The Philip DeFranco Show - PDS 2.4 Trump Plans to put Americans in El Salvador's Mega-Prison & Trump Moves To Kill Education Department

Episode Date: February 4, 2025

Subscribe for New shows every Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, & Thursday @ 6pm ET/3pm PST & watch more here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x9uGu5EyQMM&list=PLHcsGizlfLMWpSg7i0b9wnUyEZWI-25N3&index=2&t=56s Go to http://www.vessi.com/defranco  for 15% off your first order. Go to http://meundies.com/philipdefranco and use code philipdefranco for huge sitewide savings. https://BeautifulBastard.com 3 New Tees & Crews Available – ✩ TODAY’S STORIES ✩ – 00:00 - Trump’s Government Breakup Hits Department of Education, EPA & More 08:41 - Sponsored by Vessi 09:38 - Waffle House Adds Egg Surcharge as Bird Flu Keeps Prices High  12:59 - To Keep U.S. Aid For Ukraine, Trump Wants Rare Earth Minerals 16:03 - Trump Wants to Move Some U.S. Prisoners to El Salvador, Calls Them “Animals” 21:08 - Sponsored by MeUndies 22:19 - RFK Jr. and Tulsi Gabbard Clear Key Committee Votes 26:26 - Confusion Grows About Trump’s Federal Worker Buyout 30:38 - Comment Commentary ——————————   Produced by: Cory Ray Edited by: James Girardier, Maxwell Enright, Julie Goldberg, Christian Meeks, Matthew Henry Art Department: William Crespo Writing/Research: Philip DeFranco, Brian Espinoza, Lili Stenn, Maddie Crichton, Chris Tolve, Star Pralle, Jared Paolino  ———————————— For more Philip DeFranco: Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-philip-defranco-show/id1278424954 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6ESemquRbz6f8XLVywdZ2V Twitter:   https://x.com/PhillyD Instagram:   https://instagram.com/PhillyDeFranco Newsletter: https://www.dailydip.co TikTok:   https://www.tiktok.com/@philipdefranco?lang=en ———————————— #DeFranco #DonaldTrump #ElSalvador Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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And it's even getting to the point that people are stealing eggs. We're talking about all that and much more on today's brand new Philip DeFranco show. You daily dive into the news, how it's being covered, and how people are reacting to it. Starting with this. We need to talk about Donald Trump's now latest efforts to remake, or depending on who you ask, break the federal government. And while there are fires all over the place, today we're gonna be focusing

on the Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Education, and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. And I'll start with the EPA, where you now have more than a thousand employees getting an ominous message that they may be fired at any time, with an email going mostly to staff members hired

within the past year saying, "'As a probationary slash trial period employee, the agency has the right to immediately terminate you.' And adding, "'The process for probationary removal is that you receive a notice of termination and your employment has ended immediately.'" And as far as who exactly is getting this email,

well, while it was meant for people who had worked at the agency less than a year, the number reportedly includes experienced federal workers who had simply taken on new assignments within the agency. With it also reportedly including many employees who were hired under the Biden administration to rebuild the agency following Trump's first term in office. And then notably with that,

many had reportedly been hired to work on programs created by Congress relatively recently, including replacing lead pipes, remediating toxic sites, and funding clean energy projects aimed at reducing the greenhouse gas emissions. Though notably with all that, you now have the leaders for the American Federation of Government Employees,

which represents about 8,000 EPA employees, describing this as just the beginning. With Marie Owens Powell, the head of AFG Council 238, telling NBC News, "'The list is definitely flawed. "'Some folks with much more than a year of federal service "'receive the email.'" Adding that for EPA leaders,

"'This was an exercise in correcting their list.'" So there, you also had her explaining that, that even though probationary employees are easier to fire, they still have rights, telling the New York Times, there has to be cause and the cause can't be because you're a Democrat and it's a Republican administration. And so with that, also saying that the union is consulting lawyers about whether the administration can fire workers based on a simple declaration of a change in agency priorities. Now the EPA, for its part, is a spokesperson saying in a statement that its goal is to be transparent. However, notably according to the New York Times,

the spokesperson declined to answer questions about the email, with that including questions about whether the agency's new administrator intended to terminate employees and if so, for what reason. But one thing with this is for sure, and that is we are in uncharted territory with, for example, Nicole Cantelo, another union leader saying, "'Probationary employees are usually let go

"'because they don't perform well or were disciplined. "'We've never had a probationary mass firing "'in the 33 years I've been at EPA.'" And adding, "'This is unprecedented in scope and scale.'" And then Michelle Ruse, who heads a group of agency alumni, has called it, "'The most chaotic and vindictive transition "'in the history of the Environmental Protection Agency.'"

And then adding, "'EPA is at the center of the bullseye "'for President Trump's vindictive purge of public servants.'" And it is going to be interesting to see how a lot of this plays out on different fronts because EPA employees were among those who received the offer to receive about eight months of pay if they resigned by February 6th. We're seeing examples there like two of them telling the Times they had initially dismissed that offer as untrustworthy, but are now considering it. And seemingly part of the reason people might be open to it is, I mean, we're also seeing the Trump administration reportedly already placing about 15 EPA employees working on DEI on administrative leave,

which also seems to be part of the reason that Owens-Powell, the union leader, is claiming that the next employees to be targeted will likely be those working on environmental justice or programs meant to help marginalized communities suffering from disproportionate levels of air and water pollution. Of course, right, this goes beyond the EPA. While EPA workers may seemingly be the first to receive notice that they may be immediately dismissed, we're also seeing other federal agencies being directed by the Office of Personnel Management to submit lists of probationary employees. And there, we're seeing CNN reporting that the same warning will be sent to other agency workforces, with the potential impact across the U.S. government being massive, right? The latest data showing that there are more than 220,000

employees with probationary status. And some among the most likely to be targeted, probably those working for the Department of Education. Ray Trump is now reportedly getting ready to make good on his pledge to shut down the department, with his administration reportedly prepping an executive order that will ultimately aim to do so, but in the meantime, will be focused on basically weakening the department as much as possible. And there, I will say, the draft order reportedly

acknowledges that only Congress has the authority to shut down the department. Instead, it directs the agency to begin to, quote, diminish itself. Now, beyond that, it is unclear how detailed the order will be, but it may direct the agency to try and move various functions to other federal departments. With many experts pointing to a notable thing there is, you know, Project 2025, it detailed where different pieces of the department might end up if it were closed. With it, for example, recommending that the student loan program move to the Treasury Department and civil rights enforcement shift to the Justice Department.

Notably there, Trump is already reversing a lot of the DOJ's civil rights policies. But in any case, right, even just shuffling things up like that, it would require congressional approval. And with that, just last week, a bill was actually introduced to abolish the Education Department by the end of 2026. With a seeing Republican Thomas Massey saying there, Unelected bureaucrats in Washington, D.C. should not be in charge of our children's intellectual and moral development.'" But a big thing with that is, according to one recent poll,

61% of registered voters oppose getting rid of the department. And this is it's been argued that getting it passed by Congress does seem like a real stretch. And so with that, we're seeing people like Michael Petrilli, the head of a conservative think tank, saying, "'As with a lot of Trump's actions, it may be about testing the limits of presidential power.'"

But I'm also pointing to the way that Trump has effectively shut down much of USAID without congressional approval and adding there, he can't do this on his own. He can't actually dismantle the Department of Education, but boy, everything feels up in the air right now. It's been a disorienting couple of days, so who knows? And with that, you have some Trump supporters

suggesting he should take action with or without congressional backing. Or you've got people like Jonathan Butcher, a researcher from the Heritage Foundation, which is behind Project 2025, telling Fox News, The administration is right to push to eliminate the ineffective and unpopular Department of Education, and then going on to say, President Trump can declare that the Education Department's powers are unconstitutional and request a memo from the Department of Justice to support such a position. But with that, of course, you can expect to see pushback.

And in fact, you have advocacy groups like the National Student Legal Defense Network already getting ready to challenge any effort to dismantle the department. With us seeing the group's president saying in a statement, effectively shutting down the Department of Education through executive order or mass firings is a recipe for chaos that will disrupt the lives of students across the country. And adding that trying to do so without Congress is not only short-sighted, but illegal and unconstitutional. With all that said, even while we're waiting for the executive order, the work on this, it's already underway. But it's already seeing, for example, at least 74 non-management staff reportedly being put on paid administrative leave in recent days. And then roughly 20 people with Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency have reportedly begun working in

the education department looking to cut spending and staff. And very notably there, we're reportedly again seeing Doge employees getting access to multiple sensitive internal systems, including a financial aid data set that contains the personal information of millions of students enrolled in the federal student aid program. But while we wait to see what happens there to move things along and finish this whole remaking, breaking the government segment,

I wanna talk about Trump's attack on a newer and lesser known agency in the government, and that is the CFPB, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. It was actually only recently made in 2010 as a response to the Great Recession. The idea there being to protect consumers from financial institutions

and help prevent another crisis. However, many Republicans have criticized the CFPB for its aggressive approach to regulating the financial services industry. And in fact, more recently, Elon Musk even called on Congress to delete the bureau entirely. And last week, Ted Cruz actually unveiled the latest bill

to pull its funding, describing it as an unelected, unaccountable bureaucratic agency. And of course, in the meantime, Trump is again seeing what he can do without Congress. Right into there, Scott Besant, who was confirmed as Treasury Secretarylected, unaccountable bureaucratic agency. And of course, in the meantime, Trump is again seeing what he can do without Congress. Right, and so there, Scott Besant, who was confirmed as Treasury Secretary last week, with one of his first actions there

being giving Elon Musk and Doge access to the department's payment system, he has now been named the acting director of the CFPB, right, he's replacing Rohit Chopra, who was fired on Saturday and who had served as the director since 2021. Very notably in that role, he reportedly issued a number of regulations

taking on big banks, including limiting overdraft fees, capping credit card late fees, and banning medical debt from appearing on credit cards, as well as taking legal action against Capital One, Walmart, and Zelle and its parent banks. But for now, with Besant in command, so far he's just telling employees to stop working, with him specifically ordering a freeze on activities which include crafting regulations, enforcing rules, conducting probes, or providing, quote, public communications of any type'." As well as ordering CFPB lawyers to cease defending their existing regulations in court,

except to seek a delay in ongoing trials. And while with that, we're seeing big business and Republicans celebrating, we're seeing massive backlash from consumer advocates. With for example, the head of a corruption watchdog called Accountable US saying in a statement, "'While Trump parades a crowd of corporate lobbyists, "'billionaire donors, and Wall Street insiders

"'like Scott Besant to lead our country, "'we're looking at the end of basic protections "'for American consumers.'" And this is Democratic politicians like Senator Elizabeth Warren, who actually had a key role in forming the CFPB, slammed Besant, saying in a statement, "'Shutting down CFPB enforcement actions

"'that are on the verge of delivering money "'into the pockets of working people "'is at odds with President Trump's claim "'that he wants to lower costs for families.'" But for now, that is where we are. We're gonna have to wait to see where this ends up, how it develops, but also understand more of this kind of stuff, it's gonna keep coming.

So in the meantime, with all that, I gotta pass the question off to you. What are your thoughts and reactions to all this? Of course, this is a daily news show, but I also want it to be a daily conversation about what's happening, whether it be this first story or anything else I covered today. And then I've got more news for you in a moment.

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they are often seen as a strong American institution. So much so that if a hurricane is coming towards an area and a waffle house stays open or closed, that is how people nearby will know if it is serious or not. And then also after a natural disaster, if the waffle house is open, has a limited menu or closed, that's how you know how bad it was.

Well, today we're seeing a different version of that and it is with eggs. Because Waffle House just announced that it is temporarily placing a surge charge on every egg that it sells in response to the shortage and increased prices. And that charge will be 50 cents per egg, which is notably its most popular item.

In fact, according to their website, they serve 272 million eggs a year, which is actually over double the amount of waffles they sell. And regarding the egg prices, you had the company adding, "'While we hope these price fluctuations "'will be short-lived,

"'we cannot predict how long this shortage will last.'" And this issue is also one that you've likely noticed if you've gone to the grocery store lately. Now, in some cases, you might've just found empty shelves, but if you got your hands on a dozen eggs, the average price back in December of 2024 was $4.15 compared to just $2.51 at the end of 2023. And while notably, the prices have not yet hit their peak like they did back in December of 2024 was $4.15 compared to just $2.51 at the end of 2023. And while notably the prices have not yet hit their peak

like they did back in 2022, we could get there with the agriculture department predicting that egg prices could go up another 20% this year. In fact, NBC News even reported that during one week in mid-January, a dozen eggs were $5.29. In these price tags, they're soaring as a result of a resurgence in the bird flu. I mean, over 13 million hens have either been lost

or slaughtered because of the outbreak just since December. And it currently does not look like the bird flu is gonna be going anywhere with Emily Matz, the CEO of the American Egg Board telling CNN, "'Not to be the bearer of bad news, "'but we're in this for a while. "'Until we have time without a detection, "'unfortunately this very, very tight egg supply

"'is going to continue.'" So with that, it will not surprise you to learn that Waffle House is not the only restaurant in America struggling right now. Eater even just did a report noting that tons of restaurants across the country are either raising prices or adapting their menus or recipes to use less eggs. Meanwhile, you have others reportedly using cheaper eggs, with the CEO of the Southern chain Biscuit Belly telling Bloomberg that he is turning to liquid eggs to avoid having to charge people more. And adding,

we know the consumer is fed up with high prices, we're just going to hold off for now and just watch it. And of course, notably, all of this is happening as the price of eggs and groceries in general have become a polarized political issue. Right on the campaign trail, Trump blamed these issues on Biden and promised to lower costs on his first day in office. And in fact, while on Meet the Press in December, he even kind of acknowledged

that this helped him beat Kamala Harris, saying, "'When you buy apples, when you buy bacon, "'when you buy eggs, they would double and triple the price "'over a short period of time, "'and I won an election based on that. "'We're going to bring those prices way down. And now, even though Donald Trump's only been in the White House for a short time, people have been quick to see these headlines about egg prices and Waffle House and point the finger back at it. Though there, for his administration's part,

his press secretary has continued to blame egg prices on Biden. But again, Democrats are still saying that Donald Trump should take some responsibility. In fact, last week, we saw Senator Elizabeth Warren and Representative Jim McGovern from Massachusetts pleading a letter from several members of Congress that condemned Trump for not immediately focusing on food prices as promised. Writing that during your first week of office, you have instead focused on mass deportations

and pardoning January 6th attackers, including those who assaulted Capitol Police officers. And adding, your sole action on costs was an executive order that contained only the barest mention of food prices and not a single specific policy to reduce them. With the men encouraging him to act and outline a plan to lower grocery costs.

Well, we wait to see what comes from possible legislation, possible executive orders, and the political blame game going back and forth. Of course, always remember, you can look to Waffle House as an indicator of what is to come and what has been. But then let's shift gears to international news connected to the United States, starting with Ukraine. Because over the last few months, things have gone poorly for Ukraine

as it tries to get more weapons from allies amid Russian advancements in the East and continued strikes on Ukrainian cities. But President Donald Trump might be giving them a lifeline. Because while speaking from the Oval Office yesterday, Trump answered some questions about Ukraine aid. And during that, he made it clear that he was tired of Europe giving Ukraine

far less aid than the US. But he didn't say that aid would be cut off. Instead, he went on to say, So we're looking to do a deal with Ukraine where they're going to secure what we're giving them with their rare earth and other things. And that's a big thing. We've actually talked about this in the past,

but as a recap, rare earth minerals are things like lithium, titanium, graphite, and uranium, all of which are vital for modern tech or weapons. And as the name implies, they're pretty rare, making large deposits of them worth a fortune. And in Ukraine's case, it's believed they might be sitting atop of trillions of dollars of this stuff, and that's just what they know of so far.

Or there being active efforts to see if Ukraine is sitting on even more deposits. And the thing is, this is not a completely new idea, as a group of Republican senators actually floated this idea back in 2024. It even looked like it was gonna go through for a while there under the Biden administration, but Ukrainian sources claim that Zelensky held off in order to have a bargaining chip with Trump.

And this is Zelensky has even openly proposed sharing Ukraine's natural wealth with allies as part of its victory plan. But also with that, the fact that Ukraine is even considering giving up its rights to rare earth minerals is a very, very big deal because it could jeopardize its economy in the long term. It's why many countries are hesitant to allow foreign companies to mine their resources. Also a big part of this is while any potential deal is still very much in the early stages, even the possibility that the US is going to support Ukraine, it has angered Russia.

And while speaking to reporters, the Kremlin senior spokesperson highlighted that this wasn't an aid deal per se and instead a commercial one before adding, it would be better of course for the assistance to not be provided at all as that would contribute to the end of this conflict. Though obviously Russia doesn't want Ukraine

getting any aid for any reason. But I cannot understate how pivotal this deal could actually be, right? It provides allies with a very, very big incentive to continuously give Ukraine aid until it can reclaim territories either by force or through negotiation. And that is because a sizable chunk of its mineral wealth

is in territory held by Russia currently. And with all that, I do wanna stress, while it is likely that Trump's deal will be received well by Ukraine, Zelensky has not responded as of recording. Though that is probably because he has his hands full with other issues right now. With Russia now notably continuing to make progress in the East, including notable progress in strategic cities. And there are reportedly a ton of reasons for this, ranging from a lack of weapons to a low morale among Ukrainian troops.

But according to reports, newly formed units are being sent to the front with little experience or training, all of which leads to poor performance and high desertion rates. And on top of those setbacks, Russia continues to pummel Ukrainian cities. With the most recent missile strikes hitting Izhum earlier this morning, also hitting city council buildings, as well as apartments and footage Zelensky shared on Facebook. With them also going on to say there

that 20 people have been injured and tragically five people have died. And then going on to write, "'This brutality cannot be tolerated. "'Maximum pressure must be applied to Russia "'through military force, sanctions, and diplomacy to stop the terror and protect lives. And all of this is possibly the only bits of good news that Ukraine has on the front lines is in Kursk, right, where North Korean troops have reportedly pulled away from the front as well

as its successful drone strikes on key Russian industries. But for now, everything is very, very fluid, and we're gonna have to wait to see what happens with Trump and Ukraine. But then, moving on to other international news, we should talk about Panama, China, and El Salvador. Because newly appointed Secretary of State Marco Rubio has been busy the past few days with trips across Latin America, and he's been giving us a taste of what Trump's foreign policy will look like. So for starters, Rubio's trip to Panama certainly did not lower tensions between the U.S. and Panama. With this being a summary of the meeting, the State Department repeated Trump's claim that China is taking over the canal and adding,

"'Secretary Rubio made clear "'that this status quo is unacceptable "'and that absent immediate changes, "'it would require the United States "'to take measures necessary "'to protect its rights under the treaty.'" However, interestingly, Panama had a slightly different version of what happened

and instead made it seem like the conversation was pretty chill and that the US wouldn't actually take the canal back. Though those hopes were probably dashed after Trump said on Sunday, we're going to take it back or something very powerful is going to happen. With all of that being in line with Trump's repeated claims

that China operates the American built canal, which also reportedly is just not true. Where the closest thing out there appears to be that there is a Hong Kong based company called CK Hutchinson that operates ports at both ends of the canal. However, Trump's strong arm negotiating tactics might just work there as there are now multiple reports that Panama is considering canceling the deals

with C.K. Hutchinson rather than risk a confrontation with the US. Although they might not have to act at all as a team of lawyers brought forth a lawsuit against C.K. Hutchinson claiming that their contracts for the ports are unconstitutional. And while all of that is messy and crazy enough, it is hardly the most wild headline to come

out of Rubio's trip. Instead, that honor goes to Marco Rubio saying that El Salvador's president agrees to house U.S. criminals in his country's jails. And a very big thing is it really does not seem like this is a situation where the headlines leave stuff out as El Salvador's president, Nayib Bukele, tweeted out, "'We have offered the United States of America

"'the opportunity to outsource part of its prison system,' "'saying we are willing to take only convicted criminals, "'including convicted U including convicted US citizens, into our mega prison, CECOT, in exchange for a fee. With them adding, the fee would be relatively low for the US, but significant for us, making our entire prison system sustainable. And this is Rubio echoed that the deal

would include American citizens and called the deal an act of extraordinary friendship. With them then going on to say, we are profoundly grateful. I spoke to President Trump about this earlier today, and it's just one more sign of what an incredible friend we have here in President Bukele and in the people of El Salvador."

Well, the details here still need to be worked out. To say that this deal is controversial is an understatement. But the first off is the fact that El Salvador's prisons are notoriously overcrowded and brutal. And I don't mean like in they beat you every day kind of brutal, although there are reports of that happening but more along the lines of they take away your humanity. It's all part of Bukele's plan to heavily crack down

on gang violence in the country, which has been very effective with El Salvador going from the murder capital of the world to Bukele claiming it has the lowest homicide rate in the Western hemisphere. But this is many argue that it comes at the cost of civil rights with reports that thousands have been arrested and held without charges

or trials and as mega prisons. And then of course, there's the little tiny baby issue of is any of this constitutional within the US? Many do not think that it is with the biggest hurdle probably being the Eighth Amendment, which bars cruel and unusual punishments. With us seeing people arguing that sending people abroad to be held in prisons amounts to exile

and further contend that exile is barred under the amendment. And seeing people saying things like, US citizens will be sent to El Salvador for their political dissent. Stop defending these monsters. Saying Americans will die in El Salvador in prisons for their speech. America is so incredibly cooked and yet half of America will defend this. Which on that note, we did see people praising the idea and saying things like, let's see how the thugs of Chicago, Atlanta, New York, LA, et cetera, enjoy the vacation there. Now, what I will say is that the reality here is that we have very few details about this deal, which Rubio said would be forthcoming.

And then actually, we just got a reminder that doing breaking news is the worst because Rubio just touched on this situation during a visit to Costa Rica and backtracked a bit, with him now calling the offer very generous, but adding that the administration would need to study the proposal. But then, shortly after that, Trump himself pushed the other way,

with him while speaking to the press in the Oval Office saying, If we had the legal right to do it, I would do it in a heartbeat. I don't know if we do or not, we're looking at that right now, but we could make deals where we'd get these animals out of our country.

With Trump also notably specifying that he was talking about people both coming into the country illegally, as well as American citizens who were considered hardened criminals. We're talking about getting the criminals out of our country that come in through other countries illegally, right? The illegal migrants, as I call them. Well, we have people that are just as bad as them in our country. If we could get them out, I'd be very happy. When I watch some of the crimes being committed in New York City, in Chicago, look at Chicago, the volume of crime that they have and the viciousness of the crime.

These people are horrible people. And if somebody thinks they're going to be wonderful citizens someday, they're wrong. It's not going to happen. It's not going to happen. They're bad. These are hard, tough criminals. In many cases, they're crazy. They're absolutely crazy. But they're very dangerous. If I could get them out of the country and be in some other country where they're glad to have them because they make a small fee compared to what we'd pay to a private prison or to, you know, put them in one of our prisons that costs even more money, I think it would be great. I'd love to get them the hell out of our country. Thank you very much.

And so for now, we're just gonna have to wait to see what the hell is going on. And of course, in the meantime, what are your thoughts? And then I've got more news for you in just a moment. But first, you know, this Valentine's Day, whether you're married, single, celebrating friendships, or lost in a situation ship, everyone deserves a little love. And while today's sponsor, MeUndies,

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officially voting 13 to 14 along party lines to advance his nomination for a full floor vote. And that's actually really major because his approval by the committee was not a sure thing when it started, especially after his controversial high-profile hearings last week. Right, and because that panel has split 13 Democrats

to 14 Republicans, just one GOP Senator needed to flip in order to block the nomination. With it really seeming like all eyes were on the committee's chairman, Senator Bill Cassidy, who's a doctor that openly said he was unsure if he could vote for Kennedy because of his outspoken vaccine skepticism. But ultimately, he decided to back RFK Jr., writing on X just before the vote, I've had very intense conversations with Bobby and the White House over the weekend and even this morning. I want to thank VP JD specifically for his honest counsel. With the serious commitments I've received from the administration and the opportunity

to make progress on the issues we agree on, like healthy foods and a pro-American agenda, I will vote yes. But also very notably here, his decision comes after a massive push for Cassidy to fall in line and back Trump's pick to lead HHS. With this, including from members of his own Louisiana delegation pushing him

to support RFK Jr. with one posting on social media, for example, we're watching. There were also a lot of threats that Cassidy, who's up for election in the midterms, would be primaried. With that coming from a number of sources, including a new Trump-aligned group that was literally formed just to pressure senators

to vote for RFK Jr. and which vowed that, quote, "'All uncommitted Republican senators will be targeted.'" And this is Kennedy's ultra-rich former running mate also threatened to fund primary challenges against any senators who voted against his nomination. And then also worth mentioning is that you had Trump himself chiming in on Truth Social today,

seemingly implying that vaccines maybe give people autism and adding, we need Bobby. Though again, on the note of pressure campaigns for Republican senators to back controversial Trump appointees, we also saw a very public push around Tulsi Gabbard's nomination as director of national intelligence. Right, and her nomination was also approved today by the Senate Intelligence

Committee in another vote along party lines. And like with RFK Jr., there'd been a lot of speculation about whether she was actually going to make it out of committee because of her controversial past stances and actions, which had raised concerns among many Republicans. But then after two closely watched GOP senators announced that they would in fact be supporting her, we saw that pressure campaign really ramping up against Senator Todd Young. He was widely viewed as the final possible holdout. And I mean, we saw the pressure coming

from a number of people, including very powerful conservative voices like Meghan McCain, who posted on X, Senator Todd Young is the new Liz Cheney. Do the people of Indiana who voted for him know he is actively trying to stop Tulsi Gabbard from getting her job she earned? We also saw Elon Musk chiming in,

posting a now-deleted tweet, calling Young a deep state puppet, though then he seemed to change his tune after deleting the post and writing another where he said he had just had an excellent conversation with the senator and adding, I stand corrected. Senator Young will be a great ally in restoring power to the people from the vast unelected bureaucracy. And from that last post, it was pretty clear that Young had indicated to Musk that he would in fact be backing Gabbard, with the senator then officially confirming his support that Young had indicated to Musk that he would in fact be backing Gabbard. With the Senator then officially confirming his support this morning, saying on X that he would be backing her

after receiving the necessary commitments, which were outlined in a letter that she sent him that he shared in his posts. And so now, as far as what happens next, the nominee is approved by the committees, they'll go to the full Senate for a vote. But then the big question being, could there be enough Republican defections

to tank any confirmations? Right in there, the nominees can only lose three Republicans if all Democrats vote against them. And while there are some notable possible holdouts, I think they have the numbers. Right for RFK Jr., all eyes are on Senators Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski, who have been known to vote against Trump nominees before.

But they're then also kind of being the third possible wildcard, and that being Mitch McConnell. And McConnell is a polio survivor who has spoken firmly in favor of the vaccine and issued a strongly worded statement about how vital it is last month when the media was reporting heavily on RFK Jr.'s skepticism. But if all three went that way, it's still only three. And unless they get one more, Vice President J.D. Vance would then break the tie. Which of course is exactly what he did for Pete Hegseth's confirmation when those same three senators voted against Trump's pick to lead the DOD. And then as far as Gabbard,

while there was some initial speculation about those same three, at the very least, it seems like Collins is out now because she was among the Republicans who voted to advance Gabbard's nomination through the Intelligence Committee. That said, nothing's done till it's done. And there are others who have spoken out against her. But again, it is unclear if there would actually be enough members to tank the confirmation vote, especially given the pressure campaigns that we've been seeing run against Republicans who dare to vote against some of Trump's picks. But then shifting gears, we should talk about how Trump's federal buyout has kind of gotten insane.

Right, and we've touched on this before, but like everything these days, there's been a bunch of updates and confusion since then. So quick repressure. Last week, the Office of Personnel Management sent out an email to federal workers titled Fork in the Road. And that detailed a program

that would allow eligible federal workers to voluntarily resign from their positions and continue to receive their full salary and benefits through September 30th. With it being argued that the idea was to cut down the size of the federal government fast by incentivizing employees to leave their posts with eight months of pay.

And this says, even in that initial memo, there were some parts that caused concern, like the fact that those who decide to stay reportedly are not offered any guarantees. Write that memo saying that employees can't be given, quote, full assurance regarding the certainty of your position or agency should they decide to stay. With the email then adding that a lot of agencies will likely be downsized

and a lot of the workforce will be reclassified to an at-will status or furlough, making them easier to be fired. And almost immediately after this memo was sent out, there was backlash. With many, including the American Federation of Government Employees, which is the largest federal workforce union,

questioning whether this is even legal. You had them saying that the communication from the OPM is, quote, riddled with inconsistencies and uncertainties and adding, it is also unclear whether OPM has the legal authority to support the program or its alleged benefits, and the eligibility criteria are vague. I mean, even some Republicans were reportedly saying that this probably is not legal. Though this, as we saw CBS saying, their sources say that it is unlikely any congressional Republicans are going to push back. Also, very notably with this situation is you have a dozen Democratic attorneys general issuing a

statement calling the whole thing misleading. And Tish James, the AG for New York, saying in a statement, President Trump's so-called buyout offers are nothing more than the latest attack on federal workers and the services they provide. These supposed offers are not guaranteed. Federal employees should be cautious and follow the guidance of their unions to protect their rights. And that lack of a guarantee is a big area of concern for some, with attorneys, unions, and even members of Congress pointing out that pay and benefits after March can't be promised because of government funding. For example, Senator Patty Murray saying in a statement, it's important you know that right now the federal government is only funded through March 14th, 2025. At this point, there is no funding allocated to agencies to pay staff for this offer. So because of all this and more,

federal workers unions have been pushing back hard against this buyout plan and urging their members not to take the deal. With us seeing Randy Irwin, the national president of the National Federation of Federal Employees saying, "'Unlike structured programs "'that the federal government offered in the past "'to decrease the number of federal employees, "'this maneuver is intended to panic civil servants "'into accepting what seems like a sweet deal,

"'but is probably a scam.'" And going on to say, the offer is a scare tactic designed to pressure federal workers into quitting while promising under an illegal and unenforceable agreement to pay them until October. Though there, we saw the OPM pushing back in turn, accusing the unions of misinformation and using workers like political pawns, saying, this is a rare, generous opportunity, one that was thoroughly vetted and intentionally designed to support employees through restructuring. But here, I should say that the confusion doesn't

stop with legality. There have been a flood of new questions about the fine print of the deal, especially since several federal agencies have sent out sample contract agreements for this program, and some of the language there reportedly does not match up with OPM's memo, right? Notably, some of the contracts reportedly require those who decide to resign through this program to work through February

and then be put on administrative leave by March 1st. And with that, you had NPR reporting that this is the first mention of any dates and that there had previously not been clarity regarding administrative leave. But then with that, OPM's frequently asked questions page notes that no one who accepts this buyout will be expected to work at the position during the deferred resignation period. Additionally, we've seen another big area of confusion being whether workers can seek other employment. In there, you have OPM's frequently asked questions

page saying that people are absolutely welcome to find another job in the private sector as soon as they'd like. But according to reports, the new language says that employees have to adhere to ethics rules. And at some agencies, that reportedly means getting prior approval for outside positions. And this is U of NPR reporting that another section of the sample contract asks employees to acknowledge that federal agencies can rescind the agreement, but that employees won't have a chance to appeal. And then there's a section asking employees to waive their right to pursue judicial, administrative, or any other action against their employer

regarding their time working for the government or the deferred resignation. But also even amid the confusion, there have reportedly been a lot of people agreeing to leave with Axios reporting that a senior Trump official said that 20,000 federal workers have accepted the buyout offer so far. Though I will say, while 20,000 is a lot of people

in certain contexts, it's only about 1% of the federal workforce. And notably for this situation, it is a far cry from the 5 to 10% the White House was reportedly aiming for. But the situation's not over yet, right? There are still a couple of days before the window closes, so we may see that number change.

But then finally today, let's talk about yesterday and some common commentary brought to you by beautifulbastard.com, where right now you can get one, a few, or all of our brand new releases. Like clearly thriving, I'm just built different. There's been too much stuff happening lately to be honest. God is testing me and I refuse to study.

And a silly goose in this economy, along with so much more over at beautifulbastard.com, where are your feelings? But with that said, diving into those comments, there was understandably a lot of comments and conversation around the tariffs and Elon Musk. With somebody like Jay saying, I know we all like to say the rules apply

to the rich differently, but it's becoming apparent "'the rules don't apply to the rich. "'They can and will do whatever they want.'" With Rowdy adding, "'At this point, I'm like, is it illegal? "'Are there countermeasures? "'Are there going to be repercussions "'for breaking federal and national law?''

And Bafal adding, "'I'm currently pursuing a bachelor's "'in cybersecurity and information assurance. "'As I hear this story about Elon, "'I see that it's hitting every red flag "'against cybersecurity. "'This should not be happening at all. "'Glad to know with enough money and confusion,

you can do and get away with anything. Some outright describing it as a coup. And then, like I said, there was a lot of conversation being had around the tariffs. And very interestingly, there were a lot of comments specifically from Canadians. But the same comments like Frey saying, as a Canadian, the fact that Trump brought up

how Canada and Mexico are paying less for pharmaceuticals as if framing it that these countries are somehow pulling one over on the US when Canada and Mexico have nationalized healthcare is absolutely baffling to me. With Mitchell adding, as a Canadian, I can tell you people here are pissed. Bourbon is off the shelves in liquor stores, grocery stores have signs pointing out what items are Canadian, and people are booing the American national anthem before hockey games. Do you have any idea how bad you have to mess up to have Canadians act unsportsmanlike? With Enchilada adding, I can't remember the last time

I have seen everyday Canadians so united against a cause. My timeline has been filled with tips on what different standards like Made in Canada and Product of Canada means and brands to support. Which I will say there that it's been very interesting to see the different reactions in the United States and outside of the United States. Right, in the US, there's a split.

Right, you have people saying that Donald Trump is just creating problems, demanding things. Nothing really is changing that much. And then he's touting it as a win by solving a problem that he created himself. And this is J.D. Vance is saying, how you like them apples? Trump supporters are saying, oh, look, it's the art of the deal. Trump's a master. But outside of the U.S., especially amongst our allies that we're threatening, he's like inspiring nationalism in these other countries against us. Now, as far as how that's going to play out over the years regarding diplomatic relations, trade,

like actual everyday lifestyle, right? Because there's so much talk going into the election about the price of gas and eggs. That remains to be seen right now. And understandably, a lot of focus has been on Mexico and Canada, less so China, even though they're involved with the tariffs. But also it's gonna be very interesting to watch

and possibly very, very concerning is what happens to all the countries that were being helped thanks to USAID. So many of those programs have been touted as like, look, look at the good that is being done in other countries because of the US. It's not, it's largely not because it's like, oh, the US just has this bleeding heart. The United States just cares so much. It's strategic. And it's also part of the reason we've seen so many experts saying there is a possibility that China even more so is going to fill the power vacuum. And you know, there were comments and conversation that touched on this as well. Like one that read, it is baffling that someone can be in government and not understand

foreign aid. USAID is just a name. It is actually about developing your own domestic economy, creating ties between nations, reducing deaths and reducing diseases that could make their way back to your nation. It's a win for you and the world, but because it has foreign in it, it has to be axed. And again, it was something that I hit on yesterday. That is not to say that how things were being done or how things were being allocated cannot be debated or criticized. But sometimes, and I believe this is true in life as well, when you help others, it helps you even more so.

Well, definitely not a one-to-one comparison. We see that in situations like Ukraine. If Russia was slash is able to just steamroll over Ukraine and any other allies after that, the U.S. is in a worse position anyways. And again, it's not like this is a new concept. Helping others can often help you. But for now, we're going to have to wait to see how all this plays out.

There are a number of different fronts. There are a number of different specifics that are in limbo right now. With that said, my friends, that brings us to the end of your Tuesday evening, Wednesday morning dive into the news. Of course, remember, I got a brand new show for you every Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday at 6 p.m. Eastern, 3 p.m. Pacific. Thank you for watching. I love yo faces, and I'll see you right back here tomorrow.