Census and Sensibility
Rewriting the rules of representation. Plus: The DOJ's witch hunt season. Is the FBI hunting for fleeing Texas lawmakers? The Rose Garden Goes Mar-a-Lago. And a breakthrough in Alzheimer's research.
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If the week’s news weren’t so serious, it would be comedy. A senator calling in the FBI to track down lawmakers who fled to block a gerrymander; Trump turning the Rose Garden into an un-landscaped patio that looks designed for employee lunch breaks. These scenarios would no doubt be cut from a TV script for being “too on the nose.”
So, what do we do when reality already sounds like a cartoon? We call in a professional.
Before we get to today’s news, I’m sharing a conversation with Liza Donnelly. Donnelly has been drawing for The New Yorker for over 40 years. She pioneered live cartoon journalism, has taken her iPad into White House press briefings and Trump trials, and is now directing Women Laughing, a documentary about the women cartoonists of The New Yorker. Her genius is capturing what we’re all thinking — before we’ve found the words for it. As she puts it, “Laughing is serious business.”
We talk about how she distills political absurdity into a single image, why women’s humor still rattles certain people, the Epstein files, and what happens when your toothbrush logs you out. She also shares how drawing the news — sometimes in real time — keeps her sane, and might help keep the rest of us that way too.
Watch the conversation here. Check out Liza’s Substack, Seeing Things.
Also today we cover Trump’s demand for a new census, the DOJ’s latest targets, Israel and the world at odds with Netanyahu over his plans for Gaza, updates on the Fed, and the Texas redistricting fight. Plus: that Rose Garden redo, and some News That Doesn’t Suck for Alzheimer’s patients.
Here Are Your Headlines:
Who Counts? President Trump announced he wants the Commerce Department to conduct a “new and highly accurate” census — one that would draw on “results and information gained from the Presidential Election of 2024” and exclude undocumented immigrants. This comes as he pressures red states to redraw their congressional maps.
Why It’s A Big Deal: The Census determines how much federal money and how many House seats each state gets (the total number is fixed at 435). By law and under the Constitution, it must count all persons, not just citizens. This was reaffirmed by the 14th Amendment and a 1964 Supreme Court decision. Trump’s proposal doesn’t meet the Constitution’s requirement for a once-a-decade count, or Congress’ allowance for a mid-decade update. It’s unclear if he’s envisioning a true census or a population “report” to back his preferred maps and allotment of federal funds. Either way, the Commerce Department says it will “immediately adopt modern technology tools” to “better understand” the population, raising questions about how this new effort would be conducted and whom it might leave out.
Backstory: In 2019, Trump tried to add a citizenship question to the 2020 Census. A Republican strategist’s report concluded it would be “advantageous to Republicans and Non-Hispanic Whites.” The Supreme Court blocked the change but left the door open for a future attempt.
What’s at Stake:
Blue States: Excluding undocumented immigrants could be bad news for blue states. In 2019, experts warned that a citizenship question would discourage at least 9 million people from responding, costing cities like LA, Miami, and Houston an estimated $900 billion in federal funding, and potentially costing California a House seat. A new Census could also lead to mass redistricting. More details here.
Red States, Too: Texas and Florida have some of the largest undocumented populations in the country; they are home to about one-quarter the US’ total. Texas’ undocumented population grew by 110,000 from 2018 to 2022. Cutting them out of the count could shrink representation and funding for those states too. Bottom line: changing who gets counted could alter the political map and more for a generation, and not just for one party.
Witch Hunts: Trump continues to target his political adversaries with DOJ investigations. Here’s a running list:
Letita James: The DOJ opened an investigation into New York’s attorney general today. She won a $450 million civil fraud case against Trump. This follows a separate investigation, begun months earlier by the FBI, over allegations James committed fraud on a mortgage application, which James dismissed as “baseless.”
Miles Taylor: Former DHS official and author of a famous 2018 op-ed describing “resistance inside the Trump administration.” The administration accused him of a litany of offenses without naming any specific wrongdoing.
Chris Krebs: Former CISA head fired by Trump in 2020 for saying the election wasn’t rigged. Also no specific wrongdoing alleged.
Jack Smith: Former special counsel who twice indicted Trump. Learn more about this investigation from our reporting here.
Adam Schiff: California senator who led the first impeachment push against Trump. The DOJ is investigating him for alleged mortgage fraud. (Schiff was preemptively pardoned by former President Biden for his work investigating the Jan 6 insurrection, a decision he criticized at the time for being “unnecessary.”)
Obama Officials: Multiple Obama officials, including former FBI Director James Comey and former CIA Director John Brennan — and possible the former president himself — are being investigated over their alleged attempts to undermine Trump’s 2016 campaign.
Defying Everyone: Israel’s security cabinet approved Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s plan to occupy Gaza City. This plan is opposed by the IDF, a majority of Israelis, the relatives of hostages in Gaza — who yesterday protested outside the security cabinet’s meeting draped in chains — and the international community, including allies like Germany. Who isn’t opposed? Trump.
The Plan: Netanyahu said his plan is supposed to achieve the defeat of Hamas, return the 50 hostages still held, demilitarize of the Strip, and eventually establish an Arab civilian administration that is neither Hamas nor the Palestinian Authority.
What It Means: Experts are doubtful the plan would achieve these goals. Israel already controls 75% of Gaza and has occupied Gaza City in the past. Military leaders, including the head of the IDF, oppose the plan, arguing it endangers the hostages, will result in the deaths of more Israeli soldiers, and will make Israel fully responsible for the millions of Palestinians living in the Strip. It will also result in the “bloodiest stage of the campaign yet against the population in Gaza,” according to one expert. The million Palestinians living in or near Gaza City will reportedly be ordered to evacuate the area by October 7, amid a humanitarian crisis.
Where Does This Go? The October 7 deadline creates a two month window for a ceasefire deal before military escalation begins. Egypt and Qatar are reportedly working on that deal. But if the military operation proceeds, Israel could take full “security control” of Gaza. Meanwhile, Americans’ backing for Israel’s military action in Gaza is the lowest it’s been since Gallup started tracking sentiment after the Hamas attack of October 7, 2023.
New Management: Trump announced yesterday he will nominate Stephan Miran, the chair of the White House Council of Economic Advisors, to fill an open role at the Federal Reserve. Miran is a Trump loyalist and fierce critic of the Fed. If confirmed, he would become part of the committee that sets interest rates; Trump has been pushing the Fed to lower them for months to no avail. Miran’s term would end in January. The strength of the US dollar tumbled after the announcement.
Here We Go: Tariffs of up to 50% on goods from over 60 countries around the world went into effect yesterday. Among the goods expected to become more expensive: Alcohol (including wines, whiskey, and aperitifs), cars, clothing, coffee, household appliances, furniture, and watches.
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El Salvador, No Contempt: Remember Chief Judge James Boasberg? He argued in April that Trump administration officials showed “willful disregard” by allegedly ignoring his order halting deportation flights to El Salvador. An appeals court ruled today that Boasberg abused his authority by pursuing these contempt proceedings against Trump officials. The two judges who overturned his finding were appointed by Trump. The third judge, an Obama appointee, dissented, warning “our system of courts cannot long endure if disappointed litigants defy court orders with impunity rather than legally challenge them.”
Hide and Seek: Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton today asked the state Supreme Court to vacate the seats of 13 of the 50-plus Democrats who fled the state to delay the passage of a heavily gerrymandered voting map. Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) and Gov. Greg Abbott claim the FBI has agreed to investigate, locate, and potentially “arrest” the absent Democrats. Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, who is hosting many of the absent lawmakers, told me Wednesday that he would protect them from the FBI. “There literally is no federal law applicable to this situation, none,” he told me. “And there’s no way the state legislators here…can be arrested.”
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