The Political Thread

[Samoa Looch]

Yea, I have the feeling this also belongs in the political thread...because...you know

 

[Chris]

https://www.politico.com/news/2025/05/05/trump-will-defend-bidens-abortion-pill-rules-in-texas-case-00329015

The Trump administration is defending federal regulations allowing abortion pills to be available online and by mail, the Justice Department revealed on Monday.

But rather than defending the Food and Drug Administration’s rules for the pills on the merits, the DOJ argued in a filing with a Texas federal court that the three GOP-controlled states suing the agency lack standing and the case should be thrown out.

“Their claims have no connection to the Northern District of Texas,” the DOJ’s brief said of Idaho’s, Kansas’s and Missouri’s challenge, adding that the states are trying to rely on “an incorrect legal argument in unrelated briefing” to argue for new restrictions on the drugs and accusing them of “gamesmanship.”

 

[Chris]

Declassified Spy Memo Contradicts Trump on Venezuela Gang Ties

The release of the memo further undercuts the Trump administration’s rationale for using the Alien Enemies Act to deport scores of Venezuelans to a prison in El Salvador.

www.nytimes.com

A newly declassified memo released on Monday confirms that U.S. intelligence agencies rejected a key claim President Trump put forth to justify invoking a wartime statute to summarily deport Venezuelans to a prison in El Salvador.

The memo, dovetailing with intelligence findings first reported by The New York Times in March, states that spy agencies do not believe that the administration of Venezuela’s president, Nicolás Maduro, controls a criminal gang, Tren de Aragua. That determination contradicts what Mr. Trump asserted when he invoked the deportation law, the Alien Enemies Act.

“While Venezuela’s permissive environment enables TDA to operate, the Maduro regime probably does not have a policy of cooperating with TDA and is not directing TDA movement to and operations in the United States,” the memo said.

 

[Samoa Looch]

 

[Chris]

Germany's Merz falls short of majority in vote for chancellor

Conservative Friedrich Merz unexpectedly falls short of the numbers needed to become chancellor.

www.bbc.com

Germany's conservative leader has unexpectedly fallen short of a majority in a parliament vote to become chancellor.

Friedrich Merz needed 316 votes in the 630-seat Bundestag but only secured 310, in a significant blow to the Christian Democrat leader, two and a half months after winning Germany's federal elections.

His coalition with the centre left has enough seats in parliament but it appears 18 MPs who had been expected to back him dissented. Merz's failure in the first vote is seen as unprecedented in modern German history.

 

[Chris]

Germany's Merz falls short of majority in vote for chancellor

Conservative Friedrich Merz unexpectedly falls short of the numbers needed to become chancellor.

www.bbc.com

Germany's conservative leader has unexpectedly fallen short of a majority in a parliament vote to become chancellor.

Friedrich Merz needed 316 votes in the 630-seat Bundestag but only secured 310, in a significant blow to the Christian Democrat leader, two and a half months after winning Germany's federal elections.

His coalition with the centre left has enough seats in parliament but it appears 18 MPs who had been expected to back him dissented. Merz's failure in the first vote is seen as unprecedented in modern German history.

Conservative leader Friedrich Merz has won a parliament vote to become Germany's next chancellor at the second attempt.

Merz had initially fallen six votes short of the absolute majority he needed on Tuesday morning - a significant blow to his prestige and an unprecedented failure in post-war German history.

As it was a secret ballot in the 630-seat Bundestag, there was no indication who had refused to back him - either MPs from his centre-left coalition partner or his own conservatives.

 

[Chris]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/05/06/trump-presidency-news/

Just over a week after riding a wave of anti-Trump sentiment to a come-from-behind election victory, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney is meeting with President Donald Trump on Tuesday at the White House. Trump stirred anger with the United States’ closest ally by imposing 25 percent tariffs on many goods imported from Canada, and he has mused often about making Canada the “51st state.” Carney, a liberal, had a clear message about the countries’ bond after his win, saying Canada’s “old relationship with the United States, based on deepening integration of our economies and tight security and military cooperation, is over.” Trump is also slated to participate in a meeting later Tuesday of the task force that will oversee preparations for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, the international soccer tournament that the United States, Canada and Mexico are set to jointly host.