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Another day, another act of arson by President TrumpDonald John TrumpMichael Cohen to be released early from prison amid coronavirus pandemic: report Biden assembling White House transition team Top Republicans call on Trump to fund WHO pending director-general's resignation MORE against good government. By now, good government is close to a wasteland. There are a few good institutions left standing. No problem. Theyll be razed in due course.

Parts of the wasteland now include: the intelligence community; law enforcement; Congressional oversight; whistleblowers; medical, scientific, diplomatic and the foreign policy communities. Did I miss one? Trump is currently working on torching inspectors general. Hes just getting warmed up.

So far, his antics are working and will continue to work. Theres no viable resistance.

Trumps latest developing attack against the inspector general community rips at the heart of government oversight. I worked in that community for 10 years, and I know its level of effectiveness and professionalism. IG offices provide much-needed objective assessments, investigations and evaluations of crucial issues that congressional committees are often unable to handle. I worked on Senate oversight committees for 19 years. I am well-steeped in the capabilities of both.

In sniping against the IG community, Trump is attacking Congresss baby. A direct reaction to the abuses of the Nixon administration during Watergate, the signing of the IG Act of 1978 was witnessed by only one remaining member of the United States Senate Patrick LeahyPatrick Joseph LeahyThe Hill's 12:30 Report: Trump turns to lawmakers to advise on reopening Trump taps members of Congress to advise on reopening Can the Trump administration prevent asylum-seeking aliens from entering the US during COVID-19? MORE (D-Vt.). The Act was the law of the land while literally all other present-day senators came into office.

What that means is that IGs have been part of the fabric of good government oversight since the day those other 99 senators took the oath of office. You would think those senators have some skin in the game to protect the institution. All of them, I trust, have called upon IGs to investigate, referee, or provide information either for their committee assignments or, at a minimum, for their constituents.

I invoke the Senate as an institution, here, because it is the most appropriate bulwark against attacks on government oversight. Senators have a bigger bully pulpit than House members, and they each have the power to put holds on administration nominees until they get what they want. This Senate also has the credibility to take action because they are in the presidents party. The question is, does this Senate want to play hardball, or do they just want to jeer from the sidelines? Will they brave Trumps political threats and tweets to rescue their own baby? Lets see if there are any public hints.

For starters, three years of history between Trump and Senate Republicans suggests the Senate will genuflect to Trump. Since Trumps broadside on the IGs, Senate Republicans such as Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Richard Burr (R-N.C.), Susan Collins (R-Maine) and others have issued milquetoast statements expressing outrage, concern or being troubled. Theres been no desire yet to actually do something to crack down on the president for his assault. They simply want the president to respect the next poor sap he picks, if anyone will take the job.

There are some measures individual or groups of senators can take to play hardball with Trump on IGs. In ascending order of toughness: a full-frontal assault in the court of public opinion by numerous senators who oppose Trumps actions and in defense of good government IGs; putting a hold on nominees or legislation, or both, that the White House desperately wants; passing tough legislation as part of Phase Four of the stimulus. The new IG legislation dropped by Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) last week giving IGs a 7-year term with narrow restrictions for dismissal would be a good start; squeezing the White Houses travel budget such as to Mar-a-Lago and other Trump golf hangouts could be another.

These are the traditional ways of playing hardball with the White House or other departments who mess around with IGs. A combination of all four by numerous senators would be daunting. In my Senate career, I was instrumental in removing four IGs from office, with at least an equal number of good IGs rescued from Trump-style assaults (though none was as formidable an opponent as a rogue president). As a staffer, I often used such tactics to get my bosss way.

A starting point for groups of like-minded senators intent on defending the IG community could be the Senate Whistleblower Caucus. Whistleblowers depend on protection from IGs, and Congress depends on IGs to vet whistleblowers. Another group could be individual members of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, with jealous jurisdiction over the IG Act.

A third group has already surfaced: the eight signatories to the April 8 letter spearheaded by Grassley calling for further explanation from Trump on why he sacked ICIG Michael Atkinson. This is an interesting development. It could be the start of a serious push-back against Trump, or it could be a half-hearted attempt, more for show than for results.

On the bright side, the eight are heavy-hitters, and theyre bipartisan. The three Republicans Grassley, Mitt RomneyWillard (Mitt) Mitt RomneyRomney is only GOP senator not on new White House coronavirus task force Trump taps members of Congress to advise on reopening Trump and Senate Republicans at a showdown over government oversight? MORE (R-Utah) and Collins are one Republican short of a potential majority when added to the 47 Democrats. The issue chosen by the eight is the perfect point of departure for a push-back effort The IG did the right thing at the time, by all accounts; the IG was prematurely removed by Trump; and, the explanation was statutorily insufficient. A simple request for a substantive explanation is a logical place to begin pulling on the thread.

On the other hand, check out Grassleys tweet and statement last week regarding Trumps IG removals. He seems to have chosen footsy over hardball. It seems like hes trying to reason with a ten-year-old to eat his vegetables, suggesting IGs are merely trying to drain the swamp of problems created by President Obama. This is hardly the language of some Braveheart seeking revenge for the presidents assault on his baby.

This development warrants watching to see if Grassley can pull together a coalition to push back against Trump, or if its all for show while another institutional norm goes the way of Humpty Dumpty. This may be the last chance at a viable resistance to Trump the arsonist.

Kris Kolesnik is a 34-year veteran of federal government oversight. He spent 19 years as senior counselor and director of investigations for Sen.Chuck Grassley(R-Iowa). Kolesnik then became executive director of theNational Whistleblower Center. Finally, he spent 10 years working with the Department of the Interiors Office of Inspector General as the associate inspector general for external affairs.

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Trump and Senate Republicans at a showdown over government oversight? | TheHill - The Hill

Donald TrumpDonald John TrumpMichael Cohen to be released early from prison amid coronavirus pandemic: report Biden assembling White House transition team Top Republicans call on Trump to fund WHO pending director-general's resignation MORE warns that if voting is made easier for more people especially some still frightened by the pandemic You'd never have a Republican elected in this country again.

The president, who has been caught in thousands of lies, is saying what he really believes even if it's hyperbole. This may be an example of a political gaffe, which Michael Kinsley described as when a politician tells "some obvious truth he isn't supposed to say."

This is an especially critical issue now, as parts of the country could be imperiled by the novel coronaviruss second strike in November; the harbinger might be this month's elections in Wisconsin, where there was a surge of absentee ballots though in the confusion some were not counted, and others citizens were forced to choose between their health or in-person voting.

A major fight is brewing in Congress over whether to provide states with real resources to craft alternatives more voting by mail, simplifying absentee voting, opening more and less crowded polling venues. This is fiercely opposed by Trump and Mitch McConnellAddison (Mitch) Mitchell McConnellCalifornia to provide food industry employees with two weeks paid leave Trumpfaces roadblocks with threat to adjourn Congress On The Money: Small business loan program out of money | Lawmakers at impasse over new funds | Senate adjourns for week with no deal | Trump to leave decision on reopening economies with governors MORE as they see it helping lower income voters of color, students and citizens with disabilities.

This reflects a lengthy list of Republicans efforts over the past decade to suppress voting among selective groups. With the help of the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University, which tracks voter suppression, here are a few examples:

This is all done in the name of preventing voter fraud, which itself is a fraud. Virtually every study or analysis from academic research to organizations to foundations to state election boards has found voting fraud in America is almost nonexistent. Trump appointed a commission, headed by Vice President Pence, to refute this overwhelming evidence; it bombed and disbanded.

Last month's stimulus bill, despite objections from Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell, allocated $400 million to the states to enhance voting procedures this fall, when the virus may return in force. That isn't nearly sufficient.

House Speaker Nancy PelosiNancy PelosiTop Republicans call on Trump to fund WHO pending director-general's resignation Overnight Health Care: Trump guidelines on reopening to let governors make decision | Trump approach garners mixed reviews | Senate adjourns without deal on small business loans 14 things to know about coronavirus for today MORE (D-Calif.) wants to add at least $2 billion more in additional measures, without requiring the budget-starved states to kick in. Ideally this should include mandates for voting by mail in the pandemic environment, but Republicans will do anything to stop that.

The hypocrisy, of course, is that in states that already have mail-in voting like Pennsylvania the Republican Party is sending mailers to registered Republicans urging them to vote by mail. Theres obviously nothing inherently wrong or corrupt about the practice; they just dont want it to spread.

Trump and McConnell, whose priorities always are money and power, could care less if thereare more Wisconsins: On anything even approximating a level playing field, the odds are against Republicans winning the presidency and holding the Senate this November so they're trying to tilt the field.

Al Hunt is the former executive editor of Bloomberg News. He previously served as reporter, bureau chief and Washington editor for the Wall Street Journal. For almost a quarter century he wrote a column on politics for The Wall Street Journal, then the International New York Times and Bloomberg View. Follow him on Twitter@AlHuntDC.

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Trump lays bare the Republicans' mail-in voting hypocrisy | TheHill - The Hill

This week, Fox News far-right Laura Ingraham has been trying to make a case for easing social distancing restrictions in the United States. A recurring theme on Ingrahams show has been that social distancing and stay-at-home orders have been going too far and that mainstream media coverage of the coronavirus pandemic is overblown and on Thursday night, she discussed the pandemic with guests who included Dr. Phil McGraw and immunologist Dr. Anthony Fauci.

And now she is being slammed by critics for both interviews.

McGraw told Ingraham, 250 people a year die from poverty, and the poverty line is getting such that more and more people are going to fall below that because the economy is crashing around us. And theyre doing that because people are dying from the coronavirus. I get that, but look, the fact of the matter is: we have people dying 45,000 people a year die from automobile accidents, 480,000 from cigarettes, 360,000 a year from swimming pools. But we dont shut the country down for that, but yet, were doing it for this. And the fallout is going to last for years because peoples lives are being destroyed.

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New Mexico governors office dunks on Republicans after they freak out over criticism of the coronavirus death cult - Raw Story

However, while the Trump administration refuses to aid hard-pressed institutions that employ around 25 million Americans, it has gone all-out to help the oil industry.

Trumps possible success in brokering a deal to cut global oil production I say possible because oil prices havent moved much, which suggests that markets arent impressed made headlines Monday. But I havent seen much commentary about just how strange it is for a U.S. president to be playing that role.

First, since when is it the presidents job to organize international cartels?

Second, why are higher oil prices in the U.S. national interest? Were not a major oil exporter in fact, we import more oil than we export. And if Trumps cartel were actually successful in raising oil prices back to what they were before the current price war, U.S. consumers would pay a heavy price, on the order of $200 billion a year.

So why is propping up oil prices a priority? Trump says that its about jobs. But U.S. oil and gas extraction employs only around 150,000 workers. Thats less than 1 percent of the number of jobs America has lost in the past three weeks. Its only around 0.1 percent of total U.S. employment. Its a rounding error compared with the jobs at risk in hospitals and local government, which Trump is refusing to help.

So what makes oil worthy of aid when hospitals arent?

One answer is that investors have sunk a lot of money into oil, even though few jobs were created. Net fixed assets in oil and gas extraction are around $1.8 trillion, almost twice the total for hospitals, despite far smaller employment. So maybe this isnt about protecting jobs, its about protecting capital.

And this capital happens to be very G.O.P.-friendly: The oil and gas sector makes big political contributions, almost 90 percent of them to Republicans. This is, by the way, in strong contrast to education, which accounts for a majority of state and local government jobs and gives most of its contributions to Democrats.

Finally, while America isnt a net oil exporter, Russia and Saudi Arabia are basically petrostates that export oil and almost nothing else. So propping up oil prices is a way for Trump to help his two favorite autocrats.

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Republicans Dont Want to Save Jobs - The New York Times

The conservative group Republicans for the Rule of Law (RRL) has created an ad criticizing President Donald Trump's recent assertion that he alone has absolute authority to force governors to re-open their state's businesses shuttered during the coronavirus epidemic.

The ad's tagline: "You're a president, not a king."

The ad, which will air on Fox & Friends on Friday in Washington, D.C. and be promoted across digital platforms, begins by stating, "Donald Trump thinks he is a king," as an explosion reveals a pointed golden crown upon his head.

The video then shows footage from Trump's April 13 White House coronavirus briefing in which he said, "When somebody's the President of the United States, the authority is total."

"As Americans sacrifice to fight the worst health crisis in a century," the ad's narrator continues, "our governors and local leaders are taking decisive action to protect their communities and reopen the economy safely. But now President Trump thinks he has absolute power to tell states what to do."

The ad then contains footage of CBS News correspondent Paula Reid asking Trump on April 14, "Has any governor agreed that you have the authority to decide when their state opens back up?"

The remainder of the ad shows footage from various parts of the briefing in which Trump said, "The President of the United States has the authority to do what the President of the United States has the authority to do which is very powerful. The President of the United States calls the shots.... The authority is total."

"No Mr. President," the ad concludes. "You don't have total authority. You're a president, not a king," the narrator declares as the CGI crown upon Trump's head disappears in a flash of smoke.

The 10th Amendment of the Constitution gives U.S. states the right to govern themselves outside of any congressional or presidential powers specifically mentioned elsewhere in the Constitution.

"In a democracy, it ultimately falls to ordinary citizens to keep the government's power in check. When officials like President Trump get out of line, it is imperative that we call them on it. It is not an exaggeration to say that the first steps toward a dictatorship are unfounded assertions of power just like President Trump's," Chris Truax, spokesperson for RRL, wrote in a statement emailed to Newsweek.

Truax added that RRL considers Trump administration's response to the coronavirus crisis to be "shambolic, even embarrassing."

"It's absurd for the President to demand new powers to deal with the crisis after he spent almost two months refusing to use the powers that he does have and insisting that no action was necessary," Truax wrote.

RRL was created in 2019 by the conservative political group Defending Democracy Together. Both groups say that Trump has violated the founding national principle that a nation's leader must comply with the law.

"Every time one part of the governmentCongress, the courts, the statestries to hold President Trump accountable, he tells them he's only accountable to another part of the government," the RRL website states.

As evidence, the Defending Democracy Together website cites Trump's refusal to provide evidence during the Congressional impeachment process, his Justice Department's claims that the courts lack judicial authority to restrain his actions and his surrogates' claims that he has the executive authority to shut down any investigations and legally pardon himself and his associates for any doings.

RRL has released several ads over the past year raising concerns about Trump's leadership and urging Congressional Republicans to hold Trump to Constitutional principles.

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GOP Group to Air Ad on Fox Refuting Trump's Claim of Total Authority - Newsweek