Month: February 2025

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Mike and Jay open this 10th Anniversary episode of The Politics Guys with a discussion of the Trump administration’s seeming turn toward Russia and away from Ukraine. They discuss Trump’s many lies about the war, including that Ukraine started it (which Trump later walked back), that Zelensky is a dictator with a four percent approval rating, the amount of money the US has given to Ukraine, and more. They also consider the larger foreign policy and global order implications of the deals Trump is hoping to make with Ukraine and with Russia. In the end, both Mike and Jay are horribly disappointed by this turn of events.

Then they turn to the domestic scene – a Trump executive order intended to give the president more control over so-called independent agencies. Mike is no fan, but Jay argues that as the president, Donald Trump has the right to do more or less what he wants with executive branch agencies, including firing “independent” agency heads because they disagree with him on policy.

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The Politics Guys is part of The Democracy Group, a network of podcasts that examines what’s broken in our democracy and how we can work together to fix it.

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Mike and Jay open with a look at the various efforts by the Trump administration to pull back on political prosecutions or political figures, including the very controversial decision to not pursue charges (for now) against New York City Mayor Eric Adams. Neither Mike nor Jay agree with the Adams decision, but Jay is more willing to consider a political motive by the Biden DOJ for bringing the charges in the first place. They also discuss the wider implications of Trump’s actions. Mike’s main concern is that it will result in more public corruption, though he agrees with Jay that there’s something to be said for not unduly constraining American businesses in international competition.

Then they turn to the issue of constitutional crises – what the term means, if we’re in (or near) one, and the last time we’ve seen an unquestionable constitutional crisis.

They close with a discussion of the latest Trump cabinet confirmations: Tulsi Gabbard as Director of National Intelligence, and RFK Jr. as Secretary of Health and Human Services.

Mike’s New (free) Substack: What Fresh Hell is This?

The Politics Guys on Facebook | X

Listener support helps make The Politics Guys possible. You can support us or change your level of support at patreon.com/politicsguys or politicsguys.com/support. On Venmo we’re @PoliticsGuys.

The Politics Guys is part of The Democracy Group, a network of podcasts that examines what’s broken in our democracy and how we can work together to fix it.

Trey and Ken begin with a detailed look at DOGE, specifically focusing on what it is and its connection to Treasury Department Data. That leads to an extended debate between the hosts on Presidential power. Trey argues that scholars have long pointed to the danger of each President taking new and unique powers via unprecedented unilateral action. In this view, the long-term health of our Republic is reigned in primarily not by separation of powers, but by norms Presidents are not willing to violate. All it takes is for President Trump to ignore those norms to jeopardize the system. Ken disagrees and argues the American system is fine; the problem is solely a president who takes his orders from Putin (about which Trey also disagrees).

After that, they turned to an extended discussion on tariffs. Trey puts tariffs in historic and political-economic terms. Ken turns to the legality- or illegality- of the proposed tariff scheme. They finish the show with a brief conversation on Trump’s comments, both in person and online, concerning Gaza.

Mike’s New (free) Substack: What Fresh Hell is This?

The Politics Guys on Facebook | X 

Listener support helps make The Politics Guys possible. You can support us or change your level of support at patreon.com/politicsguys or politicsguys.com/support. On Venmo we’re @PoliticsGuys.

The Politics Guys is part of The Democracy Group, a network of podcasts that examines what’s broken in our democracy and how we can work together to fix it.