Episode

2/12 Being A Federal Worker Under Attack w/ MT Snyder, Sam Bagenstos

February 12, 2025

It’s Hump Day! Sam speaks with MT Snyder, Field Examiner at the NLRB and co-president of National Labor Relations Board Union Local 20 in San Francisco, to discuss what it’s been like as a federal worker given the Trump administration’s constant interferences into their workplaces. Then, he speaks with Sam Bagenstos, law professor at the University of Michigan, author of the Inside/Outside newsletter, to discuss the Trump administration’s executive orders and their defeats in the courts so far. First, Sam runs through updates on Trump’s inflation boom, the destruction of the CFPB, Trump’s DOGE letter, Musk’s severe lack-of-fraud, Musk’s access to the Treasury’s payment systems, Trump’s attacks on the CDC, FDA, and NIH, Trump’s spending freeze, the destruction of USAID, GOP’s reconciliation, and Israel’s inability to refrain from genocide even for the sake of ethnic cleansing, before expanding on the growing resentment among Democratic leadership that their constituents might ask something of them, and Elon Musk’s complete inability to find fraud in the US Government (despite everything the media has been saying). MT Snyder then joins, diving right into the Trump Administration’s major attacks on the NLRB, firing board member Gwynne Wilcox and leaving the board unable to meet quorum, effectively halting labor law enforcement in the US, before shifting focus to federal workers as a whole, as she walks through the major coercion and fear-mongering from the Trump administration over Elon Musk’s legally-dubious attempt to push federal workers out of the government, including highlighting the very same email Musk gave to Twitter employees upon his purchase, which, unsurprisingly, never saw its promises paid out. After expanding on the genuine pain and fear being experienced by federal workers whose livelihood is under threat, Snyder expands on the action being planned by federal unions, the importance of public support for our federal workers, and how those of us on the outside can help in this fight. Next, Professor Sam Bagenstos jumps right into the generational devastation that the Trump regime’s destruction of the administrative state is likely to create, with the process of building up these systems drastically more complicated than destroying them, before stepping back to unpack the idea that the Trump/Musk Administration is truly, and unapologetically lawless, touching on their obvious fear and impotency in the face of any pushback, public or institutional. After briefly exploring the importance of organizing and centering pushback from the public, Professor Bagenstos examines a growing tension in the administration over the legalist line of thought promulgated by Trump’s Heritage Foundation backers and the “move fast and break things” ideology of Elon Musk and Silicon Valley. Wrapping up, Sam and Sam discuss the genuine problems of inefficiency that face US bureaucracy, the importance of branding this destructive “solution” advanced by Trump and Musk as illegal, and the necessity of Democrats to get over their fear of big government.

And in the Fun Half: Sam watches the conservative media frantically try to cover Trump’s ass amid obviously illegal power grabs, Diego from Colorado unpacks Democratic inaction in the face of their donor class’ billions, and AOC gives Democratic leadership a lesson on leverage while Hakeem Jeffries and Ritchie Torres outwardly scold their constituents for asking for help. Triston from Portland has a call to action for local Housing rights, Mo from Spain has a call for an international analysis of the impact of America’s right-wing, and Ritchie Torres has a call from Sam. The MR Team also unpacks Pete Hegseth’s renaming of “Ft. Bragg,” Aaron from NC discusses Democrat messaging, and Caleb from Harrison explores organizing against Trump in deep red states. Boomhauer tackles the AI threat, and CNN continues to struggle covering Trump’s destruction, plus, your calls and IMs!

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