A.B. Stoddard: Only in America

Trump administration lawyers don't know or won't tell a federal judge who is running DOGE because Elon doesn't formally exist as part of the government he is trying to dismantle. And the administration is likely to lose many of the wrongful termination cases involving forest rangers, researchers, and the like—it will end up paying back wages and not save any money in the process. Meanwhile, we are not exactly confident that the FBI under Kash and meathead Dan will thoroughly investigate the recent bomb threat against Never Trumpers and police officers who defended the Capitol on Jan 6. Ben Wittes breaks it all down. Plus, Lawfare has been crushing it, and it's now out with a new podcast about the history of US-Ukrainian relations, hosted by Nastya Lapatina and Tyler McBrien.  Ben Wittes, Anastasiia Lapatina, and Tyler McBrien join Tim Miller. show notes Episode 1 of Lawfare's "Escalation" Lawfare's home page The second episode of the Gen Z FYPod is out!

25 Feb 20251h 2min

Trump keeps filling out his administration with the unqualified and the inexperienced, including the recent addition of borderline literate hack Dan Bongino at the FBI. Meanwhile, Trump's Friday night DOD purge was another step in embedding autocracy in our government. Plus, Elon's and Vance's efforts to influence the German elections seem to have backfired. And before the Proud Boy drama and the bomb threat at the annual Principles First conference, Tim spoke with Colorado Gov. Jared Polis about the right way to cut government waste and build more houses—and how the Dems should polish their prosperity messaging. Gov. Jared Polis and Bill Kristol join Tim Miller. show notes Bill's "Bulwark on Sunday" interview with Bob Kagan Principles First's "Declaration of Principles"

24 Feb 20251h 1min

Boos at a Republican town hall in Fulton County, and boos at the White House: We're beginning to see signs of people refusing to be ruled by unelected billionaires, oligarchs and CEOs. This may be the time for Democrats with some heterodox views to run for office. Meanwhile, the supposedly free speech president and his shadow are trying to intimidate people from criticizing them—including a member of Congress and one of Elon's baby mamas. Plus, Trump's advisers seem more worried about Zelensky saying mean things about him than the fact that he wants to hand the spoils to the losing side of the war.  Rep. Adam Kinzinger joins Tim Miller for the weekend pod. show notes Tim's interview with CA Democrat Rep. Robert Garcia Sam's interview with FEMA chief who was fired and has now been rehired Evidence of Elon shadow-banning Grimes Kinzinger's substack Tim's playlist

21 Feb 202549min

If Marco Rubio was NOT playing the long game masquerading as a patriotic neocon who gets placed in the State Department to then give Russia everything it wanted, what would he be doing differently? Meanwhile, a Democratic version of the Tea Party may be brewing, the tensions between Elon and Russ Vought are likely to pop out, and a psychoanalyst needs to explain Mitch McConnell. Plus, the Saudis are getting their claws in our sports with a LIV-PGA deal and Trump's astonishingly corrupt involvement. And also -- Trump doesn't know ball. Pablo Torre and David Graham join Tim Miller. show notes David's forthcoming book, "The Project: How Project 2025 Is Reshaping America" David's newsletter on the Department of Education Pablo's podcast, "Pablo Torre Finds Out"

20 Feb 202559min

Crypto should be one of the biggest stories out of the Trump administration, but the crypto guys are really good at making it seem more complicated than it is. Bloomberg's Zeke Faux joins Tim to run down the ins-and-outs, and the players—including the Chinese businessman facing SEC charges who swears the $56 million he gave Trump has absolutely nothing, zero, zilch to do with his case. Meanwhile, we're about to find out how much Republicans really care about the deficit with the coming budget, and the Democrats must not cave. Plus, Elon's crappy math, America would not get anything out of Trump's deal with Russia, and Tuesday's violence in an Orthodox Jewish neighborhood in Brooklyn. Rep. Jared Moskowitz and Zeke Faux join Tim Miller. show notes Zeke's book, "Number Go Up: Inside Crypto's Wild Rise and Staggering Fall" Zeke on Chris Hayes's podcast

19 Feb 202557min

Trump is A-OK with all the murder and mayhem Russia has unleashed on Ukraine, and he's making a mockery of all his enablers who claimed he'd do a Reagan-esque kind of deal. Instead, Ukraine wasn't even invited to the "peace" talks, while Trump tries to impose an extortion deal on the Ukrainian people for daring to fight back against the Russian invasion. Plus, the danger to our constitutional system if the main guy in the Oval Office defies a court order, the real live threat to the First Amendment from the White House's lockout of the Associated Press, and the origin story of Trump's obsession with Greenland.  Susan Glasser joins Tim Miller. show notes Susan's latest New Yorker column Tim's new Gen Z politics show, "FYPod" The "Bulwark Takes" feed on Apple podcasts The NYT story on the Panama hotel that Susan mentioned Larry Diamond's piece in Persuasion

18 Feb 202552min

Firing air traffic controllers over a busy holiday travel weekend, cutting a veterans crisis hotline, axing and then rehiring people who maintain and keep our nuclear arsenal safe: Musk and his minions aren't trying to "fix" the government. They're trying to make it more susceptible to Trump's personalized leadership. And the MIA Dems need to get out there and throw some punches since the media loves fights. Meanwhile, the US is now more of a problem than a solution on Ukraine, Elon's massive corruption isn't drawing anywhere near the same attention as Hunter/Burisma—and Bill Cassidy could just vote against Kash or delay his confirmation if he's really worried about the FBI.   Bill Kristol joins Tim Miller  show notes Bill's 'Bulwark on Sunday' conversation with Eric Edeleman Don Moynihan's newsletter that Bill mentioned

17 Feb 202536min

Unlike the cowardly Republican senators who are rolling over in the face of Kash Patel's bald-faced lies, the men and women of the Justice Department are taking their oaths of office seriously by refusing to comply with a blatantly political order to dismiss corruption charges against New York Mayor Eric Adams. Meanwhile, Trump is just over the moon with Vladimir Putin—even though his army is performing quite poorly on the battlefield against Ukraine. Plus, the makeup heir advising Trump on foreign policy, Emil Bove is this moment's cartoon villain, and Pizzagate's Jack Posobiec is somehow inside the administration's inner circle.  Andrew Weissmann and Michael Weiss join Tim Miller for the weekend pod. show notes Support "Orange Ribbons for Jamie" here, formed in honor of Parkland shooting victim Jaime Guttenberg Details on Zelensky offering Trump a Ukrainian boxer's championship belt Tim's playlist

14 Feb 202555min