UNBIASED Politics
UNBIASED Politics (3/3/25): Trump, Vance, and Zelenskyy Fight It Out, 'Phase 1' of Epstein File Release, Measles Outbreak and Kennedy's Response, Halt on Russian Cyber Operations, and More.
Mon, 03 Mar 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: One Court Upholds Mass Firings; Another Says No. Here's What Happens Now (0:10) AG Bondi Releases 'Phase 1' of Epstein Files to Conservative Influencers (3:25) President Trump Declares English the Official Language of U.S. (9:14) ACLU Files New Lawsuit Preventing Transfer of Migrants to Guantanamo (11:19) President Trump, VP Vance, and President Zelenskyy Fight It Out in Oval Office (13:21) MANA Nutrition Sees USAID Contract Restored; What You Should Know About DOGE.gov (26:18) Measles Outbreak in Texas; Here's How the New HHS Secretary Is Responding (32:11) New Reports Say Hegseth Has Ordered a Stop on Russian Cyber Operations (37:17) Quick Hitters: Ed. Dept. Offers Employees $25k Buyout, Judge Puts Pause on Trump's Transgender Women in Sports Order, GSA Releases Tech Team Amid Federal Cuts (38:45) Critical Thinking Segment (41:16) 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 implications of conflicting court rulings on government layoffs?
Obviously, we know the Trump administration has been issuing these mass layoffs within the government. Following those initial layoffs, multiple lawsuits were brought by those that lost their jobs as well as labor unions. die entweder waren oder vielleicht auf der Linie beeinflusst wurden.
Also in diesem speziellen Fall hat eine Koalition von Arbeitnehmern und Non-Profit-Mitgliedern gegen die Administration gefeiert, die argumentiert hat, dass das Büro des Personalmanagements ihre legalen Autoritäten übernommen hat, als es vorgelegt hat, diese verschiedenen Agenzien zu feiern, tausende von probationären Arbeitnehmern in Mass.
Speziell argumentieren sie, dass diese Aktion den Administrativen Procedure Act verurteilt hat und dass nur der Kongress die Macht hat, federales Arbeit und entsprechende Ausgaben zu kontrollieren. Nun, ich habe vorhin gesagt, dass mehrere Ausschüsse verabschiedet worden sind. Und der Grund, warum das wichtig ist, ist, weil... These rulings have been different in different jurisdictions.
And we'll talk about what that means. But just to illustrate, a federal judge in D.C. said recently that the administration could continue with mass firings because the plaintiffs lacked the legal right to bring the lawsuit. But in this case, which is out of San Francisco, the judge said the government had to temporarily stop the mass firings because they were likely unlawful.
So what happens now when we have these conflicting rulings? Well, the ruling out of San Francisco applies to the parties that brought that lawsuit and the ruling out of D.C. applies to the parties that brought that lawsuit in D.C.
The San Francisco ruling applies to federal employees that belong to certain branches of the American Federation of Government Employees Union and to other unions, whereas the D.C. ruling applies to employees that belong to the National Treasury Employees Union and for other unions.
so each ruling applies to the parties that brought that particular lawsuit there's also a related storyline here which is that some employees that lost their jobs are taking a different approach to getting their job back rather than filing a lawsuit in the courts they're filing complaints with the merit systems protection board which is this independent federal agency
dass er Begriffe gegen die Regierung hört. Und letzte Woche hat der MSPB einen 45-Tage-Pause auf Terminierungen geöffnet, aber auch gesagt, dass sechs der verabschiedeten föderalen Mitarbeiter am liebsten bis zum 10. April aufgehoben werden müssen. Und obwohl sechs Mitarbeiter offensichtlich ein sehr, sehr kleines Niveau sind, im Großen und Ganzen.
Mein Punkt hier ist nur, um die verschiedenen Methoden von Bekämpfungen und Bedingungen, wenn man will, in der Regierung zu illustrieren. In ruling that these six individuals had to be rehired, the U.S.
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Chapter 2: What is the significance of the Phase 1 release of Epstein files?
So that's what's going on with the firings at this point in time. Some more Thursday news. Attorney General Pam Bondi in coordination with the FBI publicly released files related to Jeffrey Epstein. But the way that those files were released has sparked some controversy and that's what everyone seems to be talking about. So let's discuss what happened, but also some background.
As many of us know, Jeffrey Epstein exploited more than 250 underage girls in the early 2000s at multiple personal properties in New Jersey, Florida, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Manhattan and others.
Back in 2008, Epstein signed a controversial non-prosecution agreement with Florida law enforcement in which he would plead guilty to two state charges, one count of soliciting prostitution and one count of soliciting prostitution from a minor. He was sentenced to 18 months in the Palm Beach County Jail. He only served 13 of those.
And while serving, he was allowed to leave nearly every day for the full work day to work from his office in Palm Beach. But in exchange for this guilty plea, the federal sex crimes investigation that he was facing. came to an end. That non-prosecution agreement was brokered by a US attorney named Alex Acosta, and we'll touch on him more in a minute. So Epstein gets out of jail in 2009.
For the next 10 years, multiple women who say they're victims of Epstein engage in various legal battles to get Epsteins federal non-prosecution agreement voided.
In 2018, the Miami Herald revisits the handling of Epstein's case and this triggers Epstein to be arrested on federal sex trafficking charges in 2019 by New York authorities who determined that they were not bound by the earlier federal non-prosecution agreement. At the time of Epstein's arrest, though, Alex Acosta, the U.S.
attorney that brokered that controversial non-prosecution agreement, was actually serving as Trump's labor secretary. This was during Trump's first administration. So Acosta ends up resigning as labor secretary because of the public criticism he received over his role in the initial investigation. One month after Epstein's arrest, he is found dead in his jail cell.
Investigators conclude that he died by suicide, but there are many other theories surrounding his death, most notably that one of Epstein's high-profile associates, who did not want their name exposed, hired someone to kill him in his cell.
All this to say that for years the public has been waiting to see Epstein's associates list, the list of people that also engaged in sex acts with minors at Epstein's various properties. Also im Jahr 2023, vier Jahre nach dem Tod von Epstein, hat ein New Yorker Gericht das Unkündigen von tausenden von Dokumenten bestätigt, die die Namen von tausenden von Epstein-Vereinigungen ausdrücken würden.
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Chapter 3: Why did President Trump declare English the official language of the U.S.?
So Bondi is now demanding all Epstein evidence from the Southern District of New York and ordering an investigation into the person who allegedly withheld these documents. None the less, the administration faced criticism after the rollout of Phase 1, with some calling it a publicity stunt. One Republican lawmaker called the release a complete disappointment.
So we will see if more gets released in time. That is what the administration is saying, that this was just Phase 1, more phases will come. But that is what we have as of now.
Moving on to some Friday news, President Trump signed an executive order making English the official language of the United States, marking the first time in American history that the country has designated an official language. As always, an executive order has a stated purpose and or policy, and then in this case, the order revokes a previously issued executive order consistent with that policy.
Purpose and or policy. So we've talked about how executive orders almost always have a purpose and or policy and then directives for the federal government to carry out that purpose and or policy. But in some cases like this one, instead of a directive, the actual action is a revocation of a previously issued executive order.
Because presidents can issue executive orders, they can also revoke other presidents' executive orders. So here obviously the purpose is to make English the official language of the United States.
The order says that a nationally designated language is at the core of a unified and cohesive society and the United States is strengthened by a citizenry that can freely exchange ideas in one shared language.
It says, "...establishing English as the official language will not only streamline communication, but also reinforce shared national values and create a more cohesive and efficient society."
"...and then consistent with that purpose, the executive order revokes a previous executive order issued in 2000 by President Clinton called Improving Access to Services for Persons with Limited English Proficiency." However, the new order also confirms that one, no changes will be mandated to the services provided by government agencies.
Two, agency heads have the authority to make decisions necessary to fulfill their missions and provide efficient government services. Three, agencies are not required to change, remove or discontinue documents, products or services in languages other than English.
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Chapter 4: What are the legal challenges against transferring migrants to Guantanamo?
There was a similar lawsuit that was filed, but that lawsuit argued that migrants couldn't be moved to Guantanamo because of their lack of access to attorneys and family while there. This new lawsuit argues that the actual act of sending the migrants to Guantanamo is unconstitutional and unlawful. And there are essentially three claims in this new lawsuit.
Number one, the transfers to Guantanamo violate the Immigration and Nationality Act. Two, the transfer rules set forth by the administration violates the Administrative Procedure Act. And three, transferring the migrants violates the Fifth Amendment, which affords defendants due process.
So for that first claim, the argument that transferring migrants to Cuba, which is where Guantanamo is, is essentially that... Cuba is not a proper removal destination under the Immigration and Nationality Act framework.
The second claim, which alleges a violation of the Administrative Procedure Act, basically says that the administration has failed to put forth reasoned explanations for the decision to transfer migrants to Guantanamo, and in making its decision to do so, the administration considered factors that Congress did not intend to be considered."
And then for the Fifth Amendment claim, the plaintiffs argued that immigration detention is subject to due process. So we'll have to see what happens there. The plaintiffs have requested an emergency stay, which would prevent the administration from sending these 10 migrants to Guantanamo while the litigation plays out.
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Chapter 5: What happened during the meeting between Trump, Vance, and Zelenskyy?
And by the way, to put that number into perspective, that 10 number, the Trump administration has sent a little more than 200 migrants to Guantanamo since Inauguration Day. Let's take our first break here to hear from the show's amazing sponsors and I will be right back to talk about President Trump's meeting with President Zelensky, some Doge updates and more. Welcome back.
For this next story, we're going to talk about what went on between President Zelensky, President Trump and Vice President Vance in the Oval Office on Friday. I want to give you a quick disclaimer here because I typically do not talk about foreign affairs. That is an intentional decision. There are many reasons for that. The number one reason being that I am only one person.
I don't want to feel like I have to cover what's going on across the globe. It is more than enough to talk about domestic issues. So I've just drawn a pretty bright line rule in not touching on any foreign affairs since the start of the year. However, this story is one that I feel is domestic enough, right? It took place in the Oval Office.
It directly involved the President and Vice President of the United States. So I am making an exception here to talk about a foreign issue. But I just wanted to make that disclaimer because by no means am I going to now start talking about various foreign affairs. I already have a full plate and that is just not what I need. So, let's start with the reason for the visit.
President Zelensky met with President Trump on Friday to sign a bilateral agreement, which was finalized two days prior. And it would have given the United States access to rare mineral deposits in Ukraine through joint investment. In other words, Ukraine would contribute 50% of its proceeds from future state-owned mineral resources, oil and gas to a fund. That fund would then invest that money in
Vielen Dank. So, this minerals deal was proposed last year by Zelensky in an effort to incentivize the United States to continue to support Ukraine in its war with Russia. As for the United States, the United States likely would not benefit from this deal for at least a decade, probably closer to two decades, and that's just because mining is a long-term process.
First, you have to identify reserves, and then from there it takes about 18 years to develop a mine, plus about 500 Millionen bis zu einem Billion Dollar, um eine Mine zu bauen und den Unternehmensseparationsplan. Once all that is done, that is when the United States would start to see the mineral benefits.
Now, President Trump had initially requested 500 billion dollars in mineral wealth under the terms of the deal. His rationale was that the United States has given Ukraine between 300 and 350 billion dollars in aid and that the United States needs to get that money back plus some. However, Ukraine rejected that request with one Ukraine economist saying the deal term would bankrupt the country.
The United States has since dropped the demand. Notably, the deal did not include a security guarantee from the United States, which is something that Zelensky had pushed for and continues to push for. On whether he would walk away from the agreement without a security guarantee from the United States, Zelensky said he would not sign the deal until Trump decides to
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