It's Only Been 18 Days, But That's An Eternity in DOGE Years
Added 2025-02-07 08:52:24 +0000 UTCOA1122 - We’re not even three weeks into the second Trump administration and already well into our first Constitutional crisis. How was the world’s richest man given access to the nation’s checkbook and the total authority to shut down a $40 billion federal agency with 10,000 employees--and can he be stopped? After a quick review of some recent good news, we try to understand how Donald Trump and Elon Musk are illegally reshaping the federal government before closing out the news sandwich with a big L for the Proud Boys.
D.C. District Court judge Royce Lambert’s order in Doe v. McHenry protecting trans prisoners (2/4/25)
Trump’s executive order establishing the Department of Governmental Efficiency (1/20/25)
“The Trump-Musk power grab has happened before--in Hungary,” Zach Beauchamp Vox (2/5/25)
“U.S. Agency for International Development: An Overview,” Congressional Research Service (1/6/25)
Check out the OA Linktree for all the places to go and things to do!
Comments
Same. After avoiding the last guy for so long I listened to an EP with Matt and became a patron for the first time.
Kat -- A liberal weed in conservative country
2025-02-12 01:36:11 +0000 UTCCongratulations and thank you for your citizenship. The fact that people still want to join this great experiment and work to make it better reminds me that I need to appreciate what we have and keep fighting to make it better.
Kat -- A liberal weed in conservative country
2025-02-12 01:31:57 +0000 UTCCongrats on your citizenship, I know it'll have been a long journey. Sorry it couldn't get finalised under a government that upholds the principles you signed up to.
Graydon Armstrong
2025-02-11 19:51:25 +0000 UTCGlad you've been here, Matt, and glad you got OA back, Thomas. Thomas, are we ever going to get your tell-all about the shit that went down with PAT, or are you now just looking to leave that behind you?
Graydon Armstrong
2025-02-11 19:48:53 +0000 UTCIt’s been a rough year but I’m glad OA was here. Big thanks to Matt. You’re a great fit to the show.
CacklingDonut
2025-02-11 02:02:14 +0000 UTCWe keep talking about all these cases challenging some DOGE actions and EOs. But I’m reminded that a lot of Trumps cases in ‘voter fraud’ were victorious because of standing. I’m concerned that standing will be used a lot of challenging some of these in the right timing. I have no doubt that some would result in harm…but think that standing will be a first blocker that will continue to be challenged as DEMS challenged in 2020 significantly
Tim H
2025-02-10 16:37:31 +0000 UTCJust wanted to say that i agree with you! I was speaking out of frustration with a certain kind of legal analysis i have been hearing around this, but went too far the other way. The deal we're making with you here is that we'll provide news and legal analysis beyond the headlines, and i didn't hold up my end here. (as always the patreon app isn't letting me capitalize words.) The real problem is that we just know enough about what they have been doing in these systems. But fwiw, beyond the two criminal statutes i mentioned (the privacy act of 1974 and willfull conflicts of interest for sges) there are potential charges relating to cybersecurity and mishandling of classified information. There are also potential civl rights and employment law violations. I'd like to wait until we have more facts but at the very least from the topline perspective this is a serious breach of the president's duty to "take care" that the laws be faithfully executed, a violation of the impoundment act, and a clear defiance of basic separation of powers. Congrats on your recent naturalization and ty for this--genuinely, i'm still trying to figure out how to talk about this new law-optional (or "post-constitutional" as russ vought would have it) era and this is a good reminder that i did promise that we would tell you when *and why* things are illegal
Matt Cameron
2025-02-09 14:33:19 +0000 UTCYeah, I just don't see the Republicans going for it. They all can just keep their 6-figure paychecks and government healthcare by doing nothing.
Alex Dunn
2025-02-08 21:15:03 +0000 UTCBringing facts about trans people is so important. Leave it to Charlie Baker to create an explicitly sex based regulation, because trans men haven’t been barred from NCAA sports. I look forward to a lawsuit, particularly brought by a trans woman who received proper care in their youth. The supposed advantages of enduring boy-puberty for a girl won’t be a factor. Plus, nobody freaks out when freakishly tall / muscular / thin - or any physical attribute - that shuts everyone else out of a sport like basketball or wrestling, ffs.
dddebz
2025-02-08 20:16:05 +0000 UTCDepending upon the courage of anyone in the House, impeachment charges should be brought. They won’t, but they should bring every single broken law to the floor.
dddebz
2025-02-08 20:11:51 +0000 UTCMaybe this is obvious to everyone else - I've only been a citizen for two days - but I disagree with Matt's statement that "I don't think it does a lot of good to take it through every one of the statutes that he's violating" and "I think that everybody understands instinctively that this is illegal". I don't *know* what the "19 to 25 year old kids" are doing in the treasury and why that's bad. It sounds bad But what are they actually doing and why is it illegal? I look to OA for fact-based, detail-oriented analysis of this stuff. If all you're going to say is "bad people are in the government doing bad things" with no specificity then you're no better than fox news.
Ask an axolotl if they'll be back tomorrow
2025-02-08 06:55:49 +0000 UTCHey so maybe this isn't the right place for this comment but I just read this article that Trump's people are defying orders to unfreeze federal payments: https://www.latimes.com/politics/story/2025-02-07/bonta-says-trump-is-spitting-in-the-face-of-our-democracy-as-federal-funds-remain-frozen So let me get the sequence of events here straight. 1. Trump does an executive order 2. Court says "stop that" 3. Trump and co. don't 4. More courts get involved I guess 5. They reaffirm that Trump's people should unfreeze the federal funding 6. Trump's people say no again 7. Constitutional crisis Right? I mean we can arrest the cabinet people doing crimes but we can't arrest Trump and judges can't appoint cabinet members who will follow the law. "The remedy is impeachment." What if the GOP doesn't want to impeach? Is this where the checks and balances of government breaks down?
Alex Dunn
2025-02-08 06:22:42 +0000 UTCI admire your ability to wade through the dreck and not be dragged down.
Kat -- A liberal weed in conservative country
2025-02-08 05:51:06 +0000 UTCI don't blame you. I'm so sorry! I have some things up my sleeve coming up that hopefully won't be as dreadful.
Lydia Smith
2025-02-08 05:33:45 +0000 UTCHappy anniversary, guys! I'm so glad Thomas now has the co-host he deserves. You balance each other so well-- Thomas expresses my existential panic and Matt provided the avuncular reassurance until we all moved to the weirdest of all possible timelines. I love having Lydia on the show so much, but those tend to be the scariest episodes and I don't always finish them.
Kat -- A liberal weed in conservative country
2025-02-08 02:26:31 +0000 UTCHAPPY MATTIVERSARY!! Here's to many more, you two!! 🥂
All-inclusive Gender Resort
2025-02-08 02:18:49 +0000 UTCI got depressed when the opening story was reversed by Musk before it dropped
Rachel J Larris
2025-02-08 00:30:05 +0000 UTCI just want to say as general lurker on this Matt has been a fantastic perspective to have, I don't live in the US so the direct implications are sometimes hard to grasp. This show really makes me feel like I have cut through the headlines to what the issues are. And Thomas, you (and Lydia) deserve so much credit for how well you ask the key questions so the that the issues are are clear. And the quality of production is so good. Well edited and good audio quality on these makes the focus on the the content so much easier
Valerie
2025-02-07 22:58:38 +0000 UTCOh yikes, thanks for the summary
wildwytch
2025-02-07 18:34:01 +0000 UTCHappy anniversary OA! I listened occasionally to OA before the previous cohost went rogue but nowadays I do not ever skip an ep. Such a good pod. I love that Matt shares so much about immigration.
Jess C
2025-02-07 18:19:08 +0000 UTCI've heard the Administration's approach described in the news as "throwing spaghetti at the wall and seeing what sticks." It is more akin to throwing grenades into people's lives and hoping they aren't duds.
Katie Herrmann
2025-02-07 17:02:15 +0000 UTCThanks for covering the purges of federal employees. I live in Arlington, Virginia (an area with a ton of federal employees). I've have had 5 friends from various agencies lose their jobs already, 2 with young kids. I have neighbors knocking on my door in tears because they know I do employment work, asking "how can they do this? What do I do?" Beyond hugging them and promising we'll figure it out, there is not much I can say right now. A lot of these folks took less-paying federal employment over more lucrative jobs in the private sector specifically for the job security. Their lives have now been thrown into complete chaos. One of my close friends spent most of his week in the icy Potomac recovering bodies from the plane crash in D.C., only to learn at the end of the week his name was being turned over to the DOJ with the real possibility he'll be terminated. For doing his job. It's nothing short of cruel.
Katie Herrmann
2025-02-07 16:32:52 +0000 UTCShort version is that old lawyer co-host was outed as a sex pest, responded by locking Thomas out of the show and continued doing it w Liz Dye until a very contentious lawsuit settled w Thomas getting it back.
Gmork
2025-02-07 15:40:37 +0000 UTCWhen Matt joined, I was skeptical that the show could continue to be as good. For all of AT'S ethical failings, he was a great researcher and lawsplainer. But Matt's just better. And funnier. We live in dark days, but the show is better than it's ever been.
Gmork
2025-02-07 15:36:19 +0000 UTCFuck that's a good episode title. Well done.
Despairing Radical
2025-02-07 14:42:19 +0000 UTCwoo hoo! happy anniversary to you guys. match made in heaven. 😍
citationy stuff
2025-02-07 14:14:49 +0000 UTCCongratulations on 1 year Thomas and Matt! ❤️
KeepingThePlatesSpinning
2025-02-07 13:19:44 +0000 UTCI'm not familiar with what went down a year ago, but I for one am happy to have Matt around. Nice voice, good viewpoints, seems like a decent guy from what little I know 👍🏻
wildwytch
2025-02-07 11:53:27 +0000 UTC
