Mark Rickling

We used to call this security theater - but in this context it’s authoritarian theater

Now he’s ripping Kim. ☹️

Unprecedented corruption

What Is a Pocket Rescission? Understanding President Donald Trump and Russ Vought’s new plan to illegally stop spending.

New paper from me explaining "pocket rescissions," an illegal budgetary maneuver the White House is planning to do in the very near future that, ironically, misuses an aspect of the Impoundment Control Act to permanently impound funds.

(Thread on the paper)
www.americanprogress.org/article/what...

Trump’s self-destructive economic policies are killing job growth.

Here's the truth: businesses aren’t increasing investments in many communities because Trump and Republicans' chaotic policies are destabilizing. Trump’s tariffs are on-and-off-and-on-again as prices on everything rise.

lol

Ipsos interviewed 26k EU citizens on taxation. Grain of salt etc. etc. but strong support everywhere for the global minimum tax:

op.europa.eu/en/publicati...

"We are going to cut prices by 1500% and I fired the head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics because she is incompetent."

And this dude alighting on the solution “screw any other businesses helped by tariffs like domestic steel producers, only tariff stuff that make costs go up for my competitors.”

Big Law, the Ivy League, the press have crumbled so much quicker than everybody else. It's almost as if they don't mind the fascism that much.

"The right way" = "The poors pay instead of me."

the one thing i genuinely did not anticipate from this administration was its vicious, know nothing hostility to any and everything that might even be adjacent to science and scientific research. they genuinely one to destroy the entirety of the nation’s research capacity. and for what, exactly?

Alec Guinness is spinning in his grave.

Opinion | What Hulk Hogan Left Behind

The NYT has a heavy house style that prevents me from using more, shall we say, colorful, language to describe Hulk Hogan but I think I still got my central point across here www.nytimes.com/2025/07/26/o...

Punchbowl’s Samantha Handler: New: Epstein drama is leading into the Education and Workforce panel. Republicans pulled a human trafficking related bill and the panel is now in recess. Dem Reps. Bonamici and Ansari had planned to intro amendments on releasing the Epstein files.

CNN’s Sarah Ferris: Interesting - Dem Rep. @MarcVeasey is trying to bring up this Epstein-related amendment in E&C hearing right now, tying it to student athletes bill Guthrie ruled it not germane (aka not relevant) but full committee is voting now on whether to overrule that

Politico: news - House Dems are prepping more Epstein-related amendment votes ahead of the Thursday CJS Approps [Commerce Justice Science Appropriations subcommittee] markup, per two aides

Semafor’s Eleanor Mueller: New: Tlaib just offered an amendment at House Financial Services Committee's markup that would force the Treasury Department to release a report on Epstein's financial transactions. "To this date, we only have a partial picture of Epstein's financial transactions."

With floor action ground to a halt by Speaker Johnson over Dem amendments on the Epstein files, House Democrats are now using them to jam up committees.

Includes Appropriations, Energy & Commerce, Financial Services, and Education & Workforce, which just shut down as Rs try to figure what to do:

"If you look at page 1 of the tariff handbook, it says: Don't tariff inputs. It's the simplest way to make it harder—more expensive—for Americans to do business. Any factory around the world can get the steel, copper, and aluminum it needs without paying a 50% upcharge, except an American factory."

El Salvador received $6m from the US to jail those Venezuelans who are being sent back to the Maduro regime. That money would have gone to the Prisons Directorate, led by Osiris Luna, who is under Glomag sanction for his deals with MS-13. Why isn’t Treasury investigating this?

G7 tax "understanding" exempting US corporations is far from a done deal!

You sure this isn’t a Washington Post Glen Kessler fact check?

AS MAGA WORLD TURNS - Arnold Ventures, a philanthropy that lobbies the Hill founded by billionaires John and Laura Arnold, has tried to cultivate a bipartisan brand in this new era of Washington. But a recent spat over Republicans' megabill illustrates how quickly firms can land in the MAGA crosshairs, Dasha reports. Arnold Ventures' lead lobbyist George Callas, a Republican and former aide to Paul Ryan, attacked Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) and the Senate GOP Conference over the megabill in a since-deleted post on X. "In which Tom Cotton's Senate GOP conference account switches back to using a current law baseline after spending months viciously attacking as dishonest anyone using a current law baseline," Callas wrote in the post. The @SenateGOP account responded, labeling Arnold Ventures as "far-left."

I dunno man, if even the lead author of TCJA thinks your TCJA extension bill is bad, maybe the problem is you and not him.

photo of Jaime Alanis

Our hearts are heavy for the grieving family of Jaime Alanis, who died from injuries sustained during a chaotic raid on Thursday.

We will do everything we can to support them. We continue to work with the hundreds of farm worker families navigating the aftermath of this violent raid.

Just so I'm clear, the libs created the Epstein files that were on Pam Bondi's desk, but also the files don't exist and there's nothing to release?

b-b-b-but i was reliably told it was political suicide to resist any part of the trump deportation agenda.

Trump sets 50% tariff rate for Brazil, blasting treatment of former far-right president President Trump defended former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, who is accused of plotting an attempted coup following his loss in the 2022 election.

Autocrats of the world, unite! Your morning cup of coffee is about to get more expensive – Brazil is our leading supplier of coffee – as Trump aims to protect a disgraced leader who similarly tried and failed to overturn a free and fair election.

Opinion | Don’t call it ‘Alligator Alcatraz.’ Call it a concentration camp. This facility’s purpose fits the classic model, and its existence points to serious dangers ahead for the country.

"For many Americans, the word “concentration camp” evokes another country, a time long ago and a facility operating in the dark of night, away from the prying eyes of an outraged public. But a new concentration camp opened in Florida’s Everglades this week, and it’s the opposite of a secret."

You neglected to mention you’re getting your info about Mamdani from your good pal the white nationalist.

Trump and Elon made massive cuts to all US weather tracking and warning systems in the spring of 2025.

Somehow we've been worked into the corner of talking about affordability instead of income. Hey, if your income is higher you can afford more.

At 3:35 in the morning, I spoke on the House floor against the Big Ugly Bill, which will deny 17 million Americans health care, raise electricity costs by 17%, and steal food from hungry families.

All to award more tax breaks to billionaires.