Trumpwatch 2.0

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Poltico pushing one of its columns published today:
It’s becoming clear that Marco Rubio is Secretary of State in name only. He’s contradicting earlier policy views and appears to have little control.

[Honeyman]

Poltico pushing one of its columns published today:
It’s becoming clear that Marco Rubio is Secretary of State in name only. He’s contradicting earlier policy views and appears to have little control.

Little Marco is such a complicit two-faced fuck.

[Matt]

More on the IRS DOGE data breach that RT mentioned from the NYT:

The Internal Revenue Service is preparing to give a team member working with Elon Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency access to sensitive taxpayer data, people familiar with the matter said.

The systems at the I.R.S. contain the private financial data tied to millions of Americans, including their tax returns, Social Security numbers, addresses, banking details and employment information.

“Waste, fraud and abuse have been deeply entrenched in our broken system for far too long,” Harrison Fields, a White House spokesman, said. “It takes direct access to the system to identify and fix it.”

Mr. Fields added: “DOGE will continue to shine a light on the fraud they uncover as the American people deserve to know what their government has been spending their hard-earned tax dollars on.”

...

President Trump has long been a critic of the I.R.S., often complaining that it was overly aggressive in its audits of his finances.

In a fund-raising email on Saturday, Mr. Trump asked recipients whether he should authorize Mr. Musk’s team to audit the tax agency.

“Are you sick of being targeted and harassed by the I.R.S.?” Mr. Trump asked. “Well maybe it’s time that somebody audited them for a change!”

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More on the IRS DOGE data breach that RT mentioned from the NYT:

The Internal Revenue Service is preparing to give a team member working with Elon Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency access to sensitive taxpayer data, people familiar with the matter said.

The systems at the I.R.S. contain the private financial data tied to millions of Americans, including their tax returns, Social Security numbers, addresses, banking details and employment information.

“Waste, fraud and abuse have been deeply entrenched in our broken system for far too long,” Harrison Fields, a White House spokesman, said. “It takes direct access to the system to identify and fix it.”

Mr. Fields added: “DOGE will continue to shine a light on the fraud they uncover as the American people deserve to know what their government has been spending their hard-earned tax dollars on.”

...

President Trump has long been a critic of the I.R.S., often complaining that it was overly aggressive in its audits of his finances.

In a fund-raising email on Saturday, Mr. Trump asked recipients whether he should authorize Mr. Musk’s team to audit the tax agency.

“Are you sick of being targeted and harassed by the I.R.S.?” Mr. Trump asked. “Well maybe it’s time that somebody audited them for a change!”

That last Trump quote sounds like something from an infomercial.

[Matt]

From Inside Higher Ed:

The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights has paused the majority of its investigations, according to a new report from ProPublica, and shifted focus to new cases related to gender-neutral bathrooms, trans women athletes and alleged antisemitism and discrimination against white students.

Those cases, in contrast with most historically taken on by OCR, were not launched in response to student complaints, but rather as a result of direct orders from President Donald Trump’s administration. OCR employees told ProPublica that they have been instructed to cancel meetings related to cases opened prior to Trump taking office and to avoid communicating with students, families and institutions involved in those cases.

One OCR employee who spoke to ProPublica under the condition of anonymity said many of the cases they have been asked to stop investigating are urgent.

“Many of these students are in crisis,” the employee said. “They are counting on some kind of intervention to get that student back in school and graduate or get accommodations.”

About 12,000 complaints were under investigation at the end of former president Joe Biden’s term, including 6,000 related to discrimination against students with disabilities, 3,200 related to racial discrimination and 1,000 related to sexual assault or harassment, ProPublica’s analysis of OCR data found.

[Rate This]

From Inside Higher Ed:

The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights has paused the majority of its investigations, according to a new report from ProPublica, and shifted focus to new cases related to gender-neutral bathrooms, trans women athletes and alleged antisemitism and discrimination against white students.

Those cases, in contrast with most historically taken on by OCR, were not launched in response to student complaints, but rather as a result of direct orders from President Donald Trump’s administration. OCR employees told ProPublica that they have been instructed to cancel meetings related to cases opened prior to Trump taking office and to avoid communicating with students, families and institutions involved in those cases.

One OCR employee who spoke to ProPublica under the condition of anonymity said many of the cases they have been asked to stop investigating are urgent.

“Many of these students are in crisis,” the employee said. “They are counting on some kind of intervention to get that student back in school and graduate or get accommodations.”

About 12,000 complaints were under investigation at the end of former president Joe Biden’s term, including 6,000 related to discrimination against students with disabilities, 3,200 related to racial discrimination and 1,000 related to sexual assault or harassment, ProPublica’s analysis of OCR data found.

Just the highest quality most moral and ethical folks running the show now. Thank god these wackos have been visited upon us.


Meanwhile Mexico is threatening to sue Google over its changing the Gulf of Mexico to “Gulf of America”.

[Hugh Jorgan]

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Gotta love those wins. What more monumental example for the world on the subject than sending the folks keeping the nuclear weapons up to snuff home. I mean that’s the holy grail of wins right there. Yes sir.

[teetoppz28]

As expected... yet another highly-intellectual meme posted by a forum MAGAt.

[zzand]

My favorite part of firing the nuke folks is they want to hire them back but don't know how to get in touch with them.

[TC Talks]

My favorite part of firing the nuke folks is they want to hire them back but don't know how to get in touch with them.

The private sector likely jumped on those folk asap. Nuclear is a growing power sector.

[teetoppz28]

My favorite part of firing the nuke folks is they want to hire them back but don't know how to get in touch with them.

The new tRump administration motto: Ready. FIRE! Aim.

[Bull Shannon]

My favorite part of firing the nuke folks is they want to hire them back but don't know how to get in touch with them.

The new tRump administration motto: Ready. FIRE! Aim.

Shoot first, ask questions later.

[Matt]

NYT:

The top official at the Social Security Administration stepped down this weekend after members of Elon Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency sought access to sensitive personal data about millions of Americans held by the agency, according to people familiar with the matter.

The resignation of Michelle King, the acting commissioner, is the latest abrupt departure of a senior federal official who refused to provide Mr. Musk’s lieutenants with access to closely held data. Mr. Musk’s team has been embedding with agencies across the federal government and seeking access to private data as part of what it has said is an effort to root out fraud and waste.

Spokespeople for the Social Security Administration and the White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment. A family member said Ms. King had no comment.

Social Security payments account for about $1.5 trillion, or a fifth, of annual federal spending in the United States. President Trump has pledged not to enact cuts to the program’s retirement benefits, but he has indicated that he is willing to look for ways to cut wasteful or improper spending from the retirement program that pays benefits to millions of Americans.

When does Congress reign in the DOGE clown show?

That was a rhetorical question...

[Matt]

Shocking report from the NYT:

A slew of actions taken by President Trump during his first month in office bear the fingerprints of Project 2025, the right-wing blueprint for overhauling the federal government. During his campaign, Mr. Trump distanced himself from the plan, saying it was largely unfamiliar to him.

But The New York Times found more than 60 major moves that Mr. Trump and his administration have made in his first 23 days, including executive orders and agency memos, that align with proposals in the blueprint.

Some of the goals outlined in the Project 2025 document line up with longstanding conservative policy positions, so it is not surprising that they would be reflected in the initial moves of a new Republican president. That said, not all of Mr. Trump’s latest directives have an analogue in Project 2025’s blueprint. In some cases, they go even further than the document does, like with the administration’s attempt to dismantle U.S.A.I.D. In others, they oppose its guidance, as in the case of Mr. Trump’s refusal to enforce the TikTok ban.

But The Times’s analysis of the Trump administration’s major actions reveals a symbiotic relationship between Mr. Trump and Project 2025 in a number of critical areas. Some of its proposals refer approvingly to actions taken during the president’s first term. And some of its architects again hold important roles at the top of the federal government. Even the staunchest of conservatives might never have imagined some of Project 2025’s goals to be possible during previous administrations — but they are now being attempted by Mr. Trump.