Welcome back everybody for another deep dive.
This time we're gonna be taking a look
at the first few weeks of 2025 in US politics.
And I've got a ton of sources here,
news articles, court documents,
even some pretty wild social media threads
and let me tell you, it's a lot to keep track of.
We're gonna be trying to answer some big questions today.
Like just how much power does the president actually have?
Is Elon Musk some kind of puppet master?
Or is he just another chaotic force in the government?
And what does Taylor Swift's Super Bowl attendance have?
Anything to do with this?
So let's dive in.
What's fascinating to watch Trump's second term unfold.
You know, all the traditional rules of politics
they seem to have been thrown out the window.
Executive orders are flying out left and right
and the legal challenges are coming in just as fast.
There's this constant back and forth
between all the branches of government.
Yeah, it feels like everyone's playing
political speed chess or something.
But before we get too deep at all the legal stuff,
let's start with something a little bit more fun, shall we?
The Super Bowl, Super Bowl, LIX Eagles versus Chiefs.
What a game, huh?
The Eagles totally dominated.
The Chiefs dynasty hopes, I think they're officially over.
Oh, for sure.
Saquon Barkley's performance was incredible.
He broke the all-time single season rushing record.
And get this, that record includes the playoffs.
I think that's something people forget sometimes.
He played consistently well the entire season.
Yeah, that record's gonna stand for a long time, I think.
But beyond just the game itself,
there were some pretty interesting things
happening off the field as well.
Trump became the first sitting president
to ever attend the Super Bowl.
It really makes you wonder
about how the lines between politics and entertainment
are being blurred and how presidents
are using their platform to try and connect
with the American people in new ways.
And then of course you have the Taylor Swift factor.
She was there watching the game from a suite.
It was the Chiefs' first loss in 10 games that she attended.
I guess all good things must come to an end.
But speaking of things that don't last,
let's talk about Trump's flurry of executive orders.
I mean, it's like he's trying to remake
the whole government in his own image.
And of course it's not surprising
that the lawsuits are starting to pile up.
Yeah, the number of legal challenges is just unprecedented.
And it just really highlights
how divided American society is right now.
Take for example, that case involving Elon Musk's kids,
the Muskrats, as the media is calling them.
They allegedly got access to some very sensitive
government data.
Oh yeah, the whole DOGE cryptocurrency thing.
Didn't they hack into the Treasury Department or something?
That's what people are saying.
The full details is still coming out.
But basically they're accused of using their father's influence
to manipulate the cryptocurrency market for their own game.
Judge Engelmeyer actually issued a preliminary injunction
blocking them from accessing any more government systems.
He cited concerns about privacy violations and abuse of power.
Yeah, that's a pretty major setback for the administration.
And it raises some very serious questions
about their oversight.
And then you have the whole USA-died case.
I mean, Musk was basically trying to gut the entire agency.
He claimed it was full of corruption.
Yeah, he put thousands of employees on administrative leave,
including foreign service officers stationed overseas.
Some of them were even undergoing medical treatment.
And there was a lot of pushback,
a lot of condemnation from lawmakers
and humanitarian organizations.
And then Judge Nichols stepped in, right?
Yes.
Judge Nichols, a Trump appointee himself,
issued a temporary restraining order to stop Musk's actions.
He said it was to protect the employees
and the mission of the agency.
He said there just wasn't enough evidence
to back up those corruption allegations.
So it seems like even judges that Trump appointed
are pushing back a bit.
It's interesting to see that the judiciary isn't just
blindly rubber stamping all of the President's policies.
But it's not just those high-profile cases either.
You have all these lawsuits challenging things like,
the government's buyout offers for homeowners in flood zones,
the executive order on birthright citizenship,
the funding freeze on sanctuary cities,
the list goes on and on.
It's like a total legal battle royale.
And that's where Russell Vought comes in, you remember him,
head of the Office of Management and Budget.
The Senate confirmed him for another term.
He's really quite a character.
He's known for his very aggressive approach
to shrinking the size of the federal government.
He's very good at understanding the budget
and all its intricacies.
And he's a big believer on what's called impoundment,
withholding funds that Congress has already approved.
Yeah, he's basically like the architect of the burn it all
down mentality in this administration.
And we can't forget about his other job as well, can we?
He's also running the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau,
the CFPB.
Oh, that's right.
And he's pretty much put the whole agency on hold,
saying he wants to prevent it from being weaponized
against certain industries.
Of course, this comes at a time when that whole Trump crypto
coin scam is blowing up.
You know the one where people were tricked
into buying this digital currency?
That was supposedly backed by Trump's business empire.
It turned out to be a total fraud.
And a lot of people lost a lot of money.
You know, it's funny because if the CFPB was actually
functioning, they could have been warning people
about this kind of scam.
The timing is definitely interesting.
And speaking of things that make you go, hmm,
remember how Vought is always talking about family values
and being a good Christian?
Well, he got divorced last summer.
Oh, yeah, that's right.
I almost forgot about that.
It's definitely something to keep in mind
when we're looking at his policies.
But anyway, let's move on.
I want to talk about the other major player
in all of this, Elon Musk.
He's gone from just posting provocative tweets
to actually being involved in trying
to reshape the government.
It's really a fascinating change.
It's very different from the traditional idea
of a dictator who wants to control
every aspect of government.
Musk's approach is different.
Yeah, it's less about building up
a powerful centralized state and more about tearing down
all the existing institutions so that he can step in
and exert his influence.
Exactly.
And he's using some very unconventional tactics
to get there, like demoralizing and firing career
government workers, promoting artificial intelligence
over human expertise, and constantly challenging
the normal legal processes.
Remember that diagram that the New York Times published?
The one that showed all of Musk's conflicts of interest
with different government agencies,
considering how many billions of dollars his companies get
in government contracts.
It was a real tangled web of influence and power.
And it seems like what he's doing
aligns with that idea of zero-based government.
Oh, yes.
Zero-based government where you basically dismantle everything
and try to rebuild it from scratch.
I mean, it's a very bold approach.
And some might even say reckless.
And you know what?
It looks like it might actually be backfiring.
Public opinion polls are starting
to show that Musk's approval rating is dropping,
especially among independent voters.
It makes you wonder, if Musk becomes too unpopular,
will Trump just cut him loose?
And what happens if these two giants of industry clash?
I mean, could we be in for a major power struggle?
This is just the beginning, folks.
It certainly seems that way.
And speaking of potential political shakeups,
we need to talk about what's happening in New York and Virginia.
Believe it or not, these local events
could have major consequences on the national stage.
Yeah, it's easy to get caught up in all the drama in Washington.
But sometimes the most important political battles
are happening in other places, like New York, for example.
You see, Rep. Elise Stefanik, a rising star
in the Republican Party.
She's been nominated to be the US Ambassador to United Nations.
Which means her seat in the House is going to be empty.
And that means there's going to be a special election.
Now, on the surface, that might seem like just routine procedure,
but the devil's in the details.
Oh, I'm sure there are some juicy details.
So what's going on?
Well, the Democrats have introduced a bill
that would let the governor delay the special election
until November.
And why would they want to do that?
Think about it.
The Republicans have a very slim majority in the House right now.
If the election is delayed, it means that seat stays empty for months.
And that gives the Democrats a lot more power
to potentially block legislation.
All they need is a few no votes from some key Republicans.
Ah, so they're playing a long game.
So who are these key Republicans that could cause trouble?
There are two in particular, Reps Roy and Norman.
They've said publicly that they're willing to vote against the budget.
If it doesn't include some major cuts,
they're not exactly household names,
but all of a sudden they have a surprising amount of power.
It's like a political pressure cooker.
Every single vote matters.
That puts Speaker Johnson in a tough position.
Absolutely.
He has to decide what to do.
Does he try to negotiate with the Democrats to get his budget passed
and maybe make some concessions he doesn't want to make?
Or does he just push forward without their support
and risk a government shutdown?
A government shutdown is pretty risky.
Historically, it's usually the Republicans who are more willing to use that tactic.
That's true.
But things are different now.
The Democrats might be willing to play heart ball,
especially since control of the House is so close.
Imagine what that would look like.
The Republicans in chaos, unable to govern,
forcing a shutdown that hurts ordinary Americans.
That could be a powerful message going into the 2026 midterms.
It's a high-stakes gamble, no doubt about it.
And speaking of high-stakes political battles,
let's talk about Virginia.
The governor's race there could have major implications,
not just for the state, but for the national political landscape.
We've got Abigail Spanberger.
She's a former CIA officer and congresswoman.
Running against Winston Earlsier as the current lieutenant governor.
It's going to be close.
And you know what, this is where all those federal workers that Elon Musk fired
could really come back to haunt the Republicans.
How so?
Virginia has a lot of federal employees.
A lot of them are probably going to lose their jobs because of these cuts.
I don't see them voting for the party that's taking with their livelihood,
even if they usually vote Republican.
That makes sense.
So Earlsier isn't a tough spot.
If she distances herself from Trump and Musk,
she risks alienating her base.
But if she supports them, she could alienate moderate voters.
How do you think she's going to handle this?
It's going to be a real balancing act.
We'll have to see what she does.
Virginia doesn't always follow national political trends exactly,
but it's often a good indicator of the overall political climate.
So if Spanberger wins, it could be a bad sign for the Republicans
in the 2026 midterms.
It's definitely a race to watch.
But while all this is happening in New York and Virginia,
the Senate isn't just sitting around waiting for the House to figure out its budget.
Nope, they're not.
Senator Graham is leading the budget reconciliation process.
He's setting spending targets for different committees.
This could either make things easier or it could create even more gridlock.
We'll have to wait and see.
It seems like there are a lot of potential roadblocks ahead.
So what are the main differences between what the Senate is doing with the budget
and what Speaker Johnson is trying to do in the House?
The biggest difference is that the Senate is only focused on the budget.
Speaker Johnson wants one giant bill that covers all of Trump's priorities,
kind of like an everything but the kitchen sink approach.
I see.
It'll be interesting to see what happens when those two approaches clash.
Do you think Johnson will have to give up on his big bill idea?
And what about the debt ceiling?
Is that going to be part of the Senate bill or is that going to be a whole separate fight?
It's like a giant game of legislative Tetris.
That's a good way to put it.
Yeah.
And to make things even more complicated, we have to factor in Trump's new tariffs.
He's announced tariffs on steel and aluminum imports, mostly targeting Canada, Mexico and China.
He says it's all about fairness, matching the tariffs those countries put on US products.
But didn't he already try this during his first term and didn't it backfire?
It did.
Tariffs almost always end up raising prices for consumers.
So Trump might think he's punishing other countries.
But it's really American shoppers who are going to pay the price.
And that might not be a good strategy with his base,
especially the people who are already struggling to make ends meet.
Right.
And there's another issue here too, isn't there?
Does the president even have the authority to just impose tariffs on his own?
That's a good question.
The Constitution gives that power to Congress.
So this could easily turn into another legal battle.
And it could end up in the Supreme Court.
It seems like everything ends up in the Supreme Court these days.
Speaking of legal battles, let's go back to Elon Musk and his muskrats.
Remember that software engineer Marco Ales, the one who got rehired after posting those racist comments online?
Yeah, that was a big story.
And fortunately, it looks like he's not the only one.
I know one of the muskrats, Gavin Cleiger.
He's also posted white supremacist stuff online.
And neither of them seem to be facing any consequences.
That's really worrisome.
It makes you question the kind of culture Musk is creating in these government agencies.
And the fact that neither Trump nor Musk seem to care is really troubling.
It sends a message that these kinds of views are OK.
And that can have a ripple effect.
It can contribute to a broader climate of intolerance and division.
Man, it really does feel like we're living in some kind of crazy political pressure cooker.
You know, you've got the president pushing the limits of his power,
this tech mogul with some pretty radical ideas,
trying to change the government from the inside, all this tension about race and the economy and just basic human decency.
It's a lot to take in.
So where does this all go?
Well, that's the big question, isn't it?
But if we step back and look at the bigger picture, I think,
we can start to see some possible outcomes.
One possibility is that the system holds.
You know, that the checks and balances that we have in American democracy
are strong enough to withstand all this pressure.
We're already seeing judges push back against some of the things the president is trying to do.
And there's growing opposition to Musk's tactics as well.
OK, that's good.
But what if those checks and balances are enough?
What happens if the institutions that are supposed to protect our rights and freedoms,
what if they get eroded?
What then?
That's a scary thought.
It's the worst case scenario, really.
You know, a slide towards authoritarianism,
where all the power ends up in the hands of a few people.
And anyone who disagrees is silenced.
It's happened to other democracies before.
We have to be careful.
So what can we do?
How do we make sure that American democracy survives all of this?
Well, that's where you come in.
We all have a responsibility as citizens to stay informed, to think critically,
and to hold our leaders accountable.
Don't accept easy answers or simple explanations.
Question everything.
Demand transparency.
You always hear people say knowledge is power,
but it's not enough to just have the knowledge.
We have to actually use it.
Exactly.
Read more than just the headlines.
Try to get different perspectives.
Have real conversations with people.
And most importantly, don't lose hope.
The future of American democracy depends on all of us.
I know all these sources that we've talked about today,
they're really just a snapshot in time.
The story is still going on.
We don't know how it's going to end.
The choices that we make now are going to determine the future of this country.
So I want you to think about this.
As you learn more about these issues,
what role are you going to play in shaping American democracy?
What kind of country do you want to live in?
And what are you willing to do to make that happen?
Those are really important questions,
and the answers aren't just going to affect us.
They're going to affect generations to come.
Well, that's all the time we have for today's deep dive.
Thanks for joining us.
Keep asking those tough questions.
Stay engaged.
And we'll see you next time.