Trump’s labor pick backed unions. It might cost her votes.

Summary

Apple News Today: Detailed Summary of "Trump’s Labor Pick Backed Unions. It Might Cost Her Votes."

Release Date: February 21, 2025
Host: Shemit Sebastu
Guest: Ankush Khadori, former federal prosecutor and senior writer at Politico

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1. Trump Administration’s Deportation Policies and Migrant Detentions

Shemit Sebastu opens the episode by addressing the ongoing deportation efforts under the Trump administration, highlighting the plight of undocumented immigrants being deported to countries where they face significant challenges.

• Deportation Flights to Costa Rica and Panama:
  On a Thursday flight, approximately 135 migrants were deported to Costa Rica, almost half of whom were children, including two pregnant women. These individuals primarily hail from China, India, Pakistan, and Afghanistan, countries that are unlikely to readily accept their return. Similarly, around 300 deported individuals are held in Panama under a similar bridge arrangement.

• Conditions in Detention Facilities:
  Migrants in Panama have reported dire conditions, including being confined in hotels without access to phones, the internet, or legal counsel. Visual evidence emerged showing migrants trapped in their rooms, with some pleading for help or expressing fears about returning to their home countries.

• Journalistic Insights:
  Julie Turkowitz, New York Times bureau chief, shared insights from her reporting:

  "[00:02:04] ‘All of us have been able to speak to a group of these people who have said that they are being held against their will... they came to the United States to seek asylum, were swiftly deported by the United States, and wound up in Panama, never expecting, of course, to be there.’"
  – Julie Turkowitz, New York Times

• Panamanian and Costa Rican Government Stances:
  Panamanian officials argue that the detention is for the migrants' protection and to verify their identities. Contrarily, lawyers assert that detaining individuals without a court order for over 24 hours is illegal. Costa Rican authorities typically allow up to 30 days for repatriation, with the possibility of extensions.

• Political Pressures:
  Analysts suggest that Panama's acceptance of difficult cases may be influenced by intense pressure from the Trump administration, which has hinted at seizing the Panama Canal as leverage.

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2. Expanding Executive Power: Insights from Ankush Khadori

A significant portion of the episode features a conversation with Ankush Khadori, who discusses the Trump administration's attempts to expand executive power and the potential implications for the U.S. government’s balance of power.

• Impoundment and Executive Overreach:
  Khadori explains that impoundment allows the president to override Congress by not spending money appropriated by the legislature, posing a threat to the power of the purse held by Congress.

  "[05:20] Khadori: It is historically, and our Constitution relies on this. There is supposed to be a healthy amount of tension and competition between our three branches of government..."

• Historical Context and Legal Battles:
  The discussion delves into the history of attempts to modify executive power, such as President Bill Clinton’s failed line-item veto, which the Supreme Court deemed unconstitutional.

• Supreme Court Dynamics:
  With the Supreme Court now having a 6-3 Republican majority, including three Trump appointees, Khadori warns that the court may be more receptive to expanding executive power. This shift could have lasting effects beyond Trump’s presidency, empowering future administrations.

• Long-term Implications:
  Khadori emphasizes that changes to executive power structures could permanently alter the relationship between the branches of government, making it easier for successors to continue expanding presidential authority.

  "[07:47] Khadori: ...the power that they want for themselves is a power that goes to their successors, too."

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3. Controversy Surrounding Trump’s Labor Secretary Nominee: Laurie Chavez Durimer

The episode shifts focus to the nomination of Laurie Chavez Durimer as the Labor Secretary, exploring the complexities and political pushback her nomination faces despite her pro-union background.

• Nominee’s Background and Support:
  Laurie Chavez Durimer, a former Republican Representative, garnered support from several unions, including Teamster president Sean O'Brien, due to her father’s involvement with the Teamsters and her co-sponsorship of the PRO Act, a significant labor reform bill aimed at strengthening collective bargaining rights.

• Senate Confirmation and Political Pushback:
  While many of Trump’s nominees have been confirmed with relative ease, Chavez Durimer's nomination is experiencing resistance from within her own party.

  "[09:35] Laurie Chavez Durimer: Do you support the PRO act?
  [09:38] Bernie Sanders: Thank you, Ranking Member Sanders..."
  In her hearing, she distanced herself from the PRO Act, leading to skepticism among both Republicans and Democrats about her commitment to pro-union legislation.

• Key Exchange Highlight:
  An exchange with Senator Bernie Sanders illustrates her wavering stance:

  "[10:06] Bernie Sanders: ...the PRO ACT because I wanted to be at that table and have those conversations...
  [10:23] Laurie Chavez Durimer: So you no longer support the aspect of the PRO act that would have overturned state right to work laws?"
  "[10:28] Bernie Sanders: Yeah, there were so many parts. That's a yes, yes, yes, sir."

• Republican Divisions and Future Prospects:
  The Washington Post notes that Chavez Durimer is seen as distancing herself from her pro-union roots, causing Democrats to potentially withdraw support and Republicans to remain divided between her union-friendly voting record and her current statements favoring state control over labor laws.

• Impact on Labor Oversight:
  With the Trump administration already taking steps to reduce federal oversight in labor matters—firing Democratic commissioners from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the National Labor Relations Board—Chavez Durimer’s leadership could further diminish federal protections for workers.

• Committee Vote:
  Her nomination is set for a committee vote the following week, with significant uncertainty over its outcome.

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4. Additional News Highlights

Shemit Sebastu concludes the episode with brief updates on various other news stories:

• Israeli and Hamas Conflict:
  Israeli officials reported that remains handed over by Hamas do not belong to the claimed individuals, demanding the return of Shiri Beavis’s body. This development complicates the upcoming release of six remaining hostages.

• New York City Political Turmoil:
  Governor Kathy Hochul announced she will not remove Mayor Eric Adams from office despite corruption charges, opting instead for an inspector general oversight. Adams challenges this decision, asserting no legal basis for the governor’s intervention.

• Luis Rubiales Conviction:
  The former head of the Spanish soccer federation, Luis Rubiales, was convicted of sexual assault for forcibly kissing player Jenny Hermoso but was acquitted of coercion charges. He received a fine without prison time.

• Asteroid Safety Update:
  NASA’s Center for Near Earth Objects Studies reported that the likelihood of a football field-sized asteroid colliding with Earth has dropped from 3.1% to essentially zero, validating the effectiveness of the asteroid tracking system established in 2012.

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Conclusion

This episode of Apple News Today provides an in-depth analysis of the Trump administration's controversial deportation policies, the potential expansion of executive power and its implications for the U.S. government’s balance of power, and the contentious nomination of Laurie Chavez Durimer as Labor Secretary. Additionally, it touches on diverse global and domestic issues, offering listeners a comprehensive overview of the day's most pressing news.

For a more detailed discussion with Ankush Khadori on the expansion of presidential power, listeners are encouraged to stay tuned to the Apple News app for the upcoming episode of Apple News in Conversation.

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This summary aims to capture all key points, discussions, insights, and conclusions from the episode, utilizing direct quotes with proper attributions and timestamps to enhance the narrative flow and provide clarity for those who have not listened to the full podcast.

Transcript

[Shemit Sebastu]

Good morning. It's Friday, February 21st. I'm Shemit Sebastu. This is Apple News Today. On today's show, testing the boundaries of executive power, why Trump's labor secretary nominee might not win full Republican support. And a change in the asteroid forecast means we're safe for now. But first, as the Trump administration continues to deport undocumented immigrants, some are being flown to places they never called home and getting detained upon arrival. One flight that landed in Costa Rica on Thursday carried about 135 people. Almost half were children, and there were at least two pregnant women. They're mostly from countries like China, India, Pakistan, and Afghanistan. NBC reports that some of those countries, like China and Afghanistan, will not easily agree to repatriate people. So US Officials say Costa Rica is a bridge arrangement until international authorities can figure out how to get people back to their home countries. None of these migrants have criminal records, but they are undocumented, according to Costa Rican authorities. Meanwhile, the BBC reports that around 300 deported people, predominantly from Asian countries, are being held in Panama under a similar bridge agreement with the U.S. u.S. At first, they were locked up in a hotel for roughly a week with no access to phones, Internet, or legal counsel. Images emerged in recent days of people standing by the windows, trapped in their rooms. One person wrote help us on their window using lipstick. Another held up a message that said, we are not safe in our country. Panama's government previously said these migrants had no criminal records. Reporters at the New York Times were able to contact some of them. Here's Andy's bureau chief, Julie Turkowitz, speaking with msnbc.

[Julie Turkowitz]

Working with my colleagues. I'm working with several other colleagues who have a broad variety of language skills and have been able to speak. All of us have been able to speak to a group of these people who have said that they are being held against their will. They came to the United States to seek asylum, were swiftly deported by the United States, and wound up in Panama, never expecting, of course, to be there.

[Shemit Sebastu]

Some people in this group, including eight children, were recently moved to a camp on the outskirts of the jungle in the Darien Province. That's a region connecting Panama and Colombia, infamous as a dangerous crossing route for migrants traveling north to the United States. One Panamanian official insisted, it's not a detention camp, but a migrant camp. Here's Turkowitz again.

[Julie Turkowitz]

Another hundred or so of them have said, no, we don't feel that it's safe to go back to our countries. And those are the folks who have now been transferred to this camp near the Darien jungle.

[Shemit Sebastu]

These people told the Times the camp looks like a zoo and described sweltering conditions with little food and fenced cages. Panamanian officials have disputed that account. Panama's security minister said in an interview on Wednesday that migrants were being held, quote, for their own protection and because officials need to verify their identities. But lawyers told the Times it's illegal to be detained in Panama for more than 24 hours without a court order. And in Costa Rica, NBC reports that the country typically allows up to 30 days to repatriate deported migrants, although officials say that timeline could be extended. For the United States, sending migrants to Panama and Costa Rica effectively means these people are no longer subject to US Law. Analysts told the New York Times that Panama is under intense pressure by Trump, who has threatened to seize the Panama Canal. So Turkowitz explained to MSNBC this agreement could be an effort to appease him.

[Julie Turkowitz]

The Panamanian government says, okay, we'll take your most difficult cases. Now, those most difficult cases are the challenge of the Panamanian government.

[Shemit Sebastu]

Similar questions have been raised about Costa Rica's motivations for entering into this agreement. The Costa Rican president, in a news conference on Wednesday, spoke about his fears that the United States could impose a tax and said this is a way of helping their, quote, economically powerful brother from the north. International authorities are now responsible for transferring them. The United States is paying for all costs in Panama, and it's footing the bill for every flight, including those that will eventually take migrants to their home countries. It's been just about a month of Trump's second term in office, and so far we've seen him make big moves, implementing deportations, as we've mentioned, freezing foreign aid, proposing an end to birthright citizenship, making sweeping cuts to federal agency workforces and spending. The legality of some of these actions is being brought before federal courts. And some lawmakers are fighting Trump on the issue of frozen funds that were already approved by Congress. If this seems like a big shift in the balance of our government, well.

[Ankush Khadori]

It is historically, and our Constitution relies on this. There is supposed to be a healthy amount of tension and competition between our three branches of government, with each branch exercising its power to check the other branches and without just rolling over.

[Shemit Sebastu]

That's Ankush Khadori, a former federal prosecutor and a senior writer at Politico magazine. He's my guest this week on Apple News. In conversation, he told me that impoundment, which is when the president essentially overrides Congress by deciding not to spend money that's already been appropriated by the legislature. This tension in his mind is the one that's most worth paying attention to because it could radically change the relationship between the three branches.

[Ankush Khadori]

It would completely usurp the power of the purse from Congress. And there is a reason that Congress, our legislature, has that power, right? Because they are far more responsive and representative of the country as a whole and can aggregate the interests of their constituents throughout the country, which vary across demographics and geography and things like that. And we have this very complex process. It's messy, it's far from perfect, right? But that is the process that is supposed to generate our budget.

[Shemit Sebastu]

There's a law in place to prevent presidential impoundment. Back in the 70s, under Nixon, Congress passed an Impoundment Control Act. President Bill Clinton tried to amend it in the 90s by introducing line item veto power, which allowed him to reject specific parts of a bill without having to veto the whole thing. That law had broad bipartisan support, but the Supreme Court struck it down after just two years, ruling that it was unconstitutional. However, if the issue of presidential impoundment ends up back in front of the highest court during this administration, Cardore told me, Trump might find this court to be much more open to the idea.

[Ankush Khadori]

This is a moment that the Republican Party has been waiting for for a long time. Decades, right? They have been waiting to have a Supreme Court that is stacked with their appointees, which they now have six to three, including three Trump appointees, and five of whom have very probably some inclination toward expansive views of executive power, and also a president who is willing to push those boundaries.

[Shemit Sebastu]

Kadore says changing how our government decides to spend its funds has broad implications, ones that will carry over into future administrations.

[Ankush Khadori]

One thing that Trump and I think the Supreme Court are gonna need to grapple with is that when a president tries to acquire one of these new tools, it's not just a tool for him, it's a tool for his successors, too. This is a mistake that many presidents have made throughout American history. Not really appreciating that the power that they want for themselves is a power that goes to their successors, too.

[Shemit Sebastu]

To hear our full conversation, stick around after today's show. If you're listening in the news app, that episode of Apple News in Conversation will be queued up to play for you. Yesterday, the Senate voted to confirm Cash Patel as FBI director. That means up until this point, all of Trump's nominees have been confirmed, most with relative ease, despite some facing questions about their character or lack of experience, which speaks both to the numerical advantage Republicans have in the Senate and their eagerness to appease President Trump. But one nominee is getting more pushback from Republicans than others. Former Representative Laurie Chavez Durimer, a Republican who served for one term in the House. When Trump nominated her for labor secretary, some Democrats were pleasantly surprised because in Congress she was a co sponsor of a piece of legislation called the PRO Act, a sweeping labor bill that aimed to strengthen collective bargaining rights. She was one of just a few Republicans to back the bill. A number of unions were excited about her nomination too, including teamster president Sean O'Brien, because Chavez Darimer's father was a Teamster himself. In her hearing on Wednesday, she was asked how she feels about the PRO act now. She called the bill imperfect and avoided saying much else about it, like in this exchange with Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders.

[Laurie Chavez Durimer]

Do you support the PRO act?

[Bernie Sanders]

Thank you, Ranking Member Sanders and I appreciate the conversation. I support the American Worker. President Trump.

[Laurie Chavez Durimer]

Okay, I don't mean to be rude. We don't have a lot of time. I am gathering that you no longer support the PRO act is what I hear, that you support the American Worker. That's what everybody here will say.

[Shemit Sebastu]

Several senators asked her about her stance on right to work laws which limit union organizing. Here's her exchange with Kentucky Senator Rand Paul.

[Bernie Sanders]

I signed on to the PRO act because I was representing Oregon's 5th district, but I also signed on to the PROACT because I wanted to be at that table and have those conversations. But I fully, fairly and support states who want to protect their right to work. I have said that to every senator that I have visited.

[Laurie Chavez Durimer]

So you no longer support the aspect of the PRO act that would have overturned state right to work laws?

[Bernie Sanders]

Yeah, there were so many parts. That's a yes, yes, yes, sir.

[Shemit Sebastu]

The overall impression of her hearing, according to the Washington Post, was that Chavez Darimer was distancing herself from her past support of pro union ledger legislation. Democrats in the Senate who initially seemed ready to support her now appear less likely to. And interestingly, Republicans are torn between her pro union voting record as a one term congresswoman and what she's now saying about letting states decide their own labor laws. Meanwhile, advocates for workers rights have questioned how much power Chavez Darimer might have as labor secretary in an increasingly diminishing landscape of federal oversight. In his first few weeks in office, Trump fired two of three Democratic commissioners on the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which enforces civil rights in the workplace. He also fired the acting chair of the National Labor Relations Board, which protects employees rights to organize and fight unfair labor practices. Chavez de Rimmer's nomination will be up for a committee vote next week. Before we let you go, a few other stories we're watching Israeli officials say a body handed over by Hamas on Thursday isn't who Hamas claimed it is. Authorities confirmed the identities of remains belonging to two children, Kfir and Ariel Bibis, but say the body reportedly belonging to their mother, Shiri, was not hers or that of any other hostage. That's according to the Associated Press. The Israeli military called it a violation of the utmost severity and demanded Hamas return Shiri Beavis body. As of Thursday night, Hamas had not commented. It's unclear what this means for Saturday's scheduled release of the six remaining living hostages. New York governor Kathy Hochul says she will not remove New York City Mayor Eric Adams from office. Hochul said she would let New Yorkers make their choice clear at the polls and announced an inspector general to oversee the mayor. Adams is charged with a number of corruption crimes, which the Trump administration says it will drop. In a statement responding to Hochul's announcement, Adams said he believes there is no legal basis for the governor to place limits on his power, but he is willing to work with her. The former head of the Spanish soccer federation, Luis Rubialis, was convicted Thursday of sexual assault for forcibly kissing player Jenny Hermoso after the team won the Women's World cup in 2023. Rubiales was fined but not sentenced to any prison time. He was also acquitted of a coercion charge for allegedly trying to get Hermoso to say the kiss was consensual. And lastly, if you've seen headlines about an asteroid potentially coming for Earth in a few years, you can rest easy. Just a few days ago, the odds of the roughly football field sized rock colliding with Earth were at about a 3.1% chance, but that number has since dropped to essentially zero, according to scientists at NASA's center for Near Earth Objects Studies. The Washington Post reports chances of this asteroid impacting Earth were always low, but it was important to track because its size triggered a global warning for the first time since the warning system was created in 2012. So the good news? The system works Even better news Turns out we don't need it. At least not this time. You can find all these stories and more in the Apple News app. And if you're already listening in the news app, stick around for my full interview with Ankish Kadori about how we're watching Trump expand the reach of presidential power. If you're listening in the Apple News app right now. That episode of Apple News in Conversation is queued up to play for you next. Enjoy your weekend and we'll be back with the news on Monday.