MATT BERG
& CROOKED MEDIA

THURSDAY
MAY 22, 2025

Making the richest people to ever walk the earth even richer.” 

 
— Sen. Brian Schatz (D-HI), [on Donald Trump’s]([link removed]) “Big, Beautiful Bill.”

TAX FREE BIRD

Republicans are poised to make the ultra-rich even richer, after cueing up the “largest wealth transfer in American history.” Give it up for the party of the people, everybody!

- House Republicans often take on a striking resemblance to an aging classic rock band — and not just because they are, in large part, a bunch of old white dudes. But because no matter what new ideas they might come up with, when the pressure’s on, they always seem to fall back on their one big, decades-old, multi-platinum hit. And that time-worn GOP song is called “Tax Cuts For The Rich.” 

- That’s one way to understand what just happened on the Hill last night, when House Republicans passed President Donald Trump’s “Big, Beautiful Bill.” Trump may have pitched himself as a populist, leading what MAGA acolyte Steve Bannon likes to call the “workers’ party.” Instead, when the chips were down, Republicans betrayed the average workaday folks who helped them win power — and handed vast, glittering new wealth to their richest supporters.

- Just like a rock band, they stayed up all night to make it happen, too — finally voting the bill through at dawn this morning. One GOP lawmaker missed the vote because he [fell back asleep]([link removed]). “I’m going to strangle him,” House Speaker Mike Johnson joked afterwards. But the contents of the bill, which now heads to the Senate for approval, are no laughing matter.

- So what’s in it? Money to finish the southern border wall. Increased defense spending, including the [far-fetched “Golden Dome”]([link removed]) missile defense system. A larger child tax credit, but only for citizens. What does it cut? Health coverage for the poor, of course, slashing nearly $800 billion from Medicaid — two days after Trump warned Republicans to [not “fuck around with”]([link removed]) the program — as well as funds for climate change initiatives and food assistance.
 

- Then there’s the massive tax cuts for the rich  — about $3.8 trillion over the next 10 years. It is the “largest upward transfer of wealth in American history,” journalist Jonathan Chait [wrote today]([link removed]). Sen. Brian Schatz (D-HI) struck a similar note on the Senate floor: “They’re literally taking from the poor — people who don’t have enough money — and shoveling straight into the pockets of people who already have more than enough. This bill is about making the richest people to ever walk the earth even richer.”

 
That’s basic math, not Democratic spin. And it represents an identity crisis brewing inside the Republican Party. 

- The wealthiest Americans will benefit while the poorest Americans will have less, [according to two]([link removed]) [nonpartisan analyses]([link removed]). Reminder: The top 10 richest dudes in the United States made $365 billion over the past year, [according to a new analysis]([link removed]). How long would it take for 10 average workers to make that much money? 726,000 years.

- The plan is also expected to add [trillions to the national deficit]([link removed]) over the next decade. “This bill is a debt bomb ticking,” said Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY), one of two GOP lawmakers to oppose the legislation. “We’re not rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic tonight. We’re putting coal in the boiler and setting a course for the iceberg.” Full steam ahead, boys! Meanwhile, that splashing sound you hear [is bond market investors]([link removed]) throwing themselves off the back of the ship, out of fear over where all this is going. 

- Trump had flirted with increasing taxes of millionaires, but in the end, he backed down. “The Wall Street types that still have a seat at the table in the Republican Party were like, ‘Holy shit, absolutely not,” a Republican with ties to both the Hill and the White House told Politico. Let’s face it: Nobody wants to hear a new song by The Eagles. They want “Hotel California.”

- What does the GOP stand for today? “Increasingly, Republicans are the party of working- and middle-class people,” Vice President JD Vance [insisted last year]([link removed]). “Wall Street has been the main beneficiary of globalization, a lot of the policies that I pushed back against and criticized.” A better question: Has anyone seen Vance’s spine?

More than anything, House Republicans love licking Trump’s boot: The bill includes new $1,000 accounts that the bill would set up for newborns. They were set to be called “MAGA Accounts.” At the last second, Republicans changed them to be “[Trump Accounts.]([link removed])”

BLAH & ORDER

The Trump administration is ramping up threats to prosecute the president’s political enemies.

But Rep. LaMonica McIver (D-NJ), the lawmaker [dubiously charged with assault]([link removed]) by the Department of Justice, vowed to keep fighting, in an exclusive interview with Pod Save America that will appear in full tomorrow. 
 
“It's definitely political intimidation,” McIver told Crooked’s Dan Pfeiffer. “You know, they wanna … shut me up, stop me from doing my job. Put fear in me. Scare me. But at the end of the day, I will not waver.”
 
There’s seemingly no end to Trump’s enemy list. 
 
In the past few days alone, Trump and his team have threatened former Vice President Kamala Harris; former President Joe Biden’s aides; Jill Biden; Oprah Winfrey; former FBI Director James Comey; and musicians including Bruce Springsteen, Beyonce and Bono. 
 
“This is a bigger situation than just me,” McIver added. “ To have this president stripping away our democracy, every chance he gets … it's dangerous. We're heading down the wrong path, and we have to push back against this.”
 

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WHAT ELSE?

[Trump is hosting a private dinner tonight]([link removed]) for 220 ultra-wealthy people who invested in his personal cryptocurrency, with seats costing an average of $1 million. Winners of the contest to have dinner with the president spent a total of $394 million on his currency. “The Trump coin scam is the most brazenly corrupt thing a president has ever done,” Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) said in a statement. “Not close.”
 
[Two Israeli embassy staffers were fatally shot]([link removed]) in downtown Washington, D.C. last night. The suspected gunman reportedly shouted “Free Palestine!” while being taken into custody. “We feel we don’t have any safety in this country or anywhere in the world,” Lyudmila Kriasonov, a Russian-speaking Israeli, told the Wall Street Journal.
 
[Twenty-nine children and elderly people died]([link removed]) from starvation-related causes in the Gaza Strip in recent days, the Palestinian health minister announced. That comes days after a top United Nations official estimated that 14,000 babies in the territory could die without more assistance flowing in. Israel [allowed some food shipments]([link removed]) into Gaza today, but Palestinians are calling for much more.
 
[Donald Trump privately told European leaders]([link removed]) that he doesn’t believe Russian dictator Vladimir Putin is willing to end his war in Ukraine, the Wall Street Journal reports. Well, no shit! White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told the outlet that Trump “did say he believes Putin is winning the war BUT he NEVER said ‘Putin isn’t ready to end war.’” 
 
[The Trump administration blocked Harvard University]([link removed]) from enrolling international students, escalating its ongoing fight with the school. The move is aimed squarely at Harvard’s wallet, since the university receives tons of money from international students. A Harvard spokesperson called the move “unlawful.” 
 
[Trump’s birthday parade in Washington, D.C. next month]([link removed]) will include more than two dozen tanks, 50 helicopters, 34 horses, two mules, and a single doggo, according to Axios. The Army is still claiming that the festivities are only for its own birthday, which happens to coincide with Trump’s. But, like, come on. You ain’t foolin’ me!
 
[Even the top lawyer in Trump’s]([link removed]) Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is against rolling back protections on “forced reset trigger” devices — which effectively turns a gun into a semiautomatic weapon, the Washington Post reports. But Trump’s team pushed ahead anyway. What could go wrong?

[The Treasury Department plans to stop]([link removed]) circulating new pennies by early next year. After that, there won’t be enough pennies for transactions, and businesses will start rounding up or down to the nearest 5 cents, according to the Treasury Department. People will also, I imagine, receive extra luck for finding a penny face-side up.

OUR CONTENT RUNNETH OVER
 

Project 2025 is no longer a warning — it’s a reality. Four months into Trump’s second term, Republicans have already begun executing their 900+ page plan to transform America into a Christian nationalist state. We're seeing it in real time: attacks on bodily autonomy, the targeting of immigrants, the erasure of history, and cuts to programs millions rely on. On the newest episode of [Assembly Required]([link removed]), Stacey Abrams sits down with Atlantic staff writer David A. Graham — author of The Project: How Project 2025 Is Reshaping America — to unpack the radical ideology and what we can do to fight back before it’s too late. Tune into this important conversation of [Assembly Required]([link removed]) on [YouTube]([link removed]) or listen wherever you get your podcasts.

 
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[A federal judge blocked the Trump administration]([link removed]) from firing thousands of workers at the Education Department, amid Secretary Linda McMahon’s attempt to effectively dismantle the agency. The judge rejected the administration’s claim that the firings are for “efficiency,” explaining that it has instead made the department’s functions less efficient. 

[Oklahoma won’t be able to open the nation’s]([link removed]) first religious public charter school after the Supreme Court deadlocked 4-4 in the case, which is a major test for the separation of church and state. Interestingly, Justice Amy Coney Barrett recused herself from voting, likely because of her ties to the group representing the charter school.

[A black bear cub that was found without its mother]([link removed]) in the California woods is now being raised by a San Diego clinic, where humans are dressing up as bears. “We’re dedicated to doing whatever we have to do to keep him wild,” one worker said. While those costumes are a very adorable idea, they’re also mildly terrifying. But anything for that little cub!
 
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