Tuesday, April 14, 2026

JD's future grows ever more limited

First off, Katie Phang.



An important story and C.I. noted it in this morning's snapshot so you'll see more on this story at the end of my post when I repost the snapshot.  


Morning Joe host Joe Scarborough shredded Vice President JD Vance for “lecturing” Pope Leo XIV by telling him to “stick to matters of morality” after President Donald Trump trashed the pontiff as “weak” on Monday.

After a perceived broadside on Iran from Pope Leo, the first American-born pontiff, Trump lashed out in a screed on Sunday, branding the pope “WEAK” and declaring: “I don’t want a Pope who criticizes the President of the United States because I’m doing exactly what I was elected, IN A LANDSLIDE, to do.”
[. . .]
On Tuesday’s show, however, Scarborough zeroed in on Vance, who converted to Catholicism in 2019, over his rebuttal made during an interview with Fox News host Brett Baier on Special Report Monday night.

Catholics have been having quite a bit of a chuckle over a guy who decided to become a Catholic last week, or a little earlier than that and said, ‘I’ve got to do two things. I’ve got to write a book about being a Catholic, and I’m going to attack the Pope, and I’m going to lecture the pope about how he should do his job at the Vatican.’ This, of course, is JD Vance, who decides he’s lecturing the pontiff on what he should and should not do, and acting as if he’s shocked and stunned and deeply saddened that the pope actually talks about things that pertain to the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Scarborough then referred to the often-quoted teaching of Jesus Christ – “blessed are the peacemakers” – as he argued the pope had not attacked Trump but had merely quoted Jesus.

He continued:

I’ve just got to say to JD Vance, newly converted Catholic, if you don’t like what the pope is saying, don’t take it up with the pope, take it up with Jesus Christ, because those are the words [he’s quoting].

Scarborough then rolled back the clip of Vance speaking to Baier about the issue, which he called an “attack” on the pope, in which the vice president scolded the Vatican and warned it should “stick to matters of morality” and leave policy to the president.


I would agree.  100%.  JD Vance was not born a Catholic.  He was not born into the faith.  He only recently discovered it and now thinks he knows enough to correct the Pope?  Cleary Miss Sassy doesn't know a damn thing and needs to stop pretending he's Catholic.


Some comments on the article:

Grogg Says
1 hour ago
telling the Pope to stick to matters of MORALITY -- hmm I'm pretty sure he knows a lot about that. Maybe, just maybe vance should  try to understand what morality is and should try to be more considerate towards others especially the less fortunate


Harold Hardie
22 minutes ago
Claiming to be a Catholic does NOT make you a Catholic just as claiming to be a Christian does NOT make you a Christian and claiming to be a patriot does NOT make you a patriot. Telling a lie DOES make you a liar. Violating the law DOES make you a criminal.

M*******
3 hours ago
In all fairness JD Vance changes what he believes in every week depending on what Trump tells him he should think.


As if that embarrassment wasn't enough, Chump took to FOX "NEWS" last night to call Chump a terrorism.  Matthew Chapman (RAW STORY) notes:


Vice President JD Vance said something he almost certainly didn't intend during a Monday interview on Fox News, while discussing the Trump administration's new policy counter-blockading the Strait of Hormuz to try to pressure Iran into abandoning its own blockade.

"What they have done is engage in this act of economic terrorism against the entire world," said Vance. "As the President showed, two can play at that game."

This remark provoked an immediate reaction from commenters on social media.

"Does he realize what he just admitted lol," wrote Zeteo News reporter Pram Thakker.
"Vance admits that Trump’s blockade is an act of economic terrorism against the entire world," wrote former GOP operative turned Meidas Touch editor-in-chief Ron Filipkowski.

"Did Vance just call Trump a terrorist?" Meidas Touch's official account wrote.

What an idiot Miss Sassy is.  Some comments on the article:

maryanne mcintyre
6 hours ago
This whole cabinet thinks like a bunch of middle school bullies. Everything is framed in terms of "us against them". And like the adolescents they are, they speak first and think later.


Brian Bassett
12 hours ago
He's starting to realize how 90% of Americans view him, and it's not looking good for the future.

Nathaniel Porter
14 hours ago
There, there. It alright puppet, excuse me, JD, you're just trying to show you have separate ideals, etc. from your 'wing man' convict tRUMP. Too bad you still can't present who you really are w/o angering "Your King."

How long does JD think he can continue with his hideous performance?  Tom Boggioni (RAW STORY) notes: 

JD Vance’s less than impressive performance as vice president, combined with Donald Trump needling him in his comments to the press, led longtime Financial Times columnist Ed Luce to claim the veep’s star has faded to the point where he is becoming irrelevant.

And because of that, he no longer can be considered Trump’s successor.

In a brutally frank column Tuesday morning, headlined, “The ever-shrinking JD Vance,” Luce made the case that the president has diminished his running mate by sending him out to defend the indefensible and putting him in positions where failure is guaranteed.

“Pity JD Vance,” it began. “Having advised against Donald Trump’s Iran war, he was sent to Islamabad to fix it. En route to that doomed cause, the US vice-president stopped off in Hungary to endorse another — Viktor Orbán’s re-election campaign. The Iran talks failed and Orbán lost in a landslide. By the end of that tour from hell, Vance’s approval rating was the lowest ever for a vice-president at this point in a term.”

Some comments on the article:

user-ek7vge7vp8
53 minutes ago
Trump only agreed to Vance as a running mate so he could watch the man who called him "America's Hitler" grovel and kiss his "ring" until the time came to stab him in the back. Trump never planned to let Vance have any victories or give him a path to power of his own.


Wendy Grieshop
31 minutes ago
The ONLY reason that Trump ran  in 2024 was to cash in on his STOLEN SCOTUS ruling which kept him eligible. The ONLY reason that he chose Vance was because he knew that he had to win OHIO.

CeeBeeGeeBee m
2 hours ago
We all saw this coming. I think Trump set him up for these missions. JD really isn't smart enough on international issues to go out and try and handle them. But Trumpty Dumpty is stuck because ya can't fire the VP.

Actually, you can ask the v.p. to resign.  Regardless, Miss Sassy is sinking.  Laura Esposito (DAILY BEAST) reports: 

If Donald Trump is going down, his vice president may be going down with him, according to members of Trump’s inner circle.

Those close to the president are increasingly concerned that Trump’s sinking favorability—amid his surprise war on Iran and an affordability crisis—could drag down not only his own standing, but also JD Vance’s political future, Zeteo reported Monday.

“Trump is imploding, and he’s probably going to take JD down with him unless there’s a course correction,” a source described as “close to Trump” told the outlet.
It’s been a rough few weeks for Vance, 41. The isolationist vice president has reportedly been at odds with his boss over the bombardment of Iran, which Trump launched in coordination with Israel—without congressional approval—on Feb. 28.

A bombshell New York Times report on Tuesday revealed that Vance was the loudest—and only—voice of opposition within the White House against launching a full-scale attack, calling it “a huge distraction of resources” and “massively expensive.”

Vance was then tasked with publicly defending the Middle East conflict, a time that has coincided with rising casualties abroad and surging gas prices at home.


Miss Sassy JD Vance is watching his future crumble before his eyes. 

Here's C.I.'s "The Snapshot:"


Tuesday, April 14, 2026.  Chump struggles on in his war of choice while his lawsuits lose steam, ICE caught with overstuffed prisons by members of Congress, a police officer -- off duty -- decides to try to force violence into a student protest, Senator Elizabeth Warren questions Jeff Bezos deal for the Melania documentary, and much more. 



Starting with legal news for Chump.   Todd Spangler (VARIETY) reports:

A federal judge dismissed President Donald Trump's defamation claims against the Wall Street Journal over a report by the newspaper about a birthday letter purportedly written by Trump to Jeffrey Epstein.

Judge Darrin Phillip Gayles of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida on Monday said in a ruling that Trump's lawsuit "fails to adequately allege actual malice," a legal standard in the U.S. for proving defamation.
Trump had been seeking at least $20 billion in damages in the suit against the WSJ, parent companies Dow Jones & Co. and News Corp, the reporters on the story and Rupert Murdoch. But the judge wrote in the decision that Trump's complaint "is devoid of any allegations regarding special damages."

However, the judge also declined to rule on the veracity of the WSJ's report.

"Because the Court finds that the Complaint fails to adequately allege actual malice, it declines to address these issues at this juncture. Moreover, whether President Trump was the author of the Letter or Epstein's friend are questions of fact that cannot be determined at this stage of the litigation," the judge wrote.


Trump filed the lawsuit in July, following up on a promise to sue the paper almost immediately after it put a new spotlight on his well-documented relationship with Epstein by publishing an article that described a sexually suggestive letter that the newspaper said bore Trump’s signature and was included in a 2003 album compiled for Epstein’s 50th birthday.
The letter was subsequently released publicly by Congress, which subpoenaed the records from Epstein’s estate. Trump denied writing it, calling the story “false, malicious, and defamatory.”


A spokesperson for the president’s legal team revealed that it intends to appeal the matter in a statement that read: “President Trump will follow Judge Gayles’s ruling and guidance to refile this powerhouse lawsuit against the Wall Street Journal and all of the other Defendants. The President will continue to hold accountable those who traffic in Fake News to mislead the American People.”

The president himself followed up by declaring “Our powerful case against The Wall Street Journal, and other defendants, was asked to be re-filed by the Judge. It is not a termination, it is a suggested re-filing, and we will be, as per the Order, re-filing an updated lawsuit on or before April 27th,” in a post on Truth Social.










Donald Trump’s media corporation has dropped a defamation claim against the Guardian and two other defendants over a report that federal prosecutors were investigating $8m in payments the company received from entities with ties to Vladimir Putin as possible money laundering.
A filing in the 12th judicial circuit in Sarasota county, Florida, on Friday confirmed that Trump Media and Technology Group (TMTG), the parent company of the president’s Truth Social platform, was withdrawing its claims without prejudice, meaning it could refile the lawsuit at a later date.

The Guardian reported in March 2023 that New York prosecutors had launched a criminal inquiry into money wired to TMTG through the Caribbean by two entities that appeared to be controlled in part by the relation of an ally of Putin, Russia’s president.

The Trump media group, which at the time was preparing to merge with the shell company Digital World (DWAC) to launch a $1.3bn market capitalization, was sensitive to the allegation it received loans from a potentially unsavory source – and it filed a lawsuit claiming the Guardian had acted with bias or ill-will against it.
In November, the judge hearing the case, Hunter W Carroll, threw out most of the case against Guardian News and Media Ltd; Penske Media Corporation, owner of Variety, which also reported the story; and Will Wilkerson, a former TMTG founder turned whistleblower.

Carroll is an appointee of Rick Scott, the Republican former governor of Florida and a Trump ally. His ruling stated the plaintiffs had failed to prove that the defendants showed actual malice in their reporting, but he allowed Trump’s group to file an amended complaint, which they did in January.

A hearing in the case had been set for Tuesday, according to the court docket, before TMTG’s decision to withdraw entirely from the legal action.


Turning to the topic of ICE and Homeland security, an investigation is taking place into whether or not ICE kidnapped an American citizen.  Mark Vancleave and Steve Karnowski (AP) report:


A Minnesota county is investigating the arrest of a Hmong American man by federal officers that was captured on video as a potential case of kidnapping, burglary and false imprisonment, officials announced Monday.

Ramsey County Attorney John Choi and Sheriff Bob Fletcher said at a news conference they are pursuing information from the Department of Homeland Security that they need for their investigation into the arrest of ChongLy “Scott” Thao, 56, on Jan. 18. Ramsey County includes the state capital of St. Paul.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers bashed open the front door of Thao’s St. Paul home at gunpoint — without a warrant as far as Choi and Fletcher have been able to determine — then led him outside in just his underwear and a blanket in freezing conditions.

“There are many facts we don’t know yet, but there’s one that we do know. And that is that Mr. Thao is and has been an American citizen. There’s not a dispute over that," Fletcher said. “There’s no dispute that he was taken out of his house, forcibly taken out of his home and driven around.”

It's good to see Minnesota leading the way yet again.  There is no reason that an American citizen should have been targeted by ICE, let alone pulled from his home in winter wearing nothing but his underwear.  This was inhumane and there's no excuse for it.  And if no one challenges it, it can happen again.  American citizens either have rights or they don't.  In this instance, ICE acted as though American citizens did not have rights.  



Choi said he sent a letter to the federal government – known as a Touhy request – demanding any evidence used to justify Thao’s arrest during the operation.

Thao was detained as protesters clashed with federal agents during Operation Metro Surge, the monthslong immigration enforcement crackdown that roiled Minnesota.

Choi said multiple people have made reports with his office regarding federal agents’ actions, and said they need federal cooperation to fully investigate.


Last night, on MS NOW, Rachel Maddow reported on ICE detention centers which are being revealed to be overflowing.  



In Ariona, when two members of Congress visited Congress in February, in a scheduled visit, the prison cleared a large number of people out.  But they went on an unscheduled visit last week and found prisoners "packed in like sardines," overflowing with prisoners.

In other news of ICE prisons, Tolu Talabi (THE HILL) reports:

Voters in Social Circle, Ga., overwhelmingly backed President Trump in 2024. But when the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) purchased a 1 million-square-foot warehouse in the tiny city to convert it into a mega detention center for immigrants, residents and local officials pushed back hard.  

In February, the city notified Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) that it had shut off water and sewage services to the property until the agency explained how it could operate “without exceeding our limited infrastructure capacity.”

“We’re against it,” Eric Taylor, the Social Circle city manager, told The Hill. “Having something come in like this is just really a different dynamic than what this particular community is about.” 

Social Circle, with a population of about 5,500, is by no means an exception; it is one of two communities in Georgia that illustrate a national trend. As the DHS has embarked on a $38.3 billion plan to boost detention capacity by 92,600 beds, communities that back the president’s agenda have said no to housing immigrants in their backyard. 

New Jersey, alongside the GOP-leaning township of Roxbury, sued the DHS and ICE in March over a purchased warehouse. Residents of Surprise, Ariz., protested against a 1,500+ bed facility, which the DHS and ICE reduced to 500+ beds last month amid the uproar. 

In February, Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) spoke out against a warehouse conversion plan in Byhalia, Miss. Separately, the Republican executive of Orange County, N.Y., told a January board meeting that “an ICE facility will create chaos and will tax our emergency management and first responders.”

“Just not in their backyard. They’re fine with it somewhere else, they just don’t want it back here,” Social Circle Council member Tyson Jackson said of the opposition in his community — a sentiment apparently shared in many other reliable red districts. 

According to a document released by ICE in February, the agency is seeking to stand up eight large-scale detention facilities that each could hold 7,000 to 10,000 detainees for periods averaging less than 60 days, along with 16 smaller regional processing centers to hold up to 1,500 detainees for three to seven days.


Of course, ICE has its defenders.  People like the crazed police Sgt. Dusten Mullen.  Who?  Rob Beschizza (BOING BOING) reports on a masked adult with a gun at a Phoeniz school walk-out to protest against ICE: 


Police were summoned, but for some reason they weren't interested in stopping him. That may be because he was himself a high-ranking cop with Phoenix P.D, now identified as Sgt. Dusten Mullen. The plan was to incite students into assaulting him, according to an internal report obtained by local media.

Officers said they spotted him near a shopping center wearing a mask and openly carrying a handgun with extra magazines. … Mullen's attorney said he is cooperating with the internal investigation. A Phoenix police spokesperson confirmed Mullen remains employed while their Professional Standards Bureau looks into what happened. … According to the report, Mullen told officers his plan was to let students assault him so they could be arrested.

He showed up with a gun with the intent of disrupting the peace.  He showed up with a gun to disrupt a student ction.  There's no excuse for what he did.  Shortly after it became known last week, he was placed on administrative leave.   Kylie Werner (KTAR) reports: 


A sergeant with the Phoenix Police Department was put on administrative leave Friday as his off-duty actions at a January student protest against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in Chandler are being investigated.

ABC15 reported that Sgt. Dusten Mullen showed up fully armed and masked to an ICE protest that was conducted by Hamilton High School students, according to a Chandler police report.
The report also stated that Mullen confronted students despite police intervention and said he was going to call other armed individuals to the area.

“As law enforcement professionals, we are held to higher standards of conduct — both in and out of uniform,” Phoenix Police Chief Matt Giordano said in a statement Friday. “Our community expects integrity, accountability and sound judgment from every member of this department, and I expect the same. When we fall short, we must be accountable, and we will not tolerate actions which undermine the trust the community has placed in the department.”

I'm reading over a number of reports -- here, here and here, for example -- and we're dealing with a grown adult imposing himself on a student protest, wearing a mask, carrying a gun.  That's outrageous even before you get to the fact that he was an off duty police officer.  This is not how we foster civic activism among young people.  He was attempting to upset the protest and turn it violent.  The fact that he failed at what he was attempting does not change the fact that it was wrong.  Everything he did was wrong.  He should not have a job on any police force.



When Chumps goons aren't attacking people in the US, they're ignoring Americans stranded around the world.  For example,  Sarah K. Burris reports:


Two American pilots have been stranded in West Africa for months, and the government has done little to help them get home, one of them told Semafor.

In an interview, Brad Schlenker, a supporter of President Donald Trump, said he's been in detention in Guinea since late last year.
The U.S. government, he said, has been “useless” in helping them.

“I voted for this administration because they were supposed to protect Americans,” he explained.

He complained that there's no public attention to his plight and that the State Department has taken a more "low-key" approach the report described.

Schlenker said that he's heard from some close to the situation that “if someone from the State Department had simply called, if [Secretary of State] Marco Rubio or [Defense Secretary] Pete Hegseth or someone else just picked up the phone, we’d be out of here.”

He thinks that the issue might be related to one of Trump's mineral deals “weighing in on this situation."

"Guinea contains some of the world’s largest deposits of bauxite and iron ore, and the Trump administration has actively cultivated Conakry as a partner during a wider push to secure African mineral resources," said the report.



Fabio Nunez is the name of the other American pilot being held. 

Chump has time for every vanity project in the world but doesn't have time to assist two Americans stranged in a foreign country.  Harry Fletcher (INDY 100) notes:


Just weeks after unveiling plans for a Miami skyscraper dedicated to himself, Donald Trump has decided to imprint his legacy in another major US location for "Americans to enjoy for many decades to come".

The president unveiled plans for the 'Triumphal Arch' - where bears an uncanny resemblance to France's Arc de Triomphe - which is set to stand 250-feet high over Washington DC.
[. . .]
The monument, if approved, would be taller than the US Capitol building and the Lincoln Memorial.


He always needs to erect some monument to his fragile ego.  Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, Steven Tian (FORTUNE) point out:


In a relentless, unprecedented branding exercise, the sheer volume of entities now bearing the name of President Donald Trump strains credulity. We now live in a world of Trump RX and Trump accounts, of Trump coins and Trump fighter jets. We have seen the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts slapped with his name, the Institute of Peace renamed after him, the christening of the President Donald J. Trump International Airport in Palm Beach, a new fleet of guided-missile warships designated as Trump-class destroyers, the Trump Gold Card visa for wealthy immigrants, and even the unprecedented stamp of his signature on U.S. paper currency, something reserved beforehand only for the Treasury Secretary.
Of course, that doesn’t even factor in the graveyard of branded detritus across Trump Steaks, Trump Vodka, Trump Ice bottled water, Trump Airlines, Trump Mortgage, Trump Fragrances, Trump Board Games, Trump Bibles, the infamous Trump University, and many more.

As we write about in our best-selling new book, Trump’s Ten Commandments — the first assessment of the arc of Trump’s career by leadership scholars — his grandiose image building is a key leadership lever of the supposed master of the deal. Published by Worth/Simon & Schuster, our book makes clear how the outer-borough arriviste from Queens was never truly accepted by the Manhattan aristocracy, so he reacted by plastering his name all over New York City in giant letters, putting gold leaf where others would put wood or stone, creating a visual vocabulary of success that regular people could easily and immediately understand. He is obsessed with gold, because gold screams money to the masses. This has always been his entire shtick: class for the masses. He democratizes the performance of luxury in a comically over-the-top, exaggeratedly accessible way. He offers middle-class tourists the chance to walk through Trump Tower’s golden atrium, to bask in a glow that feels like royalty.

This splashy indulgence was labeled a century ago as “conspicuous consumption” by the economist Thorstein Veblen, who believed the average American had a desire to emulate such garish symbols of success. Such an ostentatious show of wealth may prompt some to imagine admiringly, “That’s how I would live if I made $1 billion overnight.”

And more than 20 years ago, when NBC invited one of us to review the first season of The Apprentice, the result was a Wall Street Journal column titled “The Last Emperor Trump.” It infuriated Trump, drawing a parallel between the Roman crowds who once packed into the Colosseum to cheer on gladiators and see the emperor vote on the fate of the loser, and the latter-day TV viewers huddled by their screens to see how Trump, with his imperial aura, decreed the fate of contestants. This brutal method of leadership selection rewarded the most gladiatorial aspirants who survived by destroying their own teammates — odd in the context of leadership since it left no team in place for the winner to lead.
No successful emperor in history has engaged in Trumpian levels of relentless personal branding. Julius Caesar did not stamp his name on every aqueduct. Even Alexander the Great, who named Alexandria after himself, showed relative restraint compared to what we are seeing now. Historically, the leaders who obsess over ornamental personal monuments tend to be those with more divisive legacies.

This grasping for grandeur is far more than mere commercial branding or entrepreneurial greed as Trump exploits the trappings of office. Such desperate attempts at grandiosity evoke empty vanity, clutching at physical monuments to prove a greatness that history has not yet conferred.

For patrician statesmen, grandeur is usually understated, radiating restraint rather than gawk-inspiring shows of brazen wealth. It is ironic that Trump regularly compares himself to Presidents George Washington and Abraham Lincoln — both renowned for their legendary humility. Biographers Ron Chernow, Joseph Ellis, and Garry Wills have documented Washington’s reluctance to assume command of the Continental Army in 1775, feeling he was not up to the job, and his determination to limit his term of office, not wanting to resemble a king despite his popularity. Similarly, Carl Sandburg, David Herbert Donald, and Doris Kearns Goodwin have depicted a Lincoln marked by humble, self-deprecating self-awareness.

By contrast, Trump is a grotesque extension of what Arthur Schlesinger described as “The Imperial Presidency” — a concept Schlesinger applied critically to the Nixon era, though FDR and Ronald Reagan were masters of majestic ceremony, mythmaking, and monumental landmarks.

 
Meanwhile, there's a war going on, one Donald started, and it's not going well as Ben (MEIDASTOUCH NEWS) notes this morning.







In announcing a complete U.S. blockade of Iranian ports, President Trump took a drastically new approach to trying to achieve what he has wanted for weeks — opening the Strait of Hormuz to global traffic.

The president seems to be hoping that the blockade will heap new pressure on Iran after direct talks between U.S. and Iranian officials in Pakistan over the weekend failed to end the war, and he suggested that other countries would join the effort.

But on Monday, there were few volunteers, with only Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel publicly supporting the idea.

Mr. Trump’s proposed blockade “makes no sense,” Spain’s defense minister, Margarita Robles, said in a television interview. “Since this war started, nothing makes sense,” she added. “This is another episode in the downward spiral the world has been dragged into.”

Experts said they doubted that the blockade would get Mr. Trump any closer to an endgame that he could sell as an American victory.

“I’ll save you the waiting period: Iran is not going to capitulate,” said Danny Citrinowicz, a senior researcher at the Institute for National Security Studies in Israel who studies Iran and its proxies. “This regime believes that the damage that will be sustained by this act will be bigger for the U.S. and the international economy than for Iran.”

Imposing a blockade entailed risks for the U.S., he said. It could further increase oil prices, deepening the drag on the global economy. The U.S. interdiction of ships belonging to, say, India or China could cause diplomatic clashes. It will also bring U.S. ships into striking distance of Iran’s missiles and drones, putting American military personnel in harm’s way.



All these weeks later and Chump still doesn't know what he's doing next.  





Let's wind down with this from Senator Elizabeth Warren's office:


Warren: “Amazon's response reeks of desperation to please Donald Trump…This looks like bribery in plain sight.”

Text of Amazon Response (PDF)

Washington, D.C. — In a new response to Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Representative Hank Johnson (D-Ga.), Amazon claimed that there was “no improper” activity in its bid for the new Melania documentary despite what appears to be a corrupt pay-to-play arrangement with the Trump administration. Last month, the lawmakers opened an investigation into Amazon’s investment in the Melania film and questioned whether it was used to secure favorable treatment from the Trump administration on antitrust suits, potential tariff exemptions, foreign trade deals, federal contracts, and tax cuts.

The company refused to explain its massive overpayment for the film’s rights, insisting that it followed a “thorough and competitive bidding process” despite reportedly paying more than three times as the next closest bidder.

Amazon also said that its decision to license the film was “based on the film and series itself — the access, the story, and its cultural and historical relevance,” again providing no business justification for the investment.

In reaction to Amazon’s insufficient response, Senator Warren released the following statement:

“Amazon's response reeks of desperation to please Donald Trump. If there’s nothing corrupt about this deal and the bidding process was truly “competitive”, why won’t Amazon explain why it reportedly paid three times as much as the next highest bidder? The logical explanation is that Amazon is trying to buy the President’s favor by dumping millions into the Trump family’s pockets. This looks like bribery in plain sight, and Amazon must give Congress — and the American people — answers now.”

Representative Hank Johnson (D-Ga.) also released the following statement:

“When we saw the oligarchs and tech bros gather in front-row seats at Trump’s second inauguration – some of whom gave him millions for his re-election campaign – it raised the specter that the rich and powerful were going to wield dangerous levels of power and influence on the nation through their largess to this transactional and corrupt president. Amazon’s ‘nothing-to-see-here’ response makes this fear even more of a reality. If there were truly nothing to see, then Amazon would have answered these basic questions.”

Amazon reportedly invested at least $75 million in the documentary — with reports indicating that about $28 million of that will go directly to Melania Trump. To date, the film has only grossed around $16 million, raising questions about whether Amazon ever planned to break even on the film.

###



Rebecca's "chump has no desire to serve the american people" went up lastnight and the following sites updated:

Posted by at

Miss Sassy is not doing very well


First up, Katie Phang.



Good.  He's got two weeks to appeal.  Hopefully, this is the end of that lawsuit. 

Now for Miss Sassy JD Vance.  It was not a good weekend for Miss Sassy.  SNL did a joke about him (and his mascara) on SNL.   Let's start with Ellie Cook (NEWSWEEK):

Hungary’s longtime leader Viktor Orbán lost the country’s closely-watched parliamentary elections on Sunday, dealing a stinging blow to a staunch ally of President Donald Trump despite overt support from top U.S. officials leading up to the vote.

Orbán conceded to Péter Magyar, a former member of Orbán’s far-right, populist Fidesz party.
Magyar, Orbán’s main political adversary and leader of Tisza, a conservative but pro-European alternative to Fidesz, had pulled ahead in polls despite strong backing for Orbán from Trump and far-right leaders across the globe. Betting platforms had deemed an Orbán victory unlikely.

Vice President JD Vance vowed to “help” Orbán win during a visit to Budapest this week, while Secretary of State Marco Rubio, in his own visit to the Hungarian capital in February, proclaimed to Orbán: “Trump is deeply committed to your success.”


Vice President JD Vance waded into Hungary’s election to help a friendly candidate, but his attempt to tip the scales appears to have blown up in his face.

Vance suffered a stinging embarrassment Sunday as voters ousted Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán—an ally of President Donald Trump and an icon of the global right—despite the vice president’s on-the-ground campaigning blitz last week.

Orbán’s Fidesz party is on track to receive just 54 seats with over half of the votes counted, while his challenger Péter Magyar’s Tisza party is set to win 138 seats in the 199-seat parliament, The Guardian reports. Orbán, 62, has conceded defeat.

So JD failed.  But not just on that.  Joe Sommerlad (DAILY BEAST) notes:

Vance was in Islamabad, Pakistan, on Saturday for 21 hours of talks between U.S. and Iranian negotiators on ending the devastating conflict in the Middle East, which finally concluded without agreement.
In a press conference afterwards, the VP said the U.S. was not satisfied that Iran would abandon its long-held ambition to develop a nuclear weapon.

“The simple question is, do we see a fundamental commitment of will for the Iranians not to develop a nuclear weapon, not just now, not just two years from now, but for the long term,” Vance said. “We haven’t seen that yet.”

He insisted the stalemate was “bad news for Iran, much more than it’s bad news for the United States of America.”

Tehran said “two important issues” went unresolved: its nuclear program and control of the Strait of Hormuz, through which one-fifth of the world’s oil passes.

Sommerlad notes the mocking JD is now receiving:


“JD Vance is on a historic roll,” sneered anti-MAGA pundit Ron Filipkowski, running through some of the VP’s recent foreign policy misadventures.

“He campaigns for AfD in Germany – they lose. Invited the Pope to come to U.S. for Trump’s big event – Pope refuses. Leads peace negotiations with Iran – fails miserably. Campaigns in Hungary for Orban – who gets smoked.”
California Gov. Gavin Newsom joined in the gloating by saying: “JD Vance proves he’s a lightweight twice in 48 hours. Congratulations to the people of Hungary – democracy, free press and human rights win today. There is hope.”

Sarah Longwell, The Bulwark’s founder, said the weekend had been “pretty embarrassing all around for JD Vance.”

The Republicans Against Trump account on X (Twitter) pointed out that Secretary of State Marco Rubio spent his Saturday night watching a UFC bout in Miami with Trump, leaving it to Vance to take the fall for the outcome in Islamabad, commenting: “An absolute clown show running the country.”


JD Vance is a joke.  Martha McHardy (DAILY BEAST) notes:

JD Vance is the least popular vice president on record compared with predecessors at the same stage in office, according to CNN data analyst Harry Enten.

“This might be part of a longer-term trend of vice presidents becoming more unpopular,” Enten said, “but we can say JD Vance is historically the least popular vice president at this point in their vice presidency.”

Enten pointed to a steep decline in Vance’s standing since taking office in January 2025, when he held a net approval rating of +3 points. He is now 18 points underwater, marking a 21-point swing in the wrong direction.

Miss Sassy is not doing very well, not at all. 


Here's C.I.'s ''The Snapshot:"


Monday, April 13, 2026.  Chump attacks Pope Leo, the peace talks fall apart over the weekend, Chump makes boasts he can't back up, the administration's well known pattern of lying continues, Senator Tammy Baldwin calls on Chump to address the latest avian flue outbreak, and much more.



Further developments today in Chump's war on Pope Leo.  So that we're all on the same page, let's drop back to Friday's snapshot:


Chump is a terrorist.  And among those targeted outside this country?  The Pope.  Troy Matthews (MEIDASTOUCH NEWS) reports:

The Vatican has cancelled a papal visit to the U.S. for the 250th anniversary celebration after Pentagon officials appeared to threaten the leader of the Catholic Church for speaking out against Trump's foreign policy.

Pope Leo XIV—the first American Pope in history—strongly condemned U.S. actions in Iran though not by name in his Easter message, stating that God "does not listen" to world leaders who wage war. 
Leo had already criticized Trump's actions on Venezuela and his threats against Greenland and Canada in a speech on January 9th stating, "a diplomacy that promotes dialogue and seeks consensus among all parties is being replaced by a diplomacy based on force."

In response, Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Elbridge Colby summoned Cardinal Christophe Pierre—the Vatican ambassador to the U.S.—to a meeting. In diplomatic parlance, an ambassador being summoned to meet with government officials for a lecture is the first stage in disciplinary action that can lead to a break off of diplomatic ties. 

It is being reported by The Free Press that in the meeting Colby told Pierre, "The United States has the military power to do whatever it wants in the world. The Catholic Church had better take its side."

Someone in the meeting then reportedly mentioned the Avignon Papacy to Pierre. This refers to a 14th century attack on the Vatican by the French king, in which Pope Boniface VIII was murdered by assassins and the Vatican was forced to relocate to Avignon where it could be controlled by the French crown for the next 67 years. 



The controversy surrounding the meeting is likely to further inflame religious pushback to an unusual wave of spiritual saber-rattling by President Donald Trump’s administration — particularly surrounding the U.S. government’s military actions in Iran, which the president himself has suggested are the will of God. Combined with his other incendiary remarks about the war, the increase in faith-filled militaristic rhetoric is pitting Trump and his administration against a growing list of faith leaders, ranging from local clergy to the pope.
Faith leaders have reacted with frustration to the administration’s penchant for invoking the divine when discussing the Iran war, which was on full display earlier Wednesday when Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth led a press briefing at the Pentagon on the five-week-long war with Iran. After insisting Tuesday evening’s fragile ceasefire deal between the U.S. and Iran was evidence of a broader military victory, the secretary intimated the pause in fighting was the result of divine intervention.


 Tom Boggioni (RAW STORY) notes that the story was addressed Thursday on MS NOW's MORNING JOE:



After MS NOW host Willie Geist reported on the exchange, contributor Mike Barnicle, a lifelong Catholic, made a compelling case that the president and his underlings created a massive and enduring problem for themselves.

“What do you make of what you're hearing here?” Geist prompted his guest.
“I make that they are once again clowning the atmosphere up, the Trump administration, the idea that they would try to intimidate Pope Leo, the first American-born pope, is just absurd,"the incensed Barnicle replied.“The idea that they would have anything to say critical of the Catholic church or the pope itself, the pope himself is absurd, especially given the Easter morning tweet from the president of the United States, which was so deeply offensive to any breathing, thinking human being that it's outrageous for the Trump administration to pose any problems they allege they have with the Vatican.”
“I went to parochial school for eight consecutive years, and I got thrown out nearly every year by the nuns. You know, every grade — you deserve early stuff like that,” he recalled. But the one thing that you get to, to hold on to when you're raised Catholic, born Catholic, raised Catholic, especially by my mother, we used to call her 'my mother, the nun.' The one thing you retain, I would think, is that the theory of the Catholic church is rooted in a simple phrase: the least among us.”

“So if you look at the Trump administration's behavior toward the least among us, it is almost criminal,” he accused. “It is certainly a sin because they don't care for the least among us, and that we should all care for the least among us. Because when we care for them, we care for ourselves.”


Graig Graziosi (INDEPENDENT) notes:

In the wake of the meeting, the Pope reportedly refused Trump's invitation to attend the nation's 250th anniversary events.

Instead of spending July 4th in the U.S., the Pope will instead visit Lampedusa, a small Mediterranean island that has become an entry point for African migrants attempting to reach Europe.

A Vatican official speaking to The Free Press said the Pope has no plans to visit the U.S. while Trump is in office.

“The Pope may well never visit the United States under this administration," the official reportedly said.



Pope Leo has called out the war on Iran and he has called out the US war on immigrants. 


60 MINUTES, last night, did a segment on the Catholic Church and the war on Iran and on immigrants. 



When President Donald Trump announced a ceasefire with Iran this past week, it came after a chorus of world leaders called for an end to the war. One of those voices belonged to Leo XIV, the first-ever U.S.-born pope in the history of the Catholic Church. The 70-year-old pope was born Robert Prevost and grew up in Chicago. For many years he was known simply as Father Bob. Leo is measured, deliberate and soft-spoken. But the American pope has become increasingly outspoken against certain policies of the American president. So we asked three influential American cardinals who know him well, why Pope Leo's church has emerged as a voice of moral opposition to the war in Iran and the crackdown on immigration.

"Peace be with you:" those were the first words that Pope Leo uttered as the new leader of 1.4 billion Catholics worldwide. 

His selection was a surprise, celebrated by many of the 53 million that make Catholicism the largest Christian denomination in the United States.

Norah O'Donnell: What do you think having an American pope has done for the Catholic Church here in the U.S.?

Cardinal Joseph Tobin: I think it's put Chicago on the map.

Cardinal Blase Cupich: Finally. We're proud - we're proud that we produced a pope. Chicago can say that. 

The archbishop of Chicago, Cardinal Blase Cupich, as well as Cardinals Robert McElroy of Washington D.C., and Joseph Tobin of Newark, New Jersey, agreed to their first ever joint interview. Their candor surprised us, about the new pope and what they're hearing in the pews.

Cardinal Joseph Tobin: We're the three American cardinals that are actively serving dioceses right now. So we listen to a lot of people. It's part of the job description. And I think we're aware of the anxieties of people about the threats to peace at all different levels.

Norah O'Donnell: Would you like to see this first American pope be more outspoken on issues that he disagrees with? 

Cardinal Joseph Tobin: He's the pastor of the world. He's not a pundit. So the distinction is he's not going to pronounce on everything. But he's going to pronounce on what's important.

He started in January with a speech criticizing U.S. military action in Venezuela.

After that, the Vatican's ambassador in the U.S. was called to the Pentagon for a meeting, which two church officials described to 60 Minutes as unpleasant and contentious. Both the Pentagon and the Vatican have said since in multiple statements that it was routine and provided an opportunity for an exchange of ideas.

In March, we traveled to Italy and managed to ask Pope Leo a question about the war in Iran.

Norah O'Donnell: Holy Father, can I ask you what your hopes are for the Middle East?

Pope Leo XIV: I am praying for peace, I hope that ceasefire would be the most effective way to work together to find peace for all parties, to respect all parties and to come to a solution, which is too many years, and you know, creating problems for everyone, so … Work for peace.

Since our visit, the pope's tone has sharpened; this past week he issued a rare condemnation of President Trump's threat to destroy Iranian civilization. The pope called it, quote "truly unacceptable."

He also took the unusual step of issuing a call to action.

Pope Leo XIV: "Contact the authorities — political leaders, congressmen — to ask them, tell them to work for peace and to reject war always."



On Sunday evening, Mr. Trump attacked Leo after several influential American cardinals appeared on “60 Minutes” to discuss why they had followed the pope in speaking out against the global and domestic conflicts created by the Trump administration.

“It’s an abominable regime, and it should be removed,” Cardinal Robert McElroy said during the “60 Minutes” appearance, referring to the leadership in Iran. “But this is a war of choice that we went to, and I think it’s embedded in a wider moment in the United States that’s worrying, which is this: We’re seeing before us the possibility of war after war after war.”

Several prominent Catholics have come to the pope’s defense after the president’s attack.

Archbishop Paul S. Coakley, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, said in a statement: “I am disheartened that the President chose to write such disparaging words about the Holy Father. Pope Leo is not his rival; nor is the Pope a politician. He is the Vicar of Christ who speaks from the truth of the Gospel and for the care of souls.”

James Joseph Martin Jr., an American Jesuit priest and writer, wrote on social media: “I doubt Pope Leo XIV will lose any sleep over this, before he begins his pilgrimage to Africa tomorrow. But the rest of us should. Because it is unhinged, uncharitable and unchristian. Is there no bottom to this moral squalor?”


Katie Rogers also notes that in his post, Chump claimed credit for Pope Leo becoming Pope, alleging that it was done -- the choice made -- to appease Chump.  His ego is out of control.  He trashed the Pope as "weak on crime" and other nonsense.  


Chump's post was the posting of a tiny boy who can't grow up.  


Motoko Rich (NEW YORK TIMES) notes the Pope's reaction:


Pope Leo XIV said on Monday that he was not afraid of the Trump administration, hours after President Trump lashed out at the pontiff on social media.

Leo, speaking to reporters on a flight to Algeria ahead of a 10-day tour of several African nations, said: “I have no fear of the Trump administration, or speaking out loudly of the message of the Gospel, which is what I believe I am here to do.” Asked directly about Mr. Trump’s comments on Truth Social, Leo said: “It’s ironic — the name of the site itself. Say no more.”


Over the weekend, talks between the US and Iran came to an end.   THE NEW YORK TIMES' Tyler Pager, Farnaz Fassihi, Elian Peltier and Aaron Boxerman reported:


Vice President JD Vance said on Sunday that 21 hours of peace talks in Pakistan, between the United States and Iran had failed to produce an agreement to end the war, leaving the question of what happens after the current two-week cease-fire up in the air.

“They have chosen not to accept our terms,” Mr. Vance said in a brief news conference in Islamabad, though he left open the possibility that terms could still be reached. “We leave here with a very simple proposal: a method of understanding that is our final and best offer,” he added. “We’ll see if the Iranians accept it.”


Nicole Charky-Chami (RAW STORY) reports the news was not received well:

President Donald Trump was booed while entering a UFC event on Saturday night with his family walking behind him, just as news broke that negotiations between the United States and Iran had failed.

Vice President JD Vance announced the negotiations had stalled without reaching any agreement over the ongoing war during a speech in Islamabad, Pakistan, while Trump was walking next to Dana White at UFC 327 in Miami.



Unable to quickly remove Iranian mines from the Strait of Hormuz—the world’s most important oil transit corridor—with its current equipment, the US is switching tack: President Trump announced Sunday in two Truth Social posts that the Navy will launch its own blockade of “any and all Ships trying to enter, or leave” the passage, and intercept those that have paid Iran’s tolls to cross.

The announcement will almost certainly mean a further spike in oil prices when markets open on Monday, and it’s a move that does little to help Trump’s sagging domestic approval, leaving much of Iran’s hold on the global oil supply intact Gasoline costs will keep rising. Military commitments and expenses, will keep growing. The MAGA coalition will continue to crack.

Meanwhile, Trump’s two main promises on Hormuz this weekend, to clear Iranian sea mines from the strait—efforts he said were “starting” in another Truth Social post Saturday—and to detain “every vessel in International Waters that has paid a toll to Iran,” are dubious.

That’s first and foremost because the US doesn’t have the resources to get rid of the sea mines. State-of-the-art demining vessels, if left alone by Iran, could clear the strait in a matter of weeks or months. But the Navy has no “significant mine clearing capability,” the Wall Street Journal reported in March, and its unmanned anti-mine vessels are unreliable even in clear waters that pose far less of a challenge than Hormuz. 


So many lies from this administration.  They lie about everything.  For example, Julia Ornedo (THE DAILY BEAST) reports:


Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s chest-thumping claims about Iran’s losses don’t appear to line up with intelligence assessments.

Iran still has thousands of ballistic missiles that could be pulled out of hiding or dug up from underground storage sites, officials familiar with U.S. intelligence assessments revealed to The Wall Street Journal.

The report undercuts the self-proclaimed secretary of war’s claims that Iran’s missile program has been obliterated.


Hegseth is only one liar in the administration.  Kristi Noem headed a whole department of liars when she was the Secretary of Homeland Security.  And there's Doctor Oz.  Ali Swenson (AP) reports:


President Donald Trump's administration this week acknowledged it made a significant error in figures it used to help justify a fraud probe into New York’s Medicaid program, a glaring mistake that undercuts a federal campaign to tackle waste, mostly in Democratic-led states.

The error, which the administration admitted first to The Associated Press, prompted health analysts to question how many of the Republican administration’s sweeping anti-fraud efforts around the country were based on faulty findings. One of a few mischaracterizations it made about New York's Medicaid program, it also reflected a common criticism that’s been made of Trump’s second administration — that it tends to attack first and confirm the facts later.

“These numbers could have been cleared up in a phone call, so it’s really slapdash,” said Fiscal Policy Institute senior health policy adviser Michael Kinnucan, whose recent analysis called attention to the Trump administration’s inaccurate claim.

The mistake appeared in comments made last month by Dr. Mehmet Oz, the administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, in a social media video and in a letter to New York’s Democratic governor announcing the fraud investigation.


And you can't talk lies from the administration and leave out the Justice Dept, right?  Daniel Hampton (RAW STORY) reports:


An eye-popping detail buried in a new Bloomberg report may explain why the Justice Department keeps getting caught making errors in federal court: Pam Bondi told her lawyers to treat the president as their client — and now they're afraid to push back on anything.

A February 2025 memo from Bondi directed DOJ attorneys to "vigorously" defend Trump's policies and referred to them as "his" counsel, according to a former Justice Department attorney who spoke anonymously to Bloomberg. The result, sources say, is a culture where lawyers are wary of pressing federal agencies about the accuracy of information they receive, because challenging it feels like challenging the boss.

The consequences are now playing out in courtrooms across the country.

In March, DOJ lawyers admitted to using incorrect information to defend migrant arrests in Manhattan, made inaccurate statements in a Rhode Island hearing about voter records, and missed a key deadline in Washington state due to unfamiliarity with local procedures.


Again, the entire administration lies.  But it's the lies about the Iran war that really register as Americans suffer daily.  Robert Reich notes:


Trump gas — like Trump shoes, Trump cologne, the Trump Bible, Trump shoes, Trump NFTs, Trump crypto, Trump resorts, Trump University, and everything else he’s tried to sell as a good deal — is turning out to be a ripoff.

The average cost of gas tracked by the AAA was $4.17 a gallon yesterday. The station at the end of my street is selling it for over $5 now. If you drive a Mini-Cooper, as I do, which demands premium grade, you’re shelling out over well over $6.

To put this in perspective, the average price for a gallon of gas in the U.S. the day before Trump launched his war was $2.98. Between then and today, the U.S. has experienced the largest increase in gas prices in 60 years.

Let's wind down with this from Senator Tammy Baldwin's office:


WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) urged the Trump Administration to make good on its promise to address avian flu outbreaks and deliver much-needed support to Wisconsin farmers and their workers. Baldwin warns that without urgent action, egg prices could again spike to 2025 levels, when they hit $6 per dozen. Baldwin’s call follows three recent avian flu outbreaks in commercial egg-laying facilities in Wisconsin, which have impacted more than 4.3 million birds and resulted in over 80 layoffs at local Wisconsin farms.

“I write again regarding the ongoing highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) outbreak that continues to devastate our nation’s poultry flocks and dairy herds,” wrote Senator Baldwin in a letter to United States Department of Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins. “The disease has repeatedly disrupted domestic and global agricultural markets and strained household budgets since 2022.”

“These recent outbreaks could potentially repeat the alarming egg prices seen in 2025, which peaked at $6 per dozen. Repeated supply shocks to markets have increased grocery costs across the country, hurting American consumers when affordability concerns are at an all-time high,” Baldwin continued.

Since March 2022, Wisconsin has lost 11.6 million birds across 50 commercial and backyard flocks. Between late February and March of this year, Wisconsin has experienced three major outbreaks in commercial poultry flocks, affecting more than 4.3 million egg-laying hens. As a result, two Wisconsin farms have been forced to temporarily lay off more than 80 employees.

In her letter, Senator Baldwin urged the Trump Administration to move forward with finalizing and implementing a national avian influenza vaccination strategy, as included in United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Five-Pronged Approach from February 2025.

In December 2025, Senator Baldwin pushed the Trump Administration to ramp up its avian flu response as the first dairy herd in Wisconsin tested positive for avian flu. Last year, Senator Baldwin also led her colleagues in demanding the Trump Administration release funding for labs that are dedicated to early detection, response, and control of animal diseases and outbreaks like avian flu. Additionally, she called on President Trump to quickly develop a plan to contain the avian flu outbreak that is devastating the nation’s poultry flocks and dairy herds and driving egg costs to reach record highs.

A full version of this letter is available here and below.

Dear Secretary Rollins,

I write again regarding the ongoing highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) outbreak that continues to devastate our nation’s poultry flocks and dairy herds. The disease has repeatedly disrupted domestic and global agricultural markets and strained household budgets since 2022. Emergency disease response has been expensive for American farmers and taxpayers, and down the chain, American consumers have been burdened by high costs at the grocery store. The Administration must follow through with its promises in “USDA’s Five-Pronged Approach to Address Avian Flu,” including by finalizing an avian influenza vaccine policy that maintains markets for American farmers. These actions must include strong agency coordination with agricultural, animal health, environmental and public health industries.

Continued outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian influenza have resulted in the loss of over 200 million birds nationwide since February 2022, including 11.6 million birds on Wisconsin farms. In the last two months, Wisconsin has experienced three major outbreaks in commercial poultry flocks, affecting more than 4.3 million egg-laying hens. This past December, Wisconsin reported its first confirmed case of the disease in dairy cattle through the National Milk Testing Strategy. Exposures typically tied to poultry and dairy operations have resulted in 71 human cases of avian influenza across the U.S., including one confirmed case in Wisconsin and two deaths nationwide.

Despite USDA-backed biosecurity measures, migrating wild birds continue to infect domestic poultry flocks and dairy cattle across the U.S., making clear that existing containment strategies are insufficient. Spring migration patterns are expected to increase cases through May, often impacting poultry flocks with egg-laying hens. These recent outbreaks could potentially repeat the alarming egg prices seen in 2025, which peaked at $6 per dozen. Repeated supply shocks to markets have increased grocery costs across the country, hurting American consumers when affordability concerns are at an all-time high.

Farmworkers also take financial hits from these outbreaks. Just this past month, 87 employees have been laid off at two Wisconsin farms following the depopulation of their flocks due to avian influenza. It is estimated that these individuals will be without work for five to seven months while the farms repopulate their flocks. Unfortunately, this is not the first time Wisconsin farmers have had to temporarily close their doors and lay off workers, and if the USDA continues to slow walk its approach in addressing avian influenza, this will certainly not be the last.

The Administration has yet to make meaningful progress towards the avian influenza vaccine response called for in USDA’s Five-Pronged Approach to Address Avian Flu. While the USDA funded $100 million for its “HPAI Poultry Innovation Grand Challenge,” which included investments to develop novel vaccines, in the fourth year of the avian influenza outbreak, there has been no movement to stand up a vaccine pilot program. At the same time, USDA has spent roughly $2.5 billion compensating farmers for their extensive losses. Payments for outbreak response snowball while the status quo continues. American farmers, taxpayers and consumers cannot continue to absorb these costs.

I once again urge the Trump Administration to deliver on its pledge to address avian influenza, including by following through on a nationwide avian influenza vaccination policy. Agriculture and public health stakeholders are calling for a comprehensive and coordinated response to avian influenza. As the outbreak continues, farmers and consumers deserve a response that matches the rising scale and pressing urgency of this outbreak.

Sincerely, 

###



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