Good Morning! We’re in for some more perfect weather today. High 60s, partly cloudy. Can’t get outside today to enjoy it? That’s okay. It’s gonna be like this for the next 10 days at least. Just don’t call it Spring out loud, or it’ll get spooked and go back into hiding.
Alright, let’s do the news.
The Big Beautiful Bill: Trump may have signed a record number of executive orders in his first 100 days, but this legislative session has been exceptionally unproductive. So yesterday, when Trump showed up on Capitol Hill, he was ready to force some action, saying that failure to pass his bill “would be the ultimate betrayal.” Despite some major inter-party concerns about healthcare cuts, House Republicans fell in line. They started their debate before midnight, had a slumber party, and by dawn, they passed Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill, 215-214. This bill extends $4.5 trillion in Trump 1.0-era tax breaks, and makes good on his campaign commitment to get rid of taxes on tips. It also would cost 8.6 million people their healthcare coverage, and push 3 million people off of SNAP benefits. And of course, it adds $200 million in spending on deportation and border security. Next up: the Senate, who plan to have their version ready by the Fourth of July.
ICE-ing Our Courtrooms: Does anyone still think Trump gives a rats ass about decency? This one will help wipe that glimmer of hope from your mind. ICE agents are lurking in the halls of Seattle’s immigration courts like vultures, waiting to see if judges dismiss people’s deportation cases. If they don’t immediately object or appeal, ICE agents swoop in. “What that means is that they can be on a plane out of here in three hours,” Eilish Villa Malone, one of a handful of immigration attorneys awaiting their clients' cases, told KUOW. Attorneys are worried that this could scare people out of showing up for their court hearings, but they’re damned if they do, damned if they don’t. Not showing up is a fast track to deportation as well.
Israeli Embassy Staff Members Killed: Last night, while walking out of an event at the Capital Jewish Museum in DC, two staff members of the Israeli embassy were shot and killed. According to police, the suspect yelled, “Free, free Palestine” after he was arrested. Both Trump and Netanyahu called the attack, which appeared to be a response to Israel’s war in Gaza, “antisemitic.”
Shipwrecked: One man was rescued and three others are presumed dead after a 26-foot fishing boat sank off the coast of Everett yesterday. The weather was extremely mild, so it’s not clear what caused the boat to sink.
Trump’s Having a Bad Week in Court: This morning, a federal judge blocked Trump’s attempt at shutting down the Department of Education through mass layoffs, demanding that he immediately rehire them while the case moves through the courts. And yesterday, a different federal judge determined that the Trump admin violated a court order when they sent eight migrants (who are largely not from South Sudan) to South Sudan. A DHS spokesperson complained about “activists judges” and a White House spokesperson said they “do not apologize for acting to protect the American people.” Boo hoo. Now the question is, will Trump act on the orders of the judicial branch? He hasn’t been great at it so far.
Pour One Out for the University Book Store: Next month, Barnes & Noble will take over virtually all of the book selling in the building, but don’t fear—University Books isn’t completely disappearing. Textbook sales will remain under the University Book Store, and Boon Boona Coffee will still run the cafe. The indie bookseller has been around since 1900, which means it existed before ballpoint pens, motion pictures, and bras.
We have a new Air Force One, and it’s giving everyone the ick. The Pentagon confirmed that they accepted the $400 million gift from Qatar, and "work to ensure proper security measures" to make it safe for use by the president. In case there was any question about what kind of message this “gift” is sending the international community, when the president of South Africa visited the Oval yesterday, he listened to a list of Trump’s accusations about “white genocide” in South Africa, and then said, “I’m sorry we don’t have a plane to give you.” “Me too,” Trump replied.
Speaking of Planes: While trying to land at a small regional airport, a Cessna 550 crashed into a residential San Diego neighborhood this morning, killing everyone on board and setting several homes on fire. The people who live in the neighborhood were evacuated quickly and there were no serious injuries.
The IRS Is a Snitch: On Tuesday, ICE and Border Patrol carried out their second workplace raid in Washington, arresting 17 people at a Kent beverage manufacturing company. But this time, they brought their friend, the IRS, along. In February, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi “WTF is Habeas Corpus” Noem told the treasury secretary that she wanted to deputize IRS criminal investigators to help uncover immigration violations, and it appears she’s done it. “I haven’t seen anything like this,” Seattle immigration attorney Adam Boyd told the Seattle Times.
The DOJ Plans to Cyberbully Trump’s Enemies: Faced with the inconvenience that many of Trump’s enemies have done nothing that warrants federal prosecution, Ed Martin, the DOJ’s “weaponization czar” says that if he can’t charge them with anything, he’ll just “name them, and in a culture that respects shame, they should be people that are ashamed.” As the NYTimes wrote, “naming and shaming is antithetical to its mission of pursuing justice impartially.” But it’s perfectly aligned with our cyberbully-in-chief.
You Like Rocks? If you’re looking for something to do tonight, EverOut’s Lindsay Costello recommends that you tap into your inner geologist and head over to Third Place Books in Lake Forest Park for a talk with Alison Jean Cole, author of A Rockhound’s Guide to Oregon & Washington. You might find out that you, too, are a rockhound.
Yesterday, my email was graced with the actual worst thing I’ve ever seen, and now I have to share it with you. “We are working with a faith-based tech firm,” the PR email read, “which is using AI to bring Bible stories to life.” And then they shared a YouTube link to “Noah’s Ark, But It’s a Country Song Music Video.” I watched it, and now it’s my Ring video. So here you go.
