The Dictatorship

Judges decide against retiring after Trump’s win, and the GOP hypocritically cries foul

Published

2 years ago

December 22, 2024

Judges decide against retiring after Trump’s win, and the GOP hypocritically cries foul

After 22 years as a United States district judge and five years as a magistrate judge, I made the difficult decision in 2016 to retire from the bench. It was important to me that I leave while still at the top of my game and able to have a “third act,” so to speak. As for my colleagues who choose to retire, some have found that the work is simply not what they want to do every day for the rest of their lives. I recall one judge who left the bench after only a few years because, he said, he didn’t take the job to sentence low-income drug offenders and desperate immigrants. He left to work in the health care field, which he found far more satisfying.

One judge left the bench because he didn’t take the job to sentence low-income drug offenders and desperate immigrants.

Another felt that judging didn’t challenge him in the way building a law firm from scratch would. Yet another left and built one of the most successful alternative dispute resolution practices in the country. At least four judges I know left to take full-time or part-time academic appointments. Finally, several judges who left the bench were appointed to other high-ranking positions in state or federal government. I don’t know any judge who retired due to the burdens of the caseload they carried.

I had been in government service almost my entire career and felt it was time for a change. I am now engaged as an arbitrator and mediatorand also have been given special master assignments by various courts. This work has been satisfying. It is a new challenge and a stimulating change.

After last month’s presidential election, a number of judges who had announced their intent to retire when a successor was chosen withdrew their decisions. Those judges have been roundly accused by some Republicans including Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.of playing partisan politics because if they remain on the bench until the next president is elected, they will have denied President-elect Donald Trump the opportunity to select their successors.

That complaint is rich coming from McConnell! The Republican-controlled U.S. Senate, which was then led by McConnell, denied President Barack Obama the right to choose the successor to Justice Antonin Scaliaeven though he was just beginning his final year as president. As everyone knows, that was a raw exercise of partisanship by McConnell, who simply refused to process Obama’s selection of Merrick Garland. McConnell said it was too close to a presidential election and the appointment should await the outcome.

But then Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg died at the end of Trump’s term, with only weeks remaining before the election in which he was running for a second term. Did McConnell still believe it was too close to a presidential election to hold hearings for a Supreme Court justice nominee? No. McConnell and the Republicans he led rushed through Amy Coney Barrett’s confirmation process at record speed. Trump lost the election, but McConnell had made sure that President Joe Biden wouldn’t get to make that appointment to the Supreme Court. That is why the current court gained a 6-3 (and not a 5-4) conservative majority.

The Republican-controlled U.S. Senate, which was led then by McConnell, denied President Barack Obama the right to choose the successor to Justice Antonin Scalia.

The current outcry over would-be retiring judges changing their minds is yet another example of partisan gamesmanship. Here’s what really happened: A bipartisan bill creating 66 much needed new judgeships over a 10-year-period passed in the Democratic-controlled Senate in August, but, in what was an obvious attempt to see who would win the election in November, the Republican-controlled House took no action. Then, on Dec. 12, a month after Trump won, the House passed the bill.

The New York Times reported Thursday that “677 district court judges are the front line of the federal judiciary, handling most of the nearly 400,000 civil and criminal cases that pass through the system each year” and that the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts this year counted 81,617 civil cases that have been pending more than three years. That’s more than four times the number there were 20 years ago.

Despite the desperate need for new judgeships, Biden has said he’ll veto the bill that has now passed the House and Senate and thereby deny Trump the chance to appoint a slew of new judges who undoubtedly will be very conservative picks. If Biden were to sign the bill, then he’d be giving Trump the power to appoint an additional 22 judges in addition to filling current and expected vacancies, particularly on the powerful circuit courts of appeals, where Biden’s final four picks were denied a Senate vote.

It was the Republican House that played politics with the bipartisan bill when it held off voting to approve the new judgeships until its members could see who would be making the appointments.

It is against this backdrop that one should think about federal judges who have decided to rescind their announced plans to resign. It would be disingenuous to claim their change of heart wasn’t affected by the results of the election. They don’t want their seats to go to highly partisan “Trump” judges — like, for example, U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk in Texas, who tried unsuccessfully to outlaw the use of the abortion pill.

Is it wrong of these judges to take this into account when deciding to retire from the bench? Not in my opinion, but you be the judge. That is, after you consider the full context of the role partisan politics plays and has played in the selection of federal judges.

Shira A. Scheindlin

Appointed to the federal bench by former President Bill Clinton, the Hon. Shira A. Scheindlin served as a United States District Judge in the Southern District of New York for 22 years. She left the bench in May 2016.

The Dictatorship

FIFA faces global anger over plan to give Kushner brother a financial stake

Published

4 hours ago

July 30, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

FIFA faces global anger over plan to give Kushner brother a financial stake

Christmas. 29, 2026, 7:54 PM EDT

International rage over FIFA’s close ties to President Donald Trump has reached a fever pitch after soccer’s governing body announced a plan to sell a significant stake to an investor group led by Joshua Kushner, the brother of Trump’s son-in-law.

The president and his family have all but turned the White House into their personal piggy bank. And FIFA — which has its own sordid history of corruption — seems to have made itself a party to Trump’s self-enrichment under Gianni Infantino’s leadership, such as by paying for space inside Trump Tower in New York. (The organization has defended the office rental as a World Cup outpost.)

Soccer is seen by many as a unifying game. But Trump’s incorporation of FIFA into his political dynasty is threatening that idea.

As The Athletic reported:

FIFA has announced plans to sell a large minority stake in a new company that will run its main events, including the World Cup and Club World Cup, as part of a plan to triple the amount of development money it dishes out to its 211 member associations.

Under the proposals — which are subject to approval by a majority of those national associations and FIFA’s 37-member council — a new entity called FIFA Forward Enterprises (FFE) will take over all commercial operations, while FIFA remains the game’s global governing body and retains a majority stake in FFE.

A press release from FIFA confirmed the plans and said Thrive Eternal, which was launched by Joshua Kushner, is expected to lead the investment group that would control FIFA Forward Enterprise. FIFA did not clarify why Thrive Eternal was selected, and Kushner was already dabbling in sports.

But Trump basically has already given son-in-law Jared Kushner carte blanche to dictate U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East while simultaneously hatching business plans in the region. (Jared Kushner has denied any conflicts of interest.)

Joshua Kushner reportedly has been a major donor to Democrats. But, predictably, the idea of another Kushner becoming financially entwined with the World Cup — the world’s most popular sporting event — and basically being dropped into a position of global significance isn’t going over well. Several other soccer governing bodies have expressed concerns, including Europe’s UEFA.

“This crosses a line that football’s governing institutions should never cross,” UEFA said in a statement about The Athletic’s report, adding: “The soul and governance of football are not assets to trade — especially with zero transparency as to who gains financially. None of us are the owners of football. It is not FIFA’s to sell.”

Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee also rebuked the plan, writing on X: “Apparently the fake Peace Prize and giant lease with Trump Tower weren’t enough — now Infantino performs a kickback hat trick by pursuing a multibillion-dollar deal with Jared Kushner’s brother to sell ownership stakes in the World Cup to private investors.”

FIFA, Donald Trump’s favorite corrupt racketeering enterprise in world sports, is now going directly into business with the Trump family!

Apparently the fake Peace Prize and giant lease with Trump Tower weren’t enough—now Infantino performs a kickback hat trick by pursuing a… https://t.co/knSZibuMea

— House Judiciary Dems (@HouseJudiciary) July 28, 2026

Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., has already launched an investigation into the FIFA leader’s relationship with the Trump administration, while dozens of European lawmakers — citing concerns about “potential breaches of political neutrality” — have called for the FIFA Ethics Committee to investigate Infantino. This new proposal seems unlikely to assuage those concerns.

But what it does seem likely to do is fuel global anger toward the U.S. — the kind that has been growing since Trump retook office.

And when you consider that, it’s truly remarkable how the same MAGA movement whose members whined for years about politics mixing with sports is now in lockstep with a president who seems dead-set on casting his shadow over every sports event he can.

This post on X basically sums up the foul stench around FIFA’s latest proposal.

Sepp Blatter was Infantino’s predecessor as FIFA president and oversaw the organization amid some of its many scandals. When heof all people, is warning about how Trump and Infantino’s relationship is “deeply damaging” soccer, it’s a sign of how far FIFA has descended into the gutter.

Ja’han Jones is an MS NOW opinion blogger. He previously wrote The ReidOut Blog.

The Dictatorship

Wednesday’s Mini-Report, 7.29.26

Published

4 hours ago

July 30, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

Today’s edition of quick hits.

* In the Middle East: “Jordan’s air defenses intercepted five missiles launched from Iran early Wednesday, the country’s military said, hours after the U.S. military said it had knocked down an Iranian missile barrage launched against American forces in the Middle East, shattering a brief pause in fighting.”

* At the Fed: “The Federal Reserve on Wednesday voted to hold its key interest rate steady but not without opposition from three officials who have expressed concern over inflation and wanted to hike. Despite increasing support among some officials for a rate increase, the Federal Open Market Committee voted 9-3 to leave the federal funds rate in a range between 3.5% and 3.75%.”

* All eyes on Cornyn: “Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, has yet to decide whether he will vote to confirm acting Attorney General Todd Blanche to permanently head the Department of Justice after saying Wednesday he was ‘not prepared’ to lend his support to President Donald Trump’s nominee.”

* This request is intended to repay the National Park Service, whose funds Team Trump unjustly raided: “The Trump administration is asking Congress for an additional $10 million to cover costs related to Freedom 250 events recently held on the National Mall, including a prayer event, a fair and a fireworks show.”

* Will the Carroll case ever end? “The Supreme Court already denied the first of Donald Trump’s two petitions against E. Jean Carroll. But the second petition, filed Tuesday, stands a better chance of gaining the high court’s interest because it raises presidential immunity and is backed by the Justice Department.”

* I’m eager to hear why a private citizen can’t delete the contents of his own phone: “It sounds like something James Bond would use: a gadget that self-destructs if it falls into the wrong hands. But it’s actually an open-source operating system that can be downloaded onto Android phones. Federal prosecutors in Atlanta are bringing an obstruction charge against a U.S. citizen who gave customs officers what is known as a duress passcode, which activated software that erased the contents of his phone.”

* My advice: Read real books written entirely by real people: “A few years into the A.I. era, there is sobering evidence that a significant and growing portion of the novels being sold are written with or by chatbots, and that readers are buying them. A new study conducted by computer scientists using A.I. detection software to analyze thousands of self-published novels on Amazon, found that a substantial number of those novels contained chatbot-generated prose.”

See you tomorrow.

Steve Benen is a producer for “The Rachel Maddow Show,” the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He’s also the bestselling author of “Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans’ War on the Recent Past.”

The Dictatorship

Epstein survivors say meeting with Todd Blanche was ‘very condescending’

Published

4 hours ago

July 30, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

Epstein survivors say meeting with Todd Blanche was ‘very condescending’

Christmas. 29, 2026, 5:29 PM EDT

Survivors of Jeffrey Epstein’s abuse said Wednesday that acting Attorney General Todd Blanche was “very condescending” toward them in their meeting with him this month and told them to “get to the point.”

Ahead of the Senate Judiciary Committee vote on whether to move President Donald Trump’s nomination as attorney general to the full Senate for a vote, the survivors were on Capitol Hill urging Republican lawmakers to deny Blanche the position.

Survivor Dani Bensky told reporters that the meeting a couple of weeks ago with Blanche, who had declined to meet with them for months, was “very condescending” and that he would not answer their questions on why investigative leads and referrals in the case have not been followed.

“He actually said the words ‘Get to the point’ to us,” Benskey said. “We’re survivors who have been waiting to meet with him for nine months, eight months.”

Another survivor said Blanche told them he had not read the files.

Bensky, who was standing with other survivors outside the office of Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, voiced appreciation for the senator for his support of survivors. The said they had not met with Cornyn Wednesday but had spoken to Judiciary Committee staff members, and that the meeting was “productive” and the staff members “were very pleasant and very open.”

Cornyn said Wednesday that he is “not prepared to vote yes” on Blanche’s nomination. He also called off a meeting with Blanche, saying the nominee had failed to provide proof that President Donald Trump’s “anti-weaponization” fund is officially dead.

Survivors have been campaigning for GOP holdouts to vote against Blanche’s confirmation. Bensky said her group had run into Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., in the elevator earlier and that he said he would like to meet with them. Tillis has also suggested that he might oppose Blanche’s confirmation.

Bensky said it would have “a massive chilling effect to all survivors across the U.S.” if Blanche’s nomination is moved out of committee and to the full Senate.

Asked for the survivors’ final message to the lawmakers, Bensky said: “It’s not political. Just do the right thing. Just be on the right side of history.”

Erum Salam is a breaking news reporter for MS NOW, with a focus on how global events and foreign policy shape U.S. politics. She previously was a breaking news reporter for The Guardian.