Trump's Cabinet Spends 17% of Its Time Flattering Him

Trump wants all federal government workers to sign NDAs, a GOP Rep. has missed 90 votes but still found time to trade stocks, and ICE's deportations have a staggering carbon footprint

Good afternoon. I’m Ryan Rose, and this is AlterNet America.

The Trump administration is proposing that all two million federal workers sign non-disclosure agreements. Analysis of Trump’s meetings found that his cabinet members spend roughly one out of every six sentences praising him. A Republican congressman has been missing for three months but somehow found time to trade stocks. And ICE’s deportation flights are now pumping more carbon into the atmosphere than some small nations.

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The Trump Administration Wants Federal Workers to Sign NDAs

The Trump administration’s latest plan to stop leaks to the press was itself leaked to the press, which tells you everything you need to know about how this is about to go.

The Trump administration wants all current and future federal employees to sign non-disclosure agreements as part of a continuing crackdown on leaks to the media. The Office of Personnel Management filed the proposal with the Federal Register on Tuesday, requesting comment on a standardized NDA form.

The notice cites examples of news outlets reporting on drafts of regulations and interagency discussions about new proposals, including OPM’s own proposal to weaken job security for some and make it easier to terminate certain federal positions.

In other words, one of the leaks they’re trying to plug with an NDA is the leak about the NDA.

The proposal covers “all non-public, confidential, or proprietary information” relating to internal agency operations, personnel matters, and “any sensitive, pre-decisional or deliberative material.” That’s a broad enough category to swallow most of what makes investigative journalism possible.

Federal employees are already barred from disclosing certain information under laws that have existed for decades. An NDA doesn’t stop leaks. It just gives you someone to punish afterward.

Trump’s Cabinet Has Become a Flattery Competition (Marco Rubio Is Winning)

The cabinet has historically advised the president on a variety of matters, but in Trump’s second term, it appears to have taken on a new mandate: flattery.

The New York Times sat through more than twelve hours of footage from ten cabinet meetings and did the math. On average, at least one in every six sentences flattered Trump, gave him credit, or criticized his political opponents. Many of those statements were exaggerated or not factually accurate.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio emerged as the administration’s most prolific Trump booster, praising Trump the most during meetings. Meanwhile, Vice President JD Vance was found to criticize opponents more than any other official, with one in every six sentences being attacks on political rivals.

A recurring form of flattery was the “Only Trump” approach, in which cabinet officials portrayed the president as uniquely capable of solving crises. They repeatedly described Trump as the only person able to end the wars in Ukraine, Gaza, and Sudan, with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth saying three times that the conflicts “never would have happened” under Trump.

Former Attorney General Pam Bondi went so far as to credit Trump with saving the lives of 75 percent of America’s population during a cabinet meeting back in April. She has since resigned, which tracks.

The cabinet is spending one in every six sentences telling the president he’s great. We’re spending all of ours telling you what’s actually happening. If you want that to continue, become a paying subscriber today.

GOP Rep. Missing for Months Still Managed to Trade Stocks

New Jersey Republican Representative Tom Kean Jr. has been absent from Congress since early March, citing a vague “personal health matter.” Members of his own party have no idea where he is.

Kean submitted an electronic signature on Friday disclosing that he’d traded stocks personally in April, a move that would raise questions about insider trading even if anyone knew his whereabouts. This is the second time Kean disclosed his trades even as he’s missed a whopping 90 House votes.

The trades are not the only thing he has found time for. Kean has also continued to send out newsletters, signed off on travel expenses to Las Vegas for staff, and himself used Amtrak and rideshare apps in San Francisco.

San Francisco is not in New Jersey’s seventh congressional district. It is also not where Congress meets

Between March and April, Kean bought and sold shares of nearly a dozen different stocks, including Johnson & Johnson, Amcor, Chubb Limited, First Citizens BancShares, Analog Devices, nVent Electric, and Take-Two Interactive. The layer of irony worth noting: Kean entered Congress in 2022 pledging to be an ethics reformer and to place his assets into a blind trust. He never did so.

The House of Representatives has not demanded an explanation for Kean’s absence. Many of his colleagues have yet to hear from him. His broker, presumably, has heard plenty.

Trump’s Mass Deportation Campaign Is Also Wrecking the Climate

There is now an environmental case against mass deportation, in case the other cases weren’t enough.

ICE’s operations pumped an estimated 335,876 tonnes of carbon emissions into the air in 2025, up 88% from the year before. In the first four months of 2026, ICE’s air operations have contributed 139,594 tonnes in carbon emissions, which would signify an almost 25% further increase in annual emissions for the year.

Trump’s mass deportation campaign has spurred at least an 80% increase in such flights. There were over two thousand deportation flights in 2025 alone going to seventy-nine countries, marking a sharp increase from forty-five the prior year.

The administration cracking down on immigration is also making it worse with every deportation run. As one researcher put it, “climate change is a driver of migration.”

ICE’s 335,876 tonnes of carbon in 2025 puts it comfortably above the total annual emissions of more than 30 countries, including Nicaragua, Senegal, Haiti, and the majority of small island nations that are the most threatened by climate change. In other words, flights are generating future passengers.

Why AlterNet America Exists — And Why We Need You

An NDA doesn’t have to be enforceable to work. It just has to exist. The federal worker who signed one and is thinking about calling a reporter now has one more thing to weigh. Then multiply that by two million employees.

We don’t sign NDAs at AlterNet America. We don’t have a broadcast license that can be yanked, a corporate parent that can be pressured, or advertisers who can be threatened. What we have is you. We’re funded by nobody but the people reading this right now. If you’re not already a paid subscriber, become one today. Hit the button below.

Thanks for reading, and we’ll see you tomorrow.

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