An extraordinary turn. The best possible news: “Sen. Chris Van Hollen told reporters Monday evening that he’s in ‘listening mode’ about a potential bid for majority leader — and isn’t yet ruling out running against Chuck Schumer. ‘What I’ve said from the very beginning is we shouldn’t have a coronation,’ said Van Hollen, a Maryland Democrat, adding that he ‘hasn’t shut the door.’” Van Hollen would be a vast improvement, but the benefit of a leadership challenge, in any event, would be to keep Schumer on his toes.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) is on the case. “In March, bipartisan members of Congress urged the Department of Commerce to suspend or reconsider NVIDIA’s export licenses to China and conduct a full national security review. Since then, NVIDIA has reportedly received approvals to export hundreds of thousands of advanced AI chips to China, including to companies tied to China’s military, all while attempting to influence the debate over chip controls in Washington, D.C.,” she said in a statement. “NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang’s confirmation of a relationship with a suspected spy for China’s intelligence service makes these national security concerns even more urgent and raises important questions NVIDIA must answer about the extent to which these activities were related.” She added: “It is time for Congress to take decisive action to pass key bills like the AI Overwatch Act in the NDAA that will cut off pathways through which China accesses advanced chips.”
A total failure of corporate governance. “Having your chief executive caught in an alleged Chinese honeytrap isn’t a good look, and Jensen Huang’s involvement with an executive at a Singaporean data-center is rightly getting huge attention from the Nvidia board, shareholders and the media,” the Wall Street Journal pointed out. “But having your chief executive admit an affair that is claimed to be with an executive at a major, and controversial, customer is exactly the sort of thing that should matter to investors and the board—even if she isn’t a spy.”
Trump is utterly out to lunch. CNBC: “President Donald Trump said he spoke to Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang on Monday, and that Huang denied knowing that the woman he admitted having an extramarital affair with ‘was a spy’ for China.” (Well, yes, that’s the point of getting duped by a spy — you’re in the dark!) Trump claims he just found out about the spy reports, but other news accounts said Trump had been briefed a year ago and didn’t want to upset chip sales. (Is Trump lying? Did he forget he was told?) Now, this is a major scandal.
The free pass for AI is over. “Voters overwhelmingly supported ballot initiatives that aimed to rein in data center development, and they elected to office governors and legislators who promised to do the same,” the New York Times reported. It’s about time tech companies felt the heat. (“The mere suggestion of scrutiny in Washington has rattled both Silicon Valley and Wall Street, which enjoyed two years of lax regulation under Republicans’ watch.”)
No one deserves it more. “Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., on Monday reintroduced articles of impeachment against Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth over the U.S. war with Iran and other military actions ordered by President Donald Trump,” NBC News reported. “Massie brought up the measure as privileged under House rules, which means Republican leaders will be forced to bring it up for a floor vote within two legislative days.” (Hegseth’s bonkers press conference claiming that “In the 250 years of our American republic, no Secretary of War or Secretary of Defense has ever been impeached for carrying out lawful military operations” misses the point. The order was blatantly illegal.)
Margaret Sullivan nails it. Is Stephen Miller “just a fellow with ‘zealous views,’ as the Wall Street Journal would have it? Is he simply ‘caustic and uncompromising,’ as Reuters put it? In covering Miller’s promotion, only two outlets, according to [Judd] Legum’s Popular Information, used the accurate term ‘white nationalist’,” she wrote. “Sane-washing, sanitizing, pussy-footing and soft-pedaling helped get us to the extremely dangerous brink of losing our democracy. It needs to stop now. Direct and accurate language, media — do it now!”
The extrajudicial killings in and of themselves are worthy of impeachment. Just Security recently raised a host a critical questions: “Were military lawyers able to challenge the legal justification? Did commanders have the opportunity to raise concerns about intelligence, targeting, or civilian casualties? And were those concerns seriously considered? …. Given the manifest illegality of the operations, the most likely scenarios are either that leaders disregarded the advice of lawyers or that lawyers provided obviously flawed advice while other lawyers kept their heads low – or a combination of both.” We need to find out.
Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) will replace Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) as ranking member on Appropriations. Politico reported: “Anything Murkowski does to challenge the administration is likely to invite ire from Trump as she weighs whether to run for reelection in 2028, when she will almost certainly face a Republican challenger the president endorses.” If she acts like a lapdog like Collins, she’ll lose as well. For starters, she would be wise to join Dems in restoring Medicaid and SNAP funding.
“There has to be accountability in this country.” Don’t mess with incoming Chairman of the House Oversight Committee Rep. Robert Garcia (D-CA). “Stephen Miller has been the architect of Trump’s cruel and unconstitutional mass deportation campaign. Todd Blanche doesn’t want us to take him on. Why? The American people deserve accountability for the harms done by ICE and DHS in this country. ... Justice is important to those who have been harmed.”
Joe Biden bears his own burden. He wrote: “Donald Trump led an insurrection. His goal was to remain in power after the American people had voted him out of office. That’s the truth. It was a violent assault. … What Trump did on January 6, 2021, should never be forgotten. It should follow him to his grave.” Biden’s own sin: Picking Merrick Garland as attorney general, who dragged his feet, leaving Trump free to run for and win another term.
Hegseth never should have been confirmed for that job. He did not have the necessary qualifications for such a lofty role. He is a pathological narcissist much like Trump.
Well, if Schumer is not elected Senate Majority Leader, at least he will have more opportunities to spend quality time with the Baileys.