Trump Nominations, Musk, Ramaswamy, and DOGE

Mike and Jay open with a discussion of President-Elect Trump’s nominations to this point. Mike isn’t surprised by the picks overall, as they’re about what one would expect from Donald Trump given his belief that establishment insider picks in his first term were a major impediment to his administration. Jay believes that new AG nominee Pam Bondi will likely do a better job than Gaetz ever could. They both have issues with DNI nominee Tulsi Gabbard, though Jay argues that it’s one thing to oppose her nomination, and something else entirely to claim that she’s acting on behalf of Russian dictator Vladimir Putin. From there they turn to the new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) headed by Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy. They consider the plans of the department, as outlined by Musk and Ramaswamy in a recent Wall Street Journal op-ed, with their expectation being that not a lot of money will be saved, but that work from the office requirements and moving a number of government jobs out of the Washington DC could lead to a smaller federal workforce. Here's Mike’s May 2023 interview with Tulsi Gabbard The Politics Guys on Facebook | X Listener support helps make The Politics Guys possible. You can support us or change your level of support at patreon.com/politicsguys or politicsguys.com/support. On Venmo we’re @PoliticsGuys. The Politics Guys is part of The Democracy Group, a network of podcasts that examines what's broken in our democracy and how we can work together to fix it. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesThe Politics Guys on Facebook | XListener support helps make The Politics Guys possible. You can support us or change your level of support at patreon.com/politicsguys or politicsguys.com/support. On Venmo, we’re @PoliticsGuys.The Politics Guys is part of The Democracy Group, a network of podcasts that examines what's broken in our democracy and how we can work together to fix it.