Elizabeth Goitein Profile picture
Apr 20, 2024 10 tweets 2 min read Read on X
It’s over (for now). A majority of senators caved to the fearmongering and bush league tactics of the administration and surveillance hawks in Congress, and they sold out Americans’ civil liberties. Section 702 has been reauthorized, not just without any meaningful reforms… 1/10
…but with “one of the most dramatic and terrifying expansions of government surveillance authority in history,” as @RonWyden aptly described it. It is nothing short of mind-boggling that 58 senators voted to keep this Orwellian power in the bill. 2/10
The provision effectively grants the NSA access to the communications equipment of almost any U.S. business, plus huge numbers of organizations and individuals. It’s a gift to any president who may wish to spy on political enemies, journalists, ideological opponents, etc. 3/10
The administration and intelligence committee leaders buried senators in a morass of misleading and, in some cases, flatly false statements throughout the week. I think of myself as pretty jaded, and I was still genuinely shaken by how many lies I heard. 4/10
This is a shameful moment in the history of the United States Congress. It’s a shameful moment for this administration, as well. But ultimately, it’s the American people who pay the price for this sort of thing. And sooner or later, we will. 5/10
There are 3 silver linings. First, the many senators who fought so hard to protect our civil liberties. I am particularly grateful to @RonWyden, @SenMikeLee, @SenatorDurbin, and @RandPaul, who have led the charge on Section 702 reforms. Please RT to show your appreciation! 6/10
Second, ALL OF YOU who made calls to your senators over the past week. We can track how many people use the call tool; you made literally thousands of calls each day. I’m in awe, and I also feel like I’m part of a huge, new, wonderful community. From my heart, I thank you. 7/10
Third—and very much related—because of the heat we were able to bring, we extracted some promises from the administration and the Senate intelligence committee chair. I do think they’ll be forced to make SOME changes to mitigate the worst parts of the law… 8/10
…which they can do by including those changes in an upcoming must-pass vehicle, like the National Defense Authorization Act. I’ll keep you all posted on those efforts. Let’s hold them to their promises. 9/10
I’ll have more to say about all of this later, but I’m taking the next week off for a vacation with family. In the immortal words of Tommy Lee Jones, “I need the rest.” And then… back to the fight! 10/10

• • •

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh
 

Keep Current with Elizabeth Goitein

Elizabeth Goitein Profile picture

Stay in touch and get notified when new unrolls are available from this author!

Read all threads

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

PDF

Twitter may remove this content at anytime! Save it as PDF for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video
  1. Follow @ThreadReaderApp to mention us!

  2. From a Twitter thread mention us with a keyword "unroll"
@threadreaderapp unroll

Practice here first or read more on our help page!

More from @LizaGoitein

Jun 14
The Defense Department has confirmed that U.S. Marines detained a civilian—reportedly an Army veteran who crossed a yellow tape boundary on his way to a Department of Veterans Affairs office. This is an apparent violation of the Posse Comitatus Act. 1/16 reuters.com/world/us/us-ma…
The Posse Comitatus Act (PCA) bars federal armed forces from directly participating in law enforcement activities unless “expressly authorized” by statute or by the Constitution. It’s a critical protection for individual liberty and democracy. 2/16
What constitutes a law enforcement activity for purpose of the PCA isn’t always clear. But activities that unambiguously fall within that category include arrests, searches, and seizures of persons or property. 3/16 congress.gov/crs-product/R4…
Read 16 tweets
Jun 13
A federal judge has issued a temporary restraining order (TRO) requiring Trump to return control of the National Guard to CA Governor Newsom. The order is accompanied by a powerful opinion that affirms the rule of law, separation of powers, and the First Amendment. 1/23
U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer found that CA is likely to succeed on the merits of some of its claims, which is the first and often most important criterion for issuing a TRO. To start, the law Trump relied on to federalize the Guard didn’t give him that authority. 2/23
That law, 10 USC 12406, applies only if there’s an invasion by a foreign nation or a “rebellion or danger of a rebellion against the authority of the Government of the United States,” or if the President is unable to execute federal law without using the military. 3/23
Read 23 tweets
Jun 8
Trump has federalized at least 2,000 National Guard forces and reportedly plans to deploy troops to Los Angeles over Governor Newsom’s objections. If that happens, it will be the first time since 1965 that a president has sent troops into a state without a state request. 1/19
That’s alarming enough. But Trump has also authorized deployment of troops anywhere in the country where protests against ICE are occurring or are likely to occur, even if they are entirely peaceful. That is unprecedented and a clear abuse of the law. 2/19
To back up: Presidents have deployed troops for purposes of quelling unrest or executing the law only 30 times in U.S. history. The Brennan Center has published a guide compiling and annotating those instances. 3/19 brennancenter.org/our-work/resea…
Read 19 tweets
May 13
Yesterday the Brennan Center filed an amicus brief in support of four companies that challenged Trump’s imposition of worldwide tariffs under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA). 1/15 brennancenter.org/our-work/court…
Trump imposed the tariffs by declaring a national emergency under the National Emergencies Act (NEA), which gives him access to standby powers contained in 150 different provisions of law, including IEEPA. 2/15 brennancenter.org/our-work/resea…
The main issue currently before the court is whether IEEPA authorizes tariffs at all. The law doesn’t use the word “tariffs,” but the Trump administration wants the court to read sweeping powers into the law that aren’t explicitly conferred. 3/15
Read 15 tweets
Apr 12
What’s this new executive order directing the Defense Department to take over huge swaths of public land on the border? Simple: it’s yet another abuse of emergency powers—this one seemingly designed to make an end-run around the Posse Comitatus Act. 1/17 whitehouse.gov/presidential-a…
Listing all of Trump’s abuses of emergency powers thus far would make this thread far too long. But the country is still reeling from the latest one: emergency tariffs imposed on every country in the world, including islands inhabited primarily by penguins. 2/17
And then there’s Trump’s abuse of the Alien Enemies Act—a law that applies only during an armed attack by a foreign nation or government—to stealthily deport 137 Venezuelans, 75% of whom have no criminal record whatsoever, to an El Salvador prison that’s a living hell. 3/17
Read 17 tweets
Mar 4
To get around the normal legal process for imposing tariffs on Canada & Mexico, Trump declared national emergencies and invoked the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA). Another day, another executive action, another abuse of power. 1/15
IEEPA is available only to address an “unusual and extraordinary threat” to our “national security, foreign policy, or economy.” So Trump declared that Canada… the country he has mocked as the 51st state… poses an unusual and extraordinary threat to our national security. 2/15
Got that? In his social media posts, Trump says Canada is barely a “viable Country.” But in declaring a national emergency, he says that Canada’s power over the United States is so great that it threatens our very security. Quite a concession to our northern neighbor. 3/15
Read 15 tweets

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!


This site is made by just two indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3/month or $30/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Don't want to be a Premium member but still want to support us?

Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal

Or Donate anonymously using crypto!

Ethereum

0xfe58350B80634f60Fa6Dc149a72b4DFbc17D341E copy

Bitcoin

3ATGMxNzCUFzxpMCHL5sWSt4DVtS8UqXpi copy

Thank you for your support!

Follow Us!

:(