President Donald Trump’s new spending and tax law is set to balloon the budget for immigration and detention enforcement. With an extra $170 billion over the next four years, the government is hoping to hire 10 thousand new Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, build new detention facilities, and otherwise ramp up every aspect of arrests and removals. In fact, under the new spending plan, ICE will become the most well-funded law enforcement agency in the federal government. Garrett Graff is a historian and longtime politics and national security reporter who currently writes the ‘Doomsday Scenario’ newsletter. He joins us to talk about why dramatically expanding the federal immigration enforcement budget so quickly is a bad idea.And in headlines: President Trump threatened new tariffs on Mexico and the European Union, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem pushed back on critical reports of her handling of the response to the deadly Texas floods, and the State Department laid off more than 1,000 staffers.Show Notes:Check out Garrett's work – https://tinyurl.com/33p63f8vLong Shadow: The Lingering Questions of 9/11 –https://tinyurl.com/32bdmpnyCall Congress – 202-224-3121Subscribe to the What A Day Newsletter – https://tinyurl.com/3kk4nyz8What A Day – YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/@whatadaypodcastFollow us on Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/crookedmedia/For a transcript of this episode, please visit crooked.com/whataday
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23:38
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23:38
Ex-NOAA Administrator On Trump's Staffing Cuts
President Donald Trump is scheduled to travel to central Texas today to tour damage of the devastating July 4th weekend floods. More than 100 people have been confirmed dead, and nearly 200 are still missing a week later. As people in the region continue to mourn their loved ones and assess the destruction, there has been a lot of finger-pointing over whether more could have been done to alert people about the flood risks. If staffing cuts at the National Weather Service played a role, and who’s to blame for the mounting death toll? Richard Spinrad, the former administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, talks about how staffing cuts make the agency’s job harder.And in headlines: A federal judge in New Hampshire blocked the Trump Administration’s order ending birthright citizenship after a class-action challenge, retiring Republican North Carolina Sen. Thom Tills unloads during a CNN exclusive interview, and former Columbia grad student Mahmoud Khalil filed a claim against the Trump administration for $20 million in damages.Show Notes:Call Congress – 202-224-3121Subscribe to the What A Day Newsletter – https://tinyurl.com/3kk4nyz8What A Day – YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/@whatadaypodcastFollow us on Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/crookedmedia/For a transcript of this episode, please visit crooked.com/whataday
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22:37
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22:37
Ex-CDC Doctor On RFK Jr.'s Risky Vaccine Policies
In just a few short months on the job, Health And Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has managed to upend the American public health system, successfully inserting his decades of vaccine skepticism into national policy. Late last month, he fired every member of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s vaccine advisory panel, replacing them mostly with people who’ve voiced skepticism about vaccines. In May, he announced the CDC would stop recommending COVID vaccines for pregnant people and babies. The American Academy of Pediatrics and other health groups are now suing him and HHS over the latter decision. Dr. Fiona Havers, a former senior advisor on vaccine policy at the CDC, resigned from the agency over Kennedy’s changes to federal vaccine policy. She joins us to talk about what everyday people should do to keep themselves and their family safe.And in headlines: President Donald Trump abruptly reversed course on sending defense weapons to Ukraine, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins doubles down on “no amnesty” for undocumented farmworkers, and someone out there is using AI to impersonate Secretary of State/National Security Advisor/Acting Archivist Marco Rubio. Show Notes:Subscribe to the What A Day Newsletter – https://tinyurl.com/3kk4nyz8What A Day – YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/@whatadaypodcastFollow us on Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/crookedmedia/For a transcript of this episode, please visit crooked.com/whataday
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24:22
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24:22
How Democrats Will Make Trump Own His Disastrous Spending Bill
Now that President Donald Trump has gotten exactly what he wanted, and signed his major domestic tax and policy agenda into law, what should Democrats do now? Poll after poll has shown the legislation is wildly unpopular, but also that voters don’t know a ton about it. The legislation is projected to strip millions of people of health care and food assistance over the next decade. And for Democrats, tying Republicans to the law’s most unpopular provisions will be imperative to their hopes of regaining power in Congress in next year’s midterm elections. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries joins us to talk about how Democrats plan to respond, both to Trump’s big beautiful disaster of a law and to the onslaught of attacks from the Trump administration more broadly.And in headlines: Texas officials said they’ve confirmed more than 100 deaths from Friday’s devastating floods, Trump announced new 25 percent tariffs on Japan and South Korea, and immigration officers staged another massive show of force in Los Angeles.Show Notes:Call Congress – 202-224-3121Subscribe to the What A Day Newsletter – https://tinyurl.com/3kk4nyz8What A Day – YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/@whatadaypodcastFollow us on Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/crookedmedia/For a transcript of this episode, please visit crooked.com/whataday
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25:54
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25:54
The Big Republican Spending Bill Debacle Disaster Adventure
The Senate passed President Donald Trump's spending bill on Tuesday after Vice President JD Vance arrived to break a 50-50 tie. The bill is now headed back to the House where Republican Speaker Mike Johnson can only afford to lose three members and still pass the bill by a party line vote. To learn more about what this means for Republicans' big beautiful bill and the looming July Fourth deadline, we spoke with Nicholas Wu, a congressional reporter for Politico.And in headlines: President Trump tours "Alligator Alcatraz," Florida's new migrant detention center, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell says Trump's tariff wars pretty much stopped it from cutting interest rates, and the Trump-Musk feud is reignited.Show Notes:Check out Nicholas's work – www.politico.com/staff/nicholas-wuCall Congress – 202-224-3121Subscribe to the What A Day Newsletter – https://tinyurl.com/3kk4nyz8What A Day – YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/@whatadaypodcastFollow us on Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/crookedmedia/For a transcript of this episode, please visit crooked.com/whataday
If you’re looking for hype, fake outrage, and groupthink, kindly keep moving. Our mission at What a Day is simple: to be your guide to what truly matters each morning (and the fun stuff you might have missed) in just 20 minutes. Host Jane Coaston brings you in-depth reporting and substantive analysis on the big stories shaping today and the creeping trends shaping tomorrow—and when she doesn’t know the answers, she asks someone even smarter to fill us all in. Radical, right? New episodes at 5:00 a.m. EST, Monday–Friday in your favorite podcast app and on YouTube. Being informed was never this easy.
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