How Trump's clash with the courts is brewing into an 'all-out war' | The Excerpt
On Tuesday’s episode of The Excerpt podcast: Paste BN White House Reporter Zac Anderson takes a look at President Donald Trump's clash with judges. Horse-drawn caisson funerals will soon resume at Arlington National Cemetery. Paste BN Data Reporter Ignacio Calderon discusses how President Trump delayed pollution limits on the nation’s dirtiest coal plants. The coasts face a crisis as land sinks and seas rise. Penguin poop may help fight climate change.
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Hit play on the player below to hear the podcast and follow along with the transcript beneath it. This transcript was automatically generated, and then edited for clarity in its current form. There may be some differences between the audio and the text.
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Taylor Wilson:
Good morning. I'm Taylor Wilson, and today is Tuesday, May 27th, 2025. This is The Excerpt.
Today, how Trump has leaned into his clash with the courts, plus a return of a unique sort of funeral to Arlington National Cemetery as we remember the fallen this week, and we take a closer look at a move that delays a key pollution rule for dozens of coal power plants.
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President Donald Trump and his allies have led an intense pressure campaign on the judiciary. I spoke with Paste BN White House reporter Zac Anderson about his clash with the courts. Thanks as always for joining me, Zac.
Zac Anderson:
Thanks for having me.
Taylor Wilson:
So just starting here, Zac, what are some of the ways we've seen Trump go after the judiciary in recent months? I know we could talk for an hour about some of these things, but just give us a quick summary.
Zac Anderson:
He's really led a pretty aggressive pressure campaign on the judiciary, responding to a number of legal setbacks that have been lobbed against him by different judges. He's called for impeaching a judge. There's been a push by Trump's allies to defund the judiciary. There's been legislation to try and stop the process of nationwide injunctions that some judges have used to block some of Trump's legal efforts. It's really been an all-out press here.
Taylor Wilson:
Well, and conservative activists and some lawmakers are also pushing Trump in this direction, right, Zac? I mean, how is that playing out?
Zac Anderson:
Yeah. You're seeing a huge support for the president from some of his conservative allies. There's a group called the Article III Project that has been coordinating phone calls, emails, social media messages to members of Congress. There's various right-wing personalities online who have been pushing this. There's an individual who goes by DC Draino, his actual name is Rogan O'Handley, and he has really helped popularize the idea of suspending habeas corpus, the due process rights in the Constitution. You've seen Steve Bannon with his War Room podcast really promote this. So a lot of pressure from right-wing activists for Trump to reign in the judiciary and push back on some of these legal rulings.
Taylor Wilson:
Zac, we've heard this term constitutional crisis pop up a lot in recent months. How are both folks on the right and the left really worried about a constitutional crisis, albeit in different ways?
Zac Anderson:
This was something we really heard more from the left initially. There was a lot of concern amongst Democrats, and not just Democrats, people in the center, former Republicans as well, who disagree with Trump and his approach to the judiciary who have raised questions about his administration's actions, have accused him of defying court orders, most prominently the case of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, where the Supreme Court ruled that Trump needed to facilitate bringing Abrego Garcia back from El Salvador after wrongly deporting him there, and the administration has not done that. So you saw Democrat Senator Adam Schiff come out and say that we're in the middle of a constitutional crisis, that basically Trump is ignoring court orders here.
The right has started to adopt the constitutional crisis language as well. Steve Bannon has talked about it. Steve Bannon being Trump's former White House Chief Strategist and very involved in his 2016 campaign, a prominent figure on the right. He's talked about that there's a constitutional crisis brewing. The way that he describes it is more that Trump's constitutional authority, his executive branch authority, is being usurped by the courts.
Taylor Wilson:
I know you spoke with a number of legal and constitutional scholars for this piece, Zac. What was your biggest takeaway from those conversations with those folks?
Zac Anderson:
Yeah. I talked to a former federal judge, a number of constitutional scholars, and others who expressed alarm over Trump's rhetoric and basically saying that he's misrepresenting how the judiciary does their job. This idea of suspending habeas corpus, which Trump's deputy chief of staff, Stephen Miller, said that the administration is actively considering. Multiple constitutional scholars that I spoke to said that it's clear that the president cannot do that unilaterally, that he would need congressional authority to do that. So if Trump tried to go forward with that, that would present a big constitutional issue. But more broadly, some of the folks that I talked to just said that the rhetoric against the judiciary seems aimed at sort of delegitimizing some of these court rulings.
Taylor Wilson:
This was another great read from you, Zac. Zac Anderson covers the White House for Paste BN. Thanks, Zac.
Zac Anderson:
Thank you.
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Taylor Wilson:
As Americans mark Memorial Day this week, the Army's Caisson Department continues to prepare for a return of a special kind of funeral at the Arlington National Cemetery. The unit is in its final days of practice preparing for the return June 2nd of carrying deceased troops by horse-drawn wagon to their graves, a tradition that dates to the 19th century. For decades, soldiers have been providing funeral services at the cemetery with caissons, wagons that once hauled supplies to the front and brought fallen troops home.
That stopped in May of 2023 after two of the unit's horses died after gravel they'd eaten fouled their guts. An Army investigation found four horses had died in a year. The Army's herd had grown old, and their training and facilities were outdated. Since then, the Army has spent more than $28 million to upgrade stables, rehabilitate horses, buy new and younger ones, and hire experts to advise on their care and training. Their equipment, from rubber mats to cushion their hooves to custom-made saddles for their backs, has also been improved. The Caisson Department passed its first major test in January, carrying the casket of former president Jimmy Carter to the White House during his state funeral.
Though it hasn't all gone smoothly. Earlier this spring, something spooked the horses and a few bolted before they could be controlled, leading to a soldier's broken leg. Still, the caisson ceremony holds special meaning for relatives of the fallen. The first funerals with caissons will be limited to troops killed in action, recipients of the Medal of Honor, or Prisoner of War Medal and high-ranking service members. About 25 service members whose families have waited during the two-year pause will also be carried to their graves by caisson. You can read more with the link in today's show notes.
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New federal actions could stall or even erase efforts to reduce air pollution. That includes a move last month from President Donald Trump that delays a key pollution rule for dozens of coal power plants. I spoke with Paste BN data reporter Ignacio Calderon to learn more. Thanks for joining me, Ignacio.
Ignacio Calderon:
Hi. Thank you so much for having me here.
Taylor Wilson:
So great reporting work on this. I want to just start by hearing about Paulette Goree, her story in this part of East Texas, in the town of Beckville.
Ignacio Calderon:
Paulette Goree is a longtime resident of Beckville, Texas, which is a town of under 800 people, and she loves to spend time outdoors. She has a garden where she grows tomatoes, squash, and peppers. But over the years living in this town just a couple miles away from the Martin Lake coal power plant, she's seen how the air pollution in the area has affected people's health there. She told me that her sister died from a lung disease. Her dad had the same lung disease, her husband has it now, and she herself has asthma. So now whenever she wants to go outside, she first checks the air quality monitor on her phone app, and she carries an inhaler at all times.
Taylor Wilson:
Wow. So in terms of the Trump Administration on this issue, what has Trump done in terms of pollution limits on coal plants, and what did he issue last month in particular, Ignacio?
Ignacio Calderon:
Last month in April, President Donald Trump issued a proclamation that granted an exemption to over 60 power plants, and basically this delays, by two years, when they have to comply with updated requirements from an air pollution rule that's related to mercury and fine particles. This rule was updated by the Biden Administration last year, and it would've required continuous emission monitoring and tighter pollution limits for plants that burn lignite coal, which is the lowest grade of coal. And at the same time, we have the Environmental Protection Agency that's proposing to reconsider the updated standards altogether, and that means that the plants would never have to meet those standards at all.
Taylor Wilson:
Who among these exempt plants stood out to you, Ignacio? And I guess we're really talking about some of the largest greenhouse gas emitters, is that correct?
Ignacio Calderon:
Yeah, that's correct. I don't think there's any one particular one that really stood out. I think to me it was more the fact that overall, the group of exempted power plants just includes many of the nation's biggest polluters. We combined several data sets from the EPA, and we found that, for example, six out of the top 10 greenhouse gas emitters from last year are included on these exemption lists. But we also found that around half of the companies and parent companies that operate these power plants have a history of penalties and settlements for environmental violations. And in many cases, these were for air pollution and sometimes for groundwater contamination.
Taylor Wilson:
Ignacio, what are the health consequences at stake here that we're really talking about?
Ignacio Calderon:
So there's several pollutants that are being put out by these power plants, but we have mercury, for example, that can impact brain development and the nervous system. And mercury, when it's emitted by power plants, it's carried out in the soot. So these are tiny particles which are much smaller than the width of a human hair, and that can get into your lungs and into your bloodstream. And exposure to these particles has been linked to things from asthma attacks all the way to premature death.
Taylor Wilson:
Coal's place in the country's energy grid has really declined in recent decades. How big a part of the U.S. energy picture is it now?
Ignacio Calderon:
So by the turn of the 20th century, coal made up roughly half of the electricity generation here, but last year that number was around 15%. And that'll likely keep dropping, not just because of policy, but just because of economics as there're cheaper energy sources now like renewable and gas.
Taylor Wilson:
Can states or local governments pick up where the EPA might be lacking? I've sort of wondered this aloud on a number of issues, especially over the last few months.
Ignacio Calderon:
Yes. At the end of the day, states and local governments still play a huge role in protecting air quality. These are the places that are going to write and enforce permits, and these are also the places that'll feel the consequences the most from local air pollution. So I think they do have an incentive to pick up where the EPA might be lacking.
Taylor Wilson:
And Ignacio, I guess for the Trump Administration, their perspective is it's all about cheaper energy, right?
Ignacio Calderon:
Yeah. The Trump Administration earlier this year announced that we are on a national energy emergency, and that's how they're trying to boost coal. But again, we have alternatives that are getting cheaper, and that's without even taking into account the cost of premature deaths, missed school days, missed work days from health impacts brought by the coal pollution.
Taylor Wilson:
Right. In terms of what's next for this conversation, Ignacio, what are you keeping an eye on in terms of your reporting and just where this conversation goes from here?
Ignacio Calderon:
I think this is only one of the many attempts that the Trump EPA has taken to scrap or scale down air quality regulations. On the one side, I think they face an uphill battle because there is an overwhelming amount of scientific evidence on the health impacts for this pollution. So this is likely going to be a fight that's going to last a couple years. But then at the same time, any delay, like these two-year exemptions, can hurt communities around the country.
Taylor Wilson:
All right. Ignacio Calderon is a data reporter with Paste BN. Great insight and breakdown here for us, Ignacio. Thanks so much.
Ignacio Calderon:
Thank you.
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Taylor Wilson:
A crisis of sinking land and rising water is playing out along the country's coastline. Over the past century, sea levels have climbed about a foot or more in some U.S. cities, 11 inches in New York and Boston, 12 in Charleston, South Carolina, 18 in Norfolk, Virginia, and 25 in Galveston, Texas, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Seas are forecast to rise from eight to 23 inches along the nation's coast by 2050, with the higher increases along the Northern Gulf Coast and Mid-Atlantic. Every inch of additional water is expected to move farther inland, making flood events worse and putting more properties at risk. Meanwhile in many coastal areas, the land is sinking, making flooding an even greater issue. You can read more about some of the latest findings with a link in today's show notes.
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A new study finds that penguin poop may be applying a key role in keeping climate change in check over Antarctica. Specifically ammonia released from penguin poop, AKA guano, may help to reduce the effects of climate change in the Antarctic by contributing to increased cloud formation according to the study published in the journal Communications Earth & Environment. Lead study author Matthew Boyer told the Washington Post that there are connections between things that happen on our natural planet that we just don't necessarily expect.
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Thanks for listening to The Excerpt. You can get the podcast wherever you get your audio, and if you're on a smart speaker, just ask for The Excerpt. As always, if you have any comments or questions, you can email us at podcasts@usatoday.com. I'm Taylor Wilson. I'll be back tomorrow with more of The Excerpt from Paste BN.