On Monday I did a series of posts about what SSI disability recipients and their parent-guardians were seeing on their Social Security portals. Peoples’ portals had the new language: “This beneficiary is currently not receiving payments”. As I noted, those people’s payments did eventually show up and on Tuesday, as of mid-afternoon, the portal issue was resolved as well. On Tuesday, I can now report, an internal SSA email was sent out notifying employees about the problem and that it had been resolved, in other words, more or less at the same time as TPM’s follow-up report. The problem as the email put it was that “customers received a message starting they are not receiving any Social Security payments after attempting to log into their mySSA account.” Interestingly, it goes on to say that the problem “began Monday, 03/31/2025, after a migration of services.”
A new episode of The Josh Marshall Podcast is live! This week, Kate and Josh discuss the special elections, Cory Booker’s 25-hour filibuster and the downfall of Elise Stefanik.
I’ve said this in a few contexts, including in the podcast, but I wanted to reiterate it here. It seems like the Schumer/continuing resolution debacle is turning into a kind of inverse pyrrhic victory, a terrible and self-inflicted defeat which might have more positive effects than winning would have had. I’ve said a few times that I’m pretty certain Chuck Schumer didn’t think when he allowed the CR to pass that he’d still be arguing to keep his job on every talk show that would have him 10 days later. The nature of that debacle, the recognition that it was a debacle, turned into a crystalizing moment. The biggest effect of that debacle was everyone realizing that not having any strategy is not in fact a strategy. Schumer’s decision was the breaking point. But an even bigger issue was how and why Democrats allowed it to come to that decision moment without laying any of the groundwork that might have made something like success even possible. The lack of a strategy is not a strategy. That may seem elementary. But we’ve all had times in our lives in which lived experience is necessary to absorb lessons that seem obvious and unmissable once they’ve been absorbed. There’s no question in my mind that Cory Booker’s 25 hour speech only happens because of that debacle. And Gallego’s and Schiff’s holds only happen because of some mix of Booker and the larger Schumer-driven realization. The unfolding tariff catastrophe figures into this of course, as do elections in Wisconsin and Florida, as do Republicans continuing to hide in undisclosed locations when visiting their districts. But the continuing resolution was an inflection point.
If you’re running for Congress or considering running for Congress or know someone who is doing either, this message is for you. Presidents have no power over tariffs. Full stop. It’s not like war powers or pardons. Trump can only do this because Congress gave Presidents this power, as I explained in the a post yesterday. Congress can take it back at any moment. Given the minuscule Republican hold in the House, that means that every GOP representative is literally and personally responsible for these tariffs and their consequences. Every single one. High prices? Rep. X is responsible. He or she could end this but they’re not. A 401k that might flatline before you do? Thank Rep. X. They could end this but they’re supporting it. It’s crystal clear and has the benefit of being true.
The 2026 midterm is already underway. It really is.
That’s the whole message. It’s malpractice for anyone challenging a Republican member of Congress not to be on this today.
DOGE has made landfall at the National Endowment for the Humanities. They are demanding roughly $175 million out of an annual grant budget of just over $200 million and fire about 80% of state. In internal conversations the new bosses apparently speak of “select opportunities” soon to be offered to favored organizations. That sounds to me like we might be looking at new grants to Breitbart and such but perhaps I’m just being alarmist. The DOGE commissar assigned to NEH is Justin Fox.
Two thoughts on today’s tariffs. I could get into the substance of the decision. But I think that goes without saying.
Point one is that we should remember that Presidents have no inherent power over tariffs whatsoever. This isn’t like war powers or pardons where these are questions the Constitution assigns to the will of one person. They are entirely delegated by Congress and could be taken back at any moment. They are also explicitly reserved for emergencies. They aren’t meant to be used as to create entirely novel trade regimes. But Congress lets the President decide what constitutes an emergency. The logic of that delegation is based on the flexibility and convenience the delegation creates and the assumption that the president wouldn’t be nuts. The Republican Congress could bring this absurd gambit to a halt tonight. So it’s all on them, every one of them individually.
The Trump Justice Department was at times squirrely, at times withholding and at times quick to whip out attorney-client privilege Thursday as a federal judge tried to discern who exactly in the administration may have violated his orders.
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