[EX-]STAFFER TAKE: First time seeing Alsobrooks (D-MD) in cmte, and here she does a good job questioning Fed chair nominee Kevin Warsh. Better than other freshmen IME, esp in their first Congress. She did work as a county prosecutor for 5 years, but that doesn't always translate.

YMMV

AND his arch

HIRONO: Does anybody have the kind of expertise that Secretary Moniz had when he participated in the JCPOA?

WRIGHT: Absolutely. Absolutely.

HIRONO: Who?

WRIGHT: Our whole team.

Reminds me of Trump's answer when he was asked what his favorite verses were in the Bible. 🤦🏻‍♂️

www.energy.gov/person/dr-er... Moniz is a nuclear physicist who left his professorship at MIT to serve our country, including in negotiations over the disposition of Russian nuclear materials after the collapse of the Soviet Union

Though the House will soon be taking up a bill to diminish the Endangered Species Act, so maybe Ogles got confused and what he said was a mash-up of Iran and that.

April 20, 2026 MEMORANDUM FOR THE SECRETARY OF ENERGY SUBJECT: Presidential Determination Pursuant to Section 303 of the Defense Production Act of 1950, as Amended, on Domestic Petroleum Production, Refining, and Logistics Capacity [snip] Therefore, by the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including section 303 of the Defense Production Act of 1950, as amended (the "Act") (50 U.S.C. 4533), I hereby determine, pursuant to section 303(a)(5) of the Act, that: (1) domestic petroleum production, refining, and logistics capacity, including exploration and production… [snip] Therefore, pursuant to section 303(a)(7) of the Act, I waive the requirements of section 303(a)(1)-(a)(6) of the Act for the purpose of expanding such capability.

In Trump's invocation today of the Defense Production Act (DPA) to aid domestic petroleum production and delivery, he makes three determinations "pursuant to section 303(a)(5) of the Act", then says "pursuant to section 303(a)(7) of the Act, I waive the requirements of section 303(a)(1)-(a)(6)…"

1/

And the final (early voting) update on the metric I've kept tracking: Of this electorate, 49.6% are in the 5 GOP-held districts and 50.4% are in the 6 Dem-held ones.

(Just 10 days ago, that was 55% in the red districts.)

In the 2025 early vote, it was 47.5% in the GOP-held ones.

🤯

Trump's plan all along.

Excellent!

Two Mourning Doves at a bird feeder with a built-in camera. One dove is in profile, very close to the camera, and appears to be looking at it, and the other dove is further back, but also looks like it’s staring straight into the lens.

These two Mourning Doves at my feeder cam look like they just rang my doorbell because Tony Soprano sent them to collect a debt I owe.

icymi

bsky.app/profile/kend...

I should be clear that Media Matters is opposing the FTC withdrawing the appeal, presumably because MM is worried that the FTC will continue to use CIDs to intimidate based on 1A protected speech.

Encouraging development in one of the Trump administration’s attacks on free speech. Proud that my Cato colleagues filed an amicus brief.

A problem that even an Oxford comma couldn't fix.

OUTKICK Ivanka Trump has the angry libs on high alert as she slides into an amazing dress, Waffle House chaos & MEAT! AAU parents are dealing with sticker shock By Joe Kinsey • OutKick Published April 20, 2026 11:39am EDT

That’s too much sliding Ivanka

Presidential Determination Pursuant to Section 303 of the Defense Production Act of 1950, as Amended, on Domestic Petroleum Production, Refining, and Logistics Capacity MEMORANDUM FOR THE SECRETARY OF ENERGY SUBJECT:       Presidential Determination Pursuant to Section 303 of the Defense Production Act of 1950, as

Link to Trump's DPA order.

3/
www.whitehouse.gov/presidential...

Yes, section 303(a)(7) of the DPA does allow the president to waive those provisions, but it escapes me why Trump's WH Counsel's Office would have him waive (a)(5) after they have him act explicitly pursuant to (a)(5). 🤔

Explanations welcome.

2/

April 20, 2026 MEMORANDUM FOR THE SECRETARY OF ENERGY SUBJECT: Presidential Determination Pursuant to Section 303 of the Defense Production Act of 1950, as Amended, on Domestic Petroleum Production, Refining, and Logistics Capacity [snip] Therefore, by the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including section 303 of the Defense Production Act of 1950, as amended (the "Act") (50 U.S.C. 4533), I hereby determine, pursuant to section 303(a)(5) of the Act, that: (1) domestic petroleum production, refining, and logistics capacity, including exploration and production… [snip] Therefore, pursuant to section 303(a)(7) of the Act, I waive the requirements of section 303(a)(1)-(a)(6) of the Act for the purpose of expanding such capability.

In Trump's invocation today of the Defense Production Act (DPA) to aid domestic petroleum production and delivery, he makes three determinations "pursuant to section 303(a)(5) of the Act", then says "pursuant to section 303(a)(7) of the Act, I waive the requirements of section 303(a)(1)-(a)(6)…"

1/

This is such a huge gift. What an incredible resource.

I am informed there are 18 Montgomery Counties in the US.

... Ah, okay, the one in Maryland.

Donald Trump and
The Art of That's No Deal,
That's My Failure at Dealmaking

(yet his supporters can't fathom why people say he acts like a mobster)

Senators demand OPM withdraw plan to access feds’ medical records More than a dozen Democratic lawmakers warned that a little-scrutinized proposal to collect claims-level data related to the Federal Employees Health Benefits and Postal Service Health Benefits progra...

More RECKLESS, brutal inanity from Trump & Russ Vought:
OPM is moving to require every insurer in the Federal Employee and USPS Health Benefits programs to every month provide everyone's _identifiable_ health data, incl doctor visits, prescriptions, and treatments. 👎🏻

www.govexec.com/pay-benefits...

While the plaintiff ignored spellcheck.

Classic Trump.

I hate when that happens.

So, fresh tomatoes?

U.S. Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard speaks on the phone while standing inside a vehicle loaded with boxes outside the Fulton County Election Hub and Operation Center after the FBI executed a search warrant there. Photo by Elijah Nouvelage

Some are survivors!

And, as a motion to proceed to the "SAVE Act" ("SA") is actually a motion to take up the House amendment to a Senate-passed bill – which is not subject to debate (iow a filibuster) – the difference between still being on the SA and not is just Dems can force a roll call vote to get back on the SA.

Miami Herald Push to build Trump library on Miami Dade College land shrouded in secrecy By Claire Heddles, Alexandra Glorioso and Clara-Sophia Daly Herald/Times - Tallahassee Bureau Updated October 15, 2025 5:24 AM [snip] Other defenders of the project say it will bring in local economic value. "The most profitable presidential library, the William J. Clinton Presidential Center in Little Rock, generated about $3 billion in its first decade. George W. Bush's presidential library on the SMU campus in Texas generated about $2 billion in regional economic impact in its first decade," Boca Raton-based commercial location consultant John Boyd Jr. said. "I expect the Trump presidential library to blow those figures out of the water."

Released by DOD - Before and after images of a strike on a drug boat in the Caribbean

"I expect the Trump presidential library to blow those figures out of the water."

🤔