Elon Musk (which we’ll obviously be talking about tomorrow), Trump dropped some new executive orders.
The first is an order that calls for a study on expanding access to IVF. Which is great, on its surface. But I just don’t want him to have anything to do with reproductive health because he has set it so far back by getting rid of abortion access. Abortion care is healthcare. So this feels like one of those things that is suspicious.
The second order outlined oversight for the Office of Management and Budget. He also signed a presidential memorandum that called for more transparency from the government.
Sure. Hey man, real quick – have you met your government? Super bad. Very untransparent.
Trump and Russia
Despite last week (last week? The week before? What is time, anymore), when the Kremlin said their relationship with the US was on rocky ground and Putin refused to confirm a call that Trump said took place between them, on Tuesday the US and Russia took themselves to relationship therapy.
And that’s great.
Terrible relationship. Should not be together.
The two sides met to work on ending the invasion of Ukraine (Ukraine was, of course, not invited to participate in these talks), as well as financials and just classic normalizing their relations.
The meeting is news for a few reasons, including the fact that, under Biden, the US has worked to isolate Russia – because it is working to steal land from Ukraine.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio called then four-plus hours of talk productive, with both sides agreeing to work on a peace settlement and “the incredible opportunities that exist to partner with the Russians.”
And when I say they went to relationship therapy, listen to this quote from Russia’s foreign minister Sergey V. Lavrov: “We weren’t just listening to each other, but we heard each other.”
Under these early talks, the Russian Foreign Minister said they would not accept peacekeeping forces from Nato countries being in Ukraine.
Meanwhile, leaders in Europe held a rush meeting in Paris to discuss what to do about Russia and the US getting together.
And that’s so bad, so insane, that let me repeat it… European leaders held an emergency meeting to figure out what to do about our new partnership with Russia.
Park Employees Laid Off
-via CBS News
Over the weekend, 3,400 employees of the US Forest Service and 1,000 employees with the National Park Service, which accounts for 10% and 5% of the entire work force, were fired.
Park employees!
These are the people who run educational programs for students and swear kids in as Jr. Deputies. These two agencies together oversee 278 million acres of land. Do you even understand how big that is? I didn’t. It’s about the size of Texas and Montana… combined.
And they love it! They love the parks!
It’s a department full of Leslies Knope and Rons Swanson.
In a heartbreaking letter that were viral on Facebook, one park employee wrote: "I am the highlight of your child's school day. I am the band aid for a skinned knee. I am the lesson that showed your children that we live in a world of gifts- not commodities, that gratitude and reciprocity are the doorway to true abundance, not power, money, or fear," Gibbs wrote. "I am the one who taught your kid the thrush's song and the hawk's cry. I am the wildflower that brought your student joy. I am the one who told your child that they belong on this planet. That their unique gifts and existence matters."
The President and CEO of the National Parks Conservation Association called the cuts reckless and devastating.
Which they are.
But they’re also incredibly sad.
Kentucky Storm
-via NBC News
Over the weekend, Kentucky was hit with deadly storms and flooding that killed at least 14 people.
The state is applying for FEMA aid, as they also worry is another storm will leave more people stranded.
As of this recording, at least sixty million people are under winter weather alerts, with more snow expected by the time you hear this.
Another Federal Exit
-via Washington Post
On Tuesday, the head of the US attorney’s office’s criminal division became the latest federal official to exit under the Trump administration. Denise Cheung didn’t say why she was leaving, but it came after she declined Trump’s demand to freeze the assets of a multimillion dollar environmental grant initiative that was created under the Biden administration.
The Department of Justice can freeze assets, but can only do it when there’s evidence that the assets can be traced to a crime. The scuttlebutt is the Cheung disagreed with interim US attorney Edward R Martin Jr over whether the release of funds was ethical and appropriate.
Doesn’t she know that ethics are out under this administration?
There is no law anymore, Denise!
Eric Adams
-via NY Times
Speaking of no law, on Monday night three former US attorneys asked Judge Ho to conduct an inquiry into the Department of Justice’s demand that charges against Eric Adams be dropped.
Now, today, Judge Ho will hold a hearing in the corruption case, where the federal government will request charges be dropped.
And honestly, this is the way to do it.
Make them come into court and say why, exactly, this should happen. Explain it to the judge.
That will happen at 2 PM eastern today and will obviously be covered in tomorrow’s news.
Chutkan Refuses DOGE Restraining Order
-via The Hill
On Tuesday, Judge Chutkan gave Trump a win, always a bummer, by not blocking DOGE and Elon Musk from accessing government data system or participating in worker layoffs.
Although Chutkan said there were legitimate questions regarding Musk’s authority, there wasn’t evidence that him having this access would cause grave legal harm (which is so dramatic but also a specific legal term, so there are parameters that need to be met).
Listen, do I disagree?
Yeah.
I am famously a non-lawyer so obviously I believe I know everything about this and do believe that Elon Musk having access to everyone’s social security number is poses a danger to the country.
However, without it being clear exactly how this will affect the states, the restraining order cannot be issued.
Kansas Trans Youth Law
-via Kansas City Star
On Tuesday, the Kansas House and Senate both voted to override Governor Kelly’s veto of the ban on gender-affirming care for minors. And if all the double negatives have you ya twisted up, this means that transgender youth in the state will soon no longer be able to receive medically approved gender-affirming care.
The bill bans gender transition surgeries, puberty blockers, and hormone treatments. It also establishes that physicians can be sued and lose their license if they provide this treatment.
Treatment that is safe. That saves lives. That allows minors to live their most authentic lives.
They also rejected an amendment that would have lowered the age-limit of this ban from 18 to 14.
In response to the veto override, the Governor said this: “Infringing on parental rights is not appropriate, nor is it a Kansas value. As I’ve said before, it is not the job of politicians to stand between a parent and a child who needs medical care of any kind.”
Kristi Noem Has Never Heard of Irony
-via ABC News
On Tuesday, Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem released a very AI-looking video, which ran in two different versions, directed at people who migrate into the country illegally.
I’m not going to go through the whole thing because it’s pretty classic – praising dear leader Trump and telling people who are here in this country illegally to leave because “we will find you and deport you. You will never return.”
That’s for the ads running in the states. For outside of the states, she says “don’t even think about it” and ends with this gem: “criminals are not welcome in the United States.”
Which I only bring up because I just want to remind you that the president of the United States is quite literally a felon.
Also, there’s a link to this article in show notes and you GOTTA check out how weird it looks. Truly, was this AI? Is she AI?
Am I AI?
Mexico Awaits Google’s Response
-via AP News
And finally – on Monday, the President of Mexico said that she is waiting for a response from Google on their ask to change Gulf of America back to its real name – Gulf of Mexico.
If not, she is going to file a suit.
Cool. Yeah, let’s do it. Gulf of America is so embarrassing. Sounds lame.
Gulf of Mexico is cool. Sounds normal. Regal. Historic.
And that’s it. That’s the news.
I’m proud of mint chocolate chip. Especially in ice cream.
But more than that, because you’re cool but not cold… I’m proud of you.