Today’s edition of quick hits.
* I’ll be eager to learn more about preliminary reporting like this: “President Trump has secretly signed a directive to the Pentagon to begin using military force against certain Latin American drug cartels that his administration has deemed terrorist organizations, according to people familiar with the matter.”
* These “negotiations” sure do start to look like shake-downs: “The Trump administration has proposed a $1 billion settlement with UCLA amid a larger battle over federal funding. The payment of such a sum would have disastrous effects on the university, school officials said on Friday.”
* Does this mean the White House isn’t following through on its sanctions deadline? “A meeting between President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin is tentatively scheduled for the end of next week, a senior White House official told NBC News on Friday. The location is still being discussed, this official said, but possibilities include the United Arab Emirates, Hungary, Switzerland and Rome.”
* Tough-to-defend developments at the D.C. Circuit: “It was a rare instance of potential consequences for Trump administration officials back in April, when U.S. District Judge James Boasberg raised the prospect of criminal contempt over Alien Enemies Act flights to El Salvador in March. But two Trump-appointed appellate judges just vacated his probable cause order, granting the administration extraordinary relief over dissent from an Obama appointee.”
* The thing to know about Miran is that he’s a Trump loyalist who’s been critical of Jerome Powell: “President Trump has nominated his top economic adviser, Stephen Miran, to serve as a governor at the Federal Reserve, an institution the president has repeatedly attacked for failing to acquiesce to his demands for lower borrowing costs. The opportunity to reshape the top ranks of the central bank arose when Adriana Kugler, whose term as a governor was set to expire on Jan. 31, unexpectedly announced last week that she was stepping down early.”
* Bizarre developments in Texas: “Attorney General Ken Paxton on Friday asked the Texas Supreme Court to expel 13 Democrats from the state House, the latest in a flurry of unprecedented actions aiming to resume business at the Capitol and pass new congressional maps to benefit Republicans.”
* Following up on a story we talked about earlier in the week: “The Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History on Friday unveiled an updated impeachment display that now includes context about President Donald Trump’s historic cases — a change the institution made a week after The Washington Post reported that a temporary placard containing his name had been removed from the exhibit as part of a Smithsonian content review prompted by White House pressure to oust a museum director. The new text makes minor changes to — and offers slightly fewer details than — the temporary signage.”
Have a safe weekend.