Horizon Cutting-room Links: Monday, 17 March 2025

Today is Monday, 17 March 2025.

"With Deportations to El Salvador, Trump May Have Defied a Judge’s Order," New York Times

"'Oopsie … Too late,' Mr. Bukele wrote in a social media post on Sunday morning that was recirculated by the White House communications director, Steven Cheung."

"On Sunday, legal analysts were still stitching together the timeline, trying to determine where the planes were shortly before 7 p.m. Eastern time on Saturday — and how close the Trump administration is to open defiance of the Constitution’s system of checks and balances."

"The White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, said on Friday that court orders blocking Mr. Trump’s agenda were 'unconstitutional and unfair.' That added to speculation, prompted by statements made by Mr. Trump and Vice President JD Vance on social media, that the White House might openly defy the judiciary, which under the Constitution is a branch of government equal in authority to the executive."

"Trump Orders Gutting of 7 Agencies, Including Voice of America’s Parent," the Times

"The other agencies Mr. Trump targeted Friday are the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, which works to prevent and resolve work stoppages and labor disputes; the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, a nonpartisan think tank; the Institute of Museum and Library Services, which funds and supports museums, libraries and archives; the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness, which works to prevent and end homelessness; the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund, which provides financial assistance to struggling communities; and the Minority Business Development Agency, which aims to bolster minority-owned businesses."

"Agencies told to ignore collective bargaining agreements in deference to RIFs," Federal News Network

"The Trump administration told agencies to ignore collective bargaining agreements that interfere with the ability to conduct reductions in force, or RIFs. A new memo from the Office of Personnel Management argues that contracts with federal unions cannot supersede an agency’s ability to lay off its employees. The OPM memo says agency management has the right to determine its number of employees, and make headcount adjustments as needed. The guidance comes just ahead of agencies’ expected RIF plans, which are due to the White House by this Friday."

"CMS pick Oz vows to go after Medicare Advantage," Roll Call

"His nomination comes at a moment when Trump and Republicans focus on reining in health care costs, which ballooned to $1.9 trillion in fiscal 2024.

" Oz’s pledge to go after Medicare Advantage is a blow to the insurance industry; Oz had at times been paid to promote Medicare Advantage on his television show, and in 2020, he wrote an op-ed with former Kaiser Permanente CEO George Halvorson advocating 'universal' health care coverage through Medicare Advantage for 'every American who is not on Medicaid.'"

"In Medicare Advantage, the government adjusts payments to plans based on how sick a patient is. Plans have been accused of adding diagnosis codes to a patient’s record to make them look sicker so plans can extract larger payments from Medicare.

"Some plans have sent nurses to beneficiaries’ homes to find illnesses that can be coded for, but that doesn’t always mean a patient will receive care for those illnesses. Plans have also been accused of exaggerating or even making up illnesses."

"Trump is bringing back McCarthyism to go after Mahmoud Khalil," the Verge

"Khalil’s arrest marks a turning point in both the Trump administration’s immigration policy and its stance toward dissidents, and Trump has promised there will be more. The administration already has 'multiple targets' in addition to Khalil, a State Department source told Zeteo. And Leavitt told reporters that the administration is 'using intelligence' collected by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to identify other international students who have been involved in campus protests, potentially flagging them for deportation."

"[Immigration] courts, to be clear, are not exactly an independent judiciary: immigration judges are DOJ employees, and in Khalil’s case, the government doesn’t need to provide much more evidence. Even so, there is a degree of due process"

"Khalil is now at an ICE detention center in Jena, Louisiana, and the government’s attorneys said he has been issued a notice to appear in immigration court there — an early step in the deportation process. The habeas petition will play an important part in the future of his case, affecting his ability to stay in the US. The DOJ wants Khalil’s attorney to file an amended habeas petition in either New Jersey or Louisiana, which would put it before a different judge. And if that request isn’t granted and Khalil isn’t released, his immigration proceedings will likely take place in Jena, where immigration judges are known for their abysmally low asylum grant rates.:

"Samsung's foundry nightmare isn't coming to an end if TSMC gets its way," Sam Mobile

"TSMC has reportedly proposed a joint venture with NVIDIA, AMD, and Broadcom to manage Intel's semiconductor facilities. The Taiwan-based chipmaker is taking the lead on this, committing to no more than a 50% stake in the venture. Qualcomm was reportedly involved in the discussions as well but has since taken a step back.

"If such a deal is struck, it would end up being disastrous for Samsung, as these are some of the biggest chip companies in the industry. They spend billions of dollars every year to get their chips made from foundries.

"The way TSMC reportedly views this deal is that it wants these investors to also become customers of Intel's foundries, thus becoming a worst case scenario for Samsung. If these players team up, they'd effectively be distributing the orders among themselves."