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New York Times: All of the Trump Administration’s Major Moves

Just Security trackers

April 20

Supremes Speak

In the early morning hours, 7 Justices of the US Supreme court issued a terse order telling the Trump administration that it “is directed not to remove any member of the putative class of detainees from the United States until further order of this Court. See 28 U. S. C. §1651(a).”

The order stems from ongoing deportations the government is attempting under the Alien Enemies Act.

Signal? Or Noise?

The New York Times reports that Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth used the texting app Signal to share attack plans against the Houthi in Yemen with 13 people, including his wife, brother, and personal attorney.

The reports come as at least three top officials working at the Department of Defense were fired late last week for allegedly leaking information to reporters.

The Trump administration brushed off the reports as sour grapes and old news, but it brings into question Secretary Hegseth’s use of non secure channels on his personal phone to share information that could compromise military personnel during operational activity.

Other Random Carelessness

It has been reported that Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem had her bag stolen while having dinner in a downtown Washington, DC restaurant.

The bag contained the keys to her apartment, her Department of Homeland Security access badge, and many other personal items.

The Secret Service, which provides Noem's security detail, is investigating.

April 17

Slumbering Courts Awakening?

The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals denied the Trump administration's request of a stay of testimony of officials in its ongoing fight to keep Kilmar Abrego Garcia in a prison in El Salvador.

Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson III, who was nominated by Republican President Ronald Reagan, wrote that he and his two colleagues “cling to the hope that it is not naïve to believe our good brethren in the Executive Branch perceive the rule of law as vital to the American ethos.”

The panel said the government is “asserting a right to stash away residents of this country in foreign prisons without the semblance of due process that is the foundation of our constitutional order.”

“Further, it claims in essence that because it has rid itself of custody that there is nothing that can be done. This should be shocking not only to judges, but to the intuitive sense of liberty that Americans far removed from courthouses still hold dear,” Wilkinson wrote.

Government By Contract

Federal employees exhausted by the rip shot approach to cuts used by the Trump administration are taking offers to leave their jobs.

https://www.nbcnews.com/science/science-news/noaa-workers-report-intentional-chaos-personnel-cuts-rcna201625

https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2025/04/doge-manufactured-chaos-government/682470/

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/exhausted-government-workers-decide-take-trumps-second-buyout-offer-2025-04-14/

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/how-hard-have-us-agencies-been-bit-by-trump-musks-layoffs-2025-02-14/?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=Newsletter&utm_campaign=On-the-Campaign-Trail&utm_term=041725&lctg=67c752913ae4ef001404982e

The administration’s approach to streamlining government services will be to contract it out to his cronies, and allow them to get rich off the American taxpayer, while providing fewer services.

Contractors Decide Who Has Rights

TechDirt reports that contractors with little supervision from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials are making determinations about which migrants are members of trans-national gangs that the Trump administration has designated as terrorists.

To make matters worse, these contractors are hiring former cops who were fired for malfeasance, or resigned to avoid being fired.

If these allegations were credible, then a judge should make that determination. We already know that ICE and their contractors are prone to “administrative errors.”

The Grift Continues For Musk

Shadow President Elon Musk’s Starlink is the reportedly the lead for Trump’s “Golden Dome” missile defense shield.

Sources told Reuters that Musk is pitching a “subscription model” for the project. Do you have to watch a commercial to stop that nuclear missile?

No Evidence Of Waste, Fraud, Abuse

In a ruling from non-profits seeking grant funding awarded to them by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), a federal court ruled that the administration had presented no evidence of malfeasance.

“Here we are, weeks in, and you’re still unable to proffer me any evidence with regard to malfeasance,” Judge Tanya Chutkan told DOJ attorneys at the hearing, adding that the government had shifted its reasoning for cutting off grants to the eight large nonprofits — from citing evidence of wrongdoing to citing a change in administration policy.

Chutkan also scrutinized the EPA’s procedure for abruptly terminating the $20 billion grant program in March, specifically its failure to give awardees advance notice before announcing the cancellation.

“If EPA had concerns about oversight and the funding, the way to do it is either get a court order — which you didn’t do — or go through the procedures for termination,” Chutkan told DOJ attorneys. “You haven’t done that. You’re putting the cart before the horse.”

A reminder that the Trump administration continues to violate the Impoundment Act of 1974.

E. coli Outbreak Covered Up?

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) released no report of an investigation into an E.coli outbreak in 15 states that resulted in at least one death.

The FDA indicated in February that it had closed the investigation linked to romaine lettuce without publicly detailing what had happened, or which companies were responsible for growing and processing the contaminated lettuce.

April 16

Credit Union Watchdogs Fired

Two members of the National Credit Union Administration (NACU) board were fired by President Trump.

The NACU is an independent organization that provides oversight to the nation's $2.3 trillion credit union sector.

Reuters reports that the firing leaves the board with just one member, Republican Chairman Kyle Hauptman.

Second Acting IRS Commissioner Steps Down

A second acting IRS Commissioner has retired, rather than authorize the sharing of income tax records with immigration officials.

TechDirt reports that Acting commissioner Melanie Krause has chosen to walk, rather than be a part of this horrific mass vanishing of migrants, despite initially showing some willingness to cooperate with the Trump administration’s demands.

“Melanie Krause, who had served as acting head since February, will step down over the new data-sharing document signed Monday by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. The agreement will allow ICE to submit names and addresses of immigrants inside the U.S. illegally to the IRS for cross-verification against tax records.”

Not only have two consecutive acting commissioners resigned over this single, focused effort to turn normally confidential tax records into just another way for the government to inflict pain on migrants who not only have jobs but pay taxes, but the administration’s desire to stock its cabinet shelves with loyalists has resulted in the dismissal of IRS lawyers who expressed their concerns about the legality of this request.

MD Senator Going To El Salvador

US Senato Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) announced that he will travel to El Salvador today to push for the release of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a man who the US Justice Department said in court it mistakenly deported.

“My hope is to visit Kilmar and check on his wellbeing and to hold constructive conversations with government officials around his release. We must urgently continue working to return Kilmar safely home to Maryland,” Van Hollen, D-Md., said in a statement Tuesday night, calling Abrego Garcia’s deportation “unlawful” and an “abduction.”

Government Likely In Contempt Of Court

US District Judge James Boasberg ruled today that “probable cause exists” to hold Trump administration officials in criminal contempt for violating his orders in mid-March halting the use of the Alien Enemies Act to deport alleged Venezuelan gang members.

The situation has been a major political and legal flashpoint for the Trump Administration in its efforts to carry out a historic deportation campaign, especially in mid-March when it sent three planes of migrants to a prison in El Salvador.

“The Court ultimately determines that the Government’s actions on that day demonstrate a willful disregard for its Order, sufficient for the Court to conclude that probable cause exists to find the Government in criminal contempt,” Boasberg wrote in his decision.

“The Court does not reach such conclusion lightly or hastily; indeed, it has given Defendants ample opportunity to rectify or explain their actions,” he continued. “None of their responses has been satisfactory.”

Russian IP Attempts Access NLRB Records

A user with a Russian IP address tried to log into National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) systems just minutes after Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) moved to access and extract troves of sensitive data from inside the agency, according to an extensive whistleblower disclosure released Tuesday.

NextGov reports that a user with a Russian IP address attempted to log in on a newly created DOGE email account and the attempts were “near real-time” in conjunction with DOGE gaining accessing the NLRB systems.

“The whistleblower claims DOGE engineers also used secretive and suspicious methods to pull sensitive information from the NLRB’s systems. They shut off security tools that track activity, deleted evidence of what they accessed and used software that made their work nearly invisible.”

(More details from Ars Technica)

April 14

Supreme Court Silent As Trump Defies Orders

No word from the unanimous court that ordered the Trump administration to facilitate the return of a Maryland father who had been wrongly deported.

Historian Heather Cox Richardson has a great summary of the situation.

Kilmar Abrego Garcia has been painted as is a terrorist, and gang member by Trump administration officials, without providing evidence.

Abrego Garcia, an El Salvadoran national, was in the United States under a protection order issued by an immigration judge. He was disappeared to El Salvador without due process.

The Trump administration paints this as a foreign policy situation. It believes no judge can order them to seek Abrego Garcia's return.

Today in the Oval Office, Attorney General Pam Bondi said that facilitating his return is just providing the aircraft, they cannot make El Salvador release a prisoner.

Meanwhile, El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele said that he was not inclined to release Abrego Garcia. He said, "The question is preposterous: how can I smuggle a terrorist into the United States?"

April 11

Still Defying Court Orders

Trump administration has defied a court order for information about its efforts so far to locate and return Kilmar Abrego Garcia.

Reuters reports that U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis told Department of Justice lawyers, "I'm not sure what to take from the fact that the Supreme Court has spoken quite clearly and yet I can't get an answer today about what you've done, if anything, in the past."

On Thursday the Supreme Court said the administration must take steps to facilitate Abrego Garcia's release from custody in El Salvador and detail the steps it has taken and will take to return him to the United States.

Drew Ensign, an attorney with the Department of Justice, repeated what the administration had said in court filings, that it would provide that information by the end of Tuesday, once it evaluated the Supreme Court ruling.

US No Longer A Good Investment?

The US Dollar has long been the reserve currency, with many nations using our Treasury Bonds as investment vehicles for their wealth. It has allowed the US to run deficits with lower borrowing costs, but Trump's tariff game this week had investors fleeing the US bond markets.

"The US, almost overnight, it seems to have lost its safe-haven attributes," said Ray Attrill, head of FX strategy at National Australia Bank.

"There is ... a loss of confidence to some extent ... you're overlaying that with the loss of exceptionalism and the view that in the short-term, at least, it's the U.S. economy that's going to be suffering more than any other from what's happening on the tariff front."

The dollar, already on course for its worst year since 2017 (the last time Trump was in office), on Friday plunged to a decade-low against the Swiss franc and dropped to its weakest level against the euro in more than three years.

Economists see a danger in the administrations policies regarding trade and the financial system, since foreigners owned $33 Trillion in US debt at the end of 2024.

"The Trump administration's ambitious agenda to reform the international financial system seems almost oblivious to the reality of America's extreme dependence on foreign capital as reflected in its net international investment position," said Chris Wood, global head of equity strategy at Jefferies, in a note.

State Department Witch Hunts

In an exclusive, Politico is reporting that the State Department has asked employees to report each other for “anti-Christian” bias.

“The cable was sent out to embassies around the world under Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s name. The instructions also were released in a department-wide notice.

It encourages State Department employees to report on one another through a tip form that can be anonymous.

The cable requests that, “Reports should be as detailed as possible, including names, dates, locations (e.g. post or domestic office where the incident occurred.”

April 10

Court Orders Return Of Abrego Garcia

The Supreme Court ordered in an unsigned opinion that the Trump Administration must work to facilitate the return of Kilmar Abrego Garcia.

The unsigned order with no noted dissents, says that the lower court’s “order properly requires the Government to ‘facilitate’ Abrego Garcia’s release from custody in El Salvador and to ensure that his case is handled as it would have been had he not been improperly sent to El Salvador.”

Charm Offensive For Greenland

The New York Times reports that the Trump administration is planning a charm offensive on the people of Greenland to convince them to become part of the United States.

They are even considering “the possibility of replacing the $600 million in subsidies that Denmark gives the island with an annual payment of about $10,000 per Greenlander.”

Insider Trading?

Members of Congress are pointing out the stock trades of members of the administration, political donors, and congressional supporters of the Trump administration, after the President’s “good time to buy” post on his social media website hours before he paused his reciprocal tariffs an every country but China Wednesday.

April 9

Foreign Students Losing Student Visas

Secretary of State Marco Rubio has been cancelling visas for foreign students across the country without notice, or cause in some cases. The Wall Street Journal reports that more than 300 student have been targeted.

This move comes as the administration has been disappearing people from the country without due process, and as it formulates plans to do the same to US citizens.

Tariff’s Paused

The administration paused the implementation of sweeping reciprocal tariffs 90 days just as they were about to go into effect. Markets rebounded on the news.

It is almost like they crashed the markets to get bargain stocks?

Judge Restores AP Access

Federal District Judge Trevor McFadden ordered the White House to restore the Associated Press’ access to the Oval Office, Air Force One, and events open to the press corps.

"The court simply holds that under the First Amendment, if the government opens its doors to some journalists — be it to the Oval Office, the East Room, or elsewhere — it cannot then shut those doors to other journalists because of their viewpoints.  The Constitution requires no less," McFadden wrote in his 41-page opinion.

Roberts Allows Illegal Firings

Chief Justice John Roberts issued an another administrative stay granting the Trump administration relief in its ability to fire members of independent boards.

Current federal laws governing independent boards and commissions currently limit the grounds for their removal to neglect of duty or malfeasance.

April 8

Supreme Court Shreds Rights

The Supreme Court ruled in two emergency cases that the Trump Administration can shred the rights of federal employees and Venezuelan migrants.

Federal Employees

While narrow, and from the court’s “shadow docket,” the first ruling said that the plaintiffs in the California case, that reinstated thousands of probationary employees illegally fired in government agency at the direction of the Office of Personnel Management, may have lacked standing to bring a complaint.

The affected agencies in the California case are the departments of Veterans Affairs, Defense, Energy, Interior, Agriculture and Treasury.

Further complicating matters, a judge in Maryland issued a similar ruling that applies to the same agencies at issue in the California case as well as others. That decision, which requires affected employees in 19 states and the District of Columbia to be kept on paid administrative leave while litigation continues, remains in place.

Venezuelan Refugees

In a separate ruling on deportations under the Alien Enemies Act of 1789, the court ruled 5-4 that the administration could deport Venezuelan migrants suspected of being gang members, as long as they are given due process.

The court also told the plaintiffs that they should have sought recourse in a Federal Court in Texas, where the people were detained.

In dissent, the three liberal justices said the administration has sought to avoid judicial review in this case and the court “now rewards the government for its behavior.” Justice Amy Coney Barrett joined portions of the dissent.

According to reports, 137 people were deported under the US immigration officials have said the detainees were "carefully vetted" and verified as gang members before being flown to El Salvador, under an agreement with that country.

But many of the deportees do not have US criminal records, a US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) official acknowledged in court documents.

Some relatives of the deported migrants have told the BBC the men have been wrongly swept up in the immigration crackdown, and that they are innocent.

DOGE Using AI Spies

Reuters is reporting that Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) is using his proprietary artificial intelligence (AI) program, GrokAI, to spy on communications among government employees.

The article states, "At the Environmental Protection Agency, for instance, some EPA managers were told by Trump appointees that Musk’s team is rolling out AI to monitor workers, including looking for language in communications considered hostile to Trump or Musk, the two people said."

Musk is taking his access to government data as a chance to train his AI program, likely for personal gain. As a special government employee, Musk is prohibited under ethics laws from involving himself in government activities that would benefit him or his companies.

Trade War Intensifies

The Trump administration is raising tariffs on Chinese goods to 104% after it raised tariffs in response to Trump's Liberation Day trade war.

U.S. Markets dropped for the fourth consecutive day today.

April 7

Supreme Court Delays Return Order

Chief Justice John Roberts issued an administrative stay to give the Supreme Court more time to consider the arguments presented by both sides. He gave the parties a 5pm Tuesday, April 8, deadline.

The administration has appealed the decision by US District Judge Paula Xinis ordering the government to return Abrego Garcia by 11:59 p.m. on Monday to the Supreme Court, after an appeals court ruled unanimously that he should be returned and given due process.

Tariffs And Markets

The first paragraph from a March 3 article in The Economist describing Trump’s “Liberation Day” announcement, as “Ruination Day.”

“If you failed to spot America being 'looted, pillaged, raped and plundered by nations near and far’ or it being cruelly denied a ‘turn to prosper’, then congratulations: you have a firmer grip on reality than the president of the United States.”

Losses in the markets have come close to bear territory, with the S&P Index trading 20% off its recent peak briefly today.

After a roller coaster day, the Dow closed lower by 349 points, or 0.91%. The broader S&P 500 fell 0.23%. The Nasdaq Composite was 0.1% higher after fluctuating between gains and losses.

US Marshalls Deliver Threat

Officials at the Department of Justice dispatched U.S. Marshalls to deliver a letter threatening a former pardon attorney about planned testimony to congressional democrats.

April 5

Hands Off Protests

Thousands of Americans across the country rallied to protest the Trump administration’s dismantling of the administrative state.

Photos from the protests show large crowds across the country. Including a large protest in an area where Trump is popular.

Politicizing Truth

The Justice Department attorney tasked with defending the Trump Administration’s “administrative error” has been placed on administrative leave, along with his supervisor.

Tasked by the government to lie to the court, the attorney answered the judge honestly when asked why the government could not just ask for the return of Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, who was deported against the orders of an immigration court.

Attorney General Pamela Bondi told CNN, “At my direction, every Department of Justice attorney is required to zealously advocate on behalf of the United States. Any attorney who fails to abide by this direction will face consequences.”

The move comes as career Justice Department officials are feeling squeezed between duty to the court, and following orders.

MSPB Chair Reinstated

The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia has ruled that the attempted removal of Cathy A. Harris, Chair of the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB), was unlawful.

District Judge Rudolph Contreras granted Harris’s motion for summary judgment, finding that her removal by the Trump administration violated federal law. The ruling reaffirms the independence of the MSPB and upholds critical protections for federal whistleblowers.

April 4

Stock Markets Fall

The president announced from a golf cart that things were going great, as investors drove the markets down in reaction to his increased tariffs. All told, the U.S. market was “liberated” of more than $6 trillion in value over the past two days, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Investment bank JPMorgan on Thursday warned that the tariffs are likely to push the U.S. and the world into a recession.

Shock and anger is how businesses of all sizes reacted as they processed the sweeping costs that they, and American consumers, will now have to pay to continue doing business.

Consumer spending is already slowing down, while consumer confidence has plummeted. And even a reassuring jobs report on Friday morning, with employers adding more jobs than expected last month, couldn't quiet widespread market fears about the outlook for the post-tariffs economy.

The tax increase is set to go into effect tomorrow. Larger reciprocal tariffs will go into effect April 9.

Administrative Error Correction?

A federal judge in Maryland ordered the government to return a man the government disappeared to El Salvador.

"This was an illegal act," U.S. Federal District Judge Paula Xinis told Justice Department lawyers at a hearing in Greenbelt, Maryland about the deportation of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who lived in the U.S. legally and had a work permit. Abrego Garcia was arrested and deported last month — despite having been granted protection by an immigration judge in 2019, that should have prevented his deportation.

The Justice Department admits that Abrego Garcia was deported because of an administrative error. But DOJ lawyers argued in court papers that he is a member of the criminal gang MS-13 and that the judge lacks the authority to order his return since Abrego Garcia is no longer in the U.S.

Judge Xinis ordered the government to return Abrego Garcia to the U.S. by 11:59 pm on Monday, April 7. She told the government that keeping him in El Salvador constitutes irreparable harm.

"From the moment he was seized, it was unconstitutional," Judge Xinis said during the hearing. "If there isn't a document, a warrant, a statement of probable cause, then there is no basis to have seized him in the first place. That's how I'm looking at it," the judge said.

DOGE Guts NEH

A report on NPR says that staff at the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) were told by email late Thursday night that they were being placed on paid administrative leave effective immediately.

“A senior NEH official, who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the press, says a team from the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has been visiting NEH offices over the past couple of weeks "and then ratcheted up the pressure.”

DOGE also targeted the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), where employees  were also put on administrative leave this week.

Erin Harkey, CEO of American's for the Arts (AFTA) calls the actions against the IMLS and the NEH "an unprecedented threat to culture in America."

Harkey cited a recent study by the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), that found that the "arts and cultural sector grew at more than twice the rate of the total economy between 2022 and 2023."

"Recent economic figures from the NEA highlight the significance of these institutions, which contribute $1.2 trillion to the U.S. economy and support 5.4 million jobs," writes Harkey. "Eliminating federal support for arts and humanities agencies will harm American families, weaken local economies, and undermine our nation's competitive edge."

April 3

Loomer’s In Charge?

The New York Times reports that far-right political activist, conspiracy theorist, and internet personality Laura Loomer met with Donald Trump in the Oval Office this morning to expose the disloyal members of National Security Advisor Michael Waltz  team.

Following the meeting three people were fired. Other members of his staff were reassigned back to their home agencies.

Congress Waking Up?

As markets tank following Trump’s “Liberation Day” announcement, Senators Chuck Grassley (R-IA), and Maria Cantwell announced a bipartisan effort for Congress to retake control of trade policy, as the constitution mandates.

The bill would require congressional approval for tariffs to continue for over 60 days, and for the president to notify Congress within 48 hours of announcing them.

Little hope that Speaker Mike Johnson would consider the bill, since he only plays by his rules in the House of Representatives.

Trade War

Since we are talking about the largest tax-increase in history, the Trump tariffs will target just about every square inch of land mass on the planet, including those free-loading penguins in the Heard and McDonald Islands.

According to data from the World Bank, the US imported $1,4 million worth of machinery and electrical products from the Heard Island and McDonald Islands, where the only inhabitants are penguins, and there are no buildings or human habitation.

They have even attacked Christmas, Island that is. Along with the other “external territories” of Australia that the administration believes set their own trade policy, even though they are not self-governing.

As Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, said today: “Nowhere on Earth is safe.” Except for maybe Russia and North Korea, who aren’t on the list of countries in the “Liberation Day” announcements. Maybe that is because Russia’s special representative for economic cooperation is in Washington, DC meeting with Trump officials the next day.

Education Department Targets DEI

The Trump administration is giving states 10 days to comply with his executive order ending diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs in public schools.

In a letter to state leaders across the country, the U.S. Education Department said Title I funding, which is targeted to schools with a high proportion of low income students, would be threatened if schools failed to follow its interpretation of civil rights laws.

Any violation of civil rights law, it says, "including the use of DEI programs to advantage one's race over another—is impermissible."

Due Process

Mike Masnick makes a great point at TechDirt about the administration's replacement of due process with "authoritarian expediency."

April 2

Loose Lips

Reports surfaced yesterday that National Security Advisor Michael Waltz and members of his staff have used their personal Gmail accounts to conduct government business.

According to the Washington Post, Waltz himself had “potentially exploitable information” on his account, while a member of his staff had sent more sensitive material, such as discussing military positions and weapons systems with colleagues in other agencies who used their government-issued accounts.

Meanwhile, the administration decided there was no harm, no foul in the case where Waltz shared a Signal chat thread with the editor of the Atlantic.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth revealed details in the chat including the times of strikes on Iran-backed Huthi rebels and the type of aircraft, missiles and drones used, before the attacks actually happened.

Trade War

Trump announced a 10% minimum tariff on all imports into the United States and reciprocal tariffs on trading partners to penalize trade barriers that may be in place already.

The administration said it would impose 34% tariffs on China, 20% on the European Union and 24% on Japan, among an array of other trading partners.

Most economists see these tariffs as price increases that will be passed on to the American consumer.

The 10% tariffs will go into effect on April 5, and the higher reciprocal rates will go into effect on April 9, according to senior administration officials who briefed reporters today.

One reporter has a theory about how the administration came up with those higher reciprocal tariffs.

In a bright spot, Senators voted 51-49 to end Trump’s emergency declaration on fentanyl that underpins tariffs on Canada. There is little hope that Speaker Mike Johnson will bring the measure up in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Retribution

The acting head of the Social Security Administration admitted in emails that actions it was taking in an effort to chastise the Governor of Maine would result in more fraud, waste, and abuse, according to reports at The New Republic.

Leland Dudek asked staff to cancel contracts his agency had with the state after an exchange between Gov. Janet Mills and President Trump over his ban of transgender athletes in women’s sports.

Dudek wrote, “while our improper payments will go up, and fraudsters may compromise identities, no money will go from the public trust to a petulant child” referring to the governor.

April 1

Nothing this administration is doing is a joke, and this is no time to be April Fools about their actions.

Politicization of the Justice Department

White House officials directed the firing of over 50 U.S. Attorneys and deputies across the country for their perceived disloyalty to the President.

Pardoning Corporations?

A case won against BitMEX in an effort to battle money laundering and sanction avoidance has been wiped from the record following Trump’s historic pardoning of the company.

“BitMEX solicits and takes orders for trades in derivatives tied to the value of cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin. Last summer, BitMEX entered a guilty plea in a Manhattan federal court for violating the Bank Secrecy Act for having operated without a legitimate anti-money laundering program. Prior to August 2020, customers could register to trade with BitMEX anonymously, providing only verified email addresses.”

Union Busting

In a blow to workers rights, and by executive fiat, the Trump administration has removed some Federal employees from collective bargaining agreements negotiated with their unions.

The order would eliminate collective bargaining rights from roughly 67 percent of the entire federal workforce and for 75 percent of workers who are already in a union, according to a report by Government Executive, a publication that covers the business of government.

The Justice Department has judge shopped to the Western District of Texas in an effort to keep the union busting on track.

Fired By DOGE

Former government employees are speaking out about their experiences being fired by the Trump administration in their slash and burn efforts.

Many are Veterans who wanted to continue to serve their country. One of those Veterans says she was fired over a limerick.

Some have had luck in court, with judges finding that their firings were illegal.

Now the administration is attempting to show it is following the rules for reductions in force within the Federal workforce.

Destruction of the Centers for Disease Control

Thousands of employees working at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) were notified that their positions were subject to a reduction in force in response to the administrations continued efforts to destroy parts of the government it sees as wasteful.

The cuts come as Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., along with Elon Musk’s DOGE, attempt to “Make America Healthy Again” by gutting disease prevention programs, along with occupational health and safety units.

Reports indicate that the effected employees have been placed on administrative leave and not offered positions that are open in other programs, in violation of civil service protections.

Disappearances Continued

Reports show that one of the people that the Trump administration says it removed to a prison in El Salvador was taken following an “administrative error”.

He was moved there on flights tracked by a former CFO, turned activist, that are at the center of the administration’s refusal to comply with a verbal order spoken in a DC courtroom on March 15.

A professor of computer science at Indiana University is among those who have disappeared under the Trump administration.

Wired reports that Xiaofeng Wang and his wife have been wiped from the University’s website and their home raided by the FBI. No one will say why.

Broken House

In an effort to keep new parents from being able to do their jobs as members of congress, the House of Representatives will not vote on any legislation this week.

Nine Republicans, joined all Democrats to vote down a procedural rule that would have allowed the Republican leadership to kill a bi-partisan effort to allow new parents to vote by proxy in the House for up to 12 weeks after the birth of their child.

March 31 - April 1

Senator Cory Booker, D-NJ began speaking yesterday in the Senate chamber on the disastrous policy decisions being made by the Trump Administration.

While he is not filibustering a particular piece of legislation, he is calling attention to the destruction of the institutions that govern our nation, and provide data and research capabilities to ensure fact-based discourse.

March 31

Back after a hiatus to detox from the news cycle, but here we go with the attacks on the First, Fifth, and 22nd Amendments.

Due Process, And Free Speech Violations

Legal permanent residents (Green Card holders) and students in the country on Visas are being removed without due process. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents have detained students and educators in New York, Massachusetts, Rhode IslandAlabama, and Washington, DC.

Some of these people have been detained for protesting, or writing opinion pieces calling out Isreal’s treatment of Palestinians in the Gaza and the West Bank.

On March 13, The National Immigrant Justice Center and ACLU of Illinois filed a motion to enforce the Castañon Nava settlement in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.

The lawsuit follows extreme actions taken by the Trump Administration since January 2025 to deport immigrants suspected of being in the country without authorization. Raids and sweeps conducted by ICE without warrants, have resulted in the detention of U.S. citizens in Chicago, Virginia, and Missouri.

ICE detainees often end up in isolated detention centers, far from where they have made their homes and have connections in the United States.

If all of that weren’t bad enough, the administration is keeping a man from donating a kidney to his brother in Chicago, according to the Chicago Tribune.

Defying Term Limits

Steve Bannon, former Trump advisor and convicted felon, told Chris Cuomo in an interview that Trump would seek a third term in 2028.

“We’re working on it. I think we’ll have, I think we’ll have a couple of alternatives,” he said Tuesday. “Let’s say that. We’ll see, we’ll see, we’ll see what the definition of term limit is.”

The 22nd Amendment defines the limit this way:  “No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice, and no person who has held the office of President, or acted as President, for more than two years of a term to which some other person was elected President shall be elected to the office of the President more than once.”

Trump even told NBC News he wasn’t joking when talking about a third term as President.

Many attribute these plans to maintain power despite Constitutional limits as a distraction from the the Signal Chat debacle, and other unpopular moves by the administration.

Destruction of Agencies

USAID

The 4th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the dismantling of USAID but Elon Musk’s DOGE can continue.

CFPB

Meanwhile, U.S. District Judge Amy German Jackson barred the administration from stopping work and firing employees at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and ordered the reinstatement of previously terminated workers. She also blocked the destruction of any CFPB records and ordered the recission of any “wholesale” contract cancellations issued on or after Feb. 11.

Musk’s DOGE made the CFPB an early target for destruction, even though it is funded by fees at the Federal Reserve.

“While the President is free to propose legislation to Congress to accomplish this aim, the defendants are not free to eliminate an agency created by statute on their own, and certainly not before the Court has had an opportunity to rule on the merits of the plaintiffs’ challenge,” Jackson said.

Enforcement actions at the CFPB have saved American consumers approximately $19.7 billion since its founding.

USIP

Newly appointed members of the board at the US Institute of Peace (USIP) laid off all the U.S. based employees of the autonomous, congressionally-funded think tank Sunday. DOGE officials seized control of the organization with police March 17.

USIP is a private nonprofit, and as such, its staffers were not federal employees.

It also has a nearly $80 million endowment, which includes its Washington office building, built using funds raised from private donors including Boeing, and thus not government-owned. The land the building sits on was authorized for USIP's use by Congress. It is unclear what will happen to these assets if USIP is closed.

The president of the U.S. is allowed to appoint and remove USIP board members, but must do so with the consent of a majority of the board or with approval from multiple Senate subcommittees. The new board was not appointed under either of these scenarios.

Federal Personnel and Payroll System

DOGE was granted access to the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Federal Personnel Payroll System, against the advice of senior career staff.

According the a report in the New York Times, “such elevated access to critical high-value asset systems is rare with respect to individual systems and no single [Department of Interior] official presently has access to all HR, payroll, and credentialing systems.”

The senior employees reportedly warned that granting DOGE employees this level of access would allow them to be able to view highly sensitive personal information that is subject to controls under the Privacy Act.

The payroll system processes salaries for about 276,000 federal employees across various government agencies, including the Supreme Court.

On Friday, the federal employees reportedly asked the Doge workers to deliver the memo to Doug Burgum, Secretary of the Interior, for his signature, thereby assuming the legal responsibility for the associated risks. Burgum reportedly never signed the memo.

But on Saturday, interior department officials reportedly granted at least two Doge employees, Stephanie Holmes, and Katrine Trampe, the access they had requested.

The two officials, who warned against allowing unfettered access to Musk’s DOGE, were placed on administrative leave by Tyler Hassan, former DOGE employee and acting assistant secretary of policy management and budget at the Department of the Interior.

March 26

Signal Snafu

Members of the administration continue to downplay the use of the Signal App by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, National security adviser Mike Waltz, Vice President JD Vance, CIA Director John Ratcliffe, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller, White House envoy Steve Witkoff and Alex Wong, Waltz's deputy.

Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, identified as "TG" in the chat, refused to confirm her participation in the chat at a Senate hearing Tuesday. At a House hearing today, she attempted to say only that she could not recall the information contained in the chat, and may have misspoken in her Senate testimony.

Dissidents Disappearing

Meanwhile, the administration is continuing to cancel visas and green cards for anyone in the United States critical of its foreign policy.

Information published by The Independent confirms that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrested a Tufts University doctoral student who co-authored an op-ed supporting Palestine.

Rumeysa Ozturk, a Turkish citizen, was disappeared in front of her off-campus apartment. According to the publication, "Surveillance footage of the arrest shows plainclothes agents approaching her from the street. One officer, whose head is covered by sweatshirt hood, appears to approach her without identifying himself and then grabs her arm. Another officer approaches and takes her phone while she is placed in handcuffs. Three officers cover their faces with neck gaiters."

Some Deportations Halted

A federal appeals court in Washington, DC, upheld a lower court ruling stopping deportations of migrants the administration says it suspects are members of the Venezuelan gang, Tren de Aragua.

Death Notices For Social Security Recipients

Elon Musk's DOGE will mark millions more people in the Social Security database as deceased. The move is billed as cost savings by DOGE, even though none of the people listed in the database as over 120 years of age are receiving benefits.

At least one man in Seattle is still trying to prove to the his bank, and the government, that he is in fact, not dead.

As per the Associated Press, a July 2024 report from Social Security’s inspector general states that from fiscal years 2015 through 2022, the agency paid out almost $8.6 trillion in benefits, including $71.8 billion — or less than 1% — in improper payments. Most of the erroneous payments were overpayments to living people.

"Part of the confusion comes from Social Security’s software system based on the COBOL programming language, which has a lack of date type. This means that some entries ..

Read more at:
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/international/global-trends/dead-people-database-elon-musks-doge-deletes-names-of-3-2-million-individuals-aged-120-from-social-security-records/articleshow/119157644.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst

March 25

Trump has signed an executive order attempting to seize control of elections across the country.

Under the order, the Department of Justice must go after states that count absentee or mail-in ballots received for federal elections after Election Day. Any state that allows those ballots to be counted would lose access to federal grants to improve their election systems.

It would also give federal entities, including DOGE, access to voter rolls and the Social Security Administration's database to attempt to confirm a citizen's eligibility to vote.

March 23

An editor at The Atlantic was included in a group thread on the supposedly secure messaging app Signal, where top Trump Administration officials Trump Administration officials shared plans to attact Houthi rebels in Yemen.

"I have never seen a breach quite like this. It is not uncommon for national-security officials to communicate on Signal. But the app is used primarily for meeting planning and other logistical matters—not for detailed and highly confidential discussions of a pending military action. And, of course, I’ve never heard of an instance in which a journalist has been invited to such a discussion."

It is possible that the group text thread violated The Espionage Act. The messages also likely violated federal record keeping laws.

March 21

Constitutional crisis? Try Constitutional Crises according to Michael Tomasky of The New Republic.

"One involves Elon Musk and DOGE, barging their way into the United States Institute for Peace, created by Congress under Ronald Reagan, with DOGE staffers apparently ripping the organization’s logo off the wall..."

He lists the revocation of birthright citizenship. attempted federal spending freeze (impoundment), firings of agency heads, ordered removal of federal employees with civil service protections, as other constitutional crises we already face.

"But shocking as all that has been, nothing touches what Trump is trying to do to Judge James Boasberg over those three planes full of alleged Venezuelan gang members. The administration’s latest legal gambit, to invoke the state secrets privilege in an attempt not to have to disclose any information about the detainees or the flights, amounts to an effort by Trump to say that he can take any action against anyone he deems a danger to the state. That’s an attempt at dictatorship."

Corrupution The New York Times reported that Elon Musk was meeting with the Secretary of Defense at the Pentagon to review the governments plans should the country go to war with China. Government officials, including the President have denied the reports.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c0mw7wr0gp9o

If the reports are true, it would have granted unprecedented access to Musk about plans that could impact his business dealings in China and with the Chinese government.

Meanwhile, Members of Congress have requested the Department of Justice investigate Musk for actions taken at the the Federal Aviation Administration to create funding for a contract with Starlink.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/mar/17/democrats-elon-musk-investigation

March 20

In a ceremony filled with lies, the President signed an order instructing Education Secretary Linda McMahon to “take all necessary steps to facilitate the closure” of the US Department of education.

“After 45 years, the United States spends more money in education by far than any other country and spends, likewise, by far, more money per pupil than any country, and it’s not even close, but yet we rank near the bottom of the list in terms of success,” he said at the brief ceremony.

Data shows the US spent less than 6% of gross domestic product (GDP) on education in 2021, and $15,500 per year per student in 2019. Luxembourg spent $25,600 per student, 4.7% of their 2022 GDP. A number of countries in the South Pacific spend over 10% of their GDP on education funding.

Without instruction from Congress, who created the Department of Education in 1979, executive fiat is destroying the agency that enforces civil rights laws in educational environments and funds the Federal Student Loan Program, Special Education, and schools in rural areas.

In the United States, most funding for public schools comes from revenue generated by state and local taxes. Smaller, rural districts with a tax base that cannot support a robust education  have been getting funding from the Department of Education to help them achieve educational offerings that can compete with larger, richer schools.

The destruction of this department will have wide ranging effects across all aspects of education in the US.

They have begun moving oversite of special education programs out of the Department and the Student Loan Program to the Small Business Administration.

March 18

Congress has abdicated its responsibility to direct and fund agencies in and outside the executive branch. It is allowing the executive to gut systems it has established to maintain the American values of freedom and democracy.

Takeover of US Institute for Peace

Officials from Elon Musk’s DOGE used police force to enter the United States Institute of Peace, an independent agency created by congress in 1984, and remove staff from the building Monday evening.

As part of an executive order, the administration wants to deconstruct the Institute of Peace and defund its work outside the budget process, and without the advice and consent required from the United States Senate.

https://www.npr.org/2025/03/18/g-s1-54569/us-institute-of-peace-trump-doge

https://www.usip.org/

USAID Reinstated?

A federal judge in Maryland has ruled that DOGE’s shut down and dismantling of the United States Agency for International Development likely violated the constitution in multiple ways, “because they deprived the public's elected representatives in Congress of their constitutional authority to decide whether, when, and how to close down an agency created by Congress.”

In a 68-page opinion, the judge ordered DOGE team members “to reinstate access to email, payments, security notifications, and other electronic systems, including restoring deleted emails, for current USAID employees” and contractors.

https://www.npr.org/2025/03/18/nx-s1-5332274/judge-ruling-usaid-shutdown

Alien Enemies Act of 1789

Over the weekend the administration ordered an acceleration of deportations for some migrants accused of having connections to the Venezuelan gang Tren De Aragua. That law allows the removal of persons who are from a country that is at war with the United States. Since Congress is the only body that can declare war, I am not certain that the law allows what the administration seems to be attempting to do.

A U.S. District Court Judge agreed that is is likely not legal and instructed from the bench that the government return flights that were in the air and halt any deportations being conducted under the Alien Enemies Act.

It appears that officials did nothing to stop the flights, and even allowed one to take off after the judge’s written order was entered. Although, attorneys for the government have argued that the judge cannot even ask for record from flights that were in the air before his order was issued in writing.

https://www.npr.org/2025/03/18/nx-s1-5331986/deportation-flight-tren-de-aragua-justice-department-boasberg

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/trump-administration/doj-refuses-respond-questions-judge-blocked-alien-enemies-act-deportat-rcna196883

Chief Justice John Roberts, without naming the president, rebuked him for calling for a judge’s impeachment and attempting to undermine the rule of law.

https://www.reuters.com/legal/us-chief-justice-roberts-calls-judges-impeachment-are-inappropriate-after-trump-2025-03-18/

March 17

Extra-judicial deportations have begun. Despite court orders, the administration has begun deporting people for alleged ties to terrorism without due process.

Dr. Rasha Alawieh, who specialized in kidney disease and held an H1-B Visa, worked at Brown Medicine in Rhode Island. She was deported in defiance of a court order requiring 48 hours notice before her removal from the country.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/mar/17/brown-university-rasha-alawieh-deported-lebanon

In a separate case, migrants that are accused by the administration of being members of Venezuelan gang, Tren de Aragua, were deported to El Salvador in defiance of a court order.

https://apnews.com/article/aclu-trump-deportations-el-salvador-boasberg-e447c61de031150669d01687edc4b11b

Customs and Boarder Enforcement agents have detained a German-born Green-Card holder at Boston Logan Airport as he was returning home to his partner and son in the U.S. It is unclear what reasoning they had for his detention. Reports state that he was strip-searched, and tortured, while agents encouraged him to surrender his Green-Card. His family only learned of his detention after he was taken to the hospital after collapsing from dehydration in custody.

https://www.wgbh.org/news/local/2025-03-14/green-card-holder-from-new-hampshire-interrogated-at-logan-airport-detained

Immigrations and Customs Enforcement detained Mahmoud Khalil, a former Columbia graduate student with a Green Card who was a leader of Pro-Palestinian protests in 2024, for deportation.

Also targeted by immigration authorities was, Ranjani Srinivasan, a graduate student at Columbia from India. Her student visa was revoked after being questioned by authorities in early March, March despite having no ties to the protests. Srinivasan fled to Canada, which US officials have described as a “self-deportation”, according to the New York Times.

Salon has a piece explaining why the administration wants to pick this fight about an obscure wartime power extended the presidency by Congress, and create a constitutional crisis.

https://www.salon.com/2025/03/17/push-for-deportations-without-due-process-is-meant-to-cause-a-constitutional/

March 16

Trump administration ramps up rhetoric targeting the courts amid mounting legal setbacks

What Is It, Exactly, That Being an American Means to You?

March 15

Canada Was the First Test

Kevin Kruse on why Trump 2.0 is worse than he expected

Here’s a ‘dead’ person on Social Security in Seattle, with plenty to say

The President Took A $75 Million Bribe And We All Saw It

March 14

DHS Buries Its Last Election Security Review Because With Trump In Charge, No One Cares About Election Integrity

The president has routinely lashed out at judges, and his White House team keeps doing so now

The NIH’s Grant Terminations Are ‘Utter and Complete Chaos’

The Day That Never Ends

The Week in Musk: The White House is now a Tesla dealership

Undaunted: Judge Beryl Howell holds the line

Trump’s environmental rule-shredding will put lives at risk

March 13

Inside Elon Musk’s ‘Digital Coup’

Can Trump Arbitrarily Take Money From Anyone's Bank Account?

A more technical version at Notes on the Crises | Nathan Tankus (subscribe to support Nathan)

Judge To Trump: No, You Can’t Just Declare 'Off With Their Heads'

Inside CISA as It Reels From Trump’s Purge

Judge Orders Trump Administration to Give Federal Workers Their Jobs Back

These Are the 10 DOGE Operatives Inside the Social Security Administration

IRS swaps its chief counsel for a lawyer friendly with DOGE

Binance corruption

March 12

A Mind is a Terrible Thing to Lose

“This is certainly the biggest affront to the legal profession in my lifetime”

Introducing: The Musk Watch DOGE Tracker

Trump Juche

Trump Officials Are ‘Pretending’ a Judge Didn’t Bar His Anti-Diversity Orders

DOGE Is Courting Catastrophic Risk

Trump and Musk are building a new spoils system

How Far Gone Are We?

March 11

Trump’s Latest Weapon Against Critics: Destroying Their Lawyers

The Economic Excuse Industry is Booming

Trump’s Suspension of USAID Funding Likely Violated Constitution, Judge Rules

Now that trade policy is run out of the Oval Office, corruption will be a feature, not a bug

Fox (of all places) corrects Elon (The Dance of Dissonance)

Johns Hopkins Plans Staff Layoffs After $800 Million Grant Cuts

Today in Politics, Bulletin 89. 3/11/25

‘We’re in the Midst of an Authoritarian Takeover’

Two headlines offered without comment

March 10

We Went to War, Came Home, and Achieved the American Dream. Billionaires Are Stealing It

GOP Senators Trade Constitutional Authority For Elon’s Phone Number

Social Security Insiders Warn Trump and Musk Could Break the Program

The Paranoid Style in MAGA Policy

Former Social Security official says DOGE is putting benefits at risk

We draw on the lessons of history to stall and stop the full destruction of our Constitution

This Isn’t Four-Dimensional Chess. Trump’s Helping Russia.

Trump’s systematic attack on the apolitical norms and ethical guides that govern all prosecutors has been nothing short of jaw-dropping

Fired After Opposing Restoring Mel Gibson’s Gun Rights

March 9

The FAA’s Troubles Are More Serious Than You Know

Agents told him his student visa was revoked. But he had a green card. Agents then said that was revoked too.

Real chilling effects

The Clean Little Secret of Social Security

DOGE’s $1 spending card limit touches everything from military research to trash pickup

This Weekend in Politics, Bulletin 87

March 8

Remember What's Real

March 7

Trump's Shockingly Lawless Second Term

Trump’s Crypto Reserve Is Really Happening

And the biggest rug-pull yet is underway: Donald Trump’s plan for a “strategic crypto reserve.”

Trump flouted judge by canceling Seattle Children’s grant, WA AG says

Federal prosecutors who investigated Eric Adams put on leave by Justice Department: Sources

Trans women transferred to men’s prisons despite rulings against Trump’s order

In its apparent quest to cut government spending and improve efficiency, DOGE has fired entire tech teams devoted to those very things

The Week In Musk: A wall of errors

The Democracy Index

Trump can’t handle the truth, so he’s firing it

Trump’s Latest Order Aims to Stifle Legal Challenges to His Executive Actions

These Words Are Disappearing in the New Trump Administration

March 6

Momentary Weightlessness

DOGE targets child support database full of income data

Trump’s Funding Freeze Violated Separation of Powers, Judge Rules

Ed Martin wages war on the rule of law from within

A Sensitive Complex Housing a CIA Facility Was on GSA's List of US Properties for Sale

DOGE Is the Deep State

Trump Violated Federal Law in Removing Labor Board Chair, Judge Finds

‘People Are Going Silent’

"It is often said: When the government fears the people, there is liberty. When the people fear the government, there is tyranny. If that is true, then only weeks into Donald Trump’s four-year term, we are approaching tyranny." Democracy Docket members-only newsletter

Marshals Escort DOGE Team Into African Aid Agency

Trump Administration Prepares to Revive and Expand Travel Bans

March 5

Trump tried to steal the 2020 election. He shows no sign that he would accept a loss in the future

More Than 5,000 Fired USDA Employees Just Got Their Jobs Back

SCOTUS Denies Trump’s Request to Lift Order Requiring Release of $1.5 Billion in Foreign Aid

Hundreds of State Dept. Officials Sign Dissent Cable Urging Rubio to Stop Killing USAID

US State Department Kills Global Air Monitoring Program Researchers Say Paid for Itself

The Treason Pushes on the Door

America is Trapped in a Burning Tesla

Democrats Are Acting Too Normal

A Timeline of Cuts, Legal Orders and Chaos at U.S.A.I.D.

How DOGE’s Cuts to the IRS Threaten to Cost More Than DOGE Will Ever Save

March 4

The Strategic Crypto Swindle

Trump’s "Crypto Reserve" is a world historical grift

The Taxpayers Are Going All In on Crypto

Judge Says Trump Can’t Fire Chair of Federal Workers Board Without Cause

Stop Work. OK, Start Work. No, Not That Work. Inside Trump’s Consumer Protection Chaos

How Trump's lawlessness is emboldening bad cops

What Fresh Hell Do We Have Today?

all the creativity and energy in the world can’t make up for a complete loss of federal funding

March 3

What if people with “Trump Derangement Syndrome” in 2016 were right about pretty much everything—but premature about the timing?

How to Stop a Coup

DOGE's cuts are harming veterans

Trump Bid to Take Over Postal Service Could Threaten Mail Voting

March 1

Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency laid off a team whose purpose was to make the government more efficient.

18F, the federal government’s technology shop, was demolished by Musk’s team

18F was doing exactly the type of work that DOGE claims to want – yet we were eliminated

People Are Paying Millions to Dine With Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago

How Elon Musk Is Using DOGE to Weaken His Regulators

February 28

Musk Leverages His Unelected Non-Existent Authority And Expertise To Steal $2 Billion FAA Contract From Verizon

Lies, Cuts, Closures: Trump and Musk Ravage Social Security Administration

Principles

This is an Emergency

February 26

Why Visiting Fort Knox Is Not About Selling Gold but is About Buying Bitcoin

Musk's Government Teardown Isn't About Cutting Waste -- It's a Land Grab

February 25

VA Fires 1,400 More Employees

February 24

DOGE Is Inside the National Institutes of Health’s Finance System

Federal Judge Blocks DOGE Access to Sensitive Data At Education Department and OPM

The real crisis in the U.S. military

Coast to coast, the effects of the Trump administration

February 22

CDC Shutters PRAMS Program on Maternal and Infant Health

DOGE Email Throws Federal Agencies Into Chaos and Confusion

February 21

Trump and Elon’s ‘Pointless Bloodbath’ at the FAA Is Even Worse Than You Think

A Friday-Night Massacre at the Pentagon

Firing the ‘Conscience’ of the Military

House Budget Allows At Least $2.8 Trillion of Deficit Increases

DOGE Sparks Surveillance Fear Across the US Government

‘Constitutional Crisis’ Is an Understatement

February 20

Freshman Congressman tells constituent he is powerless to stop Musk's budget cuts

Is That Legal? A Guide to Trump’s Big Moves So Far.

Trump cuts reach FDA workers focused on food safety and medical devices

February 19

These Are the SpaceX Engineers Already Working Inside the FAA

USDA tries to reverse mistaken firing of bird flu response workers

These Soldiers Risked Their Lives Serving in Afghanistan. Now They Plead With Trump to Let Their Sister Into the U.S.

February 18

National Science Foundation Fires 168 Workers as Federal Purge Continues

Inside Trump’s Million-Dollar Dinners With Healthcare Executives

February 17

No, 150-Year-Olds Aren’t Collecting Social Security Benefits

Trump admin scrambles to rehire hundreds of nuclear weapons workers

February 15

Trump Publicly Admits He Thinks He Can Break Any Law He Wants

February 14

Inspector Generals Fired

February 13

The corrupt use of Justice's levers of power

Sweeping cuts hit recent federal hires as Trump administration slashes workforce

DOGE’s Race to the Bottom

Trump and Musk Are Going to War Against Military Veterans

February 12

The General Services Administration plans to sell hundreds of government buildings

February 11

Dozens of CFPB Workers Fired in After-Hours Blitz

February 10

US Funding Cuts Are Helping Criminals Get Away With Child Abuse and Human Trafficking

February 8

"I realized today that Trump, Musk, DOGE, Vance, Miller, Vought and their many collaborators have broken so many laws already that they know they have to destroy our government and entire way of life to stay out of jail. This is all or nothing. We should respond accordingly." Fred Wellman (fpwellman.bsky.social)

February 7

DOGE Is Now Inside the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

A US Treasury Threat Intelligence Analysis Designates DOGE Staff as ‘Insider Threat’

February 6

USAID Workforce Slashed From 10,000 to Under 300 as Elon Musk’s DOGE Decimates Agency

Trump is using settlements to extract bribes

February 4

A 25-Year-Old With Elon Musk Ties Has Direct Access to the Federal Payment System

Federal Workers Sue to Disconnect DOGE Server

February 3

Trump's meme coin made nearly $100 million in trading fees, as small traders lost money

February 1

January 31

Kash Patel Says He Never Promoted QAnon. Here Are All The Times He Did

The Damage to Federal Medical Research Is Already Done

January 30

Trump's Driving Legal Principle This Time: 'What Are You Gonna Do About It?'

January 29

Trump's First 10 Days Back in Power Were Uniquely Depraved. Don't Get Numb To It

January 28

Elon Musk Lackeys Have Taken Over the Office of Personnel Management

Separating truth from fiction on the “fork in the road”

January 25

Trump's Hiring Freeze Is Screwing Over Veterans

January 24

DOGE Will Allow Elon Musk to Surveil the US Government From the Inside

January 23

The Proud Boys Are Plotting a Comeback. And They Want Revenge

Trump Supporter Begs for Help After Job Offer Rescinded Due to Trump's Order: 'I Know This Was an Unintended Consequence'

January 20

The Donald Trump 2.0 Grift Is Already On

Neo-Nazis Love the Nazi-Like Salutes Elon Musk Made at Trump’s Inauguration

Proud Boys Leaders to Walk Free After Trump Releases All January 6 Rioters

With a surprise incursion in the first minutes of the Trump presidency, Elon Musk’s programmers seized control of a key personnel agency

Published with Nuclino