UPDATE: Donald Trump Takes Office as the 47th US President
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Me: "You could literally run anyone with a-not you, Rahm-with a decently framed campaign."
Thats the one thing I respect about the GOP, they crack the whip and they fall in line. This is why they hated McCain so much. Dems dont have that. Manchin and Sinema out here playing footsie with the Republicans. Same issue they are going through now and this is why they are weak.
Yes, I'm pretty sure people will be tuning in to hear Lee Greenwood cover all of the countries of the world
House passed the CR
Senate votes Thursday or Friday
Curious to how they’ll vote
It'll go through. I have zero faith in anyone there to do something morally correct, and ceding that power will also (in their minds) remove their accountability. So they'll be happy to shuffle that off.
Agreed...It's 1000% getting passed....
NYT and or Vice or one of the big papers (no it's not going to be the Washington Post) needs to do a deep dive into this just like CNN did to Mark Robinson. To actually prove that the election was indeed rigged. I'm sure someone has at least brought this up but the editors are spineless and dont want to kill their career.
Everybody's a coward when it comes to Trump. Other than Canada, I've never seen anyone stand up to that motherfucker and say fuck you you big bully motherfuckerNYT and or Vice or one of the big papers (no it's not going to be the Washington Post) needs to do a deep dive into this just like CNN did to Mark Robinson. To actually prove that the election was indeed rigged. I'm sure someone has at least brought this up but the editors are spineless and dont want to kill their career.
Everyone is scared of Trump's lawyers or Trump's threats of lawyers. Never have so few owed so much to so many
Trump’s Economic Messaging Is Spooking Some of His Own Advisers
Summarize
President’s team receives flood of calls from business executives concerned about mixed messaging on tariffs
March 11, 2025 at 9:05 pm
In a meeting Monday in the White House’s Roosevelt Room, the president and his top advisers huddled with the chief executive officers of International Business Machines, Qualcomm, HP and other tech companies. Some of the CEOs voiced their concerns about Trump’s tariffs, warning that they could hurt their industry, according to a person who attended the meeting. Trump told reporters that attendees at the meeting talked about investing in the U.S.
The mixed messages from the president and his advisers have raised concerns among some Republicans that Trump lacks a cohesive economic plan. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said last week the economy needed a “detox.” Trump has acknowledged that the tariffs could result in economic pain for consumers and, in an interview Sunday, declined to rule out a recession, accelerating a selloff on Wall Street on Monday that wiped out all gains in major stock indexes since Election Day in November. On Tuesday, the president played down the possibility of a recession, but underscored his commitment to far-reaching tariffs.
All the while, Trump and his team have made frequent adjustments to his trade policies, announcing last-minute exemptions and reversals.
“It has been a horrific start for the economic policy team,” said Douglas Holtz-Eakin, a former Congressional Budget Office director who now runs the conservative American Action Forum.
Trump’s aggressive approach to tariffs has unnerved some Trump administration economic officials, including staff on the National Economic Council, who are concerned that tariffs and uncertainty over trade policy are tanking the stock market and fueling price increases on everything from energy to construction materials, people familiar with the matter said. The president’s economic advisers have warned him that tariffs could hurt the market and economic growth, but he has largely been undeterred, the people said.
President Trump’s trade agenda is being overseen by Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick. Photo: kevin lamarque/Reuters
The White House said Trump’s economic advisers aren’t divided. “Every member of the Trump administration is playing from the same playbook—President Trump’s playbook—to enact an America First agenda of tariffs, tax cuts, deregulation, and the unleashing of American energy,” White House spokesperson Kush Desai said.
Desai confirmed that senior officials have taken calls from corporate leaders, adding that National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett has talked to nearly a dozen CEOs in the past two days.
The spate of tariff proclamations and the resulting economic convulsions have brought to the surface long-simmering tensions among members of Trump’s economic team.
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, the hard-charging former chief executive at the financial services firm Cantor Fitzgerald, is overseeing Trump’s expansive trade agenda and has regularly appeared on cable television to discuss the matter. He has at times not fully looped in some of the president’s other economic advisers, according to people familiar with the matter, including Hassett, U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and officials at the Council of Economic Advisers.
In one instance last week, Lutnick went on Fox News and announced that Canada and Mexico could soon strike a deal with the U.S. to avoid some of the 25% tariffs Trump had imposed over fentanyl trafficking. That surprised Greer and CEA staff, leaving them rushing to come up with a solution, eventually persuading Trump to grant a one-month pause on tariffs for goods that comply with a U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade agreement, according to people familiar with the matter.
Elon Musk and Howard Lutnick boarding Air Force One on Friday. Photo: kevin lamarque/Reuters
Bessent has made clear to members of Trump’s team that he wants to be a principal voice on economic policy across the administration, according to people familiar with the matter.
“Secretary Lutnick’s long and immensely successful private sector career makes him an integral addition to the Trump administration’s trade and economic team,” Desai said, pointing to manufacturing job gains and investment commitments from companies such as Appleand Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.
On CBS News on Tuesday night, Lutnick defended the administration’s rollout of its trade policy, saying: “It is not chaotic, and the only one who thinks it’s chaotic is someone who’s being silly.”
Nearly two months into Trump’s presidency, his advisers say he is more determined than ever to carry out his far-reaching tariff agenda, despite increasing pressure to change course.
In Trump’s first term, he watched the markets almost hourly, and even a temporary dip could lead to a change in policy, former senior administration officials said. This time, he is still interested in the markets, but is less inclined to abandon his tariff plans, though he has delayed the implementation of some duties, an administration official said.
Trump’s first-term National Economic Council director, Gary Cohn, and others at times opposed the president’s tariff proposals. This time, most of Trump’s current advisers aren’t trying to dissuade him from invoking tariffs, officials said. Instead, they are advocating for more targeted tariffs with exemptions for key sectors.
For example, Hassett and others successfully lobbied Trump to abandon his campaign pledge for an across-the-board tariff on all U.S. trading partners, and to opt instead for a reciprocal trade action that would allow room for other nations to negotiate lower tariffs with the U.S., according to people familiar with the discussions.
Trucks crossing the U.S.-Canada border on the Ambassador Bridge in Windsor, Ontario. Photo: geoff robins/AFP/Getty Images
Trump’s reciprocal tariff move, which seeks to equalize U.S. tariffs with the duties and nontariff barriers charged by other nations, is set to be announced in April. But that initiative could take six months or more to implement fully, people familiar with the policy previously told The Wall Street Journal.
The uncertainty over tariff policy is also frustrating some Trump allies on Capitol Hill, a growing number of whom are worried about the economic ramifications of tariffs.
“We don’t know what this is gonna look like tomorrow,” said Sen. Mike Rounds (R., S.D.), adding that he is “very frustrated” by the uncertainty that the tariff agenda is foisting on farmers and businesses in his state.
Republican Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina said the stop-and-start nature of the tariffs is contributing to stock market losses and difficulties in corporate planning. “Business hates uncertainty,” he said.
Sen. Bill Hagerty (R., Tenn.), a Trump confidant and a first-term ambassador to Japan, acknowledged that the markets are “trying to digest” the messages emanating from the White House on tariffs, but held out hope that certainty could be on the horizon.
“I think once we get these [tariff] announcements done and the market can actually sort out exactly what they mean, that will hopefully calm things,” he said.
Trump spoke Tuesday to the Business Roundtable, an influential group of corporate executives. A person familiar with the event’s planning said several executives changed their plans to attend.
“Swinging from one extreme to another is not the right policy approach,” Chevron CEO Mike Wirth told an energy conference in Houston on Monday. “We have allocated capital that’s out there for decades, and so we really need consistent and durable policy.”
President Trump and Elon Musk after looking at Tesla vehicles on the South Lawn of the White House. Photo: Samuel Corum/Bloomberg
They can just reach out to Greg. He did the investigative journalism about itNYT and or Vice or one of the big papers (no it's not going to be the Washington Post) needs to do a deep dive into this just like CNN did to Mark Robinson. To actually prove that the election was indeed rigged. I'm sure someone has at least brought this up but the editors are spineless and dont want to kill their career.
Good schoolShout out to VCU!!! I got a cousin there now...
Because you/they can’t. There’s a thread on this forum alleging Jay Z did this and that, but mainly they wanted him to take a DNA to prove something to a deranged person. Powerless folks rather fixate on that than on the fact food is more and they’re getting less of it. It’s cowardice. Folks don’t want to enable that sort of behavior because they aspire to be the greedy and perverted.
How did he vote in his impeachments? On camera, what did he say was a remedy to Jan 6th?
Getting the US lined up for that 7th bankruptcy
Elon Musk Has Wanted the Government Shutdown
Sources tell WIRED that Elon Musk has wanted a government shutdown in part because it would potentially make it easier to eliminate the jobs of hundreds of thousands of federal workers.
Mar 11, 2025 1:21 PM
Elon Musk Has Wanted the Government Shutdown
Sources tell WIRED that Elon Musk has wanted a government shutdown in part because it would potentially make it easier to eliminate the jobs of hundreds of thousands of federal workers.
Photo-Illustration: Wired Staff; Al Drago/Getty Images
As President Donald Trump has been trying to keep House Republicans in line over a continuing resolution to keep the government open through the fall, Elon Musk has expressed a desire for a government shutdown, four sources familiar with his position tell WIRED.
Sources also tell WIRED that Musk has wanted a government shutdown—an aim that runs contrary to the White House’s stated desire to avoid one—in part because it would potentially make it easier to eliminate the jobs of hundreds of thousands of federal workers, essentially achieving a permanent shutdown. The sources, whom WIRED has granted anonymity, specifically asked to be described generically because information about Musk’s support for a shutdown is closely held.
Politics Lab Newsletter by Makena Kelly
Not your average politics newsletter. Makena Kelly and the WIRED Politics team help you make sense of how the internet is shaping our political reality.“A shutdown has been his preference,” says one Republican familiar with the situation, referring to Musk. “I think he’s boxed in there by the president. I think it would be really hard for him to get around that.”
A second Republican who had heard about Musk’s desire for a government shutdown tells WIRED that the billionaire’s goal is for the continuing resolution—a spending bill to temporarily fund the government—to tank, if only to achieve a brief government shutdown.
“You know none of this is about saving money, right?” says a third Republican familiar with the behind-the-scenes push from Musk. “It’s all about destroying a liberal power base.”
Musk and the White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The possible shutdown looms as Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has slashed its way through the government, eliminating the positions of an estimated tens of thousands of workers. If a government shutdown occurs, many federal agencies and programs would be essentially put on ice. Agencies like the FBI and others with law enforcement and security functions would largely continue to operate as normal—albeit with some government workers not being paid until after the end of the shutdown—and critical functions like the issuance of Social Security checks would not be directly affected. Every department has a shutdown plan, though, and most would be impacted.
Ahead of a shutdown, federal employees are effectively classified into essential or nonessential work, with nonessential employees furloughed and not allowed to work until the shutdown ends. According to federal agency contingency plans compiled by the nonpartisan Partnership for Public Service in 2023, when a federal shutdown was narrowly averted, the pool of workers who would be subject to being furloughed then numbered about 850,000, with about 410,000 of those being outside the Department of Defense.
Federal personnel costs, including military spending, amount to about $340 billion annually, so even laying off all of the third or so of federal workers considered nonessential could possibly save about $110 billion a year—a fraction of the $1 trillion in annual federal spending Musk has claimed he wants to eliminate.
Musk has spoken about removing so-called nonessential workers—many of whom perform critical tasks like inspecting food, processing applications for benefits programs, and collecting weather data—before. “If the job is not essential, or they are not doing it well, they obviously shouldn’t be on the public payroll,” Musk told reporters in late February, according to The New Yorker.
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Democrats, save for a couple of potential yes votes from House members in districts Trump carried heavily, have been in a bind over supporting a bill that would keep the government open without addressing Musk’s work with DOGE. “It is not something we could ever support,” House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York said of the continuing resolution on Monday, noting “Democrats will not be complicit.”
Many federal employees are also worried that a temporary shutdown could lead to permanent cuts. “There are concerns anyone deemed nonessential will be DOGE’d,” a State Department employee, who asked to remain anonymous for fear of retaliation, tells WIRED.
The length of a possible government shutdown could also impact the dynamics. Once federal employees have been furloughed for more than 30 calendar days, that furlough becomes subject to a reduction in force (RIF), says Nick Bednar, a professor at the University of Minnesota School of Law. Though it could be challenged, this means that after 30 days, furloughed employees are automatically kicked into RIF procedures, which prioritizes retaining employees by seniority and whether that individual is a veteran.
“If you can shut down the government for 30 days, it’s a method of pursuing a RIF,” he says. Many agencies have already been required to submit RIF plans by March 13, but a shutdown plan is likely to be even more austere, allowing for only employees deemed essential to keep working. Guidance from the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) says that essential workers are those whose roles involve the “safety of human life or the protection of property or the performance of certain other types of ‘excepted work activities.’”
Bednar says that under OPM guidance, there are different ways in which agencies can reduce their manpower: an emergency furlough like a shutdown, a planned long-term furlough, and layoffs. Both planned long-term furloughs and layoffs trigger RIF procedures, as does any furlough that lasts for more than 30 days. But OPM guidance leaves unclear whether the rules or a long-term furlough would apply to an emergency one that crosses the 30-day threshold. “How an automatic RIF applies is still up for debate, because we've never seen it happen,” he says.
In a February 11 executive order, the White House ordered agency heads to develop a plan for “large-scale reductions in force” that would prioritize “all components and employees performing functions not mandated by statute or other law who are not typically designated as essential during a lapse in appropriations as provided in the Agency Contingency Plans on the Office of Management and Budget website.” The order provided a carve-out for “functions related to public safety, immigration enforcement, or law enforcement.”
“A shutdown is aligned with the goals of DOGE,” says Don Moynihan, a professor of public policy at the University of Michigan. “In the president's executive order, he told DOGE to focus on nonessential employees, which is to say employees who are designated as nonessential during government shutdowns.”
Only one partial government shutdown, in the winter of 2018–19, has lasted more than 30 days. A report from the Congressional Budget Office later estimated that the 35-day shutdown “delayed $18 billion in federal spending and suspended some federal services, thus lowering the projected level of real GDP in the first quarter of 2019 by $8 billion.”
But for the most part, if a possible shutdown does last longer than 30 days, the US could enter into unknown territory. “One difficulty in assessing what will happen is that there have only been 10 shutdowns that have resulted in furloughs in US history,” Bednar says. “Most of the case law we have on this issue comes from the 2013 shutdown, which was less than 30 days.”
During the 2013 government shutdown, employees who tried to challenge their agencies’ furloughs and sued for back pay almost universally lost their cases. Bednar says, however, that if the Trump administration tries to use a government shutdown as an excuse to permanently eliminate jobs, employees might be able to appeal the decision.
“I suspect the greatest impact of a long-term shutdown is that it will encourage federal employees to leave public service sooner rather than later,” says Bednar. “Even though federal law permits back pay, federal employees still need to pay for rent, groceries, and other essentials. The Trump administration could use an extended furlough to squeeze employees from their positions.”
The White House believes that the lone holdout on the bill to avoid a shutdown will be Representative Thomas Massie, a Republican from Kentucky, who has firmly stated that he will not support the continuing resolution. Trump railed against Massie in a late-night post on Monday on Truth Social while trying to simultaneously praise the House Freedom Caucus—of which Massie is a member—for holding the line.
“Thank you to the House Freedom Caucus for just delivering a big blow to the Radical Left Democrats and their desire to raise Taxes and SHUT OUR COUNTRY DOWN! They hate America and all it stands for,” Trump wrote, before calling for a primary challenge to Massie, who has prevailed over similar calls in the past. Later in the post, Trump wrote “DO I HAVE ANY TAKERS??? Anyway, thank you again to the House Freedom Caucus for your very important vote. We need to buy some time in order to MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN, GREATER THAN EVER BEFORE. Unite and Win!!!”
If the continuing resolution passes, that would not take the issue off the table entirely, as it would only fund the government through September.
Additional reporting by Tim Marchman.