QUOTE OF THE DAY

'If you want to get me an officer of the US military who's willing to get on the stand and say that the US military is less prepared because of pronoun usage, I will be the first to give you a box of cigars.'

U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes criticizing a Justice Department attorney over Pentagon policy that asserts the Armed Forces could be compromised by requiring service members to use a colleague's preferred pronoun, a premise she dismissed as "frankly ridiculous," in a hearing for a lawsuit aiming to block Trump's order

TODAY'S BIG QUESTION

Who is actually running DOGE?

The Department of Government Efficiency is in a state of flux thanks to a recent court filing by the Trump administration stating that billionaire Elon Musk, the man personally named by President Donald Trump as being in charge of DOGE, is not running the advisory body at all. DOGE has spent the past few weeks hacking its way through the inner workings of the federal government, firing thousands of public servants, and this new court filing has thrown the entire operation into uncertainty. Whether Musk is officially in charge or not could affect DOGE's authority.

What did the commentators say?
Despite Trump's previous claim that Musk "will lead" the Department of Government Efficiency alongside since-departed co-leader Vivek Ramaswamy, the president's day-one executive order establishing the group "did not say who its 'administrator' would be," said The New York Times. Nevertheless, Trump "often" refers to Musk as the "functional leader of the DOGE effort" — an ambiguity that deepened with White House official Joshua Fisher's court filing this week, which stated plainly that Musk was simply a White House "adviser" and not the U.S. DOGE service "administrator" or even an "employee" of the U.S. DOGE service.

Sussing out Musk's "exact role" within the DOGE effort "could be key in the legal fight" over the group's activities, said The Associated Press. Framing Musk as a mere adviser can be used to push back against criticism that he has "too much power for someone who isn't elected or Senate-confirmed."

The filing creates "legal insulation" for Musk, said former Deputy Attorney General John Yoo at Fortune. As an adviser without any ability to enact policy on his own, Musk "cannot be sued for DOGE activities," and any suits would "really be against the president or the U.S. government" instead.

What next?
The true as-of-yet unstated DOGE administrator could "conceivably" be Musk's longtime "right-hand man," Steve Davis, said the Times. Alternately, it could be Brad Smith, who served in the first Trump administration and has been "intimately involved in DOGE's moves." Whoever the administrator is, they have until October to "submit a report to the president regarding implementation" of various DOGE initiatives.

Ultimately, though, the "issue is not who is 'technically' the administrator, who has the title," Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said to CNN. Musk is "clearly running the show."

Statistic of the day

200,000 pounds: The amount of emergency rice Japan has released in an "unprecedented attempt to arrest soaring prices caused by record summer heat, panic buying and distribution problems," said The Guardian. The rice was released as consumers battled a price surge of over 50% in recent months.

the explainer

What are reciprocal tariffs and how do they work?

President Donald Trump is taking his enthusiasm for tariffs to a new level. In his latest move, he has announced a policy of "reciprocal" tariffs that would tax imports from other countries at the same rate they tax imports from the U.S. His decision will upend the global trading system. A reciprocal tariffs policy, said trade attorney Richard Mojica, "disrupts the way that things have been done for a very long time."

What do they accomplish?
Reciprocal tariffs are partially about pushing "major powers like China and the European Union to lower their duties" on U.S. imports, said Deutsche Welle. Trump also believes that tariffs generally will reduce the trade deficit and help grow American manufacturing.

Economists say, however, that a trade deficit often benefits the U.S. With a deficit, countries take the income and invest it back in American stocks and bonds, keeping interest rates low and convincing U.S. businesses and consumers to "borrow and spend more."

What are the criticisms?
Trump's move "amounts to outsourcing U.S. tariff policy to other countries," economist Douglas A. Irwin said at The Wall Street Journal. Tariffs are also "enormously" complicated. The American tariff schedule has 13,000 line items, and the U.S. has trade with 200 countries. "Is Washington ready to impose and manage 2.6 million individual tariff rates?" The U.S. should "not have stupid tariff policies just because other countries have stupid tariff policies."

How might US consumers be affected?
Some types of products "would be hit much harder than others," said CNBC. The U.S. imports $600 billion worth of goods from the European Union alone, including pharmaceuticals — like the weight-loss drugs Ozempic and Wegovy — as well as vaccines, hearing aids and artificial joints. Other industries will be hit, but the drug and medical industry will "experience among the most significant tariff impacts by sector." Next up: The Commerce Department is expected to have a plan to implement the reciprocal tariffs by April 1.

Good day 🎞️

… for animated film. The Chinese animated blockbuster "Nezha 2" has beat out Pixar's "Inside Out 2" to become the highest-grossing animated film in the world, according to data from ticketing platform Maoyan. The film has amassed a box office of $1.69 billion, making it the eighth-highest-earning movie of any genre globally.

Bad day 🔒

… for Reddit fans. The social media site may begin putting parts of the platform behind a paywall later this year. The content aggregator is currently working on a feature to enable some members of its communities, which it calls subreddits, to create content that "only paid members can see," said Reddit CEO Steve Huffman.

Puzzles

Daily crossword

Test your general knowledge with The Week's daily crossword, part of our puzzles section, which also includes sudoku and codewords

Play here

The Week recommends

Trips where the journey is the best part

Switch your approach during your next vacation and focus on the journey, not the destination. On these trips, forget about getting anywhere fast — you will be making memories while riding trains, sailing on boats and gallivanting on horseback.

Horseback-ride around Morocco
Seeing coastal Morocco from the back of a galloping horse is a thrill. On the six-day Pearl of Essaouira itinerary, travelers ride through beaches, dunes and forests, but this is not just about sightseeing. The tour ends in Essaouira, a port city that boasts a "deep-rooted arts scene" and "legendary surf," said National Geographic Traveler U.K. A highlight is the medina filled with galleries, cafes and shops.

Sail the isles of Indonesia
Gliding by the unspoiled Banda Islands on the Aliikai yacht — hopping on and off to get immersed in the local culture, visit villages and explore white sandy beaches — feels like a dream. This "remote cluster of 10 picturesque islands" has a "palpable and fascinating history," with its "multicolored coral gardens offering superlative snorkeling and diving," said Lonely Planet.

Take the Rocky Mountaineer from Denver to Moab
It takes two days for the Rocky Mountaineer to make its way from Denver to Moab, giving travelers ample time to soak up the views of tall canyons, natural archways, rushing rivers and ponderosa pines. The carriages on the Rockies to Red Rocks route are decked out with panoramic roofs. And because the train "only proceeds in daylight," said The Standard, travelers "don't miss any of the ever-changing scenery."

Poll watch

Four out of 10 Americans have shifted their spending over the last few months to align with their moral views, according to a Harris poll shared with The Guardian. Less than a third of Americans (31%) reported having no interest in supporting the economy this year, while nearly a quarter (24%) have stopped shopping at their favorite stores because of their politics.

INSTANT OPINION

Today's best commentary

'Where's the line between the right to speech and the right to reach?'
Fay M. Johnson at The New York Times
"I have spent years working at some of the world's largest social media platforms," says Fay M. Johnson, a former trust and safety product executive at Meta and Twitter. "I have seen how the right kind of moderation can improve conversations and how the wrong kind or none at all" can "spread hate and spill into real-world violence." While free speech is "essential for a healthy democracy," social media platforms must make thoughtful decisions about "what speech to broadcast and how widely."

'Americans have allowed the so-called government to trample our God-given right to eat food that might kill us'
Rex Huppke at USA Today
Jim Jones, the head of the FDA's food division, has "stepped down" to "protest" the "mass layoffs" happening under Trump's administration, says Rex Huppke. These layoffs "included people who review the safety of food ingredients." Now that RFK Jr. is "in charge" of America's health, "true lovers of liberty like myself will be free to eat whatever we want, happy in the knowledge it hasn't been 'inspected' by any 'health expert' to make sure it's 'safe.'"

'Nostalgia for terrible things may sound absurd, but many people experience it'
Olga Khazan at The Atlantic
It's not unusual to "feel nostalgic for times that were difficult, unpleasant or downright bad," says Olga Khazan. "Some people miss the early, eerie first few months of the pandemic, when time seemed to have stopped." The reason for this phenomenon, according to researchers: "Humans look to our past selves to make sense of our present. Reflecting on the challenging times we have endured provides significance and edification to a life that can otherwise seem pointlessly difficult."

WORD OF THE DAY

beauf

Derived from "beau-frère," which means "brother-in-law" in French, this slang word conjures up a stereotype of an uncouth low-class "yokel." Beauf culture is "enjoying a renaissance," as exemplified by the current box-office success (to the despair of Parisian critics) of the fifth "Tuche" film, a comedy franchise about the antics of a beauf family who win the lottery, said The Times.

How Trump is changing the US-Russia relationship