CLASH OF POWERS:  In what is shaping up to be Donald Trump’s first clash with the judiciary over the executive powers of the presidency, a federal judge in Rhode Island ruled that the White House has defied his order to release billions of dollars in federal grants, accusing the administration of defying a judicial mandate.

  Trump is in only his fourth week in the White House and now raising the question of what might happen if he just ignores the courts.

  The ruling by Judge John J. McConnell Jr.  ordered Trump administration officials to comply with what he called “the plain text” of an edict he issued on January 29^th and that the order he wrote then was “clear and unambiguous, and there are no impediments to the Defendants’ compliance with” it. 

  This came just a day after Vice President JD Vance claimed on social media that “judges aren’t allowed to control the executive’s legitimate power.” 

  The clash stems from Judge McConnell’s original order for the White House to unfreeze federal money locked up by a memo from the White House Office of Management and Budget ordering that billions of dollars in federal grants be held back until they are determined to be in line with Trump’s priorities, including his ideological goals.

  McConnell cited filings from state officials who fear billions of dollars they depend upon are in doubt and that states could be locked out of systems that pay reimbursements for Medicaid and other government programs. 

  In another judicial clash, lawyers for the President are arguing that a court order blocking Elon Musk’s operatives from entering the Treasury Department’s payment and data systems impinges on the President’s absolute executive powers. 

 The administration’s arguments are a response to a lawsuit filed Friday night by 19 state attorneys general, led by Letitia James of New York, that claims allowing appointees and “special government employees” access to these sensitive information systems is against the law. The lawsuit says that the presence of people representing Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency violates the separation of powers that gives Congress control of spending.

  A third Federal judge, this one in New Hampshire, has blocked President Trump’s order that would end birthright citizenship.

  Trump has also taken control of  the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, firing 18 board members and the board chairman. What remains are 17 board members appointed by Trump, who has said he intends to appoint himself chairman. He had previously denounced the center’s programming choices, saying on social media that the board did not share “our Vision for a Golden Age in Arts and Culture.”

JUSTICE DENIED: In what appears to be a political decision, the Justice Department ordered federal prosecutors in New York to drop corruption charges against New York Mayor Eric Adams.

  Emil Bove, the DOJ’s acting No. 2 official, said the decision was made without regard to the strength of evidence against Adams. He said that that the mayor’s indictment limited his ability to cooperate with President Trump’s immigration crackdown. He also suggested that the indictment threatens to interfere with the June 2025 mayoral primary.

  Adams was indicted on charges of conspiracy, wire fraud, soliciting illegal foreign campaign contributions from foreign nationals, and bribery.

THE WAR ROOM: Hamas militants in Gaza say they are delaying the next scheduled release of hostages and President Trump threatened that if all hostages are not released by Saturday, “all hell is going to break out.” 

  Hamas claims Israel has violated the ceasefire deal.

  On his plan to empty out Gaza and spread the population to other countries, Trump threatened to cut off aid to Egypt and Jordan if they do not take in some of the two million displaced Palestinians.

  Asked whether the Palestinians would ever have the right of return to their homeland he said, “no.”

SPEECH AND DEBATE: South Carolina Rep. Nancy Mace, a big voice in the Republican party, stood on the House floor for an hour yesterday accusing her former fiancé and three other men of having drugged and raped her and other women as well as filming and taking lewd photographs of women and underage girls without their consent. She named the men and displayed their photographs, saying they were involved in “premeditated, calculated exploitation of innocent women and girls in my district.”

  Mace offered no evidence of her accusations, although she said she has plenty of it. The representative is protected from slander suits because she made her accusations on the House floor under protection of the speech and debate clause.

  Her former fiancé, Patrick Bryant, said, “I categorically deny these allegations.”

  Mace has claimed sexual assault before. She said she was molested at a public swimming pool when she was 14 and raped at age 16.

THE SPIN RACK: A winter storm is expected to hit Southern California with snow and heavy rains, threatening mudslides on hills stripped of vegetation by wildfire. — The Wall Street Journal reports that even the Walt Disney Company is worried about the high cost of a Disney vacation. The cost of a one-day adult pass to one of the theme parks tops out at $206 and one blogger calculated the cost of a four-night visit to Disneyland for a family of four at  $6,511. — Construction workers in England found more than 150 non-explosive practice bombs dating back to World War II beneath a children’s playground. 

BELOW THE FOLD: President Trump says he has ordered the Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to stop minting new pennies in yet another move to reduce government spending. “Let’s rip the waste out of our great nations budget, even if it’s a penny at a time,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social, adding that pennies “literally cost us more than 2 cents.”

  Actually they cost nearly four cents apiece. Maybe they should just call it a nickel.

-30-