Busted Pipe

"No money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in consequence of appropriations made by law.” U.S. Const. art I, § 9, cl. 7.

Nine months out from the midterm elections, we face a coordinated effort by Trump, his administration, congressional Republicans and MAGA leaders to normalize a federal takeover of elections, enforced by ICE and federal agents. www.democracydocket.com/opinion/one-...

How much money has Trump pocketed from the presidency since his second election? NYTimes Editorial Board did the math and it’s insane….

Another batch of Trump's judicial nominees refused in their confirmation hearings today to publicly acknowledge that Joe Biden won the 2020 election, which annoyed Sen. Richard Blumenthal enough for him to call them "monkeys" and "puppets"

At long last.

DHS has a Fourth Amendment problem. @hannahajames.bsky.social of the @brennancenter.org explains why the agency’s new policy allowing ICE to enter homes to conduct arrests is not only a break from past practice, it violates the Constitution. www.justsecurity.org/130497/dhs-w...

Hi @dorismatsui.bsky.social - Dems should draft legislation amending Immigration and Nationality Act to state administrative warrants — (meant to examine documents or inspect hazards)— cannot be used to search for people or investigate crimes.

New gift link as.ft.com/r/ab883879-c...

Trump: "These people were brought to our country to vote, & they vote illegally. The Republicans should say, we should take over the voting in at least 15 places. The Republicans ought to nationalize the voting. We have states that I won that show I didn't win. You're gonna see something in Georgia"

Last year, congressional republicans barred DC from utilizing nearly $1 billion of its own revenue and attempting to block another. Congress should respect D.C.’s decision-making and allow our self-governing! www.cbpp.org/blog/congres...

This is really heinous.

The good: this medic is doing a great job with that little girl. The bad: gas the kid, kidnap the kid, fuck the kid, it’s all in-policy for the Trump Administration.

Federal paramilitaries running up on the rooftops to fire irritants and flash bangs down into a peaceable assembly full of little kids

NEW: Howard Lutnick, the billionaire who serves as President Trump’s commerce secretary, planned a visit to Epstein’s island in 2012. Lutnick previously claimed that he was so revolted by Epstein that he had cut ties with him years earlier. 1/6 www.nytimes.com/2026/01/30/u...

Why has @schiff.senate.gov not called for Noem’s impeachment?

Great fucking work from Trump, RFK Jr and the rest

The GOP has thus far insisted on cutting blank checks to Kristi Noem and Stephen Miller to order goons to kidnap our children and kill people in the streets. Enough. We refuse to be held hostage by this brutality.

Pay attention to this. The purpose of these investigations is not just to manufacture evidence to support Trump’s 2020 “voter fraud” accusations, but also to set the stage for another round of efforts to suppress votes and delegitimize election results in 2026 (which the GOP is likely to lose).

Why is Tulsi Gabbard at an FBI raid on an elections office in Fulton County?

Hi @dorismatsui.bsky.social Under House Rule IX, you can bring a motion to impeach Noem at any time.

"The Federal Government may neither issue directives requiring the States to address particular problems, nor command the States' officers, or those of their political subdivisions, to administer or enforce a federal regulatory program."

Last week in Minnesota, I watched ordinary people risk their lives to protect their neighbors. In the process, they not only won a significant—though not final—victory against authoritarianism, they proved virtually every MAGA social theory wrong. (gift link) www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...

Every last one of these unlawful arrests & assaults needs to prosecuted by Minnesota AG @ag.state.mn.us @governorwalz.mn.gov

Kash Patel this Sunday: “You cannot bring a firearm, loaded, with multiple magazines, to any sort of protest that you want."

Absolutely FUBAR to murder a protester & then label him a terrorist for having a lawful concealed firearm. #impeachNoem

This is unconscionable. Kristi Noem's DHS standing by 'domestic terrorism' label for Alex Pretti. I have to wonder if it's because they've officially entered him into the NSPM-7 system as such. This explains the connection: www.justsecurity.org/129797/alex-...

Chief Judge Schilitz of MN (Scalia clerk) orders ICE director Todd Lyons to appear before him Friday. Says his "patience is at an end." Says his order to release or hold bail hearing for a detainee was defied as have dozens of other such orders. 1/2

Sen Chris Murphy warns Dems: "If people don’t see us fighting on something as existential as whether we condone the federal government murdering our own citizens, there will be a mass withdrawal from politics altogether." On the pod, Murphy lays it all out so well: newrepublic.com/article/2057...

@schumer.senate.gov

NEW: A Texas county medical examiner found that Geraldo Lunas Campos was choked to death by a guard while he was held in ICE custody earlier this month. Geraldo is the sixth person to die in ICE detention this year.

N O S H I T

“I hear the anger from my constituents and I take responsibility for that.” The killing of Alex Pretti was the predictable, tragic outcome of allowing a violent, unaccountable secret police force to operate in our communities and then continuing to fund it. We need leaders who will stand up for us.

Republican popularism.

@schiff.senate.gov @padilla.senate.gov

Today, out-of-control masked federal agents killed another American, Alex Pretti, a VA ICU nurse.

Trump needs to end this chaos and withdraw his ICE battalions from Minneapolis.

The Senate must vote down funding this slaughter of our people.

Defund ICE @hakeem-jeffries.bsky.social @schumer.senate.gov

For example, when polls show that by a 70-30 margin people think ICE's use of force is too extreme, this is what that looks like in real life.

ICE must be abolished. Unqualified masked agents are terrorizing cities around the country. I joined @thenyic.bsky.social and thousands of New Yorkers today in solidarity with our neighbors in Minneapolis. We must make our voices heard to get ICE out of our communities.

Domestically, that means Democrats need to stop avoiding fights and stop being scared of saying what’s obvious. Their future and all of ours is on the line. www.offmessage.net/p/bond-vigil...

RFK Jr.’s leadership has deadly consequences.

amen

BREAKING: Jack Smith: "As I testify before the Committee today, I want to be clear: I stand by my decisions as Special Counsel, including my decision to bring charges against Pres. Trump. Our investigation developed proof beyond a reasonable doubt that Pres. Trump engaged in criminal activity."

The House Ethics Committee found that Matt Gaetz did all of the horrible things previously claimed—sex trafficking minors, prostitution (including of minors), drugs, drunk driving, obstruction, the works. The Florida Bulldog has secured and published the House report this evening.

Democrats have no obligation to support a bill that not only funds the dystopian scenes we are seeing in Minneapolis but will allow DHS to replicate that playbook of brutality in cities all over this country.

It's almost like every institution that should have held Trump accountable to the Constitution has failed—except the Colorado Supreme Court www.citizensforethics.org/news/press-r...

Inciting chaos, destruction, and corruption.

Senior White House official says local and state police in Minneapolis “have been ordered to stand down and surrender.” What?