From the Politics Desk

Feb. 5, 2025

In today's edition, Sahil Kapur and Yamiche Alcindor check in with members of the "uncommitted" movement after President Donald Trump's shocking Gaza comments. Plus, Adam Edelman dives into how Republican governors and lawmakers are rushing to align with, or even mimic, Trump's agenda at the state level.

— Adam Wollner

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'Uncommitted' leaders stand by 2024 strategy after Trump floats Gaza takeover

By Sahil Kapur and Yamiche Alcindor

President Donald Trump’s proposal of a U.S. takeover of Gaza that would permanently displace Palestinians has reignited a debate among Democrats over the role the “uncommitted” movement played in their 2024 election defeat.

Groups associated with the pro-Palestinian movement declined to endorse Joe Biden or Kamala Harris when she took over as the Democratic presidential nominee to protest the administration’s handling of the Israel-Hamas war. Uncommitted leaders did not endorse Trump or another candidate, either, but implied in its enduring criticism was that voters could send a message by voting for a third-party option or even staying home.

Now, in the wake of Trump’s comments, which sent shock waves throughout Washington, Democrats are renewing their criticism that the movement weakened their party’s ticket in the presidential election, even though Trump’s record on the Middle East had been more hostile to the Palestinian cause.

Layla Elabed, a co-chair of the “uncommitted” movement, said she felt “sad, angry, and scared for our communities” after Trump’s remarks.

“Harris left a vacuum by not visiting Michigan families impacted by U.S.-supplied bombs to help create a permission structure for their trust while Trump visited Dearborn and filled a community in despair with lies,” Elabed said in a statement. “Trump’s illegal calls for ethnic cleansing are horrific, but as on so many other issues, Democrats had a chance to persuade voters they were the better alternative and they blew it.”

Her comment didn’t sit well with some Democrats. “Deeply unserious people who want to shirk their responsibility. Clowns,” a former Harris aide, granted anonymity to speak candidly, said in response.

While it’s impossible to pin down exactly how much the movement affected the outcome of the 2024 election, there are signs that it succeeded at turning Democratic-leaning voters away from Harris. The city with the largest Arab American population in the country — Dearborn, Michigan — favored Trump by around 2,600 votes in November after backing Biden by more than 17,500 votes four years earlier.

Read more from Sahil and Yamiche →

More fallout from Trump’s Gaza remarks:

Lawmakers from both parties expressed concern about the plan, with responses ranging from calling it “problematic” to “deranged.”
The proposal also provoked shock and disbelief around the world, with some wondering whether it’s even practically possible, suggesting it might be more a diplomatic gambit or a distraction technique rather than an actual policy plan.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt sought to offer some clarity, saying that no commitment had been made to putting U.S. troops on the ground in Gaza and that taxpayer dollars would not be funding such an effort.

What to know from the Trump presidency today

Before we dive into today's news, make sure to check out our new executive order tracker to stay updated and learn more about Donald Trump's latest unilateral moves.

Here are the top lines from the administration:

Trump signed an executive order prohibiting transgender women and girls from competing in female sports.
The administration plans to expand the prison at Guantanamo Bay so that immigrants can be held not only inside the facility, but also in tent camps surrounded by fencing that have not been completely built.
The CIA sent a list of all recently hired employees in an unclassified email to comply with the president’s executive order to reduce the federal workforce. So-called buyout offers have now also been extended to employees of the CIA and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.
Defense Department officials are developing plans to withdraw all U.S. troops from Syria.
The U.S. Agency for International Development announced that almost all direct hires around the world will be placed on administrative leave this week.
USAID employees and contractors are discussing potential lawsuits targeting the attack on the agency.
The administration is moving to exert more control over the federal government’s technology, turning the people who oversee that infrastructure into political appointees it can hire and fire at will.
The U.S. Postal Service agreed to resume accepting shipments from China, less than 12 hours after announcing it would stop doing so.

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State Republicans rush to align themselves with Trump’s agenda

By Adam Edelman

As Donald Trump moves at a breakneck speed to reshape Washington, Republicans at the state level are looking to follow suit, rushing to explicitly align themselves with or mimic some of the most prominent actions the president has taken since he was sworn in.

Immigration: In recent weeks, GOP governors and state lawmakers have sought to advance bills designed to help facilitate Trump’s mass deportation plans — some of which are named after or specifically reference the president.

In Florida, for instance, one such piece of legislation is called the Tackling and Reforming Unlawful Migration Policy (TRUMP) Act.

DOGE: GOP elected officials in at least 11 states have also attempted to create their own version of the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency.

The most recent example came this week in Oklahoma, with Gov. Kevin Stitt issuing an executive order to create a “Division of Government Efficiency” (called DOGE-OK) within the state’s agency in charge of human resources and information technology.

The goal, Stitt said, is to “focus on eliminating wasteful government spending, improving efficiency, and ensuring taxpayer dollars are being used effectively across state governments.” His office said the division will be led by a “chief DOGE advisor,” an unpaid position that reports directly to the governor.

Bottom line: The moves, largely centered in red states, underscore that the GOP is firmly behind Trump at the outset of his second term, with elected members of the party wanting to be seen as nothing less than loyal to him.