All posts tagged "washington"

Dictators and kings build monumental architecture to buttress their egos. Sound familiar?

By R. Grant Gilmore III, Director, Historic Preservation and Community Planning Program, College of Charleston

From ancient Egypt to Washington, D.C., rulers have long used architecture and associated stories to project power, control memory and shape national identity. As 17th-century French statesman Jean-Baptiste Colbert observed:

“In the absence of brilliant deeds of war, nothing proclaims the greatness and spirit of princes more than building works.”

Today, the Trump administration is mobilizing heritage and architecture as tools of ideology and control. In U.S. historic preservation, “heritage” is the shared, living inheritance of places, objects, practices and stories — often plural and contested — that communities value and preserve. America’s architectural heritage is as diverse as the people who created, inhabited and continue to care for it.

As an archaeologist with three decades of practice, I read environments designed by humans. Enduring modifications to these places, especially to buildings and monuments, carry power and speak across generations.

In his first term as president, and even more so today, Donald Trump has pushed to an extreme legacy-building through architecture and heritage policy. He is remaking the White House physically and metaphorically in his image, consistent with his long record of putting his name on buildings as a developer.

In December 2020, Trump issued an executive order declaring classical and traditional architectural styles the “preferred” design for new federal buildings. The order derided Brutalist and modernist structures as inconsistent with national values.

Now, Trump is seeking to roll back inclusive historical narratives at U.S. parks and monuments. And he is reviving sanitized myths about America’s history of slavery, misogyny and Manifest Destiny, for use in museums, textbooks and public schools.

Yet artifacts don’t lie. And it is the archaeologist’s task to recover these legacies as truthfully as possible, since how the past is remembered shapes the choices a nation makes about its future.

Architecture as political power and legacy

Dictators, tyrants and kings build monumental architecture to buttress their own egos, which is called authoritarian monumentalism. They also seek to build the national ego — another word for nationalism.

Social psychologists have found that the awe we experience when we encounter something vast diminishes the “individual self,” making viewers feel respect and attachment to creators of awesome architecture. Authoritarian monumentalism often exploits this phenomenon. For example, in France, King Louis XIV expanded the Palace of Versailles and renovated its gardens in the mid-1600s to evoke perceptions of royal grandeur and territorial power in visitors.

Many leaders throughout history have built “temples to power” while erasing or overshadowing the memory of their predecessors — a practice known as damnatio memoriae, or condemnation to oblivion.

In the ancient world, the Sumerians, Babylonians, Egyptians, Romans, Chinese dynasties, Mayans and Incas all left behind architecture that still commands awe in the form of monuments to gods, rulers and communities. These monuments conveyed power and often served as instruments of physical and psychological control.

In the 19th century, Napoleon fused conquest with heritage. Expeditions to Egypt and Rome, and the building of Parisian monuments — the Arc de Triomphe and the Vendôme Column, both modeled on Roman precedents — reinforced his legitimacy.

Albert Speer’s and Hermann Giesler’s monumental neoclassical designs in Nazi Germany, such as the party rally grounds in Nuremberg, were intended to overwhelm the individual and glorify the regime. And Josef Stalin’s Soviet Union suppressed avant-garde experimentation in favor of monumental “socialist realist” architecture, projecting permanence and centralized power.

Now, Trump has proposed building his own triumphal arch in Arlington, Virginia, just across the Potomac River from the Lincoln Memorial, as a symbol to mark the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.

An American alternative

Born of Enlightenment ideals of John Locke, Voltaire and Adam Smith, the American Revolution rejected the European idea of monarchs as semi-divine rulers. Instead, leaders were expected to serve the citizenry.

That philosophy took architectural form in the Federal style, which was dominant from about 1785 to 1830. This clear, democratic architectural language was distinct from Europe’s ornate traditions, and recognizably American.

Its key features were Palladian proportions — measurements rooted in classical Roman architecture — and an emphasis on balance, simplicity and patriotic motifs.

James Hoban’s White House and Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello embodied this style. Interiors featured lighter construction, symmetrical lines, and motifs such as eagles, urns and bellflowers. They rejected the opulent rococo styles associated with monarchy.

Americans also recognized preservation’s political force. In 1816, the city of Philadelphia bought Independence Hall, which was constructed in 1753 and was where the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution were debated and signed, to keep it from being demolished. Today the building is a U.S. National Park and a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Early preservationists saved George Washington’s home, Mount Vernon, Jefferson’s Monticello, and other landmarks, tying democracy’s endurance to the built environment.

Architecture, memory and Trump

In remaking the White House and prescribing the style and content of many federal sites, Trump is targeting not just buildings but the stories they tell.

By challenging narratives that depart from white, Anglo-Saxon origin myths, Trump is using his power to roll back decades of work toward creating a more inclusive national history.

- YouTube www.youtube.com

These actions ignore the fact that America’s strength lies in its identity as a nation of immigrants. The Trump administration has singled out the Smithsonian Institution — the world’s largest museum, founded “for the increase and diffusion of knowledge — for ideological reshaping. Trump also is pushing to restore recently removed Confederate monuments, helping to revive "Lost Cause” mythology about the Civil War.

Trump’s 2020 order declaring classical and traditional architectural styles the preferred design for government buildings echoed authoritarian leaders like Adolf Hitler and Stalin, whose governments sought to dictate aesthetics as expressions of ideology. The American Institute of Architects publicly opposed the order, warning that it imposed ideological restrictions on design.

Trump’s second administration has advanced this agenda by adopting many recommendations in the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 blueprint. Notably, Project 2025 calls for repealing the 1906 Antiquities Act — which empowers presidents to quickly designate national monuments on federal land — and for shrinking many existing monuments. Such rollbacks would undercut the framework that has safeguarded places like Devils Tower in Wyoming and Muir Woods in California for over a century.

Trump’s new ballroom is a distinct departure from the core values embodied in the White House’s Federal style. Although many commentators have described it as rococo, it is more aligned with the overwrought and opulent styles of the Gilded Age — a time in American history, from about 1875 through 1895, with many parallels to the present.

In ordering its construction, Trump has ignored long-standing consultation and review procedures that are central to historic preservation. The demolition of the East Wing may have ignored processes required by law at one of the most important U.S. historic sites. It’s the latest illustration of his unilateral and unaccountable methods for getting what he wants.

Instruments of memory and identity

When leaders push selective histories and undercut inclusive ones, they turn heritage into a tool for controlling public memory. This collective understanding and interpretation of the past underpins a healthy democracy. It sustains a shared civic identity, ensures accountability for past wrongs and supports rights and participation.

Heritage politics in the Trump era seeks to redefine America’s story and determine who gets to speak. Attacks on so-called “woke” history seek to erase complex truths about slavery, inequality and exclusion that are essential to democratic accountability.

Architecture and heritage are never just bricks and mortar. They are instruments of memory, identity and power.

This appalling move shows Trump is in collapse — and may take us all down with him

There’s no sugarcoating the truth: as fascism‘s grip tightens under Donald Trump and the GOP, America’s government no longer operates as a constitutional republic.

The ostensible oaths to “support and defend the Constitution” are hollow, a ghost script read aloud while the regime marches America toward authoritarian collapse in the mode of Russia and Hungary.

Every federal institution now performs in synchronous mimicry of Dear Orange Leader’s unraveling psyche: false justifications, lop-sided pretenses of accountability, cosplay theater designed more for emotional spectacle than legal legitimacy, accelerating escalation at every turn.

Nothing — literally nothing organized or passed by Republicans in the last 44 years — was built to uplift average Americans. It’s all been engineered for power consolidation, GOP single-party rule, the wealth of the morbidly rich, and narrative control.

Consider the Justice Department. Once the nation’s arbiter of lawful conduct, it’s now Trump’s personal legal hit squad. Pam Bondi, who claimed she would end “weaponization” of the DOJ, created the novel “special prosecutor” role and appointed Ed Martin — an extremist QAnon promoter and January 6th fan — to target political enemies like Letitia James and Adam Schiff under what appear to be bogus pretexts.

The resulting spectacle, the parade of propaganda on rightwing TV and the circumvention of norms are all unconstitutional fascist grandstanding.

Meanwhile, in Washington D.C., a carjacking narrative involving two Black minors and a far-right hacker nicknamed “Big Balls,” boosted by Elon Musk and Fox, has been seized upon to manufacture a crime panic.

It’s strikingly defiant of DOJ data, which confirms a 30‑year low in violent crime in the capital city. Trump harnessed the stunt to justify mobilizing ICE, the FBI, and the National Guard, weaponizing fear and fabrications to execute a federal coup on the city’s civil fabric.

This isn’t safety, it’s occupation.

At the FBI, Kash Patel is purging anyone not MAGA‑approved: long‑serving agents loyal to the institution, or even just connected to cases that charged Trump or January 6th insurrectionists, are being run out.

Patel’s attack on federalism reached a chilling new level when the FBI agreed to hunt down Texas Democratic state lawmakers who had fled to prevent mid‑cycle gerrymandering. No federal crime was under investigation, just a brazen attempt to subvert state sovereignty and tilt an election.

This is not law enforcement; it’s authoritarians seizing our nation’s legal infrastructure.

And then the propaganda arm roars in lockstep. Jesse Watters didn’t even bother to murmur coded dog whistles. He publicly declared the GOP must “kick illegal aliens out of the census,” gerrymander “to the hilt,” and lock Democrats into a “permanent minority.”

It’s open advocacy for one‑party rule rooted in gaslighting and cultural hatred. There are no quiet parts anymore: every word is a confession.

Public health and science have also been hijacked. Bob Kennedy oversaw the cancellation of 22 federal mRNA vaccine projects — including promising research into cancer and bird flu — with half a billion dollars cut. mRNA vaccines have already saved millions: Stopping that research amid emergent threats isn’t policy, it’s mass eugenics masquerading as public health.

Within the military, Pete Hegseth, a Trump loyalist, is rewriting history and norms: he wants Confederate base names restored, monuments to the traitors resurrected, public prayer institutionalized, and the values of supremacist preacher Doug Wilson — who believes women don’t deserve the vote and empathy is Satanic — amplified throughout the military.

That this is being done under the flag of “service” is a grotesque betrayal of the constitutional order.

ICE is being transformed into Trump’s personal masked, unaccountable, violent paramilitary. Official tweets now celebrate postings that solicit thugs — no degree required, no age limit — and glorify sadistic enforcement. This isn’t border control; it’s paramilitary recruitment for a fascist secret police force.

And now come the arrests.

Yes, the political arrests have already begun. In Newark, Mayor Ras Baraka attempted to participate in a congressional oversight visit to Delaney Hall, an ICE concentration camp. Federal agents arrested him. Charges were later dropped, and he is now suing for malicious prosecution and defamation, but the precedent was established.

At the same event, Congresswoman LaMonica McIver was indicted on three counts of assaulting, impeding, and interfering with federal officers, charges that carry up to 17 years. Her crime? Trying to protect the mayor and uphold legislative oversight. Multiple lawmakers and faith leaders have condemned the prosecution as politically motivated intimidation.

At the same time, Senator Alex Padilla was forcibly detained — assaulted, handcuffed, and violently dragged out — after attempting to question DHS Secretary Kristi Noem. He identified himself as a sitting senator; no charges were filed. Still, the message was clear: dissent has been criminalized and there will be a next time.

Add to that the targeting of a Wisconsin judge, Hannah Dugan. The FBI arrested and indicted her after she tried to help an undocumented immigrant evade arrest. She’s been suspended by the state Supreme Court. This is a judge facing prison for expressing compassion.

And let’s not forget the investigations aimed at AG Letitia James and Senator Adam Schiff. Trump’s federal authorities are now targeting elected officials over their political stances, without a shred of legal basis. These investigations are not about justice: they’re about vengeance, performative brutality, and raw power.

When institutional coercion becomes the norm, when political arrests replace constitutional rule, the democratic state has collapsed. Authoritarian regimes don’t wait until they hold 100% of power; they erode the system until the system can no longer resist them and democracy collapses. That’s exactly what we’re witnessing.

History echoes in every violation.

Remember Hitler writing Mein Kampf in prison, outlining Lebensraum, cloaking aggression as defense and reunification, always positioning himself as the reluctant warrior. He broke treaties, grabbed territory the way Trump is now threatening Greenland and Central America, and used the language of “peace” — always claiming that was his only goal — to mask aggression.

Churchill warned early in the 1930s, but was dismissed as a warmonger. Chamberlain chose to believe he could negotiate with a tyrant, and, as Churchill predicted, war followed.

Trump’s playbook is nearly identical: aggressive power grabs framed as patriotism, defenses against imaginary threats, mythmaking that declares “they made me do it.” And like in the 1930s, the enablers are eating it up.

But here’s the crucial difference: this fight isn’t a continent away; it’s in our towns, our courts, and our statehouses.

The Greatest Generation fought fascism overseas. Now we must fight it at home, in the institutions built on their sacrifice.

For that, we must act.

We can’t expect the courts to help: they’re stacked and the Trump administration has ignored roughly a third of the court orders that have gone against them.

We can’t expect Congress to help: they’re under the control of Republicans completely subservient to their billionaire overlords.

We can’t expect the media to save us: they folded under Trump‘s threats and even handed him tens of millions of dollars for his personal use. CBS has even installed a “bias monitor” to make sure they don’t offend Trump or his people.

We can’t expect our corporate overlords to rescue our republic: they’ve already sold out for tax breaks, subsidies, and an end to limitations on their monopoly power.

We must become this century’s Greatest Generation: no passive hope, no waiting for saviors. Organize, protest, support independent journalism, call your representatives incessantly, primary the handful of craven “problem solver” Democrats, and support those who are willing to fight.

In Blue states, support those governors and legislators who are willing to gerrymander and otherwise use partisan power, including voter purges in Republican areas, when that’s what it takes to rescue our country.

The Republicans never waited for fairness: Democrats have to fight fire with fire.

When they go low, we mustn’t go high: we must fight ferociously, methodically, and effectively. Like the soldiers who landed on Normandy Beach and burned swastikas, we must disrupt, dismantle, and hold accountable every authoritarian ambition.

Trump is in collapse, his psyche fracturing, his infrastructure mirroring his breakdown, his institutions weaponized around his rage.

The rupture is real, and it’s here, now. There will be no more subtle signals. It’s confrontation or collapse.

Do not go gentle into that good night. Rage, rage against the dying of the light they are trying to force upon us.

Trump's massive gamble has a fundamental flaw

It’s happening.

This morning, President Donald Trump took the largest step since he took office to test the limits of his power. And he did it in a way calculated not to alarm most Americans.

Trump announced that he was essentially supplanting the D.C. police with the National Guard and — most inappropriately — FBI agents to address what he termed an “emergency” crime problem in the nation’s capital.

It’s a perfect testing ground for an unprecedented expansion of presidential power. And understand that it’s a guardrail test, not a response to an actual crisis.

The residents of Washington D.C. face neither an emergency nor a crisis — and Trump fully understands that. Crime is empirically down, and even if it were not, nothing has transpired in the past seven months that would remotely rationalize this seizure of police power.

Trump views Washington D.C. as a petri dish.

Given that most Americans have long harbored an irrational distaste for D.C. — which happens to have an overwhelming Black majority population — it provides the ideal backdrop for Trump to invoke the national fear of crime. Any action advertised to fight crime in D.C. can count on a warm embrace from millions of Americans.

And in this case, the fact that Trump can declare a crime emergency where there is none — and get away with it — is a feature, not a bug. Because if he can do it in Washington D.C., he can eventually branch out federal police power to cities like Los Angeles, New York City, Minneapolis, Chicago and beyond.

The bluer the state, the better.

Trump’s action today also provides a test for a principle that we’ve seen unfold in alarming ways: He used his mastery of social media — and his mind control over a feared and powerful political base — to introduce false crises and invented issues that never occurred before he took office.

Just consider how many times Trump has successfully unleashed some bizarre new premise that had never been contemplated — much less debated — in the past presidential campaign. Or anytime, in any serious way, in the nation’s discourse.

Here are just a few examples:

Instituting a vicious trade war with our closest neighbor, Canada. As well as other erstwhile allies across the globe.
Repurposing ICE as a secret police force and using it to arrest judges and politicians.
Invading and annexing Greenland.
Re-seizing the Panama Canal.
Renaming the Gulf of Mexico, which, by the way, is still the Gulf of Mexico.

That list goes on. This isn’t an abstract debate.

The seizure of D.C. police fits an ominous pattern of Trump unilaterally declaring an emergency based on nothing but the reach of his megaphone — and a grip of power over Congress, sanctioned by a partisan U.S. Supreme Court, that is arguably unprecedented in U.S. history.

What makes this particular move ominous is that Trump has launched it without the slightest provocation or even the remote appearance of a crisis. He doesn’t need a fig leaf.

Trump initiated his seizure of police power against a backdrop of falling crime in the nation’s Capitol:

Violent crime: Down 26% in D.C. year-to-date
Homicides: Down 12%
Robberies: Down 28%
Aggravated assaults: Down 20%
Total crime: Down 7%
(Source: Metropolitan Police Department data)

Regionally, the D.C.-Maryland-Virginia area has seen overall crime drop 13%, with homicides down 30%. The picture is clear: the “crime surge” is political theater, not statistical reality.

It’s almost incidental that the takeover undermines Home Rule and local democracy. It’s such an obviously false pretext for federal overreach that his MAGA apologists might as well admit that the best defense is that Trump’s doing this because he wants to.

And he can.

Trump is counting on a very specific bet: that much of the country either dislikes Washington, D.C., on instinct or simply doesn’t care what happens there.

This is a trial balloon. It’s a calculated test of guardrails.

If we as a nation allow it to stand, we do so at our own peril.

MAGA rep accused of threatening ex-girlfriend with nude photo dump

Florida Rep. Cory Mills (R) is firing back at accusations he threatened to release nude photos and videos of a woman after she says she broke up with the married lawmaker, according to Politico.

Lindsey Langston, a Florida Republican state committee member and 2024 winner of the Miss United States beauty pageant, told police that following the break-up, "Mills contacted her multiple times threatening to release nude images and videos of them having sex, according to the report, which said she provided law enforcement with messages that allegedly backed up her claims."

Langston also told authorities that Mills "threatened to harm any of her future romantic partners," according to the police report obtained by Politico.

The report reveals that Langston began a relationship with Mills in 2021 after he allegedly told her he was separated from with wife. Langston said she broke it off this year "after seeing media reports that police in Washington were called to investigate an alleged assault by the representative against a woman."

Mills was not charged in that incident.

When contacted by Politico, Mills said he was unaware of Langston's police report.

“We have not been made aware of any report or allegations from law enforcement or the alleged complainant,” Mills said in a statement. “These claims are false and misrepresent the nature of my interactions. I have always conducted myself with integrity, both personally and in service to Florida’s 7th District.”

A recent report by The Daily Beast said Mills was being evicted from his Washington, D.C., penthouse after failing to pay rent. The report continued that "on Feb. 20, Mills' girlfriend reported him to police for attacking her at the penthouse. She later recanted the report." It wasn't clear whether that girlfriend was Langston.

Langston's attorney, Anthony Sabatini, is a Lake County, Florida commissioner who challenged Mills for Congress in 2022. Mills told Politico, "he believes Sabatini is 'weaponizing the legal system to launch a political attack.'"

Mills has not been charged in relation to Langston's claims.

Read the full Politico story here.

'We could run DC': Trump says he's 'testing' plans for a capital takeover

President Donald Trump said Tuesday that he's "testing" a plan for the federal government to take over Washington, D.C.

According to Bloomberg, D.C. residents have had the right to elect their own government officials since legislation passed in 1973, "though Congress is still able to review local laws and the city’s budget."

Although Trump has floated the idea of a federal takeover before to help reduce crime, Tuesday was the first time he said his administration was actually working on a plan with D.C.'s mayor, Muriel Bowser (D).

“We have tremendous power at the White House to run places if we have to," Trump began after being asked at a cabinet meeting about the possibility of democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani (D) winning the New York mayor’s race. Trump then shifted his focus to the nation's capital.

"We could run DC. I mean, we’re looking at DC,” Trump said. “We’re thinking about doing it, to be honest with you. We want a capital that’s run flawlessly.”

Trump said he had a "good relationship" with the mayor and that his chief of staff Susie Wiles was working with Bowser, "testing it to see if it works."

"They're doing all right, in a sense that, we would run it so good, it would be run so proper," he said. "We would get the best person to run it. The crime would be down to a minimal, would be much less."

Trump didn't let on who "the best person" might be.

"You know, we're thinking about doing it, to be honest with you...And it wouldn't be hard for us to do it," he said.

Bowser hasn't commented so far.

Watch the clip below via The White House.

Boebert quickly corrects bizarre gaffe while comparing herself to a chihuahua

Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) quickly corrected herself after making a bizarre gaffe when describing herself on a recent podcast.

Host Alex Stein, whose desk featured a watermelon with cotton balls protruding out of it, introduced Boebert as "one of our greatest guests" and "arguably the most attractive woman on Capitol Hill."

Stein told Boebert, "You've always been so nice and, I mean this: you're one of the few people who's not afraid to be outspoken. And, like, you know, I feel like sometimes, because you're an attractive woman, people...they try to put you in a box. But...you have more balls than most of the men on Capitol Hill. And, I mean that with all due respect."

Stein then asked if it was hard for Boebert "to be as outspoken as you are."

"No, it's not hard at all!" Boebert answered. "I'm a mom of four boys, and I think it comes with that, it's kind of like a littler, smaller person mentality, right? It's kind of like a chihuahua instinct. Like, you have to be very forceful and adamant, and I guess maybe a little naggy and nappy — nippy, if you will," she said, correcting herself.

"But there's a lot to do to kind of get your point across when I guess you're a smaller person, if you will. But, this is also Washington, D.C., and nothing here happens without force."

She continued, "So, if you are passive, and mild, and meek, and just want to be a part of the team, and want leadership to appreciate you, well, then you're not going to get very far. Unless you're getting like, kind of some leadership welfare bills that they pass along to you and say, 'Hey, we're going to make sure this passes on your behalf' and 'Don't worry, you'll be recognized as an amazingly efficient member of Congress because you pass what we said you can pass.' So, I kind of go in a different lane and do what the American people sent me here to do."

Watch the Alex Stein interview on the Blaze Network below.

'Dragged for blocks': DC senator blasts Trump parade after 'horrific' death

Paul Strauss (D), the shadow senator representing the District of Columbia, blamed President Donald Trump's "unnecessary" military parade for causing the death of a 39-year-old woman after she was "dragged for blocks" by a truck carrying an M1-Abrams tank, according to The Daily Mail.

Sierra Nichole Smith was struck at the intersection of New York Avenue and Bladensburg Road in the city's Northeast quadrant on Monday as the tank was being moved to a rail yard in Jessup, Maryland.

According to a police report, the truck was heading east "when the pedestrian ran into the roadway, stumbled, and fell in front of the semi-trailer truck."

The report continued, "The driver of the semi-trailer truck struck the pedestrian, causing her to be pinned under the vehicle. The semi-trailer truck continued traveling eastbound ... the woman was dislodged and was struck by a silver 2007 Chevrolet Suburban traveling behind the semi-trailer truck."

Emergency crews were called to the scene where she was found "alone and not wearing clothing at the time of her death," USA Today reported.

"These tanks did not need to be on local streets and consequently they didn’t need to be hauled away in a big convoy," Strauss told The Daily Mail.

"In some ways it’s a very random accident that could have occurred with another vehicle. But it really begs the question: Why was this necessary to have all this equipment here? We don’t know if enough precautions were taken. It’s not an everyday occurrence that military hardware takes over the city in the way it did."

Strauss called the parade an "unnecessary exercise done for the sole purpose of appeasing the president’s ego on his birthday."

"The details that have been made public are just horrific," Strauss said. "She was dragged for blocks. It’s horrific for so many reasons."

D.C.'s Metropolitan Police Department cleared the truck's driver of culpability. They said no military personnel were involved in the accident.

The White House did not respond to a Daily Mail request for comment.

Nonvoting octogenarian vows to run again for House delegate seat

Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D), who has represented the District of Columbia since 1991 and is now a nonvoting congressional delegate, said Tuesday there's no question she planned to run again to keep her seat in the House.

The civil rights icon turns 88 on Friday.

Politico reported that when asked if she would endure another election season, she responded, “Yeah, sure. I’m going to run. I don’t know why anybody would even ask me.”

Norton is one of six delegates currently in Congress who have floor privileges and are permitted to introduce legislation but cannot vote in the full House.

Politico cited multiple recent news reports about Norton's frequent absences on the House floor that have "concerned some local officials and activists."

Even those close to Norton said it may be time to retire. The Washington Post quoted Democratic strategist and Norton confidant Donna Brazile, saying, “It’s time to turn things over. You’ve done it all."

In a statement to the Post, Norton asserted, "To anyone questioning my ability to serve effectively, I have one simple response: My record speaks for itself."

"Given Norton’s stature, many in D.C. political circles and on Capitol Hill have long been hesitant to raise questions about her age and effectiveness," wrote Washington Post reporters Meagan Flynn, Marianna Sotomayor, and Paul Kane. "Their discomfort speaks to a broader political reckoning within an aging Congress: balancing respect for decades of experience and power with the reality of inevitable decline."

Politico reported on a recent gaffe that a Norton spokesperson said was the result of the delegate mishearing a question and answering "no" when asked if the House should vote to fix a shortfall in funding affecting D.C.

Spokesperson "Sharon Eliza Nichols said Norton misheard the question and believed reporters were asking about the D.C.-related bills on the House floor this week," Politico reported. "Nichols said Norton meant to say those bills aren’t of national importance and were contrary to D.C. residents’ own decisions about their government and believed they shouldn’t have been introduced or brought to the House floor."

Read the Politico article here.

'Rubber-stamping' Supreme Court just shot itself in the foot: analyst

Legal experts are claiming that the U.S. Supreme Court may come to regret its emergency "shadow docket" decision allowing President Donald Trump to fire members of two federal boards -- a move that was considered illegal.

Without hearing the merits of the case, the court issued its ruling Thursday that permitted Trump to fire a member of the National Labor Relations Board and a member of the Merit Systems Protection Board, an agency that ensures federal employment decisions are not influenced by politics.

In a preview of Slate's "Amicus" podcast, legal journalist Mark Joseph Stern exclaimed, "He illegally fired people, and the Supreme Court just rubber-stamped it!"

Stern explained that the 6-3 ruling along conservative and liberal lines will empower Trump "to disregard the law in areas where the Supreme Court doesn’t want him to. And eventually, when the Supreme Court tells him he can’t do something, he might just say: You’ve already given me so much power that I’m going to choose not to respect yours any further."

EXCLUSIVE: Trump accused of new grift that puts Qatari plane in shade

A caveat in the ruling, however, inexplicably made an exception for the chair of the Federal Reserve, banning Trump from firing Jerome Powell.

Stern said the case essentially warned the court, "Watch out, because if you rule against us, you will destroy the Fed by letting Trump seize control of monetary policy," Stern said. "Which could mean irresponsibly slashing interest rates, setting off ruinous inflation, you name it. So, on Thursday, the majority added this random paragraph at the very end of their order saying: 'Don’t worry, what we just did does not apply to the Federal Reserve.'

"So, magically, this decision does not apply to Jerome Powell, who gets to remain chair of the Fed."

Stern said the "makeshift exception does not look, in any recognizable way, like law. The distinctions between the Fed and other independent agencies don’t make any sense: Every agency is 'uniquely structured! The Fed’s Board of Governors is not a 'quasi-private entity'! And every agency has its own 'distinct historical tradition'! Nothing about this sentence shows why the Federal Reserve should have some special constitutional status."

Attorney Dahlia Lithwick claimed that Justice Elena Kagan's dissent essentially warned, "Hey, majority, you are handing a win to somebody who wants to break the law."

Read the Slate article here.