Week 3 —The Return

The theme of this week’s list is undoubtedly pushback. For the first two weeks after the election, Trump seemed to be steamrolling through his agenda and desires — threatening and intimidating anyone and anything that got in his way, and encountering little hindrance. This week, in a dramatic shift, guard rails started to appear.

Trump and his somewhat dysfunctional regime seemed caught off guard as they were somewhat forcefully met with the powers of Congress and the federal government. On two major items so far, Trump was forced to capitulate. Pushback has also emerged from special interest groups, business leaders, state officials, and regular citizens in opposition of crony capitalism and mass deportations. Not so fast!

On a sober note, the remaining court cases against Trump — the last bastions of holding him accountable and responsible for his actions, including his attempted coup on January 6th — sputtered and came to a halt this week. On the federal case for January 6th, Biden’s attorney general Merrick Garland had slow walked picking a special prosecutor in an effort to appear above board — but to what end? Lesson learned: there is no appeasing a dictator.

1. Ada County in Idaho will publish all 271,186 ballots cast on November 5th, along with details on how each ballot was tabulated, in an effort to build election trust after Trump’s false claims of a stolen election in 2020.
2. WAPO reported that anti-abortion groups, feeling emboldened by the election, plan to devise measures to punish people and organizations that help women get abortions, and to crack down on the flow of abortion pills into states with bans.
3. NBC News reported that three of Trump’s cabinet selections have faced allegations of sexual assault, as well as questions about their personal qualifications: Matt Gaetz, Pete Hegseth, and Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.
4. In addition, Linda McMahon was accused in an October 2024 lawsuit of failing to stop a ringside announcer for WWE from grooming and sexually abusing children. In the past, sexual misconduct allegations would derail a nomination. Trump seems indifferent.
5. On Thursday, ABC News reported that Trump advisers are warning GOP Senators that if they do not support his cabinet picks, Elon Musk will fund a primary challenge against them.
6. On Wednesday, NYT reported that federal investigators traced payments made by Matt Gaetz on Venmo used to pay women for sex. Thursday, Gaetz withdrew from consideration for attorney general, as it became clear he would not be confirmed.
7. Later Thursday, Trump tapped Pam Bondi for AG. As Florida AG, shortly after a $25,000 donation from Trump in 2013, she dropped a case against Trump University. She also defended Trump in his first impeachment, which she called a “sham,” and had other roles in his first regime.
8. After Trump’s fourth set of criminal charges in 2023, Bondi told Fox News, “The prosecutors will be prosecuted, the bad ones. The investigators will be investigated.”
9. WAPO reported despite Trump and his transition team’s denial of involvement with Project 2025, Trump has named at least five nominees who are credited by name in the manifesto, including his border czar, CIA director, FCC chair, and ambassador to Canada.
10. Trump also appointed loyalist Russ Vought, one of the architects of Project 2025, to return to the White House as director of the Office of Management and Budget.
11. In the first Trump era, Vought came up with the idea to use emergency power to circumvent Congress on funding for Trump’s border wall. Vought has spent years planning ways to enhance presidential power.
12. WAPO reported the Trump regime is poised to make major cuts in the powers of the federal agency that protects unions, as Elon Musk’s SpaceX and Jeff Bezos’s Amazon are arguing in federal court that the structure of the NLRB is unconstitutional.
13. Trump regime advisors have also discussed firing Democratic members of the five-person labor board, breaking the longtime precedent of the agency’s independence.
14. WAPO reported while Vivek Ramaswamy seeks to change the FDA to have the agency err on the side of approving promising therapies and to get rid of unnecessary barriers, a company he founded is pursuing three drugs that could go before the FDA during Trump’s second term.
15. On Thursday, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Trump loyalist who was initially shunned by the GOP as a QAnon conspiracist, and stripped of committee assignments for her actions, will chair the subcommittee for the to-be formed Department of Government Efficiency (“DOGE”).
16. On Thursday, billionaire hedge fund manager Ken Griffin told the Economic Club of New York that Trump’s planned hike in tariffs “puts us on a slippery slope towards crony capitalism.”
17. On Thursday, Republican Sen. Mike Rounds introduced the “Returning Education Back to Our States Act,” which would eliminate the Department of Education, and distribute all critical programs to other federal agencies.
18. On Thursday, Comcast announced that it would spin off several cable networks, including MSNBC, meaning it would no longer have a connection to NBC News. MSNBC staffers were uncertain about their future.
19. MSNBC show “Morning Joe” saw a ratings slide during the week, after co-hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski’s visit to Mar-a-Lago in Week 2. Other MSNBC shows also struggled.
20. On Thursday, Brazilian authorities announced they were recommending criminal charges against former President Jair Bolsonaro, a Trump ally, over his role in plotting a coup after he lost the 2022 presidential election.
21. On Friday, the judge overseeing Trump’s New York hush money payment trial announced he would postpone sentencing scheduled for next week, while he considered whether the case should be dismissed.
22. On Friday, WAPO reported Trump plans to fire special counsel Jack Smith and his entire team, and set up an investigative team in the DOJ to hunt for evidence of fraud in swing states during the 2020 election.
23. NYT reported Trump’s picks for health agencies were all outside the medical mainstream for Covid measures, including opposition to vaccine mandates, suggesting a shake-up is incoming.
24. Like RFK, Jr., Dr. David Weldon, tapped to lead the CDC, promoted anti-vaccine views. FDA commissioner, Dr. Martin Makary, has frequently criticized vaccine mandates on Fox News appearances. Dr. Janette Nesheiw, Trump’s pick for surgeon general, also frequently appears on Fox News, and is pro-vaccine but against mandates.
25. On Tuesday, Trump picked Dr. Jay Bhattacharya to lead the National Institutes of Health. Bhattacharya was one of a trio who wrote an anti-lockdown treatise in 2020, saying the Covid virus should be allowed to spread among young healthy people to create natural immunity.
26. CNN reported Tulsi Gabbard was placed on a Transportation Security Administration watch list earlier this year, after an algorithm was triggered by her overseas travel patterns and foreign connections.
27. Gabbard falsely claimed this occurred because she criticized VP Kamala Harris, posting on X in September that it was the “ultimate betrayal” caused by “the Harris-Biden regime,” seeing her “as a threat to their power.”
28. On Friday, Trump appointed loyalist and far-right firebrand Sebastian Gorka, a commentator on Fox News and Newsmax, as deputy assistant to the president and senior director for counterterrorism, positions that do not require Senate confirmation.
29. According to WAPO, many Republicans have a negative view of Gorka, as fringe, unqualified, and “a clown.” In his role in the first regime, Gorka leveraged fears of Islam as a threat to Western civilization
30. The Hill reported several GOP Senators are pushing back on Trump’s notion of recess appointments. Sen. John Cornyn said, “The separations of powers doctrine is pretty fundamental: three coequal branches of government.” Sen Thom Tillis said recess appointments “should be absolutely off the table.”
31. On Sunday, Democrat Sen. Amy Klobuchar, a senior member of the Judiciary Committee, told “This Week” that she will not be able to make a decision on Trump nominees without a FBI background check.
32. NBC News reported GOP Sens. Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski also called for FBI background checks. GOP Sen. Mike Rounds said any outsourced background checks would need to be validated.
33. Politico reported GOP Sen. Roger Wicker, the ranking member, and Democrat Sen. Tim Kaine, a senior member of the Armed Services Committee, both called for FBI checks to move nominations forward.
34. WAPO reported at Mar-a-Lago, three teams of rivals have been become warring factions with shouting matches, physical confrontations, expulsion from meetings, and name calling.
35. The infighting has also spilled over onto X, involving Vice President JD Vance. Rivals also seek to turn Trump against one another. Trump seems to relish the return of infighting, a feature of his first regime.
36. On Friday, NYT reported on the mixed view of Musk in Trumpworld. Many are betting on how long the bromance will last. Musk appeared concerned about the perception of his influence, praising on X, “the large number of loyal, good people.”
37. Musk also worried about outshining Trump, and pushing cabinet picks, with limited success. Musk also posted that many picks were made, “without my knowledge and decisions are 100% that of the President.”
38. Mick Mulvaney, former director of the OMB, told clients Musk would find out that “going to Mars is easier” than changing the way the federal government does business, adding he doubted Musk would stick around to accomplish much.
39. WSJ reported that the Trump regime’s efforts to throw out or rewrite government rules might be challenged, fizzle, or fail outright. In the first regime, 57% of challenged rules lost in court, the highest of any modern day President.
40. In the second Trump regime, he has upped the ante from a 2-to-1 to a 10-to-1 ratio of scrapped to enacted rules. Challenges will go to the D.C. Federal Court, of which seven of the eleven judges were appointed by Democrats. The Supreme Court can take up a limited number of cases.
41. WAPO reported Trump’s motivation for reshaping the executive branch are borne from the desire for punishment and retribution, not fiscal responsibility. Past presidents have tried for a more efficient government, with little success.
42. Experts say what Trump, Musk, and Ramaswamy are aiming for in cost and job reductions is unrealistic, and would require drastic cuts to popular entitlement programs. Congress would likely also oppose moves to relocate federal agencies.
43. WSJ reported that Musk has turned to targeting federal workers on X. One post, which had 32 million views, unleashed his followers to attack a little-known director of climate diversification. She deleted her social media accounts.
44. The president of a union representing government employees told the Journal that Musk’s tactic was “aimed at sowing terror and fear,” adding, “It’s intended to make them fearful that they will become afraid to speak up.”
45. On Monday, WAPO reported an internal legal review commissioned by Trump of his transition team found Boris Epshteyn asked potential regime nominees to pay him monthly consulting fees in exchange for him advocating for them to Trump.
46. The report warned of a possible scandal and criminal charges, and recommended Epshteyn be fired and his proximity to Trump ended. Notably in reporting by the Post earlier this week, Epshteyn was named in the warring internal factions at Mar-a-Lago.
47. NYT reported in a break from protocol, Trump is not disclosing names of donors who are funding his transition team, allowing businesses and wealthy people who want to curry favor to contribute, without revealing conflicts of interest.
48. Trump has thus far refused to sign an agreement with the Biden administration which imposes strict limits on fund-raising in exchange for up to $7.2 million in federal funds earmarked for the transition.
49. On Sunday, Politico reported federal agencies are refusing to meet with Trump nominees to begin transition until Trump signs the standard ethics and transparency pledges signed by every incoming president.
50. Without the agreements, Trump’s nominees cannot access any non-public information, including steps to safeguard from security threats, or secure email servers. Trump cannot request FBI background checks.
51. NYT reported European business leaders see a second Trump term and his proposed tariffs as a major threat, and at a conference this week, they are lobbying European Union policymakers for a “Put Europe First” approach.
52. NYT reported Trump used trade policy to benefit friends and punish rivals in his first regime, and that is expected to continue. The Trump regime had set up a process for exemptions that favors big businesses, and hurts small businesses, including small farms.
53. Law firms with employees from the first Trump regime are already seeing a huge swell of clients. Last time, the Commerce Department’s inspector general found “the appearance of improper influence in decision-making.”
54. Reuters reported US farm industry groups have asked the Trump regime to spare their workers from deportation, saying it could shock the food supply and drive consumer prices higher. Nearly half of farm workers lack legal status.
55. On Monday, Trump wrote in a Truth Social post that he would issue an executive order on Day 1, which would enact tariffs on goods of 25 percent on Mexico and Canada, and an additional 10 percent on China — his most detailed comments on tariffs since the election.
56. Mexico, Canada, and China are the U.S. largest three trading partners. If his order is enacted, Trump would violate the 2020 deal he inked with Mexico and Canada in his first term.
57. On Tuesday, NBC News reported that as the Trump regime ramps up its plan for mass deportations, local law enforcement is preparing to partner with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, under the controversial 287(g) program.
58. The program, added in 1996, allows ICE to delegate to state and local law enforcement to perform certain functions. The ACLU strongly opposes the program, saying it enables racial profiling and instills fear in immigrant communities.
59. On Tuesday, WAPO reported the Trump regime is discussing ways to target Democratic run, so-called “sanctuary cities,” by unilaterally striping federal resources if they refuse to participate in deportations of undocumented immigrants.
60. On Monday, California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced a plan for his state to give EV credits for all-electric cars if Trump rolls back the federal subsidy, adding his plan would exclude Musk’s Tesla vehicles.
61. Musk posted on X, calling Newsom’s plan “insane.” Newsom’s office told Bloomberg, “It’s about creating the market conditions for more of these car makers to take root.” Tesla is included in Biden’s federal subsidy.
62. WAPO reported, in an act of resistance, residents of Washington D.C. are calling for Airbnb hosts to take their rentals off the market, or increase prices during Trump’s inauguration, to show “we do not welcome hate.”
63. On Monday, special counsel Jack Smith filed a motion to dismiss Trump’s election-obstruction case, citing a Department’s Office of Legal Counsel policy that bars the prosecution of a sitting president.
64. Smith added the motion was “categorical and does not turn on the gravity of the crimes charged, the strength of the Government’s proof, or the merits of the prosecution.” The motion is to dismiss without prejudice, which means the case could be revived in the future.
65. NYT reported that several Trump allies who attended his criminal trial in Manhattan have been rewarded with plum positions in his cabinet or senior roles in the regime as a reward for their loyalty.
66. On Monday, Damian Williams, the first Black man to be U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, who oversaw the convictions of Sen. Robert Menendez, Ghislaine Maxwell and Sam Bankman-Fried, said he would step down before Trump took office.
67. On Tuesday, Trump’s transition team agreed to sign a memorandum of understanding with the White House, including their ethics pledge, one of the documents required to begin the transition. The deadline for the agreement was October 1.
68. Trump however refused to sign the an agreement with the General Services Administration, which would have given additional resources for the transition, nor did he sign an agreement with the DOJ that would allow the FBI to conduct background checks.

In closing, I am continuing to monitor with keen interest the pattern we first discussed last week, of Democrats tuning out the media. One manifestation has been plummeting ratings at MSNBC, but they are hardly alone. The Washington Post had a column on this phenomenon this week— it’s counterintuitive, as typically in hard times people seek out information as a tool of control. Why this time are Democrats tuning out?

One explanation I’m observing is a wholesale disgust and distrust in our media. A sense that media outlets betrayed journalism with horse race, both-sideism, and sane-washing an autocrat — all of which played a major role in once again putting Trump in power! Perhaps at long last this dip in ratings and jump in canceled subscriptions will force media outlets to undertake some long overdue self-examination and accountability of their own. Regaining the public trust is hard work indeed.

In the meantime, I am grateful that so many of you are able to use this project to find the news you need, while you recharge your batteries.

This week’s closing message: Rebellions are built on hope.