Sherwood News

America’s favorite (and least favorite) federal agencies

While the next government hangs in the balance, certain branches are simply more popular than others

7/29/24 10:06AM

Though we’re still months out from November, the presidential election race is getting more heated by what feels like the second, as an exceptionally eventful July obfuscated and even annulled some predictions of what the next US government might look like.

However, with the future heads of public bodies undecided (but hotly contested), politically weary Americans now have a less favorable view of nearly all federal agencies that comprise the US administration, according to recent surveys from Pew Research Center.

Out of the Depts

Indeed, Veterans Affairs was the only service that became more favorable in the public eye over that period. Knocking the Postal Service off of its (somewhat inexplicable) top spot, the National Park Service, with all its associated canyons and critters, was America’s favorite federal agency in 2023 — 81% of respondents had a favorable view and just 7% had an unfavorable view of the agency.

NASA — no stranger to both good and bad press in recent times — saw a slight decline in overall positive attitudes over the same timeframe. Net negative views of both the Department of Education and the IRS were recorded for the first time in last year’s survey, and although the tax-collecting IRS was, unsurprisingly, the least popular agency in 2023, what is perhaps surprising is that it was once much more popular: in 2019, respondents had a net favorable view of the agency by +15 percentage points.

Max Knoblauch5/27/26

US regulators reportedly appear likely to approve Paramount’s Warner Bros. acquisition

US antitrust regulators appear to be leaning toward approval of Paramount’s $110 billion acquisition of rival Warner Bros. Discovery, according to a Semafor report.

The DOJ’s apparent positive analysis of the Hollywood megamerger follows a Tuesday meeting between Paramount CEO David Ellison and DOJ staffers including acting antitrust chief Omeed Assefi.

Per Semafor, that meeting included a significant number of questions about the would-be streaming giant’s theatrical release priorities. Ellison has pledged to release a “minimum” of 30 films for theaters between Paramount and WBD upon completion of the merger, and to maintain a 45-day theatrical window for films, followed by a three-month SVOD (digital rent or purchase) period before they land on Paramount+.

The DOJ has not yet approved the merger, and the agency’s current apparent analysis could shift.

It’s unclear what other topics were discussed at Tuesday’s meeting. Hollywood insiders critical of a Warner Bros. acquisition have also highlighted that any merger decreasing the number of content buyers would squeeze an already depressed entertainment labor market.

Exclusive: Paramount appears to sway DOJ staff on Warner Bros. takeover

The DOJ has not yet approved the merger, and the agency’s current apparent analysis could shift.

President Trump Hosts Crypto Summit At The White House

Report: White House AI oversight executive order DOA

After weeks of uncertainty, the White House’s plan to review frontier models before release appears dead.

Jon Keegan5/22/26

Jon Keegan5/20/26

Report: White House informed AI companies about plans for government to vet new models

After weeks of uncertainty about what role if any the White House would play in overseeing the release of new foundation models, this week top AI companies have been briefed on its plans, according to a new report from The Information.

The planned executive order describes a voluntary plan in which the National Security Agency, Office of the National Cyber Director, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, and Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency will decide which models to review, per the report.

The plan is reportedly less strict than AI companies had feared, but it does call for a 90-day testing period before release, a window that is substantially longer than the 14-day window that the companies wanted.

The new order could be signed as soon as this week.

White House Briefs AI Companies on Plan to Review Models Before Release

The new order could be signed as soon as this week.

Rani Molla5/14/26

Pension leaders overseeing more than $1 trillion in assets call SpaceX’s corporate structure “extreme”

SpaceX is gearing up for what is expected to be the biggest IPO in history — a $75 billion raise at a record $1.75 trillion valuation. But some of Wall Street’s biggest whales aren’t happy with the plan.

Leaders from three of the largest US public pension systems — New York State, New York City, and California — sent a letter to CEO Elon Musk on Wednesday, calling out the company’s planned corporate structure as “extreme” and the “most management-favorable governance structure ever brought to the US public markets at ⁠this scale.”

Among their concerns: Musk’s inviolability since only he can remove himself as CEO, the elimination of class-action lawsuits, and a “Texas shield” that could require a staggering 3% of outstanding stock just to file a derivative suit.

While the group has requested a meeting with Musk, it’s not clear if the $1 trillion they oversee is enough to force Musk to entertain their demands. These funds may be caught in an “index trap.” As passive benchmark trackers, they’ll be forced to buy the stock once it lists, stripping them of any boycott leverage. And with a tiny ~5% float and the expected massive demand from retail and other investors, Musk may be able to ignore a few whales.

Rani Molla5/13/26

Nvidia, Tesla, Apple, Micron CEOs head to China with Trump

Executives from some of America’s biggest companies, including Apple, Tesla, and Boeing, are joining President Trump on his trip to China this week to help facilitate trade and investment between the countries. After a last-minute invite, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, who was initially snubbed, is also part of a trip aimed, in part, at resolving a prolonged import-export standoff between China and the US regarding AI and semiconductor technology.

Meta President and Vice Chairman Dina Powell McCormick is also going. Recently China blew up one of Meta’s major AI bets by unwinding the company’s acquisition of AI agent startup Manus.

In a post on Truth Social, Trump said the group was journeying to China to ask President Xi to “‘open up’ China so that these brilliant people can work their magic, and help bring the People’s Republic to an even higher level!”

He added, “I have never seen or heard of any idea that would be more beneficial to our incredible Countries!”

Here’s the full list of company executives, per Reuters:

Apple (Tim ‌Cook)
BlackRock (Larry ⁠Fink)
Blackstone (Stephen Schwarzman)
Boeing (Kelly Ortberg)
Cargill (Brian Sikes)
Citi (Jane Fraser)
Cisco (Chuck Robbins, invited but unable to attend due to the company’s earnings release, CNBC reported)
Coherent (Jim Anderson)
GE Aerospace (H. Lawrence ⁠Culp)
Goldman Sachs (David Solomon)
Illumina (Jacob Thaysen)
Mastercard (Michael Miebach)
Meta (Dina Powell ⁠McCormick)
Micron (Sanjay Mehrotra)
Nvidia (Jensen Huang)
Qualcomm (Cristiano Amon)
Tesla/SpaceX (Elon ⁠Musk)
Visa (Ryan McInerney)