This week, editors Katherine Mangu-Ward and Matt Welch are joined by Senior Producer Zach Weissmueller and Senior Editor Robby Soave to unpack RFK Jr.'s tumultuous week at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), from leadership shake-ups and changes to COVID-19 vaccine access to mounting backlash from employees and former agency directors. They examine what this chaos says about the politicization of public health and the risks of concentrating so much authority in a single agency.

The conversation then shifts into the brewing fight over deploying the National Guard in Chicago, weighing the constitutional questions and the practical realities of federal intervention in local crime. A listener question prompts a discussion around strategies for holding your ground when you're outnumbered in a debate. The panel then weighs in on a federal court ruling on Trump's tariffs, what it could mean for trade policy, and how it intersects with the broader libertarian legal movement.

How can we make The Reason Roundtable better? Take our listener survey and get a chance to win $300: http://reason.com/podsurvey

0:00 —Chaos at the CDC

11:50 —RFK Jr.'s Health and Human Services report card

29:56 —Trump and the Chicago crime crackdown

40:35 —Listener question on debating when outnumbered

49:12 —Liberation Day tariffs ruled unconstitutional

54:25 —Weekly cultural recommendations

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