Federal State and Tribal Powers

Inside a 90-square-mile stretch of rural reservation between the eastern Jemez Mountains and the banks of the Rio Grande River sits the Santa Clara Pueblo Community Library, an anchor for the northern New Mexico tribe it serves.

Internet service across the Santa Clara Pueblo reservation is sparse, the tribe’s governor, James Naranjo, told NBC News, and resources to expand access to technology and literacy programs for its 1,700 members are already stretched thin.

A bill to address AI “deepfake” nudes, revenge porn and other sexually abusive imagery online looks increasingly likely to become the year’s first big new internet law.

The Take It Down Act would make it a crime to post nonconsensual intimate imagery (NCII) and require online platforms to quickly remove it when flagged.

In the wake of the crises of the decade so far — the pandemic, extreme weather and natural disasters, among others — Americans have increasingly expressed their doubts about institutions, the government especially.

A new Rasmussen Reports poll found that the federal government as a whole acts as “government gangsters.”

Rasmussen Reports cited FBI Director Kash Patel’s book, entitled “Government Gangsters,” and asked voters: How much of the time do you believe the federal government acts as government gangsters?" 



Respondents said all of the time (17%), most of the time (24%) and some of the time (28%) for a subtotal of 69%. Rarely or never was 22% and not sure was 9%.

Newly sworn-in FBI Director Kash Patel has informed senior officials that he is planning to relocate up to 1,500 employees, according to a report published on Friday evening.

Under the plan, about 1,000 employees would move from Washington to FBI field offices around the nation while an additional 500 would be relocated to an FBI facility in Huntsville, Alabama, according to the Associated Press.

Donald Trump has made good on a promise to slash hordes of workers from the Federal Aviation Administration, despite four deadly air crashes during his short second tenure as president, according to CNN.

A raft of termination emails were reportedly fired off on Friday, with the numbers of probationary employees facing dismissal in the “hundreds,” according to trade union center AFL-CIO.

Hundreds of workers at the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) have been laid off despite rising concerns about understaffing, as the Trump administration seeks to rein in federal spending.

David Spero, president of the Professional Aviation Safety Specialists union, said in a statement that several hundred probationary employees were notified Friday evening by messages from an "exec order" Microsoft email address, not an official government email address. The Professional Aviation Safety Specialists is the union that represents the employees. 

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul signaled late Monday she may use her authority to remove New York City Mayor Eric Adams from office.

Hochul acknowledged in a statement that ousting Adams, a fellow Democrat, would be a "serious step" but said "alleged conduct at City Hall that has been reported over the past two weeks is troubling and cannot be ignored."

Hochul said she plans to meet with "key leaders" in Manhattan on Tuesday before issuing a decision.

This development comes after controversy surrounding Adams deepened...

President Donald Trump signed an executive order Tuesday that requires federal agencies to work with the U.S. DOGE Service to cut their existing workforce and limit future hiring — the most explicit statement yet by the president that he supports “large-scale” cuts to the federal workforce.

I would not put much stock in media coverage or political rhetoric suggesting that the federal courts are in revolt against President Trump and his efforts to rein in government size and spending. Undoubtedly, there are some progressive judges (mainly those appointed by Presidents Obama and Biden) who are philosophically sympathetic to claims that the president is interfering with the safe, professional operation of the administrative state -- as if the chief executive has no say in how executive agencies conduct business.