How YOU Helped Knock Musk Out of DC–& of Politics

Publisher's Roundup, 20

The end of this week brought two of the most dramatic scenes yet in the decline and fall of Elon Musk—and of his and Donald Trump's failed DOGE effort to remake government. Despite all the damage that they have done (and that Trump will continue to do) we should take a beat to appreciate the milestone. It speaks to the power of the patriotic opposition—and of the role you’ve played, dear Contrarians.

The first of those two dramatic scenes came on Thursday in a New York courtroom, where a Perry Mason moment took down DOGE. My colleagues and I had sued over DOGE agents running rampant through sensitive government data at the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), illegally accessing data about tens of millions of current and former federal employees, contractors, and job applicants. We made that case on Thursday in what the press accurately called a “mini-trial” of DOGE. The highlight was our almost 3-hour cross-examination of the administration's main witness (grilled by my colleague, Andrew Warren). We elicited several concessions: the witness all but admitted OPM was not following the law in granting access to DOGE!

Photo by Gage Skidmore

Much of the oral argument was spent with the judge asking the government about the weaknesses in their case. By the end, the judge suggested that the law was broken: “I think one reading of the record is that this rushed, indeed chaotic, grant of access in early weeks was without regards to established standards to granting access.”

The reason this matters so much was illuminated in the other signature moment of Musk and Trump's Friday: their joint press conference in the Oval Office marking Musk’s ignominious exit from government. His black eye was both literal, the result of a punch from his five-year-old son X (he claims), and figurative, the result of the pummeling that he and Trump have received in court in cases like this one.

I don’t buy Musk’s claim that he is leaving simply because his 130-day term under federal law as a "special government employee" is up. He was driven out because his project has failed, and was stopped so often in court (as well as through the unceasing efforts of protests and the people, which you can see reflected in the Democracy Movement). He’s so bruised and battered he has suggested he’s going to stop political spending. Musk is widely hated, and the litigation helped expose how he attacked our government with a chainsaw instead of carefully trimming it with a scalpel.

My colleagues and I at Democracy Defenders Fund brought our fair share of those cases, starting with the very first one—with the intent of defending the rule of law. That’s where you have come in. At The Contrarian, we are “owned by no one,” so all profits go to support these cases and our over 70 other legal matters against the administration. By becoming a paid subscriber for just $7 a month, you help support the legal battles to save our democracy.

Of course, you also get the best coverage of the fight for our democracy, with our 1000th piece being published this week! As we do every weekend, let’s look back at that wealth of coverage.

MEMORIAL DAY

Katie Phang and Paul Rieckhoff on the importance of Memorial Day. They reflected that it should be a gut check for Americans to remember the values and sacrifices that underpin our democracy, not politicized by Trump to push his partisan agenda.

Remembering All the Heroes. Brian O’Neill remembered the less often celebrated American fallen: among them civilian workers, diplomats, aid workers, intelligence officers, and war veterans made victims not on the battlefield but by the trauma they brought home. Service takes many forms; so does sacrifice.

Memorial Day reflections from an Iraq War Veteran. Marine Corps veteran and public servant Maura Sullivan reflected on the lessons America’s military cemeteries hold, as reminders to carry on the stories of the fallen and to fight for the living.

TRUMP’S SMASH & GRAB ECONOMY, DEBT, & SILLY TRADE WAR

Let’s do Lunch! 05/27. Economic columnist Heather Long joined Jared Bernstein this week to answer your most pressing questions on his weekly show

The Tea with April Ryan, ft. Rep. Jasmine Crockett and Pastor Jamal Bryant. April spilled the whole pot, as she says, on her weekly show, this week featuring Rep. Jasmine Crockett and Pastor Jamal Bryant, who broke down how ordinary Americans will be footing the “big, beautiful bill;” ongoing boycotts over DEI pullbacks at national retailers, and more. A must-watch conversation on power, policy, and protest.

Words & Phrases We Can Do Without. Jen Rubin banned “grift,” as petty theft doesn’t describe the full “smash and grab” kleptocracy of Trump’s presidency. “Experts have valued the plane, formally donated to the Air Force, at $200 million, more than all of the foreign gifts bestowed on all previous American presidents combined.”

Taco trade. Michael de Adder’s new comic looks at Trump’s game of tariff chicken.

At the precipice. “Wow! The U.S. Congress looks so tiny and insignificant from up here!” R.J. Matson’s latest comic takes a jab at the Legislative Branch’s seeming inability to address the massive national debt.

TAPPER & THE MEDIA

The Media is Questioning the Wrong President's Fitness. Shalise Manza Young took corporate media to task for its obsession with relitigating President Biden’s mental fitness when we have a real, live, ongoing crisis of presidential leadership. It’s one more dodge in a decade of cowardly bothsidesism, and goes against journalism 101: Comfort the afflicted. Afflict the comfortable.

Man Feared to Be Cognitively Slipping After Writing Book About Wrong President. Friend of the Contrarian Andy Borowitz reports on the humiliating error one author committed by writing a 352-page book about the wrong man.

Biden, a book, and a big media fiasco. Josh Levs outlined another scandal in the media hype cycle for Original Sin (besides that, you know, there’s a bigger story out there): those supposedly shocked by its exposé of Biden’s decline knew the story for years and said nothing until it could sell copies.

Undaunted: NPR. This week, Jen paid tribute to NPR, which challenged an executive order that would threaten its existence–by aiming to censor and defund based on perceived “bias.” “In its sustained effort to present high-quality news, risk the MAGA wrath by suing, and helping educate the American people about the centrality of the First Amendment, NPR showed itself to be an undaunted champion of the free press…”

FOREIGN POLICY FIASCO

Trump's incoherent foreign policy strategy. Jen was joined by Tom Malinowski to discuss the global effects of Trump’s TACO tariffs, U.S. relations in the Middle East, and protecting human rights in a world without American leadership.

Foreign Policy Malpractice. Fresh off her time abroad, Jen took on Trump’s inept, destabilizing approach to foreign policy, which—far from making us “greater”—has left us precipitously weaker, lonelier, and more unpredictable in the eyes of the world.

CIVIL ENGAGEMENT

The Contrarian covers the Democracy Movement. We continue to cover Americans across the country who are protecting and defending democracy. This week saw hundreds of teens walk out of school in an anti-Trump protest in NYC, more Tesla takedowns, a Hands Off Our Medicaid rally, and actions from Tennessee to California.

What you can do: as discussed on Thursday’s Coffee With the Contrarians, Katie Phang and Ben Wikler encouraged Americans to call their members of Congress to tell them how bad the budget bill is. (They can be reached at (202) 224-3121.) Find a June 14 No Kings Day protest in your area here, find protests in your area at mobilize.us, then send us your protest photos at submit@contrariannews.org.

How to bring democracy home. Nat Kendall-Taylor, chief executive of The FrameWorks Institute, gave us a status report on national morale and how to turn resignation into resistance.

Olivia Julianna asks Congressional Democrats about the way forward. Olivia Julianna asked Democrats on the Hill what they’re doing to push democracy forward.

When news out of the nation’s capital feels like too much to bear, take the fight local. While Congress bickers over its big, grotesque bill, Jennifer Weiss-Wolf reported on the real fight now happening in statehouses. From anti-trans and anti-DEI laws to victories on gender equity and gun safety, the stakes are high, and “the good, the bad, and the ugly of the democratic process” is playing out daily.

Reflections on travels. Jen returned from Europe recharged by art, history, and adventure—from baby gorillas to opera–and wrote about the millions striving to repel the forces of fascism and xenophobia.

​​Don’t Texas America. Olivia Julianna delivered a reality check on the dream of turning Texas blue: it will take long-view infrastructure and strategy (and a lot less infighting) on a scale the Texas Democratic Party has struggled to establish. National Democrats could take notes on that blueprint, too.

The Democracy Index. Musk is officially out! But the destruction DOGE has wrought is nowhere near gone. In this week’s Democracy Index, Joyce Vance, Joshua Kolb, and Lily Conway cover Musk's exit, RFK Jr.’s harmful ignorance, and more.

RULE OF LAW + AUTHORITARIANISM

A blow to our constitutional system. Austin Sarat wrote on the Supreme Court’s decision to uphold the firing of members of independent regulatory agencies, which rewards the president for assuming authority he does not constitutionally have—and signals that the Court is ready to shred 90 years of precedent.

Welcome To Postmodern Authoritarianism. Katherine Stewart broke down Trump’s trend of placing spectacle over secrecy, by which his law-breaking is out in the open and part of the show. It’s urgently important—for those of us who still hold out hope for the idea of America—not to give up on democracy or its language.

The Chrisleys played Trump like a fiddle. Want a pardon from Trump? Flatter him publicly, loudly, and often. Meredith Blake wrote on the latest pair to grovel their way out of criminal conviction: Todd and Julie Chrisley, reality stars turned fraudsters who were pardoned this week after a MAGA-fueled charm offensive.

Trump’s extraordinary pardon binge MAGAifies the clemency power. Austin Sarat also wrote a scathing analysis of Trump’s unhinged manipulation of his pardon powers. As he notes, clemency and corruption have gone hand in hand for centuries. Bow before the king, pledge undying loyalty, and you just might be spared.

THE HARVARD SHOWDOWN

“Fight Fiercely, Harvard!” On this week’s “Talking Feds,” Harry Litman was joined by heavy-hitters Alison Camerota, Bill Kristol, and Michael Podhorzer to analyze the bill, Trump’s war on Harvard, and the very mixed bag of results in the federal courts.

No Shame, No Limits. Marvin Kalb took up the latest outrageous escalation of this fight on Harvard–his move to ban international students, who make up 27% of the total student body–as another salvo in his propaganda of power, and another crossroads for a university faced with holding the line for American education.

Offsides with Pablo Torre: The Real Reason Trump Is Attacking Harvard. Pablo Torre was joined by Daniel Koh on his weekly show “Offsides” to discuss Harvard (which Trump is attacking with the jilted energy of someone who wasn’t invited to the party), as well as the administrative state, Bill Belicheck, and embattled institutions.

Another salvo fired at Harvard. Brian O’Neill laid out the myths propping up Trump’s baseless war with Harvard–first among them that expelling international students somehow constitutes a matter of “national security.”

Speaking from experience. Nick Anderson’s latest cartoon reminded us that the academic resumé Trump brings to his war with Harvard is…Trump University.

GENDER

Eliza Orlins responds to dismissive comments. Talking about the Sean "Diddy" Combs trial is neither “a waste of time” nor “junk culture.” Eliza Orlins on how the attitude behind such criticism minimizes larger conversations surrounding abuse.

Angel Reese deserves her flowers for the women’s basketball boom. Angel Reese of Chicago Sky is one of the WNBA’s primary targets of misogynoir, which unfairly diminishes her role in the growth of the game, her excellence, and the joy she spreads. Owen Pence writes on how Reese has been villainized, and deserves better.

Men can't be silent on misogynoir. Michael Franklin took an similar stance on the ongoing smear campaign against rapper Meghann Thee Stallion–who was shot in 2020, her shooter convicted, and years later remains on trial in the court of public opinion—as a clarion call to recognize and repudiate misogynoir wherever we see it.

CULTURE, COOKING, AND PETS!

Culture recs: A timely tech satire from Succession creator Jesse Armstrong, plus... quilts! Meredith Blake gives us all a much-needed rest from the nonstop drudgery of the political news of the day to recommend the HBO satire Mountainhead, documentary The Quilters, and the Patti Lupone drama over a New Yorker piece.

There was more to Paul Reubens than Pee-wee Herman. Meredith also reviewed a new documentary examining the fraught relationship between intensely private actor Paul Rubens and his better-known alter ego, Pee Wee Herman.

David Souter went his own way. Fred Frommer gave a timely eulogy for the late David Souter, the GW Bush appointee who was one in a storied line of GOP-appointed justices who didn't follow a party line—and who may have been the last of his breed.

Chewy and crunchy oatmeal cookies. Marissa Rothkopf continues offering up the delectable baking recipes. This week, we have a controversial favorite: oatmeal cookies. Their tender middles and crispy edges are not unlike how she feels these days.

Dense Bean Salad. The world might be in a state of chaos, but with a good, dense bean salad, you’ve got one corner of it handled. Emily Breyda explains the economic benefits of the dense bean salad recipe going viral, while introducing a new, tasty dish.

Contrarian Pet of the Week. We were honored to introduce Kari & Oaki Ryan as our Pet(s) of the Week. April Ryan’s red poodles enjoy catching bubbles, playing with their dog friends, people- and animal-watching, and enjoying each other’s company.

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There you have it, Contrarians—another week of losses for Donald Trump and gains for democracy, all covered by The Contrarian with a helping of culture for good measure. See you bright and early at 9:15 AM ET on Monday for Coffee with the Contrarians, with Jen and a special guest.

Warmly, Norm