Five Things That Matter: Trans Service Members Reinstated, Chief Justice Roberts Statement

Plus, a Federal Court reinstates the USAID

In our ongoing effort to cut through the noise and highlight political news that matters, here’s a rundown of yesterday’s headlines.

— In light of the impending constitutional crisis, many MAGA voices are calling on Republicans to impeach judges—an effort that is already underway in some cases but unlikely to succeed. Supreme Court Chief Justice Roberts released a statement yesterday suggesting that this would be a bad idea, which isn’t much, but frankly, more than I expected from this Court.

Donald Trump didn’t pillory Roberts for the statement because Roberts didn’t mention him by name, allowing Trump to claim plausible deniability. Likewise, Trump insists he didn’t defy a court order when transporting a number of Venezuelan immigrants by plane. He did defy a court order, but there’s a tiny sliver of good news—only in the sense that he doesn’t want to be seen as doing so. So, he’s only thrown the judiciary 92 percent under the bus.

— It also suggests that when a court reverses a decision—as a federal court did yesterday in striking down Donald Trump and Elon Musk’s attempt to dismantle USAID, ruling it unconstitutional in multiple ways—the administration may listen. I mean, it will still drag its feet, stonewall, and lie about its progress until there’s little left to salvage, but I do know firsthand that at least some entities whose grants were rescinded by the administration but restored by the courts have actually been paid. In any case, the court ruled that email and computer access for all USAID employees should be restored and that the headquarters should be reoccupied.

— Likewise, another federal court yesterday reinstated trans service members whom the administration had banned from the military. “The court knows that this opinion will lead to heated public debate and appeals. In a healthy democracy, both are positive outcomes,” Judge Reyes wrote. “We should all agree, however, that every person who has answered the call to serve deserves our gratitude and respect.” That doesn’t mean, unfortunately, that the Department of Defense won’t make military service painfully uncomfortable for trans people.

— Elsewhere, Trump fired the two Democratic members of the FTC board yesterday. Typically, the FTC board consists of five members—three from the party in power and two from the opposition. Trump simply ignored that, in a move that—again—threatens the independence of federal agencies and is illegal, according to the two members who were fired. In practical terms, though, it’s unlikely to make a huge difference: the existing Republican members of the FTC have the votes and are already terrible enough on their own.

— Finally, I find it unfathomably cruel that the Department of Defense has removed hundreds of web pages honoring decorated military heroes simply because they were not white. A page honoring a Medal of Honor recipient was deleted because the serviceman was Black, with “DEI” added to the web address. Likewise, an article on Jackie Robinson’s military service was erased, as was an article on Native American code talkers. Pages honoring white service members were left intact, which suggests to me that the Department of Defense only cares about the accomplishments of white people.

And yes, while the DoD banned cultural awareness events like Black History Month and Women’s History Month, it still moved forward with its St. Patrick’s Day celebrations. It’s beyond enraging.