The Political Thread

[Emb]

Imagine what the US will look like in 2029.

 

[Chris]

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-senate-confirms-trumps-nominee-pam-bondi-attorney-general-2025-02-05/

The Republican-led U.S. Senate confirmed Pam Bondi as the new U.S. attorney general on Tuesday, propelling one of President Donald Trump's staunchest political allies to the top perch of American law enforcement.

The 54-46 vote to confirm of the former Florida state attorney general will help Trump solidify his control over the U.S. Justice Department, which has recently seen sweeping cuts targeting prosecutors and FBI agents who investigated the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol by the president's supporters.

Democratic Senator John Fetterman joined all 53 Republicans in voting for Bondi.

 

[Grim]

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-senate-confirms-trumps-nominee-pam-bondi-attorney-general-2025-02-05/

The Republican-led U.S. Senate confirmed Pam Bondi as the new U.S. attorney general on Tuesday, propelling one of President Donald Trump's staunchest political allies to the top perch of American law enforcement.

The 54-46 vote to confirm of the former Florida state attorney general will help Trump solidify his control over the U.S. Justice Department, which has recently seen sweeping cuts targeting prosecutors and FBI agents who investigated the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol by the president's supporters.

Democratic Senator John Fetterman joined all 53 Republicans in voting for Bondi.

Respectively, Fetterman is a fucking dumbass.

 

[Chris]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2025/02/04/usps-suspends-china-packages-shein-temu/

The U.S. Postal Service abruptly suspended inbound package shipments from China and Hong Kong on Tuesday as President Donald Trump’s trade war began in earnest.

Trump allowed a tariff increase of 10 percentage points on Chinese imports to take effect Tuesday morning after backing off plans to levy duties on Canada and Mexico. Beijing responded with retaliatory measures including 15 percent tariffs on imports of U.S. coal, liquefied natural gas, agricultural equipment and other goods.

The vast majority of goods shipped from China arrive outside the mail system, but Trump’s order specifically eliminated a “de minimis” tariff exemption for small quantities of items and low-value items, including those shipped through a postal service. That exemption covered items worth less than $800.

 

[Grim]

 

[Chris]

USAID direct hires put on leave worldwide, except those deemed essential

The Trump administration is placing U.S. Agency for International Development direct-hire staffers around the world on leave, except those deemed essential.

apnews.com

The Trump administration is placing U.S. Agency for International Development direct-hire staffers around the world on leave except those deemed essential, upending the aid agency’s six-decade mission overseas.

A notice posted online Tuesday gives the workers 30 days to return home. The move had been rumored for several days and was the most extreme of several proposals considered for consolidating the agency into the State Department. Other options had included closures of smaller USAID missions and partial closures of larger ones.

Thousands of USAID employees already had been laid off and programs worldwide shut down after President Donald Trump imposed a sweeping freeze on foreign assistance. In the space of a few weeks, Trump political appointees and Elon Musk’s budget-slashing Department of Government Efficiency have dismantled the aid agency despite outcry from Democratic lawmakers.

 

[Chris]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2025/02/04/usps-suspends-china-packages-shein-temu/

The U.S. Postal Service abruptly suspended inbound package shipments from China and Hong Kong on Tuesday as President Donald Trump’s trade war began in earnest.

Trump allowed a tariff increase of 10 percentage points on Chinese imports to take effect Tuesday morning after backing off plans to levy duties on Canada and Mexico. Beijing responded with retaliatory measures including 15 percent tariffs on imports of U.S. coal, liquefied natural gas, agricultural equipment and other goods.

The vast majority of goods shipped from China arrive outside the mail system, but Trump’s order specifically eliminated a “de minimis” tariff exemption for small quantities of items and low-value items, including those shipped through a postal service. That exemption covered items worth less than $800.

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-postal-service-suspends-incoming-packages-china-hong-kong-2025-02-05/

The U.S. Postal Service said on Wednesday it would accept parcels from China and Hong Kong, in a U-turn after a suspension following President Donald Trump ending a trade provision used by retailers including Temu, Shein, and Amazon (AMZN.O), opens new tab to ship low-value packages duty-free to the U.S.

"The USPS and Customs and Border Protection are working closely together to implement an efficient collection mechanism for the new China tariffs to ensure the least disruption to package delivery," it said in a statement.

The Trump administration imposed an additional 10% tariff on Chinese goods and closed the "de minimis" exemption that allows U.S. shoppers to avoid paying tariffs for shipments below $800 from China.

 

[Comrade Khan]

trying to kill Californians now this summer by emptying their water reserves. what a fucking idiot

 

[Comrade Khan]

all the familly farms will go under, then the corpos will all buy them for cheap.

no idea why people are still just sitting on their hands watching it burn. has anyone even tried to protest lol

 

[Chris]

I've heard of a 50 protests in 50 states thing trying to get started up, I think something more central needs to be organized though like they did in front of the Treasury building yesterday (though that was more impromptu anyway)

 

[Chris]

U.S. Trade Deficit Hit Record in 2024 as Imports Surged

A strong dollar helped drive an uptick in U.S. imports last year, while export growth remained modest.

www.nytimes.com

The U.S. trade deficit in goods hit a record last year, as American consumers snapped up imported products and a strong U.S. dollar weighed on export growth.

Data released Wednesday morning by the Commerce Department showed that U.S. imports of goods and services grew 6.6 percent to $4.1 trillion, as Americans bought plenty of weight-loss drugs, auto parts, computers and food from other countries.

Overall U.S. exports to the world grew to $3.19 trillion in 2024, up 3.9 percent from the previous year, as the United States sold chips, computers, aircraft and business services to the world, but fewer cars and car parts.

 

[Comrade Khan]

I've heard of a 50 protests in 50 states thing trying to get started up, I think something more central needs to be organized though like they did in front of the Treasury building yesterday (though that was more impromptu anyway)

you need a 100 million man march in washington is what you need - and bring all your guns

 

[Comrade Khan]

at this point, its clear trump is a domestic terrorist. he needs to be taken out. there is no other way out. the fuck is the CIA doing

 

[Grim]

at this point, its clear trump is a domestic terrorist. he needs to be taken out. there is no other way out. the fuck is the CIA doing

Getting half their staff fired.

 

[Chris]

Fox News Adds Lara Trump as a Host

There is no precedent for a sitting president’s relative to host a show on a major television news channel.

www.nytimes.com

President Trump persuaded several Fox News hosts to leave the network and take up major roles in his administration.

Now a Trump is joining the network.

Lara Trump, Mr. Trump’s daughter-in-law and a former co-chair of the Republican Party, will begin hosting a new weekend show on Fox News on Feb. 22, the network is set to announce on Wednesday.

The president and his children are frequent guests on Fox News. But there is no precedent for the close relative of a sitting president to host a high-profile show on a major television news channel.