MSNBC Taps WHCA President Eugene Daniels for Weekend Show
The news was first reported by Puck. Daniels is already well acquainted with MSNBC, since he has been a contributor to the channel since 2021.
His exit from Politico comes amid a flurry of news, both for MSNBC and for the WHCA. Earlier on Tuesday, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said the Trump Administration's media team will now select the reporters in the White House press pool — a move that rips control away from the WHCA, which has historically determined the reporters who travel with and cover the president.
In response, the WHCA said the move 'tears at the independence of a free press' in the U.S.
'It suggests the government will choose the journalists who cover the president. In a free country, leaders must not be able to choose their own press corps,' the WHCA said in a statement shared by Daniels.
MSNBC, meanwhile, made headlines on Monday when it announced Joy Reid was losing her show. Former Biden Administration Press Secretary Jen Psaki's show will move to primetime as part of the programming shakeup being led by new MSNBC President Rebecca Kutler.
The changes come after MSNBC's ratings took a big hit following the 2024 election, but have enjoyed a recent increase, following the president's inauguration. MSNBC on Monday noted its primetime viewership has increased 77% since the inauguration, with the cable channel averaging 1.4 million primetime viewers between Jan. 20 and Feb. 14. Fox News, for comparison, averaged 3 million primetime viewers the week of Feb. 10., and CNN averaged a little less than half a million viewers during that same time.
Kutler, who recently took over the top job at MSNBC after Rashida Jones exited, addressed MSNBC leadership earlier this month. The media industry veteran told MSNBC brass 'our jobs are hard on a normal day, and these are not normal times.'
'We have a new company, we have new leadership, we will have new offices and we have a non-stop news cycle,' Kutler said. 'I think it's important that we all share in the exciting parts of what the year ahead is going to mean in terms of getting to build a new news organization – one that is built for us, for our needs first, to be part of a new company that is standing itself up and that we have a seat at the table at the ground floor of that, and what that's going to look like and we get to help determine that.'
The post MSNBC Taps WHCA President Eugene Daniels for Weekend Show appeared first on TheWrap.
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Politico
6 hours ago
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Gregg Hart is in the mix on gas prices
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Hart spoke with POLITICO about gas price politics, cap-and-trade negotiations and SpaceX's plan to increase rocket launches from a base in his district. This interview has been edited for length and clarity. How are you feeling about the draft oil bill from the governor's office? I'm cautiously optimistic. I think that there is a way to get to a yes vote. I've been looking very carefully at what the California Energy Commission has been writing to the governor, and I think that they are navigating very narrowly between trying to make sure that we have sufficient crude oil production in the state to keep the refineries that are dependent on that locally sourced supply in business, and not over produce to the point where we cause more environmental damage than we'd like to have. It's a really complicated transition, and I think that the administration understands that the details matter. I haven't been able to get all my questions answered about the language specifically that talks about additional onshore oil development in my county and some of the other coastal counties. That's really the big issue for me. I think the Kern County production question has been litigated for more than 10 years, it has been analyzed very carefully, and the place it's going to end up is appropriate, given the circumstances in California. The governor's bill proposes capping two wells for every new well drilled, among other environmental protections. Environmental justice groups, however, say it's still a retreat from the state's climate agenda. Should the state do more to strike a balance? I'd like to see this proposal have some additional incentives for electric vehicle adoption, particularly focusing on long-distance commuters who consume more gas than others. We've got folks in those environmental justice communities who are driving older cars long distances and disproportionately contributing greenhouse gas impacts. There is a heavy cost burden on those individuals as well, and they are the first people to be hurt by increasing gas prices. So there's a nexus there. If we're trying to make progress and help solve this problem by reducing demand, not just increasing supply, I think it'd be appropriate for us to include some additional incentives in that space. What other concepts for stabilizing gas prices are you thinking about? Minimum production requirements, that's one part of the toolbox. Changing the fuel blend so that we have additional gasoline options available to bring into California is another thing that's in the toolbox. I don't think that saying we're open to these changes means we're permanently abandoning the agenda of protecting health from air pollution. And as I was talking about, drivers in California are spending a lot of money on gas. If we could figure out a way to get them into electric vehicles, we would be reducing air pollution and benefiting public health. We can also trade off temporary periods of time where we reduce our gas standard in order to accommodate a crisis. You might be able to do the math and say, 'Hey, this is still a net benefit.' This debate around oil policy comes as lawmakers are also trying to reauthorize the cap-and-trade program. Is that going to get done before the end of the legislative session? I think the governor is very interested in landing it as soon as possible, and he has learned to use the end of session as a tool to get things done. I think it's pretty close. I don't know what the Senate has done with their version, but the Assembly version is pretty close to being ready. 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Politico
8 hours ago
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Inside the White House Energy Dominance Council
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Trump's focus on keeping oil prices down could also cause the White House to stumble on the president's promise to boost production — oil companies are laying off employees and the number of barrels the United States is producing is starting to fall after reaching a record high in March. West Wing Playbook sat down with Goldberg to discuss the council's mission, structure, and how it's navigating the challenge of meeting America's growing energy demand. He just wrapped up his service as a special government employee. This conversation has been edited for length and clarity. Let's start with the big picture. What is the Energy Dominance Council, and how does it work inside the White House? It's the first time in history that we've created a dedicated energy dominance council that is tasked with carrying out the president's objectives to make America energy dominant. That means everything that is required to have enough energy to provide reliable and affordable energy for all Americans, have enough energy to win the AI arms race against China, have a US-led energy supply chain that hooks allies to the United States and unhooks people from our adversaries, and having enough energy to promote peace stability while managing threats and having maximum flexibility in times of conflict. How is the council structured? Who's actually doing the day-to-day work? The council is less than 10 very committed patriotic Americans working out of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building. It's run by an executive director who's a deputy assistant to the president, and supported by two deputies who are special assistants to the president. They are managing projects on a daily basis. We have a dedicated policy lead just working oil and gas issues all day long. There's a policy lead working on power issues and all that power encompasses, and that includes nuclear power, coal power and electricity to power AI and what that means as far as maintaining and preserving, strengthening the grid today. A policy lead on mining and critical minerals was a very important addition that the president made to the council's mandate. How are you executing on that vision for the president? The message is the Energy Dominance Council is open for business. You just have to call and say, you have a project, you have something that we're working on that is a new build, a new mine, a new dig, a new connection, a new pipeline, a new export terminal, you name it, and that it will contribute to energy dominance in the following ways. It will make sure we are adding reliable baseload energy to our grid in the following ways. This is the focal point of the entire U.S. government to say, what do you need from the U.S. government to make your project happen in 14 or 28 days instead of five or 10 years or 30 years? Is it permitting assistance? Is it financing assistance? Is it other regulatory reviews that have become so burdensome over many years? What financing tools are available to companies seeking federal support? The Energy Department's loan program is well known, but there's also the Department of Defense's defense production authorities, the Export-Import Bank, the Development Finance Corporation and others. The council helps projects navigate this web. We've also ramped up investment in critical minerals, including taking the unprecedented step of having the U.S. government take equity in strategic mining projects like Mountain Pass [the only operating rare-earth mine in the United States]. What's the Council's emergency plan if we do see energy prices spike or grid failures this summer? We're working to prevent that from happening in the first place. There are only two major reasons why that might happen right now. One is you keep closing down coal plants that are keeping the grid stable in certain areas of high demand, you have states that just keep pushing forward on wind and solar with state support of some kind and connecting it to the grid and making their grid over reliant on it. Or you have one of these hyper scalers try to connect into an existing grid with just more power needs than you know could possibly happen. But the president is not going to allow that to happen, I'm very confident. If he sees any knuckleheads getting in the way that could cause it to happen, he's going to look at any possible authority that he has to break the log jam. In the event that energy prices do spike, do you think the administration would review its stance on wind and solar? I think it's important to understand that we have been put on a trajectory, on the grid and on prices by policy decisions made for many years embracing intermittent and unreliable sources of energy. And so when we start seeing stress in the grid today, this is a grid that the president inherited. I understand the political strategy from the wind and solar industry to look at an immediate moment of crisis or a rise in price or anything like that that could ever happen and say, 'Oh, it's because you're de-prioritizing wind and solar.' That's not why it's happening, and it's not the solution, we will absolutely see higher prices and grid failures if we reverse course. We need heavy baseload energy pumped into the grid to not just win the air arms race, but keep the lights on today. I've heard some buzz recently on geothermal. Where is the administration on this form of energy? It has potential. DOE is looking at this and working on this. It is absolutely part of the council's mandate and focus. You know, we just finished putting the finishing touches on having a challenge coin for the council and geothermal is represented on the coin. Europe promised to spend $750 billion over three years on purchases of U.S. energy. Does the U.S. have enough oil, gas and other energy commodities to meet that price tag? The answer is we have availability of supply today to increase sales abroad, increase exports across Europe and the Asia Pacific as well. And we have a supply curve that will continue to increase over the years ahead to both provide for the U.S. consumer and the increased demand that we're seeing across the globe for us. We need to continue to build out both the export infrastructure and help our potential customers abroad make sure that they're building out their infrastructure for import facilities and floating regasification units. We have American companies involved in all of that that can help. MESSAGE US — West Wing Playbook is obsessively covering the Trump administration's reshaping of the federal government. Are you a federal worker? A DOGE staffer? Have you picked up on any upcoming DOGE moves? We want to hear from you on how this is playing out. Email us at westwingtips@ Did someone forward this email to you? Subscribe! POTUS PUZZLER Which former president was really weirded out by fish? (Answer at bottom.) Agenda Setting RUIN THE BRUINS: The White House is seeking a $1 billion settlement from the University of California, Los Angeles, our JUAN PEREZ JR. reports. The move comes after the administration last week froze nearly $600 million in funding to the school. University of California President JAMES B. MILLIKEN said in a statement the school was reviewing the proposal but that a settlement of that size would 'devastate' the university. SELL SELL SELL?: Trump is considering selling stock in mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac later this year, our KATHERINE HAPGOOD reports. The details of a potential public offering would value the two companies at around $500 billion and involve selling 5 to 15 percent of their stock. It is unclear whether Fannie and Freddie will remain under government conservatorship. 'The president is weighing all his options,' a senior administration official said today. The Federal Housing Finance Agency and the Treasury Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment. EDITED HISTORY: The Smithsonian's National Museum of American History today revealed an updated version of its impeachment exhibit that now includes context about Trump's impeachments, WaPo's JANAY KINGSBERRY and MAURA JUDKIS report. The change comes after a placard with Trump's name was removed from the exhibit following a Smithsonian review of the museum's content prompted by the White House. 'The updated display now reflects all presidential impeachments,' the Smithsonian said in a statement. 'Adhering to principles foundational to our role as the nation's museum, we take great care to ensure that what we present to the public reflects both intellectual integrity and thoughtful design.' WHO'S IN, WHO'S OUT ANOTHER IRS SHAKEUP: Trump is replacing his Internal Revenue Service commissioner just two months into his tenure, Nicole and our BRIAN FALER report. BILLY LONG is expected to instead be named to an ambassadorship. It is unclear who will next lead the IRS, which has had six different leaders this year. Treasury Secretary SCOTT BESSENT will serve as the agency's acting commissioner, said the White House official, who was granted anonymity to discuss personnel moves. Knives Out EASIER SAID THAN DONE: The MAGA movement is escalating its calls to arrest Trump's opponents, from the Texas Democrats who bolted from the state to derail a redistricting vote to former President BARACK OBAMA. But those screaming the loudest appear likely to wind up disappointed, our KYLE CHENEY reports. It's a familiar refrain for Trump's second term: The far right lusts to see prominent Democrats or Trump adversaries hauled off in handcuffs, only to be let down when their revenge fantasies run into reality. 'They voted for that and now they realize they can't have retribution because it's not legally sound,' said GENE ROSSI, a white collar criminal defense lawyer who spent three decades at the Justice Department. SWISH SWISH, TISH: Speaking of political retribution, the U.S. attorney's office in Albany has issued at least two subpoenas to New York Attorney General LETITIA JAMES in recent days, our NICK REISMAN, JOSH GERSTEIN and ERICA ORDEN report. The subpoenas are an escalation of the Trump administration's scrutiny of James, who has positioned herself as a ferocious opponent of the president. One is focused on James' successful civil fraud case against Trump's businesses. The second stems from her high-profile fraud case against the National Rifle Association. In the Courts NOT SO FAST: A federal appeals court panel today threw out U.S. District Judge JAMES BOASBERG's bid to pursue criminal contempt for Trump administration officials he says defied his orders in March by sending 130 Venezuelan men to a prison in El Salvador, Kyle and Josh report. D.C. Circuit Judges GREGORY KATSAS and NEOMI RAO — both Trump appointees — overturned an order Boasberg issued in April initiating the potential contempt proceedings. The ruling can be appealed further. But if it remains in place, it appears to sharply diminish — but not completely rule out — the possibility that lawyers or other officials in the administration could face contempt charges over their conduct during the high-profile deportation showdown. What We're Reading Nobody Is Making Deals in Trump's Washington (Jim Secreto for POLITICO Magazine) I Helped Bury Stories About Trump. I Regret It. (Cameron Stracher for NYT Opinion) Veterans' Care at Risk Under Trump as Hundreds of Doctors and Nurses Reject Working at VA Hospitals (ProPublica's David Armstrong, Eric Umansky and Vernal Coleman) Could the U.S. Have Saved Navalny? (WSJ's Drew Hinshaw and Joe Parkinson) POTUS PUZZLER Former President GROVER CLEVELAND found fish more mysterious than humans, saying, 'No one has yet been wise enough to explain their ways or account for their conduct.' (Source: White House Historical Association)
Politico
10 hours ago
- Politico
Trump administration demands $1B from University of California-Los Angeles
Under the terms of the administration's proposal, UCLA would pay the money in installments over three years and put another $172 million into a fund to pay legal claims made against it, according to a person familiar with the matter and a draft of the proposal viewed by POLITICO. The proposal outlines a pitch to transform UCLA's hiring practices and campus climate, plus its athletics and medical programs. It would require the university to designate a senior administrator responsible for reviewing UCLA's policies and programs for diversity, equity and inclusion. That would include hiring practices, campus expression and anti-discrimination policies. 'As a public university, we are stewards of taxpayer resources and a payment of this scale would completely devastate our country's greatest public university system as well as inflict great harm on our students and all Californians,' said James Milliken, who recently took over as president of the University of California system, in a statement that acknowledged the university had received the $1 billion settlement proposal from the Justice Department on Friday. The outlines of the proposed settlement were first reported by CNN. The settlement demand stems from tumultuous, sometimes violent demonstrations and protests against Israel's war against Hamas that consumed the campus. The administration alleges that university officials did not protect Jewish students and faculty from discrimination by pro-Palestinian protesters. The proposed agreement suggests strict limits on campus protests, including prohibitions on overnight demonstrations and requirements that mask-wearing demonstrators remove their face coverings and present identification to campus personnel upon request. It also demands the university scrap scholarships that are based on race or ethnicity, and eliminate faculty programs that provide incentives for hiring candidates based on race, gender or ethnicity. And in provisions similar to those reached in recent settlements with Columbia University and Brown University in July, the Trump administration is demanding UCLA halt the use of proxies for race in their admissions process — and provide access to admissions and hiring data, including test scores, grade point averages and the race of applicants.
