What does a TRUMP presidency look like?

[Syt]

https://apnews.com/article/texas-redistricting-holdout-donald-trump-f308f15f972952d84194f12edea1b3ba

California's Newsom, Pelosi back Texas Democrats as GOP warns of more escalations over walkout

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California Gov. Gavin Newsom and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi appeared shoulder-to-shoulder Friday with Texas Democratic lawmakers in a show of support for their nearly weeklong walkout, which has blocked a vote on congressional redistricting maps sought by President Donald Trump in a widening national battle over U.S. House control.

Texas has been the epicenter of Trump's push to gerrymander congressional maps to shore up Republicans' narrow House majority before next year. But the standoff is threatening to spill into other states — including California, New York, Florida and Indiana — in an emerging proxy war for control of Congress in 2026.

California is moving toward a special election in November that Democrats hope could slash five Republican-held House seats in the liberal-leaning state, in direct response to the maneuvering in Texas.

"We are trying to defend democracy, as opposed to see it destroyed district by district," Newsom said amid the crowd of lawmakers at the governor's mansion. "There are no rules for Donald Trump."

Pelosi defended the Texas walkout, calling it "self-defense for our democracy."

She said Democrats will not let Trump "pave over" free and fair elections in the country.

Newsom, Pelosi spotlight high-stakes in battle over House lines

The appearance of nationally prominent Democrats Newsom — a potential 2028 presidential candidate — and Pelosi underscored the increasingly high stakes for a deeply divided Washington.

Earlier Friday the Texas House failed to meet a quorum for the third time this week as Democratic lawmakers continued to stay away from Austin.

Texas Republicans had warned they would escalate efforts to end the walkout if defiant Democrats do not return to the Capitol. But the lawmakers who bolted for points across the country Aug. 3 still were not back for Friday's scheduled House floor vote.

Frustrated Republican leaders continued to ratchet up the pressure, including new and expanding efforts to try to remove Democratic lawmakers from office and seeking help from the FBI to assist state troopers trying to find them.

"We have all hands on deck, we are continuing to explore" options to force Democrats home, Speaker Dustin Burrows said after the chamber failed to reach a quorum. "We will keep pressing forward until the job is done. ... Each one of you knows eventually you will come back."

A court setback — though temporary, for now — for Texas Democrats

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sued former U.S. Rep. Beto O'Rourke, who ran unsuccessfully for governor and Senate, in state district court, alleging that his political group, Powered by People, improperly gave money to cover costs for the absent Democrats and continued to raise more for them.

In an initial win for Republicans, Paxton said Friday that he had been granted a temporary restraining order halting the spending and fundraising while the case continues.

In a response on the social platform X, O'Rourke wrote, "They want to make examples out of those who fight so that others won't."

A Texas road show gets national attention

The news conference in Sacramento came several days after Texas Democrats appeared in Illinois with Gov. J.B. Pritzker, who said he supported the walkout "because they don't want to live in a country where the president rigs elections for his side. That's not democracy."

One of the lawmakers in California, Texas State Rep. Ann Johnson, alluded to the national implications of the dispute, saying, "We recognize this is not just about Texas. This is about ensuring that the voters get to determine the outcome of their next election."

As California Democrats privately prepare a proposal for new House district lines that would go to voters, Assembly member Isaac Bryan said, "This is not a turn-the-other-cheek moment while they continue to send blow after blow to the foundations of democracy."

The Texas House is scheduled to reconvene Monday, but the dozens of Democrats who left the state have shown no signs of buckling.

Mounting legal threats

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a lawsuit directly to the all-Republican state Supreme Court on Friday seeking to have 13 of the Democratic lawmakers immediately removed from office, or at least given a 48-hour warning that they must return or have their offices declared vacated.

The lawsuit argues that the lawmakers have effectively "abandoned" their office and duties, and they were singled out for making public statements that they left for the purpose of blocking the vote and disrupting House business.

"Their out-of-state rebellion cannot go unchecked, and the business of Texas must go on," Paxton said.

Paxton's lawsuit includes Rep. Gene Wu, chairman of the House Democratic Caucus, who also faces a similar lawsuit filed by Gov. Greg Abbott. Wu's legal team argued that the state constitution allows House members to be removed only by a two-thirds vote of the chamber, not the courts.

Wu said this week that quorum-breaking is not an abandonment of office but a legitimate form of dissent.

Republicans vow to end up victorious

Abbott promised that he's willing to play the long game to get the bill passed.

"We have an agenda to pass priorities critical to Texans, and we will get it done. I'll call special session after special session—no matter how long it takes—until the job is finished," Abbott said on X.

The current special session ends Aug. 19, and the missing lawmakers already face mounting fines for every day they are gone and civil arrest warrants issued by the state House.

The widening battle beyond Texas

Trump wants five more seats out of Texas to potentially avoid a repeat of the 2018 midterms, when Democrats reclaimed the U.S. House and proceeded to thwart his agenda and impeach him twice.

The dynamics could embroil the 2026 midterm campaign in legislative and court battles testing Trump's power over the Republican Party, Democrats' ability to mount opposition and the durability of the U.S. system of federalism that balances power between Washington and the states.

[HVC]

https://apnews.com/article/women-hegseth-defense-secretary-religion-d962f472910fb47a0c66cd37b01f550d

Hegseth reposts video on social media featuring pastors saying women shouldn't be allowed to vote

I mean everything has gone downhill since then. A Second World War, nuclear proliferation, and global warming just to name a few

[The Brain]

They came for the 18th amendment, and people said nothing.

[grumbler]

They came for the 18th amendment, and people said nothing.

... for they were not Amendments.

[Josquius]

https://apnews.com/article/women-hegseth-defense-secretary-religion-d962f472910fb47a0c66cd37b01f550d

Hegseth reposts video on social media featuring pastors saying women shouldn't be allowed to vote

I mean everything has gone downhill since then. A Second World War, nuclear proliferation, and global warming just to name a few

Yep. Britain too.
Women voting and Irish independence. As correlation is causation those are the two worst things to happen to the country.

[grumbler]

So now Trump is claiming that crime in DC is "totally out of control" and he's ordering in the National Guard.

Actual crime is at a 30-year low.

[The Brain]

A severe outbreak has been detected at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

[HisMajestyBOB]

President Trump, who commits 10,000 crimes a day, is an outlier and should not be counted.

[Caliga]

A severe outbreak has been detected at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

[Legbiter]

Trump has appointed Billy Long as ambassador to Iceland.

Long was an auctioneer and owned Billy Long Auctions, LLC from 1979 to 2011. He was named "Best Auctioneer in the Ozarks" for seven years in a row. In 2016, he was inducted into National Auctioneers' Association Hall of Fame after his 2009 induction into the Missouri Professional Auctioneers' Association Hall of Fame. He was a talk radio show host on the Springfield-based station KWTO and worked as a realtor part time

He sounds a lot more fun than the last Trump appointee who was a rich dermatologist and an insufferable boor. 

[Oexmelin]

I was wondering why the version of the Constitution that the government had on its website "accidentally" forgot to put section 8 that puts DC under the administration of Congress. Now I know.

[Zanza]

Are the DC homeless and alleged criminals also a "rebellion" like in LA a few weeks ago or are they not even bothering with formalities now?

Normalizing the use of military forces domestically will come in handy ho suppress dissent, e.g. after midterm elections.

[Valmy]

Not being able to afford to afford a place to live is now a crime I guess.

[Josquius]

Trump has appointed Billy Long as ambassador to Iceland.

Long was an auctioneer and owned Billy Long Auctions, LLC from 1979 to 2011. He was named "Best Auctioneer in the Ozarks" for seven years in a row. In 2016, he was inducted into National Auctioneers' Association Hall of Fame after his 2009 induction into the Missouri Professional Auctioneers' Association Hall of Fame. He was a talk radio show host on the Springfield-based station KWTO and worked as a realtor part time

He sounds a lot more fun than the last Trump appointee who was a rich dermatologist and an insufferable boor. 

Sounds like the idea is to test if your English is really all that?

[Bauer]

Federal control over police in the Capitol sounds like the most dangerous change yet to me.   Still have faith the America people will prevail over this in the end, but these kinds of events are the type of thing that has potential to look like the enabling act in a history book someday