Latest news with #FSDPAC
Politico
2 days ago
- Politics
- Politico
The new super PAC taking aim at Musk
Welcome to POLITICO's West Wing Playbook: Remaking Government, your guide to Donald Trump's unprecedented overhaul of the federal government — the key decisions, the critical characters and the power dynamics that are upending Washington and beyond. Send tips | Subscribe | Email Sophia | Email Irie | Email Ben LATEST: A federal judge this afternoon temporarily stopped the Trump administration from moving forward with its planned massive restructuring of the Department of Health and Human Services, NYT's CHRISTINA JEWETT and ZACH MONTAGUE report. In an opinion accompanying the order, Judge MELISSA R. DuBOSE of the U.S. District Court of Rhode Island said that HHS Secretary ROBERT F. KENNEDY JR. lacked the authority to eliminate entire programs and reorient the agency's priorities. 'The executive branch does not have the authority to order, organize or implement wholesale changes to the structure and function of the agencies created by Congress,' DuBose wrote. NOT SO FAST: President DONALD TRUMP ally and former Department of Government Efficiency adviser JAMES FISHBACK today is launching a super PAC called FSD PAC, designed to blunt ELON MUSK's political ambitions. FSD PAC, a play on Tesla's 'full self-driving,' stands for Full Support for Donald. Its strategy is to be a bulwark against Musk's threats — real or perceived — and comes as multiple Republicans shrug off his latest social media spat with the president as little to worry about in a world where Trump so thoroughly commands the loyalty of the GOP base. The PAC will spend money in any race where Musk follows through on his plan to bankroll a third-party hopeful, or where he backs a Democrat or a Republican primary challenge against a Trump-endorsed incumbent. The goal: Ensure that Musk's deep pockets don't undermine Trump's grip on the GOP. 'There's real frustration in our movement with Elon and his antics,' said Fishback, who stepped away from DOGE last month after Musk lashed out at Trump. 'I'm a big believer in what he's doing in the private sector. But when it comes to politics, he's dead wrong on this.' Fishback, who is represented by Lex Politica, the same firm that represents Musk and his SuperPAC AmericaPAC, is putting $1 million of his own money into his PAC. FSD PAC's formation comes amid an intensifying standoff between the world's wealthiest man and the Republican party. Musk, the GOP's largest individual donor, has publicly threatened to start his own party, the 'America Party,' if Congress passes Trump's sweeping domestic policy package, known as the Big Beautiful Bill. The Senate passed that bill today and it could land on the president's desk this today said he wasn't concerned Republicans would be swayed by Musk or his money. 'I don't think he should be playing that game with me,' the president said.A Trump ally added that he was not too concerned about Musk's threats, noting his lackluster track record of political endorsements. 'A guy named Elon Musk tried to play kingmaker in the 2024 Republican primary by backing Ron DeSanctimonious,' said the person, who was granted anonymity to speak freely. Musk also spent millions trying to sway a Wisconsin Supreme Court race, including handing out million-dollar checks to two Wisconsin voters, but the Democrat-backed candidate won handily anyway. 'For it to have any impact, you'd have to have Republicans leaving the Republican Party of President Trump and joining a new party just so they can take a check from Elon,' said a Republican strategist granted anonymity to discuss internal thinking. 'I just don't see that happening.' And FSD is just one of several pro-Trump organizations ready to attack Republicans deemed disloyal. Just last week, another pro-Trump group, MAGA Kentucky, aired a TV ad against Rep. THOMAS MASSIE, one of only two House Republicans who voted against the president's marquee legislation. The 30-second spot targets Massie for voting against legislation that cuts taxes and funds border security, and puts him alongside Iranian leader AYATOLLAH ALI KHAMENEI, Sen. BERNIE SANDERS (I-Vt.) and Rep. ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTEZ (D-N.Y.) 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 Of which baseball team was former President GEORGE W. BUSH a part owner? (Answer at bottom.) Agenda Setting FIRST IN WEST WING PLAYBOOK: The State Department has begun sending letters to staffers canceling details to other organizations, which can relocate employees to places like military academies, universities and state and local governments, our NAHAL TOOSI and Ben report. 'The Secretary has decided to reduce the number and variety of detail assignments outside the Department,' wrote LEW J. OLOWSKI, a senior official within the department's Bureau of Global Talent Management, in an email to employees landing in inboxes this week. 'You are asked to return to the Department of State and use your broad skills for immediate staffing needs.' At least 200 people have received the notice, according to one person familiar with the move. Many of those affected were just getting to their details, enrolling their children in local schools and signing new leases. 'These are State Department employees, and the decision was made to have these individuals return to their place of employment so their skills can be used to advance diplomatic priorities before filling vacancies at other organizations,' a senior State official said in a statement to POLITICO. TRY A MONTH: Weather forecasters will now have another month to tap Defense Department satellite data used for hurricane forecasting, extending a deadline that would have ended the National Weather Service's access to the information on Monday, POLITICO's E&E News' DANIEL CUSICK reports. The termination of data products from the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program received swift condemnation from scientists who said it could hurt hurricane forecasting accuracy as the 2025 storm season ramps up. The administration now expects to decommission DMSP processing no later than July 31. EASE UP: In recent weeks, DOGE officials at the SEC have sought meetings with staff to explore relaxing what some companies have called burdensome and unnecessary regulations, Reuters' DOUGLAS GILLISON and CHRIS PRENTICE report. That includes reworking JOE BIDEN-era rules adopted last year on so-called Special Purpose Acquisition Companies and requirements that private investment advisers confidentially disclose more data so regulators can better spot systemic risk. One person familiar said DOGE's involvement in crafting new policy has frustrated some SEC officials, raising concerns over whether a White House initiative should be involved in the work of a department long considered independent. Musk Radar IT'S A DOGE EAT DOGE WORLD: Trump threatened today to sic DOGE on Musk and left the door open to deporting his former adviser, Irie reports. 'DOGE is the monster that might have to go back and eat Elon,' the president told reporters outside the White House before departing to the 'Alligator Alcatraz' immigration detention center in Florida. He added that DOGE should root out 'waste, fraud and abuse' from the billions of dollars in federal subsidies Musk's companies receive. It was the latest escalation in the president's feud with the billionaire, who since leaving his government role has criticized Trump's Republican megabill as 'insane,' threatened to unseat conservative lawmakers who supported the legislation and publicly speculated about creating a new political party. Asked if he was considering deporting Musk — who became a U.S. citizen in 2002 — to his native South Africa, Trump said, 'I don't know, we'll have to take a look.' In a post to Truth Social late last night, Trump wrote, 'without subsidies, Elon would probably have to close up shop and head back home to South Africa.' Musk exercised restraint in his response on X today. 'So tempting to escalate this. So, so tempting. But I will refrain for now.' In the Courts ALL TOGETHER NOW: Sixteen states are suing the Trump administration for 'unconstitutionally' ending more than $1 billion in mental health-related grants created in the wake of mass school shootings, the states' attorneys general said today, WaPo's BEN BRASCH reports. When the Education Department began discontinuing the grants in April, it claimed that schools diversifying their pool of psychologists were misusing the funds. The lawsuit asks the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington in Seattle to declare the grant terminations as unlawful, reinstate the funding and prevent the department 'from imposing similar ideological conditions moving forward,' according to a news release from New York Attorney General LETITIA JAMES. What We're Reading Trump visits 'Alligator Alcatraz,' sending a political message (WaPo's Cat Zakrzewski, Lori Rozsa and Matt Viser) The Lawyer Who Became the Face of Trump's Deportation Agenda (Michael Linhorst for POLITICO Magazine) An Offhand Remark About Gold Bars, Secretly Recorded, Upended His Life (NYT's Lisa Friedman) POTUS PUZZLER ANSWER In 1989, after working on the presidential campaign of his father, GEORGE H.W. BUSH, the younger Bush (sort of) brought together a group of investors to buy an 86 percent share of the Texas Rangers for $86 million, according to the Center for Public Integrity. Bush borrowed the money from a bank in Midland where he was once a director. Bush still had some sway, including signing off on the Rangers trading then-20-year-old SAMMY SOSA to the Chicago White Sox in 1989 — which he in 2000 called his biggest mistake as an adult.
The Independent
2 days ago
- Business
- The Independent
Trump ally and mega investor launches PAC to go against Musk's political ambitions - and takes jab at Tesla in its name
A mega investor and ally of President Donald Trump has launched a super PAC to challenge Elon Musk's political ambitions. James Fishback, a former Department of Government Efficiency adviser, launched the FSD PAC Tuesday to counter Musk's 'antics.' FSD, a swipe at Tesla's 'Full Self Driving,' stands for 'Full Support for Donald', and its goal is to ensure that Musk doesn't undermine or weaken Trump's hold over the Republican party, according to Politico. 'There's real frustration in our movement with Elon and his antics,' Fishback told the outlet. 'I'm a big believer in what he's doing in the private sector. But when it comes to politics, he's dead wrong on this.' Fishback, 30, stepped back from DOGE after Musk's outbursts on X about the president, where the Tesla CEO claimed Trump is in the Epstein files and attacked the Big, Beautiful Bill. Musk threatened to create his own political party as the feud between him and Trump reignited this week over the spending bill. 'If this insane spending bill passes, the America Party will be formed the next day,' Musk wrote on X. Where Musk follows through on plans to fund third-party hopefuls to challenge Trump-endorsed candidates, FSD will step in to counter the world's richest man, Fishback said. 'If Elon actually launches a new party to take down Trump, I'm starting a Super PAC to defend the MAGA candidates he targets,' Fishback wrote in a post on X. 'I'll need your help to stop this sabotage of President Trump's winning agenda.' The investor is putting $1 million of his own money into FSD in a display of loyalty to Trump, he said on X. Fishback is the founder of investment firm Azoria Partners, which launched at Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida. He was the mastermind behind plans to deliver DOGE dividends, where some savings gleaned from cuts would be given back to the taxpayer. Uncertainty surrounds the proposal now that Musk and Fishback have stepped away from DOGE. In an interview last year, Fishback told MarketWatch his success grew from his humble beginnings as the son of a bus driver and a Colombian immigrant. 'In ten years, I went from helping my dad sell watermelons on the side of the road to generating over $100 million in trading profits,' he told the outlet. Still, despite Fishback's efforts, GOP insiders aren't too worried about Musk's potential meddling in races, given his failed attempt to influence the outcome of the Wisconsin Supreme Court race in April. 'He's finished, done, gone. He polls terribly. People hate him,' an anonymous GOP operative previously told Politico before Musk officially exited the White House. 'He'd go to Wisconsin thinking he can buy people's votes, wear the cheese hat, act like a 9-year-old. ... It doesn't work. It's offensive to people.'
