Politics

Andrew Johnson impeached: This Day in History

On this day in history, Feb. 24, 1868, Andrew Johnson became the first U.S. president to be impeached by the House of Representatives.

The House voted 126-47 to impeach the 17th president for trying to sack Secretary of War Edwin Stanton – a violation of the Tenure of Office Act, which required the Senate to approve the president’s removal of the cabinet members he’d appointed.

Engraving From 1881 Featuring The American President, Andrew Johnson. Johnson Lived From 1808 Until 1875.
(iStock)

Johnson, a Democrat from Tennessee, assumed the presidency after the 1865 assassination of Abraham Lincoln and led the country while it was still reeling from the Civil War.

Johnson violated the Tenure of Office Act by replacing Stanton with Union hero and future president Ulysses S. Grant.

JOHN BOLTON PRESSED BY SUSAN RICE ON IMPEACHMENT TESTIMONY AT VANDERBILT EVENT

A trial in the Senate stretched for more than 11 weeks before Johnson was acquitted by a 35-19 vote – just one shy of the two-thirds majority required for a conviction.

Johnson is one of only three presidents – in addition to Bill Clinton and Donald Trump – to be impeached. President Richard Nixon resigned before the House could vote on impeachment.

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On Dec. 18, 2019, President Trump was impeached by the House for “abuse of power” and “obstruction of Congress” in connection with his dealings with Ukraine. He was later acquitted by the Senate on both counts.

Fox News’ Louis Casiano contributed to this report.

Chuck Schumer admits spending $8,600 on Junior’s cheesecake: ‘Guilty as charged’

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., unapologetically admitted Sunday to spending more than $8,600 on cheesecake from an iconic downtown Brooklyn eatery over the past decade.

The admission came on the heels of a New York Post article on his Federal Election Commission reports, which revealed the Friends of Schumer PAC dropped thousands at Junior’s cheesecake.

“I give them as gifts. I use them for bets,” Schumer said. “You know, when someone wants to bet something, you know, for a Brooklyn thing versus a Wisconsin thing. We once bet when the Packers were playing the Giants: Wisconsin cheese or Junior’s cheesecake. What would you rather have? I love Junior’s cheesecake.”

TSA BANS EMPLOYEES FROM USING TIKTOK ON BEHALF OF AGENCY FOLLOWING SCHUMER’S COMPLAINTS

The purchases and deliveries occurred from 2012 to 2016, after which Schumer’s campaign began offering tickets to supporters instead, according to the Post. After Schumer said he wasn’t sure how many he ordered, the paper did some math and concluded that “at the current price of $43.95 for the signature plain cheesecake, the [Senate Democratic] leader gobbled up 196 in five years.”

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Schumer proudly took responsibility for the purchases.

“So I say to the New York Post and others: guilty as charged,” he said while holding a printout of the Post article. “I love Junior’s cheesecake so much. It’s the best cheesecake in the world. It is made in Brooklyn. I’ve been going to Junior’s since I’ve been a little boy. And it’s my guilty pleasure.”

He then held a tray with a few slices and gave out a few to the press.

Pelosi tours San Francisco’s Chinatown in attempt to ease fears of coronavirus

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., made a visit to San Francisco’s Chinatown on Monday to assuage concerns about the coronavirus as tourism to the city’s famed neighborhood has declined in recent weeks.

“We want to be vigilant to what is out there in other places. We want to be careful about how we deal with it,” Pelosi told reporters while touring the neighborhood. “But we do want to say to be people, ‘Come to Chinatown, we are careful safe, and come join us.’”

Pelosi’s trip comes as fears continue to mount in the United States as cases of the coronavirus rise around the globe. The virus has infected more than 79,000 people globally and caused more than 2,600 deaths, most of them in China.

CORONAVIRUS INFECTIONS SURGE IN ITALY, SOUTH KOREA AS VIRUS KILLS AT LEAST 8 IN IRAN

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Monday that there are 53 confirmed cases of the virus in the U.S. These include 36 people who were aboard the Diamond Princess cruise ship, three people repatriated from China and 14 U.S. cases.

The White House is readying an urgent budget request to address the deadly coronavirus outbreak, whose rapid spread is spooking financial markets and restricting international travel.

The request is still being developed but is likely to come this week, a senior administration official confirmed Monday. The Department of Health and Human Services has already tapped into an emergency infectious disease rapid response fund and is seeking to transfer more than $130 million from other HHS accounts to combat the virus but is pressing for more.

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“We need some funding here to make sure that we protect all Americans,” Deputy White House Press Secretary Hogan Gidley said on Fox News. ”We need to combat this, we need to make sure our people are safe and the president is always going to take action to do that.”

Senators returning to Washington after a weeklong recess will receive a classified briefing Tuesday morning on the government’s coronavirus response, a Senate aide said.

Among the needs is funding to reimburse the Pentagon, which is housing evacuees from China — who are required to undergo 14-day quarantines — at several military bases in California.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Appeals court upholds Trump administration rules against Title X funding for abortion

A federal appeals court on Monday upheld Trump administration rules withdrawing Title X funding from any medical facilities that provide abortions.

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals — long regarded as a liberal body, though President Trump appointees have started to tilt the balance — lifted preliminary injunctions against the rules issued by lower courts in cases from three different states.

MISSISSIPPI ‘HEARTBEAT’ ABORTION LAW BLOCKED BY FEDERAL APPEALS COURT

The court cited similar rules adopted by the Reagan administration that had been approved by the Supreme Court.

“In light of Supreme Court approval of the 1988 regulations and our broad deference to agencies’ interpretations of the statutes they are charged with implementing, plaintiffs’ legal challenges to the 2019 rule fail,” Judge Sandra S. Ikuta wrote in the court’s opinion. “Accordingly, we vacate the injunctions entered by the district courts and remand for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.”

Title X was first enacted in 1970, prohibiting government grant money from being “used in programs where abortion is a method of family planning.” The 1988 regulations referred to by the court included programs that merely provided counseling or referrals for abortion for family-planning purposes. Those rules were approved by the Supreme Court in 1991.

In 2000, new regulations were more lax. But in 2019, the Department of Health and Human Services adopted regulations similar to the 1988 rule — withdrawing funding from any medical facility that provides abortions, abortion counseling or abortion referrals. The Ninth Circuit’s ruling noted that the Trump administration’s regulations were “less restrictive” than the 1988 ones in that “a counselor providing nondirective pregnancy counseling ‘may discuss abortion’ so long as ‘the counselor neither refers for, nor encourages, abortion.'”

A three-judge panel from the Ninth Circuit had previously lifted the injunctions, but the full circuit court — composed of a majority of Democrat-appointed judges — reviewed the case after abortion-rights groups fought the previous decision.

“We are pleased by the en banc Ninth Circuit’s decision upholding HHS’s rule forbidding the use of taxpayer money to subsidize abortion through Title X grants,” Justice Department spokesperson Mollie Timmons said in a statement. “Congress has long prohibited the use of Title X funds in programs where abortion is a method of family planning and HHS’s recent rule makes that longstanding prohibition a reality. We look forward to continuing to defend this vital rule against all challenges.”

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Xavier Becerra, attorney general of California, one of the states that sued over the regulations, said the Ninth Circuit’s ruling was “troubling” in a statement issued after the opinion was handed down.

“Leaving women in the dark about their healthcare and restricting doctors from providing candid advice is simply not in the best interest of public health,” he said. “In California, we will continue to fight for comprehensive reproductive healthcare, including safe and legal abortion.”

The administration’s regulations will remain in effect as the cases continue in the federal district courts.

Democrats’ 1968 flashback

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On the roster: Democrats’ 1968 flashback – Sanders looks for knockout win in South Carolina – Trump rallies supporters from India – Carbs…

DEMOCRATS’ 1968 FLASHBACK

Democrats led the way in breaking America’s political nominating process two generations ago. Can they lead the country back out of the mess today?

Much of our current political bellyache traces its beginnings to the undigested bits of the 1968 election. That was the one when Democrats went completely crackers over the Vietnam War and managed to follow the party’s 1964 landslide victory – it’s biggest since FDR’s first re-election – with a 37-state wipeout.

The party’s 1968 debacle is most vividly remembered for the melee outside its Chicago convention when the forces of the old Democratic machine, in the persons of the members of Mayor Richard Daley’s brute squad, physically crushed the protestors from the party’s growing anti-war wing.

But the other big revolt was coming out of Alabama and across the Deep South, where pro-segregation Democrats had been in rebellion for 20 years over the party’s move away from Jim Crow. With the passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, the revolt broke into the open with the culture war candidacy of former Alabama Gov. George Wallace, who left his party to launch an independent candidacy.

Aside from unrest over Vietnam and race relations, the party had another problem: It had no leader. The once-mighty President Lyndon Johnson had been pushed out of his own re-election bid by a weak win in New Hampshire against anti-war radical Sen. Eugene McCarthy of Minnesota. Johnson’s health was a wreck and his confidence was badly rattled, so he dropped out in dramatic fashion with a national television address.

That left party leaders with McCarthy’s fellow Minnesotan, Vice President Hubert Humphrey, who was hardly a heartthrob of the left wing. Johnson’s departure had also kicked the door open for his chief rival in the party, Sen. Robert Kennedy, who jumped into the race in mid-March.

In those days only 14 states held presidential primary elections, which limited the degree to which Kennedy could gain traction against the incumbent vice president. But he could use the contests to consolidate the left-wing vote by beating McCarthy. But after his June 4 victory in California, Kennedy was murdered by Palestinian gunman Sirhan Sirhan over Kennedy’s support for Israel.

While Kennedy and McGovern had been struggling over the left wing in the primaries, Humphrey had been focused on the majority of states that used a convention system to select their delegates. The party machine delivered, and Humphrey went to Chicago as the prohibitive favorite and easily beat McGovern. But the story was the riots outside, not the balloons and bunting inside.

We know how it ended up: Rebel Democrats in the South and a northern party bitterly divided over the war were no match for former Vice President Richard Nixon who promised to get the U.S. out of Vietnam in some dignified way and who also had learned to exploit the same cultural anxieties that propelled Wallace’s surprising success among northern blue-collar whites.

The good news for Americans today is that things are hardly as chaotic or violent as they were back then. The bad news is that the solutions Democrats sought for their misery 52 years ago are drivers of our current bipartisan dysfunction.

The answer Democrats settled on was, not surprisingly, more democracy. Humphrey had won the nomination without winning a single primary because so few states had such contests. In 1972, Democrats in 32 states held primaries or caucuses. By 1976 just a few states were holding on to the old convention system.

Though Republicans had initially resisted the move toward direct Democracy, they were eventually pulled along into the new system – especially after Nixon’s corruption and resignation made party bossing and closed doors extremely unpopular.

For many years, this more open approach worked pretty well. It accommodated the demands of insurgence for a way into the process – Jimmy Carter’s 1976 nomination seemed to prove the point – but also preserved a way for the party establishment to prevent pandemonium.

The smoke filled rooms had not been eliminated, but rather moved. The so-called “invisible primary,” in which candidates scurry for the backing of wealthy donors, party insiders, media mavens and other establishment figures helped close the door a little bit to fringe candidates.

Running in primaries is expensive, and prior to the internet, raising money meant sucking up to rich, powerful people. It was an open system, but one in which the requisite tools to compete were substantially closed.

But the attacks on party power did not end with the move toward primaries. A decades-long effort that grew out of the same movement was aimed at limiting the influence of money in politics. What it really ended up doing was limiting the amount of money in parties.

The movement eventually succeeded in sharply limiting resources available to parties, known as “soft money.” But subsequent court decisions would open the door to outside expenditures on a level Americans had never seen before. Small-dollar donations and gargantuan super PACs supplanted the remaining power of the parties.

America is now poised for a general election in which a self-avowed nationalist will confront a proud socialist. And there is growing concern that the two parties are on a path toward increasing extremism, with a majority of Americans in the middle looking on with increasing alarm.

It is not clear that the Democrats have any better way than to deal with the populist insurgency of Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders than Republicans did with their own populist four years ago.

But it is clear that how Democrats deal with their current crisis will likely shape the solutions that come out of our harrowing moment. Wherever you hang your partisan hat, you have a vested interest in the result.

THE RULEBOOK: PROCEED WITH CAUTION

“Wise politicians will be cautious about fettering the government with restrictions that cannot be observed, because they know that every breach of the fundamental laws, though dictated by necessity, impairs that sacred reverence which ought to be maintained in the breast of rulers towards the constitution of a country, and forms a precedent for other breaches where the same plea of necessity does not exist at all, or is less urgent and palpable.” – Alexander Hamilton, Federalist No. 25

TIME OUT: R.I.P., B. SMITH

NYT: “Barbara Smith, a fashion model who created a business empire by catering to the tastes of aspiring black professionals with her restaurants, television shows, bedding and furniture collections and books on entertaining, died on Saturday at her home on Long Island. She was 70. The cause was early-onset Alzheimer’s disease, her family said. Ms. Smith had waged a long and public battle with the disease, which was diagnosed when she was in her 50s. Ms. Smith was best known for her popular Manhattan restaurant, B. Smith’s. Located at the edge of the theater district, it opened in 1986 and almost immediately attracted a following among affluent black New Yorkers, who welcomed it as a stylish gathering spot. Essence magazine, in 1995, described it as the place ‘where the who’s who of black Manhattan meet, greet and eat regularly.’ … Often called the black Martha Stewart, Ms. Smith translated her sense of style into a series of books on cooking and entertaining…”

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SCOREBOARD

ESTIMATED DELEGATES FOR DEMOCRATIC NOMINATION

Sanders: 35

Buttigieg: 24

Biden: 10

Warren: 8

Klobuchar: 7

[Ed. note: 1,991 delegates needed to win]

TRUMP JOB PERFORMANCE

Average approval: 46 percent

Average disapproval: 50.4 percent

Net Score: -4.4 percent

Change from one week ago: ↑ 3 points

[Average includes: Gallup: 49% approve – 48% disapprove; ABC News/WaPo: 46% approve – 52% disapprove; NBC News/WSJ: 47% approve – 50% disapprove; NPR/PBS/Marist: 44% approve – 51% disapprove; Monmouth University: 44% approve – 51% disapprove.]

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SANDERS LOOKS FOR KNOCKOUT WIN IN SOUTH CAROLINA

Fox News: “Bernie Sanders is on a roll. The self-described Democratic socialist swept to a huge Nevada victory over the weekend and polls indicate he now has a shot at even winning South Carolina’s primary this Saturday—a contest that once was seen as former Vice President Joe Biden’s firewall. The latest RealClearPolitics average for the state reflects a very tight race between the two. Biden remains in the lead with 24.5 percent of the vote, but Sanders is nipping at his heels with 21.5 percent, as the former vice president’s support has declined in the state. If Sanders is able to secure yet another primary victory with South Carolina, it would mark at least a three-state sweep out of the 2020 gate heading into Super Tuesday. Such an accomplishment, boosted by an enthusiastic base that turns out to vote and donates in big numbers, could render him just what party elders and members of the Democratic establishment fear—unstoppable.”

A very Vegas tie-breaker strategy – NBC News: “It was the luck of the draw for Pete Buttigieg at a Nevada caucus on Saturday. Literally. At the North Valleys High School caucus site in Reno, Buttigieg’s supporters drew from a card deck the number 3, while Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders’ backers picked a 2, breaking a delegate tie between the candidates and making the former South Bend, Indiana, mayor the winner of this caucus location. The Nevada Democratic Party has used a deck of cards to break ties since 2008. Per party rules, if two caucus groups are tied, then representatives from each candidate draws a single card from a deck in order to break the tie. The winner is the high card, with aces the highest. If both candidates draw the same card, then the winner is determined by the suit of the card. Spades are the highest suit, followed by hearts, diamonds and clubs.”

Sanders defends Fidel Castro – Fox News: “Sen. Bernie Sanders, the frontrunner for the Democrats’ presidential nomination, doubled down on his support for some of Cuban dictator Fidel Castro‘s policies, saying in an interview that aired Sunday, ‘it’s unfair to simply say everything is bad.’ Speaking to CBS News’ ‘60 Minutes,’ Sanders, a self-proclaimed democratic socialist, pointed to social welfare programs introduced under Castro’s regime that he described as redeeming, despite the communist dictator’s often repressive human-rights violations against Cubans. ‘We’re very opposed to the authoritarian nature of Cuba but you know, it’s unfair to simply say everything is bad. You know? When Fidel Castro came into office, you know what he did? He had a massive literacy program. Is that a bad thing? Even though Fidel Castro did it?’ Sanders told Anderson Cooper. … In a resurfaced speech given at the University of Vermont in 1986, Sanders praised the socialist policies implemented in Cuba by the Castro regime…”

Pro-Israel group blasts Sanders – Fox News: “The American Israel Public Affairs Committee late Sunday called out Sen. Bernie Sanders over his decision to skip its conference next month in Washington and blaming his decision on his concern that the group provides a platform for leaders to ‘express bigotry’ and oppose basic Palestinian rights. Sanders, who is on the heels of an emphatic win in the Nevada Caucuses, took to Twitter on Sunday to voice his concern about the influential lobby. The Vermont senator vowed that if elected president he would work with both Israelis and Palestinians to bring peace and stability to the region. AIPAC wasted little time to respond to the public rebuke and called his comments an ill-informed and an ‘odious attack.’ The pro-Israel lobby said Sanders never attended a conference, which is ‘evident in the outrageous comment.’”

Minnesota poll shows Klobuchar holding on at home – The [Minneapolis] Star Tribune: “Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar leads Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders in a new Star Tribune/MPR News Minnesota Poll as the state’s March 3 presidential primary nears, with both well ahead of their nearest Democratic rivals. But many Minnesota Democrats say they are still undecided in a contest that has become increasingly muddled as it spreads to more U.S. states. Minnesota’s primary is on Super Tuesday, when 14 states will award a third of all the delegates in the race. … Trailing Klobuchar and Sanders were Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren and former Vice President Joe Biden, statistically tied for third. The rest of the field, including former South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg and former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, polled in the low single digits.”

Steyer makes South Carolina debate stage – Fox News: “Billionaire Tom Steyer officially qualified for the South Carolina Democratic presidential debate after a Sunday poll showed sufficient support for his candidacy in the Palmetto State. Steyer will be back on the debate stage after missing out for the first time at last week’s debate in Las Vegas. Steyer, who has made inroads in South Carolina’s largely African-American electorate, critiqued the Democratic National Committee for its rules for the Las Vegas debate. He cited a lack of polling in Nevada and South Carolina — states where he was vastly outperforming his national polls — which made it difficult for candidates to qualify and the removal of the fundraising requirement that allowed former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg on the stage.”

TRUMP RALLIES SUPPORTERS FROM INDIA

Politico: “There were women in elaborate Indian garb dancing, Bollywood stars singing and an eclectic mix of music blaring in time to flashing lights. And when President Donald Trump finally appeared onstage at the world’s largest cricket stadium, the sun-soaked crowd burst into a deafening, rapturous applause. It was exactly the scene the TV star-turned president wanted. ‘Namaste Trump!’ Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi shouted to the crowd, which repeated it back to a beaming Trump. Standing alongside Modi, Trump on Monday inaugurated the Motera Stadium, lined with 110,000 orange, yellow and blue seats — all filled. Trump is ostensibly in India to help mitigate a long-standing trade dispute while tightening U.S.-Indian relations, but Monday’s mega rally was also designed to appeal to Indian-American voters as Trump heads into his reelection campaign. … Nearly everyone was wearing white baseball caps provided by organizers that featured a Namaste Trump logo across the front and both countries’ flags on the brim.”

Trump, Melania visit Taj Mahal after massive India rally – Fox News: “President Trump and first lady [Melania Trump] visited the Taj Mahal Monday, hours after the U.S. leader gave a rousing speech to more than 110,000 at a cricket stadium in Ahmedabad, India. The president and first lady strolled around the grounds of India’s most famous attraction, taking in the sights. It was a rare occasion of the president visiting a cultural site on an international visit. Trump, who once owned the Trump Taj Mahal hotel and casino in Atlantic City, N.J. which was inspired by the Indian landmark, had never visited the Indian site until now. The president’s daughter Ivanka Trump and her husband Jared Kushner were also on hand, taking photos in front of the building.”

PLAY-BY-PLAY

Pergram: The only guarantee in 2020 is there’s no guarantee – Fox News

AUDIBLE: TRUE LOVE

“I like Trump. He’s straightforward, outspoken. … He’s got the verbal diarrhea but that’s okay. … He tells how it is. I love him.” – Gautam Patel, a Chicago businessman who grew up in India, planned his vacation around President Trump’s rally in Ahmedabad, India.

FROM THE BLEACHERS

“Wondering about this ‘electable moderate’ that Democrats could unite behind. Which Dem could possibly unite a divided electorate? Heck, which Dem could possibly unite his or her party? And to help with that search, shouldn’t the party change its symbol to the unicorn?” – Michael Friend, Atlanta

[Ed. note: You’re not wrong, Mr. Friend. The better course of action for Democrats may be to do what Republicans did four years ago when faced with a similar assault by an outsider: suck it up and try to make the best of it. Republicans were gloomy about their chances then, but decided that prolonging the intractable fight was pointless and damaging. Better to make the best of a bad situation and hope to at least avoid a down-ballot wipeout. And heck, you might even pull off a long-shot win!]

Share your color commentary: Email us at HALFTIMEREPORT@FOXNEWS.COM and please make sure to include your name and hometown.

CARBS…

KIMA: “Yakima [Wash.] Police say they were able to catch two people connected with a stolen car, because of a purchase they made at Walmart. According to police, a Dodge Ram Pickup was stolen from a victim in Yakima in early February. Days later police found the truck parked and unoccupied at Maple Road and North Galloway Drive. After the pickup was returned to the owner, he contacted police saying inside the cab he had found a Walmart receipt for potato wedges, during the time the truck was taken. Police say they were able to get surveillance video from Walmart and find images of a man and woman parking the stolen car and then buying the potato wedges inside the store. Investigators say police were able to recognize the two people as 24-year-old old Elisabeth Paradis and 25-year-old Erin Bradley Dunleavy. Police say both had previously been arrested for a burglary. Dunleavy is facing charges of Possession of a Stolen Vehicle.”

AND NOW, A WORD FROM CHARLES…

“Some claim that putting America first is a reassertion of American exceptionalism. On the contrary, it is the antithesis.” – Charles Krauthammer (1950-2018) writing in the Washington Post on Jan. 26, 2017.

Chris Stirewalt is the politics editor for Fox News. Brianna McClelland contributed to this report. Want FOX News Halftime Report in your inbox every day? Sign up here.

Trump administration expected to ask Congress for $2.5B to combat coronavirus

The White House is expected to ask Congress for $2.5 billion in supplemental spending to help combat the global coronavirus outbreak, a senior administration official said Monday.

The measure would help the federal government, as well as state and local agencies, potentially prepare to respond to an outbreak and allocate $1.2 billion for vaccine development, the official told Fox Business.

One source familiar with the request told Fox News that the administration was careful “not to sound alarm bells” over the supplemental spending request, but added, “It is better to have, certainly with finite funds.”

CORONAVIRUS INFECTIONS SURGE IN ITALY, SOUTH KOREA AS VIRUS KILLS AT LEAST 8 IN IRAN

The Department of Health and Human Services already has tapped into an emergency infectious disease rapid response fund and has been seeking to transfer more than $130 million from other HHS accounts to combat the virus but was pressing for more.

Among the needs: funding to reimburse the Pentagon, which has been housing evacuees from China — required to undergo 14-day quarantines — at several military bases in California.

Democrats controlling the House wrote HHS Secretary Alex Azar earlier this month to request funds to help speed up the development of a coronavirus vaccine, expand laboratory capacity and beef up screening efforts at U.S. entry points. Azar is slated to testify before the Senate Appropriations Committee on Tuesday, and the U.S. response to the outbreak is sure to be a major topic.

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The White House budget office, led by Russell Vought, has been working with HHS to shape the request. There’s been a receptive audience for the request on Capitol Hill, though stand-alone emergency spending bills can be tricky to pass since they could be a target for lawmakers seeking add-ons.

The quickly spreading virus has slammed the economy of China, where the virus originated, and cases have been increasing rapidly in countries such as South Korea, Iran and Italy.

Fox Business’ Blake Burman and The Associated Press contributed to this report

In Supreme Court dissent, Thomas cites Thomas in arguing to overturn decision authored by Thomas

Even by Supreme Court standards, this development takes a minute to wrap your head around.

In a dissent to the high court’s decision Monday not to hear a tax case, Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas managed to cite an opinion that he wrote while making the case for why the tribunal should overturn a precedent he authored.

The case the court turned back, Baldwin v. United States, involves a couple who sued the IRS to recover their tax return, claiming that the agency changed its rules after they mailed their forms and after the federal courts interpreted a rule that applied to the couple’s return. The case would rest on the controversial Chevron deference, a doctrine holding that the federal courts will “adopt an agency’s interpretation of an ambiguous statute if that interpretation … is ‘reasonable'” and a case called Brand X, the majority opinion for which Thomas authored.

Brand X established that courts must accept a federal agency’s interpretation of a law even if the court has already ruled on that law, saying that such a stance “follows from Chevron.” Thomas wrote Monday that he is no longer so sure he was right in Brand X or the court itself was right in Chevron.

Justice Clarence Thomas has been on the Supreme Court since 1991.
(Reuters/Jonathan Ernst)

CLARENCE THOMAS IN NEW DOCUMENTARY: I WAS ‘THE WRONG BLACK GUY’ AND HAD ‘TO BE DESTROYED’

“Although I authored Brand X, ‘it is never too late to ‘surrende[r] former views to a better considered position,'” Thomas wrote in his Monday dissent, quoting himself from a 2018 opinion in South Dakota v. Wayfair, Inc.

Thomas has recently been quite vocal in advocating for the court to overturn a variety of precedents, saying in one opinion last year that when “faced with a demonstrably erroneous precedent, my rule is simple: We should not follow it.”

Though the Supreme Court has always had the power to overrule itself, it’s largely followed its past rulings, consistent with a legal principle called stare decisis, in order to maintain consistency in the law. Thomas’ drum-banging against following “demonstrably erroneous” precedent has worried many liberals that he is priming himself and other conservative justices to deal a death blow to the 1973 precedent in Roe v. Wade should a major abortion case come before the Supreme court in the near future.

WHO ARE THE 9 JUSTICES OF THE SUPREME COURT?

Thomas’ volley against Chevron is also sure to please conservative court watchers, who see the case as a blanket empowerment of the administrative state that upsets the balance of power between the three branches of the federal government.

For example, the conservative Heritage Foundation released a report in 2018 saying that Chevron “raises major constitutional concerns, is inconsistent with the Administrative Procedure Act, and has little basis in American legal history.”

Some other critics of Chevron include former Justice Anthony Kennedy, his replacement Justice Brett Kavanaugh and Justice Neil Gorsuch, who wrote in his book that, “Chevron seems no less than a judge-made doctrine for the abdication of the judicial duty.”

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The Supreme Court does not release the results of votes on whether or not to hear a case, but if four of the nine justices vote to hear a case, the court will take it. That means no more than two other justices could have voted with Thomas to hear Baldwin v. United States.

Trump rallies massive crowd in India, inks military deal with Modi

President Trump drew the crowd of a lifetime to kick off his first official visit to India.

The president, who loves to play to a big audience, was met with a raucous ovation Monday as he addressed a crowd of more than 110,000 people in a joint rally with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Along with first lady Melania Trump, the visiting first family packed the world’s largest cricket stadium, as the U.S. president declared America’s love for the country and solidarity with its people — and announced a military partnership with the Indian government.

TRUMP, MELANIA VISIT FAMED TAJ MAHAL AFTER JOINING MODI FOR MASSIVE INDIA RALLY

“The first lady and I have just traveled 8,000 miles around the globe to deliver a message to every citizen across this nation: America loves India, America respects India, and America will always be faithful and loyal friends to the Indian people,” Trump said, drawing massive cheers.

The two heads of state spoke at the “Namaste Trump” rally at the Sardar Patel Stadium in Ahmedabad. It was a follow-up to the “Howdy Modi” rally in Houston last September.

Later in his visit, the president and first lady toured the site of the Taj Mahal. The famous Indian landmark had served as the inspiration for a hotel and casino Trump once owned in Atlantic City, N.J.

At the rally, Trump announced a $3 billion deal that will send state-of-the-art military helicopters to the country.

SEE THE PHOTOS FROM TRUMP’S INDIA TRIP

“I believe that the United States should be India’s premier defense partner and that’s the way it’s working out,” Trump said.

The president also spoke of both countries’ desire to combat radical Islamic terrorism.

“Both of our countries have been hurt by the pain and turmoil of terrorism,” the president said, before boasting of the defeat of ISIS and the death of ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.

Trump then drew a rousing ovation when he touted his administration’s work with Pakistan “to crack down on the terrorist organizations and militants that operate on the Pakistani border.”

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The president closed with a message of positivity and hope for a bright future for the two countries and the world.

“So today I say to every Indian — North and South, Hindu and Muslim, Jewish and Christian, rich and poor, young and old: take pride in the glories of your past, unite for an even brighter future, and let our two nations always stand together as powerful defenders of peace and liberty, and the hope of a better world for all of humanity,” he said.

Fox News’ David Aaro and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Bloomberg launches broadside against Sanders on gun control

Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg launched a scathing attack against Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders on gun control Monday, focusing on what is a wheelhouse issue for Bloomberg ahead of the South Carolina Democratic presidential debate Tuesday.

The ad, posted to Bloomberg’s Twitter account, argues that Sanders was elected to Congress with the help of the NRA and has multiple times taken pro-gun stances in Congress. The ad cites a 1990 letter by NRA chief Wayne LaPierre telling Vermont NRA members that Sanders is a better choice for Vermont than former Republican Rep. Peter Smith, who backed an assault-weapons ban.

“With that letter, and thousands of dollars in advertising, the NRA helped elect Bernie Sanders to Congress,” the caption on the ad reads. “Sanders voted with the NRA and opposed federal background checks by trying to block the Brady Bill 5 [sic] times.”

MICHAEL BLOOMBERG: 5 THINGS TO KNOW

Coming off a widely panned Nevada debate performance for Bloomberg and a dominating win in the state’s caucuses by Sanders, the billionaire is targeting the democratic socialist on an issue that is in his wheelhouse. Since exiting his post as New York City’s mayor, Bloomberg has donated huge sums to anti-gun groups and started his own gun control organization, Everytown for Gun Safety, in reaction to the Sandy Hook shooting.

Everytown, in turn, helped high schoolers from Parkland, Fla., organize their gun control movement “March For Our Lives,” in the wake of a mass shooting at that school.

Contrary to Bloomberg’s narrative, however, Sanders in 2012 received a D-minus rating from the NRA, according to records archived by Bloomberg’s own Everytown group. Sanders has also been a harsh critic of the NRA and the gun lobby in recent years.

BERNIE SANDERS: 5 THINGS TO KNOW

But the Bloomberg ad cites multiple Sanders quotes on Vermont being a “rural” state and how he “represented that position” in Congress, while also pointing out that Sanders voted with the NRA on one of the most consequential 21st-century pieces of legislation on guns.

Sanders, in 2005, voted for a bill that ensured gun manufacturers would not be held responsible for crimes committed with their products. That law came up in a recent Supreme Court ruling that allowed Sandy Hook families to sue the gun manufacturer Remington Arms in state court, saying it allegedly marketed the guns improperly – suits regarding marketing are one of the few exceptions written into the 2005 law.

The gunmaker argued that a state court’s interpretation on the marketing exemption is “intolerable given Congress’ ‘intention to create national uniformity'” with the federal law, the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act. “As the dissenters below noted, lawsuits like this one are precisely the kind the PLCAA was enacted to prevent.”

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Bloomberg’s attack on Sanders could seep into the Tuesday night debate, redirecting some of the candidates’ fire away from him and toward the now-entrenched front-runner Sanders, while changing the subject from the billionaire’s tax returns and his non-disclosure agreements with women who alleged that he sexually harassed them – the headlines of the Nevada debate.

“We deserve a president who has never been bought by the NRA,” Bloomberg’s ad says in closing.

White House allies compiled list of ‘disloyal’ officials: report

The Trump administration has been working with allies to assemble lists of officials it considers “disloyal” to the president and come up with potential replacements, according to an Axios report.

The report, based on anonymous sources, alleges that the memos have circulated in the White House, produced by individuals including a GOP Senate staffer and a group of conservative activists named “Groundswell,” which is led by Ginni Thomas, the wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas.

White House officials have not responded to a request for comment from Fox News regarding the report.

According to Axios, Thomas at one point handed one of the memos produced by Groundswell directly to President Trump, which included the names of several conservatives loyal to Trump which the group recommended that he hire for various positions, including former Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke for a senior role in the Department of Homeland Security.

White House aide John McEntee, right, and Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin’s Chief of Staff Eli Miller, left, stand in the Oval Office. McEntee recently rejoined the White House as the head of the Office of Presidential Personnel.
(AP)

NO EVIDENCE OF RUSSIAN ‘PLAY’ TO HELP TRUMP, BRIEFER MAY HAVE ‘OVERSTATED’ INTELLIGENCE, OFFICIAL SAYS

This development comes on the heels of news, also reported by Axios, that the new head of the Office of Presidential Personnel, Johnny McEntee, asked White House aides to identify members of the government who might be anti-Trump.

One memo that Axios reports on specifically involves the former nominee to be Treasury Department undersecretary for terrorism and financial crimes Jessie Liu. The memo spelled out why Liu was not sufficiently pro-Trump at her previous post as U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia.

Reasons included Liu not pursuing criminal referrals that came from the Senate Judiciary Committee on the heels of Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation hearing, asking for jail time for ex-national security adviser Michael Flynn, not indicting former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe and more.

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Trump later withdrew Liu’s nomination to the Treasury Department post.

There were other memos like the Liu memo that made it to Trump’s desk, according to Axios, including one that named several State Department officers.

The Trump administration has taken action against other figures that might be perceived as disloyal to Trump, such as recalling U.S. Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland from his post earlier this month and removing Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman from the National Security Council. Both actions, against officials who testified to the House of Representatives in its impeachment inquiry into Trump, came in the immediate wake of the Senate’s acquittal of Trump on both impeachment articles passed by the House.

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