UNBIASED Politics
UNBIASED Politics (2/24/25): 'List 5 Things' Email to Federal Employees, TPS Status Shortened for Haitians, AP News Sues Trump, New ICE Memo Targets Unaccompanied Children, and More.
Mon, 24 Feb 2025
Get the facts, without the spin. UNBIASED offers a clear, impartial recap of US news, including politics, elections, legal news, and more. Hosted by lawyer Jordan Berman, each episode provides a recap of current political events plus breakdowns of complex concepts—like constitutional rights, recent Supreme Court rulings, and new legislation—in an easy-to-understand way. No personal opinions, just the facts you need to stay informed on the daily news that matters. If you miss how journalism used to be, you're in the right place. In today's episode: Senate Passes Version of Budget Resolution (0:10) Trump Administration Shortens Temporary Protected Status for Haitian Migrants (3:00) Republican Lawmakers Introduce Resolution to Block Bank Overdraft Fee Rule from Taking Effect (6:44) Roughly 6,000 IRS Employees Terminated Amid Federal Layoffs (9:53) Trump Weighs Merging USPS with Commerce Dept. (11:50) DOJ Investigates UnitedHealthCare for Fraud (15:00) Office of Personnel Management Sends 'List 5 Things' Email to Federal Employees (17:14) The Associated Press Sues Trump Administration Over Access to Oval Office (22:30) New ICE Memo Asks ICE Agents to Find Unaccompanied Children Migrants (25:30) Trump Picks Dan Bongino as Deputy Director of FBI; Who Is He? (30:20) Quick Hitters: NYC Congestion Pricing Plan Numbers Are In, Apple Announces Record US Spend Commitment, Tent Shelters Won't Be Used at Guantanamo, National Parks Revise Operations Amid Layoffs, Judge Rules Immigration Enforcement Cannot Take Place at Certain Places of Worship (31:49) Critical Thinking Segment (34:56) Listen/Watch this episode AD-FREE on Patreon. Watch this episode on YouTube. Follow Jordan on Instagram and TikTok. All sources for this episode can be found here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Chapter 1: What are the differences between the House and Senate budget resolutions?
Welcome back to Unbiased, your favorite source of unbiased news and legal analysis. Welcome back to Unbiased Politics. Today is Monday, February 24th. Let's talk about some news. So let's start with some news from the end of last week and then we'll work our way to some news from today. At the end of last week, the Senate passed their own budget resolution.
And as we discussed last week, the House has already passed their own budget resolution. So I want to talk about the differences between the two, but I also want to quickly remind you what a budget resolution is and talk about what we can expect from here. Keep in mind the budget process is a two-step process.
First, a budget resolution, which is what we're talking about here, a budget resolution is a non-binding blueprint. that essentially outlines the fiscal goals of Congress but does not have the force of law. To get to the second step in the process, which does have the force of law and is known as a reconciliation bill, an identical budget resolution must be adopted by both the House and Senate.
The reconciliation bill is what will ultimately guide Congress in appropriating funds for each department of the government, but we're not there yet. We're still on step one, the budget resolution. And as of right now, the Senate and the House have two different resolutions, so they'll need to reconcile their differences in order to get to step two. But let's talk about what those differences are.
As a refresher, the House resolution is much more expansive and expensive. It proposes $2 trillion in cuts to mandatory spending over the next 10 years, $4.5 trillion in tax cuts, and a $4 trillion increase to the national debt limit. None of those amounts are included in the Senate budget resolution.
The Senate is pushing a more narrow budget resolution focused on increasing spending for immigration, national security, and domestic energy production, and outlines a broader deficit reduction strategy than the House. As for Trump's tax cuts, those are not included in the Senate's resolution. The Senate says it'll deal with that down the road in separate legislation.
So again, because the resolutions passed by the House and Senate do differ, the next step is for both parties chambers to reconcile those differences to produce a unified resolution. This process typically involves a conference committee, which is a group of appointed members from both the House and the Senate who negotiate to resolve disparities between the two versions.
Once an agreement is reached, that's when the new agreed upon budget resolution is presented to both chambers for their approval. And if that passes both chambers, that is when the reconciliation process can begin and Congress can start enacting tax and spending laws that meet their agreed upon fiscal goals.
Moving on, last week, the Trump administration announced it'll be canceling temporary protected status for hundreds of thousands of Haitians that were granted the status under the Biden administration.
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Chapter 2: Why is the Trump administration shortening TPS status for Haitians?
So to provide a bit of a background, under the Biden administration, temporary protected status was expanded to around 1 million immigrants from 17 different countries, Venezuela, Honduras, Nicaragua, Afghanistan, Ukraine, and more. Specifically for the Haitians, the Biden administration granted the most recent TPS protections in July 2024, which were supposed to last through February 2026.
The Trump administration now says the TPS protections for Haitians will end in August of this year. Now, temporary protected status was created by Congress in 1990. And it guarantees that migrants who are unable to return to their country due to unrest or natural disaster can remain in the United States via work authorization without fearing deportation.
TPS is intended for natives of certain countries with ongoing crises, ongoing war, instability, etc. And it doesn't provide a long-term path to citizenship, but rather an 18-month maximum. If it's granted, it protects immigrants regardless of if they enter the country illegally or legally.
Haitian immigrants specifically have been extended TPS status since 2010 through continuous government renewals. It started after a 7.0 magnitude earthquake that devastated the nation in 2010. It was later renewed by the Biden administration in 2021 following civil unrest after the assassination of the Haitian president, and it was renewed again most recently in 2024.
Notably, according to a United Nations report, gangs currently control 85% of the Haitian capital, 5,600 were killed in gang violence last year, and sexual assault in Haiti increased against children by 1,000% last year.
To give you some numbers as to how many Haitians are currently eligible for TPS protections and how many have been eligible in the past, following that 2010 earthquake, DHS estimated 57,000 Haitians eligible to register for TPS. When status was renewed in 2021, DHS estimated 155,000 Haitians eligible. And when status was renewed most recently in 2024, DHS estimated 520,000 Haitians eligible.
So like I said, this most recent extension was granted in July 2024. It was supposed to last for 18 months until February 2026. But last week, DHS Secretary Christine Noem issued a memo directive that said in part, quote, to qualify for legal protected status.
Biden and Mayorkas attempted to tie the hands of the Trump administration by extending Haiti's TPS by 18 months, far longer than necessary or justified. President Trump and Secretary Noem are returning TPS to its original status temporary. End quote. And again, just to be clear, U.S. law does allow TPS for a maximum of 18 months at a time.
Biden's most recent extension was for that 18-month maximum. But per the new memo, TPS for Haitians will expire on August 3rd of this year, which will essentially limit TPS to 12 months rather than 18. And by the way, I previously reported at the beginning of this month that the Trump administration had vacated TPS status for Venezuelans. And that move is currently facing legal challenges.
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Chapter 3: What is the controversy surrounding the bank overdraft fee rule?
So two Republican congressmen, Senator Tim Scott and Representative French Hill, have introduced a joint resolution called a Congressional Review Act, which if passed will block the CFPB rule from taking effect. Notably, Congressional Review Act resolutions are exempt from the filibuster rule in the Senate, meaning they only need a simple majority to pass.
Because of that, it is looking like this resolution will pass if all Republicans are on board, and the rule would then be blocked from taking effect. Those that support the CFPB rule and oppose this new joint resolution argue that the resolution serves the interests of big banks and financial institutions rather than hardworking Americans.
They cite to the fact that the Bank of New York Mellon, the 13th largest bank in the country, was Representative Hill's top funding contributor last year. Hill himself is a former CEO of a community bank in Arkansas.
Goldman Sachs was Senator Scott's top funding contributor last year, and over the course of Scott's political career, he has received more than $5.3 million in campaign funds from financial services. The IRS began laying off 6,000 new agency employees last week, which is about 6% of the IRS workforce.
Per an IRS email, under an executive order, the IRS has been directed to terminate probationary employees who were not deemed critical to filing season. Those impacted are said to include revenue agents, customer service workers, specialists who hear tax disputes, and IT workers.
More than 3,500 of the 6,000 are from just one division, the IRS Small Business Self-Employed Division, which helps with debt resolution and ensures that roughly 57 million small business owners comply with tax obligations.
Ahead of the layoffs, the IRS reportedly combed through an initial list of approximately 15,000 probationary employees to try to ensure that no one being laid off plays a direct role in filing season. However, those within the IRS still have concerns that the firings could cause delays this tax season.
Now, the IRS has been hit the hardest when it comes to terminations, and it's no coincidence that during the Biden administration, the Inflation Reduction Act increased IRS funding over the next 10 years by $80 billion. And that has in part the intended and expected result of bringing on roughly 87,000 new IRS employees.
Independent budget analysts estimate that the staff expansion would boost government revenue and narrow budget deficits, mainly due to increased tax enforcement against the wealthy. However, at the time of the Inflation Reduction Act's passage, and still today, Republican lawmakers were against it. So Trump's move to fire 6% of the IRS workforce isn't necessarily unexpected.
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Chapter 4: Why were 6,000 IRS employees terminated?
now as far as the potential disbanding of the u.s postal board and merging the postal service with the commerce department it's unclear whether the president has the authority to do this without congress's help and the postal board is expected to challenge any attempt to disband it the thing is is that the postal board members are appointed by the president and confirmed by the senate
Per the president's Article 2 removal power, he has broad discretion in removing anyone the president appoints. However, the situation may be different if he's planning on disbanding the entire board rather than just one or two members. The other thing is that the Postal Service is an independent agency.
And as we talked about last week, independent agencies are a bit more insulated when it comes to the amount of power the president has. Because of this, it's unlikely Trump could merge USPS with the Commerce Department without proper authorization from Congress.
Like I said, as of now, the president has not issued an executive order, so we're still unsure of whether the president is going to ultimately try to do anything with USPS. But stay tuned because I will keep you updated if an order does ultimately get signed. Let's take our first break of the episode here.
When we come back, we'll talk about a UnitedHealthcare fraud investigation and much, much more. Welcome back. According to a report from the Wall Street Journal, the DOJ is investigating UnitedHealthcare for potential fraud, specifically how UnitedHealthcare records diagnoses that result in extra payments from the government.
So the DOJ thinks UHC may have been inflating diagnoses to profit off of higher payments on Medicare Advantage plans. Basically, the federal government pays private insurers like UnitedHealthcare to provide insurance benefits beyond traditional Medicare coverage.
These payments will increase when patients are diagnosed with certain conditions or diseases or diagnosed with additional conditions and diseases, which then potentially incentivizes insurers to identify additional illnesses, right? The more illnesses or the more severe the illness, the more the insurance company can get paid.
Now, Medicare is a federal health insurance program specifically for people 65 years or older or people younger than 65 that have certain disabilities. A Medicare Advantage plan, also called Part C, is what private insurers like UnitedHealthcare offer.
medicare advantage plans are medicare approved plans you know approved by the federal government from private companies that offer an alternative to original medicare and it's paid for by the federal government in 2023 49 of medicare beneficiaries were enrolled in medicare advantage plans and that number has only increased since then so again a crucial component to the story is the fact that the federal government pays for these plans
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Chapter 5: Is Trump planning to merge USPS with the Commerce Department?
The subject line reads, what did you do last week? The body of the email instructed employees to reply with five bullet points, summarizing their work accomplishments from the previous week and to CC their managers, but also cautioned employees not to include any classified information, links or attachments. The response deadline was set for today, Monday at 1159 p.m. Eastern Time.
Importantly, the email did not say what would happen if employees chose not to respond to the email. However, Elon Musk, despite having no decision-making authority, wrote on X that failure to respond would be taken as resignation. So let's talk a little bit about the OPM, what role it plays in the government, what authority it has, and how Elon Musk factors into this entire situation.
the office of personnel management or the opm is an independent agency of the federal government that operates under the direction of the president and manages the federal workforce this includes overseeing federal employee policies benefits hiring practices etc it's basically the hr department for the government the opm does not hire or fire employees outside of the opm it can recommend that outside departments issue layoffs but it cannot actually issue layoffs itself
Elon Musk does not have a role within the OPM, but his role as a special government employee grants him the ability to contribute his expertise from the private sector to public service initiatives. This means he can offer his opinion and his thoughts, but he doesn't have any decision-making power himself.
However, because of his influence he's had over the government's decisions since Inauguration Day, people are concerned that if they don't respond to the OPM email, they may be fired by their respective agencies and departments, per Musk's suggestion. Musk followed up his post on X regarding termination with another post that said, quote, "...to be clear, the bar here is very low.
An email with some bullet points that make any sense at all is acceptable. Should take less than five minutes to write." End quote. So can the OPM demand five bullet points? That is the question. Since the email was sent out, some federal departments have instructed their employees to ignore the email, at least for now, while they await more guidance.
At least one department has instructed employees to respond to the email and one lawsuit has been filed. So here's what we know. The Pentagon, the DOJ, the State Department, the Department of Energy, and multiple agencies within these departments, as well as other agencies like the CDC, the NOAA, and the IRS, have instructed their employees to wait for legal guidance before responding.
The State Department told its employees that the department would respond to the email on behalf of the employees and said in a message to the workers within the department, "...no employee is obligated to report their activities outside of their department chain of command."
The newly confirmed FBI director, Kash Patel, also told FBI employees not to respond, saying, "...the FBI, through the office of the director, is in charge of all of our review processes and will conduct reviews in accordance with FBI procedures. When and if further information is required, we will coordinate the responses. For now, please pause any responses."
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Chapter 6: Why is UnitedHealthcare under investigation for fraud?
This allows the public to have time to review and comment on a proposed policy before it's finalized. So the unions argue that federal employees have never been required to submit any reports regarding their work to the OPM until now. And therefore, it's a new policy that should have been published in the Federal Register. And because it wasn't, it cannot be enforced.
However, the argument on the other side of that is that this new policy does not have a substantial impact on the public and therefore isn't required to be published beforehand. So we'll see what happens here. The unions have asked a federal judge for emergency intervention. We'll have to see if the judge grants that request, doesn't get involved yet. We'll have to see.
Speaking of lawsuits, though, on Friday, the Associated Press filed a lawsuit against three Trump administration officials after it was denied access to the Oval Office. The controversy between the outlet and the administration started after the Gulf of Mexico was renamed the Gulf of America.
Following the name change, the AP said it would continue referring to the body of water as the Gulf of Mexico. And subsequently, the outlet was banned from covering the president in the Oval Office. The AP was still allowed to attend and is still allowed to attend press briefings in the briefing room. It's allowed on other White House grounds, but it is not allowed in the president's office.
The AP has since accused the administration of violating its Fifth Amendment right to due process and its First Amendment right of freedom of the press. The AP has requested that a judge issue an emergency order restoring the outlet's access to the Oval Office, and the judge is set to make a decision on that request today.
Earlier this week, roughly 40 news organizations signed onto a letter written by the White House Correspondents Association urging the White House to reverse its decision against the AP. The letter was signed by outlets all across the political spectrum, including CNN, NPR, Fox News, Newsmax, and more.
And in its own statement about the situation, Newsmax said, "...we can understand President Trump's frustration because the media has often been unfair to him." But Newsmax still supports AP's right as a private organization to use the language it wants to use in its reporting. We fear a future administration may not like something Newsmax writes and seek to ban us."
As for the Trump administration, administration attorneys wrote in their response to the AP's lawsuit, quote, The president has absolute discretion to give interviews to whomever he pleases. The First Amendment does not compel him to give a personal audience to any particular journalist.
That same discretion extends to whom he allows into the Oval Office, his personal workspace, Air Force One, his personal plane, and Mar-a-Lago, his private residence. The president's discretion over these small spaces simply does not implicate constitutional rights for citizens, journalists, or news organizations alike.
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Chapter 7: What is the 'List 5 Things' email sent to federal employees?
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Welcome back. According to multiple outlets, the Trump administration has circulated an internal memo detailing plans to track down hundreds of thousands of migrant children who entered the United States without their parents. Importantly, this memo has not been released to the public, so I'm reporting based on the information that has been reported by various news outlets that have seen the memo.
I have not personally seen it. The memo is reportedly written by ICE and titled, quote, unaccompanied alien children joint initiative field implementation, end quote.
The memo's stated initiative is to ensure migrant children are not victims of human trafficking or victims of other forms of exploitation, and consequently, it directs immigration agents to track down migrant children who entered the United States without their parents.
The memo reportedly states that the children will be served a notice to appear in immigration court or deported if deportation orders were pending against them. According to the memo, ICE has collected data on unaccompanied minors and has created three groups, flight risk, public safety, and border security.
The priority will be to track down flight risk minors, including those who have received orders of deportation for missing court hearings. The memo outlines four phases of implementation, with the first phase, the planning phase, to have already commenced on January 27th, but it does not provide a start date for enforcement operations.
To give you some numbers as to how many unaccompanied minors have entered the United States in recent years, since 2022, there have been just under 425,000 CBP encounters with unaccompanied minors nationally, with roughly 422,000 of those encounters happening at the US-Mexico border. So let's talk about what the law says.
Under federal law, migrants who have exhausted their legal options to stay in the country can be removed even if they are children. The government typically prioritizes adults, especially those adults with criminal records, but children can be deported as well. When an unaccompanied minor is apprehended, they're usually taken into Office of Refugee Resettlement Custody
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