Rational Security: The “Keeping It 100” Edition

The Lawfare Podcast

The Lawfare Institute

Military, Intelligence, International Law, Constitutional Law, Rule Of Law, Politics, International Relations, News, Government, History, Diplomacy, Terrorism, National Security, Current Events, Law, Foreign Policy

4.7 • 6.2K Ratings

🗓️ 30 April 2025

⏱️ 73 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

This week, Scott sat down with his Lawfare colleagues Molly Reynolds and James Pearce to talk through the week’s big national security news, including:

“Rounding the ‘Feels Like It’s Been a Century’ Mark.” As President Trump comes to the end of his second first 100 days in office, he and his supporters are laying claim to FDR’s mantle as the president to accomplish the most in such a short period of time. But how much success has Trump really had in enacting his broader policy agenda? How should we be seeing Trump’s administration as it rounds this milestone?
“The Art of the Appeal.” More than three months into his second term in the White House, President Trump has clearly embraced a new legal strategy: antagonistic towards the courts, aggressive in its claims of presidential power, and more than willing to run to the Supreme Court for validation. But so far that validation has been slow to come, and there are signs that even some judges appointed by Trump are growing weary and wary of his tactics. How successful is Trump’s legal strategy proving? Could an alternative be more effective?
“DOGE-ing a Bullet.” A new report from the minority staff of the Senate’s permanent subcommittee on investigations claims that Elon Musk’s involvement in the Trump administration and his role in dismantling federal agencies could save his various companies billions in regulatory costs and other potential liabilities. Is this a clear conflict of interest? Or does this report reflect other factors in play?

In object lessons, Molly had a mighty craic in happening upon Blue Lights, a police procedural set in Belfast, and urges you to give it a lash. Scott, hailing victory and fighting for Old DC, cheered the thought of a new RFK Stadium. And James encouraged listeners to maki their way over to a local Japanese restaurant, where the sushi isn’t the only thing rolled.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	The following podcast contains advertising.
0:04.4	To access an ad-free version of the Lawfare podcast, become a material supporter of Lawfare at
0:11.5	patreon.com slash lawfare. That's patreon.com slash lawfare.
0:18.2	Also, check out Lawfare's other podcast offerings, Rational Security, Chatter, Lawfare No Bull,
0:26.9	and The Aftermath.
0:30.5	Are you a pet person? Do you have pets?
0:32.7	No, not a pet person. I grew up in a house with five human children. And my mother's position was that that was too many human children for any animals. I'm with your mother on this one. I think that's fair. I think that's fair. How did your mother feel about like the fake pets, like the mostly ornamental pets, like a goldfish?
0:55.6	Yeah, so we were just like a pretty, we are pretty firm no animal households. I have a memory of
1:02.3	when I was in preschool having the class guinea pig come spend a weekend at our house a couple of
1:10.1	times. But that is the extent of
1:13.3	any animals whatsoever in our house as a kid. We adopted a mouse from a, from my little brother
1:21.6	when I was growing up as I recall from like a summer camp where you learn to take care of
1:25.2	animals and they all got to take a mouse home at the end of them which they did not tell parents in advance it was a real surprise to my parents
1:30.2	that's a nightmare yeah which we even kept and then the mouse uh lived a shocking long time for
1:36.4	mouse like a year or two got cancer and then we paid for mouse chemotherapy because you're like
1:42.9	feel bad because the things in your life and your little
1:45.5	kids attached to it. But at the same time, I was like, this, even at the time, I think I was like 12,
1:49.1	I was like, this is maybe over the top. James, you have a, you have a small, I didn't realize
1:53.6	you're like a kind of Dr. Doolittle type. Like, you have a small community of furry creatures living at your place. Like an astounding number. How do you keep up with, was it four cats and two dogs?
2:02.5	Is that right?
2:03.2	Yeah, that's right.
2:05.0	So four cats that have come into our household and kind of two pairs of two, the first
	...

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