• Join Puck

    Directly Supporting Authors

    A new economic model in which writers are also partners in the business.

    Personalized Subscriptions

    Customize your settings to receive the newsletters you want from the authors you follow.

    Stay in the Know

    Connect directly with Puck talent through email and exclusive events.

  • What is puck? Newsletters Authors Podcasts Events Gift Puck Careers

Endless Executive Time

Trump, as we’ve all figured out by now and as he’s previewed for months, is determined to test the limits of presidential power—and the other branches may be determined to let him.

Donald Trump
During his first nine days, Trump has outdone even himself, testing the bounds of the presidency more quickly and aggressively than at any point during his first term. Photo: Joe Raedle/Getty Images
Leigh Ann Caldwell
January 30, 2025

Not 48 hours after Trump’s Office of Management and Budget incited abject chaos in Washington by ordering the freeze of some $3 trillion in federal spending, the White House appeared to back down—rescinding the offending memo while claiming that the “federal funding freeze” still stood. Whoops! The administration, naturally, blamed the media for the turmoil, with top advisor Stephen Miller calling the outcry “the first dumb media hoax of 2025” just a day before the O.M.B. reversed course.