Going, going … Historian Heather Cox Richardson marvels at just how quickly the U.S. is “sliding from democracy to authoritarianism”—as “the Trump administration is rushing to tear apart as much as it can.”
■ She says that includes “the Trump White House and its MAGA supporters … undermining the rule of law and the judges who are defending it” …
■ … who now face a wave of threats to themselves and their families. (New York Times gift link.)
■ Richardson calls out White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt for calling one judge a “Democrat activist,” even though he was appointed by President George W. Bush.
■ Leavitt gets the Men Yell at Me “Dingus of the Week” award, guest-bestowed by Late Show With Stephen Colbert writer Felipe Torres Medina.
■ Rhode Island Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse: “When you can’t win in court, set loose your flying monkeys to intimidate judges and their families? That’s the America we want?”
■ Experts tell the Times (another gift link) that the president’s escalating conflict with the courts is even more aggressive than what happened in countries like Hungary and Turkey.
Ding, dong. The Times (another gift link): Trump administration lawyers have determined federal agents can enter homes without a warrant.
■ The Bulwark’s Tim Miller is “steam-blowing-out-of-my-ear” outraged over the secret deportation of Venezuelan refugees—including a pro soccer player—to a Salvadoran prison camp.
■ Columnist Evan Hurst sees Miller and raises him: “I’m in a white-hot rage.”
‘This danger extends beyond universities.’ A coalition of some of the nation’s most respected constitutional scholars—including professors at Northwestern and the University of Chicago—condemn the Trump administration’s treatment of Columbia University as a threat to the First Amendment.
■ Trump’s executive order to dismantle the Education Department was, in the AP’s words, “a stunner, even for a president who thrives on audacity.”
■ Jimmy Kimmel: “Trump famously said he loves the poorly educated, and now he will have so many more people to love.”
■ Pod Save America host Dan Pfeiffer: Trump may have just handed Democrats an issue that breaks through all the noise.
■ What remains of the department pledges to investigate the State of Illinois and public schools in Chicago and Deerfield for allegedly “forcing students to share bathrooms, locker rooms, and overnight accommodations with members of the opposite sex, based solely on self-declared ‘gender identity.’”
If you think the line for stamps is long now, just wait. The Postal Service has confirmed layoffs for more than 10,000 workers. (Better—but older—link, to The Associated Press from March 14.)
■ Trump’s cuts will cost the Housing and Urban Development Department’s Chicago office eight staffers with more than 180 years of collective service.
■ Bloomberg: “The Trump administration is threatening to all but shut down the Social Security Administration in response to a judge’s ruling blocking activities by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency.”
What could go wrong? Musk—who has deep financial ties to China—was reportedly to get briefed today on U.S. plans for potential war with China.
■ Almost every one of Musk’s Tesla Cybertrucks is being recalled for a flaw that could cause the things to fall apart while driving.
■ MSNBC’s Steve Benen asks why Trump’s Commerce secretary is shilling for Tesla.
‘There is video of Putin, at a conference, being reminded that he’s way late for his call with Trump, waving it off and laughing, and everybody in the audience laughing along with him.’ Wonkette’s Evan Hurst wonders if the U.S. president knows how much Russia’s president mocks him.
■ Andy Borowitz: “Trump Forced to Listen to 45 Minutes of Balalaika Music After Putin Puts Him on Hold.”
Reasons to be cheerful.
■ Add a coalition of conservative groups to those urging the Federal Communications Commission to drop an investigation of 60 Minutes’ interview with then-Vice President Harris.
■ A Trump Defense Department spokesman has been sidelined after defending the purge of an online Pentagon article about the military background of Major League Baseball’s first Black player, Jackie Robinson.
■ The Daily Show’s Jordan Klepper paraphrases the administration’s scapegoating of a computer error for the deletion: “Yeah, don’t blame us—blame our racist software. We should have never used ChatKKK.”
Transit ‘doomsday.’ The Regional Transportation Authority says the CTA and its sibling agencies are at the edge of a fiscal cliff …
■ A former mass transit executive says RTA plans to rename regional train lines are off-track and recommends more common-sensical alternatives.
■ The Sun-Times and the Investigative Project on Race and Equity: “Chicago cops have been making fewer traffic stops, but more are ending in violence.”
‘Thorny issues.’ A Tribune editorial weighs in on advisory referenda facing suburban voters April 1.
■ Up to vote early? Check the Chicago Public Square guide to voter guides.
‘We lost most of our editorial board, and the future of editorials … is uncertain.’ Sun-Times columnist Neil Steinberg surveys the devastation buyouts have wrought at the paper.
■ Sun-Times alumnus Mark Jacob reviews the career of another of those departing, columnist Michael Sneed.
Chicagohenge continues. The weekend brings more opportunities for memorable views of the sun rising and setting in alignment with the city’s east-west streets.
■ Here are the minutes to watch.
‘If you’ve been alert to news beyond America’s borders …’ Then quizmaster and past Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions winner Fritz Holznagel says you’ll find this week’s challenge rewarding.
■ Your Square columnist’s score? 5/8 correct—questions 2-4 wrong.
Miss Square on weekends? No need to pine away. Just check the Square account on Bluesky for continual updates.
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■ Angela Mullins and Karl Schuster made this edition better.