Weekend Report: What's going on?

Judge blocks Musk from Treasury rampage. Congress flooded with calls, while GOP House majority shrinks further. Trump's NIH cutting billions in funding in biomedical research, alarming scientists.

A federal district judge, responding to a lawsuit brought by New York Attorney General Letitia James and the attorneys general of 19 other states, has blocked Elon Musk and his allies—the young hackers who’ve been rampaging through the Treasury Department’s personal and financial data about millions of Americans—from continuing, noting “the possibility for irreparable harm.” It follows a string of court actions that have shut down Trump’s illegal actions in what has been a massive constitutional crisis while Congress, led by the GOP, has refused to act.

Lawmakers are getting flooded with calls, and even Republicans seem to be having some anxiety and tepidly looking for answers. By letting Trump and Musk do whatever they want right now, the GOP could set itself up for massive blowback in upcoming elections. Their House majority keeps shrinking—now 217-215—and it doesn’t look like Elise Stefanik’s seat in New York will be filled soon, as the New York Legislature moves to pass a law pushing off special elections until the next general election.

The newest assault overnight on our government and all Americans—and one that hopefully another judge will shut down—is Trump’s order to cut off billions of biomedical research dollars from academic and scientific institutions. The move will put institutions in severe danger because of the lack of funding, and set the U.S. back as the leader in medical research that helps us all battle illnesses.