KING FOR A NAY

A growing number of Republicans in Congress are rattled by Donald Trump’s chaotic, government-slashing bedlam. Some are getting an earful from their voters.

• Did the American people vote to witness a billionaire-led reenactment of “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre,” with the role of the victims filled out by the country’s veterans, social security net and public safety programs? You might conclude that Republicans think they did, judging from DOGE-Bag-in-Chief Elon Musk’s performance onstage at the CPAC conservative conference yesterday, where he waved an actual chainsaw over his head while reveling in the bloodbath of dismembered government programs that he and Trump have left lying in the road.

• But polls are  turning against Trump, Musk and their Federal Government Massacre… and the GOP is starting to get the hint. Last night, Rep. Rich McCormick (R-GA), who represents a solid red district, held a town hall that devolved into angry voters screaming at him to denounce Trump’s overreach. One voter declared: “It’s clear from all the writings of our founding fathers that our great republic was never meant to be ruled by a dictator, nor a king.” Or a chainsaw-wielding billionaire, for that matter. Anti-monarchists, you say?… vive la résistance!

• McCormick pushed back, blaming Democrats. The crowd drowned him out with boos. So, the congressman changed his tune: “I don’t think executive privilege should be as strong as today. I think we’re out of balance.”

• He’s not alone. During a recent business luncheon, Rep. Troy Balderson (R-OH) said that Trump’s executive orders are “getting out of control.” Only Congress has the power to do things like get rid of the Education Department, he added. Privately, GOP lawmakers are frantically calling and texting the Trump administration, raising concerns about gazillionaire Elon Musk’s DOGE cuts, according to Politico. “I thought we were supposed to be in a new era of meritocracy. Not the indiscriminate firing of people,” a GOP aide told the outlet.

You can read the room — or read the data. They both say the same thing.

• Trump’s political “honeymoon” has turned out to be one of the shortest in modern presidential history, according to Dan Pfeiffer, Crooked’s resident polling expert. Trump’s approval rating has quickly sunk back down to the mid-40’s. His policies, individually, are broadly unpopular, according to various polls. Musk appears to be dragging Trump down: only 1-in-3 approve of the job Musk is doing. Americans are particularly worried that he’s ignoring the economy, with 62 percent telling CNN he’s not doing enough to fight inflation.

• Is the MAGA leadership moderating in response? Hardly. It’s doubling down on right-wing, heel-clicking, anti-democratic despotism. At a Republican conference yesterday, MAGA Godfather Steve Bannon appeared to do a Sieg Heil salute while calling for a third Trump term. When Musk did that, his defenders chalked it up to an awkward gesture by an autistic man. Bannon’s salute… is harder to wish away. It even went too far for some far-right leaders: French politician Jordan Bardella abruptly canceled his speech at the conference afterwards, calling the gesture “a provocation, a gesture referring to Nazi ideology.” In turn, Bannon called Bardella “a boy, not a man.”

• Bannon’s not the only one in Trump’s clique with a case of Small Dictator Energy, though. Vice President JD Vance and Musk have joined forces to boost Germany’s far-right political party, which uses Nazi slogans and trivializes the Holocaust, according to the Anti-Defamation League. One of the group’s co-founders said that Adolf Hitler and the Nazis “are just a speck of bird poop in more than 1,000 years of successful German history.”

MAGAworld is lurching to the right while expanding its power over American democracy — and brushing aside the concerns of voters. Will Republican lawmakers stand up against demagogues, or watch as their party devolves even further?

I’LL JUST DRIVE

Planes keep falling out of the sky, crashing into things, and literally flipping over. Is it even safe to fly anymore?

The answer is yes, according to the data. At the same time, the full picture isn’t quite that simple.

2025 is on pace to have fewer plane crashes than years past, per the National Transportation Safety Board. There have been 13 so far — including the deadliest one in 15 years. During the same period last year, there were 31. In 2023, there were 28. In 2022, there were 33. In 2021, there were 39.

The data includes crashes involving small aircraft and commercial airliners, which are historically way safer. It’s unusual that big planes have issues… but that’s what’s been happening lately — in particular with January’s major collision in Washington D.C., when 67 people died in the first major fatal commercial rash in over a decade. So flying feels extra scary right now.

It’s “exactly right” that flying is still safe, but the recent trend is also “fucking terrifying,” an Federal Aviation Administration employee confided to What A Day.

The Trump administration isn’t helping ease our nerves. Elon Musk’s DOGE fired hundreds of FAA workers, claiming they didn’t impact “critical” safety jobs.

Among those fired include lawyers who keep drunk pilots from flying, and staff who make sure flight routes account for hazards, ensure that pilots are medically cleared, and support air traffic control, Rolling Stone reports.

So, yeah, you can catch me being paranoid on the train!

NEWS NEWS NEWS

The Associated Press is suing the Trump administration for access to presidential events, citing the First Amendment’s freedom of the press. The action comes after the White House barred the AP for refusing to use its name for the Gulf of Mexico… because its an international body of water that the U.S. can’t simply rename!

Luigi Mangione, the suspected UnitedHealthcare CEO shooter, appeared in court today for a brief hearing, his first since his arraignment last year. Mangione’s lawyer told supporters outside the courtroom that there were “very serious issues” with the evidence and that it would litigate the search and seizures he was subjected to. And yes… there’s plenty of fanfare about Mangione’s appearance, and a massive billboard in New York City depicting him as Jesus.

Donald Trump’s Department of Justice deleted the first nationwide database tracking misconduct by police officers. The database promoted safety and prevented bad cops from jumping to different agencies with clean records, experts say. What’s more, Trump was the one who first proposed the database! So much for the one good idea he had…

GOP senators stayed up until 4 a.m. to pass a backup spending plan that includes $300 billion for the border and defense, and follows through on Donald Trump’s tax plans. It went so late because Democrats raised dozens of unsuccessful amendments: “Democrats will be ready to come back and do this over and over again,” Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said.

TV host Mehmet Oz has power over millions of dollars from for-profit health care companies he would oversee if confirmed as Trump’s head of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, according to a new government ethics report.

Trump is planning to seize control of the U.S. Postal Service and fire its leadership, placing it under the Commerce Department. The independent agency’s board intends to sue Trump if he follows through with the power grab, as experts believe it would probably violate federal law.

A top-ranking FEMA official took DOGE’s resignation offer, but was fired by the Trump administration nearly two weeks later anyways. This guy served 32 years in the Navy and joined FEMA last year, making him a “probationary” employee. So, yeah, don’t trust that “buyout” offer.

Famed anti-vaxxer and dead brainworm host body Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is planning to remove members of the CDC’s vaccine advisory committee. Reminder: Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA), whose opposition could’ve prevented him from becoming the leader of America’s public health policy, said RFK Jr. had promised he wouldn’t change the committee. You mean he lied?! It must’ve been the brainworm talking.

Tesla recalled more than 375,000 cars because of issues with power steering. Business genius alert!

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