Oklahoma City 30 Years On | Cartels as Terrorists: New Defensive Tools in Play | Intelligence Purge: National Security Nightmare | Fearing Paper on Evolution Might Get Them Deported, Scientists Withdrew It, and more

RFKs Anti-Vax Flock Turns on Him  (Will Sommer, The Bulwark)
RFK endorsed the MMR vaccine. His followers want to go MMA on him for it.

THE LONG VIEW

30 Years Since Oklahoma City: How One Tragedy Shaped Our Nation’s Future Security  (Kristina Tanasichuk, HSToday)
As the nation marks 30 years since the Oklahoma City bombing, HSToday Executive Editor Kristina Tanasichuk sat down with the Director of the Interagency Security Committee (ISC) to reflect on the tragic events of April 19, 1995—when a truck bomb outside the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building claimed 168 lives in the deadliest act of domestic terrorism in U.S. history. In response to the attack, the ISC was established by executive order in October 1995 to enhance the security of civilian federal facilities nationwide. Over three decades, the Committee has grown into a powerful coalition of 66 federal departments and agencies, setting and enforcing security policies through rigorous standards, training, compliance, and interagency coordination.

“One Million.” The Private Goal Driving Trump’s Push for Mass Deportations.  (Maria Sacchetti and Jacob Bogage, Washington Post)
Immigration officers and analysts are increasingly skeptical the Trump administration can deport that many immigrants in a single year.

Nuclear Testing Is a Relic. Resuming It Would Be Reckless.  (Shawn Rostker, Just Security)
For more than three decades, the United States has refrained from conducting explosive nuclear tests, maintaining a moratorium that has become a cornerstone of global nuclear stability. This self-imposed restraint has not only bolstered the United States’ moral standing but also safeguarded its scientific and strategic advantages. Today, however, proposals to restart nuclear testing are surfacing, driven by claims that testing is necessary to maintain the reliability of the U.S. nuclear arsenal and to project strength amid intensifying global competition. Such arguments miss the mark entirely. Restarting nuclear tests would neither strengthen U.S. security nor compel challengers to submit to U.S. demands. Instead, it would erode decades of progress, hand strategic advantages to adversaries and risk setting off a dangerous cascade of testing around the world.

Beyond Strategy: Executing Economic Security Policy  (Chris Diaz and Aroop Mukharji, War on the Rocks)
Imagine a National Security Council where economic officials have a permanent seat. A “pivot to economics” could redefine American power.

America’s Universities Could End up Zombies  (Steven A. Cook, Foreign Policy)
U.S. higher education is the envy of the world—but, with state interference, maybe not for long.

Americans Are Preparing for When All Hell Breaks Loose  (Thomas Gibbons-Neff, New York Times)
Once thought of as a fringe mind-set, the prepared citizen movement is gaining traction in a world shaped by war, the pandemic and extreme weather.

The Dangerous New Civil-Military Bargain  (Risa Brooks, Foreign Affairs)
Trump’s demands for loyalty will weaken the U.S. armed forces.

The Dangers of AI Sovereignty  (Kevin Frazier, Lawfare)
Nations are racing toward AI sovereignty, prioritizing military control over human welfare. We need a new path before it’s too late.

AI Isn’t What We Should Be Worried About –It’s the Humans Controlling It  (Billy J. Stratton, The Conversation)
Investigation into the mass stabbing in the German city last year raises questions about Kremlin intelligence and hybrid warfare.

DEMOCRACY WATCH

This Is Why Dictatorships Fail(Anne Applebaum, The Atlantic)
The authors of the Constitution separated powers for a reason.

Trump Escalates Use of Official Power to Intimidate and Punish His Perceived Foes  (Charlie Savage, Maggie Haberman, Jonathan Swan, and Michael S. Schmidt, New York Times)
A presidential decree instructing the Justice Department to scrutinize whether a former official broke the law crosses a new line.

YouTube Admits Error in “Misinformation” Removal of Trump Watchdog Group  (Erik Wemple, Washington Post)
Only after a media inquiry was the decision against Justice Connection reversed.

Trump Finally Slapped His Brand on a Quality Product: America  (Philip Bump, Washington Post)
The Republican establishment — and much of the country — exists only in the context of Trumpism.

Trump Directs Justice Dept. to Probe Officials Who Opposed Him in First Term  (Kelly Kasulis Cho, Washington Post)
The targeting of former cybersecurity official Chris Krebs and former homeland security official Miles Taylor reflects the president’s escalating quest for retribution.

Trump Told People to Buy. Hours Later, His Tariff Pause Sent Markets Soaring.  (Rachel Lerman and Douglas MacMillan, Washington Post)
Trump’s post before his announcement has Democrats accusing him of a “market manipulation scheme.”

Trump Says He Is Serious About Staying in Office Past 2028  (Mark Leibovich, The Atlantic)
Why do Republicans keep claiming he isn’t?

Marine Le Pen’s “Witch Hunt” Talk Echoes Trump. Will It Work in France?  (Roger Cohen, New York Rimes)
After years trying to moderate her party’s image, the far-right leader, convicted of embezzlement, now voices Trump-like outrage, at some risk.

These Tariffs Are a Democratic Crisis, Not Just an Economic One  (Emily Chamlee-Wright, Persuasion)
The Founders wouldn’t look kindly on “Liberation Day.”

Trump Is Gaslighting Us  (Peter Wehner, The Atlantic)
Trump is an agent of chaos, and chaos has a human cost.

In Trump’s Second Term, Retribution Comes in Many Forms  (Michael S. Schmidt, New York Times)
President Trump’s campaign to exact revenge against his perceived foes has turned out to be far more expansive, creative, efficient — and for now, less reliant on the justice system — than anticipated.

List: Who Trump Has Targeted for Retribution  (ichael S. Schmidt, Matthew Cullen and Lazaro Gamio, New York Times)
Since returning to office, President Trump’s campaign to exact revenge against his foes has turned out to be far more expansive, creative, efficient — and less reliant on the justice system — than anticipated. Here’s a breakdown of what he’s done.

Trump’s Retribution  (Michael S. Schmidt, New York Times)
We explore the creative ways the president is getting even with his opponents.

I Should Have Seen This Coming  (David Brooks, The Atlantic)
When I joined the conservative movement in the 1980s, there were two types of people: those who cared earnestly about ideas, and those who wanted only to shock the left. The reactionary fringe has won.

Former Wisconsin Justice to Give Up Law License Over 2020 Election Review  (Patrick Marley, Washington Post)
A former Wisconsin Supreme Court justice agreed Monday to give up his law license for three years after facing a string of ethics allegations stemming from his error-riddled review of the 2020 election for Republican state lawmakers.
In a filing with the state Supreme Court, former justice Michael Gableman conceded that legal regulators had produced enough evidence to find he had violated state ethics rules for lawyers. He gave up his legal fight over the matter a week after a candidate backed by Democrats won a seat on the state’s high court and locked in a likely liberal majority for years.
In a 10-count complaint in November, Wisconsin’s Office of Lawyer Regulation alleged Gableman had filed false information with a judge, repeatedly engaged in dishonesty, unfairly disparaged a judge and an attorney, failed to perform competent legal work, did not follow the directions of his client, released confidential information and lied to the lawyer who investigated him.
After Donald Trump lost the 2020 presidential race, Republicans who control the Wisconsin Assembly hired Gableman to review how the election was conducted in the swing state. Gableman falsely claimed the election was stolen, consulted with conspiracy theorists, kept shoddy records and unsuccessfully sought to jail mayors and local election officials who he contended weren’t cooperating with him. He publicly urged lawmakers to try to revoke the state’s 10 electoral votes, even as he privately acknowledged doing so was a “practical impossibility.”

American Liberators of Nazi Camps Got “a Lifelong Vaccine Against Extremism” − Their Wartime Experiences Are a Warning for Today  (Sara J. Brenneis, The Conversation)
When American soldiers liberated the Mauthausen Nazi concentration camp in Austria 80 years ago this May, Spanish prisoners welcomed them with a message of antifascist solidarity.
The Spaniards hung a banner made from stolen bed sheets over one of Mauthausen’s gates. In English, Spanish and Russian, it read: “The Spanish Antifascists Greet the Liberating Forces.”
Both American servicemen and Spanish survivors remember the camp’s liberation as a win in their shared fight against extremism, my research on the Spanish prisoners in Mauthausen finds. They all understood the authoritarian governments of Nazi Germany, Italy and Spain as fascist regimes that used extremist views rooted in intolerance and nationalism to persecute millions of people and imperil democracy across Europe.
World War II, the Holocaust and the horrors of Nazi violence have no modern equivalent. Nevertheless, extremism is now threatening democracy in the United States in recognizable ways.

Why a Presidential Term Limit Got Written into the Constitution – the Story of the 22nd Amendment (Mark Satta, The Conversation)
Law professor Mila Versteeg and her colleagues have shown that in recent years presidents around the globe have used various tactics to try to violate presidential term limits. These tactics include trying to amend their country’s constitution, trying to get the courts to reinterpret the constitution, finding a replacement leader who the former president can control once out of office and attempting to delay elections.
They note that most of the time when a president’s attempt to violate term limits fails it is “because the attempt encountered widespread popular resistance.” They conclude that this finding implies that “broad resistance movements” may be the best means to prevent violation of presidential term limits.

How Trump Could Try to Stay in Power After His Second Term Ends  (Philip Klinkner, The Conversation)
Because Trump has been elected president twice already, the plain language of the amendment bars him from being elected a third time. Some have argued that since Trump’s terms were nonconsecutive, the amendment doesn’t apply to him. But the amendment makes no distinction between consecutive and nonconsecutive terms in office.
Though the 22nd Amendment prohibits Trump from being elected president again, it does not prohibit him from serving as president beyond Jan. 20, 2029. The reason for this is that the 22nd Amendment only prohibits someone from being “elected” more than twice. It says nothing about someone becoming president in some other way than being elected to the office.

Marine Le Pen Ruling Is Fuel for the Global Right’s Attacks on Court Authority  (Ashifa Kassam, Guardian)
Rightwing and populist leaders are seizing on conviction to push narrative they are being silenced –but legal experts disagree.

NEW THREATS

HHS Systems Are in Danger of Collapsing, Workers Say  (David Gilbert, Wired)
The purging of IT and cybersecurity staff at the Department of Health and Human Services could threaten the systems used by the agency’s staff and the safety of critical health data.

The Many Ways Kennedy Is Already Undermining Vaccines  (Apoorva Mandavilli, New York Times)
The health secretary has chipped away at the idea that immunizing children against measles and other diseases is a public health good.

Trump Has Added Risk to the Surest Bet in Global Finance  (Peter S. Goodman, New York Times)
Shocked by Trump’s trade war, foreign investors are selling U.S. government bonds, long the world’s safe haven.

China Halts Critical Exports as Trade War Intensifies  (Keith Bradsher, New York Times)
Beijing has suspended exports of certain rare earth minerals and magnets that are crucial for the world’s car, semiconductor and aerospace industries.

Trump’s Chaos Has Shattered Confidence in America  (Roger Bootle, The Telegraph)
The U.S. president is unwittingly hastening the end of the dollar as the world’s only significant reserve currency

The Trump Administration Is Turning Science Against Itself  (Brian Barrett, Wired)
In addition to firing researchers and pulling funds, the Trump administration is also inverting science.

Fearing Paper on Evolution Might Get Them Deported, Scientists Withdrew It  (Mark Johnson, Washington Post)
President Donald Trump’s orders haven’t targeted research involving evolution, but the authors’ unease about publishing reflects uncertainty in the science world.

MAGA’s Remaking of Universities Could Have Dire Consequences  (Economist)
For higher education, innovation, prosperity and freedom.

Trump’s Intelligence Purge Is a Nightmare for National Security  (Peter Suciu, National Interest)
President Trump’s justification for sweeping layoffs among the top brass of intelligence and military agencies raises serious questions, particularly when loyalty appears to be defined less by allegiance to the U.S. Constitution than by the president’s personal or political agenda.

An Experiment in Recklessness: Trump as Global Disrupter  (David E. Sanger, New York Times)
The global trading system is only one example of the administration tearing something apart, only to reveal that it has no plan for how to replace it.

The Art of the Delay  (Economist)
Donald Trump pauses some of the pain, but not the chaos.

Trump’s Trade War Threatens a Global Recession  (Economist)
Investors are worried. At least the economy is starting from a position of strength.

If You Think It’s Alarming Now, Just Wait for Trump to Wreck the Bond Market  (Ambrose Evans-Pritchard, The Telegraph)
The White House’s push for expanded presidential power threatens US economic stability.

Where Real Danger Might Lurk in Chaotic Markets  (Economist)
The further prices fall, the greater the risk of a “doom loop.”

Even Americans Don’t Want Trump’s Barmy Tariffs  (Economist)
The trade historian predicts that the damage will be geopolitical as well as economic.

America Is a Powder Keg  (Jonathan V. Last, The Bulwark)
Four scenarios of what the explosion could look like.

Fake Calculations and Fake Economics  (Alan Cole, The Dispatch)
Trump’s tariffs are not about “reciprocity.”

Trump Wants to Merge Government Data. Here Are 314 Things It Might Know About You.  (Emily Badger and Sheera Frenkel, New York Times)
Elon Musk’s team is leading an effort to link government databases, to the alarm of privacy and security experts.

We Should All Be Very, Very Afraid  (Erwin Chemerinsky and Laurence H. Tribe, New York Times)
Of all the lawless acts by the Trump administration in its first two and a half months, none are more frightening than its dumping of human beings who have not had their day in court into an infamous maximum-security prison in El Salvador — and then contending that no federal court has the authority to right these brazen wrongs.
In an astounding brief filed in the Supreme Court on Monday, the solicitor general of the United States argued that even when the government concedes that it has mistakenly deported someone to El Salvador and had him imprisoned there, the federal courts are powerless to do anything about it. The Supreme Court must immediately and emphatically reject this unwarranted claim of unlimited power to deprive people of their liberty without due process.

Kari Lake to Be Detailed to State Department to Dismantle VOA Parent Agency  (Sarah Ellison and Yvonne Wingett Sanchez, Washington Post)
The Arizona Republican will take on a new role aimed at shutting down the agency that oversees Voice of America, where she is a senior adviser.

Gabbard Sets Up DOGE-Style Team to Cut Costs, Uncover Intel “Weaponization”  (Ellen Nakashima, Warren P. Strobel and Aaron Schaffer, Washington Post)
The Director’s Initiatives Group, or DIG, is staffed by agency outsiders vetted by the White House, officials said.

MORE PICKS

Pressuring Migrants to “Self-Deport,” White House Moves to Cancel Social Security Numbers  (Alexandra Berzon, Hamed Aleaziz, Nicholas Nehamas, Ryan Mac, and Tara Siegel Bernard, New York Times)
By placing migrants in Social Security’s “death master file,” the Trump administration is seeking to cut off their access to credit cards, bank accounts and other financial services.

Trump Wants to Send U.S. Citizens to Foreign Prisons. Experts Say There’s No Legal Way.  (Kelsey Ables, Washington Post)
Trump has repeatedly floated the idea of sending U.S. citizens convicted of crimes to prisons in El Salvador, but experts question how realistic that is.

Spyware Maker NSO Group Is Paving a Path Back into Trump’s America  (Vas Panagiotopoulos, Wired)
The Israeli spyware maker, still on the US Commerce Department’s “blacklist,” has hired a new lobbying firm with direct ties to the Trump administration, a WIRED investigation has found.

Unpacking the White House’s Executive Order on Restoring the U.S. Shipbuilding Industry  (Matthew P. Funaiole, Brian Hart, and Aidan Powers-Riggs, CSIS)
On April 9, the Trump administration issued an executive order (EO) on Restoring America’s Maritime Dominance. The EO aims to set the foundation for a major effort across the U.S. government to revitalize U.S. shipbuilding and maritime industries. While the United States has not been a significant player in commercial shipbuilding for decades, concern has grown in Washington that its declining maritime industrial base puts it on the back foot in competing with China’s rapidly growing economic and military power.
Given the scale and long-term investment required to meaningfully revive U.S. shipbuilding, the EO should be understood as an initial step to address the challenge, not a comprehensive maritime strategy. While many specific details remain to be worked out, the EO outlines the broad contours of the administration’s developing approach.

What Makes Modern Measles Outbreaks Different  (Sarah Zhang, The Atlantic)
Unvaccinated children are becoming unvaccinated adults, who are at risk of dangerous complications.

Donald Trump Wants to Save the Coal Industry. He’s Too Late  (Molly Taft, Wired)
An executive order intended to give coal a boost ignores the reality not only of where energy markets are going, but where they are today.

Five Takeaways from Trump’s Plan to Rescue Coal  (Lisa Friedman and Brad Plumer, New York Times)
To help the struggling coal industry, President Trump used his executive authority to try to keep aging plants alive and burn more coal for electricity.

Trump Signs Orders Aimed at Reviving a Struggling Coal Industry  (Brad Plumer and Mira Rojanasakul, New York Times)
The moves include loosening environmental rules, but it is unclear how much they can help reverse the sharp decline in coal power over the last two decades.

Justice Dept. Says It Will Pull Back on Litigating Cryptocurrency Fraud  (Washington Post)
In a memo sent to the Justice Department on Monday night, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said the department will largely stop bringing cases that violate the Bank Secrecy Act or contain unregistered broker dealer violations, instead focusing on crimes that people commit with cryptocurrency, such as illicit drugs and human trafficking.
This is the latest example of the Trump administration easing up on white-collar crime enforcement.

How Will Artificial Intelligence Impact Battlefield Operations?  (David Kirichenko, Lawfare)
AI is reshaping warfare, accelerating decision-making, and impacting civilian casualties—but over-reliance poses risks and vulnerabilities.

Greenland’s Military Possibilities for the United States  (Aaron Brady, War on the Rocks)
Over a thousand years ago, the Viking leader Erik the Red discovered a new land after being exiled for murdering his neighbor. To entice his fellow Vikings to settle the icy island, he called it Greenland, highlighting its more hospitable southern and western coasts. The settlers that took the bait struggled but endured.
Today, Greenland’s value needs no exaggeration. Its mineral wealth is well-understood, certainly by some in Washington, who seek to acquire the island — ­­a Danish territory. Some of the same voices also promote Greenland’s military value. Gaining political control of the island may, in fact, be a bad deal for the United States, but Washington cannot afford to ignore Greenland’s importance to Arctic and North Atlantic security.
The 2024 Defense Arctic Strategy of monitor-and-respond is insufficiently resourced for competition and not viable for conflict. A geostrategic view shows that the United States should view the Arctic as a connective region with important military ramifications for Europe and the Indo-Pacific, rather than as a separate theater. The United States should re-imagine its strategic framework to view its geostrategic position as a large “line of contact” extending from the South China Sea, over the Arctic, to the Black Sea. Greenland is a linchpin in this framework, providing basing and sensor opportunities permissible by the 1951 Defense of Greenland treaty, with Danish concurrence. Modest investments in sensors and bases in Greenland would significantly enhance America’s strategic Arctic position.

Trump Administration Aims to Spend $45 Billion to Expand Immigrant Detention  (Allison McCannAlexandra Berzon and Hamed Aleaziz, New York Times)
A request for proposals for new detention facilities and other services would allow the government to expedite the contracting process and rapidly expand detention.