Putting the "Con" in Conservative, Part I: Kristi Noem

For a long, long time, Secretary of the Interior Albert Fall, of Teapot Dome fame, has been the poster child for sleazy Cabinet members. That's probably because Teapot Dome was the biggest political scandal in American history, to that point, and because Fall actually took the fall for the whole mess, and became the first ever Cabinet officer to go to prison for crimes committed while in office.

There have been some pretty godawful Cabinet secretaries since then. Robert McNamara made a mess of the Vietnam War. Earl Butz was an out-and-out racist. Alberto Gonzales was a hatchet man for George W. Bush. And the first Trump administration produced a long list of shady operators, from Tom Price to Ryan Zinke to Bill Barr. We're not so sure that any of them unseated Fall, however, as the Platonic Ideal of corrupt Cabinetry.

These days, with a much less... restrained executive branch, not to mention a president who is all-in on appointing loyal lackeys regardless of qualifications (or lack thereof), we now have a Cabinet member who is making a real run at knocking Fall off his (oil-drenched) perch. That, of course, would be DHS Secretary Kristi Noem. We're not entirely sure what her deal is, actually. Is she just so desperate to hold on to her job that she'll do anything to keep Donald Trump happy? Is she quietly lining her own pockets? Does she actually entertain the fantasy that there are bigger and better things for her in politics? Is she just a True Believer? Could be any of these things.

Whatever is going on, it's gotten so blatant that even Republican members of Congress are getting irritated with Noem. She has been slow-walking contracts they care about and is not easy to communicate with. Their frustration with her is reaching a boiling point. One member (who preferred to be anonymous) said: "You would think a former member of Congress would have more fu**ing respect for the institution she used to serve in." Apparently not.

One senator who does not want to be anonymous is Ted Budd (R-NC). He is furious that Noem is holding up billions of dollars in help to rebuild western North Carolina from the devastation caused by Hurricane Helene. And it is personally her fault because she issued an order that all expenditures over $100,000 have to be personally approved by her, even if Congress already appropriated the funds. It used to be that only presidents thought they could impound funds. Now even lowly cabinet secretaries think they can do it. Budd has responded to Noem by placing a hold on all nominations for DHS, so none of Noem's high-level appointments can be voted on until he is satisfied.

And North Carolina is not the only state suffering due to Noem's (in)actions. Grants for projects in West Virginia are not being released and the funds to help the Texas Hill Country after the devastating floods there in July are also on hold. A spokesperson for DHS said that the secretary is rooting out waste, fraud, and abuse. In reality, she has no authority to do that. If Congress has appropriated funds for some project, she doesn't get a veto on it. She is required by law to spend the money as Congress directed.

Noem is also too busy grandstanding to attend routine meetings she is expected to attend, for example, the Annual Worldwide Threats Assessment Hearing. One senior GOP aide said: "The view among Republicans on the Hill is Secretary Noem is less interested in doing the blocking and tackling of her day job than she is with promoting herself in taxpayer-funded TV commercials."

Actually, self-promotion is not her only consuming interest. She has another major interest: traveling in style. The Coast Guard just spent $172 million for two top-of-the line Gulfstream jets for her use while visiting devastated sites (FEMA is part of Homeland Security). Here is a photo of a Gulfstream G700, which the company claims has the most spacious cabin in the industry:

After all, when visiting a location wiped out by a hurricane or flood, it is important to impress the victims with how wisely taxpayer funds are being deployed and how officials are vigorously rooting out waste, fraud, and abuse. Leona Helmsley worked in the private sector, but would still be proud of Noem.

For the record, flying commercial on United from D.C. to Los Angeles, round trip, costs about $2,100 first class for the most expensive refundable ticket, including one 70-pound suitcase for clothes and another 70-pound suitcase for makeup. Aides can go cattle class for $600. She doesn't need too much of a security detail because the local FBI office can provide it. If first class on a nonstop United flight is too plebeian for Kristi, chartering a light jet to L.A. runs about $75,000 roundtrip. Supposing she makes one trip a month, this comes to $900,000/year (or less, since not all trips are as far as L.A.). Over a 10-year period, that is $9 million in all, a bit cheaper than the $172 million purchase price for the two Gulfstreams (and why TWO?). And on top of the $172 million purchase price, there are maintenance, fuel, pilots, cabin attendants, etc.

Some members of Congress have taken notice. The ranking members of the House Appropriations Committee and Homeland Security Committee, Reps. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) and Lauren Underwood (D-IL), sent Noem a letter including this paragraph:

In addition to raising serious questions about your ability to effectively lead an agency whose procurement strategies appear to vary on a whim, the procurement of new luxury jets for your use suggests that the U.S.C.G. has been directed to prioritize your own comfort above the U.S.C.G.'s operational needs, even during a government shutdown. We are deeply concerned about your judgment, leadership priorities, and responsibility as a steward of taxpayer dollars.

And don't forget that we also had an item on Noem last week, about the Hatch-Act-violating video she recorded that blames Democrats for the shutdown, and that is supposed to be played at all U.S. airports (most of them have refused).

Finally, on top of all of this, she is living rent-free in the house intended for use by the Coast Guard's commandant. It sure beats living the good life in Pierre, SD. (V & Z)

Putting the "Con" in Conservative, Part II: Trump Is Going to Create a Space for His Balls, Damn It

We have such a backlog of items about corrupt behavior from the members of this administration that it seems impossible to get to them all. We'll have to start doing roundups, with maybe four items per day. Even then, though, it will take a good while to get through them all. And that assumes no more corrupt behavior from the administration in the interim. Not a good bet, to say the least.

Today, we're going to content ourselves with writing up the two grifty items that loom large in the news right now. First, of course, is Kristi Noem's many and varied shenanigans (see above). And second is the new White House ballroom. In theory, that project required approvals from a bunch of different parts of the federal bureaucracy. But Donald Trump is like the other New York City president—Theodore Roosevelt—in some ways, and one of those ways is that both men tended to do whatever they wanted, and then to dare Congress (or anyone else) to do anything about it. The Rough Rider pulled that stunt with the Panama Canal, and Trump has now pulled it with a construction project of equal importance.

Yep, that's right. For those who have not already heard, demolition of (part of) the East Wing of the White House commenced yesterday. Gone are the offices used by Eleanor Roosevelt. Gone are the areas used as emergency bunkers during World War II. Gone is the entrance that, until this week, was used by members of the general public when visiting the People's House for a tour.

For Trump to commence construction without any sort of approvals is certainly illegal, but he will suffer no consequences, of course. There's no person or entity currently in a position to hold him accountable who has any interest in doing so. And once there is a person or entity in a position to hold him accountable, they're going to have a hundred fish to fry that are bigger than this one.

That said, the thing that makes this grifty is not Trump tearing apart the White House of his own volition. That's icky, but it's not grifty. No, the grifty part is the funding for the ballroom. The President has yet to give any meaningful details, in terms of who is paying, how much they are paying, and exactly what their reward might be for their generosity. He did host a dinner with some fat-cat rich guys last week, and that was apparently a shakedown fundraiser. But the almost total lack of details is obviously not a good sign. The two obvious questions: (1) Is some rich guy going to donate, say, $10 million so he can have a little metal plaque on a sign outside the ballroom mentioning his name, or is he going to want something more for his 8-figure donation? and (2) Is the only thing Trump is getting out of this the glory of remaking the White House, or is there a little something else in it for him, as well?

The whole thing stinks, and we don't foresee getting any clear answers anytime soon. It's also going to be very interesting to see how the next Democratic president plays this. We doubt they will have the new structure torn down, since that would look petty (even if it was well justified). Maybe they will say, "You know, the tents on the West Lawn were kind of a pain in the rear, and now that we've got a space, I guess we'll just make the best of it." Alternatively, there is a long history of new presidents modifying the building to serve the needs of their administration. Perhaps they could throw up some partitions in there, and use the space for the White House Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion? (Z)

Another Trump Nominee Is about to Bite the Dust...

The Senate does not stand up to Donald Trump very often, but occasionally the Republican majority is asked to approve a nominee who is simply a bridge too far. Matt Gaetz was one, Alina Habba is another and, as of yesterday, Paul Ingrassia appears to have joined the list.

Ingrassia was tapped by Trump to lead the Office of Special Counsel, and was supposed to go before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday. There were already concerns about the candidate's... extreme views, and yesterday those concerns reached a boiling point, thanks to Politico. That publication is all over the "bigoted text messages" beat these days, having exposed the problematic messages from the Young Republicans last week, and now having shared some messages from Ingrassia that are—as hard as this is to believe—even worse. It would seem it's definitely time to update the old chestnut we deployed last week, to "Don't send anything via text that you wouldn't want to see in Politico."

So, what choice observations did Ingrassia share via text? Well, he said that Martin Luther King Jr. is his generation's version of George Floyd, and that the holiday in his honor should be "tossed into the seventh circle of hell." The would-be White House staffer also wants to get rid of Juneteenth and Kwanzaa (which he spells 'kwanza'), which he describes as "moulignon holidays," utilizing an Italian slur for Black people. He also decreed that victimhood is Black people's "natural state," and that they cannot overcome that, which is why all the countries in Africa are "sh**hole countries." Obviously, you can see why Trump likes this guy.

Although much of Ingrassia's venom was directed at the Black folks, he also had some keen insights about other groups, as well. For example, in a text expressing his disdain for Vivek Ramaswamy, Ingrassia wrote: "Never trust a chinaman or Indian." Maybe he's been watching too many John Wayne films. He also said that he "celebrates white men and white civilization," and that minorities should read books about George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, if they know how to read.

The part that appears to have been most damaging, however, involves a conversation that Politico did not print in its entirety. Maybe they didn't receive the whole thing, but it's more likely that they were trying not to reveal the identity of the person or people who leaked the texts. Whatever the case might be, it's not clear exactly what prompted this remark, but one of the other people in the chats wrote, in response to some sort of comment from Ingrassia: "Paul belongs in the Hitler Youth with Ubergruppenfuhrer Steve Bannon." And Ingrassia responded: "I do have a Nazi streak in me from time to time, I will admit it." Yikes. Not a great look for someone who was already criticized for associating with known antisemites, including Nick Fuentes and Andrew Tate.

It is possible that the other stuff also angered the Republican senators, and it is possible it did not. None of them have said. Those senators who have already come out against Ingrassia did all reference the antisemitism, however. At the moment, it is a trio of GOP senators who have said they are "no" votes. If those three were, say, Lisa Murkowski (AK), Susan Collins (ME) and Mitch McConnell (KY), it's possible Ingrassia might survive, with the help of J.D. Vance's tiebreaker vote. But it's not those three; it's Rick Scott (FL), James Lankford (OK) and Ron Johnson (WI). If a candidate has lost three of the most conservative members of the Republican conference, and nearly all of the other members are keeping mum, that is big trouble when it comes to confirmation.

The other senator who has spoken up, besides those three, is Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD). While not necessarily revealing his own voting plans, he told reporters that he "hopes" the White House withdraws the nomination. And just in case the subtext wasn't clear there, the Majority Leader later explained that "[Ingrassia's] not gonna pass." It is not often that a president, even Donald Trump, fails to take that hint. It does happen, but maybe only once a decade. So, one presumes there will be an announcement today or tomorrow that Ingrassia has decided to withdraw from consideration so he can pursue other opportunities. Then Trump will appoint him to some job that does not require Senate confirmation.

We wonder—and we may never learn the answer—if Ingrassia would have survived, but for last week's texting scandal. One story along these lines might be an outlier, but two is a trend, and a trend that does not comport well with the administration's claims that it cares deeply about antisemitism at U.S. universities. One thing is certain, though: Any Republican who has said whackadoodle stuff in a text message in the last 2-3 years should be nervous, because who knows what other data dumps Politico is sitting on.

We are very glad that there are still a few publications, like Politico, that are not cowed by Trump. We wish there were more. We observed that Sunday, the day after millions of people protested Trump on No Kings Day, the lead story on The New York Times website was about "George Santos" getting out of prison. Wethinks their priorities are a bit off. (Z)

And, in Related News, Tommy Tuberville Is an Out-and-Out Bigot

Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) is certainly the biggest mouth-breather among the current members of the Senate. Indeed, there's a good chance that he's the dumbest U.S. Senator of all time, which is really saying something for a body that has included among its members William L. Scott (R-VA), Dan Quayle (R-IN) and Robert R. Reynolds (D-NC).

Meanwhile, in a development that is very much related to his stupidity, and is not at all surprising, Tuberville is also a huge bigot. Sure, he's indulged in a few dog whistles before, but now he's not even bothering with that pretense. Appearing on one of the many Fox channels, Tuberville got himself worked up into a lather when the subject of Zohran Mamdani was raised by Fox entertainer Larry Kudlow. And so, the Senator uncorked this assessment of the would-be mayor:

I think we oughta pack him up and send him home. My God, we do not need that anywhere in this country, especially New York. You know, it's—what a great city that was. But he's gonna manage to bring it all the way down. Right now, it's headed that direction with, you know, no law enforcement and all those crazy things that the Democrats are coming up with.

But, you know, we've got a huge problem in this country, Larry, with Sharia law and the Muslims trying to take over all the areas in our country. And so, I hope we wake up and smell the roses.

Uhhhh... all right, then.

To start with, we absolutely refuse to believe there has ever been a time in Tuberville's life that he looked at New York and said "What a great city!" Undoubtedly, he's been carping about crime, or brown people, or Black people, or some other issue there since he was a wee bigot. Meanwhile, note that he is openly declaring that a legal U.S. citizen should be deported because that citizen is Muslim and has presumed to run for political office. Tuberville also indulges in the stereotype that anyone who is Muslim has it, as their goal, to impose Sharia law on their city/state/nation. Is that claim meaningfully different than asserting that, say, the only thing Black men want is to have sex with all the white women? Or decreeing that the only thing the Jews want is to control the banks? Or the only thing Mexicans want is to collect welfare checks so they don't have to work? They are all vile generalizations with no basis in reality.

We're not sure exactly why Tuberville has gotten so much more comfortable letting his chauvinistic flag fly these days. Is it because he's running for governor of Alabama, and no longer has to be concerned, even a little, about Republican voters elsewhere? Is it because he has stopped giving a damn? Is it because he's further and further removed from his coaching days, and so further removed from daily reminders that people not like him are still people too?

Now, we probably wouldn't normally write this story up because everyone already knows what kind of man Tuberville is. However, you pair this with the story above, and the Young Republican text messages from last week, and it really makes clear that the GOP (at least, the MAGA division of the GOP) has been transported back to the 1950s when it comes to limits (or lack thereof) on expressing these kinds of ideas. Donald Trump has said that was the decade he had in mind, the decade that America was last "great." And so, at least in this one way, he has indeed made America "great" again. (Z)

New York City Mayoral Race Is Getting Closer... but Not THAT Close

In view of the previous story, this seems as opportune a time as any to do an update on the New York City mayor's race. The candidates held their first debate over the weekend, and while we didn't watch the whole thing, we did watch the highlights. It was pretty clear (and those who did watch the whole thing affirmed this) that Andrew Cuomo ("I") did not have the sort of breakthrough he needs. He came across as the slick political insider he's always been, and he took withering fire from both Zohran Mamdani (D) and Curtis Sliwa (R). You don't spend as much time in politics as Cuomo has without being able to hold serve in such situations, and he did, but he didn't pick up ground. And if he doesn't pick up ground, and soon, he's toast.

Put another way, the polling is not looking good for Cuomo. There are three different aggregators currently collecting and averaging polls, and here's how they each have it right now:

Aggregator	Mamdani	Cuomo	Sliwa	Net
Decision Desk	45.4%	31.4%	16.6%	Mamdani +14%
RealClearPolling	45.3%	27.9%	14.1%	Mamdani +17.4%
Race to the White House	47.1%	29.5%	15.7%	Mamdani +17.6%

Alternatively, if you prefer individual polls, there have been four of them done since Eric Adams exited the race:

Pollster	Mamdani	Cuomo	Sliwa	Net
Patriot Polling	43%	32%	19%	Mamdani +11%
Gotham Polling & Analytics/AARP	43%	29%	19%	Mamdani +14%
Beacon/Shaw/Fox	52%	28%	14%	Mamdani +24%
Quinnpiac	46%	33%	15%	Mamdani +13%

It is hard to take seriously a house called Patriot Polling (and it is indeed a Republican firm). That Beacon and Shaw poll is legit, because Beacon is a Democratic house and Shaw is a Republican house, but the result does appear to be an outlier. So, it's probably fair to say that Mamdani is now up 13-14 points, with the majority of Adams' support having migrated to Cuomo. There is going to be one more debate—tomorrow—but it's hard to imagine Cuomo performing so brilliantly, or Mamdani screwing up so badly, that it's enough to wipe out a double-digit lead. Yeah, it's happened once or twice before, but it's very rare.

That means that Cuomo's best—and probably only—hope is that Sliwa drops out, and then his voters jump ship to Cuomo. This conclusion is obvious enough that Cuomo is now openly pleading for Sliwa to throw in the towel. So is Sliwa's very conservative boss, billionaire grocery and radio tycoon John Catsimatidis. And yesterday, in an amazing coincidence, Fox and The New York Post both ran op-eds demanding that Sliwa end his campaign. Our question is how the other Rupert-Murdoch-owned, New-York-based outlet—The Wall Street Journal—did not get the memo. That paper did run an op-ed telling the Democratic Party they need to get rid of people like Mamdani if they want to start winning elections again. The Journal's newfound concern for the fate of the blue team is touching.

Sliwa, for his part, says he's not going anywhere, and we believe him. First of all, that is on-brand for him, as someone who fancies himself an iconoclast. Second, he's run for mayor before, and been urged to drop out before, and he didn't do it then, so why would he do it now? That said, according to the Gotham Polling & Analytics/AARP poll, it's Mamdani with 45% and Cuomo with 41%, along with 15% undecided, if Sliwa does indeed drop out. In that case, it would turn into a real race. (Z)

There's Something Happening Here: The No Kings Protests, Part III

Another half-dozen reader reports from the No Kings protests this weekend:

J.S. in Sudbury, MA, writes: Over 800 enthusiastic protesters were downtown in Hudson, MA. My favorite sign:

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G.N. in Albuquerque, NM, writes: I was traveling from Albuquerque to Denver so I needed to find a place to stop if I could. A large part of the motivation to figure this out was from reading the comments about No Kings on Friday. So, I ended up in Walsenburg, CO, which was along the way. One nice thing about going to a small town protest, at least in this case, is that they feed you! There were 170 people there from their best estimates. One encouraging thing was seeing a lot of older white guys honking their support and some of them were even driving pickups (there were, of course, a few thumbs down and fingers too, but a lot more positive responses). I must admit that sometimes I feel like I am the only one in my demographic who supports this stuff, so going to an area that Trump won and seeing that kind of support was nice:

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J.S. in Seattle, WA, writes: I just got home from the No Kings protest in my town, Lake Forest Park, WA, a small Seattle suburb. It was a fun and uplifting experience, despite a steady rain. There was a really enthusiastic crowd, maybe around a thousand people, spread along the sides of the two heavily traveled state highways that come to a junction in the heart of town. The junction is known locally as "Democracy Corner," because it has been the location of regular protests and vigils dating back to the Iraq War.

The protest was scheduled from 3:30 to 5:00, and there was a lot of traffic and a lot of waves and honks from most of the drivers. I didn't see any negative reactions other than a noisy pickup truck that let out smoky exhaust as it zoomed by. There were some great signs and a lot of inflatable costumes, and I was able to get some photos:

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L.E. from Santa Barbara via Victorville, CA, writes: Due to a prior obligation, we were on the road and unable to attend the Santa Barbara No Kings event. However, when we arrived at our Saturday night destination, Victorville, CA, we found a huge No Kings event there. The San Bernardino Sheriff's Department estimated 1,000 participants. This doesn't count all of those (like us) who were honking as we drove by the gathering:

A cherry on top of the whipped cream was the giant pick up truck we saw driving by flying the American flag and... a "Newsom 2028" banner.

I felt so happy that we could participate in some small way, having missed the Santa Barbara event.

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H.B. in State College, PA, writes: We had a great turnout of 2,000-3,000 or so on a perfect day in State College! Lifted my spirits tremendously in these dark times:

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R.L.D. in the Beautiful Black Hills, WY and SD, writes: In all my 57 years, I've only ever known Spearfish, SD, to have two protests and they were both No Kings protests. Yesterday, I drove the beautiful half hour of Black Hills scenery to the bustling metropolis to attend my second ever protest in the Queen City, so that I might say 'no' to royalty in America. It was a bit chilly, hovering about 47 degrees with some wind. Pretty typical for fall in the Hills, but also not exactly fun to stand in for an hour and half. But stand there we did. I don't have an official count, but my own Fermi estimate suggests maybe 100 people. And on top of that were all the smiles, waves, and honks of solidarity from the people driving past on the two main arteries. There were a few thumbs down from some passers-by. One lady yelled out her window "You're not even from Spearfish!" The hell I'm not! Lady, my name is emblazoned in bronze on a plaque at the middle school from back when I was on the school board that built that school. Spearfish is big enough now that you wouldn't necessarily know everyone or recognize them on the side of the street, but I have no doubts that the only non-Spearfishians in the crowd were people like me coming in from outlying towns.

My favorite sign this time around: "Our last king had dementia too!" There were veterans protesting troops patrolling American cities. At least three of us had signs about how we all love America.

It being a college town, Spearfish is a bit bluer than average, but it really says something that so many people braved the weather to let their neighbors know how they feel about all this nonsense. And to the man who shook his fist out his driver's window to yell out "Trump 2028," thanks for demonstrating exactly what we're up against. I still think we all (or at least one of us in every state) need to know how to protest putting on the ballot the name of a person who is ineligible to the office:

More tomorrow! Good medicine for those who are feeling dispirited. (Z)

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