Wednesday News: “Judge in deportation case threatens Trump admin with contempt of court”; “America, This Is an Old and Brutal Tyranny”; “Biden says Trump administration has ‘done so much damage’ since taking office”; “Harvard knows: complicity won’t save you”

by Lowell

Here are a few international, national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Wednesday, April 16.

• Tropical storms may threaten higher latitudes by the end of the century, thanks to climate change
• The Hidden Climate Costs of Exporting US Liquefied Natural Gas
• ‘West as we knew it no longer exists,’ warns von der Leyen
• U.S. Plans to Use Tariff Negotiations to Isolate China
• China Open to Talks If US Shows Respect, Names Point Person
• China’s Economy Shows Resilience, But Trade War Clouds Outlook
• China tells US to ‘stop whining’ over tariffs as it reports GDP growth spurt
• UK Supreme Court rules that equalities law defines a woman as someone born biologically female
• Democratic senator heads to El Salvador to try to visit Kilmar Ábrego García (“Chris Van Hollen warns of ‘constitutional crisis’ and says he hopes to report back to family on Maryland man’s condition”)
• Scoop: Top House Dems trying to send delegation to El Salvador
• The State of Play in the Abrego Garcia Case
• Judge says Justice Department must provide details of attempts to return wrongly deported man
• Trump Says He’s Powerless to Return Deported Migrant. But He’s Done So Before.
• Judge launches inquiry into Trump administration’s refusal to seek return of wrongly deported man
• Trump’s Case Against Man Deported in “Error” Just Took Another Big Hit
• U.S. Judge Presses Trump Administration On Its Refusal To Return Wrongly Deported Maryland Man
• Judge in deportation case threatens Trump admin with contempt of court
• Karoline Leavitt Melts Down Over Deported ‘Father of the Year’
• U.S. Cites Mideast Peace Process to Justify Move to Deport Student
• ‘Treated like a criminal’: US citizen says he was detained returning from Canada (Inexcusable.)
• Lawyer: Federal agents detain Guatemalan man, 29, with no criminal record
• They Never Thought Trump Would Have Them Deported (“The administration’s drive to carry out the largest campaign in history has ensnared people who didn’t see themselves as targets.”)
• Trump’s trade war is wrecking America’s brand value, from Teslas to Treasuries
• America, This Is an Old and Brutal Tyranny
• The U.S. is in no shape to weather a recession
• I Have Never Been More Afraid for My Country’s Future
• Has America Reached the End of the Road? (“Donald Trump has forced the one crisis that will tell us who we are.”)
• Phase Two Will Be Worse Than DOGE (“First came the chaos. Next comes the retribution.”)
• The Trump White House is axing the wire service spot from the coverage pool, the latest salvo in its battle with the AP
• The White House is starting a new media policy that restricts wire services’ access to the president (This is Trump’s way of defying the courts.)
• Trump exempts nearly 70 coal plants from Biden-era rule on mercury and other toxic air pollution (Sounds completely illegal.)
• Judge scraps US rule capping credit card late fees at $8 (Anti-consumer.)
• DOJ ends a key racial discrimination case, signaling an end to the Civil Rights Division as it existed (“The lawsuit alleged a brazen pattern of racial discrimination against a Black woman, but AAG Harmeet Dhillon ended the case. Also: A look at the bigger picture at DOJ.”)
• Exclusive: Top Hegseth adviser Dan Caldwell put on leave in Pentagon leak probe
• Pentagon’s ‘SWAT team of nerds’ resigns en masse (“Employees of a defense tech unit say they were sidelined by DOGE. “Either we die quickly or we die slowly,” says the director.”)
• DOGE sought to assign a team to an independent nonprofit group
• Green groups sue Trump administration over climate webpage removals
• Trump administration must unfreeze billions in climate funding, judge rules
• Biden, breaking his silence, slams Trump on Social Security cuts
• Biden says Trump administration has ‘done so much damage’ since taking office
• Biden goes after Trump on Social Security in his first public post-presidency speech
• IRS to Lose 20% of Workforce to New Trump Resignation Offer
• Trump Memo Will Boost Musk’s Bid to Find Social Security Fraud (Absolutely asinine.)
• Harvard Stacked Every Penny of Its $54 Billion Endowment and Told the Trump Admin to Bring It On
• Harvard knows: complicity won’t save you
• By saying ‘no’ to Trump, Harvard saves its soul
• Why Harvard Decided to Fight Trump
• Leading Harvard scientist ordered to halt research in funding freeze
• The demands Harvard refused
• Columbia Vows to Reject Any Trump Deal That Erodes Its Independence
• Harvard Knows One Big Thing: Trump Is Not All-Powerful (“Unlike the quislings at Columbia”)
• Inside Zuckerberg’s Failed Talks to End Antitrust Case (F**k Z**k)
• The Tactics Elon Musk Uses to Manage His ‘Legion’ of Babies—and Their Mothers
• David Hogg, Parkland Survivor and D.N.C. Vice Chair, Hopes to Unseat Democratic Incumbents (Not exactly standard operating procedure for the DNC)
• Tempers flare as few Republicans hold in-person town halls
• Senator Chuck Grassley grilled at Iowa town hall over ‘shameful’ Trump policies
• Republicans Are Trying to Steal an Election (In North Carolina.)
• How Well Is Congestion Pricing Doing? Very.
• Kaine, Warner rebuke Trump’s team for ‘chaos’ over student visas
• Senators Kaine, Warner Demand Answers from Departments of State, Homeland Security on Sudden and Unexplained Revocations of Virginia Students’ Visas (“The chaos caused by your actions is not acceptable. We believe in the rule of law and that immigration laws should be enforced. That starts with the Constitution and its guarantees of free speech and due process.”)
• As Sam Shirazi Points Out It Now “seems official…[Sen. Mark] Warner is running for re-election in 2026.” Here Are a Few Thoughts. (“Warner certainly a favorite in Trump midterm,” with the “only question…if Governor Youngkin runs.”)
• Video: While Rep. Rob Wittman (R-VA01) Stays Silent, VA State Senator Ghazala Hashmi Holds a Town Hall to Hear from VA-01 Residents
• Why are the 6th and 9th Districts so dependent on exports to Canada? Here’s why.
• Virginia Dems blast Trump’s interest in deporting US citizens
• Video: Virginia Democrats Launch New Ad Highlighting Sears Downplaying Attacks on Virginia Jobs as Unemployment Rate Jumps (Sears: “It happens all the time… And the media is making it out to be a huge, huge thing, and I don’t understand why”)
• Schapiro: Backing Trump tariffs, Youngkin betrays his brand (Youngkin’s “brand” has been pure MAGA for a few years now…)
• 1Q25 Fundraising Totals for Virginia Statewide, Other Offices
• Virginia lawmakers look to expand rural healthcare options in the face of concerns about competitiveness
• The House and Senate have different opinions on this social media bill; what will Youngkin do?
• Judge grants Justice Department’s request to drop criminal case against alleged top MS-13 leader
• New FEMA review process muddies the timeline for disbursement of Helene recovery funds (“A memo sent by the Virginia Department of Emergency Management to localities affected by Hurricane Helene outlined a lack of communication from the federal agency to the state.”)
• $400 million gap: Helene, winter storm costs swamp VDOT emergency budget
• Key bridge replacement for Northern Neck, Middle Peninsula, on fast track
• FEMA cuts natural disaster grants; Portsmouth loses $24M, Virginia Beach spared
• CWG Live updates: Another windy day before steady warming; near or above 80 on Saturday