Susan Davis
Appearances
Consider This from NPR
The Trump administration's attacks on oversight of executive power
And one of the early actions that I would point to is when Trump decided that he was going to fire independent inspectors general across 18 different federal agencies. And these were jobs that were created in response to the Watergate scandal under President Nixon. They were designed to create more accountability in the executive branch.
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The Trump administration's attacks on oversight of executive power
But there's long been a view on the right that these jobs never should have been created in the first place. One of the people who agrees with that is John Yoo. He's a conservative legal scholar and a former Justice Department official.
Consider This from NPR
The Trump administration's attacks on oversight of executive power
Within the executive branch, yes. I mean, people like you would argue that these agencies should absolutely exist, but they should be more directly accountable to the White House.
Consider This from NPR
The Trump administration's attacks on oversight of executive power
And you can see Trump testing these boundaries by his administration's effort to shutter the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, for instance, as well as the stop work orders, the firings or attempted firings at independent agencies like the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Federal Election Commission.
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The Trump administration's attacks on oversight of executive power
I also spoke with Tara Malloy. She's a lawyer at the Campaign Legal Center, another election watchdog group. And she noted the February 18th executive order calling for the president to have, quote, supervision and control of the entire executive branch. She called that point blank a power grab. Her focus was on the attempt to control the FEC, which oversees campaign finance laws.
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The Trump administration's attacks on oversight of executive power
And look, she made this point that it can't both be a neutral arbiter of campaign laws. and report directly to the president, one of the candidates on the ballot.
Consider This from NPR
The Trump administration's attacks on oversight of executive power
Look, there's a lot of political contradictions here. I would note that Trump campaigned very loudly on this idea that the president should exert more power over the government. And he won fair and square. So these actions shouldn't really come as a surprise to the country. But you're right. There isn't a ton of evidence that the country is clamoring to have this all-powerful executive.
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The Trump administration's attacks on oversight of executive power
Taken to its extreme, it would usher in an era of little or no independent checks on the president with fewer or no watchdogs and more politicized agencies. Now, proponents of this would say, look, accountability would still exist. It would exist in the court of public opinion.
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The Trump administration's attacks on oversight of executive power
Presidents are still held accountable in elections by voters and also in the constitutional checks on power afforded Congress. Congress has the authority to pass laws to rein in the presidency or the ultimate power of impeachment to remove a president. But But Elsa, as we're also living this in real time, public opinion doesn't matter as much in a second term.
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The Trump administration's attacks on oversight of executive power
And Congress, particularly when controlled by the same party, demonstrates little interest in checking their president.
The NPR Politics Podcast
How DOGE Cuts Are Impacting Federal Workers
Shannon and Chris, thank you so much for bringing your expertise and reporting to the podcast today.
The NPR Politics Podcast
How DOGE Cuts Are Impacting Federal Workers
All right. We're going to leave it there, but we'll be back in your feeds tomorrow. I'm Susan Davis. I cover politics. And thank you for listening to the NPR Politics Podcast.
The NPR Politics Podcast
How DOGE Cuts Are Impacting Federal Workers
I would love to have someone who took care of my car or someone who cleaned up the dishes after dinner, but then I'd want them to leave.
The NPR Politics Podcast
How DOGE Cuts Are Impacting Federal Workers
Chris, I think this is really interesting for a couple of reasons. I'm glad you made that point that like not all probationary workers are, you know, first job out of college types. But also personnel records are legal documents.
The NPR Politics Podcast
How DOGE Cuts Are Impacting Federal Workers
If you have a record of strong performance reviews of awards for excellence and the excuse your boss gives you is for failure to perform, that seems like it might open up even more of a legal avenue that maybe you were fired under false pretenses.
The NPR Politics Podcast
How DOGE Cuts Are Impacting Federal Workers
And so, Chris, what exactly is happening with these lawsuits now?
The NPR Politics Podcast
How DOGE Cuts Are Impacting Federal Workers
I think at this point, a lot of our listeners know what OPM is, but we should just note it's the Office of Personnel and Management, which essentially serves as like the HR for the federal government. And I think pushback is maybe thematically what we're seeing more of here, Shannon, especially when it comes to how Musk has been operating.
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How DOGE Cuts Are Impacting Federal Workers
And by that, I mean there was this federal government-wide email sent out at his directive asking all federal employees to do a five bulleted point list of what they had accomplished that week to sort of justify their existence.
The NPR Politics Podcast
How DOGE Cuts Are Impacting Federal Workers
And it seems to me that the timing of this is not coincidental because Musk started taking these actions as soon as Donald Trump was inaugurated into office. But these cabinet secretaries are now being sworn in, the cabinet's being fully actualized, and it
The NPR Politics Podcast
How DOGE Cuts Are Impacting Federal Workers
Shouldn't perhaps come as a surprise that the people that are supposed to have ownership over these agencies and its workforce are maybe looking to Musk and saying, like, not necessarily that they oppose the end goal, which is reducing spending, reducing the size of the workforce, but saying, like, I want to make these decisions, not this guy. Right. Right.
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How DOGE Cuts Are Impacting Federal Workers
And like, also maybe I know best, right?
The NPR Politics Podcast
How DOGE Cuts Are Impacting Federal Workers
That's got to be a long train ride. New York to Florida? I do love like an overnight train, though.
The NPR Politics Podcast
How DOGE Cuts Are Impacting Federal Workers
And we're back. And Shannon, I want to talk about the process, the way this stuff has been happening, because I think it's important to understand. Because one of the inside the Beltway conversations is that, you know, if every agency or department wanted to do a reduction in force or reduction in spending, there's a way to do it. And that it's happened in the past.
The NPR Politics Podcast
How DOGE Cuts Are Impacting Federal Workers
More overnight train journeys. If you can lay down on the train, then it's just like next level. That's almost luxury. Hey there, it's the NPR Politics Podcast. I'm Susan Davis. I cover politics. And today, the latest on the Trump administration's continuing efforts to remake the federal government. Doge, the entity that Elon Musk has been the face of, is just one aspect of these changes.
The NPR Politics Podcast
How DOGE Cuts Are Impacting Federal Workers
Republicans will note to the fact that Bill Clinton did this when he was president. But the way that this is happening is not the way that government typically functions. But it is in a lot of ways reminiscent of how Elon Musk has run his companies.
The NPR Politics Podcast
How DOGE Cuts Are Impacting Federal Workers
There's also this murkiness, too, where on the one hand, Elon Musk is very clearly in charge here or at least making critical decisions. But the government and the administration at the same time this week is trying to say, no, technically, he's not the administrator of Doge.
The NPR Politics Podcast
How DOGE Cuts Are Impacting Federal Workers
And how Doge wants to reshape the federal workforce has been steeped in controversy and court battles. And NPR correspondents Shannon Bond and Chris Arnold have been focusing on all of this. And join me now. Hello to you both. Hey, Sue.
The NPR Politics Podcast
How DOGE Cuts Are Impacting Federal Workers
Who is the person that the government is saying is in charge and what do you know about her?
The NPR Politics Podcast
How DOGE Cuts Are Impacting Federal Workers
Chris, let's start with you. There are more than 2 million federal employees doing all different kinds of jobs all over the country and even the world. And you talked to just a couple of them, people who work at national parks who have been impacted by what Doge is doing. Tell us about them.
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How DOGE Cuts Are Impacting Federal Workers
This is not a short term story. This is a long term story. This might even be a story for the rest of the Trump administration. But I will ask you both this. Is there something specifically or what should people be watching or listening for the sort of where do we go from here question?
The NPR Politics Podcast
How DOGE Cuts Are Impacting Federal Workers
Could you say the reverse is also true, Chris? If the courts say, you know what, the president can do this, Elon Musk can do this, that also would be a pretty profound impact.
The NPR Politics Podcast
Trump Defends Agenda In Combative Address
Picking her tells you that that's the type of person that they're trying to appeal to, a Democrat that can win over Trump voters, because that was her path to election. And I thought it was pretty interesting because her speech was, I think, It felt shorter than a lot of the rebuttals. It felt more focused. And I think that, you know, we've talked about this before in the podcast.
The NPR Politics Podcast
Trump Defends Agenda In Combative Address
These speeches can often be a bit of a jinx or become a parody. And I think she was successful in like not doing anything that seemed like it was obvious that it was going to be parodied on Saturday Night Live this weekend. I think she did a perfectly acceptable job for what the job is.
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Trump Defends Agenda In Combative Address
Yeah, look, I don't think that interruptions of the president during a speech like this, a State of the Union or a joint address, are that atypical anymore. I think going back to Barack Obama's presidency where Congressman Joe Wilson of South Carolina very famously shouted, you lie at him. And that was a moment that was seen as sort of breaking with historical decorum.
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Trump Defends Agenda In Combative Address
It was also very notable to me, especially in contrast to Trump's speech, where he really did focus on divisive social issues, particularly things like trans rights. And in the Democratic rebuttal, there was none of that.
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Trump Defends Agenda In Combative Address
She said she was going to focus on three fundamentals that the Democratic Party believes in, which is that the country was built on the middle class, that a strong national security is a good thing, and that our democracy is worth fighting for, which were probably the easiest focus group messages that you could argue about. to get through.
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Trump Defends Agenda In Combative Address
But it really leaned out from any of the divisive social stuff. And it also, to me, does say that the Democratic Party doesn't quite know how to re-engage on those issues, especially coming off of the 2024 election, in which many of them believe that they lost because the party was seen as too leftist center on some of these issues.
The NPR Politics Podcast
Trump Defends Agenda In Combative Address
That's a great question. I did think it was kind of funny, too, where she had a line, I'm paraphrasing, where she said something like, just by the fact that you're watching this speech says you're an engaged citizen, which I think is probably true, which I thought was honestly pretty self-effacing and accurate. One of the things I think we're watching is
The NPR Politics Podcast
Trump Defends Agenda In Combative Address
and we've seen a little bit of it percolating on social media, is what is actually happening back at home in the real world? And there has been some social media moments of Republican lawmakers being shouted down or having these contentious moments at town halls. How much of what is happening in Washington is actually creating a spark of anger or activism or support out in the country?
The NPR Politics Podcast
Trump Defends Agenda In Combative Address
And I think Democrats at least believe, especially as conversations teeter around things like Medicaid and Social Security, that they have a real chance to make it a fight in the 2026 midterms. And I think if they're looking for a message, I think protecting things like that are going to be at the forefront of it.
The NPR Politics Podcast
Trump Defends Agenda In Combative Address
But I got to say, ever since then, it's almost been a bit of a feature of these events to have some element of the minority party, for lack of a better word, heckle, where I think that Al Green took it to a new level was he refused to stop, that he interrupted the proceedings and actually led to the sergeant at arms, which is sort of the law enforcement body of the House of Representatives, to remove a congressman.
The NPR Politics Podcast
Trump Defends Agenda In Combative Address
I'm Asma Khalid. I cover the White House. And I'm Susan Davis. I also cover politics.
The NPR Politics Podcast
Trump Defends Agenda In Combative Address
I can't say that's never happened before, but in my recollection, at least of the modern era, I can't recall any instance of that are happening. Sometimes there's been protesters up in the galleys that have been taken out by security. But for a member of Congress to disrupt was a bit of a surprise.
The NPR Politics Podcast
Trump Defends Agenda In Combative Address
I would also note that Al Green is someone who has been a very loud Trump critic since his first term. He was one of the first lawmakers to introduce articles of impeachment against Trump in his first term. So it didn't necessarily surprise me that he was the type of lawmaker leading that kind of charge.
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Trump Defends Agenda In Combative Address
Yeah, I think so much of it was classic Trump and it felt very reminiscent of his style on the campaign trail. I think it was maybe a little bit more base focus than I might have expected in a dress like this to be because it's one of those moments where you might actually have an audience that isn't just the party faithful.
The NPR Politics Podcast
Trump Defends Agenda In Combative Address
But Trump will willfully repeat things that are just wrong or make promises that are just not true.
The NPR Politics Podcast
Trump Defends Agenda In Combative Address
Sarah, you referenced the Social Security one, which I think that's an important point because this is the president using an address like this to repeat something that is just absolutely not true, suggesting that dead people and people over the age of 100 are collecting Social Security payments illegally. It's just not happening.
The NPR Politics Podcast
Trump Defends Agenda In Combative Address
And to use a platform like that, to repeat that, I think tells you a lot about the universe that Trump lives in. I also think he makes claims like my administration is going to balance the federal budget. Absolutely no plan on the table offers any path to balancing the budget. But it was a bit of an echo chamber speech to me.
The NPR Politics Podcast
Trump Defends Agenda In Combative Address
I think that he was getting exactly the feedback that he wanted from the Republicans in his party. I wasn't in the chamber, but I'm not sure there was like a single rallying moment in that speech tonight. And to me, one of my takeaways is like we know that Trump brings about a certain amount of partisanship when he governs.
The NPR Politics Podcast
Trump Defends Agenda In Combative Address
And it feels like the second time around, it's likely to be even more acute as Democrats on the Hill really position themselves into a very defensive crouch right now.
The NPR Politics Podcast
Trump Defends Agenda In Combative Address
Yeah. But also, I think today is a great example about how Trump's rhetoric doesn't live in a vacuum. You know, they announced new tariffs and the result of that was stock markets have been very volatile. And today there was major drops in the stock market.
The NPR Politics Podcast
Trump Defends Agenda In Combative Address
And then immediately you see people like Commerce Secretary Howard Letnick coming out and saying, oh, we might walk back some of those tariffs we just announced. And Trump just injects a ton of uncertainty into the economy and the economy likes certainty. So I think that Trump is trying to do two things right.
The NPR Politics Podcast
Trump Defends Agenda In Combative Address
which is somehow take a lot of credit and grow the American economy, but single-handedly being the source of so much uncertainty that makes it very difficult to predict what's going to happen.
The NPR Politics Podcast
Trump Defends Agenda In Combative Address
No longer unelected bureaucrats are going to be running things. And then later is like, and there's Elon Musk up there, an unelected bureaucrat making profound changes to the federal government. I'm sorry. I just had to I had to see the irony in that moment. Look, I think Musk is a singularly fascinating and powerful figure in American politics right now.
The NPR Politics Podcast
Trump Defends Agenda In Combative Address
And I also thought it was notable that Trump very obviously gives him credit for running the Doge effort while at the same time his administration is arguing in court that that Musk isn't technically in charge of it. So, again, creating some murkiness there.
The NPR Politics Podcast
Trump Defends Agenda In Combative Address
I also think that there were some of these moments in the speech tonight where Trump was effective at sort of rope-a-doping the Democratic Party on things that are much more popular within the public.
The NPR Politics Podcast
Trump Defends Agenda In Combative Address
And when I say that, like I think back to when Biden did this at one point when he was giving an address in which he was kind of goading the Republican Party about cutting Social Security or Medicare and they started booing him down. And he was like, oh, great. You don't want to cut it. Like he had a moment.
The NPR Politics Podcast
Trump Defends Agenda In Combative Address
And I think that when Trump was talking about particularly people like Lakin Riley and Democrats were not sort of responding to their families in the chamber, not cheering for the fact that people had been arrested. I think that that is an easy thing to cut and splice politically in a way that I think very much fits Donald Trump's political goals.
The NPR Politics Podcast
Trump Defends Agenda In Combative Address
Look, I will say that one of the things I think Trump is doing that could hurt him politically is let's go back to the top, right? He says he believes he has a mandate. But reality is he won by a smaller margin than Joe Biden did or Barack Obama did before him. Like the mandate thing is very questionable. And I do think when Trump spends time talking about things like the U.S.
The NPR Politics Podcast
Trump Defends Agenda In Combative Address
is going to welcome Greenland if they want to be part of our country, and we're going to take back Panama Canal. Like, I'm not sure that Trump won this election because American voters had some grand new idea of Manifest Destiny. I think that they wanted economic relief. And you could argue they wanted to put the brakes on what they saw as some leftward lurching in society of cultural issues.
The NPR Politics Podcast
Trump Defends Agenda In Combative Address
But he can kind of talk about things that I think move the ball. And right now, when you're a president that's ultimately not that popular, right? that stuff's risky, where it looks like you're focusing on stuff that is not the reason why people elected you.
The NPR Politics Podcast
Trump Defends Agenda In Combative Address
And I think he's on much firmer footing when he's talking about things like immigration and also talking about things like trying to lower energy prices or, you know, the cost of eggs.
The NPR Politics Podcast
Trump Defends Agenda In Combative Address
Well, she's been, since she first arrived in Congress, I think seen as a bit of a rising star. And I think her choice has a lot of symbolism to it. She was first elected to the House in the 2018 midterm wave that was seen as a backlash towards the first term of the Trump presidency and part of a crop of women that were elected in that class.
The NPR Politics Podcast
Trump Defends Agenda In Combative Address
And then in this most recent election, she won the Senate race in Michigan. And she won it narrowly, but she won in a state that Donald Trump carried as well. So I think that the Democratic Party, as they seek to find the right messengers and the right leaders right now.
The NPR Politics Podcast
How Canada & Mexico Respond To Trump's Tariffs
You do get the sense that Canada has been put on its back foot a little bit since Trump took office. I think that Mexico was prepared for a more contentious relationship with the White House. But I don't know if Canada really saw this coming. I will say broadly, I don't think anyone should be surprised by this. If there was anything...
The NPR Politics Podcast
How Canada & Mexico Respond To Trump's Tariffs
that Trump talked about more consistently on the campaign trail and has seemed the most committed to in the entirety of his political lifetime is the idea of tariffs. And I think these two specific types of tariffs, I think, illuminate how Trump sees them in two different ways. I think that the initial tariffs that he had announced against Canada and Mexico
The NPR Politics Podcast
How Canada & Mexico Respond To Trump's Tariffs
were a bit of a stick it wasn't about the economy it was about getting these countries to respond to immigration and drug policies and frankly they did so i think that there are a lot of trump allies that look at his efforts on tariffs and say look it gets people to the table and it gets people to enact policies they might not otherwise enact if he wasn't so threatening on the steel and aluminum front i think these are a little bit different i think that this is much more aligned
The NPR Politics Podcast
How Canada & Mexico Respond To Trump's Tariffs
with Trump's economic vision and that he's trying to right-size certain US industries, like the US steel industry, which the industry itself is celebrating the tariffs, if not domestic manufacturers. I don't think it's a negotiating tactic. I think it's economic policy. And so it doesn't seem to me that those would be as likely peeled back.
The NPR Politics Podcast
How Canada & Mexico Respond To Trump's Tariffs
It seems like the steel and aluminum tariffs could be here to stay.
The NPR Politics Podcast
How Canada & Mexico Respond To Trump's Tariffs
It certainly doesn't seem like it. And I know it's partly Trump being Trump, but I also think the continued talk, and I think he reiterated it just within recent days, of wanting to make Canada the 51st state is Obviously, that's a much more complicated process, but I think it does sort of speak to almost a bit of dismissiveness Trump has towards Canada as an ally.
The NPR Politics Podcast
How Canada & Mexico Respond To Trump's Tariffs
I think he sees their resources and their minerals as something that the U.S. has direct interest in. And this is one small example of a bigger worldview in which I think Trump is much more antagonistic and dismissive of traditional U.S. allies, especially when it comes to economic terms. Like he just wants... He wants a better deal, even from longtime U.S. allies.
The NPR Politics Podcast
How Canada & Mexico Respond To Trump's Tariffs
And I think you're going to see this intensified because the White House is already indicating that they're looking to the European Union for more tariffs. And I think they're similarly saying, like, wait, well, why us? And it is a profoundly different economic viewpoint coming from the Republican Party. And Trump is ready to go. All right.
The NPR Politics Podcast
How Canada & Mexico Respond To Trump's Tariffs
Yeah, I mean, they absolutely are. And again, I think that this is where I say you have to look at tariffs as a multi-pronged tool for Donald Trump. I think that they will likely come back if immigration outcomes are not achieved. On the immigration front, I think that that is a direct response to the election.
The NPR Politics Podcast
How Canada & Mexico Respond To Trump's Tariffs
And Republicans on Capitol Hill see this as sort of their number one legislative priority. They're trying to put together a budget resolution this week that will allow them to spend much more money to send to the U.S. border. And I think that this is going to be a repeat throughout this administration. And again, separately on the economic front, I think he sees it as a tool there.
The NPR Politics Podcast
How Canada & Mexico Respond To Trump's Tariffs
And I will say that like Trump is not entirely alone here. It was interesting to me that Debbie Dingell, who's a Democrat from Michigan, She said, like, look, tariffs are a tool and we should think about using them as a tool. I think where the discomfort comes from is that Trump is using them as a bit of a sledgehammer and they'd like more of a scalpel approach.
The NPR Politics Podcast
How Canada & Mexico Respond To Trump's Tariffs
And she also said the trade agreement between U.S., Mexico and Canada was recently renegotiated under Donald Trump. Right. And she's saying, like, look, maybe we don't need to be doing this. The United States doesn't need to be doing this with like scattershot tariffs. They need to renegotiate this broader trade agreement between these allies and to get a better deal for the US.
The NPR Politics Podcast
How Canada & Mexico Respond To Trump's Tariffs
Do it as a big structured reform versus a really unpredictable strategy, especially because tariffs do create a great sense of uncertainty in the US economy. I would also say, too, that Donald Trump is convinced that tariffs will increase revenue for the United States of America. And he is convinced that tariffs are going to be a pay for for the tax cuts that they want to renew.
The NPR Politics Podcast
How Canada & Mexico Respond To Trump's Tariffs
And I think that's creating a bit of unease on Capitol Hill because it's a little hard economically to always explain how tariffs will increase revenues. But the White House has made that very clear that that's their economic strategy here. And I just don't think on this particular economic issue, he's willing to show a ton of flexibility.
The NPR Politics Podcast
How Canada & Mexico Respond To Trump's Tariffs
It's a great question. I do think economically speaking, the U.S. sometimes has a weakened hand because we get a ton of our produce from Mexico. And if you start instituting broad-based tariffs, what's the thing that's going to go up? Grocery prices. I mean, that is almost like the easiest way for everyday Americans to start feeling those price impacts. And so I do think that while...
The NPR Politics Podcast
How Canada & Mexico Respond To Trump's Tariffs
I kind of do think the US has the upper hand in negotiating these because of the size of our economy. I think that you can't be completely politically blind to the potential blowback against Trump and Republicans for rising grocery prices.
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McConnell Announces His Retirement And Trump Signs Another Executive Order
It is not a surprise. I think that it was long expected that McConnell would retire. He was up for reelection in 2026. He announced last year he would step down as leader of the party, paving the way for John Thune to become majority leader. But he's had a He just physically, I think, is a big driver of it.
The NPR Politics Podcast
McConnell Announces His Retirement And Trump Signs Another Executive Order
And also politically, I think that Mitch McConnell, his time in the Republican Party in a lot of ways is coming to an end.
The NPR Politics Podcast
McConnell Announces His Retirement And Trump Signs Another Executive Order
Yeah, I mean, I think, and McConnell would be the first person to say this, that he thinks the most consequential thing he did in his time in the Senate, and he is the longest serving Republican leader ever, is that 2016 decision to block Merrick Garland from going through the Supreme Court nomination process under former President Barack Obama.
The NPR Politics Podcast
McConnell Announces His Retirement And Trump Signs Another Executive Order
He tactically did that as a move ahead of a presidential election, which frankly, even Mitch McConnell would admit that he thought Hillary Clinton was likely to win in 2016. But- The decision to keep open that Supreme Court seat, as the political history lore will prove, is that it was very motivating to evangelical Christian voters who were skeptical about Donald Trump.
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McConnell Announces His Retirement And Trump Signs Another Executive Order
And Donald Trump made great overtures to these voters to say he would put conservatives on the court. And so it goes. Donald Trump won that election, which paved the way for him to ultimately reshape the court by getting three conservative Supreme Court justices, which is today a 6-3 conservative court.
The NPR Politics Podcast
McConnell Announces His Retirement And Trump Signs Another Executive Order
I think this is so interesting, and this is sort of the history that was never written, is that there was this moment in time after the January 6th attack, where McConnell seemed to open the door to the idea that he might be willing to vote to convict Trump in the Senate trial. Which would have prevented him from running again. Yes.
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McConnell Announces His Retirement And Trump Signs Another Executive Order
And if McConnell had been a vote to convict, we could argue this for forever, but there's an argument that he could have used his political power to get the two-thirds needed to convict the president, and in that event would have prevented him from ever seeking federal office again. And he chose not to. Right.
The NPR Politics Podcast
McConnell Announces His Retirement And Trump Signs Another Executive Order
And that was a very I agree completely with you, Mara, that decision to step back and to suggest that the criminal justice system would address any potential criminal activity from Donald Trump was, I would argue, as equally consequential, but in a very different way than choosing to hold back Merrick Garland's Supreme Court nomination process.
The NPR Politics Podcast
McConnell Announces His Retirement And Trump Signs Another Executive Order
And I would also note that when Donald Trump, when it became clear that he was going to be the nominee in 2024, Mitch McConnell endorsed him. He said that he saw his role as a leader in the party to stand behind whoever the party nominated. But it had always been a relationship of convenience and never one of personal warmth or like.
The NPR Politics Podcast
McConnell Announces His Retirement And Trump Signs Another Executive Order
Yeah, I think it's very apparent today that Mitch McConnell is increasingly an outlier in the Republican Party. The couple of things I'd point to is the series of votes against Trump's cabinet nominees. I never thought I'd see the day that Mitch McConnell would vote against a Republican president's defense secretary.
The NPR Politics Podcast
McConnell Announces His Retirement And Trump Signs Another Executive Order
It just shows you how much of the MAGA movement stands at odds with the type of people that Mitch McConnell thinks should have the caliber to be in a cabinet. And also right now, which I think is happening under our feet as we talk, is Donald Trump's realignment in the Ukraine-Russia war. Clearly not as much of an ally to Ukraine as Mitch McConnell has been.
The NPR Politics Podcast
McConnell Announces His Retirement And Trump Signs Another Executive Order
Mitch McConnell has been one of the loudest and most powerful people to continue U.S. funding and support for Ukraine in its fight against Russia. And the parties just move past him. McConnell is not the leader of the party anymore when it comes to the view that the U.S. should play a robust role in foreign policy.
The NPR Politics Podcast
McConnell Announces His Retirement And Trump Signs Another Executive Order
No, I don't think. And he said this in his speech today. He said he had two constituencies. One was the Senate Republican Conference and one was the people of Kentucky. And I think McConnell, when he was leader, was of the view that you don't get to break with the party. The leader has to be where the consensus of the conference is.
The NPR Politics Podcast
McConnell Announces His Retirement And Trump Signs Another Executive Order
It is only because he is now sort of this independent operator that he would take these votes. Mitch McConnell is only voting against nominees now because he's not the leader. And he's always been very clear that when you are the leader, you have to vote with the party. Which means that sometimes being a leader means voting for things you might not necessarily agree with.
The NPR Politics Podcast
McConnell Announces His Retirement And Trump Signs Another Executive Order
He's already running. There's a candidate by the name of Daniel Cameron. He's a former attorney general for the state of Kentucky. He's already announced. I think it was within seven minutes of McConnell announcing his retirement. So it tells you that this is pretty orchestrated. McConnell has been his mentor. He has served statewide in Kentucky. He is a black man.
The NPR Politics Podcast
McConnell Announces His Retirement And Trump Signs Another Executive Order
He would certainly be the first black senator in Kentucky history. And he comes from that McConnell school. I also think he has credibility with sort of the MAGA wing of the party. And he has been a popular figure at places like CPAC, the annual conservative gathering. So I think he certainly enters this race as someone who could be seen as a bit of a frontrunner.
The NPR Politics Podcast
McConnell Announces His Retirement And Trump Signs Another Executive Order
Interesting dynamic here is there might be some pressure from among Democrats to try to get Andy Beshear, the popular Democratic governor, to run. He and Cameron have faced off before and he's defeated him. I think voters see governor's races and senators' races very differently. I can't say with a straight face that I think Democrats, as we sit here today, could make a serious run for Kentucky.
The NPR Politics Podcast
McConnell Announces His Retirement And Trump Signs Another Executive Order
But Beshear is going to make that conversation interesting. And also because Beshear is someone that might consider himself someone who might want to run for president someday. So Kentucky will just be an interesting place to watch politically.
The NPR Politics Podcast
NPR Investigation: Harassment In The Federal Court System
If you were harassed or bullied by a federal judge or you know someone who was, we want to hear about your experience. Your name will not be used without your consent and you can remain anonymous. Please go to NPR.org slash federal judges. This episode was produced by Monica Estatieva with help from Casey Morrell.
The NPR Politics Podcast
NPR Investigation: Harassment In The Federal Court System
It was edited by Barry Hardiman, Monica Estatieva and Christian of Calamer with help from Anna Yukaninov and Robert Little. Research from Barbara Van Workum, engineered by Margaret Luther. Music courtesy of Universal Production. I'm Susan Davis. Thank you for listening. Have a great weekend.
The NPR Politics Podcast
NPR Investigation: Harassment In The Federal Court System
Hey there, it's the NPR Politics Podcast. I'm Susan Davis. I cover politics. And today on the pod, we have something special.
The NPR Politics Podcast
NPR Investigation: Harassment In The Federal Court System
Our colleague, Kerry Johnson, who's NPR's justice correspondent, has been working for almost a year on a story about a subject we rarely hear about, what happens inside the chambers of a federal judge, especially when it comes to the way judges treat their clerks, who are young, vulnerable, and as Kerry found out, terrified of ever reporting any wrongdoing.
The NPR Politics Podcast
NPR Investigation: Harassment In The Federal Court System
And just a warning, this piece contains a description of sexual assault. Carrie takes it from here.
The NPR Politics Podcast
NPR Investigation: Harassment In The Federal Court System
We're going to take a quick break. More from Carrie in a moment.
The NPR Politics Podcast
NPR Investigation: Harassment In The Federal Court System
And we're back. Here's Carrie.
The NPR Politics Podcast
Trump Administration Fires Top Pentagon Officials, Military Lawyers
When you say unprecedented, explain this to me, because even as a sort of news consumer of Pentagon News, he's not the first president to fire or hire a general because of a personal disagreement or a personal preference.
The NPR Politics Podcast
Trump Administration Fires Top Pentagon Officials, Military Lawyers
We should note, though, that Trump had appointed C.Q. Brown to the Pentagon in his first administration. And even in announcing his firing, he wasn't as personally pejorative towards him as he has been towards other people. It didn't seem as personal as other Trump firings have been.
The NPR Politics Podcast
Trump Administration Fires Top Pentagon Officials, Military Lawyers
Tom, the man that Donald Trump says he's going to replace him with is a guy by the name of Dan Cain. What can you tell us about him?
The NPR Politics Podcast
Trump Administration Fires Top Pentagon Officials, Military Lawyers
I am entirely serious when I say this is why I don't ski. After a certain age, you're just begging for an ACL tear.
The NPR Politics Podcast
Trump Administration Fires Top Pentagon Officials, Military Lawyers
Domenico Cain is someone who will need to be confirmed by the Senate, but I think we have seen play out that the Senate is not particularly interested in throwing up any roadblocks for people that Donald Trump wants in his administration. So he seems like he's probably in a pretty good position to get the job.
The NPR Politics Podcast
Trump Administration Fires Top Pentagon Officials, Military Lawyers
I mean, Domenico, Trump, I think, is enjoying a bit of a honeymoon in his second term. He has a ton of support within the party. But don't you see some element of political risk here in that the Trump administration is just upending the Pentagon, the national security apparatus, and these are potentially politically risky moves?
The NPR Politics Podcast
Trump Administration Fires Top Pentagon Officials, Military Lawyers
All right. Let's take a quick break and we're going to talk more about these firings when we get back. And we're back. And Defense Secretary Hegseth this weekend also fired three judge advocates. These are people often referred to as JAGs for the Army, Navy and Air Force. These are essentially military lawyers who make sure the U.S. is complying with military law.
The NPR Politics Podcast
Trump Administration Fires Top Pentagon Officials, Military Lawyers
Well, we wish you a speedy, speedy recovery. Hey there, it's the NPR Politics Podcast. I'm Susan Davis. I cover politics.
The NPR Politics Podcast
Trump Administration Fires Top Pentagon Officials, Military Lawyers
And Tom Hegseth in the past and even in the present has made clear he doesn't hold these folks in very high regard.
The NPR Politics Podcast
Trump Administration Fires Top Pentagon Officials, Military Lawyers
Tom, do you see any fairness to the argument that I think the supporters of Trump would say is that figures like this sometimes exist to minimize risk versus win a mission? I think that would be the argument that exists with others, that they make the military more risk averse and that maybe sometimes you need people who are more willing to be more bold and take risks to achieve their ends.
The NPR Politics Podcast
Trump Administration Fires Top Pentagon Officials, Military Lawyers
Domenico, I also wanted to note that workers at the Pentagon are going to be affected by job cuts this week as part of the Department of Government Efficiency, the cost-cutting arm of the Trump administration, expected to lay off as many as 5,000 starting this week with more to come.
The NPR Politics Podcast
Trump Administration Fires Top Pentagon Officials, Military Lawyers
And over the weekend, the Trump administration fired several high-ranking military leaders, as well as announced that it plans to fire over 5,000 probationary Pentagon employees starting this week. Tom, there's a lot to talk about, but let's start at the top. President Trump announced on social media that he was going to fire the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, a man by the name of C.Q.
The NPR Politics Podcast
Trump Administration Fires Top Pentagon Officials, Military Lawyers
I do think we should note, I think about 55,000, but there's about 900,000 people that fall under the employee of the Pentagon, Tom.
The NPR Politics Podcast
Trump Administration Fires Top Pentagon Officials, Military Lawyers
Tom, do you have a sense of just more broadly how the Pentagon is bracing for impact? And by that, I mean, It's been a long time since Congress or a Republican or Democratic president has shown a real interest in uprooting or reducing spending or auditing the defense industry. And it seems like there could be a bit of a reckoning under Donald Trump.
The NPR Politics Podcast
Trump Administration Fires Top Pentagon Officials, Military Lawyers
All right. We're going to leave it there for today. We'll be back in your feeds tomorrow. I'm Susan Davis. I cover politics.
The NPR Politics Podcast
Trump Administration Fires Top Pentagon Officials, Military Lawyers
And thanks for listening to the NPR Politics Podcast.
The NPR Politics Podcast
Trump Administration Fires Top Pentagon Officials, Military Lawyers
Brown Jr. Why is this job so important, and how big of a deal is it that he's been fired?
The NPR Politics Podcast
Roundup: Congress Works On Budget; Cabinet Meets; Good TV
I'm fairly certain that that Meghan Markle show is a can't let it go of the future.
The NPR Politics Podcast
Roundup: Congress Works On Budget; Cabinet Meets; Good TV
But the thing I can't let go this week, you know, I try to stay hip. I try to stay on top of what the kids are listening to. And this week I listened to an episode of the Call Her Daddy podcast. I feel like, Barbara, you in particular probably know what this is. Yeah. As the young represented here. But it's a woman named Alex Cooper.
The NPR Politics Podcast
Roundup: Congress Works On Budget; Cabinet Meets; Good TV
And she's like the Howard Stern of women for Gen Z. She has one of the most popular podcasts in the world right now. And she had on the podcast this week Monica Lewinsky. And it was like a fascinating – I was listening to it in the car. And Dominica, you might appreciate this because I think we're about the same age.
The NPR Politics Podcast
Roundup: Congress Works On Budget; Cabinet Meets; Good TV
And like Monica Lewinsky for us at that age, like when we were youth, was like one of the most – Sort of maligned and shamed women in America. Right. Like just kind of a joke for so long. And it's so interesting as someone who lived through the Clinton Lewinsky scandal to then see women who were like barely alive when the scandal happened, who have no living memory of it.
The NPR Politics Podcast
Roundup: Congress Works On Budget; Cabinet Meets; Good TV
She's become this sort of feminist icon that like she's adored by. And to go on a platform like Alex Cooper, who I think is like a huge influencer of women under 30 and how like celebrated they see Monica Lewinsky now. I just had this moment of like how different like living that history and people who are learning about it now is and what an arc this woman's life has had.
The NPR Politics Podcast
Roundup: Congress Works On Budget; Cabinet Meets; Good TV
Also, this is not the point. It's not the point. It's not the point. But I will say this. Girl looks good. She's 51. I was like, Monica, girl, who's your dermatologist? I think that time has done her justice. I feel like that is maybe the karmic universe being like, you know what? Monica gets to age like a fine wine.
The NPR Politics Podcast
Roundup: Congress Works On Budget; Cabinet Meets; Good TV
I will always think of Gene Hackman, especially because I associate him with movies of my youth as Lex Luthor in the Superman movies. And it made me think that those are movies I need to go rewatch with my kids because I also feel like 80s superhero movies are pretty kid-friendly and 2025 standards. So maybe that's our movie recommendation for the audience. Go watch Superman.
The NPR Politics Podcast
Roundup: Congress Works On Budget; Cabinet Meets; Good TV
And that is a wrap for us this week. Our executive producer is Mathoni Mottori. Casey Murrell edits the podcast. Our producers are Bria Suggs and Kelly Wessinger. Special thanks to Christian F. Calimer and Kelsey Snell. I'm Susan Davis. I cover politics. I'm Barbara Sprint. I cover Congress.
The NPR Politics Podcast
Roundup: Congress Works On Budget; Cabinet Meets; Good TV
And thanks for listening to the NPR Politics Podcast.
The NPR Politics Podcast
Roundup: Congress Works On Budget; Cabinet Meets; Good TV
One thing that's really interesting to me about this is this time around, Trump seems much more involved in in the process here. And there was this great anecdote that he could be heard yelling over the phone in the Republican cloakroom, getting lawmakers in line to vote for the bill. That tells you something about how much he wants this done.
The NPR Politics Podcast
Roundup: Congress Works On Budget; Cabinet Meets; Good TV
But Domenico, I think – look, I think when Americans think about Washington right now, Republican unified control of government, Trump exerting a lot of power in the White House, Republicans have both the House and Senate. Why should it be that hard? But it's going to be pretty hard.
The NPR Politics Podcast
Roundup: Congress Works On Budget; Cabinet Meets; Good TV
And I think it's important to note the president this week sort of took things like Social Security and Medicare off the table. But there is this Medicaid question, because in the House budget resolution, they don't name check Medicaid, but they instruct the Energy and Commerce Committee to find $800 billion in spending cuts. And the biggest thing that that committee has oversight of is Medicaid.
The NPR Politics Podcast
Roundup: Congress Works On Budget; Cabinet Meets; Good TV
And Domenico, I think this budget fight is going to be another lesson in how committed the Republican Party is to deficit reduction, because the old cliche that there are more deficit hawks when there's a Democrat in the White House and not as many when there's a Republican.
The NPR Politics Podcast
Roundup: Congress Works On Budget; Cabinet Meets; Good TV
And look, like Trump historically hasn't actually cared all that much about the deficit, while many members of the Hill actually do.
The NPR Politics Podcast
Roundup: Congress Works On Budget; Cabinet Meets; Good TV
And not only that, but Trump says he wants to expand the tax cuts to include things like no tax on tips, which is something that he campaigned on, which would make the cost of the package even more.
The NPR Politics Podcast
Roundup: Congress Works On Budget; Cabinet Meets; Good TV
And Barbara, we should also note separately, Republicans also have to confront another budget headache in about two weeks. Stop me if you've heard it before. If they don't pass a stopgap funding bill, the government's going to shut down. What's the status of that?
The NPR Politics Podcast
Roundup: Congress Works On Budget; Cabinet Meets; Good TV
on Friday, February 28th.
The NPR Politics Podcast
Roundup: Congress Works On Budget; Cabinet Meets; Good TV
And look, like every time Republicans have needed to pass either appropriations or stopgap spending bills, they've needed Democrats. And I'm not sure Democrats are super inclined to help Republicans at this moment in time.
The NPR Politics Podcast
Roundup: Congress Works On Budget; Cabinet Meets; Good TV
We're going to take a quick break and we'll be back in a minute.
The NPR Politics Podcast
Roundup: Congress Works On Budget; Cabinet Meets; Good TV
And we're back. And let's talk about some of the other things that happened in Washington this week. There was a lot. We can't cover it all, but we can talk about a couple things. The first is President Trump will give an address to Congress on Tuesday night. We'll, of course, have live coverage on your NPR station and analysis on the podcast after it.
The NPR Politics Podcast
Roundup: Congress Works On Budget; Cabinet Meets; Good TV
But as is tradition, the opposition party has a planned rebuttal. And Barbara, the Democratic Party, has selected – freshman Senator Alyssa Slotkin to give that rebuttal.
The NPR Politics Podcast
Roundup: Congress Works On Budget; Cabinet Meets; Good TV
And Domenico, we should also note that President Trump held his first cabinet meeting this week. And we've talked extensively on the podcast about the role Elon Musk is playing in the government. But he had a seat at the table and had his own speaking direct to the camera moments. And I think it was just this reminder of like what a force this person is going to be in government. Yeah.
The NPR Politics Podcast
Roundup: Congress Works On Budget; Cabinet Meets; Good TV
We recently had a McCammon stamp with McCammon hosting and now a Domenico stamp with Domenico in the pod. What a treat. So meta. Yeah. Hey there, it's the NPR Politics Podcast. I'm Susan Davis. I cover politics.
The NPR Politics Podcast
Roundup: Congress Works On Budget; Cabinet Meets; Good TV
There was also the moment in the cabinet meeting where I think Musk was trying to do a good thing and say like, look, when Doge messes up, we'll fix it. But kind of like flippantly referred to the fact that they halted Ebola prevention. Like, ha ha, we halted Ebola prevention. And it was one of those like awkward moments in the room where no one laughed.
The NPR Politics Podcast
Roundup: Congress Works On Budget; Cabinet Meets; Good TV
I cover Congress.
The NPR Politics Podcast
Roundup: Congress Works On Budget; Cabinet Meets; Good TV
Like it looked like he was trying to like make light of it. And it was just like it fell flat for a second. And then he was like, no, but then we reinstated it. And I'm like, those are the moments in politics where you can't have too many ha ha moments about. Life-saving services. Yeah. And look, there's something else I want to talk about, which I do try to avoid navel-gazing.
The NPR Politics Podcast
Roundup: Congress Works On Budget; Cabinet Meets; Good TV
Let's talk about the media stuff in our podcast because it's not really what our podcast is about. But something did happen this week that I think we should talk about because I think it does speak to how this White House operates. And it's something that I think people should consider in the years going forward because, you know, Barbara, when we're up on the Hill, we run wild.
The NPR Politics Podcast
Roundup: Congress Works On Budget; Cabinet Meets; Good TV
Like the Capitol Hill press corps – It has a lot of freedom to roam, and it isn't as tightly organized and orchestrated as the White House press corps. And, Domenico, this week the White House decided to weigh in and change the way the White House press pool governs itself and to take a stronger role in governing who gets to cover the president.
The NPR Politics Podcast
Roundup: Congress Works On Budget; Cabinet Meets; Good TV
And it's time for the weekly roundup. And we're going to start on Capitol Hill, where lawmakers are trying to figure out how to get a budget through Congress that will allow them to extend President Trump's 2017 tax cuts, most of which will expire at the end of the year. Barbara, this is going to be a long journey for Republicans.
The NPR Politics Podcast
Roundup: Congress Works On Budget; Cabinet Meets; Good TV
Yeah, I think that's always been the point of the pool and why previous presidents always were hands off about it is the recognition that like your party is not always going to be in the White House. And maybe you don't want the next president picking and choosing who gets to have seats in there.
The NPR Politics Podcast
Roundup: Congress Works On Budget; Cabinet Meets; Good TV
But look, Speaker Mike Johnson, he's had a lot of defeats on the floor. He enjoyed a rare unified win. How'd it go down?
The NPR Politics Podcast
Roundup: Congress Works On Budget; Cabinet Meets; Good TV
We're going to leave it there. But let's take another break. And when we come back, time for Can't Let It Go. And we're back, and it's time once again for Can't Let It Go, the part of the show where we talk about the things from the week that we just cannot stop thinking about, politics or otherwise. Barbara, I'm going to give you the honors. What couldn't you let go of this week?
The NPR Politics Podcast
Roundup: Congress Works On Budget; Cabinet Meets; Good TV
I don't know if I've ever experienced that time before.
The NPR Politics Podcast
Roundup: Congress Works On Budget; Cabinet Meets; Good TV
I'm sorry, can you just not let go television? Just shows? Just all of it? The whole thing?
The NPR Politics Podcast
Roundup: Kash Patel Confirmed As FBI Chief; China Sees Opportunity As USAID Gets Cut
They also did a really hilarious one with Natalie Portman, which she like is this like demure actress. But in the skit, she's like this hardcore gangster rapper. And it was really funny.
The NPR Politics Podcast
Roundup: Kash Patel Confirmed As FBI Chief; China Sees Opportunity As USAID Gets Cut
I love this, too, because it allowed us to work in an Ahmadinejad reference into the Can't Let It Go segment. So congrats.
The NPR Politics Podcast
Roundup: Kash Patel Confirmed As FBI Chief; China Sees Opportunity As USAID Gets Cut
I'm a mom. Say more.
The NPR Politics Podcast
Roundup: Kash Patel Confirmed As FBI Chief; China Sees Opportunity As USAID Gets Cut
Oh, I am so happy to be here today. All right.
The NPR Politics Podcast
Roundup: Kash Patel Confirmed As FBI Chief; China Sees Opportunity As USAID Gets Cut
You know, I was going to talk about something else this week, but then before the podcast, I saw a hot take that got me literally so hot. It is now the thing that I can't let go. And it is a column in Time magazine in which someone defends voice notes in a column entitled, We Should All Send More Voice Notes.
The NPR Politics Podcast
Roundup: Kash Patel Confirmed As FBI Chief; China Sees Opportunity As USAID Gets Cut
Now, if you don't know what that is, it's when someone will literally on their phone, like record themselves talking to you and then like text it to you. And I cannot tell you. how much I disagree with this sentiment. I'm sorry if either of you are voice note people, but please don't send voice notes. This is not something that, this is a social contagion. I need to stop here at this podcast.
The NPR Politics Podcast
Roundup: Kash Patel Confirmed As FBI Chief; China Sees Opportunity As USAID Gets Cut
Also, if you want to leave a message, just do a voicemail because the thing I appreciate, and also don't leave a voicemail, just text me. But if you do leave a voicemail, at least your phone now will transcribe the voicemail so you can look at what they said really quickly. Like a voice note sent to you is diabolical.
The NPR Politics Podcast
Roundup: Kash Patel Confirmed As FBI Chief; China Sees Opportunity As USAID Gets Cut
And anytime someone sends me a voice note, I'm not lying, I delete it and text them and say, what do you want to tell me?
The NPR Politics Podcast
Roundup: Kash Patel Confirmed As FBI Chief; China Sees Opportunity As USAID Gets Cut
Just text me, girl.
The NPR Politics Podcast
Roundup: Kash Patel Confirmed As FBI Chief; China Sees Opportunity As USAID Gets Cut
I love a phone call. Text me first and say, can you chat? And then when I say yeah, give me a call. Ashley, what about you? What can't you let go of?
Up First from NPR
Smooth Sailing For Trump's Nominees?, LA Fire Outlook, South Korea President Arrested
It was certainly contentious at times under questioning from Democrats, particularly about his character and his qualification for the job. But Republicans were pleased with his performance, and after the hearing, he earned the public support of Iowa Republican Senator Joni Ernst, herself a military veteran, and she was one senator who had previously expressed some hesitation about the nomination.
Up First from NPR
Smooth Sailing For Trump's Nominees?, LA Fire Outlook, South Korea President Arrested
That tells me he's pretty confidently headed towards confirmation, although he might not be ready for day one, as President Trump would like, but it seems like it's a matter of when and not if.
Up First from NPR
Smooth Sailing For Trump's Nominees?, LA Fire Outlook, South Korea President Arrested
For some, they certainly will. At the top of that list, I would probably put Florida Senator Marco Rubio. He's Trump's nominee for secretary of state. He's well known. He's vetted. He's well liked. He's poised to be confirmed on day one. You already have top Democrats like Dick Durbin, the number two Senate Democrat, saying they'll support his nomination. Expect a big bipartisan vote for him.
Up First from NPR
Smooth Sailing For Trump's Nominees?, LA Fire Outlook, South Korea President Arrested
I'd also put former Congressman Sean Duffy in that group. He's Trump's nominee for transportation secretary. He also seems to be on a glide path to confirmation and is also really well liked. I also can't help. But noting, Layla, that he's an alum of the MTV reality series Road Rules and his job will be helping determine the rules for the road. It is just too good to let that slide.
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Smooth Sailing For Trump's Nominees?, LA Fire Outlook, South Korea President Arrested
And I'd also maybe put in there John Ratcliffe. He's Trump's nominee for CIA director. He's also expected to be confirmed because he's been confirmed before. He served as the director of national intelligence in Trump's first term, although he was confirmed on a pretty strict party line vote then. And that could be his fate again.
Up First from NPR
Smooth Sailing For Trump's Nominees?, LA Fire Outlook, South Korea President Arrested
I think the most closely watched today is probably going to be the Senate Judiciary Committee for Pam Bondi to be Trump's attorney general. She's obviously going to have a much easier path ahead than Trump's first nominee for the job, former Congressman Matt Gaetz, who had to step down. She brings much more qualification to the job. She's a former prosecutor.
Up First from NPR
Smooth Sailing For Trump's Nominees?, LA Fire Outlook, South Korea President Arrested
She's a former attorney general for the state of Florida. But she's also one of the nominees that's going to face some of the toughest questioning from Democrats. She's a longtime Trump loyalist. She's represented him in a personal capacity. So she's going to face questions about her fidelity to the law over fidelity to Trump, as well as her role in helping Trump try to undermine the 2020 election.
Up First from NPR
Smooth Sailing For Trump's Nominees?, LA Fire Outlook, South Korea President Arrested
I'd also note that Trump's nominee for Office of Management and Budget, Russ Vogt, is likely to be pretty contentious today. He's a key architect of Trump's America First agenda, and he's going to play a big role in those decisions to remake the federal workforce, including potentially firing thousands of federal workers.
Up First from NPR
Smooth Sailing For Trump's Nominees?, LA Fire Outlook, South Korea President Arrested
That seems most likely, and for a couple of reasons. Senators generally believe a president deserves to have the cabinet that they want. Second, Senate rules have changed. They only need a simple majority to confirm these, and Republicans have 53 votes. So these hearings are really less about winning over Democrats and more about keeping Republicans unified.
Up First from NPR
Smooth Sailing For Trump's Nominees?, LA Fire Outlook, South Korea President Arrested
And there isn't much political interest in opposing the president, particularly as conservative groups say they could threaten a primary against any Republican senator who does.
Up First from NPR
Trump And Gaza, Migrants At Guantanamo, USAID Staff On Leave
This is taking away a critical element of our national security system. And it's affecting people's lives from not just a humanitarian perspective, but we're leaving a huge vacuum for China and Russia.
Up First from NPR
Trump's 'Liberation Day', Wisconsin Supreme Court Race, Mistaken Deportation
I never could have imagined that I'd be taking on the richest man in the world.
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Trump's 'Liberation Day', Wisconsin Supreme Court Race, Mistaken Deportation
As a little girl growing up in Chippewa Falls, I never could have imagined that I'd be taking on the richest man in the world for justice in Wisconsin. And we won!
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Wisconsin Supreme Court Race, Florida's Special Elections, Trump's Trade War
Elon Musk started spending that money within days of Tesla filing a lawsuit in Wisconsin. He was trying to buy access and influence.
Up First from NPR
Government Shutdown Averted, German Christmas Market Attack, Netflix And The NFL
Well, it's a slimmed down version of the original bipartisan deal that was derailed earlier in the week after Trump and one of his newest top lieutenants, billionaire businessman Elon Musk, came out in opposition to it after it had been negotiated. It still keeps the government on autopilot until mid-March. So don't worry, they get to do this all over again in the spring.
Up First from NPR
Government Shutdown Averted, German Christmas Market Attack, Netflix And The NFL
It still includes about $100 billion for states still recovering from natural disasters like North Carolina and Hawaii. And it still extends farm programs for about a year. Speaker Mike Johnson removed some previously agreed upon measures to cover things like pediatric cancer research funding, although I should note the Senate has
Up First from NPR
Government Shutdown Averted, German Christmas Market Attack, Netflix And The NFL
ultimately passed that last night as a standalone measure and a measure to try to control prescription drug costs because it was seen as too big of a giveaway to Democrats. One other thing, it's just shorter. Musk and others helped drive opposition to the bill, in part because it was initially 1,500 pages long. Conservatives really don't like behemoth legislation like that.
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Government Shutdown Averted, German Christmas Market Attack, Netflix And The NFL
The new bill was just about 120 pages.
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Government Shutdown Averted, German Christmas Market Attack, Netflix And The NFL
You know, I think Trump and his allies are going to point to things like the removal of a provision that would have given members of Congress their first pay raise in about 17 years. They didn't like the way that looked, especially at Christmastime for the party. But, Scott, I think a lot of this episode this week potentially exposed – More of Trump's political weaknesses.
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Government Shutdown Averted, German Christmas Market Attack, Netflix And The NFL
He tried to strong arm into the bill an unconditional increase in the debt ceiling. That's the nation's borrowing limit because he wanted to do it on President Biden's watch to alleviate the political pressure on his administration to do it when that vote happens likely sometime next summer. Not only is it not in the deal, but a failed second attempt to passage was rejected by 38 House Republicans.
Up First from NPR
Government Shutdown Averted, German Christmas Market Attack, Netflix And The NFL
That's a pretty big number. willing to directly defy Trump. And they did it even after he explicitly threatened to primary anyone who opposed his plans in the 2026 midterms, saying simply they don't seem to be afraid of that threat.
Up First from NPR
Government Shutdown Averted, German Christmas Market Attack, Netflix And The NFL
Absolutely. You know, Musk was really a central figure in killing this original deal. He used his social media platform X to drive public opposition to it. He was cheering on Republican lawmakers who were coming out in opposition to it. He and Vivek Ramaswamy are about to head up a new non-governmental entity that was created by Trump. It's called the Department of Government Efficiency.
Up First from NPR
Government Shutdown Averted, German Christmas Market Attack, Netflix And The NFL
Musk says they want to find about $2 trillion in spending cuts to the federal budget. That's a pretty big sum of money. And it's clear he intends to be a player here in these budgetary fights. And the next Congress is going to have a lot of them. Remember, Scott, the Trump tax cuts expire at the end of 2025. Republicans need to pass a budget first in order to extend them.
Up First from NPR
Government Shutdown Averted, German Christmas Market Attack, Netflix And The NFL
They still need to pass all 12 spending bills from the last fiscal year and 12 more for this fiscal year. And the other lesson this week is that Republicans can't do any of it without Democrats. They need their votes in the House to pass anything spending related because there's always going to be a group of hardline conservatives who are going to oppose it.
Up First from NPR
Government Shutdown Averted, German Christmas Market Attack, Netflix And The NFL
And Senate Democrats still have the filibuster. So they're still going to have a seat at the table in any spending talks in the next Congress as well.
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Government Shutdown Averted, German Christmas Market Attack, Netflix And The NFL
It's really hard to say, but they're not looking great. For no other reason, he has almost no room for error. And it's unclear if Donald Trump's going to continue to back him for the job. He's going to have to preside over one of the narrowest majorities in history, and he can only lose one, two, maybe three votes and hold on to that gavel. So the new Congress could open on a fairly chaotic note.
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Government Shutdown Averted, German Christmas Market Attack, Netflix And The NFL
Remember, the House can't do a single thing until they elect a speaker. And we saw this happen just last fall when Republicans kicked out Speaker McCarthy. The House didn't operate for 21 days until Mike Johnson ultimately won that race. He and the House of Representatives could be facing a similar fate in just a few weeks.
Up First from NPR
Limiting Musk's Powers; VA Employees On DOGE Emails; No Cure For Long COVID
It has been downplayed. We have seen so much long COVID in the last year, two years. Long COVID rates, you know, have remained high in people who are vaccinated. It's remained high over different variants.
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Canada's New Leader, ICE Arrest Columbia Student, Congress and The Budget
You know, for Republicans, that would have been like choosing the path of most resistance. Passing all 12 of those bills usually requires an incredible amount of party unity and would also have likely required bipartisan negotiations with Democrats. Republicans aren't all that interested in that path right now.
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Canada's New Leader, ICE Arrest Columbia Student, Congress and The Budget
They really don't want to burn all of this political capital on spending bills because the party is way more focused on passing a separate budget bill to extend President Trump's tax cuts. That is the priority focus right for the Republican Party over the next several months because they expire at the end of the year. But even the stopgap path is going to test party unity.
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Canada's New Leader, ICE Arrest Columbia Student, Congress and The Budget
Speaker Johnson has never been able to pass these spending bills or stopgaps without some Democratic support. And it's unclear if he's going to be able to do it this week either.
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Canada's New Leader, ICE Arrest Columbia Student, Congress and The Budget
Well, the top House Democratic leaders over the weekend came out and said they're going to oppose it. This is unlike past deals where minority leader Hakeem Jeffries has helped deliver the votes to avoid these shutdowns. If House Democrats remain unified against it, the speaker is essentially going to need unanimous support from within his own party. And that's going to be tough.
Up First from NPR
Canada's New Leader, ICE Arrest Columbia Student, Congress and The Budget
Yeah, I mean, President Trump is certainly trying to keep pressure on the Republican rank and file. In a social media post over the weekend, he was asking for, quote, no dissent on this. And there's a sign he might get it. One of those traditional hardline conservatives who likes to vote against these types of spending bills, that's Texas Congressman Chip Roy.
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Canada's New Leader, ICE Arrest Columbia Student, Congress and The Budget
He's also a member of the Freedom Caucus. He's indicated that he will support it, which is a good sign for the speaker.
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Canada's New Leader, ICE Arrest Columbia Student, Congress and The Budget
You know, I think it's going to be pretty clear early in the week. The House is expected to vote on Tuesday. And if they can't pass a bill, the shutdown becomes exponentially more likely by Friday. If they can pass that hurdle, a handful of Democrats are still going to be necessary to get it through the Senate.
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Canada's New Leader, ICE Arrest Columbia Student, Congress and The Budget
At least one of those Democrats, Pennsylvania's John Fetterman, has indicated he'll be on board. It's unclear if others will be. And Trump is already trying to put the blame on Democrats if there is a shutdown. But I think that's going to be a bit of a hard sell when it's his party that controls all the levers here and have also made clear that Democrats didn't have a seat at the table.
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Canada's New Leader, ICE Arrest Columbia Student, Congress and The Budget
I mean, Democrats are trying to get language into any deal that is going to make it harder for the Trump administration to cut off funding for things that Congress has already appropriated money for. Obviously, in response to things like cutting off funding for USAID, they wanted to tie the hands of this ongoing Doge effort.
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Canada's New Leader, ICE Arrest Columbia Student, Congress and The Budget
And that was obviously going to be a nonstarter for this White House party.
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Canada's New Leader, ICE Arrest Columbia Student, Congress and The Budget
I also think it tells you that as long as Republicans are in control of Congress, they're not going to be putting up much of a fight over the Trump administration's push to play a bigger role here in deciding what money gets spent and what gets cut, which, as Steve noted at the top, this is a power that traditionally is supposed to be decided by Congress.
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Canada's New Leader, ICE Arrest Columbia Student, Congress and The Budget
And they're willing to cede much of that power in this moment more to the White House and President Trump.
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Canada's New Leader, ICE Arrest Columbia Student, Congress and The Budget
You're welcome.
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Canada's New Leader, ICE Arrest Columbia Student, Congress and The Budget
I would love to have someone who took care of my car or someone who cleaned up the dishes after dinner, but then I'd want them to leave.