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March 03, 2025

Xaver Clarke

Blog Post JudiciarySupreme CourtTrump 2.0

Mark Paoletta’s Illegal Orders Are Before His Close Friend, Clarence Thomas

On Wednesday, February 26, Chief Justice John Roberts gave the first indication of the Supreme Court becoming involved in the ongoing legal battles over the Trump administration’s federal spending freeze. Roberts temporarily blocked a lower court’s ruling that ordered the release of nearly $2 billion in foreign aid assistance, opening the door for the full Court to weigh in on the issue.

February 28, 2025

Blog Post

AbundanceClimate and EnvironmentCorporate CrackdownEthics in GovernmentTrump 2.0

Why We’re Skeptical About The “Energy Abundance” Agenda

Over the past few years, a cohort of neoliberal pundits from Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson to Matt Yglesias and Eric Levitz have increasingly problematized the modern regulatory state, framing the government’s many environmental and labor standards as an impediment to “abundance.” Multiple books advancing this argument are slated to be published in the first months of 2025, from Marc Dunkelman’s Why Nothing Works to Abundance by Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson.

February 28, 2025

Fatou Ndiaye

Newsletter Climate and EnvironmentConsumer ProtectionCorruption CalendarEthics in GovernmentJudiciaryTechTrump 2.0

Week Six: A dying CFPB, Musk’s business boom, conflicts of interest, and blatant favoritism. 

This week, the Trump administration is moving fast to dismantle the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), abandoning several active enforcement cases against financiers ripping off consumers. The SEC paused its case against Trump ally Justin Sun and handed the crypto industry another victory. Elon Musk continues to have field day after field day, slashing agencies he doesn’t like and watching his businesses balloon in value since the election. Several Trump appointees (like CFTC Chair Nominee Brian Quintenz and acting administrator of the PHMSA Ben Kochman) have major conflicts of interests which will likely skew agency action towards the interests of corporations at the expense of the public. We also witnessed an instance of blatant bias in how legal actions are handled, with leniency toward Republicans.

February 28, 2025

Jacob Plaza

Blog Post DOGEElon Musk

DOGE Agent: Brian Bjelde

Musk Connections: 21 years at SpaceX, currently Vice President of Human Resources. Previously occupied a number of management positions. Described as a “Musk insider,” Bjelde was one of the first employees at SpaceX. 

Other Corporate Connections: Bjelde is an investor in a self-piloting drone company called Rain.

February 28, 2025

Blog Post DOGEElon MuskTech

DOGE Agent: Scott Langmack

Musk Connections: Unknown
Other Corporate Affiliations: COO Kukun; Director of Worldwide Marketing at Pepsi Cola International; Head of OEM Marketing at Microsoft
DOGE Deployments: Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)