Talking Feds

A roundtable of 3 great commentators--Josh Marshall, Charlie Sykes, and Ali Vitali--assesses the state of play in politics and U.S. society after 2 months of hyper-aggressive moves by Donald Trump. Minority leader Charles Schumer opted to go along with Republican plans to find the government, to the consternation of many Dems. Trump is trying to exercise control in large parts of civil society, including law, media, and the academy. Popular opposition is expanding, but can it make a difference?See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Harry talks to Congresswoman Mikie Sherrill, whose extensive experience includes a long stint in the Navy as a helicopter pilot and Russian policy officer, a stretch in the US Attorney’s office, and a current candidacy for New Jersey governor. Sherrill’s cross-cutting resume position her to discuss a series of worrisome maneuvers by the new administration, beginning with the party line budget vote and its immediate and grave implications for New Jersey. The two also discuss the state of morale at the Department of Justice, the Administration’s abandonment of Ukraine and its global implications, and the role for state officials to play as counterweights to monolithic Republican federal power. Sherrill also addresses at length the performance of the democrats in Congress and what more they need to do.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Our monthly all-contrarian episode with Norm Eisen, Jen Rubin, & Katie Phang first analyzes Trump’s address to Congress, which clocked in at about 2 hours and featured a series of lies and low blows. We then take up to the Supreme Court’s narrow affirmance of the district court order to walk back the USAID withdrawal before moving to the series of cases, many litigated personally by Norm, in which courts for the main part are calling the Administration out for ignoring the commands of Congress.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Harry talks with Max Boot about his latest article, “US soft power took decades to build. Trump is dismantling it in weeks.” Boot explains the critical source of U.S. influence in the world, more than military might, is “soft power,” foreign aid and other far-seeing acts of altruism for people around the world. Soft power is the key to the country’s diplomatic, commercial, and cultural success. It was built up painstakingly over decades with programs like the Marshall Plan and in 3 short weeks Trump has taken a battering ram to it, acutely harming our international standing. Allies such as Canada are perplexed at the U.S.’s bullying tactics, and people around the world dependent on U.S. aid have been gravely harmed. The chief beneficiary of this short-sighted abandonment of longstanding U.S. policy is China, which will aim to fill the void left by the end of U.S. aid programs. Boot concludes, “[i]t is staggering to see how much damage Trump has done to U.S. soft power in just two weeks and painful to imagine how much ore he could do in the next 206 weeks.”See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The Administration and congressional republicans continued to wreak havoc with the federal workforce, international relations, limited executive power, and the constitution, not necessarily in that order. Tara Setmayer, Bob Shrum, and Jacob Weisberg join Harry to analyze the party-line House budget that seems DOA in the Senate; tension within the Executive Branch over Elon Musk; growing popular opposition to the Administration and especially to Musk’s untethered and unaccounted role; and more.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Harry talks once again with constitutional patriot and House Oversight Committee member Jamie Raskin about the tight spot we are in after just one month of Trump rule. Harry presses the Congressman for thoughts about communicating to the country the perils to the rule of law and constitutional scheme themselves. Raskin sets out a short range, mid-range, and long-range agenda for clawing the country back and restoring the rule of law. They go over the most promising and the most worrisome of the 60+ lawsuits against the Administration. They focus at length on the mischief and illegality of the Elon Musk DOGE operation and how that seems to be hitting home with more people daily. And they end with detailed discussion about the terrible perversions at the Department of Justice and what it will take to return the Department to its full institutional footing in the future.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

It’s time for our periodic episode on foreign policy, in fact the nick of time, b/c while we’ve been chiefly focused on the damage Trump has done to domestic constitutional rules, he’s been taking as big a sledgehammer to longstanding foreign policy relationships. A superb panel of Anne Applebaum, Michael McFaul, & Stephen Sestanovich breaks it all down and, with special focus on Ukraine, Russia, Europe, & China, details the enormous risks for the country and the world of Trump’s abrupt reversals.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Harry talks with Rich Cordray, the first director of the Consumer Protection Financial Bureau, about the Bureau’s achievements for American consumers and the concerns that its functions now may slow dramatically or even stop. Trump recently fired the Bureau’s director and appointed a new director who ordered a halt to all Bureau actions; a new acting Director later instructed all staff to cease work. Cordray sketches out the Bureau’s general achievements in the mortgage, credit card, and banking industries, in which individual consumers had so often been victimized with little recourse until the CFPB came online. Cordray explains the lawsuit now pending in the district court in Washington DC to prevent the Administration from mass firings and destruction of agency data. He ends by emphasizing the importance during this time of feverish activity within the Executive Branch to keep watch on enforcement of consumer laws and Administration action to weaken consumer protection.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

It’s our regular mash-up with none other than Molly Jong-Fast, in which Molly fires legal question that have been occupying her at Harry, and Harry reciprocates with political questions for Molly. This mash-up is in the middle of the burgeoning Department of Justice scandal over the Eric Adams prosecution, and Harry presses Molly on whether the scandal will have political legs. Molly meanwhile seeks to understand whether some of Musk’s crazier antics are legal and how they could be challenged. And that’s just the beginning! Always a lively and informative back-and-forth when these two interrogate each other!See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Trump continued to bend the political system to his will, but the courts and his own Dept of Justice pushed back. Alisyn Camerota, Norm Ornstein, & Jacob Weisberg join Harry to assess Trump’s checkered week. A series of federal courts temporarily froze some of Trump’s more brazen power grabs, and a cascade of DOJ prosecutors resigned rather than comply with a lawless order to dismiss well-supported charges. But Trump was able to push through cabinet nominees whose prospects had been in doubt.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.