Hello and happy Saturday. It’s been a big week in the Ohio bureau. We had “senior night” for our son’s high school baseball team on Monday, and he turned in a (nearly) complete game one-hitter. I managed not to cry when the coach came out with one out left in the last inning and sent the five seniors off together. Last night, our oldest son shared some very happy news: He popped the question to his girlfriend, and she said yes! All of which is to say: We had a much better week than Pete Hegseth.
On Tuesday, Michael Warren reported that morale is low at the Pentagon amid the ongoing fallout from the Signal group chat scandal. In March, Hegseth shared operational details of a U.S. strike on the Houthis in Yemen in a group chat to which Atlantic editor Jeffrey Goldberg had been added. News broke last weekend that Hegseth also shared those details in a separate chat that included his wife, his brother, and his personal attorney. But that’s not all:
In the last week, Hegseth has fired most of his inner circle of advisers, ostensibly in response to an investigation into leaks. Joe Kasper, Hegseth’s chief of staff, who called for the investigation, is also reportedly leaving for another post at the department. (Ullyot insisted in his op-ed that he left voluntarily, though independent reporting has suggested otherwise.) Meanwhile, two people with knowledge of the department’s inner functions say much of the policy work there has ground to a halt, with decision-makers among the Pentagon’s civil servants unclear about how to implement President Donald Trump’s agenda without more direction from the secretary.
Michael writes that with the exception of a pledge to cut 8 percent of the defense budget, there hasn’t been much in the way of policy or direction from Hegseth, and he “spends a lot more time than his predecessors in the job on social media and doing television hits. Some in the building have taken to calling him the ‘influencer secretary.’”
Kevin D. Williamson wrote that Hegseth isn’t the only former Fox News contributor in Trump’s circle to land on the hot seat. Independent journalist Anthony Clark reported that Janette Nesheiwat, a former Fox News contributor nominated as surgeon general, lied about her medical background. Dan Bongino, the deputy director of the FBI, also tried to get out ahead of a supposedly forthcoming and potentially embarrassing report from the New York Times by admitting that he’d been injured while sparring with an FBI trainer. Kevin also noted that Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem—“who is not a former television personality but who seems to be positioning herself for a future in show business,” as he put it—lost a purse containing $3,000 at a Washington D.C. restaurant.
That’s a lot of questionable behavior and incompetence for one paragraph. As Kevin writes, “If you work for the Trump administration, Trump has thought about firing you at least once before his second Diet Coke of the day.”
It was also a big week for The Dispatch itself. We acquired SCOTUSblog, the “go-to authority on the Supreme Court,” and we’re thrilled to welcome founder Amy Howe and her team to the The Dispatch family. Read more below, and have a great weekend!
Reliable coverage of the Supreme Court has never been more important. With an unbridled executive branch and a Congress eager to surrender its constitutional prerogatives, the federal judiciary is certain to play an increasingly important role in shaping the country’s direction. Our job is to help our members understand this role and the decisions that will shape the nation’s future, in both the short and long term. With the addition of SCOTUSblog, The Dispatch is well-positioned to become the definitive source for authoritative reporting and analysis of the Supreme Court and the rule of law. And we won’t stop there.
Over the past decade, a raft of new laws has extended restrictions on free speech in Germany. First, a law named—as though to confirm all stereotypes about the German language being overly cumbersome and bureaucratic—the Netzwerkdurchsetzungsgesetz (Network Enforcement Act) required major social media platforms to act swiftly to delete presumptively illegal content ranging from hate speech to personal insults. The law imposed such steep fines on social media networks such as Twitter and Facebook that they needed to err on the side of censoring any content that might conceivably be illegal in order to keep operating in the country. When Russian President Vladimir Putin sought to strengthen his ability to marginalize the political opposition in Russia, he cleverly translated key passages of the German law into Russian, deflecting criticisms of his crackdown on free speech by pointing out that he was merely emulating Western democracies.
Combating antisemitism is an important and legitimate government interest, and both Americans and noncitizens are safer when bigotry is confronted. But for six decades America has prohibited censorship and relied on counterspeech as the main bulwark against hatred, not least because leading Jewish and black civil rights groups have long recognized the danger of giving the government power over speech. Had the administration focused on noncitizens engaged in illegal or seriously disruptive conduct targeting Jewish students—which clearly occurred on some campuses after the October 7 terrorist Hamas attacks—few could have objected. But it’s now clear that the government is targeting noncitizens for ideas and speech protected by the First Amendment.
Best of the Rest
My Presidential Candidacy
If nominated, I will consent to be elected, but don’t expect me to do much else.
A Pope of Inclusion and Polarization
Francis widened divisions in the Catholic Church even as he strove to broaden its reach.
AI Will Speed Up the Sex Wars
Technology already has a way of breaking things. At light speed, that breakage might be even more pronounced.
J.D. Vance’s Claims About the Number of Illegal Immigrants in the U.S. Are Exaggerated
No estimates indicate that there are 20 million people in the country illegally.
An Absurd Rationale for Provoking a Constitutional Crisis
Donald Trump’s ability to carry out mass deportations won’t depend on his ability to use the Alien Enemies Act against a Venezuelan gang.
Trump’s Team of Losers
The president has hired lots of people who couldn’t win their own elections.
Star Power
Is AOC 2028 for real?
Dead Dollar Walking
The Imperial Fed.
How Democracies Fall and Rise
‘Freedom is at existential risk right now.’
Please note that we at The Dispatch hold ourselves, our work, and our commenters to a higher standard than other places on the internet. We welcome comments that foster genuine debate or discussion—including comments critical of us or our work—but responses that include ad hominem attacks on fellow Dispatch members or are intended to stoke fear and anger may be moderated.
With your membership, you only have the ability to comment on The Morning Dispatch articles. Consider upgrading to join the conversation everywhere.