Today in Politics, Bulletin 315. 2/24/26

… At least 34 US Senators and Representatives announced they will be boycotting Trump’s SOTU speech in order to attend the People’s SOTU hosted by MeidasTouch and MoveOn. You can watch our event live here. Of course, you can also watch Trump instead if you enjoy pain and suffering.

… CBS’s Scott Macfarlane this morning: “At least 40 Congressional Democrats are skipping Trump’s SOTU tonight. The number is rising.”

… Trump’s speech is reportedly going to be over 2 hours long and “possibly approaching 3 hours” according to reporting. I’d boycott it just for that alone. The longest SOTU speech Trump ever gave was 82 minutes. It appears this one will shatter that record. I guess his list of grievances has increased.

… Rep. Angie Craig (D-MN): “I would rather stick forks in my eyes than be here tonight to listen to Trump. When you look at a 26% approval rating nationally with independent voters, he is coming into the people’s House in the weakest state he has ever been in the all of the excruciating years we have had to endure his presidency.”

… Hakeem Jeffries: "These poll numbers for Trump are like an extinction-level event."

… Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT), who will be at the People’s SOTU: “I'm not going to the SOTU. Trump has made a mockery of this tradition and I'm not going to show up and pretend everything's normal.”

… Mike Johnson: “It’s shameful that they would boycott an address. Every member of this House represents more than 750,000 people. They’re disenfranchised if you’re not sitting in your seat to fulfill the role and responsibility of Congress.”

… I do not feel disenfranchised if my Rep decides she doesn't want to sit and listen to Trump's tired lies and conspiracies. Her listening to Trump does not do anything to help us deal with his affordability crisis.

… Rep. Andrew Clyde (R-GA) on Newsmax: “We are feared on the world stage because of Trump, so I’m looking forward to his speech.”

… People hate us all over the world who didn’t last year, many laugh at us, most shake their heads and wonder what they hell we were thinking, and many fear what our unhinged maniac will do from one day to the next. Make Fear Great Again - the Republican brand.

… Axios is reporting that Republican Thomas Massie will be sitting with Democrats on their side of the House.

… Sen. Andy Kim (D-NJ): “I think he’s coming into this SOTU at the weakest point of his presidency. And I believe this will be his final SOTU before a Republican-controlled Congress. I think things will look very different going forward, because the American people will see through his lies tonight.”

… The Atlantic: “Last Thur, the WH tried to get Trump to focus on the economic concerns driving the midterm elections. Instead, he issued a 10-to-15-day ultimatum to Iran, claimed that his wife’s documentary was so good that some women had seen it 4 times, and accused his predecessor Barack Obama of releasing classified information about space aliens.”

… “Few actually watched his 68-minute speech on the economy later that afternoon at Coosa Steel in GA. But even if they had tuned in, they would have found Trump’s recitation of his economic talking points overshadowed by his banter about wanting to award himself the Congressional Medal of Honor, claims that the FBI found ‘plenty of stuff’ when it raided Fulton County’s election office, or the suggestion, denied by his own advisers, that inflation was no longer an issue: ‘I’ve won affordability.’”

… “Trump will have another chance to sell his economic agenda tonight, when he delivers his SOTU address. But top WH advisers and Republican strategists have so little faith that he will stick to the script in the months ahead that they are reverting to a 2024 playbook: They will let Trump be Trump, while demanding discipline from the rest of the GOP ecosystem.”

… Dem strategist Jesse Ferguson: “His obsession is on everything other than what matters to people’s lives. If Bill Clinton was ‘I feel your pain,’ Trump is ‘I want you to feel my pain.’ He is all about what makes a ballroom and getting FIFA World Cup peace prizes.”

… “Several Republicans said they are worried about Trump’s continued obsession with unsubstantiated claims of voting fraud in the 2020 election, which they said is not only too far afield of voter concerns but could also backfire if it depresses turnout among Republican voters who don’t trust elections, increases turnout among Democrats, or alienates independents.”

… Rep. Mike Lawler on CNN: Q - “Why do you think 68% of Americans think Trump has the wrong priorities? Lawler: We have made significant progress over the last year. You saw 3rd quarter GDP growth over 4%. Host: You conveniently left out 4th quarter GDP, which was at 1.4%.”

… There are some reports that Trump may announce new strikes on Iran in his speech to give him a dramatic headline. Jeffries was asked about that: "What happened to Iran's nuclear program being 'completely and totally obliterated'? Trump's words, not our words. Clearly he was lying to the American people or he's lying right now."

… NPR: “DOJ has withheld some Epstein files related to allegations that Trump sexually abused a minor, an NPR investigation finds. It also removed some documents from the public database where accusations against Epstein also mention Trump. Some files have not been made public despite a law mandating their release. These include what appears to be more than 50 pages of FBI interviews, and notes from conversations with a woman who accused Trump of sexual abuse decades ago when she was a minor.”

… “NPR reviewed multiple sets of unique serial numbers appearing before and after the pages in question, stamped onto documents in the Epstein files database, FBI case records, emails and discovery document logs in the latest tranche of documents published at the end of January. NPR’s investigation found dozens of pages that appear to be catalogued by DOJ but not shared publicly.”

… CBS: “Sen. Dick Durbin says a whistleblower has revealed ‘in the immediate aftermath of the murder of Charlie Kirk, the FBI’s shooting reconstruction team was asked to fly to Utah to aid the investigation and process the scene. However, the team’s deployment was delayed by at least a day because of a Bureau plane and pilot shortage caused by the Director’s personal flights.”

… Durbin: "The Director’s misplaced priorities and poor management of the FBI’s resources—including its aircraft—also harmed the FBI’s ability to respond to the shooting at Brown Univ. on Dec 13, 2025. Once again, the shooting reconstruction team was set to respond to the scene immediately, but was unable to fly out of Richmond, VA, using one of the FBI’s planes."

… House Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan on CNN: Q - “Should your committee look into Kash Patel’s use of federal jets for personal issues? Jordan: This was an all-American, apple pie moment. And you guys are gonna talk about Kash Patel? Host: I’m talking about his use of govt resources to do personal things. Jordan: I think he was over there because of security.”

… Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) was asked why Patel was partying at the Olympics on the taxpayer dime: “Because the FBI has an important job protecting security there. Kash, congratulations on having the chance to celebrate, I’m jealous and wish I was there.”

… Q - “Kash Patel in 2023 went after Chris Wray, saying he ‘doesn’t need a govt-funded G5 to go on vacation. Maybe we ground that plane. $15k every time it takes off.’ So what’s your view on Patel’s use of that plane? Cruz: Well listen, I’m a big fan of Kash Patel. The FBI had an important job at the Olympics. I would’ve loved to have been in that locker room. Kash, congratulations.”

… Rep. Derrick Van Orden (R-WI) on Fox: “If Canada had taken Trump up on his offer to become the 51st state, the Canadians would’ve had gold also.”

… CBS: “A former ICE instructor responsible for educating new officers on proper use of force told Congress that the agency’s efforts to rapidly scale up its ranks will place recruits on the streets without the training they need to lawfully carry out immigration enforcement. Ryan Schwank is an attorney and former career ICE employee who resigned from the agency less than two weeks ago.”

… “A spokesperson for Whistleblower Aid, the legal group representing Schwank, said he quit the agency in protest. It stands as one of the first instances of an ICE official who has served under the second Trump admin publicly rebuking the agency and the adequacy of its training.”

… Schwank: “New cadets are graduating from the Academy, despite widespread concerns among training staff that even in the final days of training, the cadets cannot demonstrate a solid grasp of the tactics or the law required to perform their jobs. Without reform, ICE will graduate thousands of new officers who do not know their constitutional duty, do not know the limits of their authority and who do not have the training to recognize an unlawful order. That should scare everyone.”

… “I am duty bound to tell you the ICE Basic Immigration Enforcement Training Program is now deficient, defective, and broken.”

… Schwank said that ICE is lying about the amount of training new recruits are receiving, and it has cut 240 hours of training from a 584-hour program - classes that teach the Constitution, the legal system, firearms, use of force, lawful arrests, proper detention and the limits of officers’ authority.

… Aaron Rupar: “Wow. Mike Johnson only took 2 questions during today’s House Republican press conference - he usually takes at least 4 or 5 - and neither was about Rep. Tony Gonzales. Johnson is refusing to call for Gonzales’s resignation even following the release of texts showing Gonzales pressured an aide who later committed suicide for sexually explicit photos.”

… With several House Republicans now openly calling for Gonzales to resign immediately, Johnson met later in his office with Gonzales. Johnson made it clear last night while running away from reporters that he was going to stick with Gonzales because losing him would result in just a one-seat majority with Thomas Massie voting with Democrats quite a bit lately.

… Gonzales leaving his meeting with Johnson: “I’m not resigning.”

… Journalist Rachel Bade: “While a growing chorus of Republicans rage against Tony Gonzales following those awful texts, some Republicans are privately infuriated with what one called Speaker Johnson’s ‘feckless leadership’ on this issue. I’ve spoken to several Republicans who are accusing Johnson and senior Republicans of trying to ‘brush this under the rug’ to protect their majority.”

… One House Republican: “A decision was made that they wanted this to go away.”

… “Johnson has says Gonzales denied the allegation - and appears to have just left it at that. He didn’t call for a House Ethics Committee investigation, though he certainly could have. He apparently didn’t quietly reach out to Gonzales’s staff to see what they knew, as some speakers before him have during similar situations. He doesn’t appear to have nudged Gonzales not to run again. And not only that, the NRCC continued to support Gonzales - and they all got Trump to endorse him in December… (Yikes.)”

… Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL) posted: “Congressional ethics is a joke. They have so much dirt on members of Congress, and they do nothing. There is even a slush fund they use to pay people off with your tax dollars. This is part of why the system is so broken. They’re sitting on reports, and if someone steps out of line, isn’t it ironic how they leak them, threaten to leak them, or time it for right after Election Day?”

… “As you can see, there is a serious problem up here, largely surrounding sexual misconduct. It pisses me off because while some of us are actually working and busting our asses, these clowns are sexually harassing their own staff, doing illegal crap, insider trading etc. It sets a terrible precedent for the entire institution.”

… “Stop being predatory freaks and get OUT of office. YOU DO NOT BELONG HERE. This behavior is reprehensible and a poor reflection on the Republican Party, and I will not tolerate this type of moral rot in my own party. NOR should the AMERICAN PEOPLE.”

… She tolerates it for Trump though.

Reminder that there is no Bulletin tomorrow because I do my weekly podcast Uncovered where I do a deeper dive into the top stories of the week, which will certainly include my take on the SOTU among other things. Kash’s trip just might come up as well.

If you missed yesterday’s Bulletin, you can find it here.

… Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC): “They’ll probably just sweep it under the rug like they always do. It was disgusting, shameful, and it’s why so many women feel like second class citizens. We just got to say, ‘no more - he’s got to go.’”

… Thomas Massie is calling for Gonzales to resign. He was asked about Johnson’s comments by Meidas: “I think they’re looking past his egregious transgressions to keep us in the majority. We are not well-served by the damage this is going to the GOP’s reputation, particularly after the way they handled the Epstein