Week 6: It's Only March

And the administration shows no signs of slowing down. Read on for this week's news/analysis.

Welcome to the first paid edition of Smartt Takes! Your support allows me to dedicate time to this effort, and I truly appreciate it.

Before we get into it, I have to be honest with you. I pride myself on delivering objective, factual news. And yet, I also believe that simply reporting events—without analyzing their implications—can be misleading. As an academic and social scientist, I think it’s essential to apply political science and historical context to what’s happening now. 

I am not a Republican or Democrat. In fact, I find both parties deeply flawed. That said, I also see patterns emerging that parallel historical threats to democracy, and I feel compelled to highlight them. My goal is to inform—nothing more, nothing less. I welcome your feedback.

On a completely different note…

🚨 Politics can be a lottttt, so if you need a quick political break…check out my first Smartt Stars on the end of Mars Retrograde! It’s a quick look at what Mars moving out of retrograde means for you and the world (I cast some predictions last week that have already come true, so I promise I do know what I’m talking about :)). Subscribe and read here! 

Alright, let’s get into it. 

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✍️ Key Events & Implications: Summary

A quick recap of this week’s key events—as always, more details included below.

• U.S. - Ukraine: On Monday the U.S. voted against language rebuking Russia for starting the Russia-Ukraine war. On Friday, Trump-Zelenskyy met to sign a rare-earth minerals deal. The meeting is an absolute sh*tshow, no deal is signed and the overall direction of U.S. foreign policy is called into question. Meanwhile, France & UK are pursuing their own Ukrainian peace plan.
  

• DOGE Ups & Downs: 21 DOGE employees resign, DOGE executive powers are expanded, Cabinet Secretaries applaud DOGE, and Congress starts to do their own administrative purge. Plus OPM requires agencies to continue federal layoffs.
  

• Immigration Takes Center Stage: Trump announced the creation of gold cards for wealthy investors to obtain green card citizenship; and requires undocumented immigrants 14+ across the U.S. to register with the government.
  

• Press Freedom?: White House announces that they will pick their own press corps (aka which press can attend White House events) breaking a long standing precedent; Jeff Bezos (owner of Washington Post) changes op-ed direction preventing writers from opposing personal liberties/free markets, which leads to 75,000 subscribers dropping WaPo.
  

• Court Standoff: Supreme Court pauses reimbursements the Trump admin owes and says they can’t pay; Federal judges continue to block Trump; Dem Attorneys General say that they are fully prepared to meet the moment and battle the White House. 

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✍️ Executive Orders: What’s Coming