Trump 47

[Polds4OSU]

Ed Martin, Trump loving, outspoken Justice Department lawyer, is formally accused of ethical violations​

Link via CNN


Ed Martin, an outspoken Trump administration official, is facing attorney discipline proceedings in Washington, DC, for a letter he sent to Georgetown Law about its diversity programs, the district’s professional conduct investigator announced on Tuesday.

Martin is formally accused of violating his ethical codes as an attorney for telling Georgetown Law’s dean last year that his Justice Department office wouldn’t hire students because of the school’s diversity, inclusion and equity initiatives programs, according to the filing from Hamilton Fox, the disciplinary counsel for DC who acts as a quasi-prosecutor on attorney discipline matters.


Unlike unsolicited complaints, Fox’s formal disciplinary complaint kicks off professional conduct proceedings for Martin in which he will need to respond and could be sanctioned or ultimately lose his law license.

Fox’s announcement on Tuesday marks the first major bar discipline proceeding against a high-profile administration official or attorney supporting President Donald Trump during Trump’s second term. Several Trump lawyers faced disciplinary proceedings after the efforts to overturn Joe Biden’s victory in the 2020 presidential election, including Rudy Giuliani, who lost his law license.

“Acting in his official capacity and speaking on behalf of the government, he used coercion to punish or suppress a disfavored viewpoint, the teaching and promotion of ‘DEI,’” Fox wrote in the complaint. “He demanded that Georgetown Law relinquish its free speech and religious rights in order to continue to obtain a benefit, employment opportunities for its students.”


Martin was removed from the top prosecutor job in DC after senators made clear he would not be confirmed to the role, but has remained at the Justice Department in several roles, including as pardon attorney.

“Mr. Martin knew or should have known that, as a government official, his conduct violated the First and Fifth Amendments to the Constitution of the United States,” Fox wrote.

Martin is being represented by a Justice Department attorney, a source told CNN.

 

[oks10]

Sorry, what?...

https://twitter.com/x/status/2031242030719045851

 

[cowboyinexile]

Sorry, what?...

https://twitter.com/x/status/2031242030719045851

What is she going to advise them on? Are we just assigning random friends jobs in the administration?

 

[Pokey]

What is she going to advise them on? Are we just assigning random friends jobs in the administration?

Sure seems that way to me. Qualifications be damned.

 

[PF5]

 

[PF5]

Statue depicting Trump, Epstein as Jack, Rose from 'Titanic' appears on National Mall WUSA9

 

[Polds4OSU]

Shots fired at US consulate in Toronto, Canada, officials say​

link via CBS

MSN

 

[Polds4OSU]

We are headed directly to Trump Casino territory baby!

‘This cannot be sustainable’: The US borrowed $50 billion a week for the past five months, the CBO says​

The U.S. Treasury’s borrowing showed no signs of slowing as the U.S. headed deeper into fiscal year 2026, with the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) reporting that another $1 trillion was added to the federal deficit in the first five months of the year.

The monthly budget review from the CBO, updated to February 2026 and released yesterday, showed that the government is estimated to have borrowed $308 billion last month alone.


Of course, with more borrowing comes higher interest costs on the debt. Between October 2025 (when the 2026 fiscal year started) and February, the Treasury spent an additional $31 billion on net interest on public debt, compared to the prior year. As a result, in just five months, the Treasury forked out a total of $433 billion to service public debt, which is now nearing $38.9 trillion.

The CBO said that outlays for interest increased “because the debt was larger than it was in the first five months of fiscal year 2025 and because of higher long-term interest rates.” It added: “Declines in short-term interest rates partially mitigated the overall rise in interest payments.”

Despite the eye-watering sums, the deficit was actually an improvement on last year’s borrowing. For the same period (October 2024 to February 2025), the government needed to borrow an additional $142 billion compared to this year’s figure.


However, the improvement will do little to reassure budget hawks pushing for the U.S. to get its fiscal house in better order. Maya MacGuineas, president of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget (CRFB), said that interest payments on the debt are expected to exceed $1 trillion this year, and will surpass $2 trillion by 2036.

“This cannot be sustainable,” MacGuineas said. “Our fiscal problems will not solve themselves. We need policymakers to come together, agree to reduce deficits—a 3% deficit-to-GDP target would be a great start—and put our national debt on a downward sustainable path as a share of the economy.”

Economists aren’t necessarily worried by the total level of debt (in fact, government debt is a necessary foundation of global markets). Rather it’s the debt-to-GDP ratio, which measures a nation’s borrowing against its growth. If this tips too far out of balance, growth can be hampered by the excessive amount of cash needed for interest payments.


While the call for an annual 3% deficit-to-GDP target differs from the debt-to-GDP ratio, it still ties government borrowing to the economy’s output. In recent years, the deficit-to-GDP figure has sat between 5% and 6%.

The government’s balance sheet​

Looking at the first five months of FY26, the deficit picture didn’t improve from FY25 because of a reduction in spending. Rather, the government generated greater revenues to offset its higher spending.

Collections of customs duties—such as revenues from tariffs—were more than four times the amount recorded in the first five months of last year, an increase of $109 billion. While some of the duties collected in 2025 will have to be returned to U.S. importers following a U.S. Supreme Court ruling on February 20, subsequent tariffs announced by the Oval Office mean the shortfall in revenues is relatively subdued.

Likewise, the coffers were further topped up by increases from individual income and payroll (social insurance) taxes, which together increased by $132 billion.


But outlays also grew significantly: In the first five months of the year, spending reached $3.1 trillion, $64 billion more than during the same period last year. Most notably, outlays for the three largest spending programs (social security, Medicare and Medicaid) rose by $104 billion.

The Department of Defense and Department of Veterans Affairs also saw upticks in spending, while the Department of Agriculture, Department of Homeland Security and Department of Education reduced outlays. The Environmental Protection Agency also reported decreased outlays of $20 billion, given the fact that in November and December 2024 the agency spent $20 billion under a clean energy grant program established by the 2022 reconciliation act.