"The New Civil Liberties Alliance, tied to uber-GOP legal activist Leonard Leo & the infamous "Koch network," ... filed an amicus brief in the landmark Supreme Court case that overturned Chevron deference and let judges disregard legal interpretations of subject matter experts at federal agencies — a major goal for GOP activists ever since Democrats came to dominate administrative agencies."

Now it's filing a lawsuit to stop President Donald Trump's import tax.

https://www.rawstory.com/new-civil-liberties-alliance/
#cracks

"Republicans condemned a Defense Department deputy press secretary who posted antisemitic and white supremacist rants on social media — and questioned the Trump administration's vetting process."

https://www.rawstory.com/kingsley-wilson-2671277643/
#cracks

"The scale of the planned layoffs at the VA is far greater than proposed cuts at other government agencies, and will hit a department that looks after one of the most beloved groups in the U.S., its military veterans.

Naveed Shah, political director of Common Defense, a grassroots veterans group, decried the planned layoffs.

"He's gutting the system that was designed to care for our brothers and sisters in arms." "

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/department-veterans-affairs-cut-80000-jobs-part-trump-cuts-2025-03-05/
#cracks

" Republican voters strongly back federal limits on the prices charged by drug companies and hospitals, caps on patients’ medical bills, and restrictions on how health care providers can pursue people over #MedicalDebt.

Even #Medicaid, the state-federal insurance program that Republican congressional leaders are eyeing to dramatically cut, is viewed favorably by many GOP voters."

https://www.rawstory.com/trump-economy-2671235999/
#cracks

Department heads are telling their staff to ignore Musk's demand.

https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2025/02/doge-email-last-week-elon-musk/

So far, Sean Curran (Secret Service) has told his staff to comply.

https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2025/02/doge-email-last-week-elon-musk/

And RFK Jr (HHS)

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/rfk-jr-reportedly-ordering-hhs-staff-to-respond-to-elon-musk-s-email-demanding-they-justify-their-jobs-or-quit/ar-AA1zCFEl

"Elon Musk [demanded] that federal workers explain what they accomplished last week — or risk losing their jobs.

Labor unions have threatened lawsuits, while several agency leaders, including Trump appointees, encouraged their workers not to cooperate.

Newly confirmed FBI Director Kash Patel, an outspoken Trump ally, instructed bureau employees to ignore Musk’s request, at least for now."

https://apnews.com/article/musk-federal-workers-trump-demand-firings-06553df358086db05917d3c50f3699d6
#cracks

"Joshua Fisher-Birch, a terrorism analyst at the non-profit Counter Extremism Project, said that a prospective Gaza occupation has angered the far right “more than any other issue has in 2025 so far”.

“The proposal is being portrayed as Trump sending white Americans to die on behalf of Israel.” "

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/feb/14/trump-gaza-plan-galvanizing-jihadist-far-right
#cracks

Thanks to @sindarina for the link:
https://mastodon.social/@sindarina@ngmx.com/114015566257664169

"It’s no exaggeration to say that America’s farmers helped put Donald Trump in the White House.

But now, some of these same communities are reacting with a sense of dismay and concern as they watch the Trump administration dismantle federal agencies and freeze Biden-era financing programs that directly impact their own economic livelihood."

https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Politics/2025/0213/elon-musk-trump-voters
#cracks

Speaking of #cracks: here is the Wall St Journal, that Murdoch bastion, on Trump calling for lower interest rates as well as tariffs:

"The layers of intellectual confusion here are hard to parse, especially since higher tariffs will mean higher prices on the affected goods. But perhaps the President wants the public to look elsewhere when assigning blame for rising prices."

woof.

https://www.mediaite.com/news/the-wall-street-journal-throws-another-punch-at-trump-layers-of-intellectual-confusion/

Cracks are appearing,
Some may be hairline cracks, but they are #cracks all the same.

When the pain hits home, Republicans balk at Trump's spending cuts and tariffs

From reducing NIH funding to slashing USAID's food program to imposing new tariffs, GOP lawmakers are beginning to speak out — carefully — against some of Trump's actions.

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/pain-hits-home-republicans-balk-trumps-spending-cuts-tariffs-rcna191832

"President Donald Trump followed through on his promise to unleash California’s water — only the water he released belonged to the very farmers he’d promised to help.

[Agricultural writer Don] Wright said water users asked Reps. Jim Costa and Fong, who represent the affected area, as well as former Rep. Devin Nunes and former Interior Secretary David Bernhardt, to intercede with Trump."

https://www.politico.com/news/2025/02/06/trump-california-water-policy-farmers-00202751
#cracks

#Cracks emerge in House GOP after speaker’s threat to saddle California wildfire aid with conditions

https://apnews.com/article/california-wildfires-conditional-aid-washington-trump-johnson-12c779b96e04d564802d4d06348aa0fc