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Economy Defied Expectations in Biden’s Last Year
“Growth slowed but remained resilient at the end of 2024, leaving the U.S. economy on solid footing heading into a new year — and a new presidential administration — that is full of uncertainty,” the New York Times reports.
“U.S. gross domestic product, adjusted for inflation, grew at a 2.3% annual rate in the fourth quarter of last year, the Commerce Department reported on Thursday. That was down from the 3.1% growth rate in the third quarter but nonetheless represented an encouraging end to a year in which the economy once again defied expectations.”
It’s Chaos Again in Trump’s White House
Washington Post: “That chaotic story that unfolded eight years ago with Trump’s ban on travel from Muslim-majority countries repeated itself in his second term with an abrupt clampdown on federal spending this week that spiraled into a quasi-government shutdown.”
“By the time the White House rescinded the freeze on Wednesday, the scare had briefly disrupted Medicaid payments, senior meals, special education and housing stipends. It also punctured the sense of accomplishment among Trump officials eager to take the levers of power in a more orderly and effective manner than last time.”
Google Reclassifies U.S. as a ‘Sensitive Country’
“Google’s maps division reclassified the U.S. as a ‘sensitive country,’ a designation it reserves for states with strict governments and border disputes,” CNBC reports.
“The decision to elevate the U.S. to its list of sensitive countries illustrates the challenges that tech companies face as they try to navigate the early days of a second Trump presidency.”
John Gruber: “No word from Apple on how Apple Maps will handle this.”
Kash Patel to Face Questions Over His ‘Enemies List’
“Kash Patel, the nominee for FBI director, is expected to face bruising questions at his Senate confirmation hearing on Thursday about his relative lack of experience, his promise to persecute his enemies and whether he will preserve the bureau’s independence from President Trump,” the New York Times reports.
“The nomination of Mr. Patel, 44, a self-described Trump campaign surrogate, has upended the post-Watergate tradition of picking nonpartisan directors. If confirmed, Mr. Patel could provide Mr. Trump with a direct line into the FBI, eliminating guardrails meant to insulate the bureau from White House interference.”
Tulsi Gabbard Says She’s No One’s ‘Puppet’
“Tulsi Gabbard said she refuses to be anyone’s ‘puppet’ and promised to end what she called the weaponization of intelligence, according to prepared remarks she’s set to deliver at her confirmation hearing Thursday to be the next director of national intelligence,” Bloomberg reports.
Said Gabbard: “What really upsets my political opponents is my consistent record of independence, regardless of political affiliation, and my refusal to be anyone’s puppet.”
NPR: Trump’s pick for intel chief, Tulsi Gabbard, faces her confirmation hearing.
Trump Keeps World Waiting on Tariffs
“President Donald Trump’s tariff plans are the great unknown in the global economy right now — and it’s partly because his team is still trying to figure out what to do,” Bloomberg reports.
“Tariffs were so central to Trump’s victorious election campaign that trade experts, and even some of his allies, were surprised when they went missing in action during his first days back in the White House.”
Why the White House Yanked the Spending Freeze
“The White House budget office rescinded a memo ordering a broad freeze on federal grants and loans after Republican senators ‘hit the ceiling’ over the order, which caught them completely by surprise and created confusion in their home states,” The Hill reports.
Said one GOP senator: “Republicans were starting to hit the ceiling because the state governments, people in our states were coming to us saying, ‘Wait, wait, wait, wait. What does this mean? Does it mean we’re going to lose funding for X, Y, Z?’”
Robert Reich: Trump unleashed chaos by freezing and unfreezing $3tn in federal grants and loans. Why?
Bonus Quote of the Day
“You’ll get phone calls at 1 in the morning and — he’ll talk about policy and he’ll talk about your family… there’s something incredibly energetic about him, but you sort of need that actually.”
— Vice President J.D. Vance, quoted by The Hill, praising President Trump’s stamina.
Clown Show
Jonathan Bernstein: “I think everyone who pays attention knows one of the reasons to expect Donald Trump’s presidency to have trouble governing. The president himself is deeply ignorant and resists learning anything. That was most obviously true at the beginning of the pandemic, but it’s constantly causing him trouble, whether it’s on tariffs or NATO or pretty much anything else. He (thinks he) knows what he knows, and he doesn’t want to hear anything to the contrary. That’s pretty obviously a potential source of all sorts of trouble.”
“The related problem, also fairly obvious, is that Trump hires for demonstrations of abject loyalty. Not know-how. So not only is Trump himself poorly informed, but he doesn’t hire for expertise and therefore doesn’t get much of it.”
White House Mulls New Ways to Seize Spending Power
“The White House is considering challenging the constitutionality of a 50-year-old law limiting the president’s control over federal spending, easing the firing of civil servants, curbing pay and reining in independent agencies,” Bloomberg reports.
“The ideas, detailed in a slide presentation labeled ‘confidential,’ outline the ways President Donald Trump’s administration could try to overhaul the federal bureaucracy and its workforce — though it’s unclear whether the president has the legal authority to carry out the suggested actions.”
‘City-Killer’ Asteroid Headed This Way
NASA says a “city-killer” asteroid has a 1-in-83 chance of smashing into Earth in 2032, Live Science reports.
Down on the Democrats
Aaron Blake: “A Quinnipiac University poll released Wednesday had this stunning finding: While Americans were about evenly split in their views of the Republican Party (43% favorable to 45% unfavorable), negative views of the Democratic Party outpaced positive ones by 26 points — 31% favorable to 57% unfavorable.
“That’s not only a huge imbalance but also an unprecedented one.”
“In fact, Democrats’ 57% unfavorable rating is their highest ever in Quinnipiac’s polling, dating back to 2008, while the GOP’s 43% favorable rating is its highest ever.”
Senate May Jam House with Two Bill Approach
“Down in Florida on Wednesday, House Republicans tried to coalesce around a plan to pass ‘one big, beautiful bill.’ Meanwhile, up in Washington, Senate Republicans are ready to go with their own Plan B,” Politico reports.
“Senate Majority Leader John Thune said in an interview that ‘text is ready’ for a budget blueprint that would tee up a two-bill approach to the GOP’s ambitious border, energy and tax agenda.”
Said Thune: “We’ve been ready for a while. Everything is ready to go.”
Who’s Writing Trump’s Executive Orders?
Molly White: “The people now in charge of the Office of Personnel Management apparently don’t know how to scrub PDF metadata, and have exposed the original authors of the guidance they’re publishing. Two, Noah Peters and James Sherk, have links to the Heritage Foundation and Project 2025.”
Trump Tests Local Control of Schools
“With a series of executive orders, President Trump has demonstrated that he has the appetite for an audacious fight to remake public education in the image of his ‘anti-woke,’ populist political movement,” the New York Times reports.
“But in a country unique among nations for its hyperlocal control of schools, the effort is likely to run into legal, logistical and funding trouble as it tests the limits of federal power over K-12 education.”
More Disapprove of Trump Than Approve
A new Gallup poll finds President Trump begins his second term with an upside down approval rating, 47% to 48%.
Semafor: “The rating is similar to the 45% approval Trump received at the start of his first term, and stands below all other elected US presidents stretching back to 1953 — underscoring how polarizing a figure he is. In comparison, Joe Biden entered office with a 57% approval rating (and left with 40%).”
Quote of the Day
“President Trump was right. This process is political, and it’s corrupted to the core. I hope President Trump cleans up the cesspool and restores the integrity to the system.”
— Former Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ), outside the courthouse after Being sentenced to 11 years in prison, apparently angling for a pardon.
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