Author: LaMonica McIver, Dan Pfeiffer, Jon Favreau

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What A Day - Dem Attorneys General Take On Trump

Democratic state attorneys general have been a major thorn in President Donald Trump's side since he returned to the White House last month. They've successfully gotten federal courts to block some of the president's most questionably constitutional actions, from trying to end birthright citizenship and freezing trillions in federal grant money to letting Elon Musk run roughshod over government agencies. New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin stops by the 'What A Day' studio to talk about how Democratic AGs are working together to push back on the Trump administration's agenda.

And in headlines: A vaccine skeptic is now running the Department of Health and Human Services, Trump's pick to run the Department of Education talked about her plans to dismantle the Department of Education during her first Senate confirmation hearing, and there's new hope the ceasefire between Hamas and Israel will continue to hold.

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Pod Save America - Is Elon a Drag on Trump?

Elon Musk holds a rambling Oval Office press conference and admits that he and DOGE will make mistakes as they rampage through our government, even as congressional Republicans move forward with a budget that promises massive cuts to healthcare, education, and food assistance to pay for Trump's tax cuts for billionaires. Jon and Dan discuss whether Musk's antics could undermine Trump's agenda, what the Senate's confirmation of RFK Jr. and Tulsi Gabbard means for the GOP, and the White House's attacks on the press. Then, they debut a new segment: "Wait, Did That Really Happen?," featuring this week's most absurd scenes. Later, Lovett sits down with Rohit Chopra, recently forced out as Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, to discuss why Trump and Musk are so determined to shut down the CFPB, and what it means for the rest of us.

 

For a closed-captioned version of this episode, click here. For a transcript of this episode, please email transcripts@crooked.com and include the name of the podcast.

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What A Day - Inflation Is Up Again. What Does That Mean For Your Wallet?

Inflation rose more than expected in January according to federal data released Wednesday, as the cost of things like groceries, housing and energy ticked up. While we’re still only a few weeks into Donald Trump’s second term, he did campaign on lowering prices for consumers on ‘Day 1,’ a promise he and his team have been backing away from since his election victory. The new inflation data raises big questions about the state of the economy and the potential effects of Trump’s policy plans to cut taxes, impose tariffs and slash the federal workforce. Victoria Guida, economics correspondent for Politico, helps us make sense of what’s actually going on with the economy right now and what it all means for Trump. 

Later in the show, Crooked Media’s climate correspondent Anya Zoledziowski talks about what’s happening at the Environmental Protection Agency.

And in headlines: Tulsi Gabbard is confirmed by the Senate and sworn in as the new director of national intelligence, Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed ways to end Russia’s invasion of Ukraine over the phone (not on the call: Ukraine), and Georgia Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Green presided over the first meeting of the House DOGE Subcommittee.

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What A Day - How VP Vance Uses Catholicism To Justify Mass Deportations

More than two dozen Christian and Jewish organizations sued the Trump administration Tuesday over its decision to let immigration agents make arrests at places of worship. Also Tuesday, Pope Francis issued a stinging rebuke of President Donald Trump’s mass deportation plan in a letter to U.S. Catholic Bishops. And he had some seemingly pointed words for Vice President J.D. Vance, who in recent weeks has used his Catholic faith to justify the White House’s immigration crackdown. Terence Sweeney, an assistant teaching professor at Villanova University, breaks down the holes in the Trump administration’s interpretation of Christianity and Catholicism. 

Later in the show, Scott Lincicome, vice president of general economics and trade policy at the Cato Institute, explains why Trump’s threats to a trade loophole could blow up your online shopping habits.

And in headlines: Trump and Elon Musk defended the Department of Government Efficiency’s draconian cost-cutting actions during a joint press conference, DOGE said it cut $900 million in Department of Education contracts, and a federal judge blocked the administration’s order to cut billions in funding for medical research.

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What A Day - Why Trump Wants To Shutter The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has become the latest federal agency in the Trump administration's crosshairs. On Friday, unelected billionaire Elon Musk and his minions gained access to the CFPB's computer systems. That same day, the White House named Russell Vought, the newly confirmed head of the Office of Management and Budget and longtime opponent of the CFPB, as the agency's new acting director. The next day, Vought ordered CFPB staffers to halt all work and to close the office, effectively shuttering the independent agency created in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis. Helaine Olen, managing editor at the American Economic Liberties Project and a contributing columnist at MSNBC, explains why shuttering the CFPB would be bad for average Americans.

And in headlines: Trump doubles down on his plan to kick Palestinians out of Gaza, a federal judge says the White House has defied his order to unfreeze billions in federal grants, and the president slaps a 25 percent tariff on steel and aluminum imports.

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Pod Save America - Will Trump Defy the Courts?

Federal judges are starting to do something most elected Republicans won't: say no to Donald Trump and Elon Musk. The question now is, will Trump obey their orders? Jon, Lovett, and Tommy break down all the latest, including new onslaughts against the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the National Institutes of Health, and new allegations of Trump family grift. Then, Jon sits down with Strict Scrutiny's Leah Litman to unpack how Trump is testing the limits of presidential power and pushing constitutional guardrails to the brink.

 

For a closed-captioned version of this episode, click here. For a transcript of this episode, please email transcripts@crooked.com and include the name of the podcast.

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Strict Scrutiny - DOGE Runs Amok & Originalism’s Ahistoricism

This week, the ladies react to the ransacking of the federal government by Elon Musk and his fleet of DOGE dorks. Then, Kate and Leah speak with Jonathan Gienapp, professor of law and history at Stanford University and author of Against Constitutional Originalism: A Historical Critique, about what originalists get wrong about history and how the founders thought about the law.

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What A Day - Trump vs. The Constitution

We're three weeks into President Donald Trump's second term, and already Democratic lawmakers are warning that we're in a constitutional crisis. They point to the fact that Elon Musk, an unelected billionaire, is getting a major say in how government agencies operate; the Trump administration shuttering USAID – an independent agency created by Congress – without Congressional approval; and the push to block funding that's already been appropriated. While federal courts have helped Democrats slow down some of Trump's more brazen actions, Vice President J.D. Vance fueled fears of a deeper constitutional challenge Sunday when he tweeted, 'Judges aren't allowed to control the executive's legitimate power.' Kate Show, co-host of Crooked's legal podcast' Strict Scrutiny,' helps us make sense of the legal drama.

And in headlines: Trump sat down with Fox News' Bret Baier for the traditional pre-game Super Bowl interview, Hamas released three more Israeli hostages in exchange for nearly 200 Palestinian prisoners as the ceasefire continued to hold, and the Trump administration moved to shutter the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

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Pod Save America - How the Right Took Over the Media

Ben Smith, former media columnist at the New York Times and now the editor-in-chief of Semafor, joins Dan to talk about today's ultra-challenging news media landscape. The industry is significantly weaker than it was in 2016, and Trump's aggressive lawsuits have the executives in charge of CBS and ABC scrambling to appease him. Will the death blow for America's free press come from within? Smith runs through what we should have learned from the first Trump presidency, how cults of personality rule in journalism just like they rule in politics, and why the dominance of the Times is terrible for fascism-proofing the country.

 

For a closed-captioned version of this episode, click here. For a transcript of this episode, please email transcripts@crooked.com and include the name of the podcast.

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What A Day - What Will Be Left Of USAID?

The dismantling of the U.S. Agency for International Development continued Thursday. Multiple news outlets reported the Trump administration plans to retain fewer than 300 agency staffers — out of more than 10,000 worldwide. Millions of the world’s poorest people rely on on the foreign aid agency for basic needs like food, medication and water. But that hasn’t stopped Elon Musk, the world’s richest man, from trying to feed USAID “into the wood chipper.” Lindsay Branhum, a humanitarian filmmaker who’s worked on USAID-funded conflict resolution programs all over the world, explains what the cuts mean for people on the ground.

And in headlines: DOGE turns to A.I. in its quest to dismantle the federal government, the Justice Department sues the state of Illinois and Chicago over sanctuary city laws, and rapper Kendrick Lamar prepares to headline the Super Bowl Halftime Show.

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