The Brief 12

The world keeps spinning, and spending.

This week, power players reminded us that influence is an aesthetic. Jamie Dimon unveiled JPMorgan’s new Manhattan fortress. A literal monument to modern capitalism that casts a longer shadow than any of us asked for. Out west, Vogue World: Hollywood turned the intersection of fashion and fame into performance art, gilding Old Hollywood nostalgia with Gen-Z spectacle.

Meanwhile, Billie Eilish said the quiet part out loud, calling out billionaire hypocrisy… with Mark Zuckerberg in the room. And as the federal government teeters on shutdown, New York and California’s governors are funding Planned Parenthood themselves; a reminder that cultural capital and political capital aren’t so easily divorced.

The world, it seems, keeps spinning, and spending, no matter who’s footing the bill.

Power, Rendered in Policy

When the federal government withdrew support, California and New York answered with funding, and a statement on what governance, at its best, can still protect.

When the federal government shut down earlier this month, the political fallout stretch fat beyond furloughed workers and suspended services. Tucked within the broader budget impasse was a quieter, more consequential shift. A suspension of federal Medicaid reimbursements for clinics that provide abortion services, including Planned Parenthood affiliates across the country.

While the Hyde Amendment has long prohibited the use of federal funds for abortions, the new clause went further: it halted all Medicaid reimbursements to organizations that both receive federal funds and provide abortion services, even if those funds pay for preventative or primary care. Overnight, thousands of clinics risked losing the financial lifeline that sustains everything from cancer screenings to birth control consultations.