Erik Wasson

Washington Journal
#CSPAN #CSPANWJ
Skeet at @c-span.bsky.social and cspanwj.bsky.social

Bloomberg News Capitol Hill reporter
@elwasson.bsky.social previews the week ahead in Congress, including efforts to avert a government shutdown at the end of the month

Watch here: tinyurl.com/zse5akz6

“An international broadcast company has ceased operations in the United States and will make a complete liquidation of their late model digital radio, video and podcast technology assets, studio equipment office and business equipment.” […]

[Original post on journa.host]

PBS, NPR Set to Lose Federal Funding as Senate Passes DOGE Cuts Republicans are set to succeed in their decades-long quest to end federal funding for public broadcasting after the Senate passed a $9 billion package of cuts derived from Elon Musk’s Department of Go...

End of federally funded TV and radio near www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

JUST IN: US judge blocks State Department's planned overhaul, mass layoffs reut.rs/3G2QYAe

Opinion | Trump might become the most pro-illegal immigration president ever The president is rapidly turning legal immigrants into illegal ones.

Trump says we're overrun by "illegals." He's manifested those fever dreams into reality through a “de-documentation” campaign, stripping legal immigrants of their visas & work permits.
He's not targeting criminals; he's criminalizing immigrants who follow the law.
wapo.st/3HvBBka

(Bloomberg) -- President Donald Trump’s global tariffs were deemed illegal and blocked by the US trade court, a major blow.
The ruling can now be appealed by the Trump administration in federal court.
The court said justifying them on the basis of "national emergencies" exceeded his authority.

Termination notices expected to go out to all remaining Voice of America employees this week The move would add to the grueling battle between the network and Trump administration.

BREAKING: Termination notices are expected to go out to the 800 remaining Voice of America employees this week.

Scalise on CNBC: "This bond downgrade is another serious blow that shows that America needs to get its fiscal house in order. We start to do that in this bill."

NOTE: The bill is project to increase the debt by trillions of dollars, hence the pushback from the right.

Via CRFB >

The Constitution makes clear that the President’s constitutional authority only extends as far as Article II, but even Article II does not grant him absolute removal authority over his subordinates, under current binding caselaw precedent. Outside of Article II, he has little constitutional authority to act at all. The President’s efforts here to take over an organization outside of those bounds, contrary to statute established by Congress and by acts of force and threat using local and federal law enforcement officers, represented a gross usurpation of power and a way of conducting government affairs that unnecessarily traumatized the committed leadership and employees of USIP, who deserved better.

NEW: Judge Howell rules that Trump/DOGE's *entire takeover* of the U.S. Institute of Peace was unlawful—including the removal of board members and termination of programs.

She reinstates the actual board members and invalidates everything the imposters did.
storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

The President has named a new Acting Librarian of Congress. It's his former defense lawyer. Todd Blanche, a former personal lawyer for President Trump, is now acting Librarian of Congress. According to his public profile, Blanche has no experience working in libraries or archives.

Todd Blanche, a former personal lawyer for President Trump, is now acting Librarian of Congress. According to his public profile, Blanche has no experience working in libraries or archives.

2 U.S. Code § 136-1 - Appointment and term of service of Librarian of Congress

The US Code doesn't actually seem to provide any mechanism for removal

www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/...

Exclusive: NSF faces radical shake-up as officials abolish its 37 divisions Changes seen as a response to presidential directives on what research to fund

Exclusive: National Science Foundation staff were told today that the agency’s 37 divisions—across all eight directorates—are being abolished and the number of programs within those divisions will be drastically reduced.

President Trump fired our nation’s Librarian, Dr. Carla Hayden, by email at 6:56pm tonight, taking his assault on America’s libraries to a new level. Over the course of her tenure, Dr. Hayden brought the Library of Congress to the people, with initiatives that reached into rural communities and made the Library accessible to all Americans, in person and online. While President Trump wants to ban books and tell Americans what to read – or not to read at all, Dr. Hayden has devoted her career to making reading and the pursuit of knowledge available to everyone. Be like Dr. Hayden.

BREAKING: President Trump just fired our nation's Librarian. My statement here:

"The Society of Professional Journalists is alarmed by the proposal to replace Voice of America news feeds from its own journalists and other internationally respected news organizations with One America News." https://www.spj.org/spj-views-proposed-voa-oan-deal-as-affront-to-sidelined-usagm-journal

On May 4, our Save VOA account on X was mistakenly flagged as “inauthentic,” but today we’ve regained access.
Save VOA are genuine accounts run by volunteers who want to #SaveVOA. And we need your support too! Please contact your reps and ask them to keep VOA alive!

At 12:33 PM on May 4, the SaveVOA team received a notice that our X account (@savevoanow) has been suspended for allegedly “violating rules against inauthentic accounts.” We are appealing this decision.

🧵

2/ The DC Circuit decision on Voice of America is more particular and peculiar.

The Court halts part 1 (staff terminations) and part 2 (any grants) of the Apr 22 district court preliminary injunction below.⤵️

The Court leaves in place part 3 (which the USG did not seek to stay).

BREAKING: DC Circuit panel allows the Trump administration to block funding for and take other actions against Voice of America and similar media orgs during DOJ's appeal of losses below.

Majority by Judges Katsas and Rao, both Trump appointees. Judge Pillard, an Obama appointee, dissents.

BUDGET: An White House official told reporters it is important to defund international human rights and democracy promoting non-governmental organizations because they are are irking foreign regimes and thus interfering with Trump's ability to conduct foreign policy.

I am told that DOGE showed up at the peace corps this morning. If you’re there or know details please contact me at joshtpm.99 on signal.

Journalists working for Voice of America & U.S. international media risk everything to report the truth—often facing threats, reprisals from foreign regimes, and serious hardship. Given the abrupt closing of this agency—please consider supporting them here: secure.givelively.org/donate/usagm...

“Stranding all or part of rural America with worse internet so that we can make the world's richest man even richer is yet another in a long line of betrayals by Washington,” said former BEAD director Evan Feinman

BREAKING: The head of the $42 billion federal BEAD program that aims to bring broadband internet to rural and unserved areas has left the Commerce Dept.

He sent a departing email warning of "deeply negative outcomes" for people if the Trump admin shifts $$ from fiber internet to Musk's Starlink:

Voice of America is silent.

I remember in the Cold War when the Soviet Union wanted nothing more than to silence the Voice of America.

Today's the day it happened.

'Bloody Saturday' at Voice of America and other U.S.-funded networks Federal officials placed 1,000 employees at Voice of America on indefinite paid leave, while severing contracts with Radio Free Asia and other U.S.-funded networks.

News: "Bloody Saturday" for Voice of America and other U.S.-funded international networks

Mass indefinite suspensions at Voice of America, Radio/TV Marti

Federal contracts severed for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Radio Free Asia & more

My NPR story

www.npr.org/2025/03/15/n...

Senate Clears Way for GOP Spending Bill as Shutdown Threat Ebbs The Senate moved forward with a Republican spending plan in a crucial vote that effectively swept away the threat of a US government shutdown while exacerbating a furious struggle within the Democrati...

Senate Clears Way for GOP Spending Bill as Shutdown Threat Ebbs
www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

DEM AND IND Yes on House GOP spending bill: Schumer, Durbin, Gillibrand, Hassan, Peters, Fetterman, Schatz, Cortez Masto, Shaheen, King

*SENATE HAS ENOUGH VOTES ON KEY TEST FOR STOPGAP BILL

I’m voting NO on cloture and NO on the House Republican’s disastrous government spending bill. Here’s why:

Johns Hopkins University to cut more than 2,000 jobs after $800M in federal cuts Johns Hopkins University said it is laying off more than 2,000 workers across the globe after the Trump administration cut $800 million in federal grants.

Johns Hopkins University said it had begun laying off more than 2,000 workers across the globe after the institution lost $800 million in federal grants cut by the Trump administration. www.washingtonpost.com/education/20...