Today in Politics, Bulletin 136. 5/22/25 Ron Filipkowski May 22 ∙ … DHS Sec Kristi Noem sent a letter to Harvard today revoking their Foreign Exchange Student Program effective immediately. That would prevent Harvard from enrolling any additional students going forward and states that any foreign students currently enrolled must transfer to another school or be forced to leave the country. Scary authoritarian shit. … Noem in the letter: “This action should not surprise you and is the unfortunate result of Harvard’s failure to comply with simple reporting requirements.” … She previously demanded that Harvard provide her with records of all disciplinary actions taken by the University against foreign students. Harvard refused, so this was Noem’s response. Expect this to be in federal court in Boston immediately. … Noem then went on Fox: "Today, I sent them a letter that said they will no longer be allowed to participate in this student exchange visitor program, and that's up to 27% of their enrolled students. So it's significant. They will have to find some other university to go to. This should be a warning to every other university to get your act together." … Economist and Univ of Michigan Prof Justin Wolfers: “It's a rich irony that a President who is obsessed by the trade balance is blocking one of our best exports: American higher ed. International students pay fees, create high-paying jobs, learn ideas, and spread them globally. But they can't come without reliable visas.” … The House passed the Budget Reconciliation Bill 215-214. Republicans Thomas Massie and Warren Davidson voted no. Freedom Caucus Chair Andy Harris very courageously voted present. Rep. Andrew Gabarino (R-NY) missed the vote. … Garbarino missed the vote because he was sleeping: “I fell asleep in the back. No kidding.” … Democrats were also short three votes because 3 Reps recently died in office while serving with terminal illnesses (Gerry Connolly, Sylvester Turner and Raúl Grijalva). 8 members of Congress have died in office in the last 3 years - all Democrats. … Of course, this still has to pass the Senate and many Republicans senators have said they will not vote for it. We will see. But the fact that this passed by only one vote means that every Democratic candidate in 2026 for the House can say that their opponent cast the deciding vote on this monstrosity. … Davidson explained why he voted against it: “Promising someone else will cut spending in the future does not cut spending. Deficits do matter and this bill grows them now. The only Congress we can control is the one we’re in. Consequently, I cannot support this big deficit plan. NO.” … Davidson is talking about how ALL the serious projected spending cuts in this bill are supposed to happen in 2029, the year after Trump leaves office. So the Republican plan is for all the tax cuts to happen while Trump is president, exploding the deficit to record levels, with promises to start cutting spending in 4 years. He posted this chart to illustrate that. … Massie responded: “I agree with Warren Davidson. If we were serious, we’d be cutting spending now, instead of promising to cut spending years from now. I’d love to stand here and tell the American people, we can cut your taxes and we can increase spending and everything’s going to be just fine. But I can’t do that because I’m here to deliver a dose of reality. This bill dramatically increases deficits in the near term, but promises our govt will be fiscally responsible 5 years from now. Where have we heard that before? How do you bind a future Congress to these promises? This bill is a debt bomb ticking.“ … Massie also opposed the bill on the floor: “Congress can do funny math, fantasy math, if it wants. But bond investors don’t. We’re not rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic tonight. We’re putting coal in the boiler and setting a course for the iceberg. If something is beautiful, you don’t do it after midnight.” … Economist Justin Wolfers: “This is the largest redistribution from poor to rich in American history.” … Sen. Rand Paul seems as dug in to oppose the bill in the Senate as Massie was in the House. To Punchbowl: “Once the Republicans vote for this, Republicans are going to own the deficit. I’m a conservative who's not voting for a 4 or 5 trillion dollar increase in the deficit.” … Daniel Horowitz, Editor of conservative The Blaze: “The One Big Bill is actually a perfect name for this legislation. It has no coherent vision that people can even wrap their arms around or come away with anything inspirational. It's just a random assortment of provisions, some good, some really bad, some just random and bizarre, but fundamentally fails to meet the moment. Just a random big bill.” … CNN asked Rep. Tim Burchett (R-TN) if the bill will increase the deficit by trillions despite Trump’s claims to the contrary: “That’s accurate. I don't like that one bit, but I don't know what the other option is right now.” … MAGA influencer Matt Van Swol, who has 267K followers, got 38,000 likes on this post from his MAGA followers: “I'm done with the GOP. You've lost me. You had your chance and you fucking blew it. I was SO excited for this admin because of the promise of DOGE. But then I watched as the GOP do NOTHING. We are now AT THE END OF MAY AND WE STILL HAVE NOT HAD A SINGLE FUCKING VOTE ON THE DOGE CUTS!!! THE END OF MAY! My only conclusion can be that the GOP does not WANT to end the waste and fraud. This is a sobering realization for everyone who was STOKED for Elon and DOGE. … “Mark my words, this betrayal will haunt the GOP forever. I will remember you choose to do nothing. You took photos with Elon - you talked about DOGE - you said you loved cutting waste and fraud. But when it came time to do something, none of you did, NONE OF YOU. So, you've lost me. You've lost my trust. I thought you'd be different than the Democrats. But I guess the GOP lies too. And the only difference between the GOP and the Democrats seems to be that Democrats actually pass legislation, and the GOP does not.” … Propaganda Barbie Karoline Leavitt: “The one big beautiful bill also helps get our fiscal house in order by carrying out the largest deficit reduction in nearly 30 years, with $1.6 trillion in mandatory savings.” … Leavitt was asked if Trump thought that Massie and Davidson should now be voted out of office: “I believe he does and I don't think he likes to see grandstanders in Congress. The vast majority of Republicans are listening to the president. They are trusting in President Trump, as they should.” … Massie and Trump have never liked each other. Trump tried to primary Massie before and his endorsed candidate got destroyed. Massie is the only House Republican who never endorsed Trump for president in 2024. But Davidson is about as loyal a MAGA Republican as you can find. But now Trump wants him out for defying him. Trump went after former Freedom Caucus Chair Bob Good last year for the same reason. That’s why Bob Good is “former” sitting at home. … The bond market did not find the bill so beautiful. CNBC: “A sell-off in global bonds is accelerating as Moody’s downgrade of US credit rating and Trump’s tax bill has brought to the fore investors’ fiscal concerns globally. While Trump was unable to sway GOP dissenters to support his broad tax bill that could drive US debt higher by a projected $3-5 trillion, it appears to have triggered a global bond rout.” … Vishnu Varathan, Mizuho Securities: “Markets do not find Trump’s ‘big, beautiful tax bill’ beautiful at all. USTs were beaten up in an ugly sell-off.” … Peter Schiff, Chief Economist of Europac: “The bond market is sending a clear signal that the Big, Beautiful Bill may be big, but it's anything but beautiful. 10-year Treasury yields are up to 4.62% & 30-year yields are up to 5.14%. Rates are going much higher, compounding the cost of financing the soaring national debt.” … CNN: “Long-term Treasuries fell further Thurs; and yields, which trade in opposite direction to prices, continued to surge. The rate on the 10-year Treasury rose above 4.61%, and the 30-year eclipsed 5.14% — its highest level since October 2023.” … George Saravelos with Deutsche Bank: ‘The most troubling part of the market reaction is that the dollar is weakening at the same time. To us this is a clear signal of a foreign buyer’s strike on US assets and the associated US fiscal risks we have been warning for some time. At the core of the problem is that foreign investors are simply no longer willing to finance US twin deficits at current level of prices.” … “Ultimately, there are only two ‘solutions’ to this problem. Either the US has to sharply revise the current reconciliation bill currently sitting in Congress to result in credibly tighter fiscal policy; or, the non-dollar value of US debt has to decline materially until it becomes cheap enough for foreign investors to return. Brace for more volatility.” … Economist Steve Rattner on MSNBC: "If you're in the top 20%, you're gonna get 3.7% increase in after-tax income from tax cuts. If you're in the bottom, you lose $800. You get a small tax cut and and a large cut in Medicaid and other benefits. This is a highly regressive bill that favors the wealthy, doesn't do much for the middle class, and hurts the poor." … Rep. Andrew Clyde (R-GA) slipped in a provision to the budget bill to legalize silencers: “They're firearms and protected by a law enacted in 1791 called the 2nd Amendment. The right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed and neither shall it be taxed. My Democrat colleagues asked how did it get in the bill and who asked for it? Me. I asked for it.” … Clyde owns gun shops in Georgia. … Rep. Hakeem Jeffries to Meidas: “We know that this presidency has already been a failure. Filled with crisis and chaos, cruelty and corruption. And the American people know it. Which is why Trump at the 100-day mark was the most unpopular president in American history. The American people understand. It's unfolding right before their eyes.” … Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-TX): “Breaking yet another promise, Republicans are cutting Medicare by $500B. On Oct 1, every Medicare provider will see a 4% cut and that will occur year after year after year as seniors try to find someone who will accept Medicare. On Jan 1, millions of Americans who rely on the ACA lose their access to a family physician. Meanwhile, our national debt will soar by trillions from Republicans who talk fiscal responsibility but serving their cult leader, the deficit hawks have become chicken hawks in submission to Trump, the self-described king of debt, all to award billionaires with even more tax breaks.” If you missed my podcast Uncovered yesterday where we did a deep dive into the Top 10 stories of the week, you can find it here. If you missed the last Bulletin, that is here. … Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD): “It's telling that Trump and his cult followers chose to name its bill on its size and looks instead of its contents and values. There's nothing beautiful or big about stripping 14 million Americans of their health care or removing food security from 4 million kids. That's ugly. That's small.” … AOC: “When you wake up in the morning, you will realize that you voted to defund Planned Parenthood and take away health care from 13.7 million Americans and when this country wakes up there will be consequences to pay for this.” … Rep. Brendan Boyle (D-PA): “Not even during the Great Depression did so many people lose their health care as will lose it in this bill. It will affect interest rates. In fact, it already is. Mortgage rates have gone back up over 7% and set to rise by more. Not just mortgage rates, auto loan rates, the rate your credit card company charges you. This is class warfare. It makes the poor poorer, the rich richer, and the middle class left behind.” … Boyle: “The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office found the bottom 10% will be 4% poorer in household wealth under this bill, with most of the benefits going to the top 10% of Americans. And of that top 10%, of course, it's the top 1% that will get the most benefit of all, robbing the poor to reward the rich.” … Rep. Jim McGovern (D-MA) to Rep. Hauchin (R-IN): “My state of MA funds states like IN. We get back less than we give. So how dare you or anybody else vote to steal our tax money and give it to billionaires? So no, we will not go quietly, and no, we will not give up. We will fight this cruel, corrupt, immoral bill every step of the way because the people we represent are counting on us. And we will never stop fighting for them. Hell no, never, absolutely not on this terrible disgrace of a bill.” … Rep. Jahana Hayes (D-CT) to Meidas: “Every provision in this program is cruel and they know it. That's why none of them spoke on it in committee. That's why they have nothing to say. That's why they don't hold town halls. That's why they don't answer questions. All they do is tweet, repeat, and hide in the back until they vote yes.” … Rep. Maxwell Frost (D-FL): “America, we got to be very clear and truthful about this budget. Laws for gun manufacturers to make more money off of death, yes. Food for children to eat, no. Health care for seniors, disabled Americans and millions more, no. Resources to help working families, no. This is why they've been told not to host any town halls in their districts and why this debate is happening in the middle of the night. It’s nothing short of theft.” … WSJ: “Private clubs have emerged as a moneymaking venture for the president’s second term, and a hub for donors and favor-seekers alike. It now costs a record $1 million to join Mar-a-Lago, up from about $500,000 during his first term. The initiation fee at Trump’s golf club in Bedminster rose to $125,000, surging from $75,000 in recent years. Another Trump golf club in FL now charges more than $300,000 to join.” … “Trump has encouraged Republican Party officials to hold events at his clubs, where he headlines official dinners and cocktail parties. The clubs have in turn also attracted a new clientele of donors seeking to influence policy in the WH, including cryptocurrency executives pushing for deregulation, advocates seeking pardons for allies, and business leaders looking for exemptions from tariffs, among others.” … “One of the biggest such events yet is set to take place Thursday at Trump’s golf course outside DC, when his cryptocurrency venture is hosting a gala dinner for his $TRUMP meme coin’s biggest holders. Many of the investors are foreign, and some of the top givers have been promised official tours of the WH.” … NBC: “More than 200 wealthy, mostly anonymous crypto buyers are coming to Washington to have dinner with President Trump. The price of admission: $55,000 to $37.7 million. That’s how much the 220 winners of a contest to meet Trump spent on his volatile cryptocurrency token, $TRUMP.” … Leavitt was asked about it today: “The American public believes it's absurd to insinuate that this President is profiting off of the presidency. Not only has he lost wealth but he almost lost his life. He sacrificed a lot to be here and to suggest otherwise is absurd. This president was extremely successful before giving it all up to serve our country." … Reporter: Will the WH at least commit to making a list of the attendees public so people can see who's paying for that kind of access to the president? LEAVITT: “The president is attending it in his personal time.” … But Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) says Trump’s sudden interest in crypto is really to benefit the poor and working class: “President Trump said on the campaign trail that America will be the crypto capital of the world. This is a major part of his legacy when we make it easier for struggling Americans working paycheck to paycheck to have more access at a lower price point. This is good news for the American people, especially the ones living in poverty." For 18 hours straight, Acyn with Meidas was up all night covering Congress. He posted 32 clips of Democrats opposing the budget on the floor, 24 clips of Democrats in the Rules Committee, and 18 clips of interviews that Ben did of Democrats off the floor. All of us left other careers and jobs to do this. I was a trial lawyer for 29 years. We did it because we felt that the media was failing to meet the moment at this crucial time in our history. Rather than just complain about it, we decided to do something about it and step into the vacuum to cover what we felt they were missing. As a result, our audience has growth every month at a rapid pace while their has shrunk. We all work extremely hard and long hours. That is because we care passionately about this cause to defeat the MAGA movement. We never thought this was going to be quick or easy. It is a long term project that isn’t just about defeating a man, but an entire toxic political movement. We aren’t able to do it without your help, and we thank all of you for your support. Whenever, I get really tired doing this towards the end of the day, I think about you. Meidas+ is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. THANK YOU FOR YOUR PATRIOTISM IN SPEAKING OUT!  LET US KNOW IF YOU DECIDE TO RUN SO THAT WE CAN  SUPPORT YOU! … Good new for Democrats as former US Ambassador to Ukraine Bridget Brink, who resigned her position to protest Trump’s treatment of Zelensky, is strongly leaning towards a run to challenge vulnerable Republican Tom Barrett in a toss-up district in Michigan. … Brink to Detroit News: "I’ve dedicated my life to public service - working under 5 Presidents, both Democratic and Republican, and am exploring my options and the best way to continue to serve my country and my great home state of Michigan. I’m seriously considering a campaign for Congress.” … Democrat, former Navy SEAL and Obama military advisor Matt Maasdam is also considering a run for the seat, which is considered the #1 target for Democrats in 2026. Either way, Dems will have a great candidate. WHO? … Melania Trump announced that she will not be reading the audiobook of her Memoir, which will be done instead using AI. To Fox: "I am proud to be at the forefront of publishing’s new frontier – the intersection of artificial intelligence technology and audio. We developed an AI-generated replica of my voice under strict supervision, which will establish an unforgettable connection with my personal story, in multiple languages for listeners worldwide." … Billboards are going up in Times Square in NYC, LA and Miami to promote the audiobook for a month: "Each story shaped me into who I am today. Although daunting at times, the process has been incredibly rewarding, reminding me of my strength, and the beauty of sharing my truth." … A federal judge ordered the Trump admin to reinstate more than 1,300 U.S. Department of Education employees. DOGE attempted to fire nearly half of the entire department. US District Judge Myong Joun: “The Department must be able to carry out its functions and its obligations, as well as other relevant statutes as mandated by Congress.” … Staffers Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Lynn Milgrim with the Israeli Embassy in DC were shot and killed while leaving an event at a Jewish museum. The suspect, Elias Rodriguez from Chicago, shouted “Free, free Palestine” when he was arrested. … Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT): “DC is a lawless hellhole. End DC Home Rule now! We can’t let this madness continue in America’s capital city. Pass the BOWSER Act.” BLEACH BLOND BRAIN DEAD… Karoline Leavitt: “Hatred has no place in the United States of America under President Donald Trump.”..except HATRED when TRUMP SPEWS IT! … Elon Musk reacted angrily to an article in The Atlantic called ‘Decline and Fall of Elon Musk’ detailing how he was sidelined from most public events and authority because he wore out his welcome. Musk: “They are the past, the legacy media fading into obscurity. Legacy media lies licentiously. The Atlantic is a zombie publication kept on life support by Laurene. Steve would be very disappointed.” … He’s talking about the owner Laurene Powell Jobs, former wife of Steve Jobs. … Bernie Sanders aide Faiz Shakir: “Musk was on the Saudi/UAE/Qatar trip. Musk was at the Trump meeting today with the South African President in the Oval Office. Musk was also on Capitol Hill today to push the tax bill. He hasn’t gone anywhere. They’re trying to lower his profile due to his ratings.” … Commerce Sec Howard Lutnick was at a forum talking about his tariffs. “You go to the store now, are you feeling the pain of tariffs? No, because there is no pain. Do any of you feel anything? Seriously?” … Daily Beast: “Disney and ABC News have asked the hosts of The View to tone down their political rhetoric. Its constant focus on Trump and politics seems to have roiled the network’s top bosses, including Disney CEO Bob Iger and ABC News President Almin Karamehmedovic. One source familiar with the meeting characterized the hosts as telling their boss, ‘This is what our audience wants. Isn’t it gonna look kind of bad if we’re all of a sudden not talking about politics?’” … “Ultimately, the women found the requests ‘silly’ and that ‘they were just going to keep doing their thing.’ Despite suggestions otherwise by ABC’s top brass, the political coverage appears not to have affected the show’s ratings. The show was #1 among daytime network talk shows and news programs during 2025’s 1Q, beating time slot competitor The Faulkner Focus on Fox News in both total viewers and women ages 25-54.” … NBC: “Two Navy SEALs based in VA are being punished for developing racist memes targeting a Black sailor in their platoon and circulating them in a group chat with other team members. The memes depicted the sailor as a slave. Timothy Parlatore who represents the sailor: “This was a very shocking case of explicit and repeated racist memes directed at our client in a platoon-wide text thread. They modified his face in photos to look like a monkey and portrayed him as a chained slave on a slave ship.” … SecDef Pete Hegseth hosted a Christian prayer service at the Pentagon and sent out an email to DOD employees “encouraging” them to attend. Hegseth opened it up with this: “This is precisely where I need to be, exactly where we need to be as a nation at this moment, in prayer, on bended knee, recognizing the providence of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. This is something we plan to do on a monthly basis, on a voluntary basis, here in the auditorium. I hope you’ll let those you work with know about it.” … The service was televised live on DOD’s channel. … Retired AF Lt. Col. and law professor Rachel Van Landingham to CNN: “This is incredibly problematic. The core of the Establishment Clause is the state not endorsing a particular religion, but having a broadcast event is obviously an endorsement even if they don’t officially say, ‘this is a Pentagon event.’ I think it’s sponsorship in the true sense of the word, outside of funding – he’s advocating for this, he is putting his weight of the official Sec of Defense behind a particular religious event and inviting someone to the Pentagon to conduct it. That’s wrong.” … “Of course, folks in a rigidly hierarchical organization like the military think, ‘Oh, it’s optional, but when it’s being sponsored by the Secretary of Defense, yeah, I better go’. It’s deeply problematic.” … Meidas: “The Supreme Court reached a 4-4 deadlock concerning Oklahoma's attempt to establish the nation's first publicly funded religious charter school. This tie effectively upholds the OK Supreme Court's earlier ruling, which invalidated the creation of St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School, citing violations of constitutional principles separating church and state. Justice Coney-Barrett recused herself from the case due to her previous affiliation with Notre Dame Law School, where a colleague was involved in advising the proposed school. Her absence resulted in an even number of participating justices, leading to the 4-4 split.” OMG! THESE ARE CIVILIANS WHO ARE STARVING BECAUSE ISRAEL HAS WITHHELD HUMANITARIAN AID - FOOD, MEDICINE, WATER, FUEL! THIS IS THE ATTITUDE THAT HASS FORCED THE REST OF THE WORLD TO UNITE AGAINST THE U.S.! … Rep. Randy Fine (R-FL) on Gaza: “In WW2 we didn’t negotiate a surrender with the Nazis or Japanese. We nuked the Japanese twice to get unconditional surrender. That needs to be the same here. There is something deeply wrong with this culture and it needs to be defeated.” … In what is likely a response to Trump talking about taking over Greenland, the island just signed a 30-year deal with a Danish-French consortium to mine a rock which is key to the production of aluminum. Newsweek: “The permit granted to Greenland Anorthosite Mining to extract anorthosite follows interest in the Arctic territory from Trump in acquiring the autonomous island which is part of the Kingdom of Denmark.” … Former Rep. George Santos: “To my media contacts, thank you for the last couple of years for having me on your shows, podcasts and radio shows. As I make preparations to surrender for my prison sentence on July 25th I have suspended all public media appearances and have deactivated all my emails and disbanded my professional communications team. I want to focus the little time I have left on being with my family and putting my affairs in order before my untimely departure.” … CNN was selling Jake Tapper’s book about Biden AGAIN today. We are coming up on a month straight of daily Tapper book promotion by CNN. Since he had to switch from the host seat to the guest seat, he didn’t wear a tie.