Latest news with #WestWingPlaybook:RemakingGovernment
Politico
4 hours ago
- Business
- Politico
Trump and Musk cool it — for now
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: The Supreme Court this afternoon gave the Department of Government Efficiency unfettered access to the Social Security records of millions of Americans, our JOSH GERSTEIN reports. The justices granted the Trump administration's emergency request to lift a lower court ruling that blocked a DOGE team assigned to the Social Security Administration from viewing or accessing the personal information in the agency's systems. In a separate order from the high court today, the justices gave DOGE another win, limiting access to its records from outside groups, Josh reports. TGIF: This week started with a question: Will DONALD TRUMP have a call with Chinese President XI JINPING to deescalate a trade war that could prove mutually ruinous to the world's largest economies? And now, it's ending with a new one: Will the president have a call with ELON MUSK to deescalate a war of words that could prove mutually destructive? While the White House is billing today's relative quiet as a détente, Trump allies, ill at ease about the possibility of another blowup at any minute, are calling it something else. 'Reminds me of the Cold War: mutual assured destruction,' said one Trump ally. Even as both men appeared to walk away from the edge, some White House officials and allies are privately acknowledging an uncomfortable truth: Trump is the most politically powerful man in the world, Musk is the wealthiest man in the world, and their fates have become inextricably linked. Musk needs U.S. contracts to support his businesses, and the U.S. needs the services Musk's companies provide. Trump, who overwhelmingly won the popular vote last year and a sizable social media following, has a singular platform he has shown willing to use at any moment to devastate Musk's businesses and send stocks crashing. And Musk, not only as owner of the social media platform X but the top GOP political donor last year, wields immense power to scramble the president's legislative agenda — with vast implications for the country's economic future, Trump's legacy and Republicans' majorities in Congress. Those factors are, at least in part, why Trump allies say the fight hasn't escalated. 'Of course,' the Trump ally added, 'the MAD deterrence worked — there was no nuclear war.' By today, mutual friends had pulled both back from the brink after a spat over the Trump-backed megabill and who should get credit for Trump winning the 2024 presidential election quickly escalated into a firestorm of personal insults and accusations. Musk on Thursday called for Trump's impeachment and suggested he has more links to a well known sex offender than previously known, while Trump threatened to cancel the billions of dollars in government contracts that form the foundation of Musk's businesses. Emblematic of Trumpworld's intervention, hedge fund manager BILL ACKMAN in a post on X urged the men to 'make peace for the benefit of our great country,' adding that 'we are much stronger together than apart,' a point that Musk in a separate post conceded was 'not wrong.' Trump, meanwhile, in multiple telephone interviews with reporters over the last 24 hours, including POLITICO, claimed he 'wasn't even thinking about Elon' and that the two wouldn't speak 'for awhile.' Amid rampant speculation about whether a call between the two men would happen, one White House official told POLITICO it was 'very possible' the two wouldn't speak today, adding that it was the 'most predictable schism ever.' Musk on Thursday night was hinting at his desire to call a truce after a dive in Tesla's stock price and Trump's threats to cancel his SpaceX contracts made clear the financial stakes. As for Trump, advisers and Hill leaders are likely to push him to refocus on passing his megabill — an effort that's likely to be far more difficult if he continues to goad Musk and the billions of dollars at his disposal. Read the full story here. 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 In 1979, what tennis scandal embroiled JIMMY CARTER? (Answer at bottom.) Musk Radar SOMEBODY THAT I USED TO KNOW: JAMES FISHBACK, the chief architect behind the proposal to send 'DOGE checks' to Americans, told Sophia today that he's stepping back from the movement after Musk trashed the president. 'The truth is that Elon set expectations that he relayed to the president, me, and the country that he did not come close to fulfilling. That's disappointing, but okay,' Fishback said. 'What's not okay is his baseless personal attacks against President Trump.' Fishback, the founder of an investment firm, made headway in conservative circles after proposing sending $5,000 payments to taxpayers funded by a share of DOGE's projected savings. Though Fishback never formally joined DOGE, the idea gained support from Musk and the president. CAN WE TAKE A STEP BACK? Republicans in Congress really want this détente between Trump and Musk, our GISELLE RUHIYYIH EWING, RACHAEL BADE, NICHOLAS WU and MEREDITH LEE HILL report. 'I just hope it resolves quickly, for the sake of the country,' said Speaker MIKE JOHNSON on CNBC's 'Squawk Box' this morning. 'Oh, it's OK,' Trump told POLITICO in a brief telephone call on Thursday when asked about the breakup. 'It's going very well, never done better.' A senior administration official and person close to the White House said Trump had been convinced that continuing to brawl with Musk would be counterproductive and a distraction from a host of good news the White House should be focused on, including his talks with the Chinese leader. Still, the president has continued his subtle jabs at Musk. He told ABC News this morning that the billionaire had 'lost his mind' and that he is 'not particularly' interested in engaging with him. Trump also told CNN that 'the poor guy's got a problem.' DOGE caucus chair Rep. AARON BEAN (R-Fla.) said he was 'shocked and dismayed' to see his 'two friends fighting,' but remains optimistic that the two men can mend relations. 'I believe there's a Diet Coke in their future, that they can settle it and cooler heads will prevail,' Bean said. 'We need them together. We need to be united, and we're stronger together.' In the Courts HELP US OUT: The Trump administration today asked the Supreme Court to green light its mass firings at the Department of Education, Gerstein reports. In an emergency appeal filed this morning, Solicitor General JOHN SAUER asked the high court to lift a preliminary injunction issued last month. While Trump has pledged to eliminate the department in its entirety, Sauer insisted that the reductions in force only target 'inefficiency' and are not an attempt to tear down the agency. Sauer said Boston-based U.S. District Judge MYONG JOUN's order was part of a pattern of federal judges overstepping their role. Agenda Setting CALIFORNICATION: The Trump administration is preparing to cancel a large swath of federal funding for California as soon as today, CNN's ANNIE GRAYER and GABE COHEN report. Agencies are being told to start looking for grants the administration can withhold from the state. On the Hill, at least one committee was told recently by a whistleblower that all research grants to California are going to be terminated. DANCING ON MY OWN: The fallout between Trump and Musk has left Tesla on a political life float, our DAVID FERRIS reports. Trump on Thursday threatened to pull all subsidies for his companies and just like that, Tesla's stock suffered its largest one-day drop in history. The share price fell more than 14 percent, lopping off more than $150 billion from its market value. According to Bloomberg, it tanked Musk's personal net worth by $34 billion. ONE WINNER: THE MOON … The U.S. moon mission suddenly has a brighter future following Musk and Trump's fallout, our SAM SKOVE reports. Musk has argued against returning astronauts to the moon. But the forced exit of Musk's handpicked nominee to lead NASA, JARED ISAACMAN, and Musk's rupture with the president, has landed moon backers in Congress and industry an opening. 'Elon was the main reason for the fork in the road for NASA's human exploration plans,' said CLAYTON SWOPE, a former congressional adviser on space. 'With his exodus from D.C., there's a good chance NASA will refocus back to the moon with the plan: moon then Mars.' A number of major space companies, excluding SpaceX, are now launching a television ad campaign going big on the moon. What We're Reading Elon Musk goes on a warpath against Trump and the GOP (POLITICO's Andrew Howard and Adam Wren) MAGA Faithful Shrug Off the Trump-Musk Dust-Up (POLITICO's Ben Jacobs) Trump races to fix a big mistake: DOGE fired too many people (WaPo's Hannah Natanson, Adam Taylor, Meryl Kornfield, Rachel Siegel and Scott Dance) Silicon Valley isn't joining Musk's Trump-bashing — yet (POLITICO's Chase DiFeliciantonio and Christine Mui) POTUS PUZZLER ANSWER When Carter first arrived in Washington, he played tennis 'more than any other single thing.' But that became a source of controversy after former White House speechwriter JIM FALLOWS said that requests to use the tennis court on the White House grounds needed to be approved directly by the president, according to the White House Historical Association. 'I have never personally monitored who used or did not use the White House tennis court,' Carter said of the accusation. He did admit to letting his secretary, SUSAN CLOUGH, receive requests from White House staff 'so that more than one person would not want to use the same tennis court simultaneously.'
Politico
a day ago
- Business
- Politico
The big, beautiful breakup
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 One of them brought a match. The other promptly supplied the kerosene. And, frankly, we just can't look away. DONALD TRUMP and ELON MUSK publicly set their relationship ablaze today, the epic reversal of what once appeared to be a bulletproof bromance. Today's drama began when Trump said during his bilateral meeting with German Chancellor FRIEDRICH MERZ that he was 'surprised' and 'disappointed' by Musk's multi-day social media attacks over the GOP's megabill, Trump's top legislative priority. 'Elon and I had a great relationship,' Trump told reporters. 'I don't know if we will anymore.' He later said he was 'very disappointed in Elon' and that he'd 'helped Elon a lot.' 'He hasn't said [anything] bad about me personally, but I'm sure that will be next,' the president said. Cue the social media blitz. Minutes later, Musk posted on X: 'Without me, Trump would have lost the election, Dems would control the House and Republicans would be 51-49 in the Senate.' 'Such ingratitude,' Musk added. He donated nearly $300 million in the 2024 election. Trump shot back on Truth Social, leveling a not-so-veiled threat against Musk where it really hurts: His billions of dollars in government contracts. 'The easiest way to save money in our Budget, Billions and Billions of Dollars, is to terminate Elon's Governmental Subsidies and Contracts,' Trump posted of the man he had deputized to cut government spending by reducing subsidies and slashing contracts. 'I was always surprised that Biden didn't do it!' In response, Musk said his company SpaceX would 'immediately' start decommissioning its Dragon spacecraft, which works with NASA to carry its astronauts to space. The schoolyard-petty nature of the divorce took a nastier turn when Musk accused Trump of being listed in the infamous Jeffrey Epstein files. He followed up with a cryptic message: 'Mark this post for the future. The truth will come out.' (We're around, Elon, whenever you wanna dish!) It's a remarkably quick about-face for what was arguably the most powerful billionaire pairing out there. Musk, after shattering fundraising records to sweep Trump into the White House, took on a prominent role atop the Department of Government Efficiency and was given broad authority — with little oversight — to slash his way through the federal bureaucracy over the last four months. Less than a week ago, to mark the end of Musk's 'special government employee' role, Musk and Trump appeared in the Oval together, thanking each other for their work over the course of a friendly, nearly hour-long news conference. Since then, Musk embarked on a three-day social media rampage while Trump held his fire, seemingly because Musk hadn't gone after him personally. Earlier today, Musk needled Trump directly for the first time — resurfacing old social media posts in which Trump said he was 'embarrassed' by Republican efforts to extend the debt limit. Musk shared the posts on X, which he owns, adding his own facetious approval. 'I cannot believe the Republicans are extending the debt ceiling—I am a Republican & I am embarrassed!' Trump wrote in the January 2013 post. 'Wise words,' Musk replied in a post today. Trump in the Oval today claimed Musk had known 'the inner workings of this bill better than almost anybody' and 'he had no problem with it.' That changed, Trump said, once Musk left the government last week. Now that Musk's officially unburdened by the bromance, perhaps we'll learn just how much else the administration has done that he actually, clearly, did have a problem with. 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 Who was the first former president to get his own library after leaving office? (Answer at bottom.) Musk Radar MUSK V. THE WORLD: Musk isn't only arguing with the president. Throughout the day, he continued attacks on Speaker MIKE JOHNSON and Senate Majority Leader JOHN THUNE, digging up videos of the two congressional leaders speaking about the need for less federal spending. 'Where is the Mike Johnson of 2023!?'; 'Where is the John Thune of 2020??' Musk captioned the posts. Johnson called Musk 'a good friend' earlier this morning. Musk also posted a poll asking his followers whether it's time to create a new political party. Fellow billionaire MARK CUBAN seemed to endorse the idea, responding to the poll with three check marks. One of Musk's exes and mother of one of his children, ASHLEY ST. CLAIR, chimed in on the saga: 'hey @realDonaldTrump lmk if u need any breakup advice.' ALWAYS GOT RON: Florida Gov. RON DeSANTIS appears to be the first major Republican to back Musk's call to primary Republicans who voted in favor of the immigration and tax megabill while not codifying DOGE cuts. Restore Our Nation, one of DeSantis' political fundraising committees that was retooled after his presidential campaign, blasted out a text message on Wednesday urging supporters to 'help elect real conservatives who will finish the job' of DOGE, our KIMBERLY LEONARD writes in. The text is the clearest sign yet that term-limited DeSantis plans to get involved in the 2026 primary and general elections. And this afternoon in the midst of Musk and Trump's breakup, DeSantis blasted out another fundraising email, titled, 'Elon Musk took the hits and led the charge.' In the Courts THOSE PESKY JUDGES: A federal judge today blocked the Trump administration from dismantling AmeriCorps in two dozen Democratic-led states, Ben and Sophia report. The ruling from U.S. District Judge DEBORAH BOARDMAN came after a coalition of 24 states and the District of Columbia sued the administration in April, accusing DOGE of illegally gutting the volunteer agency. Boardman's ruling says the administration 'likely violated' the Administrative Procedure Act by not providing an adequate notice-and-comment period, and that it must restore the affected AmeriCorps programs in the 24 states and D.C. She declined to weigh in on the widespread personnel cuts at the agency, which have hit 85 percent of the workforce. White House spokesperson ANNA KELLY said the ruling would not be the final say on the matter. 'President Trump has the right to restore accountability to the entire Executive Branch,' she said. Agenda Setting EXODUS AT HUD: So many staffers have departed the Department of Housing and Urban Development that the agency may not have enough employees to perform core government functions, Bloomberg's KRISTON CAPPS reports. A confidential report obtained by Bloomberg from HUD's Office of General Counsel warns that the loss of lawyers due to Trump administration staff cuts and early resignations is 'significantly increasing litigation risk and the risk of fraud, waste and abuse' across housing programs. The report comes ahead of a Government Accountability Office audit requested by Democrats including Sen. ELIZABETH WARREN (D-Mass.), ranking member of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs. Committee staff say the audit is necessary to ensure HUD can still adequately enforce fair housing laws in the wake of the DOGE cuts. NOT SO FAST: The government halted a plan to issue a $47 million contract for an expanded ICE detention center in Georgia amid the contract's review by DOGE, WaPo's DOUGLAS MacMILLAN and HANNAH NATANSON report. Federal policy requires all DHS contracts worth more than $20 million to be reviewed by DOGE. Knives Out OVER ON THE HILL: House Democrats today failed to subpoena Musk to testify on Capitol Hill, our HAILEY FUCHS reports. The House Oversight Committee rejected Democrats' request for Musk to appear before lawmakers in a party-line, 21-20 vote. Ranking member STEPHEN LYNCH (D-Mass.) argued that Musk, DOGE and the Trump administration threatened the 'privacy and security of all Americans' and that Trump has given Musk 'free reign to terrorize our civil servants.' What We're Reading The U.S. bought $12 million in aid for poor nations. Under Trump, it may be destroyed. (WaPo's Meg Kelly, Joyce Sohyun Lee, Jon Swaine and Sarah Blaskey) Senate Republicans Seek to Protect NASA Programs Targeted for Cuts (WSJ's Micah Maidenberg) Trump 101: Inside world leaders' playbook for surviving the Oval Office meeting (POLITICO's Eli Stokols, Robbie Gramer and Nick Taylor-Vaisey) POTUS PUZZLER ANSWER The first presidential library was built for former President RUTHERFORD B. HAYES in 1916 in Fremont, Ohio. But the first federally administered presidential library was built in 1939 in honor of former President FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT, who was the first to hand over his personal and presidential records to the federal government. The FDR Presidential Library and Museum was then built in Hyde Park, New York. The Presidential Records Act was passed in 1978, declaring that all future presidents must turn their records over to the National Archives.
Politico
2 days ago
- Politics
- Politico
Dems eye a villain-to-ally arc for 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 | Email Holly ELON MUSK has been the Democratic Party's boogeyman since shortly after President DONALD TRUMP deputized him as a top adviser. But the billionaire's recent breaks with the GOP — Musk ripped Trump's 'big, beautiful bill' as a 'disgusting abomination' on X this week and threatened to 'fire all politicians' who backed it — are complicating the party's portrayal of him as a chainsaw-wielding, bureaucracy-breaking villain. A few Democrats are eager to welcome Musk, who said he voted for former President JOE BIDEN in 2020 and gave a tour of SpaceX to then-President BARACK OBAMA, back into the fold. Rep. RO KHANNA (D-Calif.), who represents Silicon Valley and has known Musk for over a decade, said Democrats should 'be in a dialogue' with Musk, given their shared opposition to the GOP's megabill. 'We should ultimately be trying to convince him that the Democratic Party has more of the values that he agrees with,' Khanna said. 'A commitment to science funding, a commitment to clean technology, a commitment to seeing international students like him.' Other Democrats are warming back up to Musk as he leaves the White House and starts to break with his former boss in ways that could benefit the opposition. 'I'm a believer in redemption, and he is telling the truth about the legislation,' said Rep. RITCHIE TORRES (D-N.Y.). But, he added, Musk has 'done an enormous amount of damage' and 'there are Democrats who see his decimation of the federal workforce and the federal government as an unforgivable sin.' LIAM KERR, co-founder of the group behind the centrist Democrats' WelcomeFest meeting today in Washington, said 'of course' Democrats should, ahem, welcome Musk back into the party. 'You don't want anyone wildly distorting your politics, which he has a unique capability to do. But it's a zero-sum game,' Kerr said. 'Anything that he does that moves more toward Democrats hurts Republicans.' Rep. BRAD SCHNEIDER (D-Ill.), the chair of the New Democrat Coalition who earlier this year supported the party's targeting of Musk as the Department of Government Efficiency slashed through federal agencies, said that with his departure from Washington, Democrats shouldn't make Musk their focus. 'We should be talking about what we're doing for the American people,' he said. It's hard to imagine an outright reunion taking place between Musk and Democrats in the near future. And Trump and Musk are said to still be friendly. (Watch Truth Social for updates!) Still, Musk recently threatened to cut off the money spigot for Republicans. And Democrats would have a lot to gain by merely keeping the world's richest man on the sidelines in the midterm elections and beyond. If Musk makes a mess of GOP primaries, that would work in their favor, too. But Musk's recent heel-turn also risks reopening a divide between progressives and moderates over how to approach him and other billionaires. 'Our caucus has done the right thing and gone toe-to-toe against Musk,' said Rep. GREG CASAR (D-Texas), chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus and one of the party's most vocal advocates for making Musk an antagonist on the campaign trail. Others are taking a wait-and-see approach. 'I don't think we should take one ketamine-fueled tweet as evidence of a change of heart,' said MATT BENNETT, co-founder of the center-left group Third Way. 'It's more complicated.' THE DOGE AFTERMATH: Empty beer bottles and leftover marijuana were strewn about. Cockroaches and rodents scurried around. The U.S. Institute of Peace looked like a frat house after an all-weekend rager when its employees were granted access to its Washington headquarters last month, according to USIP's head of security, COLIN O'BRIEN. USIP is an independent, congressionally funded organization that DOGE took over in March. When employees returned following a court order that blocked the Trump administration from dismantling the institute, they found the multimillion-dollar building on the National Mall in disarray. O'Brien said that based on accounts from people who were in the building during the two month-long DOGE takeover, 'they were smoking weed in the building' and leftover marijuana was scattered about. Numerous USIP flags throughout the building were missing when the institute's employees returned, he added. When USIP employees were removed from their positions following a dramatic standoff with DOGE staffers, they had to turn in their laptops, cell phones and chargers. But when they came back last week, the hundreds of laptops were haphazardly stacked on top of each other, with no documentation of their ownership. Hundreds of chargers were thrown in recycle and waste baskets, which employees had to dig out, O'Brien said. 'It was neglect,' he said. 'These folks don't know how to run a large, multi- building commercial office complex.' The White House did not respond to a request for comment. 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 [email protected]. Did someone forward this email to you? Subscribe! POTUS PUZZLER Which president was considered 'The Dude'? (Answer at bottom.) Musk Radar ANGERED SOME FOLKS: The top two congressional leaders rebutted Musk's criticism of Trump's 'big, beautiful bill' today, as the Tesla CEO continued to attack the legislation and threatened to 'fire' the lawmakers who supported it next November, our MEREDITH LEE HILL and JORDAIN CARNEY report. Speaker MIKE JOHNSON spent time in a closed-door House GOP conference this morning pushing back on Musk's comments and reassuring Republicans. 'I think he's flat wrong, and I've told him as much,' Johnson said at a news conference. Senate Majority Leader JOHN THUNE downplayed the impact of Musk's criticism. 'Obviously he has some influence, got a big following on social media,' he told reporters. 'But at the end of the day, this is a 51-vote exercise here in the Senate, and I think [the] question for our members is going to be: Would you prefer the alternative? And the alternative isn't a good one.' BEEN A LONG TIME COMING: Musk's issues with the White House existed long before his criticism of Trump's megabill, ABC News' RACHEL SCOTT and WILL STEAKIN report. Multiple people described a widening rift between the two men on a number of issues. Musk has particularly taken issue with the spending bill's electric vehicle tax credit cut. He has also become increasingly frustrated with the administration striking AI deals with his competitor, SAM ALTMAN. He was also frustrated by the administration's decision last week to pull the nomination of JARED ISAACMAN, a longtime ally of Musk, to lead NASA. Agenda Setting NOT HOW THAT WORKS: Trump administration officials delayed and redacted a government forecast report because it predicted an increase in the country's trade deficit in farm goods later this year, our MARCIA BROWN reports. The numbers run contrary to the president's messaging that his economic policies, including steep tariffs, will reduce U.S. trade imbalances. The data prompted officials to block the publication of the written analysis normally attached to the report because they disliked what it said about the deficit. The report, released Monday, includes numbers unchanged from how they would've read in the unredacted report. ASTERISK NEXT TO THIS ONE: Economists are questioning the accuracy of recent U.S. inflation data following significant government cuts, WSJ's MATT GROSSMAN reports. The Bureau of Labor Statistics, the office that publishes the inflation rate, told outside economists this week that a hiring freeze at the agency forced the survey to cut back on the number of businesses that participate in price checks. Government statisticians had to use a less precise method for guessing price changes in last month's report than in previous ones. WHO'S IN, WHO'S OUT HERE TO STAY: At least three of Musk's early DOGE operatives and key lieutenants are staying in the government as full-time employees, WIRED's MAKENA KELLY reports. EDWARD CORISTINE, LUKE FARRITOR and ETHAN SHAOTRAN's employment designations at the GSA have officially been converted to full-time from the restricted classification that limited their time in government to 130 days. Coristine, otherwise known as 'Big Balls,' previously worked for a telecommunications firm known for hiring former blackhat hackers. KYLE SCHUTT, another early DOGE operative, has also appeared to change employment classification at least twice but is still listed as a special government employee. HUH? During his testimony in front of a House appropriations committee on the president's budget request this afternoon, OMB Director RUSS VOUGHT said former Boring CEO STEVE DAVIS is currently leading DOGE but that they're in the middle of 'establishing leadership on an ongoing basis.' But with Davis reportedly also out the door, Rep. MARK POCAN (D-Wis.) had a question: 'Who's in charge of DOGE?' 'The Cabinet agencies that are in charge of the DOGE consultants that work for them are fundamentally in charge of DOGE,' Vought said. Knives Out MORE ON THE DRUGS … Rep. STEPHEN LYNCH (D-Mass.), ranking member on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, today asked Trump for information about Musk's alleged drug use during the 2024 campaign and whether he was consuming illicit substances during his time as an adviser at the White House, CBS News' MELISSA QUINN reports. Lynch wrote in a letter to the president that he is beginning an investigation into the extent of Musk's alleged drug use and asked Trump to turn over information about what he or other officials knew about it. 'The drastic and erratic nature of Mr. Musk's decisions and actions as a government employee, coupled with the reports of his drug use, begs the question of whether Mr. Musk was under the influence of illicit substances while working in your White House,' Lynch wrote. What We're Reading A Gross and Brazen 'DOGE Check' Scam (The Bulwark's Andrew Egger, Cathy Young and Jim Swift) How DOGE's push to amass data could hurt the reliability of future U.S. statistics (NPR's Hansi Lo Wang) A Student at Brown Channeled Elon Musk. Then He Got in Trouble (NYT's Jeremy W. Peters) Karine Jean-Pierre is leaving the Democratic Party. Her former White House colleagues have some thoughts. (POLITICO's Eli Stokols) POTUS PUZZLER ANSWER No, not JEFF BRIDGES. It was CHESTER A. ARTHUR, of course. In the late 1800s, a 'dude' was considered 'a term of mockery for young men who were overly concerned with keeping up with the latest fashions.' And Arthur lived up to the nickname, as he had a love for fashion. After he became president following JAMES GARFIELD's assassination, Arthur spent $30,000 (almost $1 million today) on renovating the White House to better handle his extravagant parties.
Politico
3 days ago
- Business
- Politico
A former Job Corps champion leads its demise
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 When LORI CHAVEZ-DeREMER served in Congress, she was honored for championing the Job Corps program. As Labor secretary, she's the face of its impending demise. Chavez-DeRemer has initiated the full-scale shutdown of the $1.7 billion War on Poverty-era program that trains and houses tens of thousands of low-income youth each year and has enjoyed bipartisan support in Congress. It's a surprising reversal for the former Oregon Republican who in late 2023 promised to 'continue doing my part to expand education and career training opportunities for students.' It also underscores how the Trump administration's effort to reshape the federal government will persist even after DOGE brainchild ELON MUSK's exit from Washington. Federal contractors last week were told to shut down the 99 Job Corps centers across the country that house, train and teach some 25,000 predominantly low-income young people by June 30. The Labor Department already paused new enrollment as it conducted a review of the program. On Thursday, DOL said it believes Job Corps is financially unsustainable and too often fails those it serves. 'Our comprehensive review of Job Corps revealed significant systemic issues – including an alarming number of serious incidents, poor student outcomes, and unsustainable costs,' DOL spokesperson COURTNEY PARELLA said in a statement. 'With only 38% of students graduating, it's clear the program is failing the majority of participants.' Chavez-DeRemer has said she remains committed to the young people who turn to Job Corps but that she did not understand the extent of its shortcomings until arriving at DOL. The White House last month proposed eliminating Job Corps as part of its budget request, but the move to idle centers and send enrollees packing is a dramatic escalation of its plans. It also differs from President DONALD TRUMP's first term, in which DOL sought steep cuts to the program but intended to keep it running. Congress largely preserved the status quo. Many of the administration's actions stem from an analysis of the Job Corps program that it says lay bare its failures. The report initially said the program's average per-student cost was more than $107,000, which DOL later updated to $80,300. A DOL spokesperson said the initial figure was the result of an uploading error, and the issue was fixed the same day it was released on April 25. Job Corps supporters argue DOL designed the data analysis to intentionally paint the program in a poor light. 'These are at-risk youth, and naturally the numbers [for graduation rates] are going to be lower,' said WENOMIA PERSON, a former Job Corps staffer who is now an officer at one of the unions representing DOL workers. 'It's not resolving the problem to send these kids back home and onto the streets.' Chavez-DeRemer has embraced DOGE, hiring its acolytes and allowing the cost-cutting outfit to get the first crack at announcing cancellation of DOL grant awards and other reductions. She also has a standing weekly check-in with DOGE, according to recently released public schedules of her first months as secretary. Those meetings were first reported by Bloomberg Law. In turn, DOGE has frequently held up DOL as a poster child for paring back on phone lines and other underutilized expenses and placed it near the top of the leaderboard on its so-called wall of receipts, despite having one of the smallest budgets among Cabinet agencies. The National Job Corps Association, the group that awarded Chavez-DeRemer in 2023 her for her work supporting the program, is now suing her to block DOL's attempt to suspend the program. The group hopes 'she will stop the Job Corps closures that are needlessly jeopardizing the lives of some of the most vulnerable young Americans and instead work to implement necessary reforms, including those she voted for in Congress,' NJCA President DONNA HAY said in a statement. The Transportation Communications Union, a rail union that operates an advanced Job Corps program, is now calling employers to help students land job interviews. ARTIE MARATEA, president of the union, noted that Trump was 'just talking about the need for more trade schools – well we are a trade school, and our graduates make good money, with pensions and benefits.' 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 Who were the only major party presidential nominees born in Michigan? (Answer at bottom.) Musk Radar AND, HERE. WE. GO: Once wasn't enough. Musk again made his thoughts known on the president's 'Big, Beautiful Bill' this afternoon, our GISELLE RUHIYYIH EWING reports. 'I'm sorry, but I just can't stand it anymore,' Musk wrote on X. 'This massive, outrageous, pork-filled Congressional spending bill is a disgusting abomination. Shame on those who voted for it: you know you did wrong. You know it.' Musk added in a separate X post that the bill 'will massively increase the already gigantic budget deficit to $2.5 trillion (!!!) and burden America[n] citizens with crushingly unsustainable debt.' During today's White House press briefing, which was underway when Musk posted, press secretary KAROLINE LEAVITT brushed aside his comments, saying that Trump 'already knows where Elon Musk stood on this bill. It doesn't change the president's opinion.' In the Courts 'LAST SUPPER': The HHS personnel records DOGE used to decide which employees to fire were 'hopelessly error-ridden' and contained 'systemic inaccuracies,' according to a new class-action lawsuit, our DANIEL BARNES and LAUREN GARDNER report. The records reflected lower performance ratings than what employees had actually received, and in some cases, listed incorrect job locations and job descriptions, the suit alleges. The lawsuit seeks unspecified monetary damages for all HHS employees who were terminated on April 1 and whose reduction-in-force notice contained incorrect information. The lawsuit also claims the HHS layoffs were made because of a 'deep-seated animus toward federal workers.' The day before one employee received a RIF notice, a young man in business attire drove past the employee while in the empty FDA parking garage. He 'shouted at her from the car: 'This is DOGE and this is your Last Supper!'' the suit states. 'He laughed and drove off. The employee was shaken, but didn't understand the incident at the time. She received her RIF notice the next morning.' Agenda Setting BEEFING UP DOGE: Tucked inside of the White House's budget appendix released Friday is evidence of the DOGE operation's staying power, POLITICO's E&E News' ROBIN BRAVENDER reports. The White House is proposing increasing DOGE's staffers from an estimated 89 people in fiscal 2025 to 150 in fiscal 2026, according to the document. DOGE would also get more cash under the proposal: It spent an estimated $20 million in fiscal 2025, which would be boosted in fiscal 2026 to $45 million. WORK BAN LOOMS: The Trump administration is considering blocking most asylum-seekers from getting work permits, a proposal that would upend longstanding U.S. immigration policy, CBS News' CAMILO MONTOYA-GALVEZ reports. The U.S. has since the 1990s allowed migrants with pending asylum claims to work in the country lawfully while their cases are decided. BUT WE THOUGHT … Trump is asking Congress for a multibillion-dollar spending increase for FEMA's Disaster Relief Fund next year, after months of pledging to cut federal funding for natural disaster response, POLITICO's E&E News' THOMAS FRANK reports. Trump asked for a record-high $26.5 billion for the fund, which reimburses states for disaster cleanup and recovery — up from $22.5 billion for the fiscal year that begins Oct. 1. 'The numbers here kind of contradict the narrative recently — in a good way. It's coming out better than expected,' said CARRIE SPERANZA, head of the U.S. division of the International Association of Emergency Managers. MORE ON FEMA: FEMA officials are scrapping a hurricane response plan that acting FEMA head DAVID RICHARDSON had told staff was close to completion, WSJ's SCOTT PATTERSON and TARINI PARTI report. Richardson told staff on Monday that the agency would return to the same guidance for hurricane response as last year — including having staffers go door-to-door to help storm survivors — despite the agency having already eliminated several key programs and positions. Richardson said he didn't want to create a new plan that could contradict the FEMA review council, created by DHS Secretary KRISTI NOEM. And shockingly, Richardson reportedly suggested he didn't know there was a hurricane season until recently. 'Yesterday, as everybody knows, [was the] first day of hurricane season,' he said. 'I didn't realize it was a season.' During today's briefing, Leavitt expressed confidence in Noem and Richardson while calling his comments 'jokes.' WHO'S IN, WHO'S OUT TROUBLE TROUBLE: Trump's nominee to lead the U.S. Forest Service, MICHAEL BOREN, has been a thorn in the agency's side for years, NYT's HIROKO TABUCHI reported ahead of Boren's confirmation hearing before the Senate Agriculture Committee this afternoon. The billionaire tech company leader and Trump donor was accused of flying a helicopter dangerously close to a crew building a Forest Service trail in 2020, prompting officials to seek a restraining order. Boren also got a caution from the agency when he built a private airstrip on his Hell Roaring Ranch in a national recreation area. And in the fall, the agency sent a cease-and-desist letter accusing a company that Boren controlled of building an unauthorized cabin on National Forest land. CYBER CUTS: Roughly 1,000 people have left the government's top cybersecurity agency, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, since Trump took office, Axios' SAM SABIN reports. CISA is also facing a 17 percent budget cut under the president's spending proposal. The White House suggested cutting CISA's workforce by 1,083 positions — from 3,732 to 2,649 — during fiscal 2026, but Axios reports that the agency has already reached those numbers. What We're Reading A Stephen Miller Staffer and Tough Talk: Inside Trump's Latest Attack on Harvard (NYT's Michael S. Schmidt and Michael C. Bender) U.S. Scientists Warn That Trump's Cuts Will Set Off a Brain Drain (NYT's Kate Zernike) Cuba tried to improve its relations with the US by cooperating with Trump's deportation flights. It didn't work. (POLITICO's Eric Bazail-Eimil) POTUS PUZZLER ANSWER Former New York Gov. THOMAS E. DEWEY was a native of Owosso, Michigan, and MITT ROMNEY is a native of Detroit. Former President GERALD FORD was a member of Michigan's congressional delegation, but was born in Nebraska.
Politico
4 days ago
- Politics
- Politico
Foreign student crackdown just beginning
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 In an escalation of the Trump administration's war with the country's top colleges, some of the most powerful people in the White House are making the case to significantly limit international students' presence at U.S. universities. The White House has already moved to restrict foreign students at Harvard University and attempted to revoke the green cards and visas of pro-Palestinian student activists. The administration intensified that posture last week, when Secretary of State MARCO RUBIO announced that the U.S. would 'aggressively revoke' visas for some Chinese students. Rubio and President DONALD TRUMP have largely framed those crackdowns as a matter of national security. But some influential figures in and around the White House say foreign students limit the opportunities available to American students. In March, Vice President JD VANCE said that international students studying in the United States are 'bad for the American dream, for American kids who want to go to a nice university but can't because their spot was taken by a foreign student.' Cutting down on the number of foreign students is 'actually an opportunity for American students to really flourish,' he said Thursday on Newsmax. 'This idea that American students don't have the talent to do great things, that you have to import a foreign class of [students] and professors to do these things — I just reject that,' the vice president added. 'I think [if] we invest in our own people, we can do a lot of good.' STEPHEN MILLER, the White House deputy chief of staff responsible for much of Trump's domestic policy agenda, including the crackdown on elite universities, echoed Vance on Friday. Asked about the revocation of Chinese student visas, Miller told reporters, 'we don't do enough in this country to reward and celebrate American genius.' 'We want to have an immigration policy that allows … people who have specialized knowledge to be able to contribute to our national economic security,' Miller added. 'What we can't do is have a system that deprives Americans of an opportunity to contribute to their own country.' About 1.1 million international students studied in the U.S. during the 2023-24 academic year, according to federal data, representing just under 6 percent of the total U.S. university enrollment. But top universities tend to take higher proportions of international students, composing nearly 30 percent of Harvard's student body and about 40 percent of Columbia University's. Those students are generally not eligible for federal or state financial aid and tend to receive less aid from colleges and universities than domestic students. 'A lot of these foreign students, most of them pay full freight,' Vance said in March. 'Sometimes at an elite university, like a Columbia or a Harvard, you have a well qualified, middle-class American kid from the heartland who doesn't get a spot in these universities because some Chinese oligarch who's paying $100,000 a year takes up that spot.' The United States is unambiguously home to the world's top universities, with the Ivy League and its highly selective peers at the pinnacle. They pump out the world's most Nobel laureates and serve as a magnet for intelligent and ambitious students from across the globe. XI MINGZE, the daughter of Chinese President XI JINPING, graduated from Harvard in 2014. And PRINCESS ELISABETH, heir apparent to the Belgian throne, is currently studying at Harvard (the Belgian Royal House is reportedly 'investigating' the situation for international students on campus). 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 Who was the first president to visit both Moscow and Beijing? (Answer at bottom.) Musk Radar 'A WHIPPING BOY': Two days after ELON MUSK bid goodbye to Washington, CBS News' 'Sunday Morning' aired its full interview with the Tesla CEO. Asked about how DOGE's unpopularity caused reputational damage to Musk and his companies, the billionaire called it 'a bit unfair,' adding that the initiative had become 'a whipping boy for everything.' Musk then 'started talking about the Trump administration, without even being asked about Trump,' writes CBS News' DAVID POGUE. 'It's not like I agree with everything the administration does,' Musk said. He added: 'But it's difficult for me to bring that up in an interview because then it creates a bone of contention. So then, I'm a little stuck in a bind, where I'm like, well, I don't wanna, you know, speak up against the administration, but I also don't wanna take responsibility for everything this administration's doing.' One example of that contention? Musk said he was 'disappointed' by the 'big, beautiful bill,' Trump's landmark legislation. CBS News aired a clip of that exchange last Tuesday — and the next day, Musk formally announced his departure. Agenda Setting CUTTING THROUGH THE RED TAPE: The Office of Personnel Management announced a new rule today that would make it easier to fire federal workers for 'serious misconduct' by cutting through red tape to 'improve the efficiency, rigor and timeliness by which OPM and agencies vet individuals for risk to the integrity and efficiency of the service,' Fox News' ANDREW MARK MILLER reports. The rule would empower agencies to more easily terminate employees by giving them 'broader authority' to 'flag conduct' that is 'inconsistent with the public trust,' such as leaking information or evading taxes, OPM said. CONSIDERING IMPOUNDMENT: Office of Management and Budget Director RUSSELL VOUGHT said on CNN Sunday that the White House was considering impoundment as a way to formalize DOGE's cuts without going through Congress, Axios' AVERY LOTZ reports. Vought said the administration 'might' send all of DOGE's cuts to Congress for approval — but also said 'some we may not actually have to get ... Congress to pass the rescissions bills' because 'we have executive tools; we have impoundment.' That could set the stage for a Supreme Court fight over the Impoundment Control Act, which bars the president from cutting funding without Congress' permission. EYE OF THE STORM: Hurricane season officially began Sunday, and state and local officials across the U.S. are concerned about the nation's ability and willingness to handle natural disasters, POLITICO's E&E News' CHELSEA HARVEY, ADAM ATON and THOMAS FRANK report. Staff cuts at the National Weather Service have slightly worsened the accuracy of weather models. A pall of uncertainty hangs over the nation as Trump and his deputies speak about 'eliminating' the Federal Emergency Management Agency. And Democratic-led states fear the White House will cut off disaster aid if they spurn its deportation efforts. Knives Out UPHEAVAL AT FBI: Director KASH PATEL's vision of an FBI under Trump is quietly taking shape. Patel and Deputy Director DAN BONGINO have demoted, placed on leave and forced out agents and in an effort to hunt down the sources of news leaks — with Patel forcing employees to take polygraph tests, the NYT's ADAM GOLDMAN reports. The moves are causing upheaval among staff at the FBI, eliciting fear and uncertainty as Patel and Bongino quickly restock senior ranks with agents and focus the agency on immigration issues. TAKE TWO: The Trump administration is attempting to once again eliminate the small agency charged with investigating dangerous chemical accidents and releases, POLITICO's E&E News' ELLIE BORST reports. According to a supplement OMB released on Friday, the Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board would be 'permanently cancelled' by the end of September 2026. It's not the first time Trump and Vought have tried to axe CSB. Trump during his first administration repeatedly asked Congress to zero out the CSB's budget, to no avail. In the Courts SCOTUS ON AGENCY LAYOFFS, PART DEUX: The Trump administration returned to the Supreme Court today with a second emergency request to block a federal judge in San Francisco from holding up layoffs of tens of thousands of federal employees, our JOSH GERSTEIN writes in. Solicitor General JOHN SAUER made a similar request last month, seeking to halt a temporary restraining order U.S. District Judge SUSAN ILLSTON issued stopping the reductions in force across most of the executive branch. Sauer pulled that application after Illston, a BILL CLINTON appointee, followed up with a preliminary injunction that found a Trump executive order prompted agencies to carry out the layoffs without following legally required procedures. Sauer contended in both high court filings that Trump's order is 'unquestionably lawful.' While Illston's order applies nationwide, it was issued in the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, which is overseen by Justice ELENA KAGAN. She gave the array of government worker unions, nonprofit groups and cities suing to stop the layoffs until next Monday to respond. WHO'S IN, WHO'S OUT MASS EXODUS AT THE FAA: Resignations and retirements are building across the Federal Aviation Administration, potentially affecting divisions that oversee everything from air traffic to legal matters and space launches, WSJ's ANDREW TANGEL reports. 'Employees are departing the agency in mass quantities across all skill levels,' read a May 7 internal presentation to senior FAA management, outlining the effects of the deferred-resignation program. A similar presentation by the agency's human resources staff said that more than 1,200 employees were leaving under the program. FORMER FED GETS ELECTED: A former U.S. Digital Service employee was elected to serve on the nonpartisan Haddonfield Borough Commission in New Jersey four months after quitting her federal government job, USA Today's SARAH WIRE reports. ITIR COLE's victory places her at the forefront of a flood of former federal workers looking to run for public office. What We're Reading DOGE vowed to make government more 'efficient' — but it's doing the opposite (WaPo's Hannah Natanson) DOGE closed campgrounds at Pa.'s biggest lake. Now, the locals are suffering. (The Philadelphia Inquirer's Jason Nark) Musk and DOGE are a metaphor for early months of Trump's administration (WaPo's Dan Balz) The Secret History of Trump's Private Cellphone (The Atlantic's Ashley Parker and Michael Scherer) Opinion: Is This the Beginning of the End of America's National Parks? (Ted Kerasote for NYT Opinion) POTUS PUZZLER ANSWER When he traveled to Beijing in February 1972, RICHARD NIXON became the first president to visit China. In May of the same year, Nixon became the first president to visit Moscow and the second to visit the Soviet Union, after former President FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT.
