Trump's chaotic pause of federal grants
Sidebar
The Washington Post
4.1 • 4.6K Ratings
🗓️ 28 January 2025
⏱️ 36 minutes
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Summary
The Washington Post's Rhonda Colvin and James Hohmann are joined by White House reporter Cat Zakrzewski to discuss President Trump's first week back in office – and what happened the night he decided to fire more than a dozen government inspectors general.
Plus, Trump's pause on government grants and loans is throwing Washington – and government programs around the globe – into chaos. Who will be affected by it most?
And three of Trump's most controversial cabinet nominees are set to undergo Senate confirmation hearings later this week. Will RFK Jr. be derailed by a letter to senators penned by his cousin, Caroline Kennedy, calling him a "predator"?
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Look what happened. Is this crazy? We stand on the verge of the four greatest years in the history. |
| 0:08.5 | Make America great victory. How can you be against them? |
| 0:17.4 | It's week two of Trump's second term in the White House and the president and his new administration are continuing to change the federal government at record pace. |
| 0:26.7 | That's almost too quick to keep up with. |
| 0:29.1 | Plus, Trump's pause on all federal grants has thrown Washington and government programs across the country into chaos. |
| 0:36.6 | Welcome to Sidebar from The Washington Post. I'm Rhonda |
| 0:39.2 | Colvin here with James Holman and our White House reporter Kat Zucreski. Welcome, Kat. Thank you so much for |
| 0:45.4 | having me. Yes. Today we'll get a peek inside the Trump administration, these first seven days, |
| 0:51.1 | what it's been like from Kat. And we'll also sort of break down some of the |
| 0:55.2 | major headlines that have been happening. The inspector generals firing, the pause on federal |
| 1:01.1 | funds. But first, Kat, I want to hear from you as a White House reporter. What has the last week been |
| 1:09.4 | like? Can you describe what it looks like from the inside? |
| 1:11.9 | It's been absolutely a whirlwind for the past week. I think, you know, it's hard for me to believe |
| 1:16.4 | that we are just a week removed from the inauguration when you look at how much this president |
| 1:22.3 | has already done to transform American society and really change the way our government operates. And he's been doing |
| 1:30.8 | this in very jam-packed days. I'm sure we'll talk very soon about the trip that he just got back |
| 1:35.6 | from last night. But it really has been a nonstop week. And I think for a lot of us in D.C. |
| 1:43.1 | We're, you know, just wondering how to keep up with the pace of how |
| 1:46.6 | much is happening. So out of all of the moves that the president has been making over the last week, |
| 1:51.6 | is there anything that stands out to you from looking at it from the inside as a reporter? Anything |
| 1:57.0 | that stood out? So I think certainly the firings of the inspector generals that you mentioned |
| 2:02.4 | really stands out as, you know, just a moment where you see this president who has talked about |
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