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Dolphin 🐬💥🌊🌻

@dalfen.bsky.social

5.8K followers 4.5K following 3.1K posts

A center-blue dot. FBR 💙 🇺🇦 in solidarity. Vive la résistance. MBA. 🩺. In quasi Gilead (SOS) Writer of words 🐰🐍 A roll of the dice. A juxtaposition. 🌿 🦋 ⚾️ 🌈🏳️‍⚧️ ally & non-childless cat lady 🍟- snark 🧐- analysis 🤿- deep dive https://mstdn.social/@dalfen

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Dolphin 🐬💥🌊🌻 @dalfen.bsky.social · 25d

Republicans in the US Congress are STRIPPING THEIR OWN POWER AWAY in acquiescence to the US president.

#USA #tariffs
—

www.nytimes.com/2025/09/16/u...

G.O.P. Again Cedes Power on Tariffs to Avoid Crossing Trump
House Republicans extended a maneuver they engineered earlier in the year that effectively strips Congress of the power to disapprove of President Trump's tariffs.

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/16/us/politics/republicans-house-tariffs-emergency-trump.html

Accessed: 17 September 2025 at 0107 MST

Image: Tuesday's maneuver was the latest instance in which House Republicans, many of whom have spent much of their career opposing tariffs as a matter of principle, have given up their power over trade. Scott McIntyre for The New York Times

By Robert Jimison
Reporting from the Capitol
Sept. 16, 2025

The Republican-led House moved anew on Tuesday to relinquish Congress's power to weigh in on President Trump's tariffs, even as Democrats in the Senate prepared to force votes challenging his trade war.

The maneuver by House Republicans effectively stripped lawmakers of the ability to force action on lifting the tariffs until March 31, 2026, extending a prohibition they initially imposed in the spring to spare their members a politically tough vote.

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/16/us/politics/republicans-house-tariffs-emergency-trump.html

Accessed: 17 September 2025 at 0107 MST

It came after Representative Gregory
W. Meeks of New York, the top Democrat on the Foreign Affairs Committee, tried to surprise Republicans with a bid to block the president's tariffs on Brazil. His measure was swiftly defeated, and within hours, G.O.P. leaders moved to head off a similar vote. That effort, tucked into a routine procedural measure, passed on Tuesday afternoon almost entirely along party lines.

It was the latest instance in which House Republicans, many of whom have spent much of their career opposing tariffs as a matter of principle, have given up their power over trade. In March, Republicans pushed through a similar procedural measure that made it impossible for lawmakers to use a law governing presidential emergencies to challenge Mr. Trump's tariffs on Mexico, Canada and China. The next month, they did so again. On Tuesday, they attached one to a measure needed to debate a series of bills to impose stricter criminal penalties in the District of Columbia.

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/16/us/politics/republicans-house-tariffs-emergency-trump.html

Accessed: 17 September 2025 at 0107 MST

In all three cases, Republicans have used an arcane legislative maneuver to avoid tariff votes. It involves declaring the calendar frozen until a given date, which effectively renders useless a law that allows any lawmaker to insist on a quick floor vote on a proposal to end an emergency declared by the president.

Republicans defended their strategy to short-circuit any such vote, making the case that Mr. Trump's trade policies were working.

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/16/us/politics/republicans-house-tariffs-emergency-trump.html

Accessed: 17 September 2025 at 0107 MST

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Dolphin 🐬💥🌊🌻 @dalfen.bsky.social · 4h

#SAMHSA oversees the new 988 suicide prevention hotline. It also gives out billions in grants for mental health and addiction services.

It was created in 1992 through bipartisan legislation signed by then-President George H.W. Bush.

#USA #MentalHealth #HHS
—
www.npr.org/sections/sho...

Trump slashes mental health agency as shutdown drags on

Sources tell NPR that more than 100 employees have been laid off at the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Agency. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had some cuts reversed late Saturday.

www.npr.org

Dolphin 🐬💥🌊🌻 @dalfen.bsky.social · 9h

/2

The article talks abt how confidential agreements are not a good way to make public policy.

I don’t believe this is abt making policy for Trump but making business deals & scoring ‘wins’.

It makes me think—

Both companies‘ shares are publicly traded. What’s up with the secret deals w/ Trump?

Dolphin 🐬💥🌊🌻 @dalfen.bsky.social · 9h

Like Pfizer, #AstraZeneca is getting a 3-year reprieve on having certain Trump #tariffs levied on its pharmaceutical imports.

hmmm—

“Both companies said the details of their arrangements were confidential” 👀
~~

#USA #politics #Pfizer #healthcare #health #DrugPrices
—
www.cnn.com/2025/10/10/p...

Trump announces deal with AstraZeneca
aimed at lowering drug prices
UPDATED OCT 10, 2025 V
By Tami Luhby, Adam Cancryn, Meg Tirrell

Dolphin 🐬💥🌊🌻 @dalfen.bsky.social · 11h

Exactly. And the cuts will affect people around the country who are not in the government and the economy as well.

Reposted by Dolphin 🐬💥🌊🌻

Alt National Park Service @altnps.bsky.social · 22h

Federal employees across the government are now receiving layoff notices, a devastating outcome of Trump’s political games. It’s outrageous that he would use people’s livelihoods as pawns to “score political points”.

110 570 2.2K

Dolphin 🐬💥🌊🌻 @dalfen.bsky.social · 11h

23 seconds of a cat eating corn 🌽
Sound up!

I don’t know if cats are supposed to eat corn, but it’s adorable!

#cats #Caturday #CatSky #pets

Dolphin 🐬💥🌊🌻 @dalfen.bsky.social · 11h

Education Department wipes out special ed office in shutdown layoffs, union says~

“The agency cut nearly everyone who works to administer federal funding for the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, one staffer said.”

#USA #politics #education
—

www.usatoday.com/story/news/e...

Education Department wipes out special ed office in shutdown layoffs, union says

The Education Department laid off nearly everyone at the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services.

www.usatoday.com

Dolphin 🐬💥🌊🌻 @dalfen.bsky.social · 11h

That made me laugh lol

Dolphin 🐬💥🌊🌻 @dalfen.bsky.social · 12h

Oh how confusing and awful for those workers and their families 😔

Dolphin 🐬💥🌊🌻 @dalfen.bsky.social · 12h

The White House’s mass firing of #CDC staff has decimated injury prevention, respiratory disease surveillance, & chronic disease offices…

The picture was clouded further by reports that some received letters rescinding the RIFs…

#USA #health #PublicHealth
—
www.statnews.com/2025/10/11/c...

‘It’s a massacre’: CDC battered by government shutdown firings

The White House’s mass firing of CDC staff on Friday has decimated offices related to injury prevention, respiratory disease surveillance, and chronic disease, according to four people familiar with t...

www.statnews.com

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Dolphin 🐬💥🌊🌻 @dalfen.bsky.social · 14h

/2

Article screenshots in this thread:

mstdn.social/@dalfen/1153...

ˈdälfən™🐬 💥 🌊 (@[email protected])

Attached: 4 images “Dozens of sitting judges shared with The Times their concerns about risks to the courts' legitimacy as the Supreme Court releases opaque orders about Trump administration policies...

mstdn.social

Dolphin 🐬💥🌊🌻 @dalfen.bsky.social · 14h

The main complaint voiced by district judges was that the Supreme Court was leaving them w/o a clear path to assess what the justices were thinking.

#SCOTUS also risks appearing secretive or arbitrary with too many emergency order rulings.

#USA #law #ShadowDocket
—
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/11/u...

Federal Judges, Warning of ‘Judicial Crisis,’ Fault Supreme Court’s Emergency Orders

www.nytimes.com

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Dolphin 🐬💥🌊🌻 @dalfen.bsky.social · 16h

22 states (44%) are in recession or close to it~

The states in contraction are spread around the country — from Washington to Virginia to Maine — and make up about 1/3 of overall GDP.

#USA #economics
#winning 🍟
—

www.axios.com/2025/10/09/t...

22 states are in a recession or close to it, new analysis finds

Twenty-two states are either in a recession or on the precipice of a downturn, according to a new analysis from Moody's Analytics.

www.axios.com

Dolphin 🐬💥🌊🌻 @dalfen.bsky.social · 1d

Oh yes, for sure.

If you haven’t seen the video embedded in the article, it’s well worth the watch.

The ICE agents were grabbing her by her neck!

And then, after stuffing her in an unmarked van, they crashed right into another vehicle (causing noticeable damage) and sped off.

Dolphin 🐬💥🌊🌻 @dalfen.bsky.social · 1d

That poor lady 😔
It’s good that the person recorded it and asked her for her name and the silent, masked agents their names.

I found an article about it.

chicago.suntimes.com/immigration/...

Feds detain WGN-TV staffer, slam into resident’s car in Lincoln Square

Federal immigration authorities hit a car with a driver inside after making arrests in Lincoln Square on Chicago’s North Side.

chicago.suntimes.com

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Dolphin 🐬💥🌊🌻 @dalfen.bsky.social · 1d

This would be my tribe lol if I weren’t a dolphin.

In solidarity 👊🏼🐸

#Portland

Three people are dressed in large, green frog costumes, standing together at a nighttime event. One of them is holding a sign that reads "FROGS TOGETHER STRONG," featuring illustrations of two frogs holding hands.

Dolphin 🐬💥🌊🌻 @dalfen.bsky.social · 1d

That would be my costume lol if I weren’t a dolphin.

Dolphin 🐬💥🌊🌻 @dalfen.bsky.social · 1d

Lol #MyThoughts -

1) So if I can’t go to a rally but I express my First Amendment rights in other ways, will I get a check too? 🤔😂

2) Also, it’s clear they see America as being only for them and their ideals.

#USA 🍟

Trump & the GOP are trying to* paint people peacefully assembling and expressing their grievances about their government (aka exercising their 1st Amendment rights) at upcoming nationwide "No Kings" rallies as "anti-American" and "paid agitators"
〜〜〜
～～
* (c/o video clips on MSNBC, 10
October 2025)

Dolphin 🐬💥🌊🌻 @dalfen.bsky.social · 1d

/2

I found a reference—

It’s in the video embedded in this article—

“the transactions we did in terms of closing” — in 2024, when Trump was not yet president

➡️ Any ideas what he is talking about?

#USA #US #USpol #politics #law #trump
—

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Dolphin 🐬💥🌊🌻 @dalfen.bsky.social · 1d

2 of 2🧵

Lol #MyThoughts -

1) So if I can’t go to a rally but I express my First Amendment rights in other ways, will I get a check too? 🤔😂🍟

2) Also, it’s clear they see America as being only for them and their ideals.

#USA #politics

Dolphin 🐬💥🌊🌻 @dalfen.bsky.social · 1d

Trump & the GOP are trying to paint people peacefully assembling and expressing their grievances about their government (aka exercising their 1st Amendment rights) at the upcoming nationwide “No Kings” rallies as “anti-American” and “paid agitators”*—

(*c/o clips on MSNBC)

1 of 2🧵
#USA #politics

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Dolphin 🐬💥🌊🌻 @dalfen.bsky.social · 1d

Trump said earlier today that he thinks he should have gotten the Nobel Peace Prize in part for the “transactions we did in terms of closing” in 2024 when he wasn’t yet president (again).

Whatever could he be talking about?

And is it legal? (I’m thinking of the Logan Act)

#USA #law #politics

Dolphin 🐬💥🌊🌻 @dalfen.bsky.social · 1d

/2

From:

X social media post—

House Press Gallery @HouseDailyPress
During today's pro forma session, the Clerk read a message from the Speaker designating Tuesday, October 14 through Sunday, October 19 as a district work period.
12:36 PM - Oct 10,2025

c/o “The Briefing” with Jen Psaki, MSNBC, 10 October 2025

Dolphin 🐬💥🌊🌻 @dalfen.bsky.social · 1d

Omg — it’s 10 days into the government shutdown, and House Speaker Mike Johnson called for the House to be away from Washington ALL OF NEXT WEEK for a “district work week” 👀

#USA #USpol #politics

Dolphin 🐬💥🌊🌻 @dalfen.bsky.social · 1d

Beyond that Congress is supposed to make spending decisions per the Constitution, I’m not sure that the Trump admin bailing out Argentina is legal when government is shut down.

#USA #USgovernment #USpol #politics #MyThoughts

The officials cautioned that the Antideficiency Act forbids the government from obligating or expending any money not appropriated by Congress, which means the government cannot incur new expenses during a shutdown, when funding has lapsed. The RIF process, which is extensive and involves promising severance payments, would probably be prohibited under the act, the officials concluded.

Washington Post on Apple News
Accessed: 10 October 2025 at 1210 MST

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