Today’s edition of quick hits.
* In London: “President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and senior European leaders presented a unified image Monday after President Donald Trump appeared to criticize the Ukrainian leader amid pressure for Kyiv to accept painful concessions to end the war with Russia. Flanked by the leaders of France, Germany and the United Kingdom at the British Prime Minister’s Office on Downing Street in London, Zelenskyy said unity between Ukraine, the U.S. and Europe was paramount.”
* The outcome appears inevitable: “The Supreme Court held a crucial hearing Monday on whether presidents have the power to fire heads of independent federal agencies and whether to overturn a 1935 precedent that has bolstered protections from removal for almost a century. The court’s forthcoming ruling in Trump v. Slaughter carries dramatic implications for the modern workings of government, which Justice Sonia Sotomayor said on Monday that the administration wants to ‘destroy.’”
* This is on Trump’s list of ended wars: “Thailand’s military on Monday launched airstrikes on targets across its disputed border with Cambodia, shattering a volatile cease-fire agreement between the two Southeast Asian countries brokered by President Trump. Thai officials said they acted after soldiers stationed near the border came under fire from Cambodian troops on Sunday and Monday morning. Cambodian officials, meanwhile, blamed the Thai military for restarting the fighting.”
* The Institute of Museum and Library Services wins a round: “The federal agency that supports the nation’s libraries has restored thousands of grants canceled by the Trump administration, following a federal judge’s ruling that the executive order mandating the cuts was unlawful.”
* A relatively obscure story that I’ve been monitoring: “Three federal judges who rescinded their decisions to retire from active service on the bench after President Donald Trump was elected, thus depriving him of vacancies he could fill, did not violate judicial ethics rules, a chief federal appellate judge has concluded.” * Cruelty for the sake of cruelty: “The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services quietly altered the official portrait of Admiral Rachel Levine, the first openly transgender person confirmed to a four-star federal position, replacing her legal name with her deadname and digitalizing her picture. The portrait, which had hung alongside previous Public Health Service leaders, had been a visible symbol of historic representation in federal leadership.” * Airline industry lobbyists sure have racked up some wins from the administration: “The Trump administration said on Friday that it would waive an $11 million fine levied against Southwest Airlines over the company’s 2022 holiday travel meltdown, when the airline canceled nearly 17,000 flights around Christmas during a period of severe weather.” See you tomorrow.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."
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