There were many significant developments on Wednesday, each of which deserves extended discussion. Since it is beyond the scope of this newsletter to do so, I will adopt the “less is more” approach to frame the news into an accessible format.
President Biden
President Biden signs supplemental aid bill. President Biden signed the supplemental aid bill for Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan—culminating a month’s long effort. See Remarks by President Biden on the Passage of H.R. 815, the National Security Supplemental. President Biden said,
Its path to my desk, it was a difficult path. It should have been easier, and it should have gotten there sooner. But in the end, we did what America always does: We rose to the moment, we came together, and we got it done.
The accomplishment belongs to the American people who lobbied Congress to do the right thing. It also belongs to Democratic leadership in the House and Senate, and President Biden. It took patience and skill to guide the bills through Congress.
Building Trades Union endorse President Biden. North America’s Building Trades Unions endorsed President Biden for re-election. The endorsement is significant not only because of the volunteer and financial support for President Biden but also because the union has come out swinging against Trump's record of betrayal of unions. See Biden picks up another big union endorsement, this one from building trades workers - ABC News.
See the union’s ad attacking Trump here: North America's Building Trades Union.
Biden administration announces rule requiring airlines to issue immediate refund for canceled flights. See WhiteHouse.gov, Biden-Harris Administration Announces Rules to Deliver Automatic Refunds and Protect Consumers from Surprise Junk Fees in Air Travel.
Reproductive liberty
Arizona House repeals 1864 abortion ban.
In recognition that anti-choice extremists are badly out of step with the sentiment of the American people, the Arizona House voted to repeal an 1864 law that banned abortion and criminalized abortion healthcare. The repeal in the House came after all Democrats and three Republicans voted in favor of the repeal. See Arizona state House passes bill to repeal 1864 abortion ban.
The repeal is also expected to pass in the Arizona Senate. After several additional procedural steps, the 1864 law will no longer be effective, leaving Arizona’s fifteen week abortion ban in effect.
Republicans may have been motivated out of concern for women or for their political fortunes. But given that only a handful of Republicans crossed the aisle to repeal the ban, Democrats cannot relent in their efforts to flip both chambers of the Arizona legislature.
The repeal will give US Senate candidate Kari Lake a fourth opportunity to flip-flop on her position about the 1864 law. See MSNBC, Kari Lake's stance on Arizona's 1864 abortion ban takes another baffling swerve.
Reactionaries on US Supreme Court appear skeptical of federal government authority to require emergency pregnancy healthcare, including abortion
The Supreme Court heard oral argument on a case challenging the authority of the federal government to require emergency rooms to provide healthcare for pregnancy-related emergencies, including abortions. Predictably, the reactionary majority seemed skeptical of the federal government’s ability to mandate abortion healthcare during pregnancy emergencies. See Talking Points Memo, Conservatives Weave Anti-Abortion Fantasyland To Allow Emergency Room Abortion Bans.
Per Talking Points Memo,
The Court’s conservative wing tried with increasing and atextual persistence to convince listeners that Idaho’s strict ban still allows emergency room doctors to provide abortions to women in varying states of medical distress, and not just when doctors are sure the patient is facing death. They crafted a kind of anti-abortion fantasyland where not only do exceptions work, but that the narrowest ones will amenably stretch to cover all the sympathetic cases.
If there is any hope of avoiding another decision that forces women to risk death before receiving abortion healthcare, it may come from the fact that the attorney for Idaho was so condescending toward women that he may have alienated Justice Barrett. See Lithwick and Stern, The Lawyer Defending Idaho’s Abortion Ban Irritated the One Justice He Needed on His Side.
Lithwick and Stern describe the dismissive attitude of Idaho’s attorney regarding near death for women as a threshold for medical care as follows:
In his toneless, dispassionate telling, his entirely incomprehensible position was just too complex for them to understand. And so he just kept repeating it, over and over. These justices, including Barrett, sounded increasingly fed up with his chin-stroking dissembling on an issue that’s literally life-or-death for pregnant women in red states. If the court’s male members noticed Turner’s dismissive attitude toward their colleagues, they didn’t care. The gender divide on the court has never been so revealing.
Trump's failed coup attempt
Arizona indicts fake electors and Trump accomplices for effort to overturn the 2020 election
In a significant development, an Arizona grand jury indicted seven Trump accomplices in the “fake electors” scheme designed to overturn the 2020 election. The indictment also charged the eleven fake electors. See Washington Post, Meadows, Giuliani and other Trump allies charged in Arizona 2020 election probe. (Article is accessible to all.)
The defendants include former Chief of Staff Mark Meadows and Trump attorneys Rudy Giuliani, Jenna Ellis, John Eastman, Christina Bobb and top campaign adviser Boris Epshteyn.
The new case is long-overdue but welcome, nonetheless. Every additional case that seeks to punish those who engaged in the attempted coup helps to reinforce the rule of law and establish the historical record of Trump's criminal conduct.
Trump is included in the indictment as “Unindicted Co-conspirator Number One.” His omission from the indictment may reflect uncertainty surrounding his presidential immunity defense, currently before the Supreme Court. Read on!
Supreme Court will hear Trump's presidential immunity defense on Thursday
In his federal election interference trial, Trump asserted that he was absolutely immune from criminal liability for actions taken as president. Incredibly, the Supreme Court dignified that defense by accepting review of the DC Circuit’s opinion that ruled the defense does not exist.
Although most reputable legal observers believe the Court will reject all or most of Trump's claim, the delay in getting to an obvious result is rewarding Trump's strategy of asserting baseless claims to avoid accountability. Indeed, the Court’s delay is putting its legitimacy at risk. See Dennis Aftergut on MSNBC, The Supreme Court cannot further delay ruling on Trump's immunity.
Per Aftergut, the delay denies the public’s right to a speedy trial of Trump's alleged crimes:
To drag out legal proceedings ignores both the principles of jurisprudence and the common welfare. The Speedy Trial Act of 1974 “was designed not just to benefit defendants but also to serve the public interest” — the words of Justice Samuel Alito, writing for a unanimous court in 2006.
As Aftergut notes, the Court can (and should) rule quickly:
Fortunately, a prompt decision in the Supreme Court is made easy by the excellent roadmap in the D.C. Circuit’s thorough decision. In light of the urgent political implications and the simplicity of the single issue before the justices, it should decide his immunity claim no more than a two weeks after hearing oral arguments.
If the Court quickly rejects Trump's baseless defense, Judge Chutkan could still schedule a trial before the election.
Opportunities for reader engagement
Please join me—Robert Hubbell—in a conversation with Dr. Kristin Hook, who is seeking to defeat GOP Rep. Chip Roy in CD 21 in Texas.
Dr. Kristin Hook, candidate for Texas Congressional District 21. See Meet Kristin | Dr Kristin Hook for Congress. Dr. Hook is challenging MAGA extremist Rep. Chip Roy in a district that has been gerrymandered to make it extremely difficult for a Democratic candidate to win. Gerrymandering by Republican legislatures discourages Democratic participation in elections. In Texas, 11% of federal elections and 38% of state elections are uncontested!
Choosing to run against Chip Roy in deep red Texas is an act of courage and hope. And when a Democrat enters a race with long odds, we cannot simply say, “Good luck! Let us know how it turns out!” Those brave candidates are helping other Democrats up and down the ballot and deserve our support. Without it, candidates cannot win; with it, the possibility of victory remains open! I will be contributing to help Dr. Kristin Hook give the voters of Texas CD 21 a choice other than a MAGA extremist.
So, join me in a conversation with Dr. Kristin Hook as she takes on the Herculean task of trying to unseat Chip Roy in the heart of Texas! Sign up here: Meet Dr. Kristin Hook (TX-21) (ngpvan.com). The event will take place on Monday, April 29 at 4pm PST / 6pm CST / 7pm EST.
Join Jessica Craven and Airlift as they help to win the youth vote!
As our anxiety increases about the unpredictability of the youth vote, Airlift has an antidote: Winning The Youth Vote, headlined by Jessica Craven April 30, 5:00 PT/8:00 ET. Jessica is a frontline activist and organizer, author of the hugely popular and inspirational Chop Wood Carry Water newsletter, and creator of Political Tik Tok.
Come hear how Leaders Igniting Transformation (LIT), Airlift’s partner group in WIsconsin, engages youth through their high school, college, and post-education civic engagement and leadership programs, particularly in Black and Brown communities. Your anxiety will decrease! A great ground game in Wisconsin ended gerrymandering, and can again help win the state for Democrats up and down the ballot.
Although this is a fundraiser for LIT, you do not need to donate to participate. Register here for this inspiring program.
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Concluding Thoughts
Another media-sponsored poll of the presidential race was published on Wednesday. The poll is ludicious on its face because it shows an alleged seven-point swing in favor of Trump over the last month. The media swooned over the poll, but largely ignored the election results in the Pennsylvania primary.
In a closed presidential primary, ex-candidate Nikki Haley was able to siphon 16% of the vote away from Trump—a huge defection rate to a candidate who is no longer in the race. Only Newsweek gave the loss the coverage it deserved. See Newsweek, Donald Trump Suffers Huge Vote Against Him in Pennsylvania Primary.
Joe Biden, on the other hand, garnered 88% of the vote on a strong turnout. (President Biden received 300,000 more votes than did Barack Obama in his uncontested reelection primary in Pennsylvania.) It is true that some Pennsylvania Democrats voted for Dean Phillips (6%) while others cast write in votes (6%) as a protest against Biden’s policies toward Israel and the war in Gaza.
While the protest vote is significant and should be respected, most of those voters are unlikely to vote for Trump in November. Republicans who voted for Nikki Haley were not protesting a specific policy. Instead, they were signaling their unwillingness to support Donald Trump.
So, as usual, looking at actual election results gives us every reason to be hopeful but no reason to be complacent!
Talk to you tomorrow!
Clarence Thomas has not recused himself from cases related to events his wife, Ginni, participated in.
His refusal to follow basic ethics, apparent financial corruption, and stated intention to solicit even hypothetical cases to further his agenda warrant his removal from the Court. He aims to strip away Constitutional rights and reverse attempts to address systemic racism and gender inequality in national institutions and policies.
Expand the Supreme Court.
Demand accountability.
Stop Project 2025.
But in the end, we did what America always does: We rose to the moment, we came together, and we got it done.
"Americans always do the right thing. After trying everything else." -- Winston Churchill on being informed the US had declared war on Nazi Germany.