--:-- Tracy Mumford: From the New York Times, it's the headlines. I'm Tracy Mumford. Today's Friday, March 28th.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: Here's what we're covering. If we don't do this, we're sunk. Unless this exercise is successful, the ship of America will sink. That's why we're doing it.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: Last night, Elon Musk went on Fox News for an extended interview to defend the drastic cuts he's been making to the federal government through the Department of Government Efficiency.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: So we want to measure twice, if not thrice, and cut once. It was a kind of charm offensive meant to push back on widespread criticism of Doge's slash-and-burn approach, which has kicked off multiple lawsuits and caused chaos across many federal agencies.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: The effort has also been criticized for its secrecy. The full names of some Doge staffers have been closely guarded, even as they sweep through government offices.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: In the interview, Musk was joined by seven of his deputies, men who have until now largely stayed out of the spotlight. And they shared their vision for how they're hoping to reshape things.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: We really believe that the government can have an Apple Store-like experience. Beautifully designed, great user experience, modern systems.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: The billionaire entrepreneur Joe Gebbia was one of them. So was Steve Davis, Musk's longtime aide who worked with him at SpaceX.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: The team said they expect to be able to finish making most of their cuts in the next two months.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: As they push forward with that aggressive effort, the Times has learned that some Republican lawmakers who have celebrated Doge in public have been scrambling behind the scenes to protect their districts from the cuts.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: In one example, when Representative Tom Cole learned that his Oklahoma district might lose a National Weather Center office and an outpost of the Social Security Administration, he and his aides started dialing up their contacts at Doge.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: Within a few days, they got a Doge staffer to reassure them that the offices would stay open.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: The episode underscores the direct access some GOP lawmakers are getting to Doge, Musk, and the White House more generally, while Democrats say their outreach about government cuts has largely been met with silence.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: Meanwhile, in the Senate, a top Republican is denouncing another tactic the White House is using to try and slash funding.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: Susan Collins of Maine, who leads the Appropriations Committee, co-signed a letter accusing President Trump of illegally withholding money that Congress approved.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: Earlier this month, Congress passed a spending bill that included about $12 billion in emergency funding.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: But Trump said in a memo that only a portion of that will be spent because, quote, I do not concur that the added spending is truly for emergency needs.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: Trump's blocking money that was designated for international disaster assistance and narcotics control, among other programs.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: He and his team claim he has the power to make that kind of decision.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: But Collins' letter rejected that, saying the president does not have the power to pick and choose what to fund from a package Congress passed.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: And on the Senate floor...
--:-- Tracy Mumford: Right now, we have a couple of billionaires running our country straight into the ground who seem to have skipped American history.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: Patty Murray, a Democrat on the Appropriations Committee who co-signed the letter with Collins, called out Trump's move.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: And the basic fact that Congress has the power of the purse is something Republicans and Democrats agree on.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: And it won't change no matter what Trump or Elon Musk claim.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: At the Department of Health and Human Services, Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has hired a prominent figure in the anti-vaccine movement to look at the long-debunked theory that vaccines cause autism.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: David Geyer will serve as a senior data analyst at the department. He's published numerous articles trying to tie a preservative that has mercury in it and is used in some vaccines, to autism.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: Kennedy has credited Geyer with shaping his views on the topic, but a review of Geyer's work determined it was marred by flaws, and he was previously found to be practicing medicine without a license.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: Geyer's involvement in any government research has heightened concerns among public health experts that Americans' confidence in vaccines will continue to erode, opening the door for otherwise preventable diseases to spread.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: There's an alarming new snapshot out of how the planet is warming.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: According to data released yesterday, the amount of sea ice on Earth is now at its lowest level ever recorded at this time of year.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: Scientists say the best way to understand just how much ice has gone missing, compared to historic averages, is to imagine that a sheet of ice as big as the entire U.S. east of the Mississippi has melted.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: And experts say that the loss of that ice, which is being accelerated by the burning of fossil fuels, will have a number of profound environmental consequences.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: It will affect ocean currents and weather patterns.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: And the melting is also part of a dangerous feedback loop.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: As the white ice melts, it exposes more and more of the dark surface of the open ocean.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: That, in turn, absorbs more heat from the sun.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: The warmer the ocean gets, the more the ice melts.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: And finally, if that is the sound that makes you think of sharks...
--:-- Tracy Mumford: Turns out you should have been thinking more of this.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: That is the sound of a rigged shark.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: And researchers believe it's the first time a shark's been recorded actively making noise.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: Until recently, sharks were thought to be the stoic silent type, unable to make sound, while dolphins and whales were out there chatting it up.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: But researchers observed 10 rigged sharks in a tank with underwater microphones and heard them all make that clicking noise, most likely by snapping their teeth together.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: Scientists think the sharks make the sound when they're stressed or startled.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: One marine scientist said the discovery expands the growing field of research into how marine animals make and hear sound, something we humans have underestimated in the past, especially for sharks.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: So I guess you could say, we're going to need a bigger microphone.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: Get it? It's from Jaws?
--:-- Tracy Mumford: Okay.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: Those are the headlines.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: Today on The Daily, the Friday Politics Roundtable.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: Times reporters break down the fallout from the leak of military plans in a group chat on Signal.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: That's next in the New York Times audio app, or you can listen wherever you get your podcasts.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: This show is made by Sarah Diamond, Will Jarvis, Jessica Metzger, Jan Stewart, and me, Tracy Mumford.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: Original theme by Dan Powell.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: Special thanks to Isabella Anderson, Larissa Anderson, Maria Byrne, Mahima Chablani, Jake Lucas, Zoe Murphy, Paula Schumann, and John Yoon.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: The headlines will be back on Monday.
