Former aides to President Barack Obama admitted on an episode of "Pod Save America" they should have done "some of the stuff" President Donald Trump is doing with the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). 

When discussing DOGE’s initiatives to cut federal spending, the "Obama bros" admitted to "lamenting" their situation. Jon Lovett, a former Obama speechwriter, implied he "didn’t know" the executive branch could radically cut federal spending as the Trump administration has done. 

"Honestly, some of this is pretty annoying because it’s some of the stuff we should’ve done. We didn’t know you could do some of this," Lovett said. 

Jon Favreau, also a former Obama speechwriter, shared Lovett’s frustration, admitting the Obama administration tried to cut through bureaucracy and create government efficiency, but "it’s hard to do."

DOGE SLASHES OVER $100M IN DEI FUNDING AT EDUCATION DEPARTMENT: 'WIN FOR EVERY STUDENT'

"We all know that government is slow. We all know government can be inefficient. We all know that the bureaucracy can be bloated. We all worked in f---ing the White House. We tried to reorganize the government. We tried to find efficiency. It's hard to do," Favreau said. 

$1,300 COFFEE CUPS, 8,000% OVERPAY FOR SOAP DISPENSERS SHOW WASTE AS DOGE LOCKS IN ON PENTAGON

The liberal podcasters also complained about the federal government’s technology during the Obama era. 

"The technology in the federal government, at least when we were there, sucked. There was no service in the basement of the West Wing. You couldn't use your phone because there was no service." Favreau added. 

"Pod Save America" did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment on which DOGE initiatives the Obama administration should have done. 

The podcast episode was released ahead of Trump signing an executive order on Tuesday directing agencies to coordinate with DOGE to reduce the size of the federal government. The executive order is the latest in a slew of government slashes these past few weeks, which have targeted everything from DEI funding to migrant hotel bills. 

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The "Obama Bros" have been on a media circuit in recent weeks, directing Democrats on how to politically engage during Trump’s second term. Former Obama spokesman and "Pod Save America" co-host, Tommy Vietor, joined "Jesse Watters Primetime" last month to discuss the future of the Democratic Party. 

In a recent Gallup survey of adults living in the U.S., former President Joe Biden earned the lowest favorability and the highest unfavorability of all five living presidents, while former President Barack Obama was held in the highest regard.

While 57% held an unfavorable view of Biden, just 39% held a favorable view of him. 

But Obama's ratings were essentially the reverse, with 59% viewing the 44th president favorably versus just 36% who viewed him unfavorably.

TRUMP HAS HIGHER APPROVAL RATING THAN AT ANY POINT DURING FIRST TERM: POLL

Biden, who served as vice president during Obama's two terms, had just concluded his own White House tenure when the poll was conducted from Jan. 21-27.

President Donald Trump was inaugurated on Jan. 20.

The current commander in chief and former President Bill Clinton were both viewed favorably by 48% in the survey.

NEW POLL SHOWS WHAT AMERICANS THINK OF TRUMP'S PERFORMANCE IN SECOND TERM

But while 50% viewed Trump unfavorably, just 41% felt that way about Clinton.

Regarding former President George W. Bush, 52% in the poll held a favorable opinion of him, and 34% held an unfavorable view.

TRUMP ADMIN DEPORTING ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS CONVICTED OF A CRIME IS WILDLY POPULAR AMONG NEW YORK VOTERS: POLL

Until recently, there had been six living presidents, but former President Jimmy Carter passed away late last year at the age of 100.

"Results are based on telephone interviews conducted January 21-27, 2025, with a random sample of –1,001— adults, ages 18+, living in all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia. For results based on this sample of national adults, the margin of sampling error is ±4 percentage points at the 95% confidence level," Gallup indicated.

CNN mixed up the names of former President Barack Obama and Osama bin Laden in an embarrassing on-air gaffe on Friday night.

During a segment on the Guantanamo Bay detention camp on "CNN News Central," a graphic appeared behind anchor Boris Sanchez that read, "OBAMA BIN LADEN ASSOCIATE: ABU ZUBAYDAH."

Abu Zubaydah – the suspected Palestinian terrorist whose real name is Zayn al-Abidin Muhammad Husayn – is currently being held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, while authorities are investigating the circumstances surrounding his apprehension and detention.

CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR CAUSES ON-AIR UPROAR AFTER CLAIMING HER RACE HAS NEGATIVELY IMPACTED HER PAY

When President Obama took office in January 2009, he pledged to close the detention facility within a year but failed to do so. This failure enabled future presidents, like President Donald Trump, to use the detention facility to house some of the world's most dangerous criminals.

Earlier this week, Trump instructed the Pentagon to prepare the facility to hold around 30,000 'criminal illegal aliens' at the US military base.

While Sanchez did not read "Obama bin Laden" out loud, viewers quickly caught the glaring mashup of names, and took to social media to call it out.

"So it's confirmed now. The Babylon Bee bought CNN and just didn't tell us," X user Charles Jorhan mocked.

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This gaffe comes as another embarrassing moment for the struggling liberal news network, with CNN laying off roughly 6% of their workforce at the end of January as ratings continued to decline.

CNN painted the layoffs as a critical step toward securing the network’s future, telling staffers that "irreversible shifts in the way audiences in America and around the world consume news" have impacted its business model. About 200 jobs were eliminated as a result. 

The news network also lost a major lawsuit last month, being found liable for defaming U.S. Navy veteran Zachary Young. A jury awarded the Navy veteran $4 million in lost earnings, $1 million in personal damages such as pain and suffering and said that punitive damages are warranted against CNN.

CNN declined to comment to Fox News Digital on the name mix-up.

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Fox News Digital's Brian Flood and Greg Norman contributed to this report.

One of the attorneys representing anonymous FBI agents suing the Department of Justice to block the public identification of agents who investigated Jan. 6 is a longtime anti-Trump lawyer who worked with House Democrats on President Donald Trump’s first impeachment. 

Norm Eisen is an attorney, CNN legal analyst and expert at the Brookings Institution public policy think tank who previously served as the U.S.' ambassador to the Czech Republic and special counsel for ethics and government reform under the Obama administration, when he earned the nicknames "Dr. No" and "The Fun Sponge" for reportedly ensuring the administration abide by ethics rules. 

Eisen appeared in court on Thursday for a hearing before U.S. District Judge Jia M. Cobb involving a pair of lawsuits filed by two groups of FBI agents who investigated the Jan. 6 breach of the Capitol Building as well as former special counsel Jack Smith's investigations and cases against Trump. 

Eisen serves as executive chair of State Democracy Defenders Fund, which filed a lawsuit Tuesday on behalf of the FBI agents who investigated Trump-related cases. State Democracy Defenders Fund is a nonprofit that bills itself as focused on defeating "election sabotage" and "autocracy in 2025 — and beyond."

FBI AGENTS SUE TRUMP DOJ TO BLOCK ANY PUBLIC IDENTIFICATION OF EMPLOYEES WHO WORKED ON JAN. 6 INVESTIGATIONS

"Credible reports indicate the FBI has been directed to systematically terminate all Bureau employees who had any involvement in investigations related to President Trump, and that Trump’s allies in the DOJ are planning to publicly disseminate the names of those employees they plan to terminate," State Democracy Defenders Fund wrote in its press release of the emergency order to block the public release of FBI personnel names involved in the Jan. 6 investigation. 

Fox News Digital took a look back on Eisen's rhetoric and actions across the past few years and found that he has repeatedly been at the forefront of the legal cases against Trump, notably serving as co-counsel for the House Judiciary Committee during the first impeachment of Trump beginning in 2019. 

FBI AGENTS GROUP TELLS CONGRESS TO TAKE URGENT ACTION TO PROTECT AGAINST POLITICIZATION

House Democrats tapped Eisen — who early in his career specialized in financial fraud litigation and investigations — to help lead the first impeachment against the 45th president, which accused Trump of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress related to allegedly seeking foreign interference from Ukraine to boost his re-election efforts in 2020. The House adopted two articles of impeachment against Trump, but the Senate ultimately voted to acquit him. 

Eisen revealed following the impeachment effort that he initially drafted 10 articles of impeachment against Trump, not just two, which would have included issues such as "hush money" payments to former porn star Stormy Daniels. Although the payments were not included in the impeachment articles, they were a focal point of the Manhattan v. Trump trial that found Trump guilty of 34 counts of falsifying business records in May 2024. 

FBI AGENTS DETAIL J6 ROLE IN EXHAUSTIVE QUESTIONNAIRE EMPLOYEES 'WERE INSTRUCTED TO FILL OUT'

"This was only the third impeachment trial of a president in American history, so it's remarkable that we even got those two," Eisen said in an NPR interview in 2020. "I will tell you that those two articles are a microcosm of all 10 of the impeachment articles that we drafted. They have features of all 10." 

Eisen told Fox News Digital, when asked about his history of anti-Trump cases, that he was initially open to working with the first Trump administration, but that the president, "turned against the Constitution."

"I was initially open to Trump and even advised his first presidential transition," Eisen told Fox Digital in an emailed comment on Friday. "But he turned against the Constitution and laws."

"In his first administration and now, he was and is using the presidency to break the law and to help himself and his cronies like Elon Musk — not the American people," he continued. "To ensure the integrity of our democracy, I am pushing back through the bipartisan institutions I work with such as State Democracy Defenders Fund, which has strong conservative representation on our board." 

Eisen is the co-founder of the nonprofit Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, which made waves in 2023 and 2024 when it helped to initiate a Colorado court case to remove Trump from the primary ballot in the state, The New York Times reported.  

The lawsuit, which ultimately landed in the Supreme Court, argued that Trump should be deemed ineligible from holding political office under a Civil War-era insurrection clause and that his name should thus be barred from appearing on the 2024 ballot. The group said that Trump’s actions on Jan. 6, 2021, when supporters breached the U.S. Capitol, violated a clause in the 14th Amendment that prevents officers of the United States, members of Congress or state legislatures who "engaged in insurrection or rebellion" against the Constitution from holding political office.

Other states made similar legal claims to remove Trump, but each of the nine Supreme Court justices ruled in Trump’s favor in a decision released last March, ending the Colorado case and all others that were similar. 

DOJ DIRECTS FBI TO FIRE 8 TOP OFFICIALS, IDENTIFY EMPLOYEES INVOLVED IN JAN. 6, HAMAS CASES FOR REVIEW

The State Democracy Defenders Action, which Eisen co-founded, has also been involved with other Trump-involved court cases, including in the Manhattan v. Trump case. The group helped file an amicus brief in February, advocating that presiding Judge Juan Merchan sentence Trump just days ahead of his inauguration. Trump was ultimately sentenced to unconditional discharge, meaning he faces no fines or jail time. 

​​Trump was found guilty of 34 counts of falsifying business records in the Manhattan case in May 2024. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's office worked to prove that Trump had falsified business records to conceal a $130,000 payment to former porn star, Stormy Daniels, ahead of the 2016 election to quiet her claims of an alleged affair with Trump in 2006.

Eisen also founded another group, the States United Democracy Center, which filed an amicus brief in 2024 in Fulton County, Georgia, court, advocating that District Attorney Fani Willis' racketeering case against Trump not be dismissed. 

ANTI-TRUMP FBI AGENT RESPONSIBLE FOR OPENING JACK SMITH ELECTOR CASE AGAINST PRESIDENT: WHISTLEBLOWER

The Georgia Court of Appeals ruled in December 2024 that Willis and her office are barred from prosecuting the case. The case worked to prove that Trump had led a "criminal racketeering enterprise" to change the outcome of the 2020 election in Georgia. Trump has maintained his innocence in that case, as well as the other federal and state charges brought against him between the 2020 and 2024 election, slamming them as Democrat lawfare. 

Eisen, in his capacity as executive chair and founder of State Democracy Defenders Fund, also sent a letter to Senate Judiciary Chair Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and ranking Committee Member Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill. on Monday to speak out against Kash Patel's nomination as director of the FBI under the second Trump administration. Eisen said he had ethics concerns surrounding Patel's previous work in Qatar. 

MAJOR FBI CHANGES KASH PATEL COULD MAKE ON DAY 1 IF CONFIRMED AS DIRECTOR

The FBI lawsuits followed acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove sending a memo to acting FBI Director Brian Driscoll in late January, directing him to fire eight FBI employees who worked on the Jan. 6 investigation, as well as a terror case related to Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023, attack against Israel. The memo also informed the acting director to identify all current and former FBI personnel who took part in the case. 

The memo's directive to identify those involved in the case sparked the two FBI lawsuits filed Tuesday, which seek to stop the collection of names and their public release. 

"The individuals being targeted have served in law enforcement for decades, often putting their lives on the line for the citizens of this country," Eisen said in a statement provided in State Democracy Defenders Fund's press release announcing it filed an emergency order on behalf of the FBI agents. "Their rights and privacy must be preserved."

The judge temporarily barred the Trump DOJ on Thursday from disclosing information on the agents until she hears arguments and determines whether to issue a temporary restraining order. 

Fox News Digital's Breanne Deppisch and Brooke Singman contributed to this report. 

President Donald Trump signed in 18 days more than double the executive orders that former President Joe Biden did over the same period of his administration.

The post Donald Trump’s 60 Executive Orders in 18 Days More Than Double Biden’s Over Same Period appeared first on Breitbart.

An illegal Haitian migrant who U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials said is a gang member yelled, "F*ck Trump," "Biden forever," and "Thank Obama for everything he did for me!" as he was being taken into custody to be deported, video shows.

The post Haitian Migrant Arrested by ICE: ‘Thank Obama for Everything He Did for Me!’ appeared first on Breitbart.

President Barack Obama was first inaugurated in January 2009 on a Tuesday — the day after Martin Luther King Jr. Day was observed. There was an obvious connection to draw between the holiday celebrating the legendary civil rights leader, and the

The post Pollak: Why MLK Day Is Perfect for Trump’s Inauguration appeared first on Breitbart.

The men who held the nation’s highest office before President Trump have all remained mum on his taking the presidency on Monday. 

All four living former presidents – Bill Clinton, George Bush, Barack Obama and Joe Biden – attended the inauguration ceremony, and sat behind Trump as he gave a politically charged speech about his vision for the future of the country. 

None had any public well-wishes for the incoming president after the swearing-in ceremony. Asked whether they planned to put out a statement on it, none of their offices responded at press time. 

Biden only addressed his supporters and staffers in remarks before boarding a government helicopter to be whisked away from Washington, D.C. 

"We're leaving office, we're not leaving the fight," he told them. 

Former first ladies Hillary Clinton, Laura Bush and Jill Biden all attended the ceremony alongside their husbands. Michelle Obama did not attend.

Sources reportedly close to Michelle Obama told People magazine that the former first lady intended to skip Trump's inauguration because she cannot contain her disdain for the Republican president-elect.

MARK MILLEY PARDONED: GENERAL AT CENTER OF AFGHANISTAN WITHDRAWAL PREDICTED IT WOULDN'T BE A SAIGON MOMENT

Hillary Clinton chuckled when Trump suggested renaming the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America. Bill Clinton told CNN of his reaction to the speech: "I think you can figure it out for yourself." The Clintons did not stay for the inaugural luncheon. 

Trump and former first lady Melania Trump did not attend President Biden's inauguration in 2021. At the late President Jimmy Carter’s funeral, Obama and Trump were seen chatting and laughing like old friends despite the history of political animosity between the former Democratic president and the returning Republican.

PRESIDENT BIDEN PARDONS HIS SIBLINGS JUST MINUTES BEFORE LEAVING OFFICE

Trump, in his address, took shots at Biden without addressing him by name. 

"My recent election is a mandate to completely and totally reverse a horrible betrayal, and all of these many betrayals that have taken place, and to give the people back their faith, their wealth, their democracy and indeed, their freedom," Trump said.

In a follow-up speech to supporters, Trump called out Biden’s last-minute moves as president. 

"You're going to see a lot of action on the J6 hostages," he said. 

"And I was going to talk about the things Joe did today with the pardons of people that were very, very guilty of very bad crimes, like the UnSelect Committee of political thugs," he went on.

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In an 11th hour move, Biden preemptively pardoned the members of the January 6th House Select Committee that investigated the role of Trump and his acolytes in the 2021 Capitol riot, along with Dr. Anthony Fauci and former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Mark Milley.

And just moments before leaving the White House, Biden preemptively shielded his siblings and their spouses from any prosecution.

Former President Barack Obama arrived at the U.S. Capitol on Monday for President-elect Trump’s inauguration ceremony without former First Lady Michelle Obama.

Obama was introduced at the ceremony and walked into the swearing-in ceremony inside the Capitol alone. The ceremony was moved indoors due to the intense cold.

Former Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush arrived alongside their spouses, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and former first lady Laura Bush.

Michelle Obama’s absence from the inauguration came as no surprise, since the Obamas released a statement last week announcing that while the former president would be in attendance, the former first lady would not be in attendance.

OBAMA WISHES WIFE MICHELLE HAPPY BIRTHDAY AS SHE STAYS AWAY FROM KEY PUBLIC EVENTS

The Obamas' statement did not provide a reason as to why the former first lady was skipping the event. Michelle Obama also skipped former President Jimmy Carter’s funeral earlier this month.

A notable moment at Carter’s funeral came when Obama and Trump, who were seated next to each other, were seen chatting and laughing like old friends despite the history of political animosity between the Democratic former president and the returning Republican.

KID ROCK RIPS MICHELLE OBAMA FOR NOT PLANNING TO ATTEND TRUMP'S INAUGURATION: ‘SEEMS A LITTLE ANGRY’

All three former presidents and their wives attended Trump’s first inauguration in 2017, including Hillary Clinton, after she lost the 2016 presidential election to Donald Trump. Carter also attended.

Trump and former first lady Melania Trump did not attend President Biden's inauguration in 2021.

Fox News Digital’s Michael Dorgan and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Former first lady Michelle Obama will skip President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration next Monday after she was notably absent from late President Jimmy Carter's state funeral last week, her office said.

The post Michelle Obama to Skip Trump Inauguration After Missing Carter Funeral appeared first on Breitbart.

President-elect Trump trolled his political adversaries by posting a spoof of his conversation with former President Barack Obama on his Truth Social account, with the former president telling Trump, "I knew you’d win."

The video shows Trump and Obama trashing VP Kamala Harris’ doomed presidential campaign at former President Jimmy Carter’s funeral, with what appears to be AI-generated dialogue that mimics the pair’s voices.

The "conversation" begins after Obama takes his seat next to Trump, and the two presidents exchange pleasantries as a funeral dirge is sung in the background.

DAILY SHOW POKES FUN AT OBAMA LAUGHING WITH ‘FUTURE HITLER’ TRUMP DURING CARTER FUNERAL

 Quickly, the discussion moves toward Trump’s victory over Harris in the 2024 presidential campaign.

"I knew you’d win," Obama said in the video. 

"Come on," Trump replied, "Anyone could beat her."

The internet has been abuzz with speculation over what Trump and Obama were discussing ever since the video of the two having a friendly chat at Carter’s Jan. 9 funeral took social media by storm.

"It’s a little weird for Obama though, right? To go from ‘this guy is future Hitler’ to ‘oh, man, cool story, future Hitler!'" The Daily Show host Desi Lydic said in a segment mocking the incident. 

"It did look very friendly," Trump told Fox News' Peter Doocy at a Mar-a-Lago press conference after the funeral. "Boy, they look like two people who like each other, and we probably do… I don’t know we just got along."

In the spoof video, Obama proceeded to slam President Biden for stubbornly running for a second term, before ultimately being forced to drop out of the race following a disastrous debate performance in June 2024. 

"He just didn’t want to leave, I did what I could to help [Kamala], she was horrendous," Obama said to a smirking Trump. 

WHAT WERE OBAMA AND TRUMP SAYING TO EACH OTHER?

The video continues with the president-elect telling Obama he realized that Hillary Clinton still "hates" and will "never forgive" him, before cutting away to a stone-faced HRC.

The parody concludes with the two presidents making plans to meet when Kamala Harris and her husband, second gentleman Doug Emhoff, enter the church and take their seats in the row in front of them. 

"You see that, she won’t even look at me," Obama said.

Trump has been known to use social media to needle his political opponents. Trump trolled Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau by posting a map that showed Canada as part of the United States with the caption "Oh Canada!" to his Truth Social account on Tuesday Jan. 7.