Eleanor Clift

Washington, D.C.

I write for The Daily Beast and I'm a proud progressive. I think climate change is an existential threat, and we have way too many guns.

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Articles

The Secret Smoking Gun in Trump’s ‘Big Beautiful’ Budget

5 days ago | rsn.org | Eleanor Clift

It seems like President Trump can’t do enough to placate firearm advocates. Among the multitude of horrors tucked into Trump’s “big beautiful bill” is a measure that lifts a $200 tax on gun silencers, while ending background checks and registration requirements for their purchase. If enacted, the impact of the SHUSH (Silencers Help Us Save Hearing) Act is more sociological than financial—the government might as well hand them out like candy.
The Secret Smoking Gun in Trump’s ‘Big Beautiful’ Budget

6 days ago | thedailybeast.com | Eleanor Clift

Among the multitude of horrors tucked into Trump’s “big beautiful bill” is a measure that lifts a $200 tax on gun silencers, while ending background checks and registration requirements for their purchase. If enacted, the impact of the SHUSH (Silencers Help Us Save Hearing) Act is more sociological than financial—the government might as well hand them out like candy. After all, RFK Jr.’s HHS has an eye on banning real candy soon enough.
Controversy Over Biden’s Tragic Cancer Diagnosis Highlights the Rotten Nature of U.S. Politics

2 weeks ago | thedailybeast.com | Eleanor Clift

I’m wishing Joe Biden and his family the strength they’ll need after the former president’s cancer diagnosis—and, like many others, I’m also wondering why his condition wasn’t caught sooner. A similar question could be asked of Bill Clinton: Medical tests near the end of Clinton’s presidency showed elevated levels of cholesterol and blood pressure, foreshadowing a quadruple bypass operation three years later that saved his life. Could the issue have been caught sooner?
The Transformational Moment Trump Missed With His Wealth Tax Wiffle

3 weeks ago | thedailybeast.com | Eleanor Clift

Trump talks big, but he always backs down.
The arsonist as hero

3 weeks ago | fbherald.com | Douglas Cohn |Eleanor Clift

WASHINGTON – After the most harrowing first 100 days of any modern president, what happens during the second 100 days? America loves a comeback story, and for Donald Trump, all the world is a stage. Like the arsonist who returns to the scene of the crime as the hero to put out the fire he started, Trump is poised for a recovery. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent went to Geneva, Switzerland, to begin trade talks with his Chinese counterpart.
Trump’s Brain Drain at NASA Leaves the Agency Spaced Out

1 month ago | thedailybeast.com | Eleanor Clift

The budget-cutters called astrophysicist Dr. Kartik Sheth and his colleagues in the chief scientist’s suite at NASA “low-hanging fruit,” which meant they were among the first to lose their jobs after President Trump signed a raft of executive orders to downsize the federal government. Sheth still has a hard time believing what has happened.
Opinion: Trump’s Brain Drain at NASA Leaves the Agency Spaced Out

1 month ago | malaysia.news.yahoo.com | Eleanor Clift

Eleanor Clift5 May 2025 at 10:30 am·5-min readThe budget-cutters called astrophysicist Dr. Kartik Sheth and his colleagues in the chief scientist’s suite at NASA “low-hanging fruit,” which meant they were among the first to lose their jobs after President Trump signed a raft of executive orders to downsize the federal government. Sheth still has a hard time believing what has happened.
The 100-day clown show is over

1 month ago | fbherald.com | Douglas Cohn |Eleanor Clift

WASHINGTON – Based on actual accomplishments versus what he is railing about, Donald Trump has had the worst 100 days of any president. That omits Abraham Lincoln and the beginning of the Civil War 42 days after taking office, and William Henry Harrison who died on the 32nd day from a cold caught at his Inauguration that turned into pneumonia. By the measures of success he touted in the campaign, Trump has failed at everything except controlling the border.
Amid Turmoil at ’60 Minutes,’ Alarm Bells Are Ringing

1 month ago | thedailybeast.com | Eleanor Clift

The resignation of the executive producer of one of the most venerated news shows in the United States marks yet another notch in MAGA’s belt. It won’t be the last, with President Trump on the warpath and media conglomerates cowering to avoid retribution. And more ominously, it shows that these attempts to rule over corporate overlords by fear are working.
Will Trump’s ‘Garden of Heroes’ Become an Act of Government Villainy?

1 month ago | thedailybeast.com | Eleanor Clift

We treated it like a joke, another grandiose plan promoted by Donald Trump that would go nowhere. But it turns out he was serious when he stood at Mount Rushmore in July 2020 to fervently propose “a vast outdoor park that will feature the statues of the greatest Americans to ever live.”Since then, we’ve had our fun imagining the occupants of Trump’s sculpture garden: How about tough-guy lawyer Roy Cohn, well-endowed golfer Arnold Palmer, Hannibal Lecter—maybe even Robert E.