Today’s edition of quick hits.
* Judge Patrick J. Schiltz kept the receipts: “The chief federal judge in Minnesota excoriated Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Wednesday, saying it had violated nearly 100 court orders stemming from its aggressive crackdown in the state and had disobeyed more judicial directives in January alone than ‘some federal agencies have violated in their entire existence.’”
* Speaking of ICE struggling in court: “A federal judge on Wednesday evening ordered federal agents to stop detaining and deporting refugees in Minnesota who were lawfully admitted to the United States, and to immediately release those currently held for re-examination of their cases.”
* In related news: “In a Minneapolis federal court where 16 people were charged on Wednesday with assaulting immigration agents, Judge Dulce J. Foster said she was ‘deeply disturbed’ that Attorney General Pam Bondi had published photographs of some of the defendants on social media.”
* Trump’s whining isn’t working: “The Federal Reserve held interest rates steady Wednesday, as expected, despite pressure from President Trump for much lower borrowing costs.”
* Let’s not pretend that tariff revenue is covering these costs: “The Trump administration’s controversial deployments of National Guard troops to six American cities since June cost about $496 million in 2025, and continuing the existing deployments as is would cost about $93 million per month, the Congressional Budget Office said Wednesday.”
* It sounds like Rubio should take this up with Karoline Leavitt: “Secretary of State Marco Rubio admitted that his boss in a high-profile speech to world leaders last week confused Iceland and Greenland, contradicting a denial from the president’s chief spokesperson.”
* I don’t think there’s any great mystery about the political motivations behind the film: “The film’s rollout is huge — a $35 million marketing campaign that includes television commercials during N.F.L. playoff games and a premiere simulcast in 25 theaters in the United States. Starting Friday, the film hits 3,300 theaters worldwide. The latest superhero movie? Try Amazon’s all-hands-on-deck handling of ‘Melania,’ which follows Melania Trump, the first lady, in the days leading up to her husband’s second inauguration. … Amazon paid Ms. Trump’s production company $40 million for the rights to ‘Melania,’ about $26 million more than the next closest bidder, Disney.” * All is not well at the Kennedy Center: “In a Jan. 16 news release, the Kennedy Center announced that Kevin Couch would be its new senior vice president of artistic programming. On Jan. 22, the center posted the announcement on X. Not a week later, Couch resigned.” * Springsteen wrote and recorded a good song with surprising speed: “Bruce Springsteen is dedicating his new song to the people of Minneapolis, criticizing President Donald Trump’s ongoing immigration enforcement operations in the city. The lyrics of ‘Streets of Minneapolis,’ released Wednesday, describe how ‘a city aflame fought fire and ice ’neath an occupier’s boots,’ which Springsteen calls ‘King Trump’s private army.’” 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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