
Friday, March 21st, 2025 Today, a judge had ordered Musk and DOGE to get out of the Social Security systems and to uninstall all their software; Judge Boasberg has issued a show cause order in the Alien Enemies Act case; the Trump administration believes they can enter homes without a warrant; Trump has signed the executive order eliminating the Department of Education; a Georgetown researcher has been detained by ICE and a judge has ordered he not be deported pending litigation; the Social Security Administration is now requiring in-person identity checks; a French scientist has been denied entry to the US for negative social media posts about Trump; and Allison and Dana deliver your Good News.
Loading summary
Allison Gill
MSW Media. Hello and welcome to the Daily beans for Friday, March 21, 2025. Today, a judge has ordered Elon Musk and Doge to get out of the Social Security Administration systems and to uninstall all their software. Judge Boasberg has issued a show cause order in the Alien Enemies act case. The Trump administration believes they can enter homes without a warrant. Trump has signed the executive order eliminating the Department of Education. A Georgetown researcher has been detained by ice, and a judge has ordered he not be deported pending litigation. The Social Security Administration is now going to require in person identity checks. And a French scientist has been denied entry into the United States because of negative social media posts about Donald Trump. I'm Allison Gill.
Dana Goldberg
And I'm Dana Goldberg.
Allison Gill
We told you it was going to be shitty.
Dana Goldberg
I know that last one is fucked up. I mean, could you imagine how many people have negative social media posts about Donald Trump?
Allison Gill
Yeah, I'm like, should I leave the country? Will they be. Will they let me back in?
Dana Goldberg
Like, oh, God, don't say that. I've got international trips coming up, man.
Allison Gill
Yeah, we'll see what ends up happening. Something really gross just happened, by the way. This is like breaking news. Remember how Donald Trump was putting out executive orders against law firms like Perkins, Coy and what was the other one? William something? Let's see. Paul Weiss. That was it. Well, apparently, Donald Trump has rescinded the executive order against the Paul Weiss firm because the firm has entered into an agreement with Trump. Here's what they agreed to, dude. They agreed to give $40 million in free legal services to the Trump administration.
Dana Goldberg
You gotta be kidding me.
Allison Gill
I am not fucking kidding you. And they've agreed to acknowledge the wrongdoing of former partner Mark Pomeranz.
Dana Goldberg
Oh, my God. Well, I mean, it's Trump, so haven't they already given him $40 million in free services?
Allison Gill
I'm just like, jesus, this capitulation is gross. It's just gross. Also, there's something going on with podcast players. And I'm not going to say her name, but if you have a home robot that plays things when you ask her to do so. Because if I say her name right now, she'll wake up and say some. Apparently, don't poke the bear when you ask her to play the Daily Beans, or really kind of any podcast, a lot of people, she goes, oh, that's not working. But here's Joe Rogan's latest episode.
Dana Goldberg
Stop it.
Allison Gill
Play Joe Rogan's podcast. So apparently this has been acknowledged as a bug by Apple and Amazon. But I, you know, they're like, oh, I don't think it's on purpose. I'm like, oh, come on, that's payback.
Dana Goldberg
For them autocorrecting Trump to Nazi or whatever it was.
Allison Gill
Either that or, like, Joe Rogan's numbers are down, right? Like, Midas Touches beating Joe Rogan. There's another woman with a new podcast out that's beating Rogan. We've charted above Rogan, like, one or two times. We don't have more listeners, but we've charted above him a couple times. And so maybe they're just trying to bump his listening, his listenership, you know, like, because if you hear the beginning of a podcast, it registers as at least part of a download. So.
Dana Goldberg
Interesting. Yeah, got it.
Allison Gill
And when I posted about it on Blue sky was like, hey, is this happening to anyone? Ask your robot, ask your overlord in your home to play the Daily Beans and see what happens. And it's like, maybe 10 of people end up getting the Joe Rogan podcast. But one guy's like, well played. Like, he thought I was just trying to get people to listen to the Daily Beans.
Dana Goldberg
Oh, my God, that's funny.
Allison Gill
I was like, hey, you know what? That thought didn't cross my mind. But it is quite a good idea. But here are all the examples of people who are Joe Rogan Podcast. Also, I wanted to tell you about this IPSOS poll that just came out. When they were asked, do you think, would you agree that Trump should obey court orders even if they're adverse? And 84% of all adults said yes.
Dana Goldberg
Good.
Allison Gill
92% of Democrats, 82% of independents, and 79% of Republicans.
Dana Goldberg
Okay, 79%. That's good.
Allison Gill
That's quite a huge number. They quote, they may disagree over Donald Trump, but they all agree he must follow court rulings. To cross that Rubicon is a big no no in the eyes of the American public. Well, we're about to see how that plays out. Also, it's Fugal Sang Friday, so we get to talk to him later. So that's fun.
Dana Goldberg
We love our John Boy.
Allison Gill
John Boy. Good night, John Boy. That should be my sign off with him for Fugalang Friday from now on. All right, everybody, we have a lot of news to get to, but first, we have some quick hits.
John Fugelsang
And to make a long story short.
Allison Gill
All right, first up from NBC, Trump signed an executive order on Thursday directing education secretary Linda McMahon, former vice president of the Wrestling People, her husband, or.
Dana Goldberg
I don't know, present or past husband, is a douchebag.
Allison Gill
Vince. Yeah. Ordered her to start dismantling the Department of Education. White House Press Secretary Caroline Levitt told reporters Thursday morning that the department would not completely be eliminated because that would be against the law. Saying that its critical functions would continue, including the enforcement of civil rights laws and oversight of student loans and Pell grants. The executive order will also not affect department activities aimed at meeting the educational needs of students with disabilities or Title 1 funding, which goes to school districts with a high proportion of students from low income families. As we know, eliminating the department completely would require an act of Congress.
Dana Goldberg
It would indeed. And if you care about women's sports, I'm just going to tell you, maybe you should actually contact your legislatures to make sure that this doesn't happen. Because who distributes Title IX and enforces it? That would be the Department of Education. Just FYI.
Allison Gill
I think they're going to try to keep that, but that is definitely something that you need to push your. Your yes. Elected reps on.
Dana Goldberg
Well, if they call that a civil. I don't know, I don't trust them keeping the civil rights protection.
Allison Gill
But yeah, they might only think civil rights protections are for white dudes or.
Dana Goldberg
Yeah, yeah, those don't apply to women. All right, this is from the Post. Federal immigration authorities have detained a Georgetown University fellow in the United States legally on a work and study based exchange visitor visa. That's according to the researcher's lawyer. Partner of a ramping up Trump administration arrests of people with legal status that has included scholars at other universities who've opposed the President's foreign policies. You guys, this is fucking scary. Indian national Badar Khan Sri, a postdoctoral fellow specializing in peace and Conflict studies at Georgetown School of Foreign Service, was detained outside his home in Roslyn neighborhood of Arlington, Virginia by the Department of Homeland Security agents. Suri was eventually taken to U.S. immigration and Customs Enforcement. ICE that detention in Louisiana. A judge has ordered that Surrey may not be removed from the United States without an order from the court.
Allison Gill
Yeah, and they keep taking them down to Louisiana because that's the fifth Circuit, right? Or is it the eleventh Circuit? And I think it's the fifth Circuit, which is, you know, decidedly in the bag for Donald Trump. That's where like all the mifepristone cases came up through. You know, Judge Kacper down there in Texas eventually up to the fifth Circuit. Yeah, man, that is just fucking. That's, it's, it's so anti. Constitutional. I mean again, we knew this was coming. It's all in Project 2025. It's all spelled out there. But to be arrested in front of your home. Oh, man. Next up from the Guardian. France's research minister said a French scientist was denied entry into the United States this month after immigration officers at an airport searched his ph and found messages in which he had expressed criticism of the Trump administration. Another AFP source said that the US Authorities accused the French researcher of, quote, hateful and conspiratorial messages. He was reportedly also informed of an FBI investigation into him, but then he was told that the charges were dropped before they expelled him from the country. Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to requests for comment because Christina was out shooting puppies.
Dana Goldberg
Mm. Jesus. Last in this section. This is from Raw Story. One House Republican in a swing district is now publicly rebuking President Donald Trump's administration after one of his budget cuts directly impacted his constituents.
Allison Gill
Oh, no.
Dana Goldberg
I know. There's the fuck around and find out part. Acting Social Security Administration SSA the head Leland Dudek recently announced that he would not be renewing the lease on the agency's office in White Plains, New York when it comes up on May 31st. And. And that it was rejected by bipartisan efforts by Reps. George Latimer, he's the Democrat in New York, and Mike Lawler to keep it open.
Allison Gill
Yeah, Mike Lawler's real sad because this is gonna really negatively impact his constituents. And the leopards continued to eat his face while he made that statement.
Dana Goldberg
Yes, indeed.
Allison Gill
All right, we have more news to get to, especially the hot notes, of course. We're gonna talk to John Fugelsang and we'll have the good news listener submitted good news at the end. But we do have to take a quick break. Everybody stick around. We'll be right back after these messages.
Dana Goldberg
We'll be right back.
Allison Gill
Hey, everybody, it's ag. If you've ever dreamed of transforming your yard but don't know where to start, Fast Growing Trees is here to help. As the largest online nursery in the United States, they offer thousands of plants, from fruit trees and flowering shrubs to privacy trees and other indoor plants. With over 2 million happy customers, they've earned their reputation for quality and reliability. And what I love about Fast Growing trees is how they take the guesswork out of gardening. That really helps me because I do not have a green thumb. Their 14 point quality checklist ensures every plant is healthy and ready to thrive. And their alive and thrive guarantee means you can shop with confidence. Plus, their plant experts are always available to help you choose the right plants and provide care advice. I will never forget the day that my guacamole garden arrived. We have a avocado tree that's now like 7ft tall and we've got lemons and limes as well. I'd been waiting for years to do this, but I was unfamiliar with the process. The nurseries were very far away. It was difficult to get good help there. So fast growing trees really made a difference. They came to my door right just in a few days with these trees beautifully packaged, already thriving. Now it's the centerpiece of my little side yard with my bff. We have the guacamole garden. And this spring they have the best deals for your yard, up to half off on select plants and other deals. And listeners to our show get a 15% discount off their first purchase when using the code DAILYBEANS at checkout. That's an additional 15% off at fast growing trees.com and use code DAILYBEANS at checkout. That's fast growingtrees.com code DAILYBEANS. Now's the perfect time to plant. Use daily beans to save. Today. Offer is valid for a limited time. Terms and conditions apply. All right, welcome back. It's time for the Hot Notes. Hot notes. All right, first up from the Associated Press. A federal judge on Thursday has temporarily blocked Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency, so called, from Social Security systems that hold personal data on millions of Americans, calling their work there a fishing expedition. The order also requires the team to delete any personally identifiable data in their possession. This is U.S. district Judge Ellen Hollander in Maryland. She found that the team got broad access to sensitive information at the Social Security Administration to search for fraud with little justification. Quote, the Doge team is essentially engaged in a fishing expedition at SSA in search of a fraud epidemic based on little more than suspicion, she wrote. The order does allow Doge staffers to access data that's been redacted or stripped of anything personally identifiable if they undergo training and background checks. First, quote, to be sure, rooting out possible fraud, waste and mismanagement in the SSA is in the public interest, but that does not mean that the government can flout the law to do so. Now the Trump administration says Doge is targeting waste in the federal government. As we know, Musk has been focused on Social Security, calling it an alleged hotbed of fraud, describing it as a Ponzi scheme and insisting that reducing waste in the program is an important way to cut government spending. The ruling, which could be challenged on appeal like all rulings comes in a lawsuit filed by labor unions, retirees, and the advocacy group Democracy Forward. They argue that DOGE access violates privacy laws and presents serious information security risks. The lawsuit included a declaration from a recently departed Social Security official who saw the DOGE team sweep into the agency. And she's deeply worried about sensitive information being exposed. That was Tiffany Glick. That was the. The one that I read to you a couple weeks ago on the show. The White House didn't immediately respond to requests for comment. They're busy putting out cybertruck fires, literally. Doge. Doge detailed, by the way. 46. Every single cybertruck has been recalled.
Dana Goldberg
Yep, because parts just keep flying off on the freeway and hitting other cars. I'm sorry, y'all, but I mean, you gotta laugh at this. I hope everyone's safe. Like, not necessarily. I mean, the people at this point bought a cybertruck. I don't wish anything bad upon you. I'm worried about the other people on the road, that these pieces are flying into their windshields.
Allison Gill
Yeah. Rapid, unscheduled disassembly. It happens again. Now, Doge detailed a 10 person team to the SSA, seven of whom were granted read only access to agency systems or personally identifiable information. And the staffers were all federal employees allowed to access the data under federal privacy laws, the government argued. And there's no evidence that any personal data was improperly shared, except in the JFK files that were just published. They gave he docs Joe De Genova and 200 other people by putting their Social Security numbers.
Dana Goldberg
Oh, my God.
Allison Gill
Yeah. The Justice Department also said DOGE access doesn't deviate significantly from normal practices inside the agency where employees are routinely allowed to search the databases. Yeah, for when you need to know. Like when I worked at the Department of Veterans Affairs, I couldn't just look up my own fucking health record and check out what the doctors were saying about me. You can't just access people anyway. Just so fucking pissed now. Lee Saunders, president of the American Federation of State, county and Municipal Employees, called the ruling a major win for working people and retirees across the country. Sky Perryman, president of Democracy Forward, said the court recognized the real and immediate dangers of doge's reckless actions and took actions to stop it. The team appeared to be searching for fraud based on inaccuracies and misunderstandings, according to Tiffany Flick, not Glick. Tiffany Flick, the former acting chief of staff to the acting commissioner. Now Hollander, the judge, 75, who's based in Baltimore, who was nominated by Barack Obama is the latest judge to consider a Doge related case. The team has drawn nearly two dozen lawsuits. Earlier this week, another Maryland judge found that Doge's dismantling of US Aid was likely unconstitutional. While other judges have raised questions about Doge's sweeping cost cutting efforts, they've not always agreed any risks are imminent. You know, at least imminent enough to block the team from government systems via a temporary restraining order.
Dana Goldberg
All right, this one also from the Associated Press. In an effort to limit fraudulent claims, the Social Security Administration, they're going to impose tighter identity proofing measures, which is going to require millions of recipients and applicants to visit agency field offices rather than interact with the agency over the phone, which is going to be very difficult for a lot of older people in chaos.
Allison Gill
That's what it's going to be.
Dana Goldberg
People that don't drive. A lot of people. Yep. Beginning March 31, people with no longer be able to verify their identity to the Social Security Administration over the phone and those who cannot properly verify their identity over the agency's My Social Security online service, they'll be required to visit an agency field office in person to complete the verification process. Agency leadership, that's what they told reporters on Tuesday. The change will apply to new Social Security applicants and existing recipients who want to change their direct deposit information. Retiree advocates warn that the change will negatively impact older Americans in rural areas, including those with disabilities, mobility limitations, those who live far from the SSA offices and have limited Internet access. The plan also comes as the agency plans to shutter dozens of Social Security offices throughout the country and has already laid out plans to lay off thousands of workers. In addition to the identity verification change, the agency announced that it plans to expedite processing of recipients direct deposit change requests both in person and online to one business day. Previously, online direct deposit changes were held for 30 days and I quote, the Social Security Administration is losing over $100 million a year in direct deposit fraud. This is from Leland Dudek just talked about that guy, the agency's acting commissioner. He said on a call Tuesday evening with reporters, his first call with the media, by the way. Quote, Social Security can better protect Americans while expediting service. He said a problem with eliminating fraudulent claims is that, quote, the information that we use through knowledge based authentication, authentication is already in public domain. Connecticut Rep. John Larson, he's the top Democrat on the House Ways and Means Social Security subcommittee, said in a statement that quote, by requiring seniors and disabled Americans to enroll on online or in person at the time of field offices they are trying to close rather than over the phone. Trump and Musk are trying to create chaos and inefficiencies at SSA so they can privatize the system. That's exactly what they're saying. It's not working the way. We've got to take it over. The DOGE website said that leases for 47 Social Security field offices across the country, including in Arkansas, Texas, Louisiana, Florida, Kentucky, North Carolina, have been or will be ended. Look at those states.
Allison Gill
Yeah, I was just thinking.
Dana Goldberg
Pissed at their elected officials. Republicans. Yep. However, Dudic downplayed the impact of its office shuttering, saying many were small, remote hearing sites that served few members of the public. Well, they served at least one member of the public, and that member is going to be pissed. Many Americans have been concerned that SSA office closures and massive layoffs of federal workers. As we know, that's part of an effort by Trump and Musk's Department of Government Efficiency to shrink the size of the federal government will make getting benefits even more difficult. Musk has pushed debunked theories about Social Security that he has nothing to do with because he's. I can't. And described the federal benefit programs as rife with fraud with no arrest made.
Allison Gill
No, the Trump Organization is rife with fraud.
Dana Goldberg
Yeah. He also called it a Ponzi scheme. I'm sorry, we're the ones paying. It's our money. Suggesting the program will be a primary target in his crusade to reduce government spending.
Allison Gill
No, it's totally a Ponzi scheme. It's just like when, you know, we used to sell perfume on the street corner.
Dana Goldberg
Absolutely. Like vitamins. Little, little, little pyramid scheme. Voters have flooded, by the way, town halls, like I said, across the country to question Republican lawmakers about the Trump administration's cuts, including its plan for the Social Security benefits program.
Allison Gill
Yeah. And this sucks if you have aging parents because now, like, I would have been able to change the direct deposit on my parents Social Security to take it over when it's time to take it over for them and, and distribute the payments as the executor of the trust. And, you know, that would have been a lot better doing it over the phone than going two states away to, you know, go to the bank and have myself added with a signature card in person.
Dana Goldberg
Right.
Allison Gill
To. To have access to their bank account. Now there's going to have to be an in person visit either to the Social Security office or to the bank for me to be able to, to help my mom with her Social Security money. It's fucking. I hate these guys. Next up from the Times, lawyers for some of the Venezuelan immigrants deported last weekend under a rarely invoked wartime statute, the Alien Enemies act, they're pushing back against the Trump administration's contention that they're members of a violent criminal street gang. This is exactly what we figured in court papers filed late Wednesday night, the lawyer said. At least five of the immigrants who were flown without due process to El Salvador on Saturday were apprehended in part because they had tattoos that federal immigration agents claimed indicated ties to the gang Trend Aragua. But the lawyer said that one of the men got his tattoo of a crown sitting atop a soccer ball because it resembles a logo of his favorite soccer team, Real Madrid. Another got a similar crown tattoo, the lawyer said, to honor the death of his grandmother. A third immigrant was identified as being a member of the gang because a tattoo on his left hand of a rose with paper money on it as petals is supposedly gang related. But according to a sworn declaration filed by the man's sister, the tattoo has no connection to the gang. Quote, he had that tattoo done In August of 2024 in Arlington, Texas, because he thought it looked cool. The question of whether the deported Venezuelans actually have ties to Trenda Aragua, which the Trump administration recently designated as a foreign terrorist organization, could be raised at a hearing set for Friday in federal District Court in Washington. The hearing is expected to feature debate between Justice Department lawyers and lawyers for the immigrants over whether Judge James E. Boasberg, who is handling the case, was right when he issued an order on Saturday temporarily pausing deportations of Trend Aragua members under the Alien Enemies Act. Now, I just want to correct the times here. They said this hearing is set in federal district court. It's actually the federal D.C. appeals court. Got it in Washington. I should write to them and say.
Dana Goldberg
Hey, I love when you catch this stuff. I do.
Allison Gill
Aren't you? The New York Times Almost from the moment Judge Boasberg's provisional decision was entered, the White House and the Justice Department, echoed by a chorus of Trump allies online, have accused the judge of overstepping his authority by effectively commandeering the president's prerogative to conduct foreign affairs. But the question that Judge Boasberg is actually considering is whether Trump himself overstepped his authority by failing to comply with several specific provisions laid out in the Alien Enemies Act. And I'm going to correct him here. Again, this is actually Boasberg. He's considering whether Trump overstepped his authority by failing to comply with a court order the statute, which was passed, the Alien enemies Act in 1798, gives the government wide latitude during an invasion or a time of declared war to round up and summarily remove any subjects of a hostile nation over the age of 14, considering them alien enemies. Lawyers for the deported Venezuelans argue that their clients are actually not gang members at all and should have the opportunity to prove it. It's called due process. The lawyers maintain that while Tren de Aragua may be a dangerous criminal organization, it's not a nation state. Even if the group's members have come to the United States en masse, they say that does not fit the traditional definition of an invasion. Moreover, they point out, the Alien Enemies act has been invoked only three times in our history, all of them during times of clear cut war, once during the war of 1812 and then again during World War I and then World War II. The conflict over whether Mr. Trump has properly invoked the Alien Enemies act is the central, but not the only, dispute in the case, which has emerged in recent days as a flashpoint over the administration's attempts to use extraordinary wartime powers to pursue its broader immigration agenda. Another fucking correction here for the New York Times. It's a flashpoint because we are in a constitutional crisis because of the defiance of a court order. Now Judge Boasberg has also been trying for days to get DOJ to provide him with detailed data on two of the deportation flights to El Salvador in an effort to determine whether the Trump administration sent the planes on their way in violation of his original order stopping them. No, again, New York Times, they weren't trying to determine whether the administration sent the planes in violation of his original order. Those planes were in the air. They did not turn around and return to the United States. In viol of his original order, the judge has asked the government to tell him, under seal, if necessary, what time the planes took off from the US and from where, what time they left US Airspace and what time they landed. And much of this information appears to be already available in public flight databases. But the judge is seeking an official record from the administration. He was like, put it on paper and fucking swear to it, you piece of shit. Yep, I'm paraphrasing. He gave the Justice Department until noon Thursday, that's yesterday, to file the court papers by Thursday afternoon. There was no public filing on the docket. We were all like, where is it? Where is it? Where is it? Suggested that Trump's lawyers submitted the papers to the judge under seal or ex parte. And that is, in fact, what happened. And the judge finally responded later in the afternoon saying their submission was woefully insufficient. And then he issued a show cause order. Dana. And that's a big deal. It's a necessary step in the process to hold someone in contempt. Oh, you have to issue, first of all, you say, give me the stuff or I'll hold you in contempt. Then you have to say, okay, you didn't give me the stuff. Now you have to tell me why you didn't give me the stuff. That's a show cause order. So it's just one of those steps in, oh, due process that you have to go through in order to hold somebody in contempt. And now they have till 10am today eastern time to file a sworn declaration about discussions to invoke the state secret privilege. And until they have until March 25th to show cause, to do file their show cause briefing to show why they didn't, how they didn't blatantly violate the court order. I go into more detail on what the state secrets Privilege is at muellershirote.com and on Blue Sky. So it's all free. So go check it out.
Dana Goldberg
Thanks, Alison. This is actually a related story from the Times. Trump administration lawyers have determined that an 18th century wartime law the president has invoked to deport suspected members of a Venezuelan gang allows federal agencies to enter homes without a warrant. That's according to people familiar with Internet internal discussions. Probably also Internet discussions.
Allison Gill
Yeah, if it's the Trump administration, they're on the Internet too.
Dana Goldberg
Yeah, it's definitely on true social. I'm allowed to do this. The disclosure reflects the Trump administration's aggressive view of presidential power, including setting aside a key provision of the Fourth Amendment that requires a court order to search someone's home.
Allison Gill
That's a nice way to say fucking shitting on the Constitution. Setting aside a key provision of the Fourth Amendment. Trala law like, thank you, it's in.
Dana Goldberg
The fucking Constitution, you jack waffle. It remains unclear whether the administration will apply the law in this way, because they won't. But experts say such an interpretation would infringe on basic civil liberties and raise the potential for misuse. You think warrantless entries have some precedent in America's wartime history, but invoking the law in peacetime to pursue undocumented immigrants in such a way would be an entirely new application. This is what they said, quote, it undermines fundamental protections that are recognized in the Fourth Amendment and in due process clause. That's what Christopher Slobogin, a law professor at Vanderbilt University, said last week. Mr. Trump quietly signed a proclamation invoking the law known as the Alien Enemies act, which we just talked about, of 1798 that grants him the authority to remove from the United States foreign citizens. Foreign citizens he has designated as, quote, alien enemies in the cases of war or an invasion. Neither are happening right now. In his order, it took aim at Venezuelan citizens 14 or older who belong to the Trende Aragua gang and who are not naturalized or lawful permanent residents. Quote, all such alien enemies, wherever found within any territory subject to the jurisdiction of the United States, are subject to summary apprehension. This is what his proclamation said. His proclamation senior I can't. Senior lawyers of the Justice Department view that language combined with the historical use of the law to mean that the government does not need a warrant to enter a home or premises to search for people believed to be members of that gang. That's according to two officials familiar with the new policy. Uh huh. A department spokesman declined to comment. Not surprising there. Christopher Welborn, the president of national association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, called the old law a relic that is dangerously prone to abuse, particularly when it comes to people's right to privacy in their homes. Quote, the Fourth Amendment applies to everyone in the U.S. not just individuals with legal status. Yep, yep.
Allison Gill
Taking in fact, the whole Constitution applies to anyone who's in the United States, including people that are visiting.
Dana Goldberg
Taking away that right would be an abuse of power that destroys our privacy, making Americans feel unsafe and vulnerable in the places where our children play and our loved ones sleep. Mr. Slobogan warned of the dangers inherent in the administration's wide ranging view of the President's authority. The purpose of the Fourth Amendment, he said, was to ensure that someone independent of the executive branch, that is a judge, approved any decision to seize people or search their property. Still, he acknowledged that the language of the Alien Enemies act, particularly its reference to, quote, a warrant of a President, gave the government, quote, at least a foot in the door with respect to arguing that the President can order this on his own authority. Past court cases, they leave unclear what a, quote, warrant of a president even means and whether such an order requires something similar to the probable cause standard of judicial warrant. Now, Mr. Sloboga noted that a number of cases dating back to 1819 hold that the act gives the President power to remove remove people designated as, quote, alien enemies from the country without resort or recourse to courts. However, he added, those cases met a basic threshold that did not apply in the current situation. They met either a declaration of war or, quote, invasion or predatory incursion by a foreign nation. None of that is happening. And I quote, that's pretty clearly not what's going on here. He said Mr. Trump has long claimed that the country is being invaded by undocumented migrants and has compared this problem to war. Just because you compare it to war does not mean by definition, it is.
Allison Gill
Yeah, well, we saw this coming at least a year ago when he started using the language of invasion. And we're at war. That's, that's the, you know, the lube language to get to the Alien Enemies act, of course. And Judge Boasberg has to decide. So. Yeah, and it is. The onus is on the government to prove that you can, you can properly invoke state secrets, privilege or the Alien Enemies Act. So we'll see what he ends up saying. But it's not going to be fully briefed until March 31st, so we aren't going to have a lot of news on it in the, in the short term. But anyway, thank you for that story. Absolutely unbelievable. Just trampling the Constitution. Everything that we've been afraid of seems to be coming to pass. And that means that it's time for good trouble. What are you guys doing? All right, this is from an anonymous listener. The Trump administration needs your feedback, everybody. Andrea Lucas, Trump's acting chair of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, has asked for help to root out the discrimination.
Dana Goldberg
Why do they keep doing this to themselves?
Allison Gill
The discrimination caused by diversity, equity and inclusion that's festering in America's law firms. The EEOC has established an email where good Samaritans can submit information to the EEOC about potentially unlawful diversity, equity and inclusion practices at law firms. So, everybody, it's law firm deieoc.gov we'll have a link in the chat.
Dana Goldberg
Well, I tell you what, Alison, Historically, they think that there's a lot of Jewish people. The majority in law firms are Jewish people. So technically, under dei, wouldn't that be non Jewish white people and Christians are the ones that are actually the DEI hires here. Yeah, well, it's all ridiculous. And y'all know I'm kidding. By the way, not all Jews are lawyers, and not all lawyers are Jews. Trust me. My mother, my. My mother knows.
Allison Gill
Yeah, the disappointment in her voice is always.
Dana Goldberg
Yeah, she'll tell you.
Allison Gill
Do your worst Leguminati again, law firm@eeoc.gov all right, everybody, stick around. We'll be right back with John Fugal saying for Feeble Saying Fridays. This podcast is sponsored by Peak. Peak's Radiant Skin duo combines Sun Goddess Matcha and BT Fountain electrolytes for the ultimate in beauty and wellness. This powerful duo supports glowing hydrated skin while boosting energy, gut health and Overall Vitality. Get 20% off the Radiant Skin Duo plus a free starter kit at peaklife.com DailyBeans for years I have dealt with uneven skin tone, low energy, kind of a weird gut biome. No matter how much I tried to fix it, I couldn't. But then I found the Radiant Skin Duo from Peak Life. It's been a total game changer. This dynamic duo of Sun Goddess Matcha and BT Fountain has given me the glowing skin and lasting energy I've always wanted. The Sun Goddess Matcha is unlike any Matcha I've ever had. It is packed with L theanine for calm focus and EGCG antioxidants that firm and brighten my skin. It also supports gut health, which has helped reduce bloating. The BT Fountain is my secret to hydration and it also helps with youthful skin. It's got clinically proven ceramides. It reduces fine lines and wrinkles while keeping my skin soft and supple. It's vegan. There's no added sugar, no artificial anything. So I know that I'm putting only the best into my body and together these two products work wonders. They protect my skin, strengthen its barrier and keep it deeply hydrated for that lip from within. Glow. The pre measured sachets make it easy to stay consistent too. Just dissolve it in hot or cold water. So if you're looking for a simple way to elevate your skin and energy, the Radiance Skin Duo Is it ready to transform your routine? Right now you can get 20% off the radiant Skin Duo plus a free starter kit including a rechargeable frother and glass beaker with my exclusive link peaklife.comdailybeans that's P I Q U E life.com dailybeans don't miss out. Glow naturally into 2025 while supplies last. Hey everybody. Welcome back. It's Friday on the Daily Beans. That means it's Fugal Sang Fridays. There's a whole day named after you sir, on this show and that means we're being joined by my friend, the host of Tell Me Everything on Sirius XM progress channel 127 weeknights, 9pm Eastern, soon Pacific. And if you don't have Sirius XM, you can always check out the very free, very available, Kind of Slutty John Fugal San show podcast.
John Fugelsang
Yes, thank you. You're filthy.
Allison Gill
How are you doing My friend John Fugle saying, good.
John Fugelsang
Thank you for talking about my slutty podcast. I appreciate that. Thank you. I want to get that messaging out there.
Allison Gill
You should just change it to my slutty podcast.
John Fugelsang
I would, but, you know, sluts are my favorite people, and I would never presume to take on the mantle. You know, I learned this with Rush Limbaugh. Slut is actually an acronym for sexually liberated, unapologetic and truthful. And I think we need the sluts more than ever right now. In a world of men who, who fetishize women's sexuality because they want to own it, we're. We're only two chromosomes away from Taliban over here. So I'll. I'll take slutty as a compliment, 100%.
Allison Gill
I love reclaiming slut, and it was a. It was a high compliment, by the way.
John Fugelsang
I also want to say when I refer to the Republicans in the Senate as whores, I don't mean any offense to sex workers, and I apologize. But if we can take a break from beating up Chuck Schumer for just maybe 19 seconds, the Republicans in the Senate are who we should be directing a lot more rage towards being the fact that they're craven, a moral horse. Hi, everyone.
Allison Gill
That's very true. That's very true. And let's talk about something the Republicans actually came out against Donald Trump about. I believe the Republican House Armed Services Committee chair and Senate Armed Services Committee chair came out against Donald Trump and Pete Hegseth's plan to get rid of the Supreme Allied Command Europe, NATO. Supreme Allied Command, NATO. This is the commander who makes sure that Ukraine stays safe from Russia, among other things. But it's also the most pulley, outest of NATO thing you could do without actually withdrawing from NATO.
John Fugelsang
Oh, yeah. I mean, but it's also, you know, you say Supreme Allied Commander, and we think of President Eisenhower in World War II, who ironically was the last Republican president to ever balance a budget and have anything like a surplus. So, you know, that's painful for me. That metaphor is like, I don't know, the only more powerful metaphor than that would be having someone from pro wrestling kill the Department of Education, which I thought was going to happen in the 80s, but I didn't think it would happen directly. It's just. They're losing it, Alison, and they have no idea of how bad this is going to look in history. And when Donald Trump dies and 10,000 NDAs are lifted and we're going to get nothing but the truth all day long. I mean, we're still right now. I think this is the week where no one can play dumb about this being a racist administration anymore. I think they have taken off the mask and beneath the mask is a hood. Just ask Jackie Robinson or Ira Hayes or I don't know, the Holocaust. On the Pentagon website, Colin Powell.
Allison Gill
Colin Powell, the Enola Gay.
John Fugelsang
The word gay because it had the word gay women in the service. I mean, and again they, we've learned that they believe with their DEI racism, which is just like woke weaponizing a term they don't use because with free speech, it's their free speech to be racist. And anything that's not all about white males is racist against white males. We now know exactly why Donald Trump hired Secretary Jagermeister to run the Pentagon. Because no career military officer would ever, ever strip the honors away from so many service members who didn't happen to be Caucasian or with a Y chromosome.
Allison Gill
Yeah. No. And let's, let's talk a little bit more about this blatant racism because as I posted on Blue sky two months ago, I said I've long assumed that Donald Trump will declare war under an invasion and Democrats and immigrants will become the targets of unlawful emergency powers. And here we are as of Saturday in a full blown constitutional crisis when a judge ordered Donald Trump to turn the planes around because he was using the Alien enemies Act of 1798 like you do, to put brown people that he doesn't like on a plane and send them to El Salvador where we have given millions of dollars to the dictator there, Bukele, to build a 40,000 person concentration camp for all intents and purposes to deport people he doesn't like too. We're detaining people who are legal citizens. We're detaining people with green cards. We're detaining people with visas. And it's all because I think that one person just had said some negative things about Donald Trump, the German guy who's still, I think, in ice detention. But we are now seeing not just this targeting of people of color with warrantless targeting of people of color.
John Fugelsang
Correct.
Allison Gill
But we're also seeing blatant defiance of court orders. And we're still waiting any minute now to hear from the administration, the regime who is supposed to answer to Judge Boasberg at noon Eastern today, though they may have answered via email under seal, but usually that's accompanied by a filing, but they haven't set a peak.
John Fugelsang
Yeah, what you said. Where to begin? I mean, look, I'm still reeling from the fact that you can't check bags for free on Southwest anymore. So this is all a lot for me. And it's good to know that when we have multiple constitutional crises and that essentially the Constitution's being thrown out. Because let's remember, undocumented immigrants have a right to a hearing. They have a right to due process. You can't throw them on a plane and stick them in a hole somewhere. Now, it's interesting. I'm looking forward to learning more about the president of El Salvador because he's the guy who went all bitcoin. They're the first country on Earth to actually recognize bitcoin as a standard currency. And trust me, this guy trying to get in with Maga and Elon for years is somehow related to the fact that these men have been renditioned there. I don't want to say anything, but we're back in the Bush era. They have been renditioned. We're back to George W. Bush, where you can snatch someone off the street and send them to a third party foreign country to be tortured. That's it. And again, these people have a right under the Fifth Amendment and the 14th Amendment. They protect any person, not just citizens, from being deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law. These are limitations not on people, but on the government. So this is not really popular. And what's even more unpopular. And again, Allison, I'm waiting for the mainstream media to start talking about these fundamental facts regarding the alien act of 1798, Alien Enemies Act. That's only valid when the country is in a declared war. And our country, which the media never points out, has not legally declared war since 1941. So this is where we're at right now. None of this is legal. None of this can be happening. And the judge, Judge Boasberg, got this affidavit from the DOJ that just said ICE carefully vetted each of the migrants who was renditioned away without due process. Some of these guys were identified by photographs of tattoos. And Steve Bannon, who's Gavin Newsom's bff, he said on that show, if there's some innocent gardeners in there, hey, tough break. And this is completely related to Mahmoud Khalil being renditioned the way to Louisiana last week. And it's completely related to the transgender ban in the military. That's unconstitutional, and Trump has no right to do. This is the first. They came for the gypsies, and I wasn't one. So I spoke up. They are right now beta testing how the strip rights away from American citizens and they're doing it by going after demographics the majority doesn't care about and demographics they know this version of the Democratic Party will be too cowardly to stand up and fight for. No one's going to stand up, except for 14 representatives in the House for a Palestinian activist who protested at a university. No one's going to stand up for transgender troops brave enough to risk their lives for a country that despises them. No one's going to stand up for these 17 guys who are. I'm sorry, 200 guys that I heard somewhere were in a gang. They have tattoos. They're illegals. I mean, so this is how they do it. They'll go attacking people at the bottom like a hack comic. And when they get away with it, they'll go more and more and green card holders. And next it's going to be legal immigrants. And by the time they come for you intellectual Republicans, there's gonna be no one left to save you.
Allison Gill
Yeah, it's a shoot first, aim later situation here and today. Alan Foyer, we talked about this earlier in the show, wrote for the Times that lawyers for some of the Venezuelan immigrants deported last weekend under the invocation of the Alien Enemies act say they're not members of a violent criminal street gang. And court papers filed late Wednesday night, the lawyer said that at least five of the American who were flown without due process to El Salvador on Saturday were apprehended in part because they had tattoos that federal immigration agents claimed indicated ties to the gang. Trend indicated indicated one of the men got his tattoo of a crown sitting on top of a soccer ball because it resembled the logo of his favorite soccer team, Real Madrid. And another got a similar crown tattoo to honor the death of his grandmother. So that's where we are. I'm now, you know, looking at my tattoos like, could I be part of this gang?
John Fugelsang
Well, it's even scarier than that because Donald Trump is doing a couple things that are, I guess, as Louis Farrakhan would call it, wickedly great. The evil has been thought out in some instances here. I'll talk all the time about how messy they are, but this is Project 2025 shit. This has been in the works for a long time because one of the strategies is, you know, you're standing up for gang members, right? Like, no one's going to do it. But also they've got Donald Trump coming out and saying to Laura Ingram that, oh, no, we'll respect the judges. We'll respect the judges. And at the same time, they're sending out the winged monkeys from Tom Homan to Caroline Levitt to Stephen Miller, hilariously, to go in the media and sell to the base that we don't have to respect these judges. We've had to every night give another tutorial on Marbury vs Madison because Stephen Miller and Caroline Levitt are coming out and saying that, that oh, lower tier judges don't have a right to overturn anything the President says. And they are counting on the fact that the Fox News base understands the Constitution about as well as they understand the New Testament. They don't read the, they don't care. They believe what they're told or that.
Allison Gill
Verbal judicial orders don't count. It's only a written one, even though the written one came out before the third plane took off and before the other two planes landed. But you know, time schmime, you know, it's, they've always kind of had a hard time with the concept of linear time. But, but here we are and they have defied this court order and we're still waiting to hear how the judge is going to respond.
John Fugelsang
And yeah, and they're proud of it and they're enjoying it. And John Roberts has come down from his aristocratic perch on top of Mount Olympus because he doesn't like Donald Trump saying he's fine with the renditioning, he's fine with stripping away rights. He's fine with pretending that a presidential executive order can somehow overturn a constitutional amendment. But don't you suggest it's right to impeach another judge? I mean, that's it. That's his outrage meter for that.
Allison Gill
It doesn't matter how much because they're coming for him. They're coming for his power.
John Fugelsang
Well, sure. So I mean, he's tipping his hand as well. And John Roberts is strange because he's like the only Republican left who cares about his place in history. I mean, he's obsessed with his place in history and that's why he came out and did it. So, you know, he's been humiliated by this because Donald Trump is not going to listen. They're going to ignore him all they can and they're going to have people on Fox News all day saying no, we're complying with the law while they're not. And it's going to be nonstop double talk and jive. And the media seems to think this is acceptable. If it gets us freaked out enough, we drive up the ratings.
Allison Gill
Yeah. And I just want to tell everyone that contempt is a very rare thing. We haven't seen much of it even from, you know, the, like, the most quote, unquote liberal judges, it's usually always like a 10 or 12 step process. You get a day, you get another day, you get another day, then there's a hearing. And then maybe they say, well, I'm ordering you now to do this by this date, otherwise you could face contempt. And then they extend that deadline once or twice. See, this is what due process is and it's what is not being afforded people who are being thrown onto planes which are modern day slave ships now shipped to El Salvador and tortured. So no due process for them, extra due process for this administration. And I think that that is going to dig people deeper into the idea that there are two systems of justice.
John Fugelsang
Well, yeah, the problem is one third of us, mostly Caucasian, expect that and count on that, and have voted for someone who would make those boundaries stronger. And just as in Donald Trump's first term, we had to learn a lot of goofy shit because they were guardrails, like how to pronounce hydroxychloroquine or ivermectin. Now there are no guardrails. So we've all got to become constitutional scholars in our spare time. And that's why we have to remind everybody that Donald Trump or any commander in chief does not have the authority to pronounce these men guilty without a trial. The president does not have the power under the Alien Enemies act because we're not legally at war. And they keep on lying because Judge Boasberg was appointed by Bush, not Obama. The incoherence is part of the plan.
Allison Gill
Yeah. And you know, they'll continue to harp on this and say that they have every right to do this and they simply don't. But again, we kind of got to get out of the mindset that any single institution will save us. But we do have to, to move forward with the understanding that really the courts and independent journalism are kind of our last two guardrails.
John Fugelsang
Yes.
Allison Gill
So we should support and celebrate when we get wins.
John Fugelsang
Don't leave out the right to free assembly of the citizens to petition for redress agreements says. Let's hang on to that one too.
Allison Gill
Yes. Yeah. And that one's going really well. When you look at all these town halls that Republicans are backing out of, but some are still showing up and getting booed off the planet.
John Fugelsang
Yes.
Allison Gill
When they talk about how they support Elon Musk and Doge and, and all of that, there does seem to be a very, very strong growing disillusionment with what Elon Musk unelected Elon Musk is doing to the government.
John Fugelsang
Oh, no, Alison. Those are all liberal agitators who were paid. Harriet Hageman just showed up in a room with a thousand far left activists in Wyoming to heckle her the other night. That's. That's all that was. You know, and it's great to see it beginning to happen. The very fact that the most pro union president in our lifetimes lost to an anti union scab with a golden toilet. It was a millionaire at birth. It's a shame for the entire nation. And we have to go through this painful process of reminding working people of whose side has always been fighting for them. It's 20 years ago. I keep bringing back to 2004. We knew that Bush lied to us. We knew There were no WMDs. We knew this motherfucker had sent troops to die for an evil reason, and these people reelected him anyway. It's the same kind of helplessness right now. But we got through that. And they're so messy, this racist shit. They did not have to do this with the Pentagon website taking down Jackie Robinson, taking down Ira Hayes and the Iwo Jima picture. They did not have to do it. They wanted to do it. And as messy as that was, then they take down articles about the Holocaust and sexual assault and suicide prevention to scrub diversity. So again, if it's not all white men, you're doing something that's racist against all white men. And they are saying that anything that's not all white men is racism. And that argument only works with the stupidest coterie of white people. It's not gonna hold. So on top of all of this, then, independent of the Pentagon, they sign this executive order taking away the segregation clause. And as of this week, even though segregation's still illegal, it's now legal for our government to give contracts to private businesses that practice racial segregation. Like they. They miss it so much. They miss American apartheid so much, Alison, that even though they can't bring segregation back yet, they're going to bring back the government's ability to hire segregationists. Fifty years ago, Trump and his father were indicted for racist housing practices by Nixon's doj. When he's running for office, he's got the racist lie against Barack Obama, and he launches his political career off of it. In the first term, he's defending monuments to white supremacist confederates. He gets elected the second time with the racist lie about the Haitians. And this week, he's messaging that racial segregation is acceptable. This is the only Subject that every Republican in government, every Republican on media, should be asked, and all of our Republican friends and coworkers as well, is racial segregation as acceptable to you 60 years after the Civil Rights act as it is the Donald Trump's White House?
Allison Gill
Yeah, that would be a good question to see being asked. Although I think the. The bulk of the press pool is now Breitbart. Although I did see Garrett Haken there pushing back a little bit on Pam Bondi with the. No, I'm sorry. It was Bush that appointed Judge Boasberg. I just thought we should clear that up.
John Fugelsang
Yeah, I don't think Caroline Levitt has realized that once it's nothing but softball questions to fellow Nazis, no one's going to cover these press briefings, and she's not gonna be the star she wishes to be.
Allison Gill
Did I say Bonnie? I meant Levitt. I'm sorry.
John Fugelsang
I understand that. Listen, these blonde refugees from Satan's spawn. I know. They're all over the place. These. The bottle. The butch, bottle blonde Marjorie brigade.
Dana Goldberg
I know.
Allison Gill
Yeah.
John Fugelsang
And nothing against fake blondes. Some of my favorite people are. Are grotesquely fake blondes. It's the grotesqueness on the inside. And Pam Bondi is another one who just really, you know, doesn't care about ever being recorded in history books, is caring about the Constitution. I mean, these people really seem to think they're going to be able to rewrite history. And, like, they're airbrushing a Soviet cosmonaut out of a picture from the 60s, and we witnessed them actually try to do it. It's authoritarianism 101. They're literally. They took the transgender and the letter T off the LGBT website for a stonewall. Like, they're literally trying to erase history because I guess it'll make someone happy.
Allison Gill
I don't know. I didn't. Red meat, I guess.
John Fugelsang
Red meat, but it's messy. And when Tom Holman went on camera and said on Fox News that we don't care what the judges say, all I could think is, wow, he's really cocksure about that. That clip is gonna sound really great a few years from now in a Truth and Reconciliation Committee hearing, because these people are seemingly acting like there's never gonna be a pendulum that swings the other way.
Allison Gill
No. Yeah, we might see that in some court orders sooner rather than later. Yeah, that little statement by Tom Homan. All right, well, I'm going to leave you with this little piece of good news. Tesla recalled nearly all of the cyber trucks ever built because glued on steel pieces can fall off and hit other cars. And it's prone to environmental embrittlement, which really is a good way to describe Elon Musk.
John Fugelsang
Yeah, I don't want to be ableist, but parts of Elon are prone to fall off due to environmental embrittlement. So I mean, it can happen happen when you have that much, you know, that wasn't with you when you were born, is part of your body now. Yeah. But, you know, these protests are great and I think it's great that we're seeing the market decide we don't need to vandalize Teslas. Folks, when I see a whole bunch of Teslas on fire in Nevada, it might make my heart glad. It might make baby Jesus glad. I'm sure Baby Jesus was delighted to see all that. But again, it's a stupid protest because first off, a flaming Tesla sounds like a cocktail. But.
Allison Gill
But now I'm going to invent it.
John Fugelsang
As John Lennon said, if you're violent, they can handle you. The two things they can't handle are nonviolence and ridicule. So don't set Teslas on fire because that allows them to play victim and play martyr. And we cannot put. Let them. We cannot put them in that position where they can play good guy who's beset by these horrible liberals. They're the horrible people. They're taking social services away from every one of every ideology. And, and also, I don't call that a vandalism fire. I call it a Roman salute. That's what it was called, a Roman salute.
Allison Gill
There you go. No, but it's a. It's good advice. Don't get yourself in jail because we need you out there at these rallies.
John Fugelsang
Yeah, we're going to.
Allison Gill
Thank you so, so very much, my friend. Everybody has to listen to tell me everything. Literally. He tells you everything.
John Fugelsang
No, they tell me everything.
Allison Gill
PM Eastern, Six Pacific, SiriusXM progress channel 127. Which is a great station to listen to for all your wonderful progressive talk radio or satellite radio.
John Fugelsang
That's true. No, that's. The channel's amazing. It's all these smart, moral people, plus me. So I really recommend a lot of diversity.
Allison Gill
You just wear like a Groucho glasses. Like I'm. I'm not here. You don't even see me.
John Fugelsang
Exactly. Right.
Allison Gill
I am a fan.
John Fugelsang
Part of my work release. That's it.
Allison Gill
But anyway, you can check that out. And if you don't have serious xm, you can always check out the John Fugelsang show podcast and catch him here. Every Friday on the Daily Beans. It's good to see you my friend.
John Fugelsang
You make brilliant look. Easy lady. Thanks for having me.
Allison Gill
Oh, step everybody. Stick around. We'll be right back with the good news. Everybody. Welcome back. It's time for the good news, everyone. Then good news, everyone. Good news. And if you have any good news confessions, corrections, pronunciation, corrections especially or you know if you want to play any animal guessing game for when you attach your pod pet tax, you want us to guess the breeds of the animals? We can try. We're very bad at it, but it's still fun. You can send that to us also if you have any misheard song lyrics or you want to tell us a street joke, anything like that. Or give a shout out to a friend or a loved one or a kid or a parent or I, I guess love kids and parents fall into loved ones. Unless you like really don't like your kids or parents, but you still want to give them a shout out, that's fine too. We'll accept that. Self shout outs. Small business in your area, you're a small business government program that's helped you or a loved one or a parent or a kid. You can, you can send that to us. Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, Affordable Care act, snap, wic, student debt forgiveness, anything like that, send it to us@dailybeanspod.com and like I said, all you got to do to get it read on the air is pay your pod pet tax, submit a photo of your pet or any animal really. I think the otters are now the mascot of the Leguminati because we keep each other from drifting away.
Dana Goldberg
Yes, we do.
Allison Gill
By holding hands. And if you don't have that, you can send an adoptable pet in your area or any baby photos that you have of yourself or any babies in your family or just random babies on the Internet. We love babies. All time babies. Non stop babies. 24 hour babies. Send to us dailybeanspot.com click contact. First up, military LTC lieutenant commander. Ooh, pronoun she and her Good morning. I apologize. I don't have any good news. Just a correction. You're pronouncing saucer incorrectly. Think of Sakur instead of saucer with a French sounding your love your show sack sacure. Okay, that's the Supreme Allied Commander Europe for NATO. Secure, secure.
Dana Goldberg
This one's a little one too. Do you want to take it?
Allison Gill
Sure. Eric S says my wife Julie and I are in Mexico City and wanted to share a bird sighting.
Dana Goldberg
Nice.
Allison Gill
Wonderful.
Dana Goldberg
What is that back There, I think it's.
Allison Gill
Oh, it's that wonderful statue of the giant. I think it's maybe Aztec or Mayan head that is crushing a Tesla.
Dana Goldberg
Oh, that's awesome.
Allison Gill
I love that art instance.
Dana Goldberg
Oh yeah. The next picture is a little more obvious.
Allison Gill
That's awesome.
Dana Goldberg
That's very cool. All right, this next one's from Anonymous. Oh pronoun she and her. We should be sure to call any candidate who receives money from Musk a musk backed candidate. Drive that home and keep the messaging simple. Good call Anonymous. POD tax is soon to be ready to adopt puppies from our first ever fostering experience. How can you get rid of them? Rescues often group the the batch of puppies kittens by category. Our category was sodas so me for now. Poppy and pepper. Oh my God, they're cute.
Allison Gill
They're like the size of the soda can.
Dana Goldberg
Yeah.
Allison Gill
Oh, Poppy and pepper.
Dana Goldberg
These are cute.
Allison Gill
That means they're going to be 800 pounds. Watch. Probably somebody's going to be like, oh, I'll adopt this tiny dog and then it'll be a giant, giant dog. Thank you for that. That's a really good idea. Musk back candidates cuties. All right, next up from Christine Pronoun. She and her hello beautiful beans Shout out to local governments that are still trying to help their folks despite the fuckery that swarms around us. I'm employed by a county government hint wealthiest county in Virginia and I think the United States. And even when Frump issued his executive order to set fire to any DEI initiatives, my board of supervisors went ahead and approved key goals and objectives for the county's first ever equity action plan on February 6th. Yeah, and we'll have a link to that. It's Loudon by the way. Loudon.gov I work in grants management so it's been a wee bit stressful lately. So my second shout out goes to my boss who's amazing and smart and funny as hell. Somehow she helps us all keep our cool when we want to break things. I don't have a pet, but I hope you'll accept my pod art tax. Yes, absolutely, Christine everybody. You can also attach your art to pay your tax. Kiddo had a lesson about fire safety in elementary school. The assignment was to draw a map of the house so you know how to get out in case of a fire. She did not give us a map, but something even better. So this is my mental health map through the dumpster fire that is our nation.
Dana Goldberg
She.
Allison Gill
She drew a photo of a house.
Dana Goldberg
On fire and people screaming oh my God, that's fantastic.
Allison Gill
Draw a map of how to get out of your burning house. That's brilliant.
Dana Goldberg
I love kids.
Allison Gill
Ciao. Kapow. Thank you so much, Christine.
Dana Goldberg
All right, this is from Sandy B. Pronoun. She and her AKA Deadbeat Barbie. Okay, my dear sisters of the Luguminati, longtime listener to all the MSW pods. Thanks for helping to maintain my sanity. Shout out to the ACA and Medicaid. I was uninsured for 20 plus years because of a cancer diagnosis. In my early 20s with the ACA, I had my first screenings in decades. It was because of the aca. A tumor was found in my breast and I received treatment nimned, which is no evidence of disease. Nice. When Covid struck, I lost my beloved job of 15 years as a massage therapist, got booted off the marketplace because I had no income and put on Medicaid. I love my blue state, New Jersey. In the time since then, I've shattered a few bones. My God, I feel like I'm gonna put you in a bubble, Sandy. Since then, I've shattered a few bones, had a bunch of biopsies, X rays to watch a lung nodule, and countless scans to watch for cancer recurrence. Without Medicaid, God only knows where I'd be. I'm deathly afraid of losing it and have three years till Medicare kicks in. Like so many Americans, I will be dependent on Social Security. First check comes April 9th. Goddess willing, I am so grateful for this lifeline. But we must remember, it is our money that we earned by working hard. Exactly. Now, I was so happy to hear y'all talking about. Oh, low cut Connie and Adam. Wiener, Wiener, wiener, wiener. They are are by far the best live act you will ever see. I've lost count how many times we have seen them. So much so that Adam started calling out to my husband and dubbed him the Silver Fox. We may be old, but we can still rock and roll. Regarding podpet tax, I have so many furry friends on the farm here, it's tough to choose pics. My inside cats Queen Fatty and Cletus have breakfast with me. Also a catastrophe group photo of some of the outside gang. My good girl Precious came to us from Long island once we cured her of her love of Billy Joel. She fit right in and loves a dip in the pond. I'm also sharing a bird watching photo sans the bird, but with a fitting alternative. I live 10 miles from that hole in Bedminster. Drive by often while flipping the bird and blasting my horn. The photo is my Brave friend Jill. I know you love babies, so. Pics of my beautiful magical granddaughters. The tiny bundle is the ultimate birder. Keep fighting the good fight with us and for us. We are a grateful bunch. Thank you for what you do. I love you both.
Allison Gill
Now I'm getting choked up.
Dana Goldberg
Yeah.
Allison Gill
All right. There's Queen and Cletus. Queen, Fatty and Cletus. There's the brave Jill holding the traitor sign next to Bedminster. Wonderful. Thank you, Jeff. Beautiful doggo. And look at these grandbabies.
Dana Goldberg
I love a good baby picture where the middle finger gets stuck on the blanket. Middle fingers. Oh, my God.
Allison Gill
That is a double barrel baby. Middle finger, double baby bird. I don't think I've seen a double baby bird before. I've seen a single baby bird and I've seen my goddaughter as a baby. Hold up the letters F and U. Oh, but I haven't seen.
Dana Goldberg
I feel like this child was posed this way. Like all of it.
Allison Gill
That's fantastic.
Dana Goldberg
And this toddler is adorable.
Allison Gill
And I'm just denim outfit.
Dana Goldberg
Amazing.
Allison Gill
It should be in my size. That whole outfit with the top pony as well and the pink sunglasses. Fantastic. Thank you so much. What a wonderful submission. Sandy B. Next up, from Jenny Pronoun. She and her good news. I'm an OBGYN in rural Missouri in a Trumpian town. I am one of two ob GYN doctors left in the area. We've been working our asses off to keep things afloat so that another Missouri county doesn't become the next maternity care desert. We also have the several counties surrounding us who have zero providers. A few months ago, after Missouri passed the constitutional amendment to protect reproductive rights, our local city council got the bright idea to try to become a sanctuary city for the unborn. The idea came from a douchebag from Texas trying to spread his idiocracy theocracy in our area. So I started spending hours of my non existent free time attending city council meetings. I waited hours for my opportunity to speak. For two to three minutes at each meeting, every member of the council made statements about being pro life. It seemed highly unlikely that this wouldn't get pushed through. Nevertheless, I persisted. I reached out to individual council members to help them understand the unintended consequences of what they were considering. I also notified the American College of Obstetrician and Gynecologists who helped network with others including the ACLU and Planned Parenthood. This helped bring awareness to more local citizens who also started speaking out at the meetings. I even appealed to the state Medical association to get me a letter against the ordinance and its interference in the patient doctor relationship. The ordinance was set up as a third party private right of action, AKA a bounty hunter law. My final comments to the council were to read this letter now. In the end, the council narrowly voted to indefinitely table the ordinance, essentially killing it. The margin was one vote.
John Fugelsang
Whoa.
Allison Gill
One. Missouri county will continue to have OB services for now.
Dana Goldberg
Wow.
Allison Gill
Pet tax includes my pups Frankie and Freddy, who no longer get excited when I come home in the middle of the night from a delivery.
Dana Goldberg
Oh, wow.
Allison Gill
One vote.
Dana Goldberg
Look at these babies. One vote, everyone. One vote matters.
Allison Gill
Run for something. Run for that city council. You did. You persisted, Jenny. Fuck yeah. High five. High five of the week for Jenny. That's amazing.
Dana Goldberg
So good. Jenny. You get the high five of the week.
Allison Gill
Actually, everybody gets the high five.
Dana Goldberg
There you go. We get a lot of high fives to throw around.
Allison Gill
We do. Thank you all for sending in your good news this week. Thanks to John Fugelsang, thanks to all the guests we had this week, including, gosh, who do we have on here? We had Sarah, Jacob, and Felipe Torres Medina. It was just such a great week to speak to everyone and we're gonna get out of here for the weekend. Don't forget to tune into the Unjustified podcast this Sunday. It's going to be a big one. Do you have any final thoughts?
Dana Goldberg
I do not.
Allison Gill
All right, everybody, we'll be back in your ears on Monday. Until then, please take care of yourselves, take care of each other, take care of the planet, take care of your mental health, and take care of your family. I've been AG and I've been dg and them's the Beans. The Daily Beans is written and executive produced by Alison Gill with additional research and reporting by Dana Goldberg. Sound design and editing is by Desiree McFarlane with art and web design by Joelle Reader with Moxie Design Studios. Music for the Daily Beans is written and performed by they Might Be Giants and the show is a proud member of the MSW Media Network, a collection of creator owned podcasts dedicated to news, politics and justice. For more information, please visit mswmedia.com msw media.
Podcast Summary: The Daily Beans – "Woefully Insufficient" (feat. John Fugelsang)
Release Date: March 21, 2025
Host/Author: MSW Media
Featuring: John Fugelsang
In this compelling episode of The Daily Beans, hosts Allison Gill and Dana Goldberg delve deep into the tumultuous political landscape shaped by recent actions of the Trump administration. Featuring an in-depth conversation with John Fugelsang, the episode tackles pressing issues ranging from judicial decisions affecting Elon Musk’s Doge team to the controversial invocation of the Alien Enemies Act.
[00:00 – 05:00]
The episode kicks off with Allison Gill outlining a significant court ruling where Judge Ellen Hollander has temporarily blocked Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (Doge) from accessing Social Security Administration (SSA) data. Gill quotes the judge:
“The Doge team is essentially engaged in a fishing expedition at SSA in search of a fraud epidemic based on little more than suspicion” ([12:18]).
This ruling mandates Doge to delete any personally identifiable information and restricts their access to redacted data only after undergoing strict training and background checks. The legal challenge arises from allegations that Doge’s broad data access violates privacy laws and poses substantial information security risks.
[02:05 – 09:12]
Allison and Dana discuss the Trump administration's maneuvers against educational institutions and law firms. Notably, Paul Weiss, a prominent law firm, has rescinded an executive order to remain a lawful entity after agreeing to provide $40 million in free legal services and acknowledging a wrongdoing by a former partner, Mark Pomeranz. Gill expresses dismay:
“I am not fucking kidding you. And they've agreed to acknowledge the wrongdoing of former partner Mark Pomeranz” ([02:14]).
The conversation shifts to the administration’s efforts to dismantle the Department of Education, where despite Trump's executive order, White House Press Secretary Caroline Levitt clarifies that critical functions like enforcing civil rights laws and overseeing student loans will remain intact.
[06:09 – 30:44]
A major focus of the episode is the Trump administration’s use of the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to deport Venezuelan immigrants alleged to be part of the gang Trende Aragua. Dustin details a case involving Badar Khan Sri, a Georgetown University postdoctoral fellow detained by ICE and prevented from deportation pending litigation. Gill highlights:
“They are detaining people who are legal citizens. We're detaining people with green cards. We're detaining people with visas” ([39:42]).
Lawyers for the deported argue that the migrants' tattoos, used as evidence of gang affiliation, are misinterpreted and lack genuine ties to any criminal organization. For instance, one immigrant’s crown tattoo symbolizes a soccer team, not gang membership. Additionally, Gill criticizes the administration’s attempt to classify a non-nation-state gang under a wartime statute, raising constitutional concerns about executive overreach and lack of due process.
John Fugelsang joins the discussion to elaborate on the legal and constitutional implications, emphasizing that:
“The president does not have the authority to pronounce these men guilty without a trial” ([43:22]).
He further warns of a potential constitutional crisis as the administration defies court orders, undermining fundamental legal protections such as the Fourth Amendment.
[14:03 – 20:03]
The SSA is implementing stricter identity verification protocols, requiring millions of beneficiaries to undergo in-person checks instead of handling matters over the phone or online. Acting SSA Commissioner Leland Dudek states:
“Social Security can better protect Americans while expediting service” ([15:53]).
However, Gill and Goldberg express concerns about the accessibility of these measures for older Americans, those with disabilities, and residents in rural areas. The changes coincide with plans to close numerous SSA offices and lay off thousands of workers, fueling fears of increased hardships for beneficiaries.
[02:52 – 09:12]
An IPSOS poll reveals overwhelming public support for Trump adhering to court orders, with 84% of all adults agreeing that Trump should obey adverse court rulings. Breakdown by political affiliation shows broad consensus across Democrats (92%), independents (82%), and Republicans (79%).
Allison underscores the poll's significance, noting:
“They all agree he must follow court rulings.” ([04:26]).
This data highlights bipartisan concern over the administration's attempts to undermine legal processes.
[02:14 – 03:52]
Gill and Goldberg humorously address an issue where podcast players mistakenly play Joe Rogan’s episodes when listeners attempt to access The Daily Beans. They speculate whether this is a bug or an intentional effort to boost Rogan’s listenership. Despite the technical hiccup, they observe a minor subset of listeners experiencing this glitch and interact with it lightheartedly.
[35:06 – 56:24]
John Fugelsang, host of Tell Me Everything on Sirius XM, engages in a fervent discussion about the Trump administration's invocation of the Alien Enemies Act. Fugelsang criticizes the administration’s actions, labeling them as a blatant disregard for constitutional protections and due process. He argues that the use of a 1798 wartime law in a peacetime scenario to deport individuals based on dubious gang affiliations sets a dangerous precedent.
Fugelsang emphasizes the necessity of supporting judicial independence and the role of the courts in upholding constitutional rights:
“These are limitations not on people, but on the government.” ([47:46]).
He also touches on the broader implications of Trump's defiance of court orders and the potential erosion of civil liberties, urging listeners to stay informed and engaged in preserving democratic institutions.
[57:55 – 67:23]
In a refreshing turn, the episode concludes with the Good News segment, where listeners share uplifting stories and personal victories. Highlights include:
These heartening accounts underscore the resilience and solidarity within the community, offering a counterbalance to the heavier topics discussed earlier in the episode.
The Daily Beans episode "Woefully Insufficient" presents a thorough examination of the Trump administration’s recent legal and political maneuvers, highlighting significant judicial pushbacks and the broader constitutional tensions they incite. Through incisive analysis and passionate discourse, especially with guest John Fugelsang, Gill and Goldberg provide listeners with a nuanced understanding of the challenges facing progressive movements today. The episode wraps on a positive note, celebrating community achievements and listener contributions, reinforcing the podcast’s commitment to social justice and political awareness.
Notable Quotes:
Allison Gill about Paul Weiss Settlement:
“I am not fucking kidding you. And they've agreed to acknowledge the wrongdoing of former partner Mark Pomeranz”
[02:14]
Judge Hollander on Doge’s SSA Access:
“The Doge team is essentially engaged in a fishing expedition at SSA in search of a fraud epidemic based on little more than suspicion”
[12:18]
Leland Dudek on SSA Measures:
“Social Security can better protect Americans while expediting service”
[15:53]
John Fugelsang on Presidential Authority:
“The president does not have the authority to pronounce these men guilty without a trial”
[43:22]
Allison Gill on Public Consensus:
“They all agree he must follow court rulings.”
[04:26]
John Fugelsang on Constitutional Protections:
“These are limitations not on people, but on the government.”
[47:46]
This comprehensive summary encapsulates the key discussions and insights from the episode, providing listeners with a clear and engaging overview of the topics covered.