Inside a WTF Week: Stock Market Nosedives, Dept of Ed Decimated & the Elon Circus with Jessica Yellin

Summary

We Can Do Hard Things - Episode: Inside a WTF Week: Stock Market Nosedives, Dept of Ed Decimated & the Elon Circus with Jessica Yellin

Release Date: March 13, 2025
Hosts: Glennon Doyle, Amanda Doyle
Guest: Jessica Yellin, Founder of News Not Noise

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Introduction and Guest Welcome

At [02:15], Glennon Doyle introduces Jessica Yellin, the founder of News Not Noise, an independent news platform aimed at helping listeners manage information overload. Jessica is also a former Chief White House Correspondent for CNN and a recipient of multiple prestigious awards, including the Emmy, Peabody, and Gracie Awards. The hosts express excitement about launching Glennon's new book and tour, noting the strong community support already evident from sold-out tour dates.

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Stock Market Nosedives and Tariffs

[07:33] Jessica delves into the week's significant economic turmoil, beginning with President Trump's recent refusal to rule out a recession. This uncertainty sent shockwaves through the stock market, leading to a massive sell-off. Trump’s announcement of a 25% tariff on all aluminum and steel imports from Canada, China, and Mexico further exacerbated investor anxiety.

Jessica Yellin: "The market plunged Monday and then Tuesday was even worse... It's a game of chicken. Like, who can endure the most pain before they say enough." [09:31]

Glennon compares Trump's reassurances to a parent comforting a child, highlighting the dissonance between public statements and private anxieties.

Glennon Doyle: "It's like a parent with your kid and you're like, it's all going to be fine... but you go back into the room in the fetal position because you don't have a plan." [08:14]

Jessica explains the mechanics of how tariffs impact both consumers and businesses, ultimately contributing to a potential recession by increasing costs and reducing consumer spending.

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Potential Government Shutdown

At [29:35], Jessica outlines the looming threat of a government shutdown due to Congress’s failure to pass a budget. Despite Republicans controlling both the House and Senate, internal disagreements have stalled the approval of a continuing resolution, effectively kicking the can down the road rather than addressing budgetary concerns directly.

Glennon emphasizes the significance of Congress’s power of the purse and the implications of transferring budgetary control to the executive branch without proper legislative oversight.

Glennon Doyle: "One of the fundamental ways that the checks and balances of our three branches of government works are that Congress has the power of the purse... it's ceding part of that decision-making on where the money goes to the executive branch." [31:00]

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Elon Musk and the Tesla White House Infomercial

[34:47] The conversation shifts to the bizarre event where President Trump hosted a Tesla infomercial on the White House South Lawn. Elon Musk brought five Teslas to the event, with Trump promoting them to the American public.

Glennon Doyle: "It's not right. What you saw is not right... It's like some kind of Shakespearean shit that's happening here." [36:53]

Jessica provides context, mentioning Tesla’s significant stock decline of 55% since mid-December, attributed to Musk’s distraction with political endeavors and public backlash against his actions. Protests led to graffiti on Teslas, further harming the brand's reputation among its environmentally conscious customer base.

Jessica Yellin: "Musk is trying to get more contracts from the government for all his businesses... he is entirely dependent on the American people and the American taxpayers to stay the richest man in the world." [38:11]

Glennon highlights the irony of Musk’s situation: his initial success was bolstered by government subsidies, yet he now undermines the government that supported his ventures.

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Department of Education Cuts

At [45:50], Jessica reports on a significant reduction of the Department of Education’s workforce by 50%, particularly targeting the Office of Civil Rights (OCR). This office plays a crucial role in ensuring equal access to education for all students, regardless of race, gender, disability, or socioeconomic status.

Glennon Doyle: "Only 10% of any funding for public schools flows through the federal government... [the Office of Civil Rights] is what enforces Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act." [49:24]

Jessica explains that these cuts aim to privatize education further, stripping away federal oversight and support, thereby jeopardizing programs that protect vulnerable student populations.

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Call to Action: Local School Board Involvement

Towards the episode’s conclusion, Jessica urges listeners to take immediate action at the local level, specifically by engaging with school board elections. By researching and supporting school board members who align with their values, citizens can influence educational policies and resist the broader governmental shifts undermining equal access to education.

Glennon Doyle: "Find out today who represents your community on the school board and figure out a way to support those people who reflect what you want to see in your community." [55:42]

Jessica adds that understanding and participating in local governance is essential to maintain control over educational standards and prevent further federal encroachment.

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Conclusion

The episode wraps up with a reflection on the tumultuous week, emphasizing the importance of staying informed and active within one’s community to combat the ongoing political and economic challenges. Glennon and Jessica reaffirm their commitment to helping listeners navigate these "hard things" with clarity and purpose.

Glennon Doyle: "We have talked about a lot of hard things, but the good news is that your government was at work this week... We can do hard things." [59:44]

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Key Takeaways:

1. Economic Instability: President Trump’s ambiguous stance on a recession and aggressive tariff policies have plunged the stock market into uncertainty, threatening a potential recession.

2. Government Shutdown Risk: Internal conflicts within the Republican-controlled Congress are putting a government shutdown on the horizon, which could have widespread implications for federal operations and funding.

3. Corporate and Political Entanglements: Elon Musk’s entanglement with the Trump administration, exemplified by the Tesla infomercial, highlights the complex and often contentious relationship between big businesses and government policies.

4. Educational Policy Shifts: Significant cuts to the Department of Education, particularly the Office of Civil Rights, signal a move towards privatization and reduced federal oversight, threatening equal access to quality education.

5. Community Action: Empowering listeners to engage in local school board elections as a means to influence and safeguard educational policies against federal overreach.

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This episode of We Can Do Hard Things provides a comprehensive analysis of a week fraught with economic and political upheavals, offering listeners both an understanding of the underlying issues and practical steps to take action within their communities.

Transcript

[Glennon Doyle]

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[Monica Lewinsky]

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[Glennon Doyle]

Welcome back to We Can Do Hard Things. This is Amanda. I am here with Jessica Yellen. Jessica Yellen is the founder of News Not Noise, a pioneering Webby Award winning independent news brand dedicated to helping you manage your information overload. What do we need now more than independent news brands and help with our information overload? She is the former Chief White House Correspondent for CNN and an Emmy, Peabody and Gracie Award winning Political correspondent. You can follow her on Instagram at Jessica Yalen. And also to get her real time, clear and brilliant reporting, please do this. Go to substack.com and search for her page News, not noise and subscribe to it there. It's so good. You will not regret it. Jessica, hello.

[Jessica Yellen]

Hello. How are you?

[Glennon Doyle]

Well, I contain multitudes. Jessica. I feel like the how are you? Question is a real doozy these days because it is very best of times, worst of times kind of a scenario around here.

[Jessica Yellen]

It doesn't really meet the moment. It's sort of like, how are you.

[Glennon Doyle]

At this very second, right in this 22nd period? What is the state of your nervous system? I. I am in New York City right now in a hotel room talking to you because we were up here to launch the new We Can Do Hard Things book and tour. Glennon was on the Today show yesterday talking about it, and I'm just so amazed and touched by this community, the way that they have just already rallied around the book and half the tour is already sold out. It's just amazing. And I'm really excited to, in this moment, get irl, you know, in real life with the people. I think we need it.

[Jessica Yellen]

It's so good. I mean, first of all, the Today show hit was awesome.

[Glennon Doyle]

It was good.

[Jessica Yellen]

And you sound, as you're talking about it, so enthusiastic. And I woke up this morning to an email from Barnes and Noble because I guess I'm part of the membership deal or what? I don't even. And it says we can do hard things. Are you ready for the next 20 questions to answer? Get the answers into your life.

[Glennon Doyle]

I was like, are you serious? I didn't know they were doing that. That's very cool.

[Jessica Yellen]

Isn't that cool?

[Glennon Doyle]

I am also ready. I feel like my only complaint is I have way more than 20 questions.

[Jessica Yellen]

I know this is my main thing. Like, how did you limit it to 20?

[Glennon Doyle]

Oh, my gosh. We were trying to get to, like, think of all of the things that everyone struggles with every day and then get the layer deeper than that. If you're struggling in your marriage or you're struggling with your kids or you're struggling with what the hell am I supposed to do right now? Like, what is the question under the question? And then what's the question under that? And so we were trying to figure out what. When you distilled down all the things we're trying to get in life, like, what is the essential question under that? Yeah, that's cool. So it's very Cool. I love it.

[Jessica Yellen]

So is it like window or aisle? Basically?

[Glennon Doyle]

Yes, exactly. It's window or aisle. It's like cream or sugar. Just like the real stuff. You need to get through the day.

[Jessica Yellen]

Good, good.

[Glennon Doyle]

That's what I was assuming, by the way. I'm definitely in an aisle. I feel very much like I need to be in control. I need to get up when I want to get up. I can't have the anxiety of, am I going to disturb these people? What are you.

[Jessica Yellen]

I feel so seen. I am so aisle that it's like a compulsion. Like, I can't fly. If I'm not in the aisle, I'm going to have an anxiety attack.

[Glennon Doyle]

It's. I have seated control over my entire existence when I am S E A.

[Jessica Yellen]

T E D Seated. Yes, Y.

[Glennon Doyle]

Exactly.

[Jessica Yellen]

One quick question. Was it so fun to be on the morning show? Like to be in the green room and backstage and all the things.

[Glennon Doyle]

I mean, it's so fun.

[Jessica Yellen]

Yeah. Today is great.

[Glennon Doyle]

God bless Glennon. She does the hard, heavy lifting. I stand there and have a panic attack for her and then she just goes up there and does it and I'm like, oh, that was. I don't know who that was harder for. I think it was. I think it was definitely me.

[Jessica Yellen]

But it's such a machine. Like, the Today show works so well, right? It just feels like a system that functions.

[Glennon Doyle]

Yes. It's like, here we go. This 20 seconds, is this. Now moving on to the five seconds of this. And of course, there was all these famous people there, and I know none of them being interviewed, and I'm like, huh, I wonder who that person is.

[Jessica Yellen]

No idea. You're not a pop culture person.

[Glennon Doyle]

Oh, I am not. I am not. But I am a political culture person. So. Jessica, I need to tell you, between launching the book and the tour and all of the things, I couldn't help but notice that this week we've had a few developments. This has been a. Let's see, just on the top level, we had a US Stock market plummet. We had. Apparently we're facing an imminent government shutdown. We are apparently having televised Tesla commercials on the lawn of the White House. What in the actual hell is happening?

[Jessica Yellen]

I mean, this is a well timed podcast. We call it calm news to try and keep people calm to sort of hard given the news. But we have so much to discuss. I think that it's just a roller coaster of information right now. I don't even know where to begin. Are we allowed to curse on this podcast?

[Glennon Doyle]

Oh, yes, Justin.

[Jessica Yellen]

Okay, so it's been a what the week is the easiest way to say it. I woke up on Monday morning, you know, because I'm in Los Angeles. So it's a little bit behind where I think, quote, news starts on the East Coast. And it seemed that the market was already in freefall because over the weekend, Trump gave an interview in which he refused to rule out a recession. And it's just like a thing presidents do, which is rule out recessions. Even if you're looking at the cliff and we're about to fall over it, they're like, no, no, no, there's no cliff. Because their job is to, like, talk the market, the economy, into good condition. Because so much of economic well being is just a confidence game, right?

[Glennon Doyle]

Yes. It's like a parent with your kid and you're like, it's all going to be fine. I know it's going to be fine. I have a plan. And then you go back into room and you're like in the fetal position because you don't have a plan, right?

[Jessica Yellen]

Yes.

[Glennon Doyle]

It's like this.

[Jessica Yellen]

But you tell everybody it's all good, it's all good. So that everything feels lubricated to have the best possible outcome. He is. Okay. I'm not going to follow through with that language. But he. But you know what I'm thinking.

[Glennon Doyle]

Yes, I do know what you're thinking.

[Jessica Yellen]

He didn't make it easy for anybody. And he said, yeah, you know, there could be. I'm not going to rule it out. I don't want to talk about that. Markets woke up on Monday and everything started to tank. There was a big sell off. It has to do with Trump's tariffs. Right. And the tariff thing went so nuts that the market got total anxiety Monday, massive plummet. Everybody thought he'd wake up Tuesday and say, you know what, that was a bad day. And I'm going to. I've rethought this tariffs thing. I'm backing off. But he didn't do that.

[Glennon Doyle]

He didn't.

[Jessica Yellen]

He doubled down and he's doubled down again today as we record. And so we're in this crazy period of market gyration, which we can talk about why this is all happening and the anxiety around it. But basically the business community and the investment community is like, whoa, Nelly, I'm not getting on board in the stock market.

[Glennon Doyle]

And this is. It was the greatest fall that the stock market has had, had its worst day since 2022 on Monday. So it dropped. And then Tuesday was even worse than that.

[Jessica Yellen]

I think it dropped like 900 points Monday and another 800 some odd Tuesday. It's gone back to a recent low, but it's not pre pandemic lows. So there's a little bit of wiggle room where the market's like, if it keeps going like this, it's in very bad territory.

[Glennon Doyle]

Okay.

[Jessica Yellen]

Right now, I guess they call it a correction, you know, but the bottom line is his economic policies are causing enormous instability, unpredictability and anxiety for businesses, investors. Sort of the class of, you know, person that you think Trump usually tries to cater to. Used to be that he looked to the market as his measure of how well he's doing more than polls. Like, is the market happy? The fact that he's not caring about that as much is causing concern and confusion. So that's something to talk about.

[Glennon Doyle]

Okay, you said. So he doesn't rule out a recession, but there's also a bunch of tariff tolmet happening. So can you walk us through what that was like? Was it the tariff stuff in addition to him saying that, yeah, maybe we're gonna have a recession?

[Jessica Yellen]

I wanna slow us down for two seconds and just say what we're about to talk about seems stressful, but it's really about understanding some of the choices that are happening right now so that people can make decisions in their own lives. And all your worst fears have not come true. Right. It's not like the bad case scenario is inevitably playing out. Okay, so can we do a breath quickly?

[Glennon Doyle]

I think that's a good idea.

[Jessica Yellen]

Okay, so I think we should do an inhale. Hold. Exhale slowly. I'm always surprised by how much that's helpful.

[Glennon Doyle]

It really is. And it's a. It's. I'm double surprised that I don't do it more because every time I'm surprised how helpful it is.

[Jessica Yellen]

I know it's like when you know that going to the gym will make you feel better, but you don't.

[Glennon Doyle]

Yeah, yeah, I do know that.

[Jessica Yellen]

So, okay, we're going to talk about a couple things. The stock market tariffs, the possible government shutdown, and then some of the stuff that's also happening in the administration, apart from this, including Ukraine and the Department of Education. So people have a big picture what we're talking about today.

[Glennon Doyle]

Okay.

[Jessica Yellen]

Does that sound like a reasonable agenda?

[Glennon Doyle]

Thanks for the roadmap. I appreciate that.

[Jessica Yellen]

Okay. Okay. So back to your question, which is why tariffs? Yeah.

[Glennon Doyle]

Yes.

[Jessica Yellen]

So tariffs are an added tax on imported goods. A lot of our cars are made with steel or aluminum out of Canada. And Trump is adding today a 25% tariff on all aluminum and steel that comes into the US that extra 25% on top of the cost is paid by the American company that buys the steel or aluminum. And so presumably, and economists say throughout history, gets passed on to the consumer in the form of higher prices.

[Glennon Doyle]

Okay, can I pause right there? Because this is something that was not at all made clear in messaging during the election, which is this is this idea from Trump that it's like, whoa, the other country, I'm going to tariff them, and as if they're going to eat that cost when actually the US Government is charging the companies more. Therefore, the end consumer, who is us is going to be paying for that increased price. Like that is what happens with tariffs. But people think, yeah, stick it to them, China, and it's us. It's our iPhones, it's our whatever that is going to cost more.

[Jessica Yellen]

Yes. And the reason all that, the reason Trump can say it hurts the other country and we can say, no, no, the consumer here in America is paying is because both are true. It depends at which point of the chain you're stopping to pay attention. So the first point of pain is the tariff is paid by the company buying this metal. Then that pain is passed on to the consumer because they raise prices. If you wait, you know, four months and you continue this behavior for months and months and months, eventually what happens? Consumers stop buying as much of that stuff. Right. You're not going to get the new car because they're saying it could cost $12,000 more for the same car because of tariffs. You're not going to shop as much. So what happens? The economy slows down. You stop buying those foreign goods. And so down the line, that car company suffers because next time you want to buy a new car, you're like, I'm going to wait and stick with my car.

[Glennon Doyle]

Right. And that's why all of that ecosystem equals recession.

[Jessica Yellen]

Right. And it's why Trump can say, well, it does hurt the other country because you're not buying their car in eight months or a year. But, okay, in the meantime, for the eight months until then, you're just not shopping much and everything's costing you more because of these tariffs. And other countries retaliate by putting tariffs on American goods that are shipped to their countries. And so if you're an exporter whose business relies on selling your goods to other countries, American goods are taxed at that very high rate in other countries, and business slows down in that way, all of this adds up to an economic slowdown in America. And it's a game of chicken. Like, who can endure the most pain before they say enough? Yeah, how much recession pain can we experience or slow down pain? I don't want to say it's necessarily a recession. And how much are they willing to suck up before both sides say enough?

[Glennon Doyle]

Okay. And then as part of all of that, then the companies are freaking out because they don't know how to plan and they don't know there's a tariff announced on Friday, but then maybe we get it, then maybe it goes away by Monday. They can't plan. So the market goes down. And that's why we're all seeing if you have 401k and you look at it, that it has gone down so much because it's a reflection of all of this uncertainty and all of this fear that what will unfold is exactly what you just described.

[Jessica Yellen]

Yes. In short, yes. So there's nothing investors and businesses like more than certainty and clarity about the future. You should think of the stock market as a bet on the near future of the economy.

[Glennon Doyle]

Okay.

[Jessica Yellen]

It's not a measure of how we're doing at this minute. It's a measure of are we going to be cool in three months, six months, eight months, et cetera. When the market is falling, it's investors saying, I'm not so sure about what's coming and how if I feel good about it, I'm pulling out. So there's a lot of, hey, we were willing to give Trump the benefit of the doubt. The market boomed right after his election. All this enthusiasm. He's going to invest, he's going to drill, he's going to lower taxes, it's going to be frothy and all these things. And then everyone's in the investment world, seeing we don't know what he's going to do. We can't predict, I'm getting out, I'm going to be safe. And so up, down. So then the question is, so why the FSC doing this?

[Glennon Doyle]

Yes.

[Jessica Yellen]

And he states the reason as, especially with China, Canada and Mexico, it's because too much fentanyl is coming in over the borders. Foreign, you know, immigrants are coming in, like, illegally, blah, blah, blah. But in each case, that's just. Look at the numbers. It's not. It doesn't add up. Right. Less than 1% of the fentanyl into America is coming from Canada. And yet he uses that at the claim for why he's doing these tariffs, that while they'll be very hard on us. Will truly decimate Canada's economy, like, devastate them. So why is he doing this? There are a couple of theories which is like, what's the real reason behind the stated reason? One is that he's just trying to find revenue, and he believes that this is an added tax, right? So we are actually paying 25% more to the government, and that's added revenue to the government. Why would he want that?

[Glennon Doyle]

For his tax cuts for his millionaires that he has promised the whole time. And by the way, when he says, I want tax cuts, everyone's like, yay, tax cuts. He wants tax cuts for the millionaires and billionaires. That is the only people getting tax cuts under his plan.

[Jessica Yellen]

I wouldn't say the only people, but it is a disproportionate share of the tax cut is going to the people who are ostensibly needed the least, right? The wealthiest and to corporations. And he's doing this. And one of the challenges he faces is that within the Republican Party in Congress are members of Congress, Republicans who say, I'm not gonna approve these tax cuts at the scale unless you find ways to make up for some of the lost revenue. We need more dollars in the coffer because the deficit's too high. We can't live this way. So they do have people that they call, quote, fiscal conservatives in the Republican Party who are saying, you got to pay for some of this. Now, it's a misnomer to say they're fiscal conservatives because they're approving wild spending that they, you know, howl when Democrats do any facsimile of that. But he does have to come up with what they call, quote, pay fors or make goods. And one way is through tariffs. The other theory is that he wants negotiate. He just wants negotiations. That's what he thinks he's good at. And he wants to, quote, get better deals out of other countries, whether it's for trade or he wants access to rare earth minerals or things like that. And how do you do that? He wants to change the terms of the discussion, just, like, remake the playing field, right?

[Glennon Doyle]

He's trying to get leverage. He's trying to make threats. And he's like, if I threaten this catastrophic thing, you will give me what I want. But how did that play out with the Canada situation? Because they had some threats in their pocket that they came right back to on us.

[Jessica Yellen]

So what's happened is he's actually getting some of that leverage that he's asked, for example, with Canada on Tuesday, you know, we said that the market plunged Monday. Everybody expected he's going to back off tariffs to stabilize the market. Instead, wake up Tuesday and what does he do? He says that he is going to. We Talked about those 25 tariffs on steel and aluminum. He's going to make them 50% for Canada because Canada had threatened to retaliate for tariffs. And he's like, you do that, I'm going to make terrorists worse for you. So what does Canada do? They say, we're going to put a 25 surcharge on the electricity we sell to the US and three US states get some electricity from Canada. It's New York, Michigan, and Minnesota. Canada said, we're going to make your electricity so expensive. And then Trump escalated his threat against Canada, and Canada threatened to turn off the electricity altogether to the states. And they're like, in he man, you know, chest thumping, no man's like, never. How do you get out of this? Until it looks like we'd be in an electricity emergency. And then finally, somebody put the premier of one of the provinces in Canada on the phone with our commerce secretary, and they agreed to back down. And what are they going to do? They're going to start renegotiating part of a trade agreement that the US has with Canada. And Trump must want some better, quote, better terms in that trade agreement. Ironically, that trade agreement was negotiated by Trump in his first term.

[Glennon Doyle]

So he made the deal, and then he's saying that's a bad deal. So he's going to sacrifice our 401ks on the stock market to get a better deal that he should have gotten originally. Yes.

[Jessica Yellen]

You understand the situation perfectly.

[Glennon Doyle]

Okay, great.

[Jessica Yellen]

And yet he's getting his way. We'll see how that deal shakes out. And I'm curious to see what else he wants from Canada. You know, he keeps saying Canada should be our 51st state. He does not back off of that, no matter how many people laugh in his face, tell him not to. Even the king of England is apparently offended because, you know, Canada is not, you know, has a relationship with England, not with us. So I'm sort of intrigued to know what he wants from Canada. And my suspicion, or I just put this out there to pay attention to, and we can see is Canada has one of the world's greatest repositories of rare earth minerals, and they also have enormous energy reserves. Both things are required to power our AI Future. And Trump has said he wants the US to be the AI Leader of the world. And all the tech oligarchs around him are in a sort of competition for AI dominance. So I'm intrigued to see if what he's really trying to negotiate in the end is to sweep more of the resources the U.S. needs to power AI out of Canada and into the U.S. we'll see.

[Glennon Doyle]

Well, that would be in keeping with the theme of the exact same threat scenario that he took with Ukraine to get those rare earth minerals. So that's, that's fascinating.

[Jessica Yellen]

And as we're talking, Trump has slapped 25 tariffs on steel and aluminum imported from the entire world. Like world terrorists. Two more theories I'm going to put out there. They're quick. One is he got annoyed that when the stock market boomed on his election, people said, you're benefiting from the Biden economy. And so a theory here is that he's actually trying to create turmoil so that when he wipes away all tariffs, the stock market booms again. It'll be called the Trump rally. And then the person I've spoken with who knows him best and is in the world of finance and economics says you are giving him too much credit for having a theory and a goal. He's doing it because he can. I don't know.

[Glennon Doyle]

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[Abby Wambach]

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[Monica Lewinsky]

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[Jessica Yellen]

The thing to know, and I just want to make this clear, is that the sort of silver lining is as things have gotten bad, he's pulled back. So if you go back to the first weeks of the administration, a lot of the anxiety around behavior from this administration was that he seems to be acting in ways that are disconnected from reality, that there's no adjustment when he gets pushback or finds out that this is catastrophic and we're seeing that as there are negative, deeply negative consequences. The administration is adjusting. I'm not saying we're in salad days. I'm just saying they're at least there's a sign that they're in touch with reality and making adjustments, right?

[Glennon Doyle]

And that it will be noted and he will feel some of the pushback whatsoever. Like even Fox News this week had something to say to him. Like, what did they say in that press conference?

[Jessica Yellen]

Yeah, so in one of the White House briefings, the White House correspondent for Fox News kind of really went hard at the press secretary and said, you're asking all these federal workers to take a buyout. How do you think they're going to do that? When basically I'm, I'm paraphrasing your policies are tanking their 401ks. That was from Fox News. And they had on, you know, their couch in the morning show somebody who was really going hard about how Trump's tariff policy is tanking people's 401ks. So that's an expression of deep discontent within the Republican Party. They're doing that to pressure the White House because members of Congress in the Republican Party, the business community, wants Trump to back off some of this.

[Glennon Doyle]

Okay, so we'll see whether he is. There's been some suggestion of a minimum level of adapting to people being like, wtf? This is unacceptable. And we'll see if that is something that they continue to do or if he continues to chest thump just because he can, because he wants to, quote, unquote, win, even if it means we are the ones that are losing.

[Jessica Yellen]

Sort of. I mean, okay, not a bad analysis. Correct?

[Glennon Doyle]

I mean, here we are speaking of a bad analysis. Can you tell me what the hell is going on with the potential government shutdown?

[Jessica Yellen]

So one thing is, we're recording this before the Senate has voted. We face a shutdown on Friday because Congress has failed to pass a budget. Now, let me just pause and say that's weird because Republicans control the House, Republicans control the Senate and the White House, and they're one party. They should just agree and pass their thing. That's what's normal. But of course, nothing's normal. So it hasn't happened. They've had all these go rounds about what the budget bill should be. They couldn't come to an agreement. House wants one thing, Senate another. So instead of writing a bill, they're like, hey, guys, why don't we just agree to extend the current budget in this, like, very Congressy thing, which is kicking the can down the road by saying, we're going to talk about this in nine months again, but let's just keep going where we are with some small changes. It's called a continuing resolution, is the actual structure. It's not a real budget bill. It's just an extension of current funding. And a lot of people hate that in Congress. So what happened is the House passed this thing that I just described. And now we're waiting to see if the Senate passes it. In order for the Senate to pass it, it needs seven or eight Democrats to support it. And for what I think are very obvious reasons, a lot of Democrats are like, no effing way, I'm supporting your rando budget save thing.

[Glennon Doyle]

Yeah.

[Jessica Yellen]

So I don't know if it's going to pass. If it doesn't pass, government shuts down. Friday. The debate and dilemma for Democrats is this. Obviously, most Senate Democrats don't want to give the White House any kind of a win. They don't want to bail them out. Right. The Republicans failed to come up with a budget bill. This is a like saving them from the shutdown. And there are components of the bill that are really against Democratic priorities. It increases defense spending while decreasing spending on important domestic priorities and basically gives the White House lots of money and says, spend it how you want. So it's giving them even more power. Power to do the things they're doing, which is steamrolling Congress on spending.

[Glennon Doyle]

So this is important because one of the fundamental ways that the checks and balances of our three branches of government works are that Congress has the power of the purse, that they get to decide where the money goes. So in this bill, it is ceding part of that decision making on where the money goes to the executive branch. To Trump.

[Jessica Yellen]

Yeah. And Musk in theory.

[Glennon Doyle]

And Musk. Right. And when I say Trump, I'm always.

[Jessica Yellen]

Meaning and Musk Project 2025, guys.

[Glennon Doyle]

Yeah, but this is a catch 22, right. Because if the Democrats say, like, we're not going to let this US Ship go down, so we're going to sign on to your stupid ass thing just because we want to save the government from shutting down and the pain that that will cause American people, they have to sign on to this horseshit bill. Whereas if they say, oh, you wanted to govern, let's see you govern and you can't govern with this horseshit bill, then the government shuts down. And then it's like, well, you know, the cat's away, the mouse will play. Like, then we're leaving Musk in charge with no one watching.

[Jessica Yellen]

Very few people watching.

[Glennon Doyle]

Right, sorry. A very few people. Whoever. Less people than are watching now while he's destroying things by himself to do God knows what to the government while it's shut down.

[Jessica Yellen]

Yeah, it's a real dilemma. Exactly. And you know, there's a clear belief that Elon Musk would like the government to shut down because, you know, you have only essential employees at the agencies, then they can run amok. There's been a lot of whispers that there's been a strategy to shut the government down among a portion of that world of people. So this might. It's like you could see it playing into the hands of the most extreme elements of Trump world.

[Glennon Doyle]

Either way, okay, you have brought us to the Elon Circus, which it seems all roads lead to over the last few months. What the hell was happening when we had an infomercial for Tesla on the White House lawn where literally your commander in chief is walking around with notes in his hand that have the prices of Tesla and he's going into the Teslas that are parked there, coming out of them and saying, wow, really love that car. I'm going to buy one and everyone else should too. I mean, even if you know nothing about the government and the rules and the ethics and the things that are supposed to stop that from happening, you know that that is not right. What you saw is not right. So what the hell was happening?

[Jessica Yellen]

I mean, it was wild. They had an infomercial on the White House South Lawn. Elon Musk brought five Teslas there and Donald Trump basically hawked them to the American people. I will tell you that. On Twitter, Sean Hannity also announced that he is buying a Tesla and detailed the specs of the Tesla. Somebody made a post where it would look like it was the White House saying, use our 25% off code to get a Tesla. And I was like, is this real? It was a parody, but it was.

[Glennon Doyle]

So it's not far. It's like we are watching the Onion unfold before our eyes. Except it's not the Onion.

[Jessica Yellen]

Sometimes when I, you know, I do a lot of posts on Instagram about the news, I just write, not the Onion reality. This happened. You know, it's like just, this is real, not the Onion. Okay, so why is this happening First? So we just talked about stock market volatility. Guess who's seen among the most volatility is Musk's stock at Tesla. Tesla has fallen 55.0percent since mid December. And that's in an interview. Musk sat down with somebody from Fox Business. He was asked, how are you running your businesses while you're basically dismantling government? And he got very tongue tied and started blinking and looking awkward and then finally muttered with great difficulty. It was one of the most sort of like seeming vulnerable revealed moments of Elon Musk seeming slightly weak and off his game that I've seen in, well, Maybe ever. So Tesla is suffering because, in theory, because their CEO is distracted, but also because of the mass protests taking place against Muslim around the world. Because Teslas are being tagged and marked with graffiti. And so in protest of Musk, and because think about it, his car was marketed to environmentally conscious liberals who. These are the very people he's enraged with his far right and government destructive behavior. So he's cannibalizing his own market.

[Glennon Doyle]

Can we stop for the poetic justice of this situation and the complete mind explosion of irony about this? So Elon Musk, the man who is dismantling government because he thinks it's inefficient and full of freeloaders and giveaways, started his entire Tesla business, subsidized by the government. He was able to build that because of government subsidies. And now he's coming in and destroying government, which is meaning that the people that he marketed to, which care about the earth, are now no longer in support of his government. It's like an amazing circle. It's like a some kind of Shakespearean shit that's happening here. It's wild. And then the other irony of all of this is that when he starts to feel a modicum of consequence, so Elon feels a modicum of consequence because the richest man in the world is losing some money. Trump's like, well, we can't abide by that, and has a full ass commercial for him on the lawn. Meanwhile, all of us are checking our 401ks and are like, how about a little help over here?

[Jessica Yellen]

Totally.

[Glennon Doyle]

And nothing.

[Jessica Yellen]

And I want to just point out what you're saying and what's so instructive about it. Two things. One is we're both entrepreneurs. There is nothing harder in the world of entrepreneurship than getting that starting money to build your business. What we could both do if somebody would give us the little bit of funding it takes to start. So that's how people say winners and losers are chosen. Do you think that there are many people who could have started an electric vehicle business? Yes. What is Elon Musk great at? He doesn't create these companies. He buys them.

[Glennon Doyle]

Yes.

[Jessica Yellen]

And then almost beats them into submission to hypercharge productivity. And he's very good at getting government funding investment. So in part of the way he wins is because he's able to lock down that early funding which he keeps getting from the government. And I want to point out that as we're talking about all this in the coming weeks and months, he is trying to get more contracts from the government for all his businesses for Starlink, for Tesla and SpaceX. And this is obviously very worrying for a million reasons. But it also means that he is entirely dependent on the American people and the American taxpayers to stay the richest man in the world. And one lever that the American people have is to organize to demand those subsidies go away. And just saying that makes me feel nervous, because that's the thing he fears most. But it's also the point of leverage the American people have in this scenario.

[Glennon Doyle]

And it's also further evidence, like this whole circus is further evidence of what we're seeing, the pattern of the Trump administration operating on a quid pro quo basis. You've given me this, I give you that. And like, it's not a coincidence that during the same 48 hour period in which Trump does the infomercial, Elon says he's going to give $100 million to Trump's political fund. I mean, this is the man who gave $300 million for Trump to be elected, who then coincidentally is inserted as the person who's going to then go into the government and look at the contracts. It's an undeniable cycle that we're seeing and conflict.

[Jessica Yellen]

And the difference is, is during the election, he gave money to PACs that he supported. And after Trump did the infomercial, he says, I'm going to give money directly into Trump's Trump run pacs or his organization run pacs. Trump also announced at this event that people, protesters who graffiti Teslas, those acts will be prosecuted as acts of domestic terrorism.

[Glennon Doyle]

I mean, that is so absurd as to be laughable, but also not at all funny. You're using the machine like we decide. If you are anti us, you are a terrorist. And that is a terrifying. Go down that slope for a minute.

[Jessica Yellen]

Let's see how it plays out. Let's see.

[Glennon Doyle]

Yeah, but even saying that, I'm not saying that that's the case. Even saying that, it always starts as a seed, right? Like, that is not something that is appropriate to say.

[Jessica Yellen]

We should also note that Musk has had his wings clipped in the last week. And so he was doing all his rampaging around the agencies through Doge. And in the last week, the administration said, it's not up to you, Elon, to decide who leaves and gets fired from these agencies. It's going to be up to my cabinet secretaries. And each of you decides in your own agency who gets cut. And Musk and Doge can make recommendations. He did this in a very publicly shaming way. He had a cabinet meeting where Marco Rubio and Musk got into a fight in the meeting. Reportedly, Rubio said things like, oh, you want me to rehire the people we fired so that you can announce that you fired them? So it became quite tense. Those things don't happen unless they're sort of condoned. So that is one thing. The other is Musk went to Congress, met with members of Congress, and they said Republican members of the Senate said to him, all those cuts you're making, we're going to have to approve them formally in legislation. You don't get to just do that. We have to pass that through Congress. So in two different ways. There he is sort of been reined in a bit and he's had this stock plummet that's gotten worse because of the market stuff we mentioned. So he's feeling some consequence of his behavior, and it'll be interesting to see what adjustments take place as a result of that, if any.

[Glennon Doyle]

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[Abby Wambach]

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[Glennon Doyle]

This dynamic of the Trump cuts and their impact leads to this very what feels like a very tragic, scary moment with respect to the Department of Education. So can you tell us what is happening, just what happened with the Department of Education really Yesterday? Right. Well, it's been happening since Project 2025. But at Tuesday there was big events.

[Jessica Yellen]

On Tuesday it was announced that the Department of education will be cutting 50%, 5 0% of its workforce. That is on top of the probationary employees that were let go and in addition to people who accepted buyouts. So of the remaining employees, 50% will go. And I have been told by multiple sources in my audience that among the places hardest hit is the Office of Civil Rights within the Department of Education. Ocr. It is not shutting down, but lots of the offices are being eliminated around the country. And this is the part of the Department of Education that ensures equal access to a public education, regardless of income level, gender, race, ethnicity, religion, disability, ability, all those things. Department of Education was established to ensure and grant protect equal access to public education. So that goes at the heart of the very essence of its mission. I have a lot of people in my audience, too, who are educators and I know full well, we both do, how brutal this is. And to parents, we don't know exactly beyond what I've just said who is going to be laid off as we're recording this. So I think that sort of getting announced Thursday so we can talk more in detail once we know that. But, you know, the behind the why behind the real reason, the folks in the Project 2025 world come from lots of different strains of activism throughout our last, you know, 40 years in American culture and this part of our political world has been very much against the Department of Education because they want, they say, education be returned to the States. Education is already, yes, run by the states and localities. What many in this sort of movement want is to move to vouchers so that you can have more sort of specific forms of Education, religious education, education that focuses on certain kids so that you don't have to have classes that have equal access. They actually don't want equity. They don't want all kids to have the same access to education. I know there are plenty of people who say they don't want anyone to have education. I don't actually believe that because you do need a moderately educated workforce to be have productivity. You know, you could argue with AI, that'll change. But I think it's just that people want flexibility to sort of do schools the way they want schools to be done in their community and privatize a lot of it.

[Glennon Doyle]

It's privatization, right? Like the way that you get around integrated schools in terms of every understanding of that, whether you have special needs kids integrated in, within the classroom. The way you do that is you privatize. Right. That is the way you do it. And I think that in addition to all of these cuts, you know, the Secretary of Education was asked point blank, is this the first step in eliminating the Department of Education? And she said point blank, yes, it is. My mandate from President Trump is that the Department of Education will close. I know that they can't do that until Congress says it, but she with her mouth said that that is her clear mandate.

[Jessica Yellen]

They have said this. I mean, this is one of the most frequently repeated talking points Trump has said on the stump since he's started campaigning for this race. It's not a surprise they want to shut down the Department of Education. They say it out loud. I don't know why people didn't believe it. So many school teachers who voted for Trump said, I don't. This isn't real. It is real. That's their goal. Congress can shut down the Department of Education, the administration can't, but they can strip it of so much staffing and resources that that's functionally useless or not very effective. The other important thing is that the Department of Education is a clearinghouse for funds. It's where the Fulbright scholarships go through there. It's where student loans are managed. All this federal money that goes into education flows through the DOE and they help get it dispersed. So there's going to be a big question, where's that pot of money? Who's going to get control of that pot of money? Is it going to go to Treasury? They've said student loans should go to treasury, which is.

[Glennon Doyle]

There's a lot of theories about they want to move student loans, which is a lot of dollars, to Treasury. And one of the theories there is, because they want to privatize that whole student loan function.

[Jessica Yellen]

So it's very unclear sort of how all this will function as they downsize. I want to say it is important that anybody who's concerned about this and paying attention does understand what the other side is saying and hearing that's different from what we're saying and hearing. And there is a very sort of sincere concern among conservatives that our education system is failing students. And I think there's evidence that that's true, that, you know, kids are graduating without the reading and writing skills in many cases, that they need to really excel in society. And there are arguments that kids should be able to pursue vocational training if they want to, rather than have all the funding pressure them into an arts education or, you know, humanities education. And there should be more ability for schools to try creative ways to do better. And that is a sort of, I think, reasonable argument and a fair discussion to have. And so if you're sitting down with somebody who disagrees with you on the Department of Education, it's worth understanding that they might come to the table thinking, hey, things are not working. We need to try some changes. At least this is a way to try changes. The problem is it's like, again, going at something with a hatchet instead of a scalpel. Obviously, I just want to let people keep in mind, like, the charitable understanding of why people might have believed there was something redeeming in Trump's theories about education is because they want positive reforms.

[Glennon Doyle]

I think you have a much more generous interpretation of the prevailing thoughts about education on the other side than I do. My observation is that the other side of this education argument is that people are being told that the federal government is mandating what your children learn, is indoctrinating your kids into woke culture, is forcing them to fill in the blank and adopt that as their understanding of the world. And that is not the case. What I want people to hear is that what they're saying is the partner of education needs to be shut down because these things need to be returned to the states. Do you remember when they said that about abortion? Do you remember when they said that about civil rights? Okay, this needs to be returned to the states. That is already true. Okay? 90% of anything involving your kids. Schools, the state and local school districts already make their own decisions. They make their own decisions about reading lists, about curricula, about teacher pay, about testing policies, about student discipline practices, about all of it. 90% of that is already happening at the state and local level. Only 10% of any funding for public schools flows through the federal government. Why do they care about that 10%? Because that 10% is directed at low income and special needs students. That 10% is the one that is funding the anti discrimination efforts. And that is what when they talk about shutting down the Office for Civil Rights. The Office for Civil Rights is the office that ensures equal access to education that you go to with a complaint of anti discrimination. They are the office that enforces section 504 of the Rehabilitation act. Which does that sound familiar? If your kid has a 504 plan, that is the act. If your kid has any special accommodation within the school system that allows them to learn and have equal access to education as their peers without disabilities, I have a kid with one. That is the office that enforces that. So when they're saying let the state and local leaders decide what happens in the schools, that is, they already do. Which is why we need to know that information. And it's the good news and the bad news. Right. We need to fight against this thing that they're trying to do and we need to demand equal access to education. And we also need to immediately, if we are not already become involved at the state and local level. Because the good news about this is they already have control. And the bad news is if you're local and south state authorities start to follow this federal model, we have zero control anymore. So I think that the answer to this absurdity is that we need to get involved in our local school system governance because that's where all the decisions are being made.

[Jessica Yellen]

Yeah. And people can go to your school board meetings. One thing people can do right away is research who's on your local school board. Get knowledgeable, find out when the next election is. You elect those people. That's the part of the ballot most people go, oh, I don't know these names. I'm going to fill in the name that I like the best. Just randomly don't do that. Get informed, do the research and make sure that you know when the next school board election is. Make sure your friends know, have a ballot party where you all get together and talk about it and go and vote in the school board meeting and the school board election. And actually, if folks want to learn more about the attack on Section 504, we wrote about it in my most recent newsletter letter. You can find that newsletter by going to substack and searching News not noise or search my name and look for the newsletter titled is RFK Getting his way? There's a breakdown in that newsletter into what's going on with section 504, and you can get into it there. And there's one theme that's consistent through everything we've spoken about today, which is as much as a lot of this sounds like an abuse of our policies and radical changes that Americans didn't think they were voting for, in many cases, every step that they're taking is a step that gives taxpayers and voters even more power over them. So when the federal government under Trump says, we're going to create more state control, well, guess what? If they try to do that, that means that you as a citizen have the power to get organized and go to your school board and either run for school board or. Or back a movement to have the voices you care about on the school board. I don't want us to forget our agency and opportunity. If Elon Musk is dependent on all these subsidies, those subsidies could be taken away. There's a lot that is still possible in this picture, and it's sort of an opportunity for everyone listening to think about what interests me, to get involved, to participate in a movement around.

[Glennon Doyle]

Amen. Amen. Jessica. Okay, our cup runneth over with opportunities to intersect in the things that we care about, the things we want to push forward, the things we want to resist. So please just find out today who represents your community on the school board and figure out a way to support those people who reflect what you want to see in your community. Woo. That was a doozer. It's never a dull moment. Jessica, thank you for helping us navigate what the heck is going on, for giving us clarity within this chaos, and for equipping us to actually be able to see through what is being said to what is actually being done. And I just thank you very much for being so generous with all of your knowledge and inside scoop. We have talked about a lot of hard things, but the good news is that I really want everyone to understand that your government was at work this week. Okay. On Monday, you'll be happy that one of Trump's executive orders went into effect. It was titled the Executive Order Ending Procurement and Forced Use of Paper Straws. So I want you to know that as of Monday, the power of the United States of America's government made sure that no longer would there be the procurement or forced use of paper straws. So America's back, baby. Plastic straws everywhere, and you don't have to ever see another paper straw in your life.

[Jessica Yellen]

Bless them. We can now be drinking plastic straws in our red Teslas all day long.

[Glennon Doyle]

Oh, God, y'all. Okay, we will see you next week.

[Jessica Yellen]

If we're still here. I'm still breathing.

[Glennon Doyle]

Okay, one deep breath and then we go on. We find out what's going on at our local level. Ready in hold at the top. Blow through your plastic straw. I'm not trying to make light of plastic straws. I know that's a disaster. We will come back with information about the EPA next week and how they're shutting down the Environmental Justice Department. Don't worry, we're not making fun of plastic straws. It's a deep concern. TBD on epa. Okay, We can do hard Things. We'll see you back next week.

[Monica Lewinsky]

If this piece podcast means something to you, it would mean so much to us if you'd be willing to take 30 seconds to do these three things. First, can you please follow or subscribe to We Can Do Hard Things? Following the POD helps you because you'll never miss an episode, and it helps us because you'll never miss an episode. To do this, just go to the We Can Do Hard Things show page on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Odyssey, or We're wherever you listen to podcasts and then just tap the plus sign in the upper right hand corner or click on Follow. This is the most important thing for the pod. While you're there, if you'd be willing to give us a five star rating and review and share an episode you loved with a friend, we would be so grateful. We appreciate you very much. We Can Do Hard Things is created and hosted by Glennon Doyle, Abby Wambach, and Amanda Doyle in partnership with Odyssey. Our executive producer is Jenna Wise Berman and the show is produced by Lauren Legrasso, Allison Schott, and Bill Schultz.