logo
episode-header-image
Jan 2025
42m 46s

Trump’s Federal Funding Fiasco

ABC News, 538, FiveThirtyEight, Galen Druke
About this episode
This week, the Trump administration oversaw a federal funding fiasco. The Office of Management and Budget issued a memo attacking DEI programs and putting trillions in government funding at risk. States sued, and the administration backtracked —rescinding the memo but keeping the underlying order intact. As this unfolds, we ask: How much power does Trump’s a ... Show More
Up next
Mar 2025
Reaction Podcast: Trump Goes Long
Galen speaks with Nathaniel Rakich and Mary Radcliffe in this late night reaction to President Trump's address to Congress. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices 
31m 32s
Mar 2025
Is The Era Of ‘Macho Man’ Politics Here?
Congress has kept relatively quiet during the first month of President Donald Trump's second term, but in the coming weeks it will be thrust into the spotlight. Amidst intraparty Republican debate over tax and spending cuts, Trump will deliver an address to Congress on Tuesday ni ... Show More
41m 57s
Feb 2025
No, It's Not Getting More Dangerous To Fly
It has been a difficult month for Americans afraid of flying. On Jan. 29, an American Airlines jet collided with a Black Hawk helicopter over the Potomac River, killing 67 people. It was the first major U.S. commercial airline crash in more than 15 years and in the weeks since, t ... Show More
37m 48s
Recommended Episodes
Aug 18
What It’s Like To Have Trump Hold Your Science Research Hostage
<p>The Trump administration’s crackdown on universities across the country for alleged antisemitism has made its way from the East Coast to the West Coast. Earlier this month, the administration demanded the University of California Los Angeles pay $1-billion to the federal gover ... Show More
21m 48s
Jan 2025
How Trump’s Federal-Aid Fiasco Is Testing the Separation of Power
<p>On Tuesday, the Trump Administration sent out a memo attempting to put a blanket pause on most federal funding, sowing confusion about financing for  student loans, SNAP benefits, nonprofits, and more. The next day, after a backlash, the Administration rescinded the memo, whil ... Show More
29m 34s
Apr 2025
Inside the Harvard vs. Trump Battle
President Donald Trump has been on an escalating campaign to reorder elite higher education. The administration’s Anti-Semitism Task Force has frozen billions of dollars in federal funding after Harvard refused to comply with their demands. WSJ’s Douglas Belkin on the showdown be ... Show More
18m 15s
May 2025
Swamp Notes: Trump takes on higher ed
Description: US President Donald Trump is in an ongoing standoff with America’s top universities. Harvard lost $2.3bn in federal funding after it refused to comply with the administration’s demands on admissions and diversity, equity and inclusion. Columbia complied with a simila ... Show More
20m 35s
May 2025
NPR’s CEO on the Fight Over Public Media
In May, President Trump signed an executive order cutting off federal funding for public broadcasters, including NPR and PBS. In his order, Trump said “neither entity presents a fair, accurate or unbiased portrayal of current events to taxpaying citizens.” WSJ’s Joe Flint breaks ... Show More
24m 13s
Mar 2025
Trump Takes Aim at the Department of Education
<p>In the coming days, President Trump is expected to sign an executive order that would follow through on one of his major campaign promises: to abolish the U.S. Department of Education. The catch is that he still needs the department to impose his vision on American schools.</p ... Show More
26m 11s
Feb 2025
Trump's War on the U.S. Government
<p>Donald Trump and Elon Musk continue their all-out assault on the federal government, shuttering USAID, rooting out and firing workers linked in any way to diversity initiatives, and breaking and ignoring laws as they go. Jon and Dan hash out all the latest, including Trump's p ... Show More
1h 29m
Sep 29
Trump Administration Wants To Dismantle Federal Watchdog Agencies
The Trump administration has taken steps to effectively dismantle the Merit Systems Protection Board and the Office of Special Counsel, two agencies that protect federal civil servants. We discuss why changes at these agencies matter and how the U.S. Supreme Court could grant the ... Show More
12m 53s