"Elon, Vivek, and I are on a text chain together"

PRESENTED BY SINU-MOLLWEIDE

Poor House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La., no relation), trying to keep the U.S. government open while neo-Nazi-ketamine-addict-turned-Trump-puppeteer Elon Musk and his critic-turned-lapdog Vivek Ramaswamy are blasting out their plans to dismantle that very same government.

Johnson had agreed with Democratic leadership on a bipartisan package which included climate disaster relief and major health initiatives, but he then withdrew that under Elon’s withering attacks after they were echoed by Trump and Vance. And then, in a disastrous 174-235 vote, 38 Republicans defected from the Musk-Trump Plan B, which would have lifted the debt ceiling for two years, long enough for Trump to push through a new mega-tax-cut package.

Trump has of course claimed in retrospect that Elon’s attacks on the end-of-year deal were his idea, really, but Johnson revealed who was pulling his strings in an appearance two days ago on Fox News:

Now, with a midnight deadline looming, a government shutdown like the one Trump forced on the country in December 2018 is likely.

“Yeah, yeah, we have a plan,” Johnson claimed this morning.

This evening, he’ll try a version of the original compromise, including disaster and ag relief, but cutting out provisions like pediatric cancer research. And Republicans are continuing to defect, so passage would require Democrats—who haven’t seen the bill—to help out Team Trumpy.

Oops, another text is coming in. Better get that, Mikey!

Joe Biden may be heading out the door as the Universal Paperclips president.

There is already a Wild-West-style boom in energy-guzzling data center construction around the country, threatening to blow up the national power grid:

Now, reports Evan Halper in the Jeff Bezos-owned Washington Post, the “Biden administration is drafting a plan to allow construction of data centers and electrical power plants on federal lands,” and “relax environmental restrictions” on construction and “allow construction of dedicated power plants fueled by natural gas at the same sites.”

The administration is trying to spin this with vague verbiage that could very well be AI slop: “What we’re working on is actions to retain that key AI power infrastructure here in America, to address land, power and permitting constraints,” Lael “Giant” Brainard told Bloomberg reporter Josh Wingrove.

If your plan to phase out fossil fuels and protect the environment has a loophole for AI data centers, you're not planning to phase out fossil fuels or protect the environment.

Much like this winter, the Democratic National Committee races are heating up. Wisconsin chair Ben Wikler rallied with Wisconsin Reps. Marc Pocan and Gwen Moore at a packed house in DC. Minnesota chair Ken Martin picked up the public endorsements of the state chairs of Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, and Oklahoma. Arizona chair Yolanda Bejarano offered a strong endorsement:

Meanwhile, former Maryland governor Martin O’Malley published the website for his candidacy. O’Malley is offering a decidedly technocratic flavor to the universally professed commitment to deeper organizing all of the candidates are expressing. O’Mally is calling for the party to use “world-class AI tools” and trainings that “utilize AI” with “feedback loops” with local officials and community organizations. He may not win the DNC race, but maybe he can win the D(ata) C(enter) race!

The down-ballot races are being contested less publicly, but I’m working on keeping track, and will be reporting more in the coming weeks. Though I’m hoping for a good holiday break.

Thanks for subscribing and spreading the word. If you’ve got job listings, event listings, or other hot news, I want to hear it. Connect with me—@[email protected], @climatebrad on Threads, and @climatebrad.hillheat.com on BlueSky.