The Messy Politics Of Presidential Pardons

Politico: “House colleagues in New York, New Jersey and California — where property taxes can easily exceed the current $10,000 cap for middle-class homeowners — will join him this weekend at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago transition headquarters to advocate for tax relief. The battleground members in the closely divided House know SALT could make or break their midterm campaigns, and interviews with six of them across the three states illuminated their strategy.” “They plan to remind Trump of his campaign promise to ‘get SALT back,’ argue that the deduction helps middle-class voters in states that help decide House control and even appeal to him as a fellow New York property owner.”

“Denmark sent private messages in recent days to President-elect Trump’s team expressing willingness to discuss boosting security in Greenland or increasing the U. S. military presence on the island,” Axios reports. “In the messages passed to the Trump team, the Danish government made clear Greenland was not for sale but expressed readiness to discuss any other U.

“In Texas, Florida, and more than a dozen other states, users who try to access the world’s largest pornography website are greeted by a surprising sight: a message on a black screen telling them they’re blocked because of the actions of their state legislature,” CNN reports. “Over the last two and a half years, 19 states – home to more than a third of Americans – have passed laws that require pornography websites to confirm a user’s age by checking a government-issued ID or scanning their face, among other methods.” “Next week, the Supreme Court will hear a challenge to the constitutionality of the new laws, setting up a battle over free speech, censorship and how to protect kids online.”

“President-elect Donald Trump’s border czar Tom Homan has privately told Republican lawmakers to temper their expectations for the incoming administration’s initial deportation operation, citing limited resources,” CNN reports. “The discussions are part of a broader level-setting that is occurring among House Republicans, who are now coming to terms with the challenges of turning one of their key campaign promises into a reality.

“Scott Bessent, the billionaire hedge fund manager whom President-elect Donald Trump picked to be his Treasury secretary, plans to divest from dozens of funds, trusts and investments in preparation to become the nation’s top economic policymaker,” the New York Times reports. “Those plans were released on Saturday along with the publication of an ethics agreement and financial disclosures that Mr.

“The U. S. Supreme Court said on Friday it will review a lower court’s decision to block a Biden administration rule that helped forgive student debt held by borrowers who were defrauded by their colleges,” USA Today reports.