Al and Norm Ornstein on The Blueprint for Trump's Cruelty

What's actually driving the Trump administration? Our good friend and emeritus scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, Norm Ornstein, joins Al to follow the blueprint laid out by Project 2025.

The chief architect of Project 2025, Russell Vought, now runs the Office of Management and Budget, the perfect position to carry out The Project’s agenda. Norm and Al cover the human cost of gutting USAID, DOGE’s chaotic assault on the federal workforce, an immigration crackdown that's begun alienating the Hispanic voters who swung to Trump in 2024, and a cabinet culture so consumed with flattery that Ornstein calls it the "Lickspittle Olympics."

Plus, Trump promised to keep us out of wars, but with the ongoing conflict with Iran, the Venezuela invasion, preparations around Cuba, and a growing rift with NATO, it seems like he might not have been fully honest with the American people.

Norm discusses how this administration's corruption dwarfs every previous White House scandal combined. And what should Democrats actually do if they retake Congress? Is impeachment smart politics or a distraction? And what does a credible "Project 2029" look like?

LISTEN to Norm's podcast "Words Matter" with fellow friend of the show David Rothkopf: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/dsrs-words-matter/id1420216970

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Al and Dahlia Lithwick on The Monarchic Supreme Court

For the final episode of The Al Franken Podcast, we're joined one last time by our good friend Dahlia Lithwick, Senior Editor at Slate and host of the Amicus podcast! As we await the Supreme Court’s r...

28 Juni 1h 13min

Al and Franklin Foer on Iran, Ukraine, Soccer, and The World

We’re joined by our longtime friend, Franklin Foer of The Atlantic! We have a deal in Iran or at least an agreement to have an agreement. Even some Republicans are calling this an unconditional surren...

21 Juni 48min

Al and Mark Leibovich on The Midterm Landscape

We're joined by our friend Mark Leibovich of The Atlantic to break down Trump's sinking approval ratings, the approaching midterms, and whether Democrats are overconfident.We begin by looking at Trump...

14 Juni 50min

BEST OF: Kevin Nealon on His Career in Comedy!

In this Best Of episode, we revisit our July 2025 conversation with an old friend from Al’s SNL days, comedian Kevin Nealon! Kevin and Al trade stories from working together on Saturday Night Live and...

31 Maj 1h 2min

Catherine Rampell and Scott Lincicome on Trump's Tariffs

It’s been over a year since Trump’s “Liberation Day” when he rolled out his global tariffs, but the Supreme Court struck those down resulting in chaos and confusion about what happens next. Guest Host...

24 Maj 52min

BEST OF: Kasie Hunt on Her Career & Trump

In this Best Of episode, we revisit our June 2025 conversation with CNN Anchor and Chief National Affairs Analyst Kasie Hunt! It's a very fun conversation covering her work and what inspired her to fo...

17 Maj 55min

Rep. Rosa DeLauro on Congressional Chaos

Guest Host Norm Ornstein welcomes Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) to cover all the news happening in Congress. We cover the war in Iran and how it’s driving prices up across the country and the world, conseq...

10 Maj 53min