Good Morning! First, the weather: We keep getting edged by snow. First, we get some big, fluffy, beautiful flakes that refuse to actually accumulate; Then they turn into black ice on the roads; Then we get promises of snow in the future. Well, expect more of that this week. Highs in the 40s, lows in the 20s, and occasional snow frolicking.

Okay, let’s start with the Trump of it all.

RFK Clears the First Hurdle: This morning, the Senate Finance Committee voted along party lines (14-13) to move the nomination of RFK Jr. to the full Senate. The party-line vote wouldn’t typically be surprising in this loyalty-testing environment we’re in, but one of those Republicans is Louisiana’s Bill Cassidy, a physician who specialized in treating liver disease. (Read: a person who at least theoretically believes in science.) Just before the vote, Cassidy, who was considered a potential deciding vote, tweeted: “I’ve had very intense conversations with Bobby and the White House over the weekend and even this morning….With the serious commitments I’ve received from the administration and the opportunity to make progress on the issues we agree on like healthy foods and a pro-American agenda, I will vote yes.” This morning, carrot sticks and fascism beat vaccine science.

DOGE Goes After DOE: According to the Washington Post’s sources inside the White House, Trump is drafting an order that aims to “eventually” dismantle the Department of Education. In a surprising moment of self-awareness, the order acknowledges that the DOE can only be shut down by Congress, so in the meantime, the admin has instructed the DOE to “diminish itself,” WaPo said. Elon’s DOGE is already on it, putting dozens of staffers on administrative leave, and pressuring staff to quit voluntarily. As a little glimmer of hope: both Dems and Republicans told WaPo that it’s extremely unlikely that Congress would ever summon up the supermajority required to actually defund the DOE. At least we agree on one thing.

“Chaotic and Vindictive”: This week, the Trump administration warned more than 1,100 EPA employees who work on climate change, reducing air pollution, and enforcing environmental laws that they could be fired at any time. According to NYT, an email was sent to staff members who’d been hired within the past year and have probationary status. The paper reported that many of those employees were part of the Biden administration’s effort to rebuild the agency, after it had been depleted by Trump in his first term. “EPA is at the center of the bullseye for President Trump’s vindictive purge of public servants,” said Michelle Roos, executive director of the Environmental Protection Network, a group of EPA alumni. In an interview with the Times, she called it “the most chaotic and vindictive transition in the history of the Environmental Protection Agency.”

Stepping Back for a Sec: If you’ve been feeling disoriented and overwhelmed by the steady onslaught of executive action by Trump—well first, that’s by design. It’s Stephen Miller’s “flood the zone” philosophy in action. But it’s getting hard to see the forest for the trees. NYT’s chief White House correspondent, Peter Baker, took a helpful step back to look at the scope of what’s happened in the last two weeks. Spoiler alert: your feelings are valid. Baker called the admin’s style “a Gatling gun approach to governing,” where “Trump has left virtually no corner of Washington untouched as he seeks to tear down the old apparatus and refashion it to his liking.” According to the advisers that Baker spoke to, this onslaught isn’t expected to slow down, so plan for a long haul, and take care of yourself. It’s a marathon, not a sprint.

Joe Kent is Back?: No matter how many times southern Washington rejects him, former Congressional candidate Joe Kent keeps coming back like a coiffed punch-me clown. Trump’s former “Young Guns” is back in the news as Trump’s nominee to direct the National Terrorism Center. “As a Soldier, Green Beret, and CIA Officer, Joe has hunted down terrorists and criminals his entire adult life,” Trump wrote. That is—except for all those years when he was busy losing elections to Democrats in red districts. Except then.

UW Gets a New Prez: Yesterday, the University of Washington Board of Regents announced that they’d selected Robert J. Jones as the 34th President of the UW. Currently the chancellor of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, he plans to join UW on August 1. This will be the third large, public, research university he’s run. He is a respected authority on plant physiology. Jones is replacing Ana Mari Cauce, the first woman to run UW, and Jones will be the first Black person to run the university in its 164-year history—but that detail was notably absent from the messaging on the university’s website. Should we read into the fact that a university that “receives more federal research dollars than any other US public university” isn’t touting a diversity win? You tell me.

Sara Nelson Racks Her Brain: In our favorite proof-reading error so far this week, someone on City Council President Sara Nelson’s team accidentally left placeholder text in an email touting that her reelection campaign had “raised more than over [sic] $100,000 in record time.” A few paragraphs into their victory lap, they wrote: “Under Nelson’s leadership as President, Council passed fifteen pieces of public safety legislation, added mobile medication units bringing treatment to hard-hit areas, increased resources and partnerships for a safer, more vibrant Downtown, and [something more left-leaning].” Some poor schmuck pressed send before anyone could come up with one single left-leaning thing Nelson did. It’s like that one time you misspelled “detail-oriented” on your resume, but, you know, worse.

“It Was Mayhem”: For once, we’re not talking about mayhem in the federal government. We’re (weirdly) talking about Girls’ High School basketball. In the final seconds of a Garfield vs. West Seattle game in January, several players got into a fist fight. Teammates tried to separate them, coaches and parents got involved. Players got suspended for a game or two. It was a bummer. But then the video got onto Twitter, and commenters got real gross and racist about the two teams from predominantly Black schools. Then Barstool Sports weighed in with their not-so-subtle dogwhistles about how girls’ basketball might need “enforcers” now. And yesterday, almost a month after the fight, the Seattle Times demanded “answers” from SPS. What answers? We’re really not sure. But we’re pretty sure we already know more about these minors’ lives than we need to. But in case you’re wondering, West Seattle won that game, 48-39.

Gaiman Gets Sued: Remember the New York Magazine cover story detailing fantasy writer Neil Gaiman’s alleged history of sex crimes? It was a week before the inauguration, which was a whole-ass lifetime ago. This week, a woman filed a lawsuit for sexual assault, saying he raped her multiple times while she worked for his family as a live-in nanny. The suit also included claims of human trafficking, claiming that he coerced her into forced sexual encounters with him as a condition of her employment.

RIP Shelley: Wildrose co-owner Shelley Brothers passed away this week. She dedicated her life to keeping one of the country’s only lesbian bars alive, and became a local celebrity simply by being herself, unapologetically, in that space. The Rose is holding a celebration of life for her on February 16th. Go pay your respects.

 

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