Robert F. Kennedy Jr. looks on during the Senate HELP Committee hearing to examine his nomination to be secretary of Health and Human Services, in Washington, on Jan. 30, 2025. | Jason Andrew for POLITICO
WILL THE REAL POPULISTS PLEASE STAND UP— Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., who is set to be confirmed on Thursday as Health and Human Services secretary, wants to remake the U.S. food system and take on the pharmaceutical industry. Tulsi Gabbard, who was confirmed as director of national intelligence today, has been sharply critical of U.S. interventionism overseas. Lori Chavez-DeRemer, who’s been nominated to lead the Department of Labor, supports more protections for workers to organize.
These populist policies are right at home in progressive circles, yet they are associated with the eclectic Cabinet nominees of President Donald Trump. It’s created a moment of dissonance for many liberal members of Congress, who are struggling to make sense of a new political order where they suddenly share some policy goals with a populist MAGA administration whose ideology and general agenda is loathed by the left.
Some of those Democrats refuse to even acknowledge any common ground, or the idea that any members of Trump’s Cabinet are interested in pursuing an agenda that aligns in any way with the needs of working class Americans.
“Trump’s people are grifters, fake populists,” said Congressional Progressive Caucus Chair Greg Casar (D-Texas). “When they stumble upon a good idea, it tends to be on accident more than on purpose.”
“I'm not convinced that either … Kennedy and Gabbard are actually populists,” Vermont Democrat Becca Balint, a member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, said in an interview in mid-December. “Or [if] they're just opportunists.”
In part, that’s because defining a true populist has never been simple. Populism — a big ideological net described most simply as a movement to position so-called ‘common’ interests against the interests of the ‘elite’ — originated in the 19th century. It took shape in opposition to the broad control industrialists like Cornelius Vanderbilt and Andrew Carnegie held over railroads, farm prices, steel mills, politics and more, explains Joe Lowndes, a lecturer of political science at Hunter College with a focus on right-wing politics and populism. Populism took on many personalities throughout the 20th century: the label was tacked onto progressive reform movements between 1890-1920 but also to McCarthyism in the 50’s.
“What left wing populism and right wing populism have in common is the idea that you've got outsiders who are parasitic on you,” Lowndes says. The two sides differ in who they blame: The left focuses its ire on economic elites while the right targets those whose ideas — or existence — is perceived to hurt everyday, hard-working Americans.
These ideas resonated with voters of all backgrounds and political affiliations in 2024, as evidenced by the popularity of Kennedy — who reached 15 percent support in the presidential race in July, according to Pew — and the mismatch of voters splitting tickets between Trump and working class House Democrats like Washingtonian Marie Gluesenkamp Perez or New Yorker Pat Ryan. But it was Trump who found a way to get Kennedy on his side, not Vice President Kamala Harris.
“The right … [has] been flexible,” says Lowndes. “And willing to … bring into its orbit all kinds of politics that you wouldn’t historically have associated with it.”
Many of Trump’s appointees, of course, are antithetical to populist principles — his list of Cabinet and agency nominees is teeming with billionaires and pro-Wall Street economic nominees like Scott Bessent and Howard Lutnick.
But the few that are more aligned with populist thinking aren’t exactly being welcomed by Democrats. Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), who argued immediately after the election that Democrats need to embrace populism to build a more durable political coalition, repeatedly left questions about Kennedy’s opposition to corporate agriculture and Big Pharma unanswered when pressed by POLITICO on the Hill in December, and instead pivoted to Kennedy’s position on vaccines and criticized Trump’s economic cabinet picks.
“I don’t buy this narrative,” Murphy said, refusing to believe that Kennedy and Gabbard might signal any populist policy shift on the part of Trump. Kennedy and Gabbard were political quid pro quo, Murphy argued, and the policy proof is in Trump’s choices for economic positions. “In almost every meaningful economic post, he has people who are corporate shills… this is going to be a pro-corporate White House from beginning to end.”
The ongoing, who’s-the-real-populist tensions were on full display during Kennedy’s testimony in the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee on January 30 Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), in his closing statement, contrasted his working class positions with the administration.
“I think in many ways, President Trump and Mr. Kennedy have asked some of the right questions,” Sanders said — from the broken economy to a corrupt political system. “Problem is, their answers will only make a bad situation worse.”
Kennedy latched on to Sanders’ point on corruption.
“Bernie, the problem of corruption is not just in the federal agencies, it’s in Congress too,” Kennedy said, arguing that many members of the HELP panel — including Sanders — receive money from the pharmaceutical industry. “In 2020 you were the single largest receiver of pharmaceutical money,” RFK said, pointing his finger at Sanders.
Sanders waved a finger right back. “Because I had contributions from workers all over this country,” Sanders hollered over Kennedy. “Workers!”
Hectoring one of Congress’ foremost left-wing populists wasn’t a promising beginning, but Balint, Sanders’ congressional delegation colleague from Vermont, doesn’t completely write off the idea that the two sides might eventually find common ground.
“Will we have an opportunity to make a real difference?” she asked. “It depends if these people are true populists.”
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What'd I Miss?
— Trump assumes Kennedy Center chairmanship, ousts longtime president: In the latest effort to put President Donald Trump’s stamp on the Kennedy Center, the board of trustees today fired its longtime president Deborah Rutter, according to two people familiar with the matter, and added several Trump-linked trustees. Trump dialed into the board meeting today and welcomed everybody, telling board members that the center had “become too woke,” according to one of the people. The group also elected longtime Trump ally Ric Grenell as Rutter’s interim replacement.
— ACLU sues Trump over Gitmo migrant detainees’ access to attorneys: The Trump administration is violating the constitutional rights of migrant detainees at Guantanamo Bay by denying them access to lawyers, the American Civil Liberties Union said in a lawsuit filed today. The suit, filed in federal court in Washington, D.C, seeks a court order requiring the administration to give attorneys in-person access to the detainees as soon as possible and immediate video and telephone access in the interim. It argues that the detainees’ lack of access to attorneys violates their legal right to counsel, and that legal organizations have their own First Amendment right to meet with migrants held at the naval base in Cuba.
— Trump calls for lower borrowing costs, hinting at potential clash with Fed: President Donald Trump called for lower interest rates to go along with new tariffs he’s planning, teasing a potential conflict with Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, who is in no rush to cut borrowing costs as inflation fears grow. “Interest Rates should be lowered, something which would go hand in hand with upcoming Tariffs!!! Lets Rock and Roll, America!!!” the president posted on his social media account, Truth Social, on Wednesday morning. Trump’s comments stand in stark contrast to those of Powell, who this week told lawmakers that policymakers do “not need to be in a hurry to adjust our policy stance,” echoing comments he made after the Fed left rates unchanged at its January meeting.
— Trump administration rescinds Biden-era college athlete pay guidance: The Trump administration is rescinding a Biden-era memo that declared higher education institutions could violate federal anti-sex discrimination laws if they failed to provide “equivalent” opportunities to women student-athletes when paying them for the use of their name, image and likeness rights. “The NIL guidance, rammed through by the Biden Administration in its final days, is overly burdensome, profoundly unfair, and it goes well beyond what agency guidance is intended to achieve,” said Craig Trainor, the department’s acting assistant secretary for civil rights.
The vote was 52 to 48. No Democrats voted in support for the former lawmaker.
Gabbard has been one of Trump’s most contentious nominees because of her past remarks on foreign adversaries and concerns about whether she has the experience to do the job. But Republican senators — many of whom had expressed reservations about Gabbard as DNI — overwhelmingly backed her nomination.
The Senate voted 53-47 along party lines to cut off debate on the nomination on Wednesday morning, setting up confirmation that could come as soon as Thursday. The support of Senate Health Committee Chair Bill Cassidy (R-La.), a doctor who initially said he was “struggling” with Kennedy’s reluctance to disavow false claims about vaccines, was key in getting the Senate Finance Committee’s approval last week. Cassidy voted for Kennedy after receiving several assurances from him.
STAFFING RFK — Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has tapped a retired border patrol chief to be one of his senior advisers, in a sign of the outsized role that the government’s health department could once again play in managing the fallout of President Donald Trump’s deportation policies. Chris Clem, a longtime U.S. Border Patrol agent who supported Kennedy’s 2024 run for president, joined the Health and Human Services Department in recent weeks, two people familiar with the appointment said and an HHS spokesperson confirmed.
He is expected to work closely with Kennedy as one of a handful of top aides, focusing on HHS’ coordination with other agencies on border issues and the department’s own responsibility for caring for unaccompanied migrant children.
AROUND THE WORLD
President Donald Trump meets with King Abdullah II of Jordan during a meeting in the Oval Office of the White House on Feb. 11, 2025. | Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images
Speaking in a phone call, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and Jordan’s King Abdullah II stressed their countries’ “shared position” on reconstructing Gaza and allowing aid to flow into the strip “without displacing the Palestinians from their land,” Jordan’s monarchy said in a statement.
“The two leaders acknowledged President Trump’s leadership in working towards the long-awaited goal of establishing a Palestinian state along the borders of June 4, 1967, with East Jerusalem as its capital,” Egypt’s presidency added in its own statement.
Trump said last week that the U.S. could take over Gaza, expel its two million Palestinians to neighboring countries and redevelop the land as the “the Riviera of the Middle East.” He made the proposal during a press conference at the White House with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and has repeatedly doubled down on it.
Nightly Number
$4.95
The average price of a dozen Grade A eggs in U.S. cities in January, according to the most recent consumer price index. That’s a record high, eclipsing the previous record of $4.82 set two years earlier. The spike comes amidst a bird flu outbreak.
RADAR SWEEP
TICKET TORTURE — Fans are desperate to see their favorite pop stars live. But actually securing tickets to see artists like Taylor Swift, Beyoncé or Harry Styles can be a nightmare. Tickets for Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter concert recently went on presale for select fans, but many experienced delays, glitches, and price shock from the exorbitant costs. Millions stand in virtual queues clambering for a chance to see their favorite artists, but are bombarded with obstacles from companies that make it easy for resellers to beat loyal fans. The best seats for Taylor Swift’s Eras tour, for example, were sold for as much as $200,000, which is enough to pay for a house or college tuition. For Vox, Whizy Kim explains why it’s so expensive to see your favorite musicians nowadays.
Parting Image
On this date in 1999: President Bill Clinton reads a statement in the Rose Garden of the White House after the Senate voted not to impeach him on two counts. | AFP via Getty Images
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