A constitutional crisis is here
This week, the Trump administration crossed a terrible line. We can’t look away.
There’s not a lot left to say: this week, we witnessed the Trump administration openly defy the judicial branch and drag the country into a constitutional crisis. If you need a catch-up, watch this from Ezra Klein or this from Jon Stewart on The Daily Show. This isn’t about immigration or any specific case - it’s about Donald Trump’s open defiance of the law and constitution that pro-democracy advocates have deeply feared and warned about for the past several years.
It’s critical that we don’t back down from this moment, as some cynical Democratic politicians in DC have suggested. Instead, we need all hands on deck to communicate and share what we’re seeing happen on all channels and platforms, by everyone with an audience. That’s what we’re doing at COURIER. This week, we’ve published dozens of pieces of content about Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s case and how Trump’s actions on immigration have brought us to a constitutional crisis. Those explainer videos, graphics, and carousels on platforms like TikTok and Instagram have received millions of views.
Here are a few highlights:
If you don’t already, now is a good time to follow @couriernewsroom on Instagram and TikTok, and share our content with your friends and followers.
More COURIER coverage highlights:
Our team in Pennsylvania at The Keystone drove original reporting about the hateful arson attack on Gov. Josh Shapiro’s home last weekend. Keystone reporters have been on the ground at vigils and press conferences surrounding the events this week, and highlighted how the state GOP chair blamed the Governor himself for the attack.
What I’m reading this week:
White House to Ask Congress to Claw Back Funding From NPR and PBS (NYT, 4/14)
“The White House is planning to ask Congress to claw back more than $1 billion slated for public broadcasting in the United States, according to two people briefed on the plan, a move that could ultimately eliminate almost all federal support for NPR and PBS.”
Spokane’s Spokesman-Review is going nonprofit (Poynter, 4/15)
“Owner and publisher Stacey Cowles and his family are donating the Spokesman-Review to Comma Community Journalism Laboratory, a nonprofit created in 2022 by executive editor Rob Curley, who will remain.”
Inside the Changing White House Briefing Room (NYT, 4/16)
“During Mr. Trump’s first term, the administration’s primary method of controlling the briefings was to hold them very rarely. This time, the administration has made moves to insert itself into the day-to-day workings of the press corps that covers it.”
Why Bernie Sanders Went to Coachella (The Nation, 4/16)
“Speaking for only a few minutes from the concert stage, Sanders quickly did what too many Democrats fail to do: He sincerely asked young Americans to be a part of a movement to beat Trump and Musk—and to shape the future that rejects oligarchy and authoritarianism.”