2467 - Fighting Trump’s Power Grab w/ Robert Weissman, Rohan Grey
The Majority Report with Sam Seder
Release Date: 04/02/2025
The Majority Report with Sam Seder
It was a busy news weekend so it's a pretty jam-packed show today. First Emma and Sam take in the latest Trump administration spin on the blowback from their self-imposed tariff disaster. After that, they're joined by The Nation's legal analyst and justice correspondent Elie Mystal who breaks down some of the overarching legal issues that have emerged in Trump's first 100 days. Elie also has a new book out, “Bad Law: Ten Popular Laws That Are Ruining America" which is available here: Also check out Elie's writing in The Nation: In a Normal World, Harvard’s Lawsuit Against...
info_outlineThe Majority Report with Sam Seder
We've made it to Friday folks. Krystal Ball will be here to break down the wild week that was. First, Sam and Emma discuss Donald Trump's memecoin dinner and the amount of money he's made since taking office just over a month ago. Then Krystal, Sam and Emma discuss the arrest of an immigration judge by the FBI in Wisconsin for allegedly protected an undocumented immigrant from federal authorities. The three discuss how this development plays into the direction the administration is heading on immigration and in general. The three try to decipher what Trump and his inner circle are thinking at...
info_outlineThe Majority Report with Sam Seder
It's a jam-packed show for today's Emmajority Report, starting with some alarming news about the Trump administration cutting funding for vital research on women's health. After that, Emma talks to Jacob Silverman about Donald Trump's crypto shenanigan sand how the Trump camp is financially benefitting from manipulating the markets. Check out Jacob's latest piece for the Financial Times "Welcome to slop world: how the hostile internet is driving us crazy" After that, Emma speaks with Abdel El Sayed, who has just launched his campaign for a Senate seat in Michigan and has the backing...
info_outlineThe Majority Report with Sam Seder
Elon Musk's star is in retrograde following Tesla's abysmal earnings report. This as Trump continues to take a sledge hammer to the IRS and other federal agencies. We have Merici Vinton on the show today, who is a former staffer at the U.S. Digital Service Department, which became absorbed by DOGE when Donald Trump took office. She's also a former adviser at the IRS. Check out her recent piece in the Federation of American Science: In the Fun Half, Sam revels in podcaster Jennifer Welsh shouting at Rahm Emmanuel for throwing trans people under the bus when talking about what issues Democrats...
info_outlineThe Majority Report with Sam Seder
Newsday Tuesday! Sam and Emma break down the latest news leaking out of the Pentagon, as well as Fox News host Will Cain's non-apology after acknowledging he was wrong about doubting that Donald Trump had ever said that he wanted to deport U.S. citizens. Republican congressman Austin Scott gives some hints as to how Republicans are planning to make cuts to Medicaid. Then Emma and Sam also speak to Brendan Benedict, an antitrust and commercial litigation lawyer who is covering antitrust cases for the blog Big Tech on Trial. He gives us an overview of the Google antitrust cases, as well as the...
info_outlineThe Majority Report with Sam Seder
Sam is back from vacation and he and Emma have a lot of news to get through today. Pope Francis has passed away shortly after meeting with Vice President JD Vance, there's a fresh story of leaked DoD Secretary Pete Hegseth's communications about U.S. operations in Yemen, and there's lots of news on the Trump administration's immigration crackdown. Become a member at JoinTheMajorityReport.com: Follow us on TikTok here!: Check us out on Twitch here!: Find our Rumble stream here!: Check out our alt YouTube channel here!: Gift a Majority Report subscription...
info_outlineThe Majority Report with Sam Seder
It's casual Good Friday, and oh what a week it's been. Emma breaks down Senator Chris Van Hollen's meeting with his constituent Kilmar Abrego Garcia who was wrongfully deported to El Salvador, as well as the way the White House and Bukele are trying to spin it. After that, Emma speaks with the new chairman of the House Progressive Caucus Rep. Greg Casar (D-TX), who shares his vision for how the Democratic Party can push back on Trump's draconian immigration crackdown, as well as providing a more positive vision for a forward-looking immigration program of their own. Emma also asks Casar about...
info_outlineThe Majority Report with Sam Seder
It's a busy Thursday here at MR HQ, and Emma dives right into the significance Judge James Boasberg's finding cause to hold the Trump administration in criminal contempt for not adhering to his previous order on deportations. Meanwhile, Senator Chris Van Hollen is in El Salvador where he's been prevented from visiting his Kilmar Abrego Garcia. Then, Emma is joined by writer, activist and professor Naomi Klein about her new essay The rise of end times fascism. Naomi points out the new form that right wing authoritarianism has taken in finding ways to exit society and Earth itself....
info_outlineThe Majority Report with Sam Seder
Halfway through Emma-jority week and we're still just getting started. We check in on a Chuck Grassley town hall where he's confronted by angry constituents in a small town in Iowa. Then Emma is joined by Lawfare senior editor Anna Bower to break down the legal back and forth between the Trump administration and Kilmar Abrego Garcia's legal team. Check out her coverage on Lawfare: And follow her on Twitter: @AnnaBower We also hear some good news from Anthony Squitire from NYC Alamo United's bargaining comittee, about how they negotiated and end to after...
info_outlineThe Majority Report with Sam Seder
It's a Newsday Tuesday with Emma on the mic. She recaps the chilling spectacle that was the Bukele-Trump Oval Office meeting / press availability, including the Kafkaesque exchange over the wrongfully deported Maryland father Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia. As Emma explains, despite the Supreme Court's ruling that the administration must make an effort to bring Abrego Garcia home, the Trump administration and and El Salvador's crypto-strong man both claim to be unable to abide by the ruling out of deference to one another. Emma then talks to Annelle Sheline, a research fellow in the Quincy...
info_outlineIt's Wednesday! Sam and Emma are joined by Robert Weissman, co-president of the non-profit advocacy organization Public Citizen, which has filed 8 lawsuits against the Trump administration and says they have more coming. Later, Rohan Grey, Assistant Professor of Law at Willamette University, discusses his latest research on the Trump administration’s attempt to seize direct political control over the core payments software of the Treasury’s Bureau of the Fiscal Service, which handles spending for most of the federal government, to block funds to politically disfavored agencies and programs. First, they run through updates on the victory by liberal Susan Crawford in the Wisconsin Supreme Court race, Democrats’ growing margins in deep-red regions, Trump’s tariff fears, the GOP’s anger at proxy voting for new parents, Mike Waltz Gmail whoopsie, Senator Cory Booker’s marathon filibuster, the closure of free measles vaccine clinics in Texas amid a breakout, Ed Martin nomination for D.C. U.S. Attorney, Tesla’s tanking earnings, and the Senate GOP’s budget reconciliation, before expanding on the beautiful revelations around the toxicity of Elon Musk in US politics as seen in the incredible leftward swing amid his intense campaigning for conservative Brad Schimel Wisconsin. Robert Weissman then joins, first previewing the typical work of Public Citizen including advocacy, litigation, and organizing on behalf of the public against corporations, touching on everything from trade and consumer financial protection to drug pricing and campaign finance laws. Weissman then unpacks Public Citizens tactical shift under Trump 2.0, walking through the various legal battles they have taken on against Trump’s attempt to dismantle the federal U.S. government through executive reform, with a particular focus on their case to save the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau – an agency birthed from the 2008 Financial Crisis’ overwhelming impact on consumers – also touching on their effort to protect USAID and the Department of Education. Robert, Sam, and Emma expand on these lawsuits' ultimate goal of preventing the full-scale deletion of these agencies, understanding that, even with success, the Trump Administration will constantly be searching for (and finding) new ways to obstruct any accountability or pushback from this project, and focusing instead on ensuring the potential of rebuilding under future leadership, before wrapping up by looking to the upcoming fights over Trump’s insistence on using his executive power to fire any and everybody, and the role of “national emergencies” in bolstering executive power. Rohan Grey then joins, diving right into Elon Musk’s outrageous (and obviously untrustworthy) agenda of digitizing America’s fiscal regime, stepping back to walk through the process by which US fiscal policy operates, with said policy – be it spending, taxation, issuing debt, etc – originating in Congressional legislation, moving through the Office of Management and Budget under the President to manage the allocated spending over the allotted time, to the Treasury’s instructions with the Federal Reserve as the ultimate entity in charge of the dollars. After expanding on the utter absurdity of Elon’s plan – outside of if, perhaps, you wanted to completely rid the system of accountability or pushback – Rohan, Sam, and Emma parse through DOGE’s opaque takeover of the Bureau of Financial Services amid their project to indiscriminately cut funds, including Elon setting up an obvious assault on Social Security, wrapping up by expanding on what a botched system shift for the federal payment systems would look like, and assessing a more realistic idea for bringing our systems into the modern era.
And in the Fun Half: Sam and Emma listen to Wisconsin Justice Susan Crawford celebrate winning an election against tens of millions of Elon Musk’s money, unpack Elon’s very-related copium, and watch Fox try to justify the extensive negative impact Trump’s tariffs will have on the American people. The MR Crew also touches on Cory Booker’s marathon filibuster (and the tactics underneath it), admires Lauren Boebert’s self-assured idiocy, and dissects the blatant inhumanity on display with the Trump Administration’s justification for their indiscriminate renditioning of migrants – legal or not – to a Salvadoran gulag, plus, your IMs!
Become a member at JoinTheMajorityReport.com: https://fans.fm/majority/join
Follow us on TikTok here!: https://www.tiktok.com/@majorityreportfm
Check us out on Twitch here!: https://www.twitch.tv/themajorityreport
Find our Rumble stream here!: https://rumble.com/user/majorityreport
Check out our alt YouTube channel here!: https://www.youtube.com/majorityreportlive
Gift a Majority Report subscription here: https://fans.fm/majority/gift
Subscribe to the ESVN YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/esvnshow
Subscribe to the AMQuickie newsletter here: https://am-quickie.ghost.io/
Join the Majority Report Discord! https://majoritydiscord.com/
Get all your MR merch at our store: https://shop.majorityreportradio.com/
Get the free Majority Report App!: https://majority.fm/app
Go to https://JustCoffee.coop and use coupon code majority to get 10% off your purchase!
Check out today’s sponsors:
FastGrowingTrees: Get 15% off your first purchase. FastGrowingTrees.com/majority
Nutrafol: Get $10 off your first month’s subscription + free shipping at Nutrafol.com when you use promo code
TMR10
Follow the Majority Report crew on Twitter:
@SamSeder
@EmmaVigeland
@MattLech
@BradKAlsop
Check out Matt’s show, Left Reckoning, on Youtube, and subscribe on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/leftreckoning
Check out Matt Binder’s YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/mattbinder
Subscribe to Brandon’s show The Discourse on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/ExpandTheDiscourse
Check out Ava Raiza's music here! https://avaraiza.bandcamp.com/
The Majority Report with Sam Seder - https://majorityreportradio.com/