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WTF Just Happened Today? is a sane, once-a-day newsletter helping normal people make sense of the news. Curated daily by Matt Kiser and delivered to 200,000+ people every afternoon around 3 pm Pacific.
Day 1416: "Government does almost nothing well."
Today in one sentence: The Biden administration is in the process of extending contracts for private immigration detention centers, expanding capacity ahead of Trump’s promised “largest deportation operation in American history”; Biden and his staff have discussed whether to grant preemptive pardons to current and former public officials who could be targeted by Kash Patel and the incoming Trump administration; Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy met with House and Senate Republicans about Trump’s plans to “dismantle” the federal government; Tulsi Gabbard, Trump’s choice for director of national intelligence, regularly read and shared Russian propaganda; the Heritage Foundation – the architect of Project 2025 – is spending $1 million to pressure Republican senators to confirm Pete Hegseth as secretary of defense; the House Republicans blocked the release of an Ethics Committee report on allegations against Matt Gaetz; and 88% of voters believe elections were well-run in 2024 – up from 59% in 2020.
1/ The Biden administration is in the process of extending contracts for private immigration detention centers, expanding capacity ahead of Trump’s promised “largest deportation operation in American history.” Despite Biden’s campaign promises to end for-profit detention centers, his administration has or is renewing contracts to add at least 4,850 additional detention beds, increasing the capacity beyond the approximately 39,000 individuals already in federal immigration custody. The incoming Trump administration, meanwhile, is preparing to deport migrants to third-party countries, where they have no cultural, linguistic, or familial ties, when their home countries refuse to accept them. (The Guardian / NBC News)
2/ Biden and his staff have discussed whether to grant preemptive pardons to current and former public officials who could be targeted by Kash Patel and the incoming Trump administration. Patel has publicly vowed to pursue retribution against Trump’s adversaries and critics. Among those being considered for potential pardons include Anthony Fauci, retired Gen. Mark Milley, Adam Schiff, and Liz Cheney. At this same time in 2020, Trump and his team discussed but didn’t grant preemptive pardons to Trump Jr., Eric Trump, Ivanka Trump, Jared Kushner, and Rudy Giuliani. The consideration follows Biden’s full pardon for his son, Hunter Biden. (Politico / ABC News / Washington Post / CNN)
3/ Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy met with House and Senate Republicans about Trump’s plans to “dismantle” the federal government. Trump tapped the two to head his “Department of Government Efficiency,” tasked with firing federal workers, cutting government programs and spending, and paring back federal regulations. The group is dubbed the “Department of Government Efficiency” because it’s not an actual government department. Nevertheless, Musk and Ramaswamy believe they can achieve a 75% reduction in the federal workforce, a $2 trillion cut to federal spending, and the elimination of entire agencies. They have not provided specific details about these policy proposals. “We have long lamented the size and scope of the government, that it has grown too large. And let me be frank about this: Government is too big. It does too many things and it does almost nothing well,” House Speaker Mike Johnson said. (NPR / Associated Press / Wall Street Journal / Bloomberg / CBS News)
4/ Tulsi Gabbard, Trump’s choice for director of national intelligence, regularly read and shared Russian propaganda. Three of her former staffers said Gabbard continued to read and share articles from RT (formerly Russia Today) even after being advised that RT was a state-run media outlet and not a credible source of information. The U.S. intelligence community characterized RT as “the Kremlin’s principal international propaganda outlet” in 2017 – three years after Gabbard was elected to Congress. In 2017, Gabbard accused the U.S. and NATO of provoking Russian aggression and criticized what she described as America’s “hostility towards Putin.” When Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Gabbard shifted blame to Ukraine’s bid to join NATO, echoing a narrative often promoted by Moscow. Earlier, in 2020, Gabbard denounced U.S. involvement in Syria’s civil war, labeling it a “regime change war” targeting Russia-backed Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. (ABC News / New Republic / The Guardian / Daily Beast / Rolling Stone)
5/ The Heritage Foundation – the architect of Project 2025 – is spending $1 million to pressure Republican senators to confirm Pete Hegseth as secretary of defense amid allegations that he committed sexual assault, drank to excess, sexually pursued female subordinates, and mismanaged two nonprofits. Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts argued that criticism of Hegseth’s behavior was being driven by “the establishment.” Hegseth, meanwhile, met with at least six senators and pledged he’ll be “standing here in this fight” for “as long as Donald Trump wants me here.” (Associated Press / New York Times / Politico)
6/ The House Republicans blocked the release of an Ethics Committee report on allegations against Matt Gaetz. Shortly after Ethics Committee members met behind closed doors about whether to make public the report detailing allegations that Gaetz engaged in illicit drug use and sexual misconduct with a 17-year-old girl, the House voted 206-198 to return the matter to the House Ethics Committee. Gaetz resigned from Congress last month, shortly after being named by Trump as his pick for attorney general, but before the bipartisan committee was set to vote on releasing its findings. The resignation immediately ended the investigation, based on committee rules. (Politico / NBC News / Washington Post / CNN / Axios)
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📌 Day 1402: Matt Gaetz withdrew his name from consideration for attorney general following scrutiny over allegations of sex trafficking an underage girl and drug use that threatened his confirmation.
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📌 Day 1401: The House Ethics Committee voted against releasing its report into allegations of sex trafficking, corruption, and drug use by Matt Gaetz. The House Ethics Committee reportedly obtained records, including a check and Venmo payments, that show Gaetz paid more than $10,000 to two women who later testified before the committee that some of the payments were for sex. The committee also heard from a woman who testified that Gaetz had sex with her when she was 17 years old.
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📌 Day 1395: Matt Gaetz resigned from Congress two days before the House Ethics Committee was scheduled to release a “highly damaging” report detailing allegations against Gaetz, including sex trafficking involving underage girls, illicit drug use, and accepting bribes.
poll/ 88% of voters believe elections were well-run in 2024 – up from 59% in 2020. 93% of Trump voters said the 2024 elections were run and administered at least somewhat well, compared to 21% in 2020. 84% of Harris voters said this year’s elections were run well. (Pew Research Center)
- Who’s in Trump’s new administration so far:
- Marco Rubio, Secretary of State
Scott Bessent, Treasury
Michael Faulkender, Treasury deputy
Billy Long, IRS
Frank Bisignano, Social Security
Pete Hegseth, Defense
Matt Gaetz, Attorney General
Pam Bondi, Attorney General
Todd Blanche, Deputy Attorney General
D. John Sauer, Solicitor General
Doug Burgum, Interior
Brooke Rollings, Agriculture
Howard Lutnick, Commerce
Lori Chavez DeRemer, Labor
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Health and Human Services
Scott Turner, Housing and Urban Development
Sean Duffy, Transportation
Peter Navarro, Senior Counselor for Trade and Manufacturing
Martin Makary, FDA
Chad Chronister, DEA
Chris Wright, Energy
Linda McMahon, Education
Dough Collins, Veterans Affairs
Kristi Noem, Homeland Security
Mike Waltz, National Security
Alex Wong, Deputy National Security
Sebastian Gorka, Deputy Assistant to the President
Lee Zeldin, EPA
Elise Stefanik, UN Ambassador
Kelly Loeffler, SBA Administrator
Jamieson Greer, US Trade Representative
Jay Bhattacharya, National Institutes of Health
John Phelan, Navy
Jim O’Neill, Health deputy
Susie Wiles, Chief of Staff
Dan Scavino, Deputy Chief of Staff
Stephen Miller, Deputy Chief of Staff
James Blair, Deputy Chief of Staff
Elon Musk, “Department” of Government Efficiency
Vivek Ramaswamy, “Department” of Government Efficiency
Russell Vought, Office of Management and Budget
James Braid, Legislative affairs
Matt Brasseaux, Political affairs
Vince Haley, Domestic policy
Alex Latcham, Public liaison
Kevin Hassett, White House National Economic Council
Tulsi Gabbard, National Intelligence
John Ratcliffe, CIA director
Kash Patel, FBI director
Jared Isaacman, NASA
Adam Boehler, Hostage affairs envoy
Daniel Driscoll, Army secretary
Paul Atkins, SEC
Brendan Carr, FCC
Charles Kushner, Ambassador to France
Matt Whitaker, Ambassador to NATO
Mike Huckabee, Ambassador to Israel
Steve Witkoff, Special Envoy to the Middle East
Keith Kellogg, Ukraine and Russian envoy
Dr. Janette Nesheiwat, Surgeon General
Dr. Mehmet Oz, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
Dr. Dave Weldon, CDC
Bill McGinley, White House Counsel
David Warrington, White House Counsel
Bill McGinley, Government Efficiency Counsel
Tom Homan, Border Czar
Massad Boulos, Senior adviser
Steven Cheung, Communications director
Karoline Leavitt, Press secretary
Will Scharf, Staff secretary
Sergio Gor, Personnel
A political newsletter for normal people
WTF Just Happened Today? is a sane, once-a-day newsletter helping normal people make sense of the news. Curated daily by Matt Kiser and delivered to 200,000+ people every afternoon around 3 pm Pacific.
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