Today’s notice: The fight over Trump and D.C.’s policing takes shape. Trump seeks cultural cachet. Private equity loves lobbyists. What one STOCK Act violator plans to do next. A fired immigration judge tells all. And: SCOTUS and LGBTQ+ rights.
THE LATEST
KISS and crime: That was Donald Trump’s Wednesday.
He’s doubling down on D.C. crime: With the district transfixed by the scenes of a heavy federalized police presence, Trump told reporters he wants Congress to authorize funding for continued federally run security — beyond the 30-day limit on his federalization of the Metropolitan Police Department. Some of his allies in Congress were ready to heed that call.
“The White House is working on a package to send me and @SenKatieBritt,” Sen. Lindsey Graham posted yesterday on X. Graham wrote that he and Britt would work to give Trump “the resources he will need to improve the safety and quality of life in our nation’s capital.”
Trump is willing to escalate more. “If it’s a national emergency we can do it without Congress, but we expect to be before Congress very quickly,” he said during an appearance at the Kennedy Center. Trump said he expected Republicans to approve his plans “almost unanimously.” (Legislation would likely be subject to a 60-vote threshold, requiring Democratic support, unless it was put in a reconciliation package.)
This was all at the Kennedy Center, where Trump also said he was “98% involved” in picking this year’s winners of the Kennedy Center Honors: Gloria Gaynor, Michael Crawford, George Strait, Sylvester Stallone and the band KISS.
Cultural capital: After being shunned by Hollywood, this term is all about the 180. “We live in a world where everything revolves around Trump,” White House comms director Steven Cheung told Jasmine.
“You know the old saying ‘politics runs downstream from culture’? Not in the Trump era,” Cheung said, referring to Andrew Breitbart’s maxim. “Now, culture is downstream from politics.”
Riding the current: “KISS is the embodiment of the American dream. We are deeply honored to receive the Kennedy Center Honor,” Gene Simmons said in a statement to NOTUS’ Em Luetkemeyer. (She got them from the whole band.)
Open Tabs: DNC faces votes on Israel and Gaza (Semafor); Germany and allies to send major aid package to Ukraine (AP); MAGA rails against “pothead” culture as WH weighs reform (Axios); Trump to meet Putin after loss of Russia specialists (FT)
From K Street
Wall Street’s new favorite street: This moment in lobbying “creates a perfect storm for private equity to come in,” Amir Akhavan, co-founder of the investment bank BrightTower, tells NOTUS’ Taylor Giorno.
Deals like Shamrock Capital’s purchase of Penta Group last week are increasing confidence on K Street about future Wall Street investments.
The growth curve: “If the comparison was New Year’s Eve, and a good party on New Year’s Eve, it’s probably 8 p.m. and you’ve got a good amount of people that are showing up, but the real party’s not starting for an hour or two,” Brendan Curran, a managing director at Clearsight Advisors, told Taylor.
What this means for K Street: Firms give up decision-making power after being acquired by private equity, but some have seen massive growth. Some haven’t: Purple Strategies made a PE deal and laid off 10% of its staff in February, and announced more layoffs were coming.
Steve Elmendorf: “It will change the way you do business.” His firm, Avoq, first linked up with private equity a few years ago.
From the Hill
Shri Thanedar’s stock fire sale: “My goal is to get rid of all the individual stocks in my portfolio, but it takes time,” the representative told NOTUS’ Dave Levinthal after we asked about the recent disclosure of up to $50K in stock purchases reported well after the deadline required by the STOCK Act. It was the second time since 2023 that Thanedar has violated the law.
Thanedar blamed financial advisors for the trade and said he’s directed them to stop investing his money in individual stocks — and start selling the ones he has.
Markwayne Mullin’s millions: Dave also reports that for the second time in two weeks, the Oklahoma senator has filed disclosures showing STOCK Act violations. Mullin’s office sent the same statement it did the last time Dave asked about that: “Much like tax returns, financial disclosures occasionally need to be amended to reflect the most accurate, up-to-date information.”
THE BIG ONE
Will SCOTUS roll back LGBTQ+ rights? “Time has not made Obergefell more stable, it’s continued to undermine its foundation,” Mat Staver, the founder of Liberty Counsel, the law firm representing former county clerk Kim Davis, tells NOTUS’ Oriana González.
A big docket: The Supreme Court’s next term could be very consequential for LGBTQ+ rights, with the court set to hear at least three cases that could have big implications for LGBTQ+ youth.
The cases: Little v. Hecox and West Virginia v. B.P.J. concern state laws restricting transgender athletes’ participation in girls’ and women’s sports. And in Chiles v. Salazar, plaintiffs claim Colorado’s ban on so-called conversion therapy violates the First Amendment rights of the counselors involved.
Davis’ lawyers are still waiting to hear whether the court will take up her petition to overturn Obergefell. Davis has been denied a hearing with the Supreme Court before.
The context: Both sides of LGBTQ+ rights issues are animated by a key fact: The last win for LGBTQ+ advocates was in 2020, with SCOTUS ruling against them in every case concerning them it has heard since.
NEW ON NOTUS
An ex-immigration judge’s revelations: “It’s collusion, yes,” former immigration judge George Pappas said of what he calls a coordinated plan between the DOJ (which the judges work for) and DHS to dismiss cases so ICE can detain and deport migrants right outside courtrooms. Pappas was fired in July, and NOTUS’ Jose Pagliery reports that he filed a sworn statement with the ACLU as part of a suit against the Trump administration by a Brazilian man with legal status who was detained and eventually released.
Court rules for Trump in USAID case: An injunction that had forced the administration to continue disbursing funds authorized by Congress for a collection of nonprofit groups through USAID was thrown out by the federal appeals court in D.C. In a 2-1 ruling, the court ruled that the groups had no standing to sue under the Impoundment Control Act, saying that power resides only with the comptroller general, the head of the Government Accountability Office.
More: Judge ‘Troubled By’ Trump Admin’s Lack of Limits for Domestic Troop Deployments, by Jose Pagliery
NOT US
- Eleanor Holmes Norton keeps a low profile as Trump takes aim at DC, by Nicholas Wu for Politico
- The Recipe Behind the Trump Family’s Crypto Riches: PancakeSwap, by Angus Berwick and Patricia Kowsmann for The Wall Street Journal
- Chris Collins on his arrest, prison – and his new congressional campaign, by Jerry Zremski for The Buffalo News
- Florida’s Miccosukee Tribe fights Alligator Alcatraz, by Hunter Walker for Talking Points Memo
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