Friday Insights-February 28, 2025
The Trump Train may be leaving the tracks
The week's big news is House passage of Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill” budget resolution. Speaker Mike Johnson, with the help of some threats and bullying from the President, passed a budget resolution (H. Con. Res. 14) that increases the federal debt ceiling each year through FY 2034:
The House-passed Budget Resolution, however, projects that the budget deficit will decrease. The report accompanying the Resolution tells us:
Budget Committee Democrats condemned the resolution, calling out what might be called Budget Fraud. Democrats commented:
Replacing the will of the people with the whims of billionaires, the House Republican budget provides $4.5 trillion in tax cuts for the rich but does nothing to lower costs for American families. It increases the deficit while inflicting pain on the most vulnerable, even as it raises the debt limit by $4 trillion. It demands spending cuts from all parts of the budget, promoting policies that will increase costs, boost unemployment, and hobble economic growth – but it banks on a sky-high economic forecast to make this rip off stick.
The Democrats continue:
The House Republican budget relies on the economic fairy dust of wildly unrealistic economic growth and a $2.6 trillion magic pot of savings. Ignoring the $2.6 trillion invented from a “macroeconomic impact on the deficit,” the budget makes the deficit worse by $1.6 trillion over ten years. It claims GDP growth will average 2.6 percent over the next ten years, which is nearly a full percentage point higher than estimates by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) and all other major reputable forecasts.
The House-passed resolution must be reconciled with the Senate version, S. Con. Res. 9. A final FY 2026 Budget Resolution could be passed next week.
Ultimately, Trump will likely get most, if not all, of his budget priorities, the biggest of which is the extension of his 2017 tax cuts.
Republicans facing heat at home.
Republicans on Capitol Hill don’t seem to know how to say no to the President, even when many of them are being booed by their constituents at town hall meetings. DOGE and its ham-fisted, crazed approach to downsizing government grows less popular daily. As people see what is being cut and learn about some of the people being summarily fired, they are saying, “Wait a minute.” I didn’t think you were going to do that.”
Are the wheels coming off the Trump Train?
Already Trump has had to reverse course on Elon Musk’s stupid demand that federal employees submit a list of five things they accomplished last week. The request was both demeaning and cruel. It was intended to make federal employees miserable and encourage them to resign. It was a stunt. It was also intended as entertainment for Trump’s core supporters—the same supporters who found the image of Elon Musk dancing with a chainsaw engaging.
I wish I could say that the wheels are coming off the Trump Train, but they are not. Republicans in Congress won’t let it. I worked on Capitol Hill for several years. I never saw a more pathetic example of mass cowardice in my time there.
Mass firings of federal workers may escalate.
Although Elon Musk has admitted mistakes in ordering the firings of some federal workers, including researchers working on Bird Flu, the administration took steps this week to escalate the rate of firings. Federal agencies received a memo detailing the implementation of mass Reductions in Force (RIFs).
Regrettably, protests against the mass firings are escalating, but they don’t seem to influence Presidents Musk or Trump. I expect this will change as the quality of service from federal agencies—things such as taxpayer assistance from the IRS—deteriorates.
In part the memo reads:
The federal government is costly, inefficient, and deeply in debt. At the same time, it is not producing results for the American public. Instead, tax dollars are being siphoned off to fund unproductive and unnecessary programs that benefit radical interest groups while hurting hardworking American citizens.
The American people registered their verdict on the bloated, corrupt federal bureaucracy on November 5, 2024, by voting for President Trump and his promises to sweepingly reform the federal government.
Trump interfering with former Special Counsel Jack Smith’s legal representation.
President Trump and Attorney General Bondi are expected to seek “retribution” against former Special Counsel Jack Smith. Smith prosecuted Donald Trump for election interference and misappropriation of federal documents (the “Mar-a-Lago documents”).
The Washington D.C. office of Covington & Burling is providing legal representation to Smith. The Trump administration seeks to undermine that representation by cancelling the security clearances of the firm’s attorneys who worked on the representation of Smith.
Trump’s action is deeply troubling. Some may call it lawfare but should not be surprised. Trump promised retribution against his enemies and he is keeping this promise.
Elon Musk tells a whopper.
Weirdness.
Time has made us callous to Trump doing strange things. I thought I had seen it all—what else could Trump do that would surprise me? For one, proposing to remove Gaza’s current residents from their war-torn home and convert Gaza into a luxury resort.
Trump has followed up on his plans for Gaza by posting a short video of what Gaza might look like after the plan is implemented. If the video had not been posted on Truth Social, I would have assumed it was a satire. It isn’t. Donald Trump himself posted it.
Volunteers helping Trump fire federal workers.
The Wall Street Journal reports that DOGE includes several “Special Employees” who work full time for the Trump administration and are paid by private-sector employers, including consulting firms that are likely also involved in lobbying. Among the “Special Employees” is the wife of White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller.
The best-known of the “Special Employees” is Elon Musk, whose companies include SpaceX, Tesla, and others that receive federal contracts.
Musk is policing his conflicts of interest. When asked how he would handle them, He said, “I’ll recuse myself.”
Trump Money.
Congressman Joe Wilson (R-SC), best known for heckling President Obama during a State of the Union Address by shouting, “You Lie!”, is proposing legislation directing the government to issue $250 bills featuring Trump’s likeness. This is a true story.
Did you know?
Ten House Republicans are cosponsors of a resolution calling for the United States to withdraw from the United Nations?
Thank you.
Thank you for reading Friday Insights, which I may have to rename—the direction of the Trump administration is so clear that to discuss it hardly involves any ability to interpret anything. No “insights” are necessary.
I will have more to say on Sunday.
Have a nice weekend.
Two wrongs do not make a right, but until the Democratic Party acts like Republicans, they will do nothing but piss into the wind. It's time for the "oh woe is me" attitude to stop.