Transcript

2.11.25 · Washington Post

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Speaker 1: Welcome to the reading of the Washington Post for Tuesday,
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February eleventh, twenty twenty five. As a reminder, RADIOI is
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a reading service intended for people who are blind or
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have other disabilities that make it difficult to read printed material.
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Your reader for today is Cindy Fraser. Today's front page
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headlines from the Washington Post are Trump orders twenty five
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percent tariffs on steel aluminum. Moon's designed to lift US
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producers Downstream industries will see costs increase. Next, DC crime
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returns to President's agenda. A new order would also focus
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on homelessness in city. Trump often delifies our next headline
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vans and must suggest ignoring court rulings. Rhetoric comes as
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judges issue sharp rebukes of executive actions. Next, Moon's land,
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Kennedy Center in turmoil. Trump fem's ally to unclear leadership
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role after firing House Aboard. Next, after tech layoffs, industry
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lost workers trust Plans to fire federal workers might mean
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that government sees the same unintended consequence. And the final
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headline from today's front page, Farmers are out millions after
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USDA funds frozen. Growers paid up front for clean energy
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systems to improve infrastructure. Now let's turn to our first item,
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entitled Trump orders twenty five percent tariffs on steel aluminium,
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moves designed to lift US producers downstream industries will see
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cost increase. By David J. Lynch, Kate Brady, and Michael E. Miller.
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President Donald Trump signed a pair of executive orders on
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Monday imposing twenty five percent tariffs on imported steel and aluminum,
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the latest salvo in his ongoing effort to overhaul the
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US trading relationship with the rest of the world. This
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is a big deal making them America, which, again Trump
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said as he signed the orders. The president's actions are
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designed to promote greater domestic steel industry production and employment,
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but they will increase costs for manufacturers that use the
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industrial metals to produce goods such as automobiles and appliances.
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Those higher costs are at odds with Trump's repeated campaign
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promises to bring down the cost of living. This isn't
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just about trade. It's about ensuring that America never has
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to rely on foreign nations for critical industries like steel
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and aluminium, said Peter Navarro, White House Senior Counselor for
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Trade and Manufacturing. Even before the official announcement, which the
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president previous Sunday. The European Commission slammed it as unlawful
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and counterproductive. German Chanter all of Schultz fowed that Germany,
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Europe's larger exporter of steel to the United States, could
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retaliate within an hour of any US moves. Trump say
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announced additionally U S trade measures as soon as Tuesday.
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He has promised to debut a new reciprocal tariff that
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would set US import taxes to match those that other
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nations apply to U S products. One target is the
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European Union, which maintains a ten percent tariff on cars
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imported from the United States, while European vehicles are hit
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with a two point five percent US tax when sold
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to American customers. Trump's reciprocal plan would represent a departure
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from recent decades, when US policy makers sought to lower
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tariffs in most cases to reduce product costs and spur
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global integration. Trump's new approach would further increase U S
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trade barriers, particularly on products from nations such as India
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and Brazil. Combined with the raft of tariff plans he
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has proposed or implemented since taking office, three weeks ago.
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The reciprocal proposal underscores Trump's determination to enact historic changes
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in U S trade policy. The steel and aluminum tariffs, meanwhile,
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are likely to renew tensions between the United States and
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its North American neighbors, which are among its largest suppliers
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of steel imports. The President just last week paused plans
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to impose a separate set of import taxes on goods
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from Canada and Mexico, which he linked to concerns over
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immigration and drug trafficking. Canada, the number one foreign supplier
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to the United States last year, shipped six point six
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million tons of steel to American buyers, according to the
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American Iron and Steel Institute AISI. Brazil, Mexico, South Korea,
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and Vietnam rounded out the top five import sources. Though
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China is a relatively modest supplier, shipping five hundred eight
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thousand tons to U S customers, its global dominance of
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the steel industry makes it the administration's real target. China
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produces more than half of global steel output. As its
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domestic economy has slow amid the collapse of a property bubble,
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its mills have continued to turn out more steel than
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the country's builders and manufacturers can use. The amount of
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the excess steel available on global markets in twenty twenty
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three reached five hundred and fifty one million metric tons
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four times with the European Union produced. According to the
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Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development in Paris, that surplus
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supply weighs on global prices, keeping them too low for
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US steel makers to operate profitably without tar iff protection.
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In twenty eighteen, Trump imposed similar import taxes on steel
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and aluminum during his first term. They were later amended
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to permit continuing shipments from major U S allies such
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as Canada and Mexico, and replaced with an annual quota
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for Argentina, Brazil and several other nations for provisions for
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specific products. In some cases or all metals from countries
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like South Korea to avoid those teriffs have been abused,
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while iOS official said, the result has been continued weakness
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in the domestic industry, including the closure in recent years
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of aluminum smelters in Kentucky and Washington State. Steel industry
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executives also complaining that Chinese steel often enters the US
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market via third countries such as Mexico. Both China and
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Russia have exploited loopholes in the existing metals terrace to
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ship their steel and aluminum to the United States via
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Canada and Mexico, the official toll reporters Monday. The new
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tariff regime aims to close those loopholes by instituting requirements
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for steel and aluminum to be cast or smelt in
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North America before reaching the US market. Customs and Border
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protection officials also will intensify their oversight of industrial metal
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shipment to prevent Chinese or Russian products being mislabeled to
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obey tariffs. The official said. The tax on aluminium imports
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also will increase to twenty five percent from ten percent currently.
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The underlying circumstances that led to the original tariffs on
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steel and aluminium in twenty eighteen haven't changed. The metals
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are crucial to our national security, and China's over capacity
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continues to royal global markets, said Scott Paul, president of
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the Alliance for American Manufacturing, a nonprofit backed by the
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United steel Workers' Union. China's Ministry of Commerce did not
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respond to a request for comment Tuesday. Chinese experts said
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that while the tarifs would have an impact, it would
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not be significant. The U S terras have a relatively
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limited direct impact on China because china steel exports to
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the U S are already quite small, said Wang Guo Queen,
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head of the Beijing based Laying Steel Information Research Center. However, overall,
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they will disrupt the balance of the global steel supply chain.
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The established co operation system will inevitably be broken, she said.
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In fact, U S price could push China to innovate,
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said Xing Qing, a professor of international relations at Fudan
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University in Shanghai. China will be driven to further diversify
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its markets and invest substantial resources in advancing the technology
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of its steel and aluminum products, pushing the industry towards
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higher value manufacturing, Zin said. Yet, even as the White
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House official criticized existing tariff exemptions, Australia's Prime minister on
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Monday was discussing with Trump a carbout for Australian steel.
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Prime Minister Anthony Albany said he had pressed his nation's
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case for an exemption from the teriffs during a very
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constructive and warm phone call with the U S President.
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I presented Australia's case from exemption and we agreed on
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wording to say publicly, which is that the U S
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President agreed that an exemption was under consideration in the
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interests of both of our countries, Albany said at a
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news conference in Canberra after the call. Albaneze, a center
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left politician who had a close relationship with President Joe Biden,
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is trying to follow the footsteps of another Australian Prime Minister, Conservatives,
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Malcolm Turnbull, who secured an exemption to U S steel
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and aluminum tariffs during Trump's first term. Like Turnbull, Albany said,
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he emphasized his nation's trade deficit with the United States
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our terrorists, particularly with regard to steele An aluminum. The
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U S has a trade surplus with Australia and has
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had since the Truman administration. Aubani said. Trump later praised
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Albanese in remarks to reporters and said he would give
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great consideration to his request. The EU responded to Trump's
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twenty eighteen actions with targeted tariffs designed from maximum strategic
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political impact. The block went after goods based in the
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home states of Republican leaders, including Bourbon from then Senate
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majority leader Mitch McConnell's home state of Kentucky. Up March
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twenty eighteen, tariffs were aimed at getting US steel mills
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to operate at eighty percent of capacity. For the week
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that ended February first, the domestic steel making industry remained
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below that figure at seventy four point four percent of capacity,
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according to AISI. Subsequent studies showed that the first term
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tariffs were a net loser in terms of US jobs.
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Industries that use steel, for example, employ far more Americans
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than to steel mills. The auto and auto parts industry
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employs nearly one million workers, compared with fewer than eighty
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five thousand in the steel making industry. According to the
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Bureau of Labor Statistics, the job losses created by putting
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these steel using industries at risk appeared to be substantial
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and well in access of any jobs that may have
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emerged in the steel production industry as result of the tariffs,
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concluded a twenty twenty study by economists Katie Russ of
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Harvard University and Lydia Box of the University of California
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at Davis. Trump's latest tariffs followed an increase of ten
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percentage points in existing levies on goods from China, and
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the announcement of new twenty five percent tariffs on all
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goods from Canada and Mexico, which have been delayed until
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early March. The president has also said he plans to
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introduce additional import taxes on European goods, plus pharmaceuticals and copper.
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In Canada, where the steel and aluminum industries employ about
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thirty two thousand, five hundred people, Industry Minister of Francois
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Philippe Champagne called the tariffs totally unjustified. The Canadian chapter
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of the United steel Workers Union meanwhile called on the
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government to retaliate. Trump's tariffs are a direct attack on
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workers and communities, said Marty Warren, the union's national director
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for Canada. We've been through this before and we know
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these kinds of reckless trade measures don't work and hurt workers,
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destabilized industries, and create uncertainty across the economy on both
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sides of the border. Kennis Lane, president of the Canadian
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Chamber of Commerce, said that Trump's announcement makes it clear
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that perpetual uncertainty is here to stay. In anticipation of
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Trump's return to the White House, EU officials drafted lists
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of potential retaliatory tariffs, even as they may clear that
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they would rather negotiate. European leaders have warned that a
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trade war would harm both sides and only benefit adversaries,
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including Russia. Some of EU officials have suggested Trump might
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be modified by offers to buy more liquefied natural gas
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or military equipment from US companies, or that he might
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welcome European pledges to take a harder line on Beijing.
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Officials warned they are ready to gradually wretchet up the
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response if needed. We don't want teriffs, but we have
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prepared so that we can can be ready to move
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fast so that we can negotiate or retaliate if we
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need to, said an EU diplomat, speaking on the condition
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of anonymity to share internal deliberations. In Brazil, Finance Minister
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Fandandohadad said the government wouldn't take any action in response
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to the teriffs until they were formalized. For much of
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the day Monday, the Brazilian steel sector was left scrambling
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trying to discern a rationale that might explain why Trump
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had decided to levy such a steep tariff on steel.
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Exports to the United States. The American market is huge
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for Brazilian steel mills, accounting for nearly half of all
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steel exports. Jose Augusta de Castro, the executive president of
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the Brazilian External Commerce Association, told the newspaper Oglobo that
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the tariff was extremely high and without any technical basis.
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He said that the measure, if carried out, would ultimately
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harm the United States. Who is going to end up
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paying are the Americans? He said. It will jack up
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the cost of internal production and raise inflation. Vick Chiang
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in Taipei, Ellen Francis and Brussels, Amanda Coletta in Toronto,
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and Terence McCoy in Rio de Janeiro contributed to this report.
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Our next item is entitled d C Crime returns to
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President's augena. A new order would also focus on homelessness
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in city Trump often vilifies by Spencer s Sue and
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Emily Davies. President Donald Trump is expected to issue an
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executive order that would seek to ratchet up penalties and
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enforcement of violent and petty crimes, clear homeless camps, and
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clean graffiti in the District of Columbia. According to three
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people briefed on the matter the director's targeting the city
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Trump has often vilified, could common inn executive order as
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early as this week and emphasize public safety and beautification
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of Washington. According to the people, who spoke on the
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condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss
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private conversations between the White House and the administration of
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d C Mayor Muriel E. Bowser, a Democrat, details of
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the executive order may shift, but early drafts have included
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language that would order homeless encampments cleared, direct prosecutors to
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pursue tougher penalties for gun violence as well as petty
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crimes such as public urination, and revive one of Trump's
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twenty twenty executive orders to protect national monuments. The people said.
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The order is also expected to focus broadly on federal
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parks controlled by the National Park Service. Trump has long
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derided d C as a haven of crime, even though
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violence has decreased in the past year, and some in
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the city are likely to view the executive action as
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furthering a political attack on a deep blue urban center.
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Local officials, too, fear the President might threaten d c's
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self governance, over which he and the Republicans control. Congress
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have significant power. The President has threatened to quote to
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take over the city, and two Republicans in Congress recently
16:13
proposed legislation that would take authority from the DC government.
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The bills would largely roll back the city's right to
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make decisions independently as long as it does not violate
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state or federal law, which is known as home rule.
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But on some issues of criminal justice, Trump is alligned
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with Bowser, who has advocated for more aggressive approaches to
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crime in recent years in response to spikes and killings
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and carjackings. The two could find common ground, particularly if
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Trump offers federal resources to beef up law enforcement in
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the district. It's hard to argue with the Park Service
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doing more to help the city, said d C Council
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Chairman Phil Mendelssohn, a Democrat, in an interview Monday, although
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the Sedtle government needs to follow that up with resources
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that the Park Service would need. Homicides in the district
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fell about thirty percent in twenty twenty four, part of
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an across the board dip in crime that has left
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levels of robberies and armed us off at or below
17:16
levels in Trump's first term. Killings dropped levels more on
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par with other cities across the country after spiking in
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twenty twenty three, though they remained below numbers of the
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late nineteen eighties and early nineteen nineties, when the district
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was dubbed the nation's murder capital because of bloodshed fueled
17:34
by the crack epidemic. Still, violent crime is a persistent
17:39
concern of DC residents, and DC officials feared that one
17:43
high profile shooting could unravel any progress on the perception
17:47
of safety in the city. On Monday evening, a man
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was shot around Union Station before the evening commute. We
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will take over the horribly run capital of our nation
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in Washington, d C. And clear it up, renovated, and
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rebuild our capital city so there is no longer a
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nightmare of murdering crime, Trump said in a campaign speech
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last summer. The city and the Trump administration are also
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bracing for the public safety impacts of the full time
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return of tens of thousands of federal workers to downtown
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offices in two weeks, as well as the effects of
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other sweeping moves by the White House. Those include plans
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to push up to one hundred thousand federal workers out
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of the Washington area, firing dozens of prosecutors responsible for
18:34
public safety who investigated Trump and the Capital Riot, and
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moving to purge associated ranks of the FBI, many of
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them based in Washington. Attorney General Pam Bondy announced separately
18:47
last week that the Justice Department is investigating where the
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resources spent on January sixth, twenty twenty one, Capital Riot
18:54
investigations came at the expense of the safety of DC residents.
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The White House, Bowser, and Interim d C u S
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Attorney Edward R. Martin Junior, through spokespeople, declined to comment Monday.
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The article includes a graph showing the number of homicides
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in Washington, d C by year since nineteen eighty five.
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Homicides were highest in the very early nineteen nineties and
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dropped steadily through the early twenty tens, then increasing most
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years before dropping again in twenty twenty four. Bowser, in
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conversations with White House officials, has discussed the drop in
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crime and her interest in making cosmetic improvements to the district,
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seeing her best pass forward as finding shared interests with
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the President. According to two people familiar with her conversations,
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she traveled to mar A Lado in December to meet
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with Trump and left Florida, saying President Trump and I
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both want Washington, d C. To be the best, most
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beautiful city in the world, and we want the capital
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city to reflect the strength of our nation. Terms of
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marked contrast from her posture during Trump's first term, when
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she resisted Trump's push to stage military tanks at his
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July fourth speech at the Lincoln Memorial, Anne stood defiant
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on her freshly painted Black Lives Matter Plaza, just two
20:14
blocks from the White House. The strategy will be pressure
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tested in the fine print of the final executive order,
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which could add resources to the nation's capital or strip
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its agency. We will make DC safe and especially focus
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on the problem of criminals with guns, Martin told staff
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in an email Wednesday afternoon, after visiting the Frederick Douglas
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House in southeast Washington and meeting with judges at the
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Federal District Court in d C a day earlier. Lowering
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crime and clearing homeless encampments would contribute to what Trump
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has long envisioned as a spectacular commemoralization of the two
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hundred fiftieth anniversary of the signing of America's Declaration of Independence.
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Which is next year. Just as President Richard M. Nixon,
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while president, championed a year long celebration of the nineteen
21:04
seventy six by Centennial to heal national divisions after the
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Vietnam War, Trump is embracing the twenty twenty six semi
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quin Centennial as a moment to promote America's greatness and
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patriotism and present himself as a unifying rather than a
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polarizing figure. Terms signed a White House executive order in
21:24
January resuscitating abandoned ideas from his first term, including a
21:29
new planning task Force two fifty, a national Garden of
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American Heroes in Washington, and harsher punishments for vandalizing or
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destroying existing statutes and monuments. The administration has also pushed
21:44
to shed government buildings in DC, potentially offering this city
21:48
a chance to move valuable real estate on to the
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tax rolls and redevelop areas such as south West Washington
21:55
south of the National Mall into new neighborhoods with homes,
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retail businesses, parks, and plauses. Martin has said US prosecutors
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would turn from pardoned riot participants and police civil rights
22:08
abuses to tougher penalties for gun offenders. He has privately
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pledged to push a GOP led Senate to confirm judges
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to fill crippling vacancies in DC Superior Court, and signaled
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he will redeploy prosecutors to focus on street crime and
22:24
local offenses. According to three people who spoke on the
22:28
condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss
22:31
the plans publicly, prosecutors during Trump's first term targeted felons
22:37
caught illegally possessing firearms by charging such cases under federal
22:41
statutes and U S District Court, rather than with local
22:44
offenses in DC Superior Court. Mandatory minimum sentences and pre
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trialed attention are far more common in federal cases and
22:53
are more consistently applied. Prosecutors scale back the effort after
22:57
acknowledging that it targeted three perduction monthly blackboards and was
23:02
not enforced citywide as announced. Federal gun prosecutions in DC
23:07
remain higher than in twenty eighteen, but the impact on
23:11
crime has been hard to discern amid wider trends. One
23:15
challenge immediately facing any crime crackdown is staff cuts, hiring,
23:20
and promotions for the U s Attorney's office have been frozen.
23:24
Martin and organizer with Trump's post twenty twenty election quote
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stopped this deal. Effort also has upended his office with
23:32
reviews of riot prosecutions and the firing of January sixth
23:36
prosecutors who are still on probationary status after being converted
23:40
to full time from shorter term positions after election day.
23:44
While people close to Martin initially placed a number of
23:47
terminations at about thirty and the office declined to comment
23:51
on personnel matters, some of the affected prosecutors, speaking on
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the condition of anonymity for fear professional retaliation, say they
23:59
have identified seventeen people who are cut. That is about
24:03
five percent of the roughly three hundred fifty prosecutor office,
24:08
including several starting misdemeanor boot camp in a shorthanded DC
24:12
Superior Court division, creating a domino effect as vacancies require backfilling.
24:17
According to those in the office, if you get rid
24:20
of those people, there's no one to replace them. That's
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a lot of cases you're not going to be able
24:25
to bring in superior court. A former government official familiar
24:29
with the office said it's hollowing out and creating a
24:32
generational whole, whose knock on effects will be felt for
24:36
months or years, depending on how long the hiring freeze lasts.
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Mendelssohn said he is most concerned about the focus on
24:44
tougher prosecution. While there are widespread judicial vacancies in DC
24:48
courts that have created significant back laws, it would be
24:52
really helpful if the White House were to get the
24:54
nominations over to the Senate and then push the Senate
24:57
to confirm them, he said. Keith L Alexander, Peter Hermann,
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Jenny Gaffright, and Paul Schwartzman contributed to this report. The
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next item from today's front page is entitled Vans and
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Musk suggest ignoring court rulings. Rhetoric comes as judges issue
25:16
sharp rebukes of executive actions by justin Juvenal federal judges
25:22
have issued President Donald Trump staining legal rebukes in the
25:25
early clashes over his blifts of executive orders, and two
25:29
of his top advisors have responded by suggesting that his
25:33
administration defy the courts and move forward with its agenda.
25:37
There's no indication that Trump has adopted such a strategy,
25:41
although a U S judge in Rhode Island ruled Monday
25:44
that the administration has been violating a court order to
25:48
disperse billions of dollars in already approved branch funding, and
25:52
hinted at possible penalties. But the combative rhetoric by Vice
25:56
President J. D. Vance and top adviser Elon Musk has
26:00
troubled legal experts, who said there is no modern precedent
26:03
for a president to ignore or defy court orders. Vance
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wrote an x on Sunday that it would be illegal
26:10
for a judge to tell a general how to conduct
26:12
a military operation, or for a jurist to dictate how
26:16
the attorney general used his discretion as a prosecutor. Judges
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aren't allowed to control the executive's legitimate power, he wrote.
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The Vice president also shared a post by a Harvard
26:27
University professor who argued that judicial interference with legitimate acts
26:32
of state is a violation of the Constitution's separation of powers.
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Vance has made similar comments in the past, including on
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a twenty twenty one podcast where he said he would
26:43
urge the president to defy a court order preventing him
26:46
from firing federal workers. On Monday, Vance continued to repost
26:51
messages from other uses embracing the theme Musk, who owns
26:55
the X and is leading the Trump administration's effort to
26:58
cut the federal government, echoed Vince's comments in his own
27:02
postings on the social media platform. He called for impeaching
27:06
a judge who last week temporarily blocked his associates from
27:10
acts asing sensitive data about Americans that is kept in
27:14
a Treasury Department database. Musk also shared the post of
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another ex user who called for Trump to defy judges.
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It is exceptionally myopic, hypocritical, and dangerous, Georgetown University law
27:28
professor Steve Laddick said of the cause by Trump officials
27:31
to defy court orders. In our system, the way you
27:35
object to the legal ruling you find objectionable is to appeal.
27:40
The Trump administration has appealed some of the early rulings
27:43
against the president's initiatives, including the ruling Monday in Rhode
27:47
Island that said the government was violating a court order
27:50
to unfree spending. One filing late Sunday cited the constitutional
27:55
separation of powers to say the federal courts have no
27:58
authority to block Treasury Department officials from accessing a database
28:02
at the agency. Trump has criticized the judge's ruling in
28:06
the Treasury Department case, calling it a disgrace, but did
28:10
not say his order should be defied. A board Air
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Force One on the way to the Super Bowl on Sunday,
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the President said only that the case had a long
28:19
way to go. Vadic said a president hasn't flagrantly ignored
28:24
a court ruling since the Civil War, when President Abraham
28:27
Lincoln defied as Supreme Court justice who forbade the government
28:31
from detaining people without cause. President Richard M. Nixon contemplated
28:36
defying the Supreme Court order requiring him to release recordings
28:40
he made at the White House during the Watergate scandal,
28:43
but he ultimately released them. Other presidents have drawn out
28:47
compliance with rulings. The federal judiciary has emerged as a
28:51
major early bulwark against Trump's assertion of vast executive authority
28:56
at a moment when the reaction to the administration's agenda
28:59
in Congress and on the streets has been muted. The
29:02
president has lost nearly every battle in court in the
29:06
opening weeks of his administration, with some judges using biding
29:10
an incredulous language to push back on administration plans they
29:14
have deemed unconstitutional, ill planned or cruel. It has become
29:20
ever more apparent that to our president, the rule of
29:23
law is but an impediment to his policy goals. U
29:27
S District Judge John C. Kohner, a rated appointee in Seattle,
29:31
wrote when he blocked Trump's effort to end birthright citizenship,
29:36
the rule of law is, according to him, something to
29:39
navigate around or simply ignore, whether that be for political
29:43
or personal gain. Judges also have paused Trump's efforts to
29:48
freeze fettle grants and loans, ban transgender troops from the military,
29:53
and move transgender prisoners to facilities that match their sex
29:56
assigned at birth. Other court orders delayed a fact employee
30:00
resignation offer and blocked the administration from placing nearly three
30:05
thousand USAID workers on leave. On Monday, a federal judge
30:09
of Massachusetts blocked the Trope administration's attempt to cap with
30:13
the National Institutes of Health pays universities and research organizations
30:18
to cover their administrative costs, and in Rhode Island, US
30:22
District Court Judge John C. McConnell, Jr. Found that the
30:25
administration had failed to comply with the plain language of
30:29
its January thirty one temporary restraining order that required the
30:33
Office of Management and Budget to unfreeze trillings in federal
30:37
grants and loans. Nearly two dozen states had complained Friday
30:42
that despite the order, money for clean energy projects and
30:45
transportation upgrades had yet to start flowing again. The Justice
30:50
Department told McConnell it had worked in good phase to
30:53
comply with the order and set a different OMB memo,
30:56
not the one challenged in the lawsuit, had blocked some
30:59
of the funding. Other grants and loans were being made
31:03
but had been delayed. The government's court filing said mccammall
31:07
rejected those arguments, writing that his order is clear and unambiguous,
31:12
and there are no impediments to the defendant's compliance. In
31:16
more than a dozen rulings, the only modest victory the
31:19
administration can point to so far is a DC federal
31:23
judge refusing to issue a temporary restraining order blocking u
31:27
S Doage service. DOGE stands for a Department of Government
31:30
Efficiency from accessing Americans data at the Labor Department. In
31:36
that case, the judge said those challenging DOUGE did not
31:39
have proper legal standings to do so. All of the
31:42
rulings are temporary for now, and the legal fights are
31:46
just beginning. The Trump administration probably will prevail in some
31:50
cases as they went through the appeals courts or make
31:53
their way to the Supreme Court, where several justices have
31:56
expressed support for an expansive view of executive power. But
32:01
experts said the near total victory by Trump's opponents so far,
32:05
coupled with a sharp scolding from some judges appointed by
32:08
Democratic and Republican presidents, has been notable. Gillian E. Metzer,
32:14
a Columbia Law School professor who was Deputy Assistant Attorney
32:18
General for the Office of Legal Counsel during the Biden administration,
32:22
said many of Trump's executive orders are built on a
32:25
shaky legal foundation, and the tone of the judge's rulings
32:29
reflects that. What's really striking about many of these is
32:33
they seem to fly in the face of governing statues
32:36
or existing president Metzker said of the orders, I think
32:40
you are seeing that in the responses by courts that
32:43
have been granting temporary restraining orders and preliminary injunctions pretty
32:47
quickly and emphasizing when they think something is really at
32:51
odds with governing law. U S District Judge Lauren L. Alikhan,
32:56
a Biden appointed in d C, wrote that she was
32:59
flabbergast by the omb's attempts to put as much as
33:02
three trillion dollars in federal grants and loans on hold.
33:06
She paused the effort, saying officials had not met the
33:09
required legal threshold of considering all significant aspects of the
33:13
problem they were trying to address. That is a breathtakingly
33:17
large sum of money to suspend practically overnight. Ali Khan
33:21
wrote in her ruin. Rather than taking a measured approach
33:25
to identify purportedly wasteful spending, defendants cut the fuel supply
33:30
to a vast, complicated nationwide machine, seemingly without any consideration
33:35
for the consequences of that decision. To say that O
33:39
and B failed to consider an important aspect of the
33:41
problem would be putting it mildly. US District Judge Carl Nichols,
33:46
a Trump appointee who sits in the same federal courthouse,
33:50
halted the rush to the thousands of USAID workers on
33:53
leave Friday, bluntly telling government lawyers in court, what's the
33:58
urgency of doing it tonight? The trend of losing in
34:01
the courts continues Trump's record from his first term, when
34:05
one study found he won about forty four percent of
34:08
the time at the Supreme Court, the worst record of
34:11
any modern president. Trump did not defy court orders in
34:15
his first term, but regularly lashed out of judges for
34:18
their rulings against him. Irwin Schimerinski, the dean of the
34:22
University of California at Berkeley Law School, said he expects
34:26
the administration to lose on birthright citizenship, the funding freeze,
34:31
and its efforts to do away with employment protections for
34:34
government workers, but he thinks that may fare better in
34:37
the courts on some hot button social issues. Other legal
34:41
experts said the Supreme Court, which has a strong record
34:44
of supporting executive authority and limiting the power of independent agencies,
34:49
might be open to blessing Trump's attempts to fire commissions
34:53
of the National Labor Relations Board and the Equal Employment
34:56
Opportunity Commission. Next from to day's from page is an
35:00
item entitled moose Land Kennedy Center in turmoil. Trump seems
35:05
ally to unclear leadership role after firing half of board
35:10
by Travis m Andrews, Monuel Roy, Phranzia and Matt Viiser.
35:15
President Donald Trump named former acting Director of National Intelligence
35:19
Richard Grennell as the interim executive director of the Kennedy
35:22
Center in a post on Truth's Social installing an ally
35:26
at the head of one of the nation's premier cultural institutions,
35:30
which Trump has vowed to overhaul. The president's authority to
35:34
unilaterally reshape the board, install new staff, and make himself
35:38
board chairman is an open question for the public private institution.
35:44
So we took over the Kennedy Center. We didn't like
35:46
what they were showing in various other things, Trump told
35:49
reporters in the Oval Office on Monday evening, adding, but
35:53
we have, I guess a whole new group of people
35:55
going in. I'm going to be chairman of it, and
35:57
we're going to make sure that it's good and it's
35:59
not going to be woke. Trump said. Grennell, a former
36:03
US Ambassador to Germany, would lead the organization on a
36:06
temporary basis. During the George W. Bush administration, Grennell served
36:12
as a State Department spokesman to the United Nations. He
36:15
has also been a Clots News contributor. Rick shares my
36:18
vision for a golden age of American arts and culture
36:21
and will be overseeing the daily operations of the center,
36:25
Trump wrote in his post, adding that the Center will
36:28
not host drag shows or other anti American propaganda. The
36:32
announcement added to the confusion that has engulfed the Kennedy
36:35
Center since Friday. The institution does not have a position
36:39
with the title Executive Director. Deborah Rudder is the center's president.
36:44
It wasn't immediately clear whether Trump was replacing Rudder or
36:47
creating a new position for Grennell. Neither the White House
36:51
nor the Kennedy Center responded to questions to clarify the
36:54
role and responsibilities. The Center was already turmoil after members
36:59
of its board of trustees received termination letters after Trump's
37:03
surprised decision last week to fire a large spot of
37:06
its board and take the unprecedented step of naming himself
37:10
as chairman. A termination email sent Friday by White House
37:14
Personnel Office Director Sergio Gore to former Labor Secretary Hilda Solis,
37:19
who provided a copy to The Washington Post, read on
37:23
behalf of President Donald Trump. I'm writing to inform you
37:26
your position on the board of the Kennedy Center is terminated,
37:29
effective immediately. Thank you for your service. Emails with the
37:33
same warding were sent to at least two other fired
37:35
board members who spoke on the condition of anonymity for
37:38
fear of retribution. It appears that about half of the
37:42
board was terminated, along with Chairman David M. Rubinstein. The
37:46
termination notifications represent part of a plan Trump posted to
37:50
truth Social on Friday that sent Kennedy Center officials scrambling
37:54
to understand the president's announcement regarding the storied arts institution.
37:59
It also raised questions about how much power the president
38:02
has over the institution. The Kennedy Center is an American
38:07
jewel and must reflect the brightest stars on its stage
38:10
from all across our nation, Trump wrote Friday for the
38:13
Kennedy Center, the best is yet to come. Some of
38:16
the fired board members were baffled by the decision, fearful
38:20
that Trump was trying to take over the arts. They
38:23
were confused why Trump would become chairman of the board.
38:27
The first Lady is typically honorary chair, and Malaney Trump
38:31
is still listed as such on the center's website. I
38:34
don't think it's good, generally speaking, for the country to
38:37
play partisan politics everywhere, said a board member who was fired,
38:42
speaking on the condition of anonymity for fear of retribution.
38:45
It'd be nice to have things where both parties were
38:48
properly represented. On its website, the Kennedy Center removed the
38:52
names of those who had been terminated from its list
38:55
of board members and designated them as emeritus members. One
39:00
of those who were fired are thirteen board members installed
39:02
by President Joe Biden at the end of his term.
39:06
They included a mixture of political figures such as former
39:09
White House pro Secretary Karine Jean Pierre and Evan Ryan,
39:13
the former White House Cabinet secretary and wife of former
39:16
Secretary of State Anthony Blincoln, an artist such as musician
39:20
Jean Baptiste and event planner Brian Raffaelli Rubinstein, the billionaire
39:26
co founder of the private equity firm the Carlisle Group
39:29
and principal owner of the Baltimore Orioles, was also reclassified
39:33
as emeritus on its list of board members. Rubinstein is
39:37
close to Biden and has hosted the former president at
39:40
his vacation home on Nantucket. When asked for common the
39:43
White House referred the post to Trump's truth social post.
39:48
No one has ever attempted to politicize the Kennedy Center
39:51
and take it over the way President Trump has said.
39:54
Former Congressman Martin Frost, Democrat from Texas, who has served
39:57
as a member of the Kennedy Center's Circles program since
40:00
leaving Congress in two thousand five. Farst emphasized that the
40:04
Center has always been a beacon of bipartisanship and suggested
40:08
Trump's decision could hurt the Center's attempts at fundraising. It
40:13
can't be helpful, he said. There have been significant individuals
40:16
in both parties who have written very large chets. I
40:20
understand Trump wants to be a strong president, but there
40:24
is a line that shouldn't be crossed because this is
40:26
important for our country. Frost added the legality of the
40:30
president's changes is up for debate. When asked Saturday by
40:34
the Rubinstein is Sill, chairman of the Board of Trustees,
40:37
a spokesperson said, per the Center's governance, the chair of
40:41
the Board of Trustees must be appointed by the center's
40:44
board members. Rubinstein and Rudder declined the Post requests for comment.
40:49
Several other board members did not respond or could not
40:52
be reached. In an evening emil on Friday to Kennedy
40:56
Center's staff, Rudder wrote there is nothing in the Center's
40:59
statue that would prevent a new administration from replacing board members.
41:04
This text was also added to and later removed from
41:07
the Senator's website. News of the website's editing was first
41:10
reported by The New York Times. The statute says board
41:14
members serve six year terms. It doesn't include language about removal.
41:19
The Kennedy Center spokesperson, pointing to a twenty twenty two
41:22
federal decision, spiccer b Biden as a potential president. In
41:27
that case, Trump appointees Sean Spicer and Russell Vote sued
41:32
to stop Biden's attempt to remove them from the Naval
41:34
Academy's Board of visitors before their three year terms were completed.
41:39
A judge dismissed their lawsuit, ruling that the law's language
41:42
on the board's terms did not insulate the plaintiffs from
41:45
the president's removal. Norman Ornstein, a political scientist and frequent
41:50
Trump critic, has been urging the Kennedy Center's board members
41:54
to push back against the president. He asserted that the
41:57
Kennedy Center is making a mistake by relying on the
42:00
Spicer case because a naval academy is a government entity,
42:04
while the Kennedy Center is a public private partnership. All
42:08
of these board members should sue, Ornstein said in an interview.
42:11
I would be shocked if none of them fought a lawsuit.
42:15
Several groups have had early success in the courts by
42:17
filing lawsuits to block executive orders issued by Trump, including
42:21
his attempts to end birthright citizenship and to trim the
42:25
federal workforce, but Ornstein said there are dangers involved in
42:30
taking on a president known for aggressively countering his adversaries.
42:34
I believe that there are entities that are very wary
42:37
of directly challenging Donald Trump, even when he does something
42:41
that hurts them or does something wrong, out of a
42:44
fear that they will face his wrath, he said. Trump
42:47
maintained a kurt relationship with the Kennedy Center and the
42:50
arts throughout his first presidential term, as he eschewed an
42:54
unspoken tradition for presidents to attend the Kennedy Center honors
42:58
and esteemed bipartisan of Wars ceremony, and tried to withdraw
43:02
government financial support for other arts programs. At the Kennedy
43:06
Center gala, political attendees and artist honourees typically set aside
43:11
their differences for the night, but in twenty seventeen, Norman Lear,
43:15
Lionel Ritchie, and Commande La Vallade said they wouldn't be
43:19
able to stomach Trump's participation in the ceremony after he
43:23
was reluctant to contend the organizers of a deadly white
43:26
nationalists rally in Charlottesville. The honorees fowed to boycott if
43:30
he appeared. The presidents stayed clear of the gathering that
43:34
year to allow the honorees to celebrate without any political distraction,
43:38
the White House said, and he continued to skip the
43:41
Kennedy Center honors during his first presidency. Biden's return to
43:45
the ceremony was met with standing ovations, his presence considered
43:49
a return to normalcy. In his True Social post about
43:53
the Kennedy Center, Trump suggested drag performances for the main target.
43:58
Just last year, he wrote, the Kennedy Center featured drag
44:01
shows specifically targeting our youth. This will stop. When reporters
44:06
aboard Air Force One on Sunday asked why he wants
44:08
to be chairman, Tromp said, because I want to make
44:11
sure it runs properly. We don't need woke at the
44:14
Kennedy Center. We don't need Some of the shows were terrible.
44:18
They were a disgrace that they were even put on.
44:20
So I'll be there until such time as it gets
44:23
to be run and right. He said he hasn't visited
44:26
the center, seemingly suggesting he never has, but we sees
44:30
reports about it. I didn't want to go, he said,
44:33
there was nothing I wanted to see. Terra Hoot, a
44:37
drag artist who has performed at the Kennedy Center, blasted
44:40
Trump's original post as an attempt to divide and hurt people.
44:45
They always had to find a scapegoat and somebody to
44:48
blame instead of looking to fix the problems of the country.
44:50
Who said, look at the bird flu or the price
44:53
of eggs, or national security or funding for cancer research
44:57
being taken away, And this is what he does. Late Friday,
45:01
Trump posted an image of himself as an orchestra conductor,
45:04
writing Welcome to the new Kennedy Center. The image was
45:08
water marked by groc X's Generative AI tool. Next is
45:13
an item entitled after tech layoffs, industry lost workers, trust
45:19
lands to fire federal workers might mean the government seized
45:22
the same unintended consequence, but Naomi Nixt. For decades, Dalen
45:27
Lawyer easily secured job offers in the tech industry, working
45:31
her way up from a computer maintenance technician to a
45:34
manager leading teams of engineers making software. A college dropout,
45:39
she was confident tech work was her ticket to job security,
45:42
and she would stay in the industry until she retired. Now, Moyer,
45:46
fifty five, isn't so sure her future remains in tech.
45:50
Since being laid off from Indeed last year, Moyer has
45:54
applied to more than one hundred forty jobs but received
45:57
no offers. She and her wife are considering selling their
46:00
house near Portland, Oregon, and buying land to farm instead.
46:04
Worried whatever job she finds won't cover her mortgage. It
46:09
would be a meager existence, but it would be fulfilling,
46:11
Moyer said, I would no longer feel like a no
46:14
longer useful commodity. For years, people like Moyer flocked to
46:19
Silicon Valley companies, lured by generous pay benefits and the
46:23
promise of tackling interesting problems at cutting edge ventures. Companies
46:28
shared employees with perks, from free meals and dry cleaning
46:31
to niche wellness services. The seemingly unstoppable success of major
46:36
Internet platforms like Meta, Google, and Amazon made it seem
46:40
that the industry was immune from the cyclic cutbacks that
46:43
plague other sectors. But since the tech industry slashed hundreds
46:48
of thousands of jobs in mass layoffs spanning twenty twenty
46:51
two and twenty twenty three, the sector has shifted to
46:55
routine cutbacks. On Monday, Meta slashed roughly five percent of
47:00
its seventy four thousand, sixty seven member workforce an effort
47:04
to push out quote low performers. Meta workers whose jobs
47:08
had been cut started posting on social media platforms asking
47:12
for referrals. Some expressed surprise at having been laid off
47:16
despite receiving high ratings and performance reviews. Others said they
47:20
had received a notice while on parental leaves. In a
47:24
private Facebook group for ex Meta employees, former co workers
47:28
welcomed the new additions to their group, according to copies
47:31
of the messages viewed by The Washington Post, one product
47:35
manager who was laid off said he was told he
47:38
was performing at or above expectations during a media performance review.
47:44
I got zero signal that I was underperforming or at
47:47
risk of being put on a performance improvement plan, said
47:50
the worker, who spoke on the condition of Anon m
47:52
D to preserve his future job prospects. In a company
47:56
wide town hall meeting late last month, Meta CEO Mark
48:00
Zuckerberg defended the cuts, arguing that the system would give
48:03
remaining employees better colleagues. According to a recording of the
48:07
event obtained by The Washington Post, I think this makes
48:11
the company better. I'm not going to be apologetic for it,
48:14
he said, And I think most people here want to
48:18
work with people who are going to be better fits.
48:21
The ship previews what may happen to the federal government
48:24
as Elon Musk, who dramatically slashed Ex's workforce in twenty
48:28
twenty two, attempts to apply similar cost cutting strategies to
48:32
remake the public sector. Inside Silicon Valley, many employees say
48:37
the job cuts have severe trusts between rank and file
48:40
tech workers and their company leaders. Some employees are reevaluating
48:45
how much time and energy they invest in their jobs,
48:49
while others seek new skills, such as working with artificial intelligence,
48:53
to stay competitive in a tough job market, and many
48:57
are paying close attention to the financial performance of the
49:00
companies they are considering working for. Before accepting a job.
49:05
There has been just this erosion of job security and trust,
49:09
particularly with the large companies that announced widespread layoffs along
49:13
with growing profit margins or increased stock prices, said Patrick McAdams,
49:18
CEO of the Tech Recruiting Firm and THEAMO. White collar sectors,
49:23
including the tech industry, have shared tens of thousands of
49:27
jobs since last January. Data released Friday by the US
49:30
Labor Department shows the professional business, services and information sectors,
49:35
which include tech and other office jobs, shrinking by around
49:39
nine thousand positions in January, as higher interest rates continue
49:43
to discourage employers from hiring. In recent months, major companies
49:47
such as Meta, work Day, and Amazon have announced layoffs.
49:52
In November, Google cut about a dozen members of its
49:55
team that handles legal discovery requests, according to a person
49:58
familiar with the matter, who spoke on the condition of
50:01
anonimogy to avoid being fired for sharing internal information. In June,
50:06
it laid off about ten members of the group that
50:08
handles government requests for Google users private data. Regarding the
50:13
legal team layoffs, Google's folks for San Jose Casania said
50:17
the changes to the team were made to allow it
50:19
to work more efficiently. And that some rules were added
50:22
as well. While mass layoffs and major tech companies have
50:26
been historically rare, research shows the decision to repeatedly slash
50:31
jobs may lead to lasting psychological and financial consequences for
50:35
workers and their employers. Studies show layoffs decreased trust between
50:40
employees and companies, often leading to lower engagement from remaining employees,
50:46
higher voluntary turnover, and less innovation. There is additional stress
50:52
that comes of trying to do something new that's risky,
50:55
said Sandro Suker, a professor of management practice at Harvard
50:58
Business School. When you give people a sense that somehow
51:02
they're not safe any more, it's very hard to take
51:06
the risk to try to persuade people to do stuff
51:09
that you think they are going to disagree with. This
51:12
uncertainty is a new experience for many in tech. When
51:15
Jean landed her dream job at one of the biggest
51:18
technology companies in the world a few months ago, she
51:22
didn't feel as happy as her friends cheering her success.
51:25
Seemed to expect who are congratulating her at the time,
51:29
Having faced two layoffs in less than a year. Jean,
51:32
who spoke to The Post on the condition that only
51:35
her first name, be used to avoid risking her new job,
51:38
wondered how long her position would last. I was more like,
51:43
do I really belong here? What if I get laid
51:45
off again? She said, I'm not that happy about it
51:49
because I don't know whether I will lose it or not.
51:52
Since then, she has continued her networking in the tech
51:55
industry in hopes of generating more contacts in case she
51:58
experiences another Sean Johnson, an engineer for fifteen years, says
52:04
tech companies appear to be giving out more negative performance
52:08
reviews and introducing stronger policies against remote work, which he
52:12
sees as a covert way to cut jobs. As a
52:16
remote worker based in North Carolina, Johnson thinks his job
52:20
is more likely to be at risk, an insecurity that
52:23
has prompted him to think about how to stay competitive
52:26
in the market. I'm still bullish on tech, he said.
52:30
If I end up with a significant period of time
52:32
between jobs, I do plan on reskilling myself into machine
52:36
learning in AI, because that's just what's really popular right now.
52:40
Mass layoffs can also have an impact on the remaining employees,
52:44
who are frustrated about having to take on the responsibilities
52:48
that the departed workers left behind. What happens is that
52:52
the output that you get is less than you would
52:55
have gotten otherwise, Sirker said. Elliott Lee, fifty two, a
53:00
project manager at a Utah software company, said after losing
53:04
his job several times, he has adjusted the way he
53:07
looks for new work. Recruiters told him they would often
53:10
receive more than one thousand applications for a single position.
53:14
To rise above the influx, he would stay up late
53:17
to be the first person to apply when they considers
53:21
the new job opportunity. He spends more time reading employee reviews,
53:25
talking to current and past employees about their experiences, and
53:29
looking at their company's economic stability. I don't trust employers
53:33
any more, Lee said, I was under the mindset previously,
53:37
oh this is my family, this is my professional home.
53:41
I no longer have those thoughts. Eric de vinc and
53:45
lorn Carey Gurley contributed to this report, and the final
53:49
item from today's front page is entitled Farmers are out
53:53
millions After USDA signs frozen growers paid upfront for clean
53:58
energy systems to improve infrastructure. By Daniel Wu, Gaya Gupta
54:03
and Anumita Kauer, Farmers report missing millions of dollars of
54:08
funding they were promised by the US Department of Agriculture.
54:12
Despite promises from the Trump administration that a federal funding
54:15
freeze would not apply to projects directly benefiting individuals, on
54:20
his first day in office, President Donald Trump ordered the
54:24
USDA to freeze funds for several programs designated by President
54:28
Joe Biden's signature clean energy and healthcare law, the twenty
54:32
twenty two Inflation Reduction Act. The freeze paused some funding
54:36
for the Department's Environmental Quality Incentives Program, which helps farmers
54:41
address natural resource concerns, and the Rural Energy for America program,
54:46
which provides financial assistance for farmers to improve their infrastructure.
54:50
Farmers who signed contracts with the USDA under those programs
54:55
paid upfront to build fencing, plant new crops, and install
54:59
renewable energy systems, with guarantees that the federal government would
55:03
issue grants and loan guarantees to cover at least part
55:06
of their costs. Now, with that money frozen there on
55:10
the hook. Lauren beth Resnik, who runs a Maryland flower farm,
55:15
said she signed a contract for the USDA to cover
55:18
half of a seventy two thousand, nine hundred dollars solar
55:21
panel installation. In late January, she said she was told
55:26
her reimbursement payment was rejected because of Trump's executive order.
55:31
I really don't know what we would do, Resnik said.
55:34
It just feels like I can't even really think about it.
55:38
The USDA has also halted funding for other programs, including
55:42
scientific research grants and agriculture and Producing climate smart crops.
55:47
According to a letter sent to the agency Thursday from
55:50
the House Democrats on the Agriculture and Appropriations Committees, pulling
55:55
the RUG out from these recipients runs counter to the
55:58
mission of the USDA and will quickly and significantly cripple
56:02
economic development in rural America, the letter says. The White
56:07
House repeatedly said the freeze of agricultural funding and other
56:11
federal financial assistance would not affect benefits that go directly
56:15
to individuals, such as farmers. The administration rescinded the pause
56:20
after federal judge temporarily halted its implementation, but over the weekend,
56:25
farmers reported that their funding remained frozen. Another bloat of farmers,
56:30
who are also facing threats of tariff and freezes to
56:33
foreign aid spending that involved food purchased from American producers.
56:38
In a statement, a USDA spokesperson said the Trump administration
56:42
rightfully has asked for a comprehensive review of all contracts, work,
56:47
and personnel across all federal agencies. Anything that violates the
56:51
President's executive orders will be subject for review. A statement
56:55
said the Department of Agriculture will be happy to provide
56:58
a response to interested parties once Brooke Rawns is confirmed
57:02
as Secretary of Agriculture and has the opportunity to analyze
57:05
these reviews. The White House did not respond to a
57:09
request for comment. The disruption to funds appropriated through the
57:13
Inflation Reduction Act takes an aim at one of Biden's
57:16
flags of legislative accomplishments. Most of that funding was doled
57:20
out in the last month of his presidency, according to
57:23
a Washington Post analysis, but grant's worth thirty two billion
57:27
dollars authorized under the Act remained vulnerable to being frozen.
57:31
The USDA made three point one billion dollars from the
57:34
Inflation Reduction Act available in the twenty twenty four fiscal
57:38
year for climate smart agricultural activities, according to the Department,
57:43
including grants and loans for initiatives such as the Environmental
57:46
Quality and Centers program and the Rural Energy for America program.
57:51
On Wednesday, National Farmer's Union President Rob LaRue testified before
57:56
the Senate Agriculture Committee that the Trump administration sweeping decisions
58:00
on federal funding we're creating concern for farmers across the country.
58:05
No one knows what funding will be available or if
58:08
key programs will have the staff needed to operate, Laruth said.
58:12
Phrasing spending and making sweeping decisions without congressional oversight just
58:16
adds more uncertainty to an already tough farm economy. Due
58:21
to time constraints, we will not be able to complete
58:23
this item. This concludes the reading of the Washington Post
58:27
for today, Tuesday, February eleventh, twenty twenty five. Your reader
58:32
for today has been Cindy Fraser. If you have any questions, comments,
58:36
or suggestions concerning this program, please feel free to call
58:40
us at eight fast nine four two two six three
58:43
nine zero. Thank you for listening, and now please stay
58:46
tuned for continued programming on Radio I