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This week, Emily Bazelon, John Dickerson, and David Plotz discuss the huge House tax bill and its broad economic implications with Harvard economist Jason Furman, the DOJ’s selective investigation and prosecution of officials as a method of intimidation, and the Heritage Foundation’s “Project Esther” as the Trump administration’s blueprint for shutting down dissent with accusations of antisemitism.
Here are some notes and references from this week’s show:
Jacob Bogage for The Washington Post: What’s in Trump and Republicans’ giant tax and immigration bill?
Richard Rubin and Olivia Beavers for Wall Street Journal: House Passes Trump Tax Bill After Last-Minute Changes
Tobias Burns for The Hill: Republican bill will redistribute wealth upwards: CBO
Jason Furman for The New York Times (Opinion): Behold the New Tax Plan: More Complicated, Less Fair, Totally Unaffordable
Heather Long for The Washington Post (Opinion): Why Moody’s picked now to downgrade the United States
The Editorial Board of The Wall Street Journal (Opinion): Washington Deserved a Downgrade
Forbes Breaking News: DHS Releases Video Of Rep. McIver At Delaney Hall Detention Center—Now She Is Being Charged By DOJ(video footage of the incident on YouTube, 0:26)
Perry Stein and Jeremy Roebuck for The Washington Post (Exclusive): Trump Justice Dept. considers removing key check on lawmaker prosecutions
Melissa Quinn and Jacob Rosen for CBS News: Justice Department ending probes of Minneapolis and Louisville police departments
Irie Sentner and Josh Gerstein for Politico: DOJ sends warning to judges and lawmakers who stoke Trump’s wrath on immigration
David A. Graham for The Atlantic: Trump’s Newest Crackdown on Dissent
Matt Friedman, Erica Orden, and Ry Rivard for Politico: Alina Habba targeted Democrats when she became New Jersey’s top prosecutor. Now she’s following through.
Glenn Thrush and Alan Feuer for The New York Times (Analysis): If Justice Dept. Can’t Prosecute Trump’s Foes, It Will ‘Shame’ Them, Official Says
Katie J.M. Baker for The New York Times: The Group Behind Project 2025 Has a Plan to Crush the Pro-Palestinian Movement
Michelle Goldberg for The New York Times: The Trump-Supporting Christians Accusing Jews of Antisemitism
Mark I. Pinsky for The Hill (Opinion): A modern golem: The ‘antisemitism’ charge has run amok
Glenn C. Altschuler and David Wippman for The Hill: The right and wrong ways to address campus antisemitism
Paul Gowder for How to Stop Authoritarianism (on Beehiiv): Thinking Like a Lawyer About Campus Antisemitism
Open Letter From American Jewish Leaders: Stand Up For Jewish Safety and Democracy
Here are this week’s chatters:
Emily: Bob Bauer, Executive Functions (Substack): Donald Trump Gets Mad at Bruce Springsteen; Bruce Springsteen: Land of Hope and Dreams (YouTube video 5:36).
John: Selena Simmons-Duffin for NPR: ’Which is it?’ RFK Jr. waffles on cuts to lead poisoning prevention efforts; Evan Casey for Wisconsin Public Radio: Lead poisoning in Milwaukee Public Schools: What to know and how to keep your kids safe.
David: Joanna Thompson for The Atlantic: The Trump Administration Is Tempting a Honeybee Disaster.
Listener chatter from Micah in Minneapolis: TikTok video from @rameznas1 (video 1:03)
For this week’s Slate Plus bonus episode, Emily, John, and David discuss the $5 million settlement the U.S. government will pay to the family of Jan. 6 rioter Ashli Babbitt.
In the latest Gabfest Reads, Emily talks with author Susan Dominus about her new book, The Family Dynamic: A Journey into the Mystery of Sibling Success.
Email your chatters, questions, and comments to [email protected]. (Messages may be referenced by name unless the writer stipulates otherwise.)
Research by Emily Ditto
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