This week, Emily Bazelon, John Dickerson, and David Plotz discuss what the spate of legal defeats for the Trump administration portends as cases wind toward the Supreme Court, the real world effects of RFK Jr. gutting the CDC with guest Dr. Josh Sharfstein[1], and whether Democrats should compel government shutdown or avoid it now that Congress is back.
Here are some notes and references from this week’s show:
Sonja Sharp for the Los Angeles Times: Trump deployment of military troops to Los Angeles was illegal, judge rules in blistering opinion[2]
Jess Bravin for The Wall Street Journal: Trump Tariff Case Ups Ante at Supreme Court[3]
Jeremy Roebuck for The Washington Post: Federal appellate panel rejects Trump’s deportations under wartime law[4]
Jay Kuo for The Status Kuo (Substack): The Emperor Got Struck Back[5]
Michael Scherer for The Atlantic: The Anti-Trump Strategy That’s Actually Working[6]
Noah Feldman for Bloomberg (Opinion): The Supreme Court’s Majority Is Playing the Long Game[7]
The Lawfare Podcast, September 2, 2025: Lawfare Daily: Federal Judges Rule Against Trump on National Guard Deployment, Tariffs, and Removal of Migrant Children to Guatemala[8]
Ezra Klein for The New York Times (Opinion): The Supreme Court Is Backing Trump’s Power Grab[9]
Elizabeth Cooney for STAT: Crisis within CDC is spilling into real world, experts say[10]
Richard Besser, Mandy K. Cohen, William Foege, Tom Frieden, Jeffrey Koplan, William Roper, David Satcher, Anne Schuchat, and Rochelle P. Walensky, The New York Times (Opinion: Guest Essay): We Ran the C.D.C.: Kennedy Is Endangering Every American’s Health[11]
Dylan Scott for Vox: The bigger story behind the mass exodus of CDC leadership[12]
The Editors of National Review: RFK Jr. Is Compounding the CDC’s Covid Mistakes[13]
Robert Kuttner for The American Prospect: The CDC Crisis and Republican Complicity[14]
Simon J. Levien for Politico: RFK Jr. is forcing doctors to make a tough choice[15]
Public Health On Call Podcast with host Dr. Josh Sharfstein, September 2, 2025: Episode 940 – A Brief Update: CDC In Crisis (on YouTube, audio-only podcast 8:18 long)[16]
Rachael Bade for Politico: Democrats Flinched During the Last Spending Showdown. They Should Do It Again.[17]
Kimberley A. Strassel for The Wall Street Journal (Opinion): Trump Baits a Shutdown Hook[18]
David Dayen for The American Prospect: There’s No More Business as Usual in Washington[19]
Here are this week’s chatters:
Emily: Cakewalk Weddings on Medium: Why Second Weddings Feel Different (and That’s a Good Thing)[20]; Inselboda.com: Why a second ceremony is often more emotional than the first wedding[21]; Rivet Events: Mixing Old and New: Blending Generations on the Dance Floor for Weddings[22].
John: MoneyWatch for CBS News: Federal data reveals 1.2 million drop in immigrant workers under Trump; Stephanie Kramer and Jeffrey S. Passel for Pew Center: What the data says about immigrants in the U.S.[23][24]
David: Ruben Correa and Gordon Ebanks for CNN: Powerball jackpot grows to $1.7 billion, third largest in US lottery history[25]; Kyle Wills for WKBN Youngstown on Yahoo! News: Benefits of dreaming about winning the lottery[26]; The Atlas Obscura Explorer’s Guide to Inventing the World[27] by Dylan Thuras and Jennifer Swanson.
Listener chatter from John Haggard in Alabaster, Alabama: Noah Wortham for the Shelby County Reporter: Cost of simplicity: State SSUT structure affects local cities[28]
For this week’s Slate Plus bonus episode, Emily, John, and David discuss NASA Voyager’s journey through space as it reaches a new milestone and wax philosophical about the immensity of the universe and Earth’s place in it.
In the latest Gabfest Reads[29], Emily talks with Jonathan Mahler[30] about his new book, The Gods of New York[31]. They discuss the unraveling of Mayor Ed Koch’s New York City; how the city’s current mayoral race is mirroring the past; and more.
Email your chatters, questions, and comments to gabfest@slate.com. (Messages may be referenced by name unless the writer stipulates otherwise.)
Podcast production by Kevin Bendis
Research by Emily Ditto
Want more Political Gabfest? Join Slate Plus to unlock weekly bonus episodes. Plus, you’ll access ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. You can subscribe directly from the Political Gabfest show page on Apple Podcasts[32] and Spotify[33]. Or visit slate.com/gabfestplus[34] to get access wherever you listen.
References
- ^ Dr. Josh Sharfstein (publichealth.jhu.edu)
- ^ Trump deployment of military troops to Los Angeles was illegal, judge rules in blistering opinion (www.latimes.com)
- ^ Trump Tariff Case Ups Ante at Supreme Court (www.wsj.com)
- ^ Federal appellate panel rejects Trump’s deportations under wartime law (www.washingtonpost.com)
- ^ The Emperor Got Struck Back (statuskuo.substack.com)
- ^ The Anti-Trump Strategy That’s Actually Working (www.theatlantic.com)
- ^ The Supreme Court’s Majority Is Playing the Long Game (www.bloomberg.com)
- ^ Lawfare Daily: Federal Judges Rule Against Trump on National Guard Deployment, Tariffs, and Removal of Migrant Children to Guatemala (www.lawfaremedia.org)
- ^ The Supreme Court Is Backing Trump’s Power Grab (www.nytimes.com)
- ^ Crisis within CDC is spilling into real world, experts say (www.statnews.com)
- ^ We Ran the C.D.C.: Kennedy Is Endangering Every American’s Health (www.nytimes.com)
- ^ The bigger story behind the mass exodus of CDC leadership (www.vox.com)
- ^ RFK Jr. Is Compounding the CDC’s Covid Mistakes (www.nationalreview.com)
- ^ The CDC Crisis and Republican Complicity (prospect.org)
- ^ RFK Jr. is forcing doctors to make a tough choice (www.politico.com)
- ^ Episode 940 – A Brief Update: CDC In Crisis (on YouTube, audio-only podcast 8:18 long) (www.youtube.com)
- ^ Democrats Flinched During the Last Spending Showdown. They Should Do It Again. (www.politico.com)
- ^ Trump Baits a Shutdown Hook (www.wsj.com)
- ^ There’s No More Business as Usual in Washington (prospect.org)
- ^ Why Second Weddings Feel Different (and That’s a Good Thing) (cakewalkelopements.medium.com)
- ^ Why a second ceremony is often more emotional than the first wedding (www.inselboda.com)
- ^ Mixing Old and New: Blending Generations on the Dance Floor for Weddings (www.rivetevents.com)
- ^ Federal data reveals 1.2 million drop in immigrant workers under Trump (www.cbsnews.com)
- ^ What the data says about immigrants in the U.S. (www.pewresearch.org)
- ^ Powerball jackpot grows to $1.7 billion, third largest in US lottery history (www.cnn.com)
- ^ Benefits of dreaming about winning the lottery (www.yahoo.com)
- ^ The Atlas Obscura Explorer’s Guide to Inventing the World (www.amazon.com)
- ^ Cost of simplicity: State SSUT structure affects local cities (www.shelbycountyreporter.com)
- ^ Gabfest Reads (slate.com)
- ^ Jonathan Mahler (www.nytimes.com)
- ^ The Gods of New York (www.amazon.com)
- ^ Apple Podcasts (podcasts.apple.com)
- ^ Spotify (open.spotify.com)
- ^ slate.com/gabfestplus (slate.com)