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Two weeks after Donald Trump announced he was going to lower drug prices from anywhere from 30% to 90%, there still haven't been any deals made.

But more than that, what he wants to do, something called Most Favored Nation status, is bad policy, especially when it comes to drug prices.

Grant is joined by Yale Economist Jason Abaluck to talk about why Trump's plan to lower drug prices won't lower them, might raise prices, could stifle medical innovation at home and abroad, and what that means for your next prescription.

LINKS:

Jason Abaluck's Research

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House Republicans pass Trump's "One Big Beautiful Bill," and there are some serious consequences hurtling toward Americans.

Hundreds of billions of dollars in cuts to Medicaid and food stamps, while giving multi-millionaires huge tax breaks, sending the national debt and deficit skyrocketing.

Grant breaks it all down and talks about why the timeline of the vote, which literally put members of Congress to sleep, and the timeline of the new budget should make you ask, What are they trying to hide?

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The US Supreme Court hands the Trump Administration a big win by allowing it to end Temporary Protected status for 350,000 Venezuelans in the US.

It's a crucial part of more than a dozen immigrant communities across the country, impacting more than 800,000 people with TPS and their families.

The thing is, Venezuelan Americans voted for Trump in large numbers, campaigned for him, and supported his policies. So why end this program that's so popular with them?

Grant talks about why the Administration wants to do this, what it has to do with other Supreme Court cases, and what it means for us citizens and non-citizens, no matter your status.

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Former President Joe Biden announces he has advanced and aggressive prostate cancer. It's a devastating diagnosis, though one doctors say is treatable, despite his age.

The diagnosis is raising new questions about Biden's health during the end of his presidency and during his abandoned presidential campaign, especially as the Democratic party is in the middle of a brewing civil war over where the party needs to head next.

The former president's health announcement has also become a convenient cover for Republicans as they work to gut Medicaid and Medicare while giving tax breaks to the wealthiest Americans.

Grant talks about all the reasons the Biden story is news but why it's not the most important health story out there right now.

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Since the beginning of the second Trump administration, the Department of Justice has been equal parts reviled and remade by the White House. Much, if not most, of that damage has been done to the FBI and the department's civil rights initiatives that for the last half century have made sure schools are safe for kids, our workplaces were free from discrimination, that our votes mattered and we could vote, and that corporations follow the law.

But those things have been gutted and in some cases, shut down in all but name.

In this week's interview, Grant talks to Stacey Young. Young is a former DOJ lawyer of 18 years who left the department in January. Since then, she started the group The Justice Connection, which aims to help former DOJ employees fight back against an administration that's been weaponized against them.

LINKS:

The Justice Connection

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Donald Trump takes his first state visit in his second term. Just like his first, the trip is to the Middle East.

During the trip, the president is supposed to be making deals (a weird thing for a president to be doing in the first place), and as the White House has been announcing them, the numbers don't make sense.

The Administration keeps inflating deals and investments while asking the American people not to trust their own eyes.

Grant breaks it all down.

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The White House makes an agreement with China on trade and tariffs that is essentially having its bluff called on the cornerstone of Trump's economic agenda. In return, the US doesn't get all that much except higher prices and a promise to keep negotiating. Not exactly expert deal-making.

Then, Trump tries to ram through negotiating prescription drug prices with pharma companies from the Oval Office, despite the idea being shot down during his first term. Will anything be different this time?

Grant makes sense of both things in today's episode

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The White House says it's looking into suspending a bedrock legal principle that would mean speeding up its mass arrests and deportations of immigrants across the country, called the Writ of Habeas Corpus.

It means, "have the body," and says that a person needs to be brought before a judge when they're accused of a crime. Right now, the Trump Administration thinks it's getting in the way of their plans to deport millions of people in the US.

On top of that, the Department of Homeland Security said arrests of Democratic members of Congress might be on the way, shocking the political world.

Grant breaks it all down to make some sense of what seems like a pretty dystopian roadmap of where things could go next.

PLUS! MAKE IT MAKE SENSE HAS A NEW SCHEDULE!

Make It Make Sense is getting back to its roots. Shorter episodes and more of them. Episodes will now drop Monday/Tuesday/Thursday, with longer expert interviews dropping on Fridays. Make sure to hit follow or subscribe to stay on top of all the new episodes!

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