Today’s notice: A surprise meeting. The next phase in abortion politics. A new wrinkle for Congress. But first: choosing words carefully.
An Important Rhetorical Shift Is Happening…
Are we in a full-blown constitutional crisis? That’s been a thorny question even among Democrats. But that may be changing.
We’ve been talking regularly with Democratic state attorneys general since the start of Donald Trump’s administration, when executive orders like the one ordering an end to birthright citizenship first popped up. A group of them took that to court and got it temporarily stopped just days after Trump signed it.
It was a great narrative for a Democratic Party still reeling from Trump’s victory. Dem AGs were among the few Democrats anywhere who could reasonably say, ‘See? We got this.’
Trump’s birthright citizenship action is now headed to the Supreme Court. This is one of the cases where Dem AGs have consistently seen a clear path to victory, and that hasn’t changed. But maybe that sweeping “we got this” energy is starting to.
See, while every other elected Democrat is on their third or fourth constitutional crisis at this point, Democratic attorneys general have been hesitant to declare even one. They’ve been urging Democrats to look at court wins as a sign that the party really can resist Trump within a functional government system. Don’t throw away the thing that’s working to score rhetorical points, they say.
“Well, because I don’t want folks to lose confidence in our constitutional system of government,” Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford told me when I asked why he’s so cautious about using the term constitutional crisis.
Ford was in Denver for a “community impact hearing” hosted by the Democratic Attorneys General Association. DAGA has been hosting a lot of these, trying to raise awareness of the work AGs are doing.
Top of mind in Denver was the ongoing legal fight over Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia. People wanted to know: What can be done if the administration doesn’t abide by what the court says?
For the first time, I heard Dem AGs actively start to consider it.
“That may well come to a head,” said Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser, “and that’s going to be a critical test for our republic.”
Washington state’s attorney general, Nick Brown, put it more succinctly.
“This is the first time, this week, in the past days, where I really think we’re getting to the precipice of a constitutional crisis,” he told the Denver crowd.
OK, Maybe not more succinctly, exactly. He is a lawyer, after all.
—Evan McMorris-Santoro, reporting from Colorado. | Read the story.
…Maybe In More Ways Than One
Sen. Chris Van Hollen was also on the road this week — in El Salvador, to try to get some face time with Abrego Garcia. In a shocking twist last night, he actually got to see him.
“I said my main goal of this trip was to meet with Kilmar. Tonight I had that chance,” the senator posted on X along with a picture of him sitting with Abrego Garcia. In his own post, El Salvador’s president said he would be keeping Abrego Garcia in his country’s custody.
Van Hollen’s intense focus on immigration policy is possibly a big rhetorical shift, too, along with being (cynic’s hat) a good photo op or (idealist hat) the kind of political risk these people are supposedly elected to take.
It was not long ago that being seen as soft on illegal immigration was supposed to be one’s ticket out of elected office and the Democratic mainstream. Trump officials are certainly fond of pointing out that immigration is a winner for them.
And yet, Van Hollen is finding himself back in the kind of Democratic glow he used to enjoy all the time as a powerful House member precisely because he is taking up this issue. Stars of the moment like Sen. Cory Booker are taking it up, too. It’s fair to say Democrats have pretty much taken it up broadly at this point.
I asked Weiser, who is running to succeed Gov. Jared Polis in Colorado, about Democrats’ caution — especially on anything like immigration that can be blamed for their losses in 2024.
“There is a debate now about, well, maybe we should not stand on principle and fight for principle. Maybe we should pick our battles,” he said. “And what I would say on these issues is, the battle is joined. The battle has come to us.”’
—Evan McMorris-Santoro, still in Colorado.
Front Page
- Republicans Think This Time Could Be Different for Mike Rogers: After losing a close race last cycle, Rogers’ allies say he doesn’t need to do much differently this time to flip a Senate seat.
- Van Hollen Meets With Abrego Garcia in El Salvador: Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele posted after the meeting that Abrego Garcia would remain in El Salvador.
- Darren Beattie, Once Fired for Attending a Conference With White Nationalists, Is Making Cuts at the State Department: Secretary of State Rubio has nominated someone else to do the job full-time, but for now, Beattie is in a senior position.
- Republicans Are Facing Constituents Angry About Abrego Garcia’s Case: “Are you gonna bring that guy back from El Salvador?”
Republicans’ Tricky Legislative Balance Ahead
In the latest edition of “Trump and his supporters in Congress aren’t on the same page,” House Republicans are worried that the president’s plan to push for legislation that would formalize DOGE’s spending cuts could distract from the “big, beautiful” reconciliation bill they’re working on, NOTUS’ Reese Gorman reports.
Right now, Trump’s plan is to send a rescission package to lawmakers when they return from their two-week recess. But one GOP lawmaker told Reese that’s like asking them to “walk and chew gum at the same time,” especially because the big DOGE cuts would pile up on top of already unpopular cuts in the reconciliation bill.
Across the Country, Democrats Are Trying to Figure It Out
Democrats’ town halls this week have made clear they’re still in a testing phase for figuring out what kind of message and tactics will work to get them back into power.
NOTUS’ Tinashe Chingarande — who watched loads of them from across the country — reports that Democrats are facing increasing pressure to prove to constituents they’re doing enough.
The Growing Movement to Prosecute Women Who Have Abortions
The newest development in the ever-changing anti-abortion world is “abolitionist” legislation that aims to make the practice completely illegal and make it possible to criminally prosecute people who get abortions, NOTUS’ Oriana González reports.
Those backing abolitionist legislation are shifting on measures they once applauded, like Texas’ near-total abortion ban, which activist Abby Johnson said “just hasn’t been enough.”
The shift could be a sign of coming rifts in the movement, squaring prominent anti-abortion organizations like Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America against the new hard-line approach.
Not Us
We know NOTUS reporters can’t cover it all. Here’s some other great hits by… not us.
- US office that counters foreign disinformation is being eliminated by Eileen Guo for MIT Technology Review
- How Corey Lewandowski Became Kristi Noem’s Gatekeeper at DHS by the team at The Wall Street Journal
- Leaked: Palantir’s Plan to Help ICE Deport People by Joseph Cox for 404 Media
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