Is the White House budget an attempt to test presidential power?

KCRW's Left, Right & Center

KCRW

352865, News

4.2 • 4.8K Ratings

🗓️ 9 May 2025

⏱️ 51 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

The White House recently released its budget proposal for 2026, which calls for over $160 billion in cuts to the Centers for Disease Control, Environmental Protection Agency, Department of Education, FBI, and federal housing programs like Section 8. Normally, the budget isn’t more than a simple suggestion to Congress. But Russell Vought, Trump’s close advisor who also oversees the federal budget, may have other plans. What is the administration’s endgame? Will Congress simply play along?

After 15 years of steady decline, the U.S. saw a slight increase in the national birth rate last year. However, some demographers and public officials are still concerned about low fertility rates. It’s a worldwide trend that many nations are working to solve. The problem has become a priority for the Trump administration. Can they offer enough incentives to turn things around?

College students have increasingly relied on ChatGPT and other chatbots to help them with school assignments. Some say they want to do the work themselves, but mastering the technology is an easier way to ensure good grades. Is this a troubling trend for learning?

Transcript

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0:00.0	How did the internet go from this?
0:02.5	You could actually find what you were looking for right away, buying to this.
0:07.2	I feel like him in hell.
0:08.8	Spoiler alert, it was not an accident.
0:12.6	I'm Corey Doctro, host of Who Broke the Internet from CBC's Understood.
0:18.1	In this four-part series, I'm going to tell you why the internet sucks now,
0:22.2	whose fault it is, and my plan to fix it. Find who broke the internet on whatever terrible
0:28.0	app you get your podcasts. Welcome to left, right, and center. I'm McKay Coppins, staff
0:36.1	writer at the Atlantic, and your host this
0:37.9	week, filling in for David Green. We have our usual left, right and center panel joining me this
0:43.3	week. On the left, Moe Alaythe, executive director at Georgetown University's Institute of Politics
0:49.1	and Public Service. He was also communications director for the Democratic National Committee
0:54.0	and an advisor to Hillary Clinton.
0:57.5	And on the right, Sarah Isger, senior editor at the dispatch and host of the advisory opinions podcast.
1:04.4	She's a lawyer and was the spokesperson at the Department of Justice under President Trump.
1:09.5	Hey, guys.
1:10.5	Hello. Welcome back guys. Hello.
1:11.9	Welcome back, McKay.
1:13.2	Happy to be here.
1:15.3	So the first few months of Donald Trump's second term have revolved around executive orders from the White House.
1:23.2	The next few months could focus on the president's influence over Capitol Hill.
1:28.1	The White House Office of Management and Budget recently unveiled its budget proposal for
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