On today’s show: The federal government ordered a widespread funding freeze. The Wall Street Journal details the chaos that ensued. Public trust in America’s health institutions hasn’t recovered from pandemic controversies. The Washington Post’s Rachel Roubein explains how that could impact Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s confirmation hearing. What is DeepSeek, and why did it send tremors through financial markets this week? Bloomberg AI reporter Shirin Ghaffary explains. Plus, the Trump administration is offering about 2 million federal employees the chance to resign, why the ‘Mona Lisa’ is moving, and a look at what the Year of the Snake could bring as the Lunar New Year begins. Today’s episode was hosted by Shumita Basu.
Chapter 1: What caused the funding freeze by Trump?
But first, President Trump's order to freeze trillions of dollars in federal spending caused widespread confusion on Tuesday. The administration says it's vetting all spending and has promised to cut off money to programs, grants, loans, and anything else that doesn't align with the administration's agenda, in particular what they call woke ideology.
Chapter 2: How did the federal spending freeze create confusion?
Trump's order, however, was quickly blocked by a judge, putting it on hold at least temporarily until February 3rd. Twenty-two state attorneys general are also suing the administration over the order, saying Trump can't halt approved spending without an act of Congress.
Chapter 3: What are the implications of Trump's order on essential services?
It wasn't immediately clear what Trump intended to happen when he ordered the freeze of federal grants and loans, but within hours, thousands of government programs seemed at risk of being cut. These are programs that have to do with everything from access to meals for low-income families to child care and health care. For hours, all 50 states said they couldn't access Medicaid's funding portal.
The White House later clarified many of those programs are not at risk and never should have been impacted. Here's White House Press Secretary Caroline Leavitt speaking to reporters on Tuesday.
Chapter 4: What legal challenges are arising from the spending freeze?
Social security benefits, Medicare benefits, food stamps, welfare benefits, assistance that is going directly to individuals will not be impacted by this pause.
Despite the temporary halt on Trump's order, there were reports of nonprofits still having trouble accessing funds through federal websites. Yolanda Fields, who runs a group called Breakthrough, which provides education and housing services, told the Chicago CBS affiliate she doesn't know what would happen if they lost the $2 million in funding that they received from the federal government.
We aren't talking about frivolous spending. We're talking about essential services that people need to live.
And in Knoxville, Tennessee, Caitlin McGuire with the Tennessee Valley Coalition for the Homeless says the uncertainty of it all is what has people on edge.
That unknown is so scary for so many people because there are countless individuals who depend on the services that organizations like ours are providing in this region across the state and across the nation.
The big question here is whether the executive branch can make these cuts without Congress. Here's Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul.
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Chapter 5: Who is Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and what role could he play?
Congress is given the power to appropriate the funding. The executive branch cannot unilaterally disregard those appropriations passed by a separate and equal House of Government.
Speaking on MSNBC, former Republican Congress member from Florida, David Jolly, who served on the House Appropriations Committee, said he thinks Trump's justification for doing it this way won't hold water in court.
What he has done is illegal. His justification for it is what makes it illegal. So what he said is, I'm not going to spend the money because I don't like these policies that are currently in place. And much like the Muslim ban, it showed the incompetency of an administration that doesn't know the law or is willing to violate the Constitution.
And it revealed the cruelty of stopping Medicaid payments and child care payments and all of these other issues.
The term being used to describe what the Trump administration is doing here is impoundment. That basically means that Congress has written the check for all these programs and the president is now refusing to put it in the mail. In 1974, Congress passed a law limiting the president's ability to claw back funding like this, citing the way Richard Nixon had abused the practice.
But some Trump allies say that law is unconstitutional and should be struck down, which means this could all be headed for the Supreme Court, with a potential showdown over who really holds the purse strings in Washington. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. 's confirmation hearing to become the next head of the Department of Health and Human Services starts today.
If he's confirmed, Kennedy would be in charge of 18 agencies and would have enormous influence over America's public health. He'd also have a lot of say over how Americans access and are advised on vaccines. In the past, he has spread baseless claims about the safety of vaccines, though he says he is not anti-vaccine.
Still, experts worry that childhood vaccination rates, which have already been dropping, could fall even faster under his leadership, potentially leading to a resurgence in diseases that we thought were lost to the history books. Dr. Paul Offit, an expert at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, recently testified in a Senate hearing about his concerns.
The problem is not only that we've largely eliminated these diseases, we've eliminated the memory of these diseases. And for that reason, parents are now more scared of the safety of vaccines, real or imagined, than the diseases that they prevent. And so you're starting to see then an erosion in vaccine confidence and as a consequence, an erosion in vaccine rates.
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Chapter 6: How has public trust in health agencies been affected post-pandemic?
Chapter 7: What are the concerns surrounding vaccine confidence?
The problem is not only that we've largely eliminated these diseases, we've eliminated the memory of these diseases. And for that reason, parents are now more scared of the safety of vaccines, real or imagined, than the diseases that they prevent. And so you're starting to see then an erosion in vaccine confidence and as a consequence, an erosion in vaccine rates.
According to a poll conducted by the Associated Press and NORC, 40 percent of Republicans and 69 percent of Democrats are very concerned about fewer children being vaccinated. Now, beyond vaccines, Kennedy has long expressed deep distrust in the very institutions he will potentially lead. And in that, he reflects a growing sentiment among Americans.
Data shows public trust in federal health agencies plummeted during the pandemic and crucially hasn't recovered. According to Gallup polling, for example, the percentage of adults who describe the CDC as excellent or good dropped over 20 percent from 2019 to 2021.
Javier Becerra, the outgoing health secretary, recently told The Washington Post he and other officials acknowledge they made some missteps during the pandemic. Here's how The Washington Post's Rachel Rubin put it.
They will admit that there were kind of communication mistakes made during various points of the pandemic.
Specifically around using clear language with the public, saying what's known and what's not known about how the virus spreads. But Becerra told The Post he believes social media has fueled misinformation and distrust around health.
He believes federal agencies are essentially outmatched. This was his quote that I can't go toe to toe with social media.
This combination of pre-existing doubts in health institutions, plus the pandemic, is what led us to RFK's nomination as health secretary. He's keeping his campaign slogan around, make America healthy again. And he's talking about reforms that a lot of Americans are excited about. Things like
Stripping ultra-processed food from school cafeterias or cracking down on food dye. And some of the food policies have support from Democratic lawmakers and other experts.
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