What Next | Time for a Blue-State “Soft Secession”?

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News, News Commentary, Politics

4.6 • 6K Ratings

🗓️ 15 October 2025

⏱️ 27 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

The government shutdown isn’t hitting everywhere equally—infrastructure projects that rely on federal funding have been halted exclusively in states that voted for Kamala Harris. Do blue states have any recourse against a federal government that only functions to punish them? Guest: David Faris, associate professor of political science at Roosevelt University and the author of It’s Time to Fight Dirty: How Democrats Can Build a Lasting Majority in American Politics. Want more What Next? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the whole What Next family and across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe today on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at the top of our show page. Sign up now at slate.com/whatnextplus to get access wherever you listen. Podcast production by Elena Schwartz, Paige Osburn, Anna Phillips, Madeline Ducharme, and Rob Gunther. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	If there was an odometer for the government shutdown, what do you think it would read right about now?
0:13.0	I ask because this shutdown has been going on for more than two weeks, and a whole lot of things seem not very shut down.
0:24.6	Air Force One is still working.
0:26.6	Donald Trump was able to fly off to Israel and Egypt
0:29.6	and declare peace in the Middle East over the weekend.
0:32.6	When he got back, he was able to give Charlie Kirk a posthumous Medal of Freedom.
0:38.6	There was a risk that the military might not get paid this week, but it seems like the president cleared that up.
0:45.1	On the other hand, it definitely seems like some Americans are feeling an impact.
0:50.8	The IRS furloughed more than 30,000 workers yesterday, which brought many of the agency's operations to a grinding halt.
0:59.0	And there was some confusion over the weekend.
1:01.0	Hundreds of CDC employees were mistakenly sent notifications that they were laid off,
1:07.0	while more than 4,000 federal workers were sent termination notices last week.
1:12.2	President Trump says he'll use the shutdown to target his political rivals.
1:16.9	And Congress to shut down...
1:18.0	This is exactly what they said they were going to do, right?
1:19.8	They see a crisis, they see an opportunity.
1:22.1	And they're going to continue doing what they did during the Elon Muskening, which is...
1:26.3	The Elon Musketing? Is that what you just called it?
1:28.4	Yeah.
1:30.2	The Muskinning.
1:32.2	David Ferris writes about politics and teaches at Roosevelt University.
1:36.6	Right. So Musk is gone, but his spirit lives on.
	...

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