Transcript

3.15.25 · Washington Post

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Speaker 1: Welcome to the reading of the Washington Post for Saturday,
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March the fifteenth, as Alice Dainer as your reader. Gary
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and I are back from our wonderful and amazing trip
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to Australia and New Zealand, with one difficult situation at
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the very end because he ended up having retinal surgery
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in Brisbane, Australia. So we have an amazing doctor in
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Brisbane who did the surgery on a Saturday and everything
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is going very well, but it was two weeks ago today,
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so he is still not able to really see very well.
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So I am doing it on my own, so forgive
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any problems, and I will start with reading the headlines
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for today's Saturday newspaper from the Washington Post. On the
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top right of the newspaper, Democratic split widens as Senate
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averts shut down seeing a lesser evil, Schumer votes yes.
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Minority leader emerges as lightning Rod in his party. This
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article is by Liz Goodwin, Mary Anna Sotomayo, Theo, Doric Meyer,
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and Paul Kane. On that same vein bill may expand
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Trump's control over spending by Jeff Stein that is on
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the top right. To the left of that is a
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large picture taken in Brazil, and it is Ferdinand Mancil
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with her son of Fernita Mandia with her son and
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son in law on her coffee farm in Brazil. In
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twenty twenty two, she lost ninety percent of her harvest
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to frost, and this year she faced several drought, severe
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droat tied to global warming. With coffee prices so high,
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what's left of her crop is threatened by thieves. That
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article of the coffee plants in rows and the three
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of them actually underneath the towering plants. They looking down
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on them. It's kind of cool. The article is entitled
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jittery over Java. So are Brazil's farmers? Sowing prices here
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have a lot to do with the changing climate in
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the world's largest coffee producer. This is by Marianna Diez
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and Terence McCoy and it says seven dollars and two
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cents is the average price of a pound of roasted
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coffee in twenty twenty five. Below the fold on the
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right hand side at Justice Trump gives speech Fit for
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a Campaign by Perry Stein, Jeremy Roebuck, and Derek Hawkins.
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In the middle below the coffee article is a picture
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of doctor Oz testifying before the Senate Committee. He's in
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his suit and he is facing the committee, but his arm,
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his right arm is facing backwards with his finger pointing
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to three people sitting behind him, or to whomever might
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not be the three people, and it says mahemet Oz.
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President Donald Trump's nominee to lead the sentence for Medicare
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and Medicaid Services testifies before the Senate Finance Committee on Friday.
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He avoided promising to oppose cuts to Medicaid and was
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grilled about treatments he's promoted on The Doctor Oz Show.
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Below that after La fires, scorched lots are selling fast.
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This is Brienna, Sachs and Reese theirabauld and this is
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in Altadena, California. And the last article on the front
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page is on the left. If peace comes, Putin may
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face the ire of Turbo patriots. Thawing relations with US
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contradict his story of a war with the West. This
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is by Francesca Evil out of Moscow. And below that
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article is a picture of the Republican from Ooming who
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was a towering presence in the US Senate and a
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force for compromise, Alan K. Simpson, who apparently died recently.
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Let me see if I can pull that up real quickly. Well,
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I don't see the article, but apparently Alan Simpson, the
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Republican from Wyoming, has died. So that is the articles
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on the front page. So I am going to start
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start with the article of Senate avert shut down, but
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vote leaves Democrats bitterly divided. A quote from Schumer, I
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knew when I made this decision, I'd get a lot
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of criticism from a lot of quoters. And there is
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a picture of Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer, Democrat
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of New York, entering the Capitol on Friday. Again, the
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article is Belliz Goodwin, Mary Anna Sotomayor, Theodoric Maya, and
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Paul Kane. The Senate on Friday averted a federal government
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shut down full of political and practical unknowns. But the
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decision to back the GOP funding bill has left a
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party still reling from Donald Trump's twenty twenty four win
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even more orderless and divided. Host Democrats are taking shots
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at Senate Democrats. A fired up base feels enraged and
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is flooding senator's phone lines, and Senate Minority Leader Charles E.
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Schumer Democrat of New York has emerged as the lightning rod,
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absorbing the party's angle, with some of his key allies
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standing silently by while he's attacked. Schumer said in an interview,
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I knew when I made this decision, I'd get a
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lot of criticism from a lot of quarters. Let's face it,
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the House was in a much easier position. They could
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vote no on the funding bill without shutting down the government.
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The Senate, we can't do that. Schumer, who has led
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the Senate Democratic Caucus for eight years, defended his decision
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to vote for the GOP funding bill as the best
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way to fight Trump's sweeping plan for downsize of the government,
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saying a shutdown would be quote doge doge on steroids
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end quote. He said, the same activists who are quote
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vexed now would be pleading with the Senate Democrats to
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reopen the government a few weeks into the shutdown once
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it became clear Trump in Elon Musk's US Dodge Service
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were taking advantage of the closure to make even deeper cuts.
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Schumer said there's no off ramp of a shutdown and
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a GOP controlled Washington. But Schumer's explanation has done nothing
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to stem a fierce tide of criticism from host Democrats,
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including talk of a primary challenge and pushback from within
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his own chamber that has weakened one of the Democratic
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Party's few invisible leaders. In a stunning rebuke, Schumer's foregner
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partnership former leadership counterpart, Representative Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat of California,
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publicly urged Senate Democrats to vote against their leader on Friday.
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Democratic senators should listen to the women, Pelosi said in
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a statement, referring to Patty Murray Washington, the top Democrat
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on the Senate Appropriations Committee, and Rosa Deloreo of Connecticut,
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the top Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, both of
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whom opposed the bill, said this damaging legislation only makes
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matters worse. A Hobson's choice. After House Republicans passed a
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continuing resolution to fund the government with just one Democratic
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vote on Tuesday, Schuma and Senate Democrats felt torn between
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two awful options. They could back of a publican funding
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plan crafted without their input, or trigger the first government
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shut down since twenty nineteen, potentially handing Trump the power
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to determine which government employees are essential and non essential,
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which could help Trump further cut the federal workforce and
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dismantled government agencies. In grueling and tense internal lunch meetings,
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Senate Democrats battle the choice out, with the caucus deeply
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divided over the best course forward. According to interviews with
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a half dozen people with knowledge of the meetings who
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spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe private conversations,
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many argued that the Continuing Resolution, which allows the government
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to spend at previous levels through September and lacks congressional
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spending directives, would give Trump a freer hand to withhold
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funds to crucial programs. It was time to show some
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backbone and fight, some argued. Others believed to shut down
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was an unthinkably bad option, but one emotion cut across
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all the fractions. Growing angle over what some locker makers
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saw as a lack of coherent caucus wide's strategy on
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how to approach the funding battle from Schuma. Lawmakers as
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diverse as Senator Michael Bennett Colorado, who is relatively moderate
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to Murray, who is more liberal, expressed frustration with Schumer's strategy.
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They were upset that they did not discuss their plan
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as a group until Tuesday, when they walked through the
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choices they faced. Even though it had been cleared this
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funding deadline had been approaching for weeks. A senior Democratic
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aide said of the frustration now facing Schuma, I've never
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seen anything like it in the time I've been in
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the Senate toward any leader on our side. But in
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the interview, Schuma brushed back criticism that he should have
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planned earlier for the possible bility that Speaker Mike Johnson,
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Republican of Losiana would have enough votes to pass the
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funding bill in the House, and began crafting a unified
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message on it earlier. We had hoped that maybe Johnson
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couldn't get the votes, but when he did, it put
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us in a very, very tough place, Schuma said. Suma
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suggested that he and House Minority Leaver Hykem Jeffreys, Democrat
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of New York were on the same page on the
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low odds of Johnson passing a funding bill on his own.
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Schumer said, I talked to Hakem regularly, and he was
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very hopeful that it wouldn't pass, and he was very
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hopeful that he could get all the Democrats, and I
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am glad he did, he said. Jeffrey said multiple times,
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including Friday afternoon, that he and Schuma had repeated and
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private conversations throughout the week, and that those conversations will
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remain private. A Jeffrey spokeswoman declined to comment on the
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private conversations, but noted that his office was consistent in
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relating to the Senate that Johnson would be able to
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pass the funding bill without relying on Democratic votes. After
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Trump successfully twisted enough arms to help House Republicans pass
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their budget plan on a party line basis in late February,
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dozens of Host Democrats slammed Schuma in a letter on Friday.
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If Republicans in Congress want to pass this bill, they
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should do so with their own votes. However, since they cannot,
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Republicans must work with Democrats to pass a clean bill
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which funding the bill and were Representative Derrek Trand, Democrat
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of Ohio, and sixty five other Republican House Democrats wrote
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in the letter. So far, Schumer's own senators are declining
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to criticize him, even as they forcefully argue for a
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different strategy. I remain convinced this was the moment for
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us to have a fight and to make it clear
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that we're going to stand up to President Trump. Senator
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Chris Coon's, Democrat of Delaware, told reporters, but there are
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differences of opinion in my caucus, and I respect those
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who have reached a different conclusion. In marks to reporters
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Thursday night, Schuma said he faced a quote Hobson's choice
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in an apparent decision that's really no choice at all.
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The bottom line is you have to make these decisions
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based on what is best not only for your party
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but for the country. Suma said, I believe that my
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members understand that I came to that conclusion and respect
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it guts and courage. In a further twist of the
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knife for Schuma, on Friday, Trump praised him for backing
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the funding measure. Trump wrote on his Truth social platform,
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congratulations to Truck Schuma for doing the right thing. Took
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guts and courage. The trolling message only further angered host Democrats,
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who are incensed at Suma for fracturing Democrats in Congress
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as they try to use this moment of leverage to
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fight back against Trump. According to more than a dozen
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lawmakers and aids, many of whom spoke on the condition
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of anonymity to detail private discussions from their retreat in Leesburg, Virginia.
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Just one host Democrat, Representative Jared Golden of Maine, voted
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for the Republican funding bill when it passed the House
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on Tuesday. Jeffries told colleagues moments after Schuma announced his
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decision Thursday evening that they should be proud of voting
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against the bill, and a split between him and Schuma.
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According to multiple people who attend a host Democrat dinner
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in Virginia, when Donald Trump wakes up in the morning
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and says you're doing the right thing, Senate Democrats, we
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don't feel that that is the right place to be.
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Representative Pete Aguilar, Democrat of California told reporters Friday morning.
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Some House Democrats continued to call and text tenators Friday
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to try to persuade enough of them to vote against
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the bill. Representative Ted leeu Of Democrat of California, toll
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reporters Friday morning, anyone who votes for this bill on
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the Senate side is going to be complicit in transferring
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a whole bunch of power from Congress to the executive
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branch and authorizing Trump and Musk to not even spend
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what we just appropriated in this bill. When asked by
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seeing Inn about some of her colleagues who have encouraged
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her to challenge humor in a primary Representative Alexandria Acassio Cortez,
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Democrat of New York, declined to answer, saying she was
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focused on marshaling support against the funding measure. Democrats have
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criticized the Republican funding bill for including thirteen billion dollars
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in cuts to non defense spending, including cuts to international
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peace keeping, mental health and substance abuse treatment, and workforce training.
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It would also trigger an immediate one point one billion
19:30
dollar cut to DC's budget because Republicans left out language
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typically included in such bills. Although Senate the past to
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bill Friday that would nullify the cut if it passes
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the House and Trump signs it in the Senate, some
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Democrats said they worried about what this not some strategic
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retreat could mean for the next time they have a
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moment of leverage. Lots of us have worried that once
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you give in the first time, it's hard to fight
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back the second time. But hopefully we will, said Senator
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John Hick and Looper, Democrat of Colorado who voted against
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the Republican bill. Still, who can looperh decline to criticize Schumann.
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He knew how he was going to get attacked, and
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he still made the decision. He deserves our respect, Hick
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and Looper said. The second article on reading is funding
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bill grants Trump Musk more control of a federal spending
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legislation the Senate passed Friday averts a government shut down,
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but probably gives the White House and does more power
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to decide how to allocate funds. And there's a picture
20:57
of President Donald Trump leaving the Capitol on the government
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funding bill could leave Trump and billionaire advisor Elon Musk
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with more power to decide how agencies spend money. He's
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in his normal blue suit with the red tie, and
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he's at the bottom of the steps headed towards his car.
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This is by Jeff Stein. The spending bill that the
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Senate past Friday could bolster President Donald Trump's push to
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wrest power away from Congress, giving the administration even greater
21:36
control over the budget as he seeks to shrink the
21:39
federal government. Trump and billionaire Elon Musk's US Doge Service
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have aggressively pushed the legal limits of the president's power
21:51
over government spending, dismantling departments and eliminating hundreds, if not thousands,
21:58
of federal functions without arthorization by lawmakers, although courts have
22:04
blocked some of these moves. Many Congressional Democrats had hoped
22:08
to use the deadline over government funding to force Republicans
22:13
to reverse or at least limit the Trump administration's unilateral cuts.
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But the GOP written spending bill pushed through the HOST
22:25
on a near parting line vote by Speaker Mike Johnson,
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Republican of Louisiana earlier this week, could give Trump a
22:34
freer hand to redirect friends as he sees fit. According
22:40
to congressional Democrats and several non partisan budget experts, regular
22:47
appropriations laws are agreed to with accompanying reports that detail
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with great specificity how money should be spent in the
22:58
last physical year. For instance, an appropriation's law allocated three
23:04
point two billion dollars for Environmental Protection Agency operations, and
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the accompanying reports specified amounts devoted to cleaning brown fields,
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ensuring clean air, carrying out environmental justice programs, and many
23:22
other functions. The measure that lawmakers passed this week, though,
23:28
is what's known as a continuing resolution that largely extends
23:35
funding at existing levels and does not include the additional
23:39
instructions from Congress. So while the EPA will get the
23:45
same three point two billion that Congress allocating to it earlier,
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the administration could repurpose funds from the specific programs they
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could they were intended to cover up. Democrats had hoped
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to includelanguage of the bill requiring Trump to spend all
24:02
the money in the measure and potentially thwart the unilateral
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cuts Trump and musk A pursuing to agencies like the
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Education Department and Social Security Administration. But because Johnson was
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able to persuade all but one House Republican to back
24:20
the measure, the GOP didn't need any Democratic votes, which
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meant Republicans didn't need to negotiate over that language before
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sending the bill to the Senate, where enough Democrats agreed
24:33
to let the measure proceed to ease passage Friday and
24:37
avert a shutdown. It is a huge move to give
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the White House endge more power of the purse. They
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will have much more discretion over how to spend money,
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said Charles Keeper, who served in senior positions in the
24:57
White House Budget Office recently aided Democrats on the Senate
25:02
Appropriations Committee. Some Democrats, such as Senate Minority Leader Charles E.
25:10
Schuma of New York, have maintained that the party would
25:15
be in an even worse place if Democrats rejected the
25:18
deal and triggered a government shut down on the Senate floor.
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Schumer called the GOP bill a terrible opinion, but added,
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I believe allowing Donald Trump to take even more power
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via government shutdown is a far worse option. The White
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House Budget Office did not release its plans for a shutdown,
25:43
which are typically made public ahead of a lapse in funding.
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The president has wide latitude to decide which portions of
25:51
the government continue operating when spending bills expired, with some
25:57
workers remaining on the job with it pay and others furloughed.
26:02
Many Democrats and some independent budget experts also feared that
26:08
the administration would have enacted far reaching changes to the
26:12
federal workforce during a shutdown. Along furlough could have opened
26:18
up new legal avenues to terminate some federal employees, and
26:24
not all experts agreed that the continuing resolution marks a
26:28
significant inflection point. The government had been operating under an
26:33
earlier continuing resolution passed in December that already extended last
26:38
year's funding. Some note that a similar funding structure was
26:43
in effect for two years during the Obama administration. Continuing resolutions,
26:50
rather than normal appropriations laws, have become an increasingly common
26:55
method of funding the government, used frequently to avert shutdowns
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in past administrations, said David super, an administrative law professor
27:09
at Georgetown University. Trump does gain some additional flexibility there,
27:16
But the question here is compared to what Democrats believe
27:21
if they reached an agreement, the appropriators would express themselves
27:26
more clearly in these those bills, which would provide useful constraints.
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I don't know if that's a realistic projection. Still, the
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bill could play an important role in Trump's broader battle
27:43
and the balance of power between the branches of government.
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The Constitution puts Congress in charge of spending, but since
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his first term, Trump and his advisers have argued that
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the executive branch should have more ability to council and
28:01
redirect federal dollars without lawmakers weighing in the White House
28:06
budget Director Russell Vaught has voted to challenge the constitutionality
28:11
of a nineteen seventy four law that limits the president's
28:16
authority to unilaterally cancel or redirect spending, a battle expected
28:22
to landed in court in the coming months as well.
28:26
But the bill lawmakers passed this week could give Trump
28:30
authority to move some spending some funding around without fear
28:38
of judicial intervention. Senator Patty Murray of Washington, the top
28:44
Democratic appropriator, published a list of dozens of examples of
28:49
programs that the measure could follow Trump allow Trump to change.
28:55
For instance, Trump would have near absolute authority over specific
29:03
Army Corps of Engineers projects, more authority to pick which
29:08
healthcare are mental health programs to implement, and broad discretion
29:15
over senators centers for disease control and prevention programs. According
29:20
to Murray's office, it absolutely opens up more flexibility for Trump.
29:29
He still can't reduce spending levels beyond what was approved,
29:34
but he would have more latitude because the directions, earmarks
29:39
and golds may lapse, said Jessica Ridel, a senior fellow
29:45
at the Manhattan Institute, a center right think tank. My
29:55
next article, Trump visits Justice Department for speech that breaks
30:02
all norms. Donald Trump railed against the federal prosecutor prosecutions
30:08
he once faced during a rare presidential visit to the
30:12
Justice Department by Perry Stein, Jeremy Roebuck, and Derrick Hawkins.
30:19
President Donald Trump delivered an unusual campaign style speech at
30:25
Justice Department headquarters Friday, heavy with grievance and meandering from
30:31
such topics as our capone to allegations to judicial corruption
30:36
as he defied the distance that has traditionally existed between
30:42
the White House and the federal law enforcement agency. The
30:47
president laid out his tough on crime vision, which includes
30:52
mass deportations and prosecuting cartels to remove fentanyl from American street.
31:01
He repeated a hallmark mantra of his twenty twenty four
31:04
presidential campaign, vowing to end what he called the weaponization
31:10
of the Justice Department. But the speech, builders one focused
31:15
on law and order, was also sprinkled with tangents and
31:19
misleading claims about immigration and crime in this country. Trump
31:25
declared that he would keep FBI headquarters in downtown Washington
31:30
instead of relocating it to a not yet constructed campus
31:34
in suburban Maryland, a plan that had been in the
31:37
works for decades and one final approval in Twente twenty three.
31:44
Standing in the Great Hall of the Justice Department, Trump
31:47
spent much of his hour at the microphone laying a
31:51
personal complaints about how a corrupt group of hacks and
31:57
radicals wrongly prosecuted him during the Biden administration. Trump mentioned
32:04
the stomy to federal cases against him repeatedly throughout the speech.
32:09
At one point, he commended the Florida judge who dismissed
32:13
the indictment accusing him of mishandling classified materials after he
32:18
left the White House in twenty twenty one and obstructing
32:21
officials' efforts to retrieve them, calling the entire bill ball
32:29
dot dot dot that privation to provocative line drew heavy
32:37
applause from the crowd, which included elected officials, political appointees, allies,
32:43
and law enforcement officials. Trump denounced the judges who oversaw
32:49
his three other cases, including the state trial in New
32:53
York where he was convicted on thirty four felony counts
32:56
of falsifying business records related to a hushman payment. It's
33:02
not even imaginable how corrupt, they were, he said. The
33:08
President made no major speak policy announcement. In the speech, though,
33:12
he said his administration would soon begin a concerted campaign
33:17
to combat fentonal deaths, which have declined sharply in the
33:21
past year after reaching record highs. He toted his poll numbers,
33:26
discussing rising egg prices, exaggerated his winning margin in the
33:32
twenty twenty four election, and made discursive references to the
33:36
famed baseball coach Bob Knight. He appeared to suggest that
33:43
the lawyers who challenged him in court were actually bad
33:46
lawyers who were winning only because they knew how to
33:49
play the judges, just like Knight played the referees on
33:53
the basketball court. Trump said they Dot a dot launched
34:00
one hoax and disinformation operation after another, broke the law
34:05
on a colossal scale, persecuted my family, staff and supporters,
34:10
raided my home mar A Lago, and did everything within
34:13
their power to prevent me from becoming the president of
34:17
the United States. It is rare for a president to
34:21
visit the Justice Department, which has kept safeguards between the
34:25
White House and the law enforcement agency in the post
34:29
Watergate era to ensure that politics don't interfere with law
34:34
enforcement investigations. But Trump has obliterated those norms in his
34:40
first two months as president. He chose lawyers who represented
34:44
him in his criminal trials, Todd Blanche and Emil Bouve,
34:49
to serve in top positions at the Justice Department, and
34:53
tapped Pam Bondi, who defended Trump during his first impeachment
34:57
as Attorney General. Trump thanked Bondy, blanche In Baub, all
35:02
of whom attended the speech for their service, said Blanche
35:06
in Baub weren't afraid and they were brilliant as his
35:10
defense attorneys. Trump crept a greater distance from the Justice
35:17
Department during his first presidential term, never visiting headquarters for
35:22
a public event. In twenty fifteen, President Barack Obama made
35:27
a rare visit to participate in a farewell ceremony for
35:31
Eric Holder, his Attorney General. Since Trump returned to the
35:36
White House, his appointees at Justice have pushed a long
35:39
time career staffers who they accused of potentially undermining Trump's
35:44
agenda outright firing some and transferring others to less desirable jobs.
35:51
They fired the attorneys who worked on the Special Council
35:54
team that prosecuted Trump, and they have redirected with sources
35:58
across the department to focus on deportations and enforcing emigration laws.
36:05
Friday's speech was fashioned like a Trump political rally, with
36:10
many of the president's staunch allies in the crowd. He
36:14
gave a shout out to supporters, including his former National
36:18
security advisor Michael Flynn, who was also investigated by the
36:22
Justice Department and pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI.
36:27
Flynn sought to withdraw that plea, but Trump pardoned him
36:30
in twenty twenty before the case was resolved. There's a
36:36
man who went through hell he shouldn't have. He's a patriot,
36:40
Trump said of Friday. Of Flynn, FBI Director Cash Bettel, Bondie,
36:47
and Blanche the Deputy Attorney General, served as the warm
36:51
up acts, each delivering brief remarks. Bondy said, We're going
36:57
to keep We're going to fight to keep America safe again.
37:02
President Trump has prioritized tackling our nation's fentonl crisis, and
37:07
he has taken decisive action to fight it. Get the
37:11
drugs off asterat get the gangs off air streets, and
37:15
get the illegal aliens out of our country. The top
37:21
Democrat on the host Judiciary Committee blasted Trump's speech as
37:25
a grim landmark in the spreading authoritarianism of this administration.
37:34
Speaking outside Justice Department headquarters, Representative Jamie Raskin of Maryland
37:40
Democrat accused Trump of politicizing the department and violating the
37:45
boundary between independent law enforcement and president of power. Raskin said,
37:53
flanked by career prosecutors who said they had either been
37:57
fired by Trump appointees or left the department in protest,
38:03
the speech we just witnessed is a description of the
38:06
essential values of the story Department. In every way, it
38:12
is an insult to the thousands of professional lawyers who
38:17
go to work in the Department of Justice every day
38:20
to enforce the rule of law, not the personal vendettas
38:25
and partisan games of a politician. Trump too, acknowledged the
38:33
rarity of the whole event. He said he initially questioned
38:38
whether it was appropriate for the president to deliver a
38:41
speech at the Dustice Department, but Trump decided to go,
38:46
though he said he was unsure when he would return.
38:51
It's not only appropriate, I think it's really important, Trump said.
38:57
The village people's why a blared as he walked off
39:03
the stage. If peace comes, Putin could face the Isle
39:11
of his most hardline backers, Vladimir Putin and his propagandis
39:19
convinced many in Russia that there was an existential battle
39:25
against the US. Now they have to deal with a
39:29
thaw in US Russian relations. There is a picture of
39:37
a worker installing a military propaganda billboard on a highway
39:43
outside Moscow August six. The sign, which features a picture
39:48
of Lieutenant Yuri Koshich, who took part in the invasion
39:54
of Kore of Ukraine, reads Pride of Russia and there
39:59
is the young man in his military uniform with the
40:04
Pride of Russia in Russian to the left of his picture.
40:12
This is by Francesca Ebel out of Moscow. In the
40:17
wake of the Trump administration's dramatic pivot toward Russia, Russia's
40:22
influential ultra patriots are scrambling to make sense of the
40:28
sudden thaw with the nation's bitterest enemy. In the three
40:33
years since the full scale invasion of Ukraine, many in
40:38
Russian society, especially those actively engaged in the war, have
40:44
been deeply culcated by the ideological narrative advanced by President
40:52
Vladimir Putin and Russian nationalists that the country is fighting
40:56
an exonstential war with a collective West led by the
41:01
United States. The war has given enormous public exposure to
41:08
what's known as Russia's z community, pro war volunteers, military bloggers,
41:15
and ultranationalists who want to see a total subjugation of Ukraine.
41:21
Many interviewed by The Washington Post said they would not
41:24
accept a peace settlement unless it entailed the removal of
41:28
Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelenski and a change of power in Kiev.
41:35
As negotiations between Russia, Ukraine, and the United States inch forward,
41:41
Putin will have to keep careful tabs on this vocal
41:45
and well armed segment of society, which has grown stronger
41:49
in the course of the war, and at one point
41:51
even irerupted into open revolt with mercenary boss yegrev Progoesis
42:00
short lived mutiny. The Turbero patriots have played an important
42:07
role throughout the conflict. Many fought on the front lines
42:11
and werewarded with an increased social status In wartime Russian society.
42:17
For decades, regarded by the Kremlin as a vallatle source
42:20
of potential opposition, these ultra nationalist figures were harnessed to
42:25
advance the government's message on the necessity of the bloody
42:29
grinding Wall, but they have also emerged as a rare
42:34
source of criticism of both Putin and his government decision making,
42:39
and some had to be dealt with when they went
42:41
too far. The mutant of Prozorgian and his wagged a
42:46
group in twenty twenty three, and their short march on
42:50
Moscow represented the most serious internal threat to the Kremlin
42:54
in recent memory. His revolt was diffused, however, and Res
43:00
Ocean and his top lieutenant subsequently died in an unexplained
43:06
air crash last year. Forma FSB agent and separatist commander
43:13
Igor Gerkin, one of the most vocal critics of the
43:16
Russian handling of the war, was jailed for four years
43:20
on extremism charges. A senior criminalin official admitted that there
43:27
will definitely be those who are unhappy with Russian normalization
43:35
of a bilateral dialogue with the United States. This is
43:40
a very, very convinced part of the society. There is
43:45
a significant part of society who say they are afraid
43:49
and will not be satisfied with the security guarantees if
43:54
Ukraine simply continues to exist. He added, speaking on the
43:59
condition of Ani to discuss sensitive matters more freely. He
44:04
said this segment would need to be persuaded about the
44:08
benefits of approachment. In a recent post on telegram, Vladimir
44:14
Pshah Pastyukov, of Russian political scientist at University College London
44:22
wrote of how fractures within Russia's ultra nationalist camp over
44:27
a potential peace deal could flare up to challenge Putin's legitimacy.
44:33
The ideal enogy of Putsanism turned out to be an
44:38
unstoppable isotope that disgrates into its elementary particles at the
44:44
first opportunity, He wrote of Putin's perceived turn from nationalism
44:50
to an embrace of Washington. It can be assumed that
44:55
if the deal actually takes place, such conflicts will flare
44:58
up with three times the four and become a serious
45:01
challenge to the stability of the regime. Why the joy
45:08
The z community and Russia's ultranationalist have been especially critical
45:13
in recent weeks of the euphoric response in Russia to
45:18
Trump's seemingly more Moscow friendly approach, and even more so
45:23
since this week's talk of a possible ceasefire military blockers
45:29
An influential nationalists are calling the proposed ceasefire an attempt
45:35
to steal victory from Russia. Pro Kremlin political analysis Seragi
45:41
Markov wrote winsday, what is as specific Russian joy here,
45:49
asked nationalists writers a car Prilipin on telegram after the
45:55
widespread Russian delight of the last month's over office confrontation
46:00
between Zelensky and President Donald Trump. What matters, he continued,
46:07
is how combat ready the armed forces of Ukraine are,
46:11
how the Russian Orthodox Church fairs in Ukraine and whose
46:16
soldiers are walking around Kiev, Odessa, Kharkov, Kramar, Torsk and Kirsen,
46:25
which according to our constitution are part of Russia. Dmitriy Rogozen,
46:32
a nationalist politician who now serves as the senator of
46:36
the annexed Zapporzira region in southern Ukraine and previously represented
46:43
Russia at NATO, said those celebrating Trump were either stupid
46:49
or agents of foreign intelligence services. He maintained that America
46:55
was only seeking to steal Russian resources deal with the devil.
47:01
Unease has also been felt within the Russian Orthodox community,
47:07
which was quick to support the Kremlin's narrative that the
47:11
invasion was part of a civilizational and spiritual war against
47:20
a decatent and Satanic West. Some initial enthusiasm about the
47:25
improvement of relations with the United States quickly turned to concern.
47:31
Bora's Korchilivnudkov, the host of Spas, a religious channel on
47:37
Russia's main state broadcaster, wrote on telegram last week that
47:42
for the Americans it's sadiel. For us, it is a
47:47
war and a sacrifice for the future of Russia, implying
47:53
that the proposed deal comes from Satan himself. Kortshievnikov wrote,
48:01
I find the word deal disgusting, which glosses over the
48:06
Russian sacrifice and the honor of our army. The post
48:11
was widely shared by Orthodox activists and channels connected to
48:16
the Russian patriarch. The confusion has been felt especially keenly
48:23
along the front, where many Russian soldiers believe that rather
48:27
than just taking on the Ukrainians, they have been fighting
48:31
a wall against NATO and the United States. Having experienced
48:36
firsthand the devastating impact of US provided weapons to Ukraine,
48:42
it's all turned completely one eighty degrees, said an ex
48:47
Wagner fighter who lost his leg in combat last year
48:52
in a phone interview in which he spoke on the
48:54
condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation. But it's all politics.
49:01
Nobody wants a strong Russia, especially America. Remember that all
49:08
about victory. The command of a reconnaissance unit fighting in Chievsjar,
49:16
who asked to be identified by his call sign, Gayduk,
49:20
said that most Russian soldiers didn't care about nonsense and
49:28
emotional media reports, which he said were just for Western consumption,
49:34
and that he and his fellow soldiers were focused only
49:38
on orders. We are working, but we don't have time
49:43
and we're not interested in it. It's all about victory, victory,
49:48
victory for us. We'll sweep away this puppet Zelenski, We'll
49:53
liberate Kiev, We'll get to Odessa, and we'll liberate our
49:59
native lands, he said by phone. Gaddouk is fighting in
50:04
the Rhodana Nationalists Volunteer Battalion, which was initially founded in
50:12
twenty seventeen by Prilipin, the writer and ex soldier. He
50:16
is fort since twenty twenty two in eastern Dumbas as
50:21
well as Kirsan and across the southern front. Gieruk said
50:27
if Putin, our commander in chief tomorrow knows is that
50:31
the war must end. We will accept it, of course,
50:34
with a broken heart. We will accept it and the
50:37
war will stop. But my opinion as a soldier on
50:41
the front lines is that if we don't totally end
50:45
this scum now, the war will be inherited by our children.
50:51
The positive aspect of the war, he said, is how
50:54
Russian society is going back to what it should be.
50:59
Vladimir Putin was too European, too western before. Now Putin
51:05
is coming home back to the bosom of Russian civilization.
51:09
That's wonderful and we're looking forward to seeing him here.
51:14
Our Lita finally embodies exactly what we wanted, an independent, cultural,
51:20
civilizational Eurasian Russia, he said. A former Putin aid said
51:28
hardline nationalist in the military and security services saw enemies everywhere,
51:36
but had little influence within the Kremlin and would not
51:39
prevent Putin's moves to re establish diplomatic ties with Russia
51:43
or negotiate on a peace steal. No one in the
51:49
Kremlin is listening to these parts of society, he said,
51:54
speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive matters.
52:00
They use them when they need them for propaganda, but
52:04
in reality they have very little influence. Though there is
52:11
a small chance that such radicals could lay the foment
52:15
opposition to a potential peace deal, they still represent a minority,
52:21
said Alexei vind Kutkov, editor in chief of Echomascovie radio station.
52:29
The majority of Russians remain indifferent and ready to support
52:34
whatever Putin decides. The question has always been what are
52:40
we fighting for and against who? Now it's been exposed
52:46
again that we're not fighting against anyone, but we're fighting
52:50
for our place under the sun, moon and sky, he said.
52:57
Going into section A the next article, Controller warns up
53:03
about workforce purge, access plans, probe of actions. Washington's chief
53:11
auditor says Trump's federal worker firings should be done in
53:16
a respectful, dignified way and not cause greater risks to
53:21
the government. Joe Davidson wrote the column. Gene L. Dodaro,
53:30
the government's chief auditor, might not know every detail about
53:35
the federal government, though it often seems that way. As
53:39
Controller General of the United States, Dodaro leads the Government
53:43
Accountability Office, a role he's had for seventeen years. He's
53:49
worked for the agency since nineteen seventy three, when another president,
53:54
Richard M. Nixon, like the current one, sought to bust
53:58
bounds of presidential The GAO, a nonpartisan congressional organization with
54:06
broad authority to review federal programs and spending across the government,
54:12
helps Washington save money and increase efficiency. Efficiency is not
54:17
what the Darrow sees in the Trump's administrative administration's aggressive
54:23
purge of the federal workforce, as he said in an
54:26
interview Tuesday. During a recent host Oversight Committee hearing, when
54:32
Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton, Democrat of DC, asked whether it
54:37
is a best management practice to throw around indiscriminate threats
54:42
of mass firings regardless of job duties and mission needs,
54:47
Dadaro said no, pointing to a lack of administration respect
54:51
for dedicated public services or servants. I would not consider
54:57
it a best practice, he replied. There's a need for change,
55:01
but how you do it matters, and going about it
55:04
in a way that's being done now can cause problems
55:09
for the government because it can create other vulnerabilities, unintended vulnerabilities.
55:15
It should be done in a respectful way, and it
55:18
should be done also in a way that does not
55:20
hurt the federal government in the long term. Instead, Trump
55:26
has treated federal employees like trash, chaotically throwing them out
55:30
with a little notice, closing agencies without congressional approval, and
55:35
making federal service an unwelcome destination for America's finest Elon
55:40
Musk DOGE deceptively named Department of Government Efficiency will also
55:49
get GAO scrutiny. Although not a real cabinet level department,
55:54
it has led the evisceration of many federal agencies. Staffers
55:59
for the group, formerly known as the US Doege Service,
56:03
have interrogated employees, sought confidential information over the objections of
56:09
career staffers, and use US marshals to gain interest to
56:14
the US African Development Foundation, a federal agency. After workers
56:19
blocked the Department of Government Efficiency entry, de Daro said
56:26
the goo's ex emanation will include doge's access to government
56:31
systems and potential conflicts of interest. DOEGE, however, as a
56:36
White House office does not have authority over the GOA,
56:40
a legislative agency, We're not subject to the Department of
56:45
Government Efficiency. Darrow explained, we audit them, they don't audit
56:51
US after daily protest and angry town home meetings. Even
56:56
some Republicans have started questioning the broad scope of the
56:59
fire firings that led President Donald Trump to claim I
57:04
don't want to see a big cut where a lot
57:06
of good people are cut. But that was after a
57:09
lot of good people were cut and the big cuts continued. Trump,
57:14
like Nixon, has refused to spend some congressionally approved funding.
57:20
Shutting eighty three percent of the US Agency for International
57:24
Development Programs is one example. We are looking at that issue,
57:29
the Darrow said. We have already sent letters to the
57:33
Administration asking them to explain their legal position to us.
57:38
We'll be making rulings as to whether or not these
57:41
issues violated the Government Control Act or not. The DIAO,
57:48
which responds to congressional quest, will also be very focused
57:52
on how this downsizing of government takes place, the Darrow said,
57:58
and look at whether or not it exacerbates any of
58:02
the risks that we already have on the list, and
58:05
whether it introduces new risks in other areas. It's very
58:10
important regardless of what your policies are. And with that,
58:16
I conclude today of Saturday, the fifteenth of March's reading
58:21
of The Washington Post. Thank you for listening, and please
58:26
continue listening to regular programs on RADIOI bye,