Measures in several state legislatures this year have called for new approaches to weaken the power of judges. One would abandon a centuries-old precedent that courts can decide whether laws are constitutional. Another would change how judges are selected.In 1803 the U.S. Supreme Court established the precedent in the landmark case Marbury v. Madison that courts can find laws unconstitutional.
A Montana legislative committee has voted to reject that concept. It advanced a measure that says the idea that courts alone have the power to decide what laws are constitutional is “a myth” and does not accurately reflect the 1803 ruling. Instead, the GOP-sponsored bill asserts that “no single branch has exclusive power to bind its decisions on another branch of government.”
This MAGA attack might not stop with state courts. On February 15, 2025, JD Vance posted on X, "Judges aren't allowed to dictate the boundaries of the executive's rightful authority." That comment clearly implies a belief that the president's authority isn't subject to judicial review. djt's budget director Russell Vought said during his confirmation hearings in January 2025 that the Impoundment Control Act of 1974 is unconstitutional. That law reaffirmed Congressional authority over federal funding. Vought suggests an interpretation of executive power that would allow djt to withhold funds that Congress has allocated. Right now, djt's actions are directly challenging that congressional power.
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The NYT writes (not paywalled) about gutting NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) which does world-class climate science research and provides weather forecasts to the public:
The firings are expected to cost more than 800 people their jobs, out of a total of about 13,000 staff members, according to two people familiar with the situation ....“This loss of talent at NOAA is going to set the agency back years and compromise the integrity of missions that directly support human health and safety, economic prosperity and national security,” [a NOAA policy] analyst said, speaking on the condition of anonymity for fear of retribution. “This is not a move toward efficiency; it’s a move toward putting Americans in danger every day.”
This is no surprise. Project 2025 singled NOAA out for deep cuts. The Heritage Foundation that produced Project 2025 calls NOAA “one of the main drivers of the climate change alarm industry.” The document urges that NOAA be dismantled and some of its programs be terminated.
Project 2025 policy commercializes the National Weather Service, a well-known NOAA function. The NWS provides weather forecasts and lifesaving warnings. Thus, if you want to know if a hurricane or blizzard is coming your way, you'll have to pay to get the info. Who knows, maybe Musk will buy the NWS at a low, low price and charge a high, high price for access to the data. Fair is fair.
Capitalism’s motto: We only charge what the market will bear,
unless it can bear more! 👍
So there we have it climate science denial fans. Global warming research is just a corrupt alarm industry hoax. Stop climate science research and the flow of inconvenient facts, true truths and sound reasoning stops. Easy-peasy, but awfully sleazy.
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DOGE continues its focused attacks on government agencies and services that protect democracy, the rule of law, consumers, workers, the environment, government efficiency and other things that protect and serve the public interest. djt, Musk and the MAGA thug who runs the GSA (General Services Administration), Thomas Shedd, a mechanical engineer and former Musk employee, has laid off the entire 18F tech support group, about 90 people.
MAGA thug Thomas Shedd
Until March 1, 18F was a digital services agency in the Technology Transformation Services department of the GSA. 18F employed researchers, website designers, and product managers. 18F built key government services like Login.gov and helping other agencies with their technology needs and cutting government operation costs. However, MAGA thugs Musk and Shedd lied by calling 18F "non-critical." Musk's DOGE also identified 18F as "non-critical." Presumably Musk ordered his former employee to get rid of 18F and Shedd complied.
So now when you go to a government website and it doesn't work, and you get all pissed off and flustered, you can blame (or thank, if you like it) djt and MAGA elites for just doing what they promised to do in Project 2025. Namely they promised to break government, gut the public interest and establish a deeply corrupt dictatorship. That is exactly what they are doing.
Non-critical or standing in the way
of corrupt MAGA dictatorship?
(standing in the way but on the bright side, now Musk can bid as a
private contractor for the "non-critical" jobs he got rid of! 👍)
