Week 5: The Musky Smell Starts to Irritate Some Noses
What's happened/happening in the Trump world order
Thanks for your patience, my sister “got married” this week, so we had an impromptu celebration in Austin, TX this weekend, hence the brief delay!
With Monday being a slow news day, I mistakenly thought the Trump administration was slowing down. Turns out, they were taking full advantage of the holiday 😵💫. Indeed, the Trump admin is still firing on all cylinders, hammering the news cycle with executive orders, announcements, and tweets daily. Here’s the week’s roundup.
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✍️ Executive Orders: What’s Coming
Expand In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) (READ): On Tuesday, Trump signed an executive order expanding access to IVF, a campaign promise he made last year. The EO does not take any direct action to expand IVF but directs the Domestic Policy Council to create a list of policies in 90 days that would protect IVF and reduce out-of-pocket costs for treatment.
Implications: IVF has become an intra-party debate since an Alabama Supreme Court ruling last year defined frozen embryos as children under state law. Alabama Governor Kay Ivey subsequently passed a law that provided immunity to IVF providers in the state, though the AL Supreme Court’s ruling was left unchanged.
Following the Alabama ruling, the Catholic Church publicly announced its opposition to IVF. Amid the decisions, Congressional Republicans and Trump maintained a pro-IVF stance. Trump promised to expand access should he win the election. House Democrats too introduced IVF protection legislation, though Republicans opposed the bill, claiming the text was too broad. After Trump’s EO was announced, Democrats accused the president of a “PR stunt,” while several anti-abortion advocates spoke out against the EO, admonishing Trump for “promoting eugenics.”
Monitor Independent Agencies (READ): Trump signed an executive order Tuesday that gives power to the Office of Management and Budget to oversee the actions of independent agencies (e.g., the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the Securities and Exchange Commission, and the Federal Communications Commission), ensuring they are under supervision and in line with his agenda.
Implications: Congress established the agencies to be independent from presidential politics. This allows for continuity and non-partisan decision-making across the agencies that outlast their presidential appointer. During his first term, Trump reportedly wrote to the Department of Justice asking if it was within his jurisdiction to have independent agencies submit for regulatory review (e.g., ensuring actions are consistent with the president’s policies and priorities).
The DOJ responded that it was within his right, but Trump never followed through/issued the order. Now, the order has been issued and was immediately challenged. The lawsuit will likely escalate to the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court has previously allowed Congress to establish independent agencies, but the limitations of the White House's ability to supervise them have yet to be tested. Frankly, the conservative Court makeup suggests that Trump will come out victorious.
What’s Next:
United States Postal Service (USPS) → Trump Postal Service: In the coming days, Trump is reportedly planning to fire the bipartisan governing board of the USPS and subsume the entity into his administration under the Department of Commerce. This report follows Postmaster General Louis DeJoy’s abrupt resignation this week, having completed only five years of a ten-year term. DeJoy was appointed under Trump in 2020 and stayed throughout the Biden administration, though the current admin was reportedly vetting other candidates.
Back in the fall, Trump discussed the potential privatization of the USPS, something he tentatively explored in his first term as well. Trump, however, was not able to gain congressional support during his previous tenure. While he might garner more support this go around, he would likely face legal accusations that he is violating federal law. Indeed, reportedly, the USPS plans to challenge any order and sue the president. That said, after the Washington Post’s report, the White House responded that no such order was forthcoming. Meaning it’ll likely come out next week.
🗣️Announcements: What’s Happening
Musk Micromanages: On Saturday, Elon Musk tweeted that federal employees will receive an email requesting information on “what they got done last week.” Musk’s tweet indicates that failure to respond “will be taken as a resignation.”
Shortly after, the Office of Personnel Management sent an email requesting a 5 bullet summary on what federal employees did last week, asking them to cc their manager on the email. Rather than note that a non-response = resignation, the email gave employees a deadline of 11:59 pm Monday to respond.
The move follows a Trump post Saturday morning, requesting that Elon “get more aggressive.” Essentially, the boss gives feedback to the middle manager who then takes it as a directive to micromanage his subordinates. Classic office politics.
In response, however, many agencies, including the FBI, emailed their workforce instructing them to hold off responding. Setting up a battle between DOGE & Trump’s new nominees. We’ll see how the president reacts.
U.S.-Russia-
Ukraine: On Wednesday, Trump called Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy a dictator, blaming Ukraine for starting the war on Russia.
Timeline of Events:
Last week, Trump announced that Russia agreed to start negotiations on ending the Russia-Ukraine war. Zelenskyy responded that Ukraine should be involved in the talks–Trump agreed. Tensions arose after Sec. Def Hegseth commented last week that Ukraine would likely not return to its pre-war borders, nor that the country should expect to join NATO, comments he later walked back.
February 17: Ahead of the U.S.’s planned talks, France called an emergency meeting with the EU and the U.K. to decide how to respond. The U.K. and Sweden indicated a potential deployment of troops to Ukraine to help “secure an eventual peace.” Macron also spoke on the phone with Trump regarding the ongoing conflict.
February 18: The United States and Russia met in Saudi Arabia to discuss a path forward to ending the Russia-Ukraine war. An agreement between the two countries to restore officials at the respective embassies and “address irritants” in the two countries’ relationship emerged from the talks. Despite promises to include Zelenskyy in the talks, Ukraine was notably absent from the discussion. Zelenskyy blasted Trump for not including Ukraine, saying Ukraine wouldn’t accept any outcome where they were not involved in the negotiations.
In response: The same day, Trump lambasts Zelenskyy, blaming Ukraine for starting the war. He doubled down on Wednesday, tweeting that Zelenskyy is a “dictator without elections” throwing a wrench in the supposed negotiations.
Implications: The U.S. has provided foreign aid to Ukraine since the start of the war, an agreement that Trump had suggested should be tied to Ukraine’s foreign mineral supply–Zelenskyy agreed. Now, these negotiations have been tarnished. Instead, the U.S. is looking likely to lift sanctions on Russia and strengthen ties with the country, with Russia maintaining its expanded borders. By accusing Ukraine of starting the war, Trump is repeating a Russian talking point. Historically speaking, however, Russia provoked the war when they invaded Ukraine/Kyiv in 2022.
The latest: Now EU officials plan to meet in Kyiv on Monday to discuss strategy and next steps.
Trump & Elon Fox News Sit Down: This week, President Trump and Elon Musk sat down with Sean Hannity in a televised interview to talk about all things government. Key points arising from the interview:
Trump says that (1) Elon/DOGE is the executive order enforcer and (2) He is issuing tons of executive orders early on in his administration to give congressional Republicans time to codify the orders into law.
Executive orders, while powerful, are temporary in that they can easily be undone by succeeding presidents. But if Congress passes the EO as a bill into law, then the directive becomes much harder to undo. This is, for example, the reason Democrats wanted to codify the rights laid out in Roe v. Wade into law, so there would be protections in place for women who wanted to get an abortion.
Trump says he won’t touch Medicaid, Medicare, or Social Security. The “big and beautiful” House budget bill Trump supports, however, includes a provision to cut Medicaid by up to $880 billion. Also, telehealth coverage for Medicare is set to expire March 31 of this year, unless Congress and/or Trump chooses to extend it. Choosing not to extend directly impacts rural folks who are located further away from doctor’s offices, elderly citizens with mobility issues, and many others.
Newsweek did a lil fact-check of the interview, which you can check out here. Or read the transcript.
“Long Live the King”; Short-Lived Congestion Pricing: This week, the Department of Transportation (DOT) revoked the federal stamp of approval on New York’s recently implemented congestion pricing. The new pricing charged certain car users $9 to enter a certain part of Manhattan to reduce traffic and air pollution.
While this is fairly niche and probably wouldn’t have made national news, it was the White House’s response that garnered attention. Following the DOT’s decision, Trump/the White House tweeted an AI-generated picture of himself as a king, tweeting he had ended Manhattan’s congestion and “long live the king.” While some applauded Trump’s bold action, others were alarmed by the post, specifically people who feel as though Trump’s actions are aligned with that of a monarch rather than a president.
In response to the DOT’s decision, NY Gov. Kathy Hochul plans to sue Trump, adding herself to the long list of plaintiffs facing the administration.
Coming down the Pipeline: Reportedly, Trump plans to announce 25% tariffs on automobile, semiconductor, and pharmaceutical imports as soon as April 2. Tariffs on the latter would start at 25%, but Trump suggested they could be raised significantly higher over the next year. We’ll keep an eye out for further details and report accordingly.
📚Policy: What’s Happened
SSRIs Under Threat: Newly-appointed Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced that he will be looking closely into prescription medications, specifically SSRIs - a form of antidepressants (e.g., Zoloft) - and the neurological impact, including the altering of brain chemistry.
Implications: America has been in a mental health crisis since COVID-19, with many turning to SSRIs as a form of mood stabilizing and to suppress dark or suicidal thoughts. SSRIs are also used as an anxiety medication.
After my mom passed and in the early days of COVID, I was put on an SSRI to help with what the doctors termed, “situational anxiety.” I had zero motivation and couldn’t execute daily tasks. Taking SSRIs during that time helped me achieve a baseline, where I could get out of bed. I can’t imagine how much more difficult life would have been without it. While I got off them shortly after, SSRIs are extremely important in helping people maintain stasis, and getting out of a hole when you don’t even know you’re in it. Prescription medication isn’t an antidote, but it is one of many tools to help navigate a difficult situation or lethargy.
Dodge, Duck, Dip, Dive & DOGE: According to their public ledger, DOGE has saved $55 billion. Analysts, however, report the number to be closer to $2 billion in savings, noticing several technical errors in DOGE’s reporting. Following reports, DOGE corrected the data (for example, correcting an amount from $8 billion to $8 million), but left the $55 billion number up top.
Another report found that DOGE took credit for the termination of the government’s Carter Center lease, which immediately ended following the death of former president Jimmy Carter. Though DOGE is certainly making extraordinary cuts to government agencies and programs, the errors raise questions regarding DOGE’s transparency and data accuracy in terms of how the data is being collected, categorized, and analyzed.
📜 Congress
Senate Adopts Budget Resolution: In the wee hours of Friday morning, Senate Republicans voted to adopt a $340 budget resolution to pass Part I of Trump’s agenda. The vote was split along party lines with Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) being the lone Republican to vote alongside Democrats. The move comes as the House pursues its “one, big beautiful bill” style budget resolution. The bill includes:
$175 billion for border security;
$150 billion for military funding; and
$20 billion for Coast Guard and defense.
As we’ve discussed, Republicans are using reconciliation rules to pass a bill without Democratic support – thus the chambers only need a simple majority vote. That said, the House and the Senate are on their own paths, with the president publicly preferring the House’s approach. For a budget resolution to be passed by Congress and sent to the President’s desk; however, it must be an identical bill passed by both chambers. The Senate and the House have a lot of work to do to reconcile their legislation. And Trump seems to be enjoying the showdown.
Republicans on the Hook for DOGE: In a series of town halls across the nation this week, Republican members of Congress (MOCs) faced angry constituents frustrated with Elon’s chainsaw approach to government. Members were left unable to defend themselves, as constituents lambasted Republicans for allowing Trump’s power grab and for what they called, “radical, extremist” decision-making.
Notably, the Republicans under fire are Congress people in “safe” red districts, meaning that they have been handily won by Republican representatives a consecutive number of times. Reps. have also privately mused whether Musk and Trump are overstepping their bounds, with one Ohio Republican telling a private roundtable that Congress, not Trump and Musk, would be the ones to decide on the future of the Department of Education.
A lil inside baseball: During Trump’s first term, Republicans on the Hill privately griped about the president, but few would face the consequences of publicly standing up to him and enduring his wrath. Most of those who did either resigned or were ousted. This time around, Trump is even more powerful and has effectively filtered through Congress, counting on his base to replace disloyal or old-school Republicans with loyal members of the Trump brand.
Members prioritize their loyalty to Trump, except there is one thing that takes precedence over loyalty: a Member’s re-election. Midterms are in 2026, and if Republicans feel like their constituents consistently hate DOGE or are frustrated with/fearful of the president’s so-called tyrannical actions, the majority of them will slowly distance themselves from Musk or even Trump.
This begs the question… is DOGE’s honeymoon period over? In the past week, DOGE has been criticized by Fox News after anchor Jesse Waters pleaded with DOGE not to lay off his friend – a veteran, “non-DEI” hire. MOCs have stepped up to defend specific federal programs that aid their constituents. New York Republicans are frustrated with Trump/Musk after DOGE cut a large portion of the 9/11 World Trade Health Center workforce and funding. Trump restored the funding for research on Friday after hearing complaints, though the White House did not officially comment on whether the workforce would be reinstated.
The broad consensus amongst Republicans disenchanted with DOGE is that while government shrinking and efficiency are necessary, the recent actions have been swift and careless. Keep an eye out on this, as perpetual concern about the administration’s actions could lead to an intra-party fight, forcing a recalibration of Trump’s agenda entirely. Unless, of course, the courts say otherwise.
📍 Judiciary Actions
FLRA is about to get busy: This week a federal judge denied a request to stop the mass terminations across the U.S. government. He argued that his court does not have the jurisdiction to hear arguments against DOGE’s mass firing exodus and that the challenge to stymie DOGE’s federal employee clearout must be heard by the Federal Labor Relations Authority (FLRA). The judge implored future plaintiffs to go the FLRA route.
Implications: The FLRA is an independent, regulatory agency that adjudicates disputes between government agencies and federal employees. That said, the FLRA was not carved out of the president’s most recent executive order on regulatory review, discussed above. Therefore, the FLRA’s actions would most likely be reviewed by the White House . . . who initially assigned DOGE to carry out the firings.DEI program funding resumes?: On Friday, a federal judge ruled that Trump’s executive order to abolish funding for DEI-related programs is unconstitutional and violates freedom of speech. The judge ruled that the order was vague and non-specific, giving a hypothetical example of whether a teacher using a computer to teach students about Jim Crow Laws would trigger the DEI clause, and thus revoke funding for technology access. At the time of this publication, the White House had not responded. Given that this is a cornerstone of Trump’s platform, he will likely appeal the ruling.
A Victory for Trump/DOGE: A federal judge ruled against a sweeping ban that would have prohibited DOGE from accessing data and firing federal employees across seven government agencies. The judge argued that the plaintiffs, a group of states, had not demonstrated enough evidence to warrant a sweeping ban.
Birthright Citizenship Order Stalled: A federal judge blocked the Trump administration from effectuating its executive order to end birthright citizenship. The Trump admin lawyer argued that the executive order is an integral part of Trump’s immigration policy. Plaintiffs, meanwhile, stipulated that ending birthright citizenship violates the 14th Amendment of the Constitution. The administration will likely appeal the ruling, escalating it to the Supreme Court. With all the cases filed against the administration, the Court’s looking at a buuuuussyy spring.
DOJ Resignations Continue: Members of the DOJ are tendering their resignations left and right, citing the actions of the new DOJ as unlawful and a violation of the constitution. Veteran prosecutor in the U.S. Attorney’s office Denise Cheung resigned this week after several decades of working at the DOJ because she was instructed to carry out an order that she felt was unethical.
The flurry of resignations is a point of contention amongst the general public, as many would like for the officials to stay and fight on their behalf until they’re fired. While a resignation may feel like a submission, it allows the official to control the narrative and to articulate their reasons for leaving. If they stay until they’re fired, then the admin can simply chalk up the firing to a performance issue. This is a lose-lose situation that shows no signs of slowing down.
What’s Next: Trump trudges up to the Supreme Court. On Friday, the first Trump admin case escalated to the Supreme Court after the administration appealed a decision to reinstate one of the first independent inspector generals fired. The Supreme Court maintained that, for now, the admin cannot fire the inspector general, though they did not stipulate that he must be hired. Instead, the court held the claim in abeyance, planning to address the issue as early as next week. Two conservative justices wrote that they would have sided with the administration, while two liberal justices stipulated they would have opposed the administration.
Bottom Line: How the Supreme Court rules on this case will likely have significant implications for the administration/DOGE’s power going forth, as the ruling will likely extend beyond a narrow case-by-case interpretation. Smartt Takes will keep an eye out and report accordingly.
✅ Approvals and ❌ Removals
Approved
Howard Lutnick (Department of Commerce) - Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick was approved by a vote of 51-45, along party lines. Four Senators, including 2 Rs and 2 Ds, missed the vote, though their absence did not affect the outcome. Lutnick will be tasked with addressing several immediate agency priorities, including perhaps subsuming and heading up the USPS.
Kash Patel (FBI) - Patel was confirmed by a narrow vote of 51-49 to lead the FBI, with Sens. Susan Collins (R-ME) and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) voting alongside the Democrats. FBI administrator is typically a position that receives bipartisan support and is viewed as more independent than other administrative heads. Former FBI head, Christopher Wray, for example, served during the Trump and Biden admins. In the case of Patel though, not so much. Democrats are worried that Patel will use his power to carry out vendettas against certain people. Republicans accused the Democrats of playing politics. This is one agency where newly inflected partisanship would be immediately obvious.
Kelly Loeffler (Small Business Administration) - Former R-GA Senator Kelly Loeffler, who lost to Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-GA) in 2020, was confirmed to head the Small Business Administration (SBA) in a 52-46 vote. Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-NV) joined with Republicans to confirm Loeffler. She plans to conduct a “full-scale audit” to eliminate wasteful spending in the agency. DOGE will most likely beat her to it.
Removed?
Elon Musk Demoted?: To everyone reading, watching, reporting, and living the news, Elon Musk has been the head of DOGE. Trump himself has credited Musk with DOGE’s decisions and spoken publicly about asking Elon to investigate fraud and inefficiency across certain government agencies.
On Monday, however, the White House submitted a court document declaring that Musk is not a part of DOGE and that he has “no actual or formal authority to make government decisions himself.” Musk, the filing articulates, is a senior adviser to the president. The move follows a lawsuit from Democrat attorneys general (AGs) across the nation challenging Musk’s DOGE authority and influence on executive decision-making, including his access to certain federal government systems.
The lawsuit contends that Musk’s position violates the Constitution’s “appointment clause,” which stipulates senior government officials must be confirmed by the Senate. Even if the judge agrees with the plaintiffs and forces Musk to undergo Senate confirmation, it’s unlikely that this would bar Musk from being able to exert executive influence. Becoming an elected official may strengthen his claim. Whether or not Musk would want to undergo confirmation, however, is another question as the move is likely to draw scrutiny on his external business dealings.Tax Season Delay? Trump reportedly plans to remove at least 6,000 IRS officials. The move comes directly before a busy tax season, two impending deadlines for the IRS in March and April. Although who knows how long the IRS will be around. This week Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick commented that Trump wants to abolish the IRS, instead “letting the outsiders pay” via tariffs.
🗞️ Other News
Out: Stimulus Checks, In: DOGE Dividends: Earlier this week, Musk suggested that for every $5 saved by DOGE, $1 should be returned to the American people. He posited that if DOGE meets their savings goals, he could send Americans $5000 back by this summer. Trump later endorsed the proposal, telling reporters he liked the idea. Notably, the savings would only be sent to citizens who have a tax liability (e.g., those who owe money in federal taxes and did not receive a tax refund or subsidy due to low income).
Musk Takes His Fight to Space: On Thursday, Musk suggested that the International Space Station (ISS) should be deorbited as soon as possible. The move comes following an X battle between Musk and the former commander of the ISS. After Musk claimed in his Fox News interview that it was a “political decision” to keep two astronauts stationed at the ISS since last June (who were supposed to be on a ten-day mission), the former commander called Musk’s claim a lie. ISS has been in orbit for decades, planning to deorbit in 2030. The move now puts pressure on NASA, a traditionally bipartisan agency, and Congress, who would be responsible for funding the de-orbiting plan should Trump agree with Musk.
Eric Adams Update: On Friday, a federal judge appointed a top Supreme Court lawyer to present adversarial arguments to the DOJ’s plan to drop charges against Adams. The move follows Adams’ hearing Wednesday, where the trial was delayed indefinitely. On Friday, the judge canceled the trial, but refused to dismiss the charges while the adversarial arguments are gathered. During Wednesday’s hearing, DOJ representative Emil Bove suggested that the administration had an agreement with Adams to carry out its agenda in exchange for dropping the charges. Bove argued that this was well within the rights of the administration, perhaps foreshadowing how Trump plans to wield the Justice Department going forward.
Not My President’s Day- On Monday, February 17, also President’s Day, thousands of protestors took to the streets nationwide to rage against Trump and Musk’s agenda. In a movement called “Not My Presidents Day,” protestors opposed Trump’s strict immigration policies and the “Elon coup of government.”
Implications: The protests were organized by a grassroots group 50501, first started on Reddit. On Monday, the group had 72,000 participants. By Tuesday, participation ballooned to 130,000. The protest is the first organized, decentralized response to Trump’s agenda, though the showing was nothing like the 2017 Women’s March Protest. While it’s unlikely to hinder Trump’s momentum, it is likely to capture the attention of Democratic representatives, encouraging them to fight back and continue implementing stalling tactics to slow the president’s agenda.
Slow Down Donald!: In a Fox News poll, the network found that the majority of Gen Z voters support Trump’s agenda and strategy to effectuate it. A Wall Street Journal survey, conversely, found a split between Trump voters interviewed. Half were supportive of Trump’s muzzle velocity approach, while the other half regretted voting for him and were/are concerned about the future of the country. Even still, those in support appreciated his “no holds barred” approach, though one surveyee, Gary Dixon, noted that while Trump is going 80 miles an hour, he wouldn’t mind if Trump went around 55 instead.
Me too, Gary. Me too.
👏
There is so much news going on, it’s really important to take care of your mental health. I wrote a piece this week on strategies for how to stay engaged while protecting your sanity. Check it out here.
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