The Conversation -- February 7, 2025
⭐Jacqueline Alemany, et al., of the Washington Post: “The Treasury Department is appointing an ally of billionaire Elon Musk’s U.S. DOGE Service to a senior position in the department overseeing the nation’s powerful payment systems, according to two people with knowledge of the matter.... Tom Krause, a Silicon Valley executive with ties to DOGE, will become the financial assistant secretary of the Treasury Department, the people said. He replaces David A. Lebryk, who resigned after objecting to Krause’s demands to stop payments on foreign aid — a measure Lebryk resisted as illegal. Krause’s position will give him control over the Treasury Department system responsible for disbursing more than $5 trillion in annual payments, including for Social Security, Medicare, tax refunds and thousands of other measures. Musk has demanded on social media that Treasury unilaterally stop sending these payments, accusing the department’s career staff of breaking the law. The decision puts Musk’s DOGE in a potential position to make sweeping changes to the federal budget, with implications for tens of millions of Americans.... The move has also touched off broad alarm within the Treasury Department....
“Musk and Vice President JD Vance called on social media Friday for [the] reinstatement [if Marko Elez, a 25-year-old racist acolyte of Musk's]. 'I obviously disagree with some of Elez’s posts, but I don’t think stupid social media activity should ruin a kid’s life,' Vance said.” MB: “The kid”? Way back yesterday Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent called him a “highly-trained professional.” (See first Rachel Maddow video below.)
Marie: I occasionally hear people wishing Trump would just go away, and he may. But be careful what you wish for. Here's Dan Mangan's version of the Vance/Musk/Elez story: ~~~
~~~ Dan Mangan of CNBC: “Vice President JD Vance on Friday called for the rehiring of a DOGE staffer who resigned from a sensitive Trump administration post over the exposure of tweets advocating for racism and eugenics. Vance’s call came in a reply to a poll that DOGE chief Elon Musk launched on his social media platform X asking users whether 25-year-old staffer Marko Elez should be rehired to Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency team.... [Musk's 'poll' asked, 'Bring back @DOGE staffer who made inappropriate statements via a now deleted pseudonym?'...] 'Here’s my view: I obviously disagree with some of Elez’s posts, but I don’t think stupid social media activity should ruin a kid’s life,' Vance wrote in a tweet. 'We shouldn’t reward journalists who try to destroy people. Ever,' said Vance, referring to the fact that The Wall Street Journal on Thursday exposed Elez’s connection to an X account that made the inflammatory tweets. 'So I say bring him back,' Vance wrote. 'If he’s a bad dude or a terrible member of the team, fire him for that.'” ~~~
~~~ Update. Jason Abbruzzese of NBC News: “Elon Musk said Friday that he will bring back a DOGE staff member who resigned after it was found that he had previously made racist remarks online. 'To err is human, to forgive divine,' Musk said in a repost to X of a post from Vice President JD Vance that also supported the staffer's reinstatement.... Donald Trump, when asked about Vance’s response during a news conference, said, 'I’m with the vice president.'... Gavin Kliger, another DOGE staffer, was reported by Rolling Stone to have previously reposted content from Nick Fuentes, a white nationalist who has dined with ... Donald Trump.” ~~~
~~~ Marie: So the whole administration is white supremacist: the president*, the other president & the vice president. ~~~
~~~ Isaac Schorr of Mediaite: “Elon Musk ... suggested that The Wall Street Journal reporter responsible for uncovering a DOGE employee’s racist tweets should be fired on Friday.... The billionaire asserted that 'She’s a disgusting and cruel person.'... After right-wing influencer Mario Nawfal asserted that 'WOKE JOURNALIST KATHERINE LONG WHO DOXXED DOGE STAFFER HAS TIES TO USAID,' Musk declared that 'She should be fired immediately.' The irony of Musk — a self-proclaimed 'free speech absolutist' — calling for the head of a journalist who accurately reported on a public official’s actions, was not lost on all. “‘I’m a free speech absolutist who thinks reporters should be fired for discovering unflattering information about public officials,”' joked Andrew Fleischman on X.”
Once a Criminal, Always a Criminal. Dana Milbank of the Washington Post: “So, here’s a shocker: It turns out that, if you elect a felon as president of the United States, he will continue to break laws once he’s in office.... [Arguably,] the new administration over the course of the last fortnight has violated each of the following laws.... The Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act of 2024. The Administrative Leave Act of 2016. The Federal Information Security Modernization Act of 2014. The Affordable Care Act of 2010. The Foreign Affairs Reform and Restructuring Act of 1998. The Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993. The Computer Fraud and Abuse Act of 1986. The Inspector General Act of 1978. The Privacy Act of 1974. The Impoundment Control Act of 1974. The Rehabilitation Act of 1973. The Federal Advisory Committee Act of 1972. The Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952. The Administrative Procedure Act of 1946. The Public Health Service Act 1944. The Antideficiency Act of 1870....
“And those don’t include the ways in which Trump already appears to be in violation of the Constitution: The First Amendment’s protections of free speech and association; the Fifth Amendment’s guarantee of equal protection and due process; the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment; the 14th Amendment’s promise of birthright citizenship; Article I’s spending, presentment, appropriations and bicameralism clauses; Article II’s take-care clause; and the separation of powers generally.” Milbank urges Democrats not to give Trump a single vote. MB: That means you, too, John Fetterman. The link above is supposed to be a gift link. If it fails, please let me know.
Trudeau Takes Trump's Threats Seriously. Vjosa Isai of the New York Times: “Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada on Friday made his first comments in response to ... [Donald] Trump’s repeated statements that he wants to annex Canada and make it the 51st state. Mr. Trudeau made clear that he did not regard Mr. Trump’s statements as having been in made in jest and believes annexation is something Canada needs to treat as a serious threat. And he believes he knows why Mr. Trump covets Canada. 'I suggest that not only does the Trump administration know how many critical minerals we have, but that may be even why they keep talking about absorbing us and making us the 51st state,' Mr. Trudeau told a gathering of company executives and business leaders in Toronto, according to people in the room who listened to his comments. The news media had been asked to leave the room at the time Mr. Trudeau delivered his comments, but at least two news outlets, The Toronto Star and the CBC, were able to hear them and record them. Mr. Trudeau’s office declined to provide details of what the prime minister said.” Politico's story is here.
“In Reality, Trump Got Rolled.” Catherine Rampell of the Washington Post: “Donald Trump has made a habit of ginning up crises and then declaring victory when he 'solves' them. We in the media must stop giving this arsonist credit for his firefighting skills. The past two weeks have been fraught with international emergencies of the president’s own making — either problems that he pretends already plague us, or those he manifests into existence. This is the best way to understand his trade-war brinkmanship with Canada and Mexico.... It turns out the trick to negotiating with Trump is to realize he has no idea what the facts are. Thus, Mexican and Canadian leaders offered Trump, as their supposedly painful 'concessions,' promises to do what they’d already been doing.... The White House press secretary characterized these supposed concessions as 'bending the knee' to the United States. In reality, Trump got rolled.... In stoking these fights, Trump has lost the trust of our friends.”
Tom Sullivan of Hullabaloo sounds the alarm about Musk's JV squad's taking over highly complex computer systems, developed over decades, which the kidz cannot possibly understand. The the “move fast and break things” modus operandi, as you might suspect, is not made for, say, air traffic control systems. Worth a read.
Josh Gerstein & Kyle Cheney of Politico: “The Trump administration has agreed to keep private a list of FBI employees who worked on Jan. 6 cases unless it first provides a two-day head start for the employees to seek a court’s intervention. The agreement between the FBI Agents Association and ... Donald Trump’s Justice Department deescalates, for now, a showdown between the bureau and DOJ after acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove sought the list. FBI agents sued to prevent its dissemination over fears that Trump appointees intended to publicize the list, potentially putting thousands of FBI officials at risk of reprisal. The 'consent order,' adopted by U.S. District Judge Jia Cobb Friday afternoon, lacks a safeguard FBI employees’ lawyers were asking for during a court hearing Thursday: A restriction on passing the information from the Justice Department to other agencies or the White House. But the judge’s directive bars the entire federal government — not just the Justice Department — from making any part of the list public without giving two business days’ notice. That would allow attorneys for the FBI personnel to ask the judge for further relief.... Acting FBI Director Brian Driscoll initially transmitted a list of 5,000 employees — identified only by ID numbers — to DOJ leadership. Bove subsequently criticized him for 'insubordination.' A full roster with names was sent to DOJ on Thursday, Driscoll said.”
Dan Lamothe of the Washington Post: “The Defense Department has begun restricting access to books and learning materials covering subjects from immigration to psychology in its school system serving U.S. military families, citing the Trump administration’s crackdown on diversity, equity and inclusion programs.... The effort affects curriculums for elementary school ages and up, and follows similar efforts at the U.S. military’s elite academies for prospective military officers. The Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA) serves about 67,000 students spread across 161 schools at military installations around the globe. A list distributed with the memo details specific chapters from books, or entire books, that are no longer allowed during the compliance review.”
Alan Feuer, et al., of the New York Times: “The Justice Department’s newly formed 'Weaponization Working Group,' announced in a memo this week by Attorney General Pam Bondi, was purportedly intended to root out 'abuses of the criminal justice process' by local and federal law enforcement officers. But a literal reading of its name suggests that the investigative body was also an example of the department itself, now under new leadership, weaponizing its expansive powers to scrutinize and perhaps take action against several officials who, for various reasons, have run afoul of ... [Donald] Trump.... The memo, issued on Wednesday, signaled the most significant first step in deploying the levers of government to carry out Mr. Trump’s repeated suggestions to exact retribution against those he perceives to be his enemies....
“The memo ... also included a laundry list of Republican boogeymen and grievances that the working group was intended to address. At the top of that list were three prosecutors who all brought separate cases against Mr. Trump, even though there is no indication that any of them violated the law. They are the former special counsel Jack Smith; Alvin L. Bragg, the Manhattan district attorney; and Letitia James, the New York attorney general.... Ms. Bondi’s memo also directed the working group to look into what it described as the 'improper investigative tactics and unethical prosecutions' arising from the Justice Department’s sprawling investigation of the attack on the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.”
~~~~~~~~~~
New York Times reporter suggests Donald Trump is a phony and is not the "changed man" he claims to be after "God saved him" from an assassin's bullet: ~~~
~~~ “Trump Pauses Online Tirade to Preach Unity.” Shawn McCreesh of the New York Times: “Of all the many forms Donald J. Trump can take, maybe the most perplexing one is Pious Trump. It is a shape he shifted into shortly after 8 o’clock on Thursday morning to deliver a sermon of sorts on Capitol Hill for the annual National Prayer Breakfast. In the grand amphitheater of National Statuary Hall, members of Congress [-- Republicans and Democrats --] sat before him. 'Look at each other,' he urged. He said they were a 'great group of people' and beseeched them to come together. 'We have to make life better for everyone,' he said.... This was somewhat amazing, since the various other forms of Mr. Trump happened to be running around with flamethrowers earlier that morning, torching the federal bureaucracy, the global order, the media, the opposition party in the room and even the messaging coming out of his own White House.
“Just before his arrival at the Capitol to preach unity, he had gone on a fiery posting spree. He demanded that CBS lose its broadcasting license. He trumpeted a baseless conspiracy theory that Democrats had 'STOLLEN' billions of dollars from the [U.S.A.I.D.] to pay off media outlets for slanted coverage. 'DEMOCRATS CAN’T HIDE FROM THIS ONE,' he wrote. 'TOO BIG, TOO DIRTY!' In another post a few minutes before that one, he elaborated upon his desire to grab the Gaza Strip, an idea that drew bipartisan condemnation and shocked even his own staff, who tried to clean it up yesterday, evidently to no avail. He described Senator Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat, pejoratively as a Palestinian.” ~~~
Rather than protecting religious beliefs, this ['anti-Christian bias'] task force will misuse religious freedom to justify bigotry, discrimination and the subversion of our civil rights laws. If Trump really cared about religious freedom and ending religious persecution, he’d be addressing antisemitism in his inner circle, anti-Muslim bigotry, hate crimes against people of color and other religious minorities. -- Rachel Laser, president of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, in a statement ~~~
~~~ Erica Green of the New York Times: Donald “Trump signed an executive order on Thursday aimed at eradicating 'anti-Christian bias' in the federal government by having agencies review policies and practices that he says have tried to squelch religious activities and activism. Mr. Trump, who announced the order at the National Prayer Breakfast, appointed his new attorney general, Pam Bondi, to lead a task force at the Justice Department to spearhead the effort. Mr. Trump said the task force would 'fully prosecute anti-Christian violence and vandalism in our society' and 'move heaven and earth to defend the rights of Christians and religious believers nationwide.'”
Erica Green of the New York Times: Donald “Trump signed an executive order on Thursday placing sanctions on the International Criminal Court, saying that his administration would 'impose tangible and significant consequences' on people who work on investigations that threaten the national security of the United States and its allies, including Israel. The court faced backlash from the U.S. and Israel in November over its decision to issue arrest warrants for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel and his former defense minister, Yoav Gallant, accusing them of war crimes and crimes against humanity in the course of its conflict with Hamas in Gaza.” ~~~
~~~ Aitor Hernández-Morales of Politico: “European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President António Costa on Friday blasted ... Donald Trump’s decision to impose aggressive economic sanctions against the International Criminal Court (ICC). In their first swipe at the new U.S. administration, the EU heavyweights said Trump’s move weakened justice at a global level.”
Lauren Hirsch, et al., of the New York Times: Donald “Trump met this week with the PGA Tour commissioner, the tour said on Thursday, as the Justice Department considers whether to approve a venture between the United States’ premier golf circuit and one backed by Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund.... In addition to the PGA Tour commissioner, Jay Monahan, Mr. Trump hosted Adam Scott, who won the Masters Tournament in 2013 and sits on the PGA Tour's board. During the Oval Office meeting, Mr. Trump also spoke by telephone with Yasir al-Rumayyan, the Saudi wealth fund’s governor and one of the most influential figures in Saudi Arabia.... Mr. Trump, stung by the professional golf establishment’s distancing itself from him after his entry into politics, has been one of [the LIV's] most steadfast supporters and one of its most essential vendors.” MB: So no conflict of interest, amirite? Oh wait, the POTUS* can do no wrong, s/Supreme Friends of Trump
Am! Are Not! Am Too! Aaron Boxerman of the New York Times: Donald “Trump on Thursday defended his proposal for the United States to take charge of postwar Gaza and resettle its Palestinian residents, but stressed that he would not deploy U.S. troops to the enclave, as Israel’s defense minister announced that he had ordered the military to draft a plan to allow people to voluntarily leave. The developments add to a swirl of confusion over the proposal by Mr. Trump to 'take over' the Gaza Strip and for the roughly two million Palestinians living there to move elsewhere. The forced deportation or transfer of a civilian population is a violation of international humanitarian law, a war crime and a crime against humanity, experts say. Mr. Trump’s plan has already provoked furious opposition around the world, with some critics likening it to ethnic cleansing.... Some of Mr. Trump’s aides had sought to soften the president’s ideas on Wednesday evening. But in an early morning social media post, Mr. Trump doubled down, saying that the United States and its partners were prepared to build 'one of the greatest and most spectacular developments' on the planet in Gaza once Israel ceded control there.” (Also linked yesterday.)
David Nakamura of the Washington Post: “A federal judge in Seattle on Thursday blasted ... Donald Trump’s commitment to the rule of law, saying he is trampling the Constitution to pursue 'political or personal gain.' U.S. District Judge John C. Coughenour offered his commentary while becoming the second federal judge in two days to issue a nationwide injunction that blocks the Trump administration from moving forward on an executive order aimed at curbing birthright citizenship. Coughenour had eviscerated the executive order as 'blatantly unconstitutional' during a hearing two weeks ago in the lawsuit brought by a coalition of four Democratic-led states. In Thursday’s court session, Coughenour, a Reagan appointee, criticized Trump in direct and unsparing terms moments after Justice Department lawyers had finished arguing that the order was constitutional.” (Also linked yesterday.)
Chris Cameron of the New York Times: “Ellen L. Weintraub, the chairwoman of the Federal Election Commission, said on Thursday that ... [Donald] Trump had moved to fire her. Ms. Weintraub, who has served as a Democratic commissioner on the bipartisan panel since 2002, posted a short letter signed by Mr. Trump on social media that said she was 'hereby removed' from the commission effective immediately. She said in an interview that she did not see the president’s move as legally valid, and that she was considering her options on how to respond. 'There’s a perfectly legal way for him to replace me,' Ms. Weintraub said on Thursday evening. 'But just flat-out firing me, that is not it.'... A commissioner is removed only after a replacement is nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate, and Ms. Weintraub said that the president did not have the power to force her off the commission before that. Trevor Potter, a former commissioner and chairman of the commission nominated by President George H.W. Bush, denounced the move to fire Ms. Weintraub in a statement, saying that doing so would violate constitutional separation of powers.” The Hill's story is here.
David Bauder of the AP: “Federal government payments to news outlets like Politico, The New York Times and The Associated Press for subscriptions or to license content are in the crosshairs of Trump administration spending hawks, with the president on Thursday calling it potentially 'THE BIGGEST SCANDAL OF THEM ALL.' By linking federal government spending to the media, Trump has bundled two of his long-favored political targets into one rhetorical package — denouncing a common practice as untoward while offering no supporting evidence for his assertions. On Wednesday, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the government had paid more than $8 million for Politico subscriptions and that Elon Musk’s government efficiency team 'is working on canceling those payments.'... It has not been unusual for governments, federal and state, to subscribe to major media outlets to keep up on important or strategic issues.... The New York Times said it earned less than $2 million last year through government subscriptions, which are offered at a discounted rate. Through one arrangement, the Times gives access to more than 1 million active and retired military members and their families.” ~~~
~~~ Christian Paz of Vox explains the non-scandal SCANDAL: “The nation’s governance is increasingly at the whim of online conspiracy theorists.... None of [the facts, which Paz lays out] seemed to matter to [Elon] Musk, who quickly encountered these online conspiracies and responded that he’d shut down the payments. The Tesla CEO spent much of the rest of the day on X reposting and amplifying posts about government payments to news organizations, NGOs, and nonprofits — and eventually, the conspiracies made their way to the White House.... All it took was a few posts for Musk, who now seems to wield limitless power in the federal bureaucracy, to launch a new crackdown, and now at least one federal department, the US Department of Agriculture, is complying and stopping payments, according to independent journalist Marisa Kabas. Another, the General Services Administration, is being ordered to cancel 'every single media contract' the agency expenses, including Politico, its subsidiaries, and the BBC, per Axios.” ~~~
~~~ Erik Wemple of the Washington Post weighs in: “The events that befell Politico on Wednesday couldn’t have materialized in a functional country.”
Rachel Weiner, et al., of the Washington Post: “The Federal Aviation Administration is slowing flights into Reagan National Airport, a safety measure taken as members of Congress demand answers about last week’s deadly crash and ... Donald Trump and Elon Musk promise a rapid overhaul of aviation technology.... At the National Prayer Breakfast on Thursday morning, Trump promised a 'great, computerized system' of air traffic control, something 'brand new … done by two or three companies.' Musk chimed in on his social media platform X with a promise to 'make rapid safety upgrades to the air traffic control system.' Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy and [Sen. Ted] Cruz [R-Texas] both said they welcomed Musk’s involvement given his experience running the rocket company SpaceX. 'One of the top technology CEOs on planet Earth is available,' Cruz told reporters. 'I think that is a real opportunity.'” ~~~
~~~ Marie: Wait, Mr. Trump. You mean air traffic control is going to get a computerized system? Really new-fangled, Donald. The air traffic controllers must be all agog at the very thought of it.
Marie: So maybe you're a little concerned that Elon and His Little Rascals are messing with air traffic control and all the Republicans think that's great. Wait, wait, they're into nuclear weapons, too! ~~~
~~~ Ella Nilsen of CNN: “A representative from Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, was granted access to the Energy Department’s IT system on Wednesday by Energy Secretary Chris Wright, two people with knowledge of the situation told CNN. Wright granted access to DOGE representative Luke Farritor — a 23-year-old former SpaceX intern — even over objections from members of the department’s general counsel and chief information offices, the people told CNN. The DOE chief information office is the department’s IT and cybersecurity office. Members of the general counsel and chief information offices 'said this is a bad idea' because Farritor hadn’t had a standard background investigation needed to access the department’s system, one of the people told CNN.... In addition to DOGE presence in the building, Energy Department employees — including the National Nuclear Security Administration — have received the so-called buyout emails that employees in many other agencies have been receiving.”
Don't Worry About Elon -- He's So Ethical, He's Policing Himself. Isaac Schorr of Mediaite: “White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt explained that Elon Musk ... is in charge of excusing himself when he comes across conflicts of interest pertaining to his businesses during the White House press briefing on Wednesday. 'The president was already asked and answered this question this week, and he said if Elon Musk comes across a conflict of interest with the contracts and the funding that DOGE is overseeing, then Elon will excuse himself from those contracts,' answered Leavitt. 'And he has again abided by all applicable laws.'” (Also linked yesterday.)
It is against the law. -- Elon Musk, on X, on news outlets revealing the names of his Boyz Club ~~~
Marie: A few days ago, Maggie Dupre of Futurism reported, "Elon Musk is really, really mad that journalists at Wired revealed the names of a cohort of extremely young engineers he's tasked with firing federal employees, assisting in dismantling congressionally-created agencies like USAID, and clomping through the federal government's wide-ranging and sensitive troves of data.... Musk has spent the last day or so decrying the naming of the young employees, who do not come from government backgrounds and reportedly range in age between 19 and 25, as illegal and even worthy of prosecution.... But journalists revealing the names and ages of the young men now knees-deep in a widely decried and possibly illegal romp into the infrastructure of our government is baseline transparency. Especially because, again, DOGE is not even a real government agency, and currently seems to be enjoying little to no guardrails or oversight.... Musk himself has a well-documented history of singling out specific federal employees by name, promoting an X post as recently as November that shared the name of a federal employee singled out for her work in 'climate diversification' — and, as a result, launched a throng of woefully ill-informed harassment her way." ~~~
~~~ But, in fairness to Elon, you can see why he is "really, really mad" that journalists found out the names of his incel team. Because lookie what happened next. ~~~
~~~ Bobby Allyn & Shannon Bond of NPR: "A staffer connected to Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency resigned on Thursday after now-deleted racist social media posts were resurfaced.... Marko Elez, a 25-year-old software engineer, was working inside the Treasury Department.... Elez, who formerly worked at Musk companies X and SpaceX, was one of two temporary appointees at Treasury connected to DOGE who have been granted access to a highly sensitive Treasury system that processes trillions of dollars in payments every year. The Wall Street Journal reported on a number of 2024 posts from an account connected to Elez on Musk's X platform.... 'You could not pay me to marry outside of my ethnicity,' the account wrote in September. 'Normalize Indian hate,' a separate post from that month read. In July of last year, the account posted: 'Just for the record, I was racist before it was cool.' In other posts, from December, the account pushed for repealing the Civil Rights Act and shared: 'I just want a eugenic immigration policy, is that too much to ask.'... Elez had recently been appointed a special government employee at the Treasury, the government told the federal judge hearing the case this week.... Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent defended the DOGE team on Bloomberg Television on Thursday, saying the unit consists of trained professionals." ~~~
~~~ Marie: Speaking of Marko Elez, who apparently fancies himself a White Boy possessed of very superior White Boy genes, a line in the following report stood out. ~~~
~~~ Emily Singer of Daily Kos: “A federal judge limited co-President Elon Musk and his army of teenage Department of Government Efficiency minions' access to the Treasury Department's payment systems Thursday in response to a group of unions’ lawsuit alleging that DOGE's access violated the Privacy Act of 1974. U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly’s order said that Treasury Department employees will block Musk and other DOGE workers' access 'to any payment record or payment system of records maintained by or within the Bureau of the Fiscal Service.' The order does, however, allow 'read only" access of the payment systems to two 'special government employees' who have ties to Musk: Tom Krause, the chief executive of Cloud Software Group Inc., and Marko Elez, a 25-year-old engineer.... Krause and Elez were assigned to the Treasury Department through DOGE, and reportedly 'passed government background checks and obtained the necessary security clearances,' The New York Times reported on Feb. 1.” ~~~
~~~ Marie: Who conducted what kind of security check that missed Marko's eugenics musings? If the WSJ could find Marko's X account in a day or two, why couldn't those supposed security checkers? Or did they learn about Marko's rampant racism and shrug? ~~~
~~~ And this: ~~~
Olivia George, et al., of the Washington Post: “A federal judge in Massachusetts paused the deadline for the Trump administration’s buyout program for federal workers Thursday afternoon, two days after unions representing more than 800,000 federal workers asked the court to halt the program, calling it an 'arbitrary, unlawful, short-fused ultimatum.' U.S. District Judge George A. O’Toole Jr. set another hearing for Monday at 2 p.m. for full arguments.” (Also linked yesterday.) The ABC News story is here.
Isaac Stanley-Becker, et al., of the Washington Post: “Agents of billionaire Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency have gained access to highly restricted government records on millions of federal employees — including Treasury and State Department officials in sensitive security positions — as part of a broader effort to gain control over the government’s main personnel agency, according to four U.S. officials with knowledge of the developments. The officials ... expressed alarm about potential breaches or abuses of such records by members of an administration whose senior-most officials, including ... Donald Trump, have threatened to retaliate against federal workers accused of disloyalty. The records maintained by the Office of Personnel Management, or OPM, amount to a repository of sensitive information about employees of most federal agencies — including addresses, demographic profiles, salary details and disciplinary histories. The moves at the OPM by members of Musk’s pseudo-governmental DOGE have coincided with similar efforts to gain access to sensitive systems at other agencies....” (Also linked yesterday.)
Shelby Talcott of Semafor: "The Social Security Administration is an upcoming focus of the Department of Government Efficiency, a source with knowledge of its work told Semafor, and one person involved in DOGE is currently preparing to work with the agency that provides benefits to the elderly and disabled.... DOGE’s interest in trying to root out fraud in Medicare and Medicaid, and perhaps soon in cutting at the Social Security Administration, suggests that government programs once seen as untouchable may be on the table."
Well, everything's going according to plan over there at Pete's Department of Defense of White Men & Drinking Society. ~~~
~~~ Paul Campos in LG&$ digs up a memo, via Ken Klippenstein, from DOD Defense Intelligence Agency (a misnomer if there ever was one) instructing all DIA personnel to immediately suspend all those nasty DEI observances, like MLK Jr. Day, Holocaust Remembrance Day, Pride Day & Women's Equality Day. Two of the now-very-unspecial days -- MLK L. Day & Juneteenth -- are national holidays, so I'm not sure how DIA personnel will get around observing those. But I'm sure they can be flexible! Meanwhile, the Navy is cancelling all sexual assault prevention & response training, because, I don't know, women and gays or something. Thanks to RAS for the link. (Also linked yesterday.)
Shannon Osaka & Jake Spring of the Washington Post: “In a memo released Thursday, the Federal Highway Administration ordered states to halt a $5 billion program to build fast EV chargers on highways nationwide — an initiative that ... Donald Trump cited as an example of the 'Green New Deal.' The letter informs state transportation directors ... that any plans approved by the Biden administration are now suspended until the Transportation Department provides new guidelines in the spring.... The order, which comes as many states are still working to build out their public chargers..., could strike a major blow to an industry that has experienced slower-than-expected sales and could lose critical federal tax incentives in coming months. On Wednesday, Ford Motor Co. projected it could lose as much as $5.5 billion this year on its EV and software business.... Tesla [-- whose CEO is Elon Musk --] has been a key recipient of charging grants, and it has the largest fast-charger network in the country.”
Hannah Natanson, et al., of the Washington Post: “Representatives from Elon Musk’s U.S. DOGE Service have fed sensitive data from across the Education Department into artificial intelligence software to probe the agency’s programs and spending, according to two people with knowledge of the DOGE team’s actions. The AI probe includes data with personally identifiable information for people who manage grants, as well as sensitive internal financial data.... The DOGE team is using AI software accessed through Microsoft’s cloud computing service Azure to pore over every dollar of money the department disburses.... At the Education Department, DOGE’s team aims to radically reduce spending and ultimately shrink the department and its staff, the people said — helping further the Trump administration’s push to get rid of it entirely. The DOGE team plans to replicate this process across many departments and agencies, accessing the back-end software at different parts of the government and then using AI technology to extract and sift through information....”
Maxine Joselow & Amudalet Ajasa of the Washington Post: “... Trump appointees at the Environmental Protection Agency notified staff members that they plan to close the Office of Environmental Justice and External Civil Rights and place 168 of its employees on administrative leave, according to agency officials. The tumult has also engulfed the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division, a little-known yet crucial office tasked with defending the federal government’s environmental actions in court. Trump appointees recently announced plans to fire about 20 employees at the division, among other actions that have sent morale there plummeting....
“And as one of her first acts after being sworn in as the nation’s 87th attorney general Wednesday, Pam Bondi rescinded former attorney general Merrick Garland’s directives on environmental justice, according to a memorandum obtained by The Washington Post. Bondi also directed the heads of all U.S. Attorney’s Offices to revoke any 'memoranda, guidance, or similar directive that implement the prior administration’s “environmental justice” agenda.'”
Oh, “Rank Insubordination,” Is It, Marco? Karoon Demirjian & Aishvarya Kavi of the New York Times: “The Trump administration plans to reduce the number of workers at the U.S. Agency for International Development from more than 10,000 to about 290 positions, three people with knowledge of the plans said on Thursday. The small remaining staff includes employees who specialize in health and humanitarian assistance.... U.S.A.I.D. officials were also told on Thursday that about 800 awards and contracts administered through the agency were being canceled.... The moves also came just one day before almost all of the agency’s direct hires, including its roster of Foreign Service officers, will be put on indefinite administrative leave. In addition, almost all contractors will see their work orders terminated. Foreign Service officers will have 30 days to return to the United States. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who took control of U.S.A.I.D. as acting administrator on Monday, insisted during a Fox News interview this week that the takeover was 'not about getting rid of foreign aid.... But now we have rank insubordination,' he said, adding that U.S.A.I.D. employees had been 'completely uncooperative, so we had no choice but to take dramatic steps to bring this thing under control.'” An AP report is here. ~~~
~~~ Marie: Pardon my lack of imagination, but I have a hard time picturing healthcare workers and food distributors and disaster relief workers of rising up against their bosses and showing "rank insubordination" without cause. ~~~
~~~ Shannon Bond, et al., of NPR: "Unions representing foreign service officers and federal employees at the United States Agency for International Development are suing the Trump administration to halt efforts to dismantle the agency and freeze foreign aid.... The lawsuit argues only Congress can dissolve the agency and calls the Trump administration's actions 'unconstitutional and illegal.' The unions are asking the court to block efforts to shut down USAID operations and put staff on leave, to restore funding and to reopen the agency's offices." ~~~
~~~ Missy Ryan, et al., of the Washington Post: “The Trump administration’s abrupt decision to repatriate the U.S. Agency for International Development’s overseas workforce has thrust the agency’s global staff into chaos and despair, as workers scramble to uproot their lives and brace for what they fear will be a shutdown of all American aid missions in 30 days.... These employees, some assigned to dangerous 'hardship' posts, are attempting to navigate that process with little information from the Trump administration and while many are locked out of all agency computer systems.” ~~~
~~~ Marie: Read through this report, and see if you think these aid workers seem like people who showed in "rank insubordination," or as Elon Musk asserted, were participating in a "criminal" organization. ~~~
~~~ Daniel Wu of the Washington Post: “The Trump administration’s efforts to dismantle the U.S. Agency for International Development ... threatens billions of dollars the agency spends on American businesses and organizations, global development experts and industry representatives told The Washington Post.... Billions of [USAID] dollars flowed back into the American economy until ... Donald Trump ordered a 90-day freeze on foreign-aid spending last month. Now U.S. businesses that sold goods and services to USAID are in limbo. That includes American farms, which supply about 41 percent of the food aid that the agency, working with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, sends around the world each year, according to a 2021 report by the Congressional Research Service.” MB: I'll bet many farmers affected by the dismantling of USAID voted for Trump. Trump promised to break everything, and they didn't think he meant them, too. ~~~
~~~ Abha Bhattarai of the Washington Post: “Private-sector employers and nonprofits are starting to lay off workers as a result of the Trump administration’s sweeping cuts and funding freezes, unleashing a wave of job losses that economists say could pick up steam in the coming weeks, threatening the broader labor market.... More than 7.5 million Americans work in jobs directly connected to the federal government, according to the Brookings Institution, as contractors or grant workers — some of whom are already out of a job. And there are millions more who work in positions indirectly connected to federal funding delays.... Still, the labor market remains strong, and economists say it could take weeks or months before government-related job losses show up in national data.” (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Stephanie Nolen of the New York Times: “... dozens ... [of clinical trials] have been abruptly frozen, leaving people around the world with experimental drugs and medical products in their bodies, cut off from the researchers who were monitoring them, and generating waves of suspicion and fear. The State Department, which now oversees U.S.A.I.D., replied to a request for comment by directing a reporter to USAID.gov, which no longer contains any information except that all permanent employees have been placed on administrative leave. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said that the agency is wasteful and advances a liberal agenda that is counter to ... [Donald] Trump’s foreign policy. In interviews, scientists — who are forbidden by the terms of the stop-work order to speak with the news media — described agonizing choices: violate the stop-work orders and continue to care for trial volunteers, or leave them alone to face potential side effects and harm.” (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Glenn Kessler of the Washington Post: “As the Trump administration this week dismantled the U.S. Agency for International Development..., the White House issued a statement justifying its actions. Titled 'At USAID, Waste and Abuse Runs Deep,' the news release claimed USAID 'has been unaccountable to taxpayers as it funnels massive sums of money to the ridiculous — and, in many cases, malicious — pet projects of entrenched bureaucrats, with next-to-no oversight.' The news release then listed 12 examples, plucked from the websites of right-wing media. But the numbers cited — as low as $32,000 — hardly justify the claim that these are 'massive sums' of money. In fact, they are so low that some of the funds appear to have been awarded at the ambassador level, without Washington involvement. At least one dated from the first Trump administration, and some were actually State Department grants, not USAID.... Only one claim — out of 12 — was accurate.”
Alan Rappeport of the New York Times: “The Senate voted along party lines on Thursday to confirm Russell T. Vought to lead the Office of Management and Budget, putting in place one of the most powerful architects of ... [Donald] Trump’s agenda to upend the federal bureaucracy and slash spending that the administration thinks is wasteful. The 53-to-47 vote returns Mr. Vought to the White House budget office that he also led during Mr. Trump’s first term.... Mr. Vought emerged as one of Mr. Trump’s most contentious nominees, drawing intense backlash from Senate Democrats who described him as a lawless ideologue. They used every legislative tool at their disposal to delay his confirmation vote, commandeering the Senate floor on Wednesday night and into Thursday morning to make the case against him.... During his confirmation hearing last month, Mr. Vought dodged questions about whether Mr. Trump would follow the will of Congress, which authorizes federal spending, but made clear that Mr. Trump intended to test the law.”
Juliet Macur of the New York Times: “Transgender women will be barred from competing in N.C.A.A. women’s college sports, the sports organization announced on Thursday, a day after ... [Donald] Trump effectively forced the decision by reversing federal policy. That decision, effective immediately, followed Mr. Trump’s signing of an executive order asking his agencies to withdraw federal funding from educational institutions if they defied him and let transgender girls and women compete.... The N.C.A.A.’s previous policy on transgender athletes left the decision up to each sport’s national governing body. The rules varied by sport, especially as to how much testosterone could remain in a transgender woman’s blood following hormone therapy.”
I don’t think that Americans have accepted that anyone should be above the law in America. Our equality as people was the foundation of our society and of our constitution. -- Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, speaking in Louisville, Kentucky ~~~
~~~ Bruce Schreiner of the AP: “U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor said her conservative colleagues are risking the court’s legitmacy with decisions affording ... Donald Trump broad immunity and overturning longstanding precedents on other issues. In her first public comments since Trump began his second term in the White House, Sotomayor told a Kentucky audience that the court has gone too far, too fast on a range of issues. She cited the Trump case during a lengthy response to a question about sagging public confidence in the court. Sotomayor issued a stinging dissent in that case, and she didn’t hold back Wednesday night in discussing public perceptions of the court following its historic 6-3 decision on the immunity question. The court’s conservative majority, with three justices appointed by Trump in his first term, ruled for the first time that former presidents have broad immunity from prosecution.”
~~~~~~~~~~
Texas. Robert Downen of the Texas Tribune: "A Houston man who was recently pardoned by ... Donald Trump for his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection has been arrested on an outstanding child sex crimes charge. Andrew Taake, 36, was taken into custody on Thursday after spending more than two weeks as a fugitive, the Harris County District Attorney’s Office said. He had previously been charged with online solicitation of a minor stemming from a 2016 incident in which he allegedly sent sexually explicit messages to an undercover law enforcement officer who was posing as a 15-year-old girl. Taake was among the roughly 1,600 people, including 120 Texans, who were charged for their roles in the U.S. Capitol riot, which ultimately resulted in five deaths, injuries to 140 police officers, at least $2.8 million in damage and roughly 1,575 federal criminal cases." ~~~
~~~ Marie: This is not the first story you've seen and it won't be the last about unrelated law-breaking & alleged law-breaking by criminals Donald Trump pardoned. Criminal supporters of Donald Trump often are not just criminals for a day. Criming, in its varied forms, is what they do.
~~~~~~~~~~
Panama. Malu Cursino of BBC News: "Panama has denied making changes to allow US government vessels to transit the Panama Canal for free, following White House claims it had agreed to such a move. The State Department said in a statement on X that its government vessels 'can now transit the Panama Canal without charge fees, saving the US government millions of dollars a year'. Responding to the comments, the Panama Canal Authority (ACP) said it was 'empowered to set tolls and other fees for transiting the canal,' adding that it had 'not made any adjustments to them'." Thanks to RAS for the lead. (Also linked yesterday.)
16 Comments
Reader Comments (16)
Fat Hitler claims “Democrats have stollen billions!
In keeping with the way Trumpbots, like his blond bimbo Lie Secretary, have made a verb out of a noun (social, as in “He socials something…”) I’m guessing what Fatty is referring to here is the German holiday bread, stollen, so when he sez Democrats have “stollen billions”, he must mean (turning stollen into a verb) that certain Democrats are “stollening” billions, meaning handing out holiday bread to a ton of people.
How generous! Especially since now that Fat Hitler has shuttered USAID, there will be a lot of sick and hungry people we used to help. After all, Trump was part German before he was a complete Nazi, and well, Nazis aren’t exactly famous for their hospitality.
A little holiday bread will go a long way. Good job, Democrats!
Test test test
Here's a comment from safari, that was posted early this morning:
By safari:
Little Marco is an empty shell, blowing like tumbleweed in the political winds.
"Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said that the agency is wasteful and advances a liberal agenda that is counter to ... [Donald] Trump’s foreign policy."
Is that so?
"But a CNN KFile review of Rubio’s past comments shows he has been for more than a decade a major supporter of foreign aid and USAID... just three years ago, Rubio argued the exact opposite, urging the Biden administration in a 2022 letter to prioritize USAID’s funding as a key tool to “counter the Chinese Communist Party’s expanding global influence.”
"A longtime defender of US foreign aid, Rubio pushed back against criticism of the agency in repeated comments uncovered by CNN — defending aid as both vital and a small part of America’s overall fiscal budget."
Fuck these guys
https://edition.cnn.com/2025/02/05/politics/kfile-secretary-of-state-marco-rubio-past-support-usaid-foreign-aid/index.html
National Center for Missing and Exploited Children threatened with losing funding if their don't scrub LGBTQ from public materials. Plus can't use trans kids real names anymore.
Toddler Diplomacy, he has his eyes on breaking everything.
Brian Beutler
"Watch The Credit-Ratings Agencies
If the illegal commandeering of the federal budget doesn't make the U.S. less creditworthy, then Wall Street is cowed and misleading investors."
DEI Games
Brian Klaas, in The Atlantic, on The Rise of the Selfish Plutocrats
"The role of the ultra-wealthy has morphed from one of shared social responsibility and patronage to the freewheeling celebration of selfish opulence. Rather than investing in their society—say, by giving alms to the poor, or funding Caravaggios and cathedrals—many of today’s plutocrats use their wealth to escape to private islands, private Beyoncé concerts, and, above all, extremely private superyachts.
....
In 1908, the English writer G. K. Chesterton observed that 'the poor man really has a stake in the country. The rich man hasn’t; he can go away to New Guinea in a yacht. The poor have sometimes objected to being governed badly; the rich have always objected to being governed at all.'"
Well, plenty to enrage. I can't even point to one thing as worse than any of the others. If the entire GQP cult or the administration breakers were to take a cruise boat for a weekend, I would likely be all in for some sort of marine accident. Honestly, name one cabinet member or congressconvict or spokesidiot or teenage cult member that is worth preserving for humanity.
There is no point in pointing, so have an adequate weekend, made mostly okay by not reading or listening to anything going on.
Laura,
Quite. The new robber barons far and away exceed the 19th century variety in self-aggrandizing greed while submissively supporting a fascist pig whose sense of philanthropy can be sung in three notes: mi, mi, mi.
Andrew Carnegie funded the development of over 2,500 libraries, 1,600 in the United States. Even a scheming old son of a bitch like John D. Rockefeller became a noted philanthropist in his later years, giving millions to education and medical research.
A prime example of the new robber barons, Elon Musk, gives nothing back to anyone, choosing to spend his money buying a useful social media business and debasing it by handing it over to scum of the earth, then buying the most corrupt and petty politician who ever had a For Sale sign on his fat ass and using his newly purchased influence to spread lies, chaos, and misery. A very special brand of evil rat bastards.
Funny how all those "eugenics" enthusiasts think the "science" places them at the top of the food chain where they (and not those "others") belong.
Whadda coincidence.
I dunno, but Marko Elez doesn't sound like a Native American name. I wonder what his ethnicity might be...Aryan?
The Brian Beutler piece RAS links above is pay walled. I've been curious about that topic - when/if the markets and credit raters will react to the coup. Maybe we'll get a clearer picture as the next budget deadline approches. And Tesla stock may have dropped but it hasn't crashed, despite elan making his best effort to drive off potential customers here and in Europe. Jonathan Chait, in The Atlantic writes:
Paranoia Is Winning. How Elon Musk’s conspiracy theories became official White House policy
"The process by which Musk came to his conclusions does not inspire great confidence. His expertise lies mostly outside public policy. He arrived in Washington, D.C., and quickly set out to prove that he could identify at least $1 trillion in annual waste and fraud, a figure wildly out of scale with the conclusions of every serious expert. He claims to be working 120 hours a week, yet is posting on X at a manic pace, sending more than 3,000 tweets a month, at all hours of the night....
Every response he has made to outside criticism tracks the most typical paranoid thought process. He believes that politicians criticize him because they, too, are collecting 'kickbacks and bribes.' He has accordingly interpreted all opposition to his moves as just more proof that he is onto something big."
Government Employees?
"That’s not just a security guard, it’s a member of the Triple Canopy private paramilitary organization that merged with Erik Price’s notorious Blackwater group.
Senator Ed Markey@markey.senate.gov
We were just denied entrance into the EPA after asking to meet with a DOGE representative. More to come."
@unwashed: I checked the Googles, and it looks as if Marko's family comes from Bosnia-Herzegovina. The name is of Slavic origin. So, no, his people probably didn't come over here on the Mayflower.
If he weren't a racist, he would know deep U.S. roots and an English-sounding name don't make a person more or less American. But as a racist, he's probably uncomfortable about his Southeastern European origins, so he has to find some other ethnic groups to disparage, in this case Indians.
With all due respect, he's a pitiful little scum, and he should not be in a position to do harm to ordinary Americans whose ethnicities he abhors and belittles.
More from the mean son of a B., that paragon of resentment who's pretending to be president.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/2025/02/07/trump-kennedy-center/?
And I see he's also revoked Biden's security clearance.
Makes one more available for him to hand out to his lackeys, I guess, a remark based loosely on what I used to tell my students:
In our universe where apostrophes exist in a limited number, don't use them where they don't belong...You might run out.