The two biggest stories in our opening list are Trump’s campaign of intimidating the media, which seems to be working … and the apparent ascension of the world’s richest man to the unelected position of Acting President-elect. 

Also as we recorded on Friday morning, we have:

• 
  
• Congress in chaos as the Musk-Johnson budget bill dies a quick death, opening the door to Mike Johnson becoming the latest House Speaker to get ousted
  
• Tin-hat conspiracy theories fanning the flames in New Jersey,
  
• Trump trolls our neighbors to the north, and flips the bird to the Bahamas by naming Herschel Walker as the U.S. ambassador.
  
• The state House emulated the chaos of the U.S. House with the Speaker unable to even assemble a quorum for the last day of session, raising questions about Speaker Joe Tate’s upcoming campaign for Detroit mayor
  
• The race for Michigan Democratic Party chair may over before it starts as Governor Whitmer endorses longtime ally Curtis Hertel Jr. 
  
• In a rare moment of positive news, 120 Democrats in Congress are calling on President BIden to certify the Equal Rights Amendment to the Constitution – an amendment that originated with Michigan’s glass-ceiling breaking Congresswoman Martha Griffiths.
  
• A majority of Americans oppose Trump’s proposals to test democracy’s limits
  
• Pretending he has an electoral mandate, Trump keeps making stuff up
  
• Appeals court removes prosecutor Fani Willis from Georgia election case against Trump
  
• Trump’s transition is happening over private emails. Federal officials are nervous
  

THIS WEEK’S GUEST

Even in presidential elections, 2 in 5 American citizens choose to sit things out. It’s even worse in non-presidential election years. A veteran political consultant believes we can and should improve those numbers by embracing technology. In his book “Vote with Your Phone,” Bradley Tusk believes that allowing Americans to vote in elections from their phones would dramatically increase turnout, reduce extremism, and fix our broken politics. Beyond that, mobile voting will break down barriers that have made in-person and even mail voting inaccessible for countless Americans — younger voters, tribal voters, military voters, voters with disabilities, and many others.

Tusk is currently the Managing Partner and Co-founder of Tusk Venture Partners, the world’s first venture capital fund that invests solely in early stage startups in highly regulated industries, and the founder of political consulting firm Tusk Strategies.  He is also an adjunct professor at Columbia Business School. Earlier in his career, Bradley served as campaign manager for Mike Bloomberg’s 2009 mayoral race, as Deputy Governor of Illinois, overseeing the state’s budget, operations, legislation, policy and communications, as communications director for Senator Chuck Schumer, and as Uber’s first political advisor. 

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