DHS Dysfunction
What A Day
What A Day
4.6 • 12.6K Ratings
🗓️ 20 February 2026
⏱️ 23 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
It’s been about a week since the Department of Homeland Security entered a partial shutdown, with Democrats refusing to fund the agency until changes are made to federal immigration enforcement. According to the White House, we are still no closer to a deal. But Democrats are reluctant to budge, and polling shows that most Americans think ICE has gone too far with its enforcement operations. Recent reporting from The Wall Street Journal paints a chaotic picture of DHS under Secretary Kristi Noem. In her colleagues’ view, she’s prioritized getting photo ops for herself over getting results for the Trump Administration. So for more on DHS scandals and what the future holds for Noem, we spoke with Michelle Hackman, a reporter covering immigration for The Wall Street Journal.
And in headlines, President Trump worries America’s 250th birthday might be soiled by the smell of feces emanating from the Potomac, former Prince Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor gets arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office related to his ties to Jeffrey Epstein, and the Trump administration alienates MAHA by ramping up pesticide production.
Show Notes:
- Check out Michelle's reporting – https://tinyurl.com/3xfpycmd
- Call Congress – 202-224-3121
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- What A Day – YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/@whatadaypodcast
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- For a transcript of this episode, please visit crooked.com/whataday
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | It's Friday, February 20th. |
| 0:04.9 | I'm Jane Koston, and this is What Today? |
| 0:06.7 | The show that knew that whatever former President Barack Obama said about aliens this week, |
| 0:11.0 | President Donald Trump was going to say something even weirder. |
| 0:14.2 | Here he is responding to Fox News reporter Peter Ducey on Air Force One on Thursday. |
| 0:19.2 | It's something to get a lot of attention this is that Barack Obama said that aliens are real. |
| 0:25.4 | Have you seen any evidence of non-human visitors to Earth? |
| 0:29.5 | Well, he gave classified information. |
| 0:31.2 | He's not supposed to be doing that. |
| 0:33.2 | So aliens are real. |
| 0:34.3 | Well, I don't know if they're real or not. |
| 0:35.6 | I can tell you he gave classified information. |
| 0:37.7 | He's not supposed to be doing that. |
| 0:39.3 | He made it big mistake. |
| 0:41.7 | He took it out of glassified information. |
| 0:44.1 | No, I don't have an opinion on it. |
| 0:46.0 | I never talk about it. |
| 0:47.5 | A lot of people do. |
| 0:48.9 | A lot of people believe it. |
| 0:51.1 | You believe it, Peter? |
| 0:53.2 | You can always bet on Trump being weird as hell. |
| 1:03.4 | On today's show, President Trump worries America's 250th birthday might be soiled by the smell of feces |
... |
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