In High-Speed Power Grab, Trump Seeks to Remake the Federal Government
Plus: 11 Questions Senators Should Ask RFK Jr. This Week
Recently in The Bulwark:
BILL KRISTOL & ANDREW EGGER: Congressional Republicans Prefer Being a Doormat
ADRIAN CARRASQUILLO: Trump Turns Schools Into an Immigration Battleground
JOIN US TONIGHT at 8pm ET for a Members-Only Livestream!
The gang is going live tonight at 8pm ET to debrief the RFK Jr. hearing and talk about all the crazy coming out of Washington.
Join Tim, Sarah and JVL for a special live taping of The Next Level podcast. Watch along with fellow Bulwark+ members via the link below and join the live chat. If you’re not yet a member, there’s no better time to join than today.
If you like today’s issue, you can share this newsletter with someone you think would value it.
DON KETTL: In High-Speed Power Grab, Trump Seeks to Remake the Federal Government
THE SHEER SPEED AND HUGE NUMBER of actions taken by the Trump administration in its first week has left journalists and commentators breathless and bewildered. It’s as if Trump has dumped the pieces of the world’s biggest jigsaw puzzle across the streets of Washington: Everyone is chasing around the individual pieces, while only the Trump team has a sense of how all the pieces fit together.
So while journalists and commentators are looking at the administration’s freeze on all federal grants, including medical research funds; shutdown of communication from scientific and public health agencies; firing of most inspectors general; purging of DEI activities and personnel from the government and universities; and launch of migrant deportations, the Trump team already knows what they want it to look like—they’ve seen the picture on the outside of the box.
MARK HERTLING: Using Military Jets for Deportations Is an Ugly, Wasteful Spectacle
AMID THE TORRENT OF NEWS accompanying the new administration, the short-lived standoff between President Trump and Colombian President Gustavo Petro came and went before most people could untangle what had happened. The crisis is now resolved, but one detail struck me as particularly revealing: The standoff was sparked when two U.S. Air Force C-17 Globemaster III cargo planes filled with deportees were turned away from Colombian airspace.
🎥 PODCASTS AND VIDEOS 🎧
Bulwark Podcast with Tim Miller: Mona Charen: A Moment of Truth [YouTube]
Bulwark+ Live:
Did you know? Bulwark+ members can listen to an ad-free version of these podcasts on the player of their choice.
Learn more at Bulwark+ Podcast FAQ.
📣Bulwark+ members can now listen to ad-free podcasts on Spotify! Learn more here.
Our 🎥YouTube offerings are the free-versions of shows, and they do have ads.
✍️Also: Did you know that every podcast has a transcript for B+ members? Yes! If you’re more a reader than a listener/viewer, open any podcast and the transcript button is beneath the player.
THOMAS JOSCELYN AND NORMAN EISEN: Kash Patel: Jan. 6th DNC Pipe Bomb Could Be a ‘Government Ruse’
KASH PATEL, PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP’S NOMINEE to serve as FBI director, has suggested that the pipe bomb placed near the Democratic National Committee (DNC) Headquarters on January 6, 2021 could be a “government ruse.” Patel claimed the case files may show an “FBI rogue source” was responsible. And he alleged that evidence was “mounting” of a coverup by the FBI’s “government gangsters.” This extreme conspiracy theory—insinuating that the FBI itself was responsible for the pipe bomb, or covered up the truth—is an important part of the record disqualifying Patel from leading the organization he baselessly denigrates.
CATHY YOUNG: 11 Questions Senators Should Ask RFK Jr. This Week
ROBERT F. KENNEDY JR., the left-wing environmental lawyer and “health” crusader (scare quotes used advisedly) who embraced Donald Trump and the MAGA cause during last year’s presidential campaign after Kamala Harris rebuffed his overtures, is facing two Senate committee hearings this week on his nomination for secretary of health and human services. He may be Trump’s most controversial cabinet pick, with opposition not only from Democrats but from a group led by Trump’s former vice president, Mike Pence. While Pence’s group, Advancing American Freedom, has stressed Kennedy’s pro-choice stance on abortion, it has also drawn attention to his history of vaccine skepticism and support for psychedelics: “Any one of these controversies should be disqualifying for a potential HHS leader.” No kidding. And that’s even without getting into his various personal scandals, which arguably speak to his unfitness to lead an important government department. Or the time he opined, post-9/11, that American hog farmers were a bigger threats to liberty and democracy than Osama bin Laden. Or his peddling of a stolen-election hoax. (No, not that one: he still insists John Kerry was robbed in 2004.)
🚨OVERTIME🚨
Happy Wednesday! Hannah Yoest, our intrepid head of art, is celebrating the third anniversary of her Hellcat vertical.
Bob Menendez… Is going to jail for 11 years. Some good news? He’s not eligible for his pension, thanks to a law passed last year.
🎵On the Jukebox…🎵 Sam Fender’s beautifully done new People Watching music video starring Andrew Scott.
Pour one out for a real one… WTOP anchor Dimitri Sotis died suddenly at 55 earlier this week. While I don’t have drive time traffic radio needs here in Ohio, as I work from home, I listened to Sotis for years. A consummate pro and a big loss for Washingtonians.
“Is your job so much easier with Trump as President?” John Oliver, back for Season 12, sums it up.
Former doctor who participated in Jan. 6 attack… killed in shooting at West Seattle home (Seattle Times).
Karoline Leavitt’s word salad… Did not help her boss’s case. Whoops!
“I never said it…” “Actually, I have a transcript.” Warnock pins RFK Jr., but he has an explanation! Honest!
'So, grocery prices aren't going to come down?' CBS host busts J.D. Vance on the economy (Raw Story)
Talk about whiplash! Trump superfan “Catturd” is struggling over RFK as a litmus test. You hate to see it.
Child Launched Democratic Senator's "Watermelon Head"… at Kash Patel Kids' Book Event (MTN)
Cowardice… What’s the point of having “fuck you money” if you end up giving $25 million to Trump for kicking him off your social platform for fomenting a surrection?
Tech support questions? Email members@thebulwark.com. Questions for me? Respond to this message.
—30—
Editorial photos provided by Getty Images. For full credits, please consult the article.
