The David Pakman Show

Episode: Republicans drop Trump as Noem impeachment is happening

Date: January 13, 2026
Host: David Pakman

Overview

In this episode, David Pakman dives into growing Republican resistance to Donald Trump’s actions—most notably, two GOP senators vowing to block all Trump Federal Reserve nominees in response to the Justice Department’s politicized probe targeting Fed Chair Jerome Powell. He covers a wild Pentagon announcement involving Elon Musk’s Grok AI, the latest inflammatory appearance from Trump’s press secretary Caroline Levitt, and the move by Democratic lawmakers to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem after recent ICE violence in Minneapolis. Pakman also features an interview with Maine Governor Janet Mills, now a Democratic Senate candidate, discussing institutional checks on Trump and progressive policy debates. Throughout, the show is laced with Pakman’s sharp, satirical, and fact-based commentary.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. GOP Resistance: Blocking Trump’s Fed Nominees

[00:01–08:10]

• Republicans Turn on Trump: Senators Thom Tillis (Senate Banking Committee) and Lisa Murkowski pledge to block all Trump Fed nominees over the DOJ’s criminal probe into Jerome Powell. They characterize the investigation as coercion.
  • Tillis: Not running for re-election, has actual power to block nominees.
  • Murkowski: Personally spoke to Powell, calls the probe “nothing more than an attempt at coercion.”
• Political Impact:
  • With Tillis and Democrats voting against, the Banking Committee would deadlock, complicating Trump’s efforts.
  • Even conservative groups admit Trump’s actions are backfiring and risk undercutting his own leverage over the Fed.
  • Quote:
    • Pakman [06:00]: “Trump wants leverage over the Fed, but he’s doing something that is going to take that leverage away. He has united Democrats against his nominees and is causing some Republicans to peel off.”
• Powell’s Response:
  • Hires the aggressive law firm Williams & Connolly, signaling he’s ready to fight the charges.
• Underlying Irony:
  • Trump demands Fed rate cuts (usually reserved for economic crises), while simultaneously touting a “booming” economy.
  • Pakman [07:40]: “They can’t both be true. Unless, I guess, you’re Donald Trump.”

2. Pentagon’s Grok AI and Pete Hegseth’s Meltdown

[08:10–14:44]

• Pete Hegseth’s Rhetoric:
  • As Defense Secretary, Hegseth rails against DEI, "dudes in dresses," climate change, and social justice in the military.
  • Quote:
    • Hegseth [08:15]: “No more DEI, no more dudes in dresses. No more climate change worship and social justice... We’re unleashing the war fighter... ready, trained, disciplined, accountable, and lethal.”
  • Pakman frames this as a disconnect from everyday Americans’ concerns about cost of living.
    • Pakman [08:57]: “Do you hear that Trump is working for you... bringing solutions to those problems when you hear this? I think the answer is very obviously no.”
• Grok AI in the Pentagon:
  • Announcement: The Pentagon will integrate Elon Musk’s “Grok" LLM AI into both classified and unclassified networks.
  • Hegseth: “Department of War AI will not be woke. It will work for us.” [12:11]
  • Concerns: Pakman is alarmed by AI models known for generating deepfake explicit images being let into military networks.
    • Pakman [13:06]: “One of the things Grok does… is make non-consensual AI nude and sexually explicit images... That is exactly what we need in the Pentagon. This seems like a disastrous idea.”
  • Elon Musk’s “Starfleet Academy” moment: Musk proclaims aspirations to make “Star Trek real.”
    • Musk [13:53]: “We want to make Starfleet Academy real so that it’s not always science fiction, but one day the science fiction turns to science fact...”

3. Caroline Levitt’s Fox News Meltdown and Minneapolis ICE Shooting

[18:35–30:53]

• Levitt's Comments on Renee Goode Shooting:
  • On Fox News, Levitt brands Goode, killed by ICE, as a "deranged lunatic" who "justifies domestic terrorism," fiercely defending the officer’s actions with reference to supposed video evidence that Pakman asserts does not exist.
    • Levitt [18:52]: “…this deranged lunatic woman was trying to ram him over with her vehicle and was using that vehicle as a weapon, which justifies domestic terrorism.”
  • Pakman criticizes Levitt’s unsubstantiated claims and refusal to back down.
    • Pakman [19:51]: “No evidence that any of that took place... They are unable to just come out and say, we got out ahead of the facts... They can’t do it, they won’t do it.”
• White House Scrum:
  • Levitt doubles down: “This administration will continue to stand wholeheartedly by the brave men and women of ICE…” [25:05]
  • Dismisses public concern for the American victim, fixates on law enforcement support.
  • On Kristi Noem (DHS Secretary), Levitt denies rumors of Trump’s dissatisfaction and credits her with “secure the border… in record time.” [26:14]
• Impeachment of Kristi Noem:
  • Democrats in Congress (e.g., Angie Craig, Robin Kelly) moving to impeach Noem for civil rights violations, abuse of office, obstructing oversight, and public safety violations after the Goode shooting.
  • Pakman [37:00]: “Impeachment can also force facts into the open because you get hearings, sworn testimony, information gathering. If a cabinet secretary can get away with labeling an American citizen a domestic terrorist… it is a terrifying amount of power.”

4. Greenland, Threats, and Policy Outbursts

[29:16–29:57]

• Levitt hints the US should acquire Greenland before “China or Russia” does.
  • Levitt [29:43]: “Greenland doesn’t even know it, but they would be much better off as part of the United States.”

5. Trump’s Tariff Edicts and Social Media Outbursts

[51:39–End segment]

• Trump posts direct “orders” on Truth Social, urging the Supreme Court to uphold his blanket tariffs, and imposing a new 25% tariff on all business with Iran—via social media.
  • Pakman [51:39]: “Trump seems to think that by saying ‘this order is final and conclusive,’ it just makes it so.”
• On congestion pricing in Manhattan, Trump’s criticism contradicts Pakman’s personal experience and reported outcomes of less congestion and lower pollution.

6. Pakman’s Analysis of Trump’s Slurping and Health Speculation

[30:53–37:17]

• Trump’s Decline Noted:
  • Pakman plays multiple clips of Trump’s new “slurping” sound (audible saliva inhalation) during interviews, theorizing possible neurological decline or loss of swallow reflex.
    • Pakman [32:07]: “There are two hypotheses here... [including] that Donald Trump is losing his passive swallow reflex… associated with a whole bunch of neurological conditions.”

7. Interview: Maine Governor Janet Mills (Democratic Senate Candidate)

[37:17–51:07]

• Confronting Trump’s Overreach:
  • Mills recounts standing up to Trump’s threats to cut school lunch funding over state policy; Federal court ruled in her favor.
    • Mills [38:33]: “No, you can’t do that. You can’t just stop funding school lunch programs because you disagree with state policy on transgender athletes.”
• Checks on Presidential Abuse:
  • Advocates for stronger congressional limits on executive actions, DOJ/FBI weaponization, ICE raids, military adventurism.
    • Mills [40:08]: “Unchecked weaponization... The Senate and the Congress have given up their authority… undermining health care, undercutting women’s rights, military actions without consulting Congress.”
• Progressive Policy Stances:
  • On minimum wage: open to debate, but more realism than Platner’s $25 proposal.
  • Housing: defends market-based first-time buyer grants; supports creative interventions against predatory corporate landlords—especially in mobile home parks.
  • Mills [47:13]: “When corporate interests come in from out of state and want to buy up a mobile home park… I've been there to protect the people in those mobile home parks and help them buy their own park…”
• Term Commitments & Youth:
  • Mills pledges to serve a single Senate term, eschewing long careers and corporate PAC money.
    • Mills [49:49]: “I’m not going into this thinking I got to have a career ladder to climb or build a résumé... I just want to get stuff done for the Maine people.”

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments (with Timestamps)

• Pakman [06:00]: “Trump wants leverage over the Fed, but he’s doing something that is going to take that leverage away.”
• Hegseth [08:15]: “No more DEI, no more dudes in dresses... We’re unleashing the war fighter.”
• Pakman [13:06]: “One of the things Grok does... is make non-consensual AI nude and sexually explicit images... That is exactly what we need in the Pentagon.”
• Levitt [18:52]: “…this deranged lunatic woman was trying to ram him over with her vehicle and was using that vehicle as a weapon, which justifies domestic terrorism.”
• Pakman [19:51]: “No evidence that any of that took place... They can’t do it, they won’t do it.”
• Levitt [29:43]: “Greenland doesn’t even know it, but they would be much better off as part of the United States.”
• Mills [38:33]: “No, you can’t do that. You can’t just stop funding school lunch programs because you disagree with state policy on transgender athletes.”
• Pakman [51:39]: “Trump seems to think that by saying ‘this order is final and conclusive,’ it just makes it so.”

Important Segment Timestamps

| Segment | Timestamp | |------------------------------------------------------------------|--------------| | Republicans block Trump’s Fed nominees, DOJ–Powell probe | 00:01–08:10 | | Pete Hegseth, Pentagon & Grok AI, Musk “Starfleet” | 08:10–14:44 | | Caroline Levitt ICE shooting, Noem, press scrum | 18:35–30:53 | | Trump’s slurping, health, cognitive speculation | 30:53–37:17 | | Janet Mills interview: Trump overreach, progressive issues | 37:17–51:07 | | Trump’s social media proclamations, tariffs, ICE, impeachment | 51:39–End |

Tone and Final Thoughts

David Pakman’s commentary is sharp, analytical, and laced with irony. He contextualizes the news, unpacks the motives behind major political moves, and highlights the absurdity and danger in the current administration’s actions. Segments are framed around hard evidence, policy analysis, and Pakman’s progressive values, with the absurdities of Trump-era politics laid bare.

For listeners:
This episode connects the mounting cracks in Republican loyalty to Trump, the potential risks of political AI integration in defense, and the importance of institutional oversight. It pairs political analysis with live audio from officials and a substantive interview with a challenger for real change in the Senate.