White House Rescinds Funding Freeze Memo: White House Press Secretary Caroline Leavitt Posts on X that "this is not a rescission of the federal funding freeze, just of the OMB memo, to end any confusion created by the Court's injunction, and the president's executive order on federal funding remains in full force and effect"
by Marc Elias
Democracy Docket
Jan 29, 2025
Today, the White House’s Office of Management and Budget (OMB) rescinded a controversial memo ordering a freeze on all federal grants and loans. The updated guidance rescinds the directives in a previous memo, originally released late Monday evening. Marc Elias and Paige Moskowitz explain.
Transcript
breaking news the Office of Management
and budget has rescinded its illegal and
unconstitutional guidance suspending all
federal grants and Loans hours after a
federal judge put it on hold Welcome
back to democracy docket I'm Mark Elias
and I'm Paige mosquit let's get started
you know Paige the next time I hear
someone say that the courts are not up
to saving democracy that Donald Trump
Will Roll right through the federal
courts he won't pay attention to their
orders you know that there's nothing
they can do I'm going to point them to
this video because here we are Paige
less than 24 hours since a federal judge
blocked the Trump effort to illegally
and unconstitutionally halt billions of
dollars of federal grants uh from going
out the door uh they have now rescinded
that order and this is why I always say
to Ry is on the
dock marike you said they tried to stop
billions of dollars but according to the
lawsuit filed by 23 Democratic Attorneys
General, the memo would have froze up to $3
trillion dollar in funds all right I
didn't mean to be uh you know
conservative in the estimates but I'm
glad you point that out because this was
an extraordinary order right I mean what
Donald Trump and his administration were
trying to do was frankly uh part of a
larger effort to be a dictator to be an
authoritarian ruler and we've talked in
other videos about how they do that
through replacing the federal uh
nonpartisan civil service that's one way
to take control the other way though to
take control page is to control the the
dispersement of funds right the as you
point out trillions of dollars right
that the that the federal government
disperses on a regular basis across the
you know wide swaths of of federal
programs and the economy and Donald
Trump was trying to seize control of
that so that he
could execute another part of his of his
authoritarian plan and it failed but
Paige I have to keep coming back to this
point you know how many times do you and
I hear in comments to videos that we do
or in social media or people write into
democracy docket and doubt that the
courts are up to the task and time and
time again I feel like I'm the one
defending saying look they're not
perfect and they're not going toop
everything but but they but you here we
are they they managed to to to end this
nonsense right Mark this memo was issued
Monday late Monday night we saw two
lawsuits filed Tuesday minutes before
the memo was supposed to go into effect
at 5:00 pm on Tuesday a judge blocked it
now you also saw the White House on
Tuesday swear up and down that this memo
was constitutional that it was legal for
the president to do this that they had
complete faith in the memo it was
blocked the courts blocked it as the
courts have blocked a couple of Trump's
major executive order so far into a
second term we saw a judge in Washington
called Trump's Birthright citizenship
order quote blatantly
unconstitutional the judge here in DC
yesterday wasted no time to block it now
she did temporarily pause it until
Monday but Mark as we've discussed that
was more kind of a procedural matter
until a full until a full hearing could
be held it wasn't her saying I'm kind of
wishy-washy on this it was more that's
just how these things work that's right
and you know kudos to democracy forward
a great uh nonprofit uh legal outfit by
the way I chair their board but I'd be
shouting them out anyway uh because they
they were the ones who led the charge in
this in this case uh and they also were
involved in the birthright citizen case
and you're going to hear their name a
lot so cudas them and all the lawyers
there and as you point out also the
State's Attorneys General who have also
been you know really on the ball in
bringing uh bringing uh litigation you
know Paige I also can't miss the moment
here to point out that we heard a lot
about how much more competent the Trump
Administration was going to be this go
round you know that that in the first go
round they were widely seen as sort of
buffoonish and didn't know which way was
up but that but they you know this time
they were coming in and they had this
all lawyered up and they were they were
going to be you know super effective and
you know you point out the quick
turnaround here like they have not
really hit the ground running I mean
they've hit the ground running in a sort
of a very um rhetorical way in a very
you know demagoguing issues way uh but
they're not exactly uh doing very well
in either the effectiveness department
or in the truthfulness department no
they' hit the ground running straight
into a wall like they their orders are
getting blocked they haven't been
successful thus far even though they're
claiming everything they're doing is
constitutional everything that they're
doing is legal and the fact of the
matter is Mark it's not the president
has a lot of power but there are limits
to that power and they come in the forms
of laws of the US Constitution in the
way things just work and it's one thing
for republicans and Democrats to have
disagreements on how the President
should administer his powers it's one
thing for Republicans to say it's fine
for the president to completely
disregard the Constitution and Democrats
have to be the ones to say no it's not
yeah and it's very interesting because
again a lot of the political commentary
has been very pro-republican I mean the
Legacy Media has capitulated to Donald
Trump I mean they had capitulated Donald
Trump before uh before the election we
saw them you know fetting Donald Trump
all across the board it's one of the
reasons why you know we continue to see
so much growth in the subscriber and the
membership base here at democracy doet
because we are giving you pure uh
unfiltered pro-democracy news and
information that that you know is not
afraid and not going to obey Donald
Trump. But you know
Paige the the fact is that not only have
they uh squandered This Time by passing
executive orders that have now been
blocked but they really haven't taken
advantage of the fact they have a
congressional majority I mean you know
you mentioned laws like as as easy as it
is to block unconstitutional executive
orders or illegal executive orders it
gets much more challenging to block
Congressional enactments now they can
still go to court and they can be
challenged as violation the Constitution
and uh but that process tends to take
much longer because you know courts tend
to assume that congress's laws are in
the first instance proper uh and so that
litigation we're all used to dragging on
for a very long period of time you would
not know from the actions of the Trump
White House or for that matter speaker
Johnson or John in the Senate you would
not know that they actually control all
three parts of the federal government I
mean you know why aren't why why didn't
they move this as a bill right like why
didn't like why didn't they just seek to
change the law about how money is spent
if there were programs they didn't want
money spent on I mean they they control
the house they control the Senate and I
think the answer is in part that they
have become so used to being a
sycophantic party that they want Donald
Trump to get credit for everything and
when a law gets passed last there's
credit that you know gets spread around
that's that's I think part of it but the
other thing is that fundamentally what
they want to do here is unpopular like
we cannot we cannot escape the fact that
you know Donald Trump may have won an
election narrowly but he did not run win
an election to shut down Meals on Wheels
you know he did not he did not win an
election to essentially shut down
medicaid uh in all 50 states and so I
think that's also paage part of the
story here that is not being fully
told right we've seen it time and time
again take the ACA for example right
Republicans for years have been talking
about how they want to repeal and
replace the ACA they had majorities
during Trump's first term they didn't
get it done they have a majority now
maybe they'll get it done but also as
we've just learned a record number of
Americans have signed up for healthcare
under the ACA it is a popular program
and it's a popular way for people to get
health insurance even though it is also
a popular talking point for republicans
and again to your point it is a lot
easier to blame an executive order that
got rescinded for shutting down medicaid
portals yesterday than passing a law
that does the same thing and again like
you said is a lot harder to undo a law
than undo an executive order yeah so
let's talk about where we go from here
um you know the White House is obviously
embarrassed by all of this they are
going to say that nothing has changed
which is a lie right but we have to
start with the proposition everyone that
the White House is going to lie like
Donald Trump lies about everything so
why isn't he going to lie about this
right uh he prizes people who lie on his
behalf so they will lie about this so
number one they're gonna say this
doesn't change anything and that he is
still fully in control and you know has
every bit of authority and plans to do
everything don't believe the liwes okay
this was a big loss for Donald Trump
this was a big victory um for the people
uh fighting this executive order in
court and it was a real I think uh
victory for the rule of law Donald Trump
lies about everything so he's going to
lie about this and he prizes people who
lie on his behalf so the White House is
going to lie about this and they're G to
say like nothing's changed and I'm here
to tell you that that is nonsense like
they got themselves slapped around by a
federal judge and that's why they backed
away and they know they'll continue to
get slapped around by a federal judge if
they try to do this in another form so
don't let them steal this Victory by
saying that it's not a victory right
Mark we're seeing it already the White
House Press Secretary Caroline Leavitt has
posted on X uh that this is not a rescision of the
federal funding freeze, just of the OMB
memo to end any confusion created by the
Court's injunction she says that the
president's executive order on federal
funding remains in full force and effect
and once again you have the Democratic
AGS pushing back New York attorney
general Tish James responded to Le and
said this just creates more confusion
and Chaos we will be in court this
afternoon yeah I mean look I I'm for CH
chish James but let's be
clear the White House is just saying
words you know it's like a it just like
the the White House Press person is just
like literally this is like the crowds
siiz thing with the first White House
Press Secretary what was his name uh
Sean Spicer right like like I mean like
I I like those are just like a bunch of
words strung together to make it sound
like something but that's crazy I mean
the fact is the federal judge put a put
a hold in place that hold is still in
place and mark my word mark my words the
whatever the the White House Press
Secretary is saying on X right now is
not going to be the position that they
take when this all gets sorted out in
court and certainly might not by the
court rules
Anti-Anti-Nazi Barbarian Hordes are Knocking Down the Gates
Re: Anti-Anti Nazi Barbarian Hordes are Knocking Down the Ga
by admin » Thu Jan 30, 2025 2:05 am
- admin
- Site Admin
- Posts: 37580
- Joined: Thu Aug 01, 2013 5:21 am
Re: Anti-Anti Nazi Barbarian Hordes are Knocking Down the Ga
by admin » Fri Jan 31, 2025 2:25 am
Trump Blames D.E.I. and Biden for Crash Under His Watch: President Trump’s remarks, suggesting that diversity in hiring and other Biden administration policies somehow caused the disaster, reflected his instinct to immediately frame major events through his political or ideological lens.
by David E. Sanger
New York Times
Jan. 30, 2025
Updated 5:28 p.m. ET
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/01/30/us/p ... rsity.html
NOTICE: THIS WORK MAY BE PROTECTED BY COPYRIGHT
President Trump blamed diversity requirements at the Federal Aviation Administration and his two Democratic predecessors for the midair collision over the Potomac River on Wednesday night, saying that standards for air traffic controllers had been too lax.
Mr. Trump cited no evidence that diversity programs had anything to do with the fatal accident, which killed 67 people, and even admitted when pressed that the investigation had only just begun.
Moments later, he blamed the pilots of the Army helicopter that appeared to fly into a passenger jet while it was on final approach to Reagan National Airport, across the river from the capital. But he quickly returned to the theme that diversity goals that he said were created by President Barack Obama and President Joseph R. Biden Jr. had created unsafe skies, implying that those moves had to have contributed to the disaster.
Mr. Trump’s instant focus on diversity reflected his instinct to frame major events through his political or ideological lens, whether the facts fit or not. It is something he has done before: After a terrorist attack in New Orleans a month ago, he blamed illegal immigration, even though the attacker was a U.S. citizen born in Texas. When wildfires erupted in California, he blamed Gov. Gavin Newsom’s water management policies, without any evidence that a different approach would have made a difference in the firefighting effort.
But his unproven accusation about the air controllers came just hours into the first disaster-management challenge of his new term in office. It quickly became a demonstration of both his political style and his instincts, and at moments resembled his series of news conferences, in the same briefing room, as Covid-19 spread across the country: a mix of accusations about the cause and prescriptions for how to proceed, often detached from facts and analysis.
He began in the tradition of other presidents who had to console a shocked nation, as Ronald Reagan did after the Challenger space shuttle disaster in 1986 or George W. Bush after the Columbia broke apart on re-entry to the atmosphere in 2003. Mr. Trump asked for a moment of silence to remember the victims, and told their families that “we’re here for you to wipe away the tears and to offer you our devotion, our love and our support,” regardless of party divisions.
But within minutes, he launched into a series of accusations, linking his long-running complaints about hiring practices to the disaster that unfolded on a clear night over the Potomac.
When a reporter challenged the president on how he could say that diversity hiring was to blame for the crash even though basic facts about the midair collision were still being sought by investigators, he said: “I have common sense, OK, and unfortunately a lot of people don’t. We want brilliant people to do this.”
“For some jobs, we need the highest level of genius,” he said.
Of the F.A.A. under Mr. Obama, Mr. Trump said: “They actually came out with a directive, too white.” At another point he quoted from the website of the F.A.A., which he said indicated that the agency was looking to hire people with disabilities, including “hearing, vision, missing extremities, partial paralysis, complete paralysis, epilepsy, severe intellectual disability, psychiatric disability and dwarfism,” and said that they “all qualified for the position of a controller of airplanes pouring into our country.”
In fact, Mr. Trump was citing language about recruiting people with disabilities on the F.A.A.’s website that existed during his first administration. Veterans of the F.A.A. during that period said they did not know of any episodes in which D.E.I. recruiting standards had been identified as a cause or a contributor. Tennessee Garvey, a pilot and the chairman of the board of directors for the Organization of Black Aerospace Professionals, said that rigorous standards for hiring pilots, mechanics and air traffic controllers were never relaxed just to meet diversity goals. Mr. Trump clearly disagrees, but was unable to cite an example on Thursday.
Without question, the interchanges between the air controllers, the plane and the helicopter will be at the center of the investigation. Among the questions that arose on Thursday was whether there were fewer than the usual number of controllers working at the time of the crash, leaving too great a burden on those managing the flights, and why the plane’s pilots were asked to change their approach from one of the main runways at the airport to one of its shorter ones.
But an audio recording of the air traffic controllers’ warnings to the helicopter just before the crash indicated that a controller first warned the helicopter to look for a Canadair Regional Jet and then told the helicopter pilot to go behind the jet as it was landing. That exchange will be part of the investigation.
Within hours of Mr. Trump’s statements, Democrats both criticized and mocked him. Senator Peter Welch, Democrat of Vermont, noted that Congress had authorized more staff and training for the F.A.A. and that this was “now under threat by the Trump administration” as it looks to shrink the government.
“We cannot have leaders making detrimental, rash decisions to overhaul critical aspects of our national transportation network for the sake of irrelevant culture wars,” Mr. Welch said.
Disability rights groups accused Mr. Trump of deflecting blame.
“All disabled employees are required to be able to perform all essential job requirements without accommodations,” said Mia Ives-Rublee, director of the Disability Justice Initiative at the Center for American Progress. “Trump should be looking to investigate the tragedy and provide comfort to the families, not punch down to advance his political agenda with zero evidence.”
The Congressional Black Caucus said the mourning of the victims was “marred by a truly disgusting and disgraceful display of racist political prognostication.” In a statement, the caucus members said Mr. Trump had moved “to falsely blame the diversity initiatives of past administrations for the cause of this incident. Not only are the president’s claims untrue, they also speak to the Republican Party’s desire to divide us as a country.”
Mr. Trump appeared in the White House briefing room with Vice President JD Vance; the newly sworn-in transportation secretary, Sean Duffy; and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. All three began their comments by praising Mr. Trump’s leadership and repeating that they would eliminate diversity requirements and focus on competence.
Mr. Hegseth, aware that the investigation would focus heavily on the Army Blackhawk helicopter that he said was conducting an annual exercise on Wednesday evening, admitted that a “mistake was made.” But he immediately pivoted to support Mr. Trump, saying that the Defense Department would be “colorblind and merit-based” whether “it’s flying Blackhawks and flying airplanes, leading platoons or in government.”
“The era of D.E.I. is gone at the Defense Department,” he continued, “and we need the best and brightest, whether it’s in our air traffic control or whether it’s in our generals.” It was notable in part because he had been a major critic of Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr., the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, charging last year that he was bringing woke culture to the Pentagon and should be removed.
Mr. Trump reserved his harshest criticism for the transportation secretary under Mr. Biden, Pete Buttigieg, accusing him of infusing diversity, equity and inclusion goals at the F.A.A.
Mr. Buttigieg responded on social media. “Despicable,” he wrote. “As families grieve, Trump should be leading, not lying. We put safety first, drove down close calls, grew Air Traffic Control, and had zero commercial airline crash fatalities out of millions of flights on our watch.”
Mr. Trump named a new acting head of the Federal Aviation Administration during the news conference: Chris Rocheleau, who spent two decades at the agency and, more recently, has been the chief executive of the National Business Aviation Association, which focuses on the nation’s elite fleet of corporate aircraft. Among other roles at the F.A.A., he had handled the agency’s emergency operations. But his selection underscores the fact that Mr. Trump had not appointed an acting head of the F.A.A. in the opening days of his presidency.
Mr. Rocheleau did not speak at the news conference, nor did the head of the National Transportation Safety Board, who was also in the room. The board will be responsible for the investigation into the causes of the disaster over the Potomac.
Mr. Trump made clear that he might not be willing to wait for investigative conclusions before coming to his own.
“We do not know what led to this crash, but we have some very strong opinions and ideas,” he said. He said that “over the year, I’ve watched as things like this happen and they say, ‘Well, we’re always investigating,’ and then the investigation three years later they announce that we think ‘we have some pretty good ideas.’”
Reporting was contributed by Peter Baker and Linda Qiu in Washington and Rachel Nostrant in New York.
David E. Sanger covers the Trump administration and a range of national security issues. He has been a Times journalist for more than four decades and has written four books on foreign policy and national security challenges. More about David E. Sanger
A version of this article appears in print on Jan. 31, 2025, Section A, Page 19 of the New York edition with the headline: President Blames Biden And D.E.I. For a Crash Under Trump’s Watch. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe
by David E. Sanger
New York Times
Jan. 30, 2025
Updated 5:28 p.m. ET
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/01/30/us/p ... rsity.html
NOTICE: THIS WORK MAY BE PROTECTED BY COPYRIGHT
YOU ARE REQUIRED TO READ THE COPYRIGHT NOTICE AT THIS LINK BEFORE YOU READ THE FOLLOWING WORK, THAT IS AVAILABLE SOLELY FOR PRIVATE STUDY, SCHOLARSHIP OR RESEARCH PURSUANT TO 17 U.S.C. SECTION 107 AND 108. IN THE EVENT THAT THE LIBRARY DETERMINES THAT UNLAWFUL COPYING OF THIS WORK HAS OCCURRED, THE LIBRARY HAS THE RIGHT TO BLOCK THE I.P. ADDRESS AT WHICH THE UNLAWFUL COPYING APPEARED TO HAVE OCCURRED. THANK YOU FOR RESPECTING THE RIGHTS OF COPYRIGHT OWNERS.
[Presidential EO Assistant] Second for your signature, we have a presidential memorandum titled "Immediate assessment of Aviation safety in light of the Damage Done to Aviation safety by the Biden administration's Dei and woke policies." What this presidential memorandum orders is for your Secretary of Transportation and FAA administrator, in this case acting FAA administrator ,to basically ensure that we are actively undoing all of that damage that we are assessing, how much damage was done, and that we're ensuring that people hired within the FAA, in keeping with your memorandum of January 21st, are only the most outstanding capable people for the jobs that they are being hired into.
[Pres. Trump] In other words competence.
[Presidential EO Assistant] Yes sir, elevating competence over everything.
President Trump blamed diversity requirements at the Federal Aviation Administration and his two Democratic predecessors for the midair collision over the Potomac River on Wednesday night, saying that standards for air traffic controllers had been too lax.
Mr. Trump cited no evidence that diversity programs had anything to do with the fatal accident, which killed 67 people, and even admitted when pressed that the investigation had only just begun.
Moments later, he blamed the pilots of the Army helicopter that appeared to fly into a passenger jet while it was on final approach to Reagan National Airport, across the river from the capital. But he quickly returned to the theme that diversity goals that he said were created by President Barack Obama and President Joseph R. Biden Jr. had created unsafe skies, implying that those moves had to have contributed to the disaster.
Mr. Trump’s instant focus on diversity reflected his instinct to frame major events through his political or ideological lens, whether the facts fit or not. It is something he has done before: After a terrorist attack in New Orleans a month ago, he blamed illegal immigration, even though the attacker was a U.S. citizen born in Texas. When wildfires erupted in California, he blamed Gov. Gavin Newsom’s water management policies, without any evidence that a different approach would have made a difference in the firefighting effort.
But his unproven accusation about the air controllers came just hours into the first disaster-management challenge of his new term in office. It quickly became a demonstration of both his political style and his instincts, and at moments resembled his series of news conferences, in the same briefing room, as Covid-19 spread across the country: a mix of accusations about the cause and prescriptions for how to proceed, often detached from facts and analysis.
He began in the tradition of other presidents who had to console a shocked nation, as Ronald Reagan did after the Challenger space shuttle disaster in 1986 or George W. Bush after the Columbia broke apart on re-entry to the atmosphere in 2003. Mr. Trump asked for a moment of silence to remember the victims, and told their families that “we’re here for you to wipe away the tears and to offer you our devotion, our love and our support,” regardless of party divisions.
But within minutes, he launched into a series of accusations, linking his long-running complaints about hiring practices to the disaster that unfolded on a clear night over the Potomac.
When a reporter challenged the president on how he could say that diversity hiring was to blame for the crash even though basic facts about the midair collision were still being sought by investigators, he said: “I have common sense, OK, and unfortunately a lot of people don’t. We want brilliant people to do this.”
“For some jobs, we need the highest level of genius,” he said.
Of the F.A.A. under Mr. Obama, Mr. Trump said: “They actually came out with a directive, too white.” At another point he quoted from the website of the F.A.A., which he said indicated that the agency was looking to hire people with disabilities, including “hearing, vision, missing extremities, partial paralysis, complete paralysis, epilepsy, severe intellectual disability, psychiatric disability and dwarfism,” and said that they “all qualified for the position of a controller of airplanes pouring into our country.”
In fact, Mr. Trump was citing language about recruiting people with disabilities on the F.A.A.’s website that existed during his first administration. Veterans of the F.A.A. during that period said they did not know of any episodes in which D.E.I. recruiting standards had been identified as a cause or a contributor. Tennessee Garvey, a pilot and the chairman of the board of directors for the Organization of Black Aerospace Professionals, said that rigorous standards for hiring pilots, mechanics and air traffic controllers were never relaxed just to meet diversity goals. Mr. Trump clearly disagrees, but was unable to cite an example on Thursday.
Without question, the interchanges between the air controllers, the plane and the helicopter will be at the center of the investigation. Among the questions that arose on Thursday was whether there were fewer than the usual number of controllers working at the time of the crash, leaving too great a burden on those managing the flights, and why the plane’s pilots were asked to change their approach from one of the main runways at the airport to one of its shorter ones.
But an audio recording of the air traffic controllers’ warnings to the helicopter just before the crash indicated that a controller first warned the helicopter to look for a Canadair Regional Jet and then told the helicopter pilot to go behind the jet as it was landing. That exchange will be part of the investigation.
Within hours of Mr. Trump’s statements, Democrats both criticized and mocked him. Senator Peter Welch, Democrat of Vermont, noted that Congress had authorized more staff and training for the F.A.A. and that this was “now under threat by the Trump administration” as it looks to shrink the government.
“We cannot have leaders making detrimental, rash decisions to overhaul critical aspects of our national transportation network for the sake of irrelevant culture wars,” Mr. Welch said.
Disability rights groups accused Mr. Trump of deflecting blame.
“All disabled employees are required to be able to perform all essential job requirements without accommodations,” said Mia Ives-Rublee, director of the Disability Justice Initiative at the Center for American Progress. “Trump should be looking to investigate the tragedy and provide comfort to the families, not punch down to advance his political agenda with zero evidence.”
The Congressional Black Caucus said the mourning of the victims was “marred by a truly disgusting and disgraceful display of racist political prognostication.” In a statement, the caucus members said Mr. Trump had moved “to falsely blame the diversity initiatives of past administrations for the cause of this incident. Not only are the president’s claims untrue, they also speak to the Republican Party’s desire to divide us as a country.”
Mr. Trump appeared in the White House briefing room with Vice President JD Vance; the newly sworn-in transportation secretary, Sean Duffy; and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. All three began their comments by praising Mr. Trump’s leadership and repeating that they would eliminate diversity requirements and focus on competence.
Mr. Hegseth, aware that the investigation would focus heavily on the Army Blackhawk helicopter that he said was conducting an annual exercise on Wednesday evening, admitted that a “mistake was made.” But he immediately pivoted to support Mr. Trump, saying that the Defense Department would be “colorblind and merit-based” whether “it’s flying Blackhawks and flying airplanes, leading platoons or in government.”
“The era of D.E.I. is gone at the Defense Department,” he continued, “and we need the best and brightest, whether it’s in our air traffic control or whether it’s in our generals.” It was notable in part because he had been a major critic of Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr., the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, charging last year that he was bringing woke culture to the Pentagon and should be removed.
Mr. Trump reserved his harshest criticism for the transportation secretary under Mr. Biden, Pete Buttigieg, accusing him of infusing diversity, equity and inclusion goals at the F.A.A.
Mr. Buttigieg responded on social media. “Despicable,” he wrote. “As families grieve, Trump should be leading, not lying. We put safety first, drove down close calls, grew Air Traffic Control, and had zero commercial airline crash fatalities out of millions of flights on our watch.”
Mr. Trump named a new acting head of the Federal Aviation Administration during the news conference: Chris Rocheleau, who spent two decades at the agency and, more recently, has been the chief executive of the National Business Aviation Association, which focuses on the nation’s elite fleet of corporate aircraft. Among other roles at the F.A.A., he had handled the agency’s emergency operations. But his selection underscores the fact that Mr. Trump had not appointed an acting head of the F.A.A. in the opening days of his presidency.
Mr. Rocheleau did not speak at the news conference, nor did the head of the National Transportation Safety Board, who was also in the room. The board will be responsible for the investigation into the causes of the disaster over the Potomac.
Mr. Trump made clear that he might not be willing to wait for investigative conclusions before coming to his own.
“We do not know what led to this crash, but we have some very strong opinions and ideas,” he said. He said that “over the year, I’ve watched as things like this happen and they say, ‘Well, we’re always investigating,’ and then the investigation three years later they announce that we think ‘we have some pretty good ideas.’”
Reporting was contributed by Peter Baker and Linda Qiu in Washington and Rachel Nostrant in New York.
David E. Sanger covers the Trump administration and a range of national security issues. He has been a Times journalist for more than four decades and has written four books on foreign policy and national security challenges. More about David E. Sanger
A version of this article appears in print on Jan. 31, 2025, Section A, Page 19 of the New York edition with the headline: President Blames Biden And D.E.I. For a Crash Under Trump’s Watch. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe
- admin
- Site Admin
- Posts: 37580
- Joined: Thu Aug 01, 2013 5:21 am
Re: Anti-Anti Nazi Barbarian Hordes are Knocking Down the Ga
by admin » Fri Jan 31, 2025 7:10 pm
The Big Lie of Aviation DEI: The White House claims diversity threatened airline safety. Here’s proof it hasn't.
by William J. McGee
Published: Jan 28, 2025
Updated: Jan 29, 2025
One day after Donald Trump's second inauguration, the White House issued an executive order entitled "Keeping Americans Safe in Aviation" that rescinds all Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) hiring programs at the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
The president directed the Department of Transportation and the FAA to "take all appropriate action to ensure that any individual who fails or has failed to demonstrate requisite capability is replaced by a high-capability individual that will ensure top-notch air safety and efficiency."
Although the FAA Regulations don't define "top-notch," the implications are clear. The White House statement claimed: "During the prior administration…the FAA betrayed its mission by elevating dangerous discrimination over excellence."
There's a fundamental problem with these assertions: They're based on lies.
There is no list of unqualified individuals who were hired by the FAA due to race, gender, or any other DEI criteria who were deemed to be unfit for their jobs.
No such list exists.
A “movement” with no evidence
As I learned when I was licensed by the FAA as an aircraft dispatcher for the airlines in 1990, safety-critical jobs in aviation require passing many hurdles: verifiable experience, along with written, oral, and practical exams. No one gets hired without meeting or exceeding these criteria, and the bar isn't lowered for anyone based on DEI.
If there's any proof suggesting a single hire failed to meet established qualifications, the White House hasn't provided any.
The new FAA directive is part of a larger administration effort at eliminating DEI initiatives across the government. But it could also have a chilling effect on U.S. airlines and aviation companies like Boeing.
It's unclear yet how some corporations will respond, but already, American Airlines has reportedly "abandoned its DEI hiring practices."
To say that DEI has been an obsession in certain aviation circles is an understatement. For years, airline blogs have been rife with unfounded claims about incompetent hires.
But now it's much more than just industry gossip, because it has morphed into a federal policy without proven evidence.
To date, there have been no public accusations of inflight incidents or accidents tied directly to employees that were unqualified for their jobs as pilots, mechanics, air traffic controllers, dispatchers, engineers, or any other FAA-licensed personnel.
So where's the proof to support the dangerous accusations?
The FAA needs to address critical safety programs at Boeing and the airlines, but those issues are not caused by DEI.
What DEI has done for the aviation industry
For years, I and others have spoken out against wholesale outsourcing and offshoring of good American jobs, such as U.S. airline mechanics, who have seen their careers migrate to places like El Salvador and China.
And since Covid, leaders in the industry have complained about shortages of airline pilots and air traffic controllers.
DEI was designed in part to address such shortages by attracting demographics that traditionally haven't pursued aviation careers. DEI trains recruiters to seek qualified applicants from previously overlooked pipelines.
Many airline executives who have been loudest about the brain drains in the aviation industry have also been silent on supporting DEI recruitment that would directly help remedy those shortages.
Rick Larsen, Ranking Member of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, blasted the executive order in a statement on Jan. 28. "Hiring air traffic controllers is the number one safety issue according to the entire aviation industry. Instead of working to improve aviation safety and lower costs for hardworking American families, the Administration is choosing to spread bogus DEI claims to justify this decision."
As one FAA inspector expressed it to me recently: "[DEI] is about expanding recruitment so airlines and the FAA look more like America. It has never been about hiring or promoting the unqualified."
Everett Kelley, president of the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), which represents 800,000 federal workers, stated last week: "The federal government already hires and promotes exclusively on the basis of merit. The results are clear: a diverse federal workforce that looks like the nation it serves, with the lowest gender and racial pay gaps in the country."
I have seen the benefits of diversity for years. I've taught and lectured at Vaughn College of Aeronautics, and I can testify that Vaughn boasts one of the most diverse student bodies in the nation.
Chaundra Daniels, Director of Career Services at Vaughn, told me: "[DEI] wasn't as inclusive with white men as it should have been, and a lot felt left out. Understandably."
And what about veterans and the disabled?
Tellingly, anti-DEI rhetoric focuses on race and gender. But two more groups directly affected by Trump's statement also fall under the FAA's DEI umbrella: veterans and the disabled.
In fact, the term DEIA—which includes "Accessibility"—is what is widely used by the government to ensure that veterans and the disabled with the right qualifications are also considered for jobs. Yet the White House has shortened the term to just DEI.
This is the new administration's Pandora's box: Is it claiming that DEIA is promoting under-qualified individuals, as long as they're not veterans or the disabled?
Or are the targets of the current crackdown only those people who check certain racial or gender boxes? The answer may lie in Project 2025's 922-page manifesto, which repeatedly details eliminating DEI.
If this is just about race or gender, which dropping the A suggests, then let's call this action what it is.
Who will discover young aviation enthusiasts?
Since 2001, I've also been an officer in the U.S. Air Force Auxiliary, which oversees Civil Air Patrol youth programs that help encourage young Americans aged 12 and up to gain otherwise unattainable aeronautical experience, including flying. Former CAP members now populate airlines, the military, and NASA.
In mid-January, all members received an email from CAP's National Commander stating CAP has been asked to pause "any future DEIA-related events, programs, policies, or related activities." This despite the fact that no CAP members are ever promoted or assigned before meeting the full list of requisite qualifications.
My many years at Vaughn and CAP have allowed me to see the face of a changing America in future aviation professionals. Talented young people need role models who resemble them, inspiring their drive to succeed in this critical and demanding field.
After Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in Major League Baseball, he said that "any mistake I made would be magnified because I was the only Black man out there."
The White House’s senseless DEI directive has the same effect on aviation professionals, because the order has virtually ensured thousands of qualified workers are being maligned, vaguely, as "DEI hires." Even if they're more skilled than their peers, they'll carry the weight of having to appear better.
Where do we go from here?
Perhaps the first step is engaging a national conversation about two issues:
1) If DEI programs have truly affected safety, as the title of the executive order implies, then provide data that proves it. To date, there's been no evidence.
2) If this purge isn't about safety, then let's define what it really is about. AFGE seems to have nailed it: "Ultimately, these attacks on DEIA are just a smokescreen for firing civil servants, undermining the apolitical civil service, and turning the federal government into an army of yes-men loyal only to the president, not the Constitution."
Or as Vaughn’s Daniels puts it: "The real problem some people have with DEI is the 'E' for equity. And we also have to follow the purse—what's happening to the money the government will save?
America awaits the answers.
William J. McGee is the Senior Fellow for Aviation & Travel at American Economic Liberties Project. An FAA-licensed aircraft dispatcher, he spent seven years in airline flight operations management and was Editor-in-Chief of Consumer Reports Travel Letter. He is the author of Attention All Passengers and teaches at Vaughn College of Aeronautics. There is more at http://www.economicliberties.us/william-mcgee/.
*******************
“Nonsensical”: As Trump Blames Crash on DEI, Aviation Expert Says It’s Understaffing, Lax Regulation
by Amy Goodman
DemocracyNow!
January 31, 2025
https://www.democracynow.org/2025/1/31/ ... transcript
Donald Trump is blaming DEI for the deadliest U.S. aviation disaster in more than two decades, when a regional jet and a U.S. Army helicopter collided over a Washington, D.C. airport, killing 67 people. “We have a long list of problems that need to be addressed. … Instead, we’re talking about a nonsensical issue that is not based in fact,” says FAA-licensed aircraft dispatcher Bill McGee, who says criticisms of DEI distract from and work against a critical staffing shortage at the FAA. McGee also discusses the dangerous politicization of the FAA and the increasing influence of Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX, over the aviation industry.
Transcript
This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.
AMY GOODMAN: During a White House press briefing Thursday, President Trump said the cause of Wednesday’s midair collision of a U.S. military helicopter with an American passenger jet at Reagan National Airport outside Washington, D.C., that killed 67 people is still unknown, but Trump proceeded to blame, without evidence, Democrats and federal workplace DEI initiatives for the deadliest U.S. aviation disaster in more than two decades.
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: My administration will set the highest possible bar for aviation safety. We have to have our smartest people. It doesn’t matter what they look like, how they speak, who they are. It matters intellect, talent. The word “talent.” They have to be talented, naturally talented, geniuses. You can’t have regular people doing that job. They won’t be able to do it. But we’ll restore faith in American air travel. I’ll have more to say about that.
I do want to point out that various articles that appeared prior to my entering office — and here’s one: “The FAA’s diversity push includes focus on hiring people with severe intellectual and psychiatric disabilities.” That is amazing. And then it says, ”FAA says people with severe disabilities are most underrepresented segment of the workforce.” So they want them in, and they want them — they can be air traffic controllers. I don’t think so. This was on January 14th, so that was a week before I entered office. They put a big push to put diversity into the FAA’s program.
AMY GOODMAN: Trump was reading from a year-old online report about efforts at the FAA to hire people with disabilities. During the news conference, journalists repeatedly questioned Trump about his unfounded assertions. This is one exchange with New York Times reporter David Sanger.
DAVID SANGER: Mr. President, you have today blamed the diversity element, but then told us that you weren’t sure that the controllers made any mistake. You then said perhaps the helicopter pilots were the ones —
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Yeah.
DAVID SANGER: — who made the mistake.
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: It’s all under investigation.
DAVID SANGER: I understand that. That’s why I’m trying to figure out how you can come to the conclusion right now that diversity had something to do with this crash.
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Because I have common sense, OK?
AMY GOODMAN: During Thursday’s news conference, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth echoed Donald Trump’s attacks on diversity.
DEFENSE SECRETARY PETE HEGSETH: We will have the best and brightest in every position possible — as you said in your inaugural, it is colorblind and merit-based — the best leaders possible, whether it’s flying Black Hawks and flying airplanes, leading platoons or in government. The era of DEI is gone at the Defense Department, and we need the best and brightest, whether it’s in our air traffic control or whether it’s in our generals or whether it’s throughout government.
AMY GOODMAN: During Thursday’s press conference, Vice President JD Vance echoed Trump’s attacks on DEI.
VICE PRESIDENT JD VANCE: When you don’t have the best standards in who you’re hiring, it means, on the one hand, you’re not getting the best people in government, but, on the other hand, it puts stresses on the people who are already there. And I think that is a core part of what President Trump is going to bring and has already brought to Washington, D.C., is we want to hire the best people, because we want the best people in air traffic control, and we want to make sure we have enough people in air traffic control who are actually competent to do the job. If you go back to just some of the headlines over the past 10 years, you have many hundreds of people suing the government because they would like to be air traffic controllers but they were turned away because of the color of their skin. That policy ends under Donald Trump’s leadership, because safety is the first priority of our aviation industry.
AMY GOODMAN: For more, we’re joined by Bill McGee, senior fellow for aviation and travel at American Economic Liberties Project. As an FAA-licensed aircraft dispatcher, he spent seven years in airline flight operations management and is the author of Attention All Passengers: The Airlines’ Dangerous Descent — and How to Reclaim Our Skies. He teaches at Vaughn College of Aeronautics. Bill McGee’s new piece for Frommer’s is headlined “The Big Lie of Aviation DEI.”
Now, I want to point out, Bill, that you wrote this piece not in response to the news conference at the White House, but before the White House news conference and before the crash. Can you talk about what’s going on here? President Trump, when asked about any other issue, said, “Well, the investigation has to continue,” but he still blamed the crash on DEI.
WILLIAM McGEE: Yes, you’re right. The fact is that these rumors, which are unfounded, have been swirling around aviation for more than 20 years, but they are not based in fact. That’s why I wrote what I wrote in Frommer’s the other day. That was, again, as you pointed out, you know, the day before the crash. But it’s not as if what we heard this week we haven’t heard before. And it’s simply unfounded. As you just pointed out, these rumors are not at all based in fact.
What the DEI initiatives at the FAA — and at other agencies, as well, but specifically at the FAA — what they were meant to do was to broaden the pool of recruitment for positions. But this needs to be said in all caps, in bold. The fact is, there has not been a loosening of standards. The same standards have to to apply, in terms of testing — you know, when I was licensed as an FAA dispatcher, we had a written test, we had an oral test, we had an eight-hour practical exam. All of those things are still in place. No one is going into safety critical jobs without being prepared.
AMY GOODMAN: Bill McGee, Trump blamed Biden. He blamed Obama. He blamed Pete Buttigieg, the former transportation secretary. He said, “They actually came out with a directive: 'too white.' And we want the people that are competent,” he said. They kept talking about “the best and the brightest,” not to be confused with “the best and the whitest.” If you can comment on this and the history of this, where his certainty comes from? He says it’s just common sense, yet presented absolutely no evidence.
WILLIAM McGEE: Well, I think we need to step back a moment and look at the bigger picture with what is really going on here. We have an aviation industry in crisis, and we’ve had that for several years now, at the FAA, at Boeing, at the airlines. And for every minute that we spend talking about DEI, we’re not talking about so many other critical issues.
FAA safety inspectors, they have been understaffed for 40 years. It’s not just a matter of throwing money at these problems, but the FAA needs to be realigned. Since the Reagan administration, it has not kept pace with the industry. And, you know, we can go through a long list of problems that are not being addressed by this.
And every time I hear this, DEI — that’s why I wrote the column I wrote — the DEI issue, in my view, it’s a distraction. I mean, for those that are serious about aviation safety, they know we have a long laundry list of problems that need to be addressed, with air traffic control, with maintenance outsourcing, with the oversight of the airlines, the oversight of Boeing. And instead, we’re talking about a nonsensical issue that is not based in fact.
AMY GOODMAN: After Donald Trump’s inauguration, the White House issued an executive order titled “Keeping Americans Safe in Aviation” that rescinds all diversity, equity and inclusion hiring programs at the FAA. I want to turn to Rick Larsen, ranking member of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, criticizing the executive order in a statement, saying, quote, “Hiring air traffic controllers is the number one safety issue according to the entire aviation industry. Instead of working to improve aviation safety and lower costs for hardworking American families, the Administration is choosing to spread bogus DEI claims to justify this decision.” And you have, Bill, The New York Times reporting, and others, that it looks like the Black Hawk helicopter, with the three, and usually it’s supposed to be four people, soldiers inside, being off the actual route and too high.
WILLIAM McGEE: Yeah, you’re right. And I think Representative Larsen is correct, as well. We have had an air traffic controller shortage in this country for several years now. These issues cross political lines, by the way. They go back years and years. And the pipeline, it actually improved under Secretary Buttigieg and President Biden. We started seeing more air traffic controllers come online. But we do not have enough.
And when you look at what happened the other night in the Potomac River — I know that airport very, very well, DCA, because when I was working in airline flight operations, I worked for the Northeast Shuttle, so I dealt with DCA, dispatching flights there every day of the week. And I can tell you it’s one of the most challenging airports in the country. And we need the absolute full staffing of air traffic control at DCA and at airports all across the country. We’re not there.
The irony here is that for all the knock on DEI, it’s about doing that. It’s about broadening the net of trying to attract more people into aviation, people that traditionally were not drawn to aviation. You mentioned I teach at Vaughn College of Aeronautics. It happens to be the most diverse student body of any college in the country. And I see it all the time. We’re sending more and more people into aviation who wouldn’t before.
So, you know, we need to get rid of the rumors, that are unfounded, about the safety question, and we need to start doing things to improve the system, including staffing, staffing at the FAA on the air traffic control side and staffing at the FAA on the safety inspector side. We all know that Boeing is a mess. This was once probably the greatest corporation in this country. And why is it a mess? Well, in large measure, it’s because the FAA hasn’t been able to inspect it. They have something called the designee system, that allows Boeing employees to be the eyes and ears of the FAA. Imagine that. Imagine having to tell your boss that you need to shut down the assembly line. You’re a mid-level manager, and your mortgage is riding on this. It’s a system that really needs to be revamped from top to bottom.
AMY GOODMAN: So, the crash comes as the Federal Aviation Administration is lacking an administrator, though Trump just named one. But it was lacking an FAA administrator after Elon Musk pressured Mike Whitaker to announce his early resignation in December. Musk was furious with Whitaker after the FAA fined Musk’s SpaceX over $600,000 for safety violations on Florida’s Gulf Coast. Musk has also accused the FAA of slowing development of its experimental Starship rocket. Earlier this month, the FAA grounded Starship after a test vehicle caught fire, veered off course and exploded high above the Caribbean, the disaster triggering massive sonic booms as fiery debris reentered the atmosphere at hypersonic speeds, littering the Turks and Caicos with rocket parts and forcing airlines to divert dozens of flights. So, the richest man in the world forces the head of the FAA out, and now, just after the crash, Trump names a new FAA administrator, Christopher Rocheleau, a 22-year veteran of the agency. Can you respond to Musk and what you know about the new FAA head?
WILLIAM McGEE: Yeah, you raise a great question, you know, because about 15 years ago, the FAA Reauthorization Act in Congress specifically changed the parameters so that the FAA administrator term would be five years. And the clear intent there was that aviation safety is so critical that it should rise above politics, and that a five-year term would guarantee that an administrator would be in office during any kind of a presidential transition from one party to another, from one president to another.
Well, we didn’t see that happen, right? Michael Whitaker was in office only for a little more than a year. He should have been in office for five years. And he was removed on Inauguration Day. As you say, all of the media reports indicate this was because of Musk and because of Whitaker coming down on his company. This is not how the system is supposed to work. Aviation safety should be above politics.
And unfortunately, for decades now, we have seen not administrators, but acting administrators. That’s what we have seen in the first Trump administration. You know, you’ll recall the two fatal Boeing 737 MAX accidents. It wasn’t until after the second accident, in early 2019, that it was as if the administration woke up and said, “Oh, we don’t have an FAA administrator.” Now, I know there are those that are going to say an acting administrator is almost as good as an administrator. It’s not the case. Yes, they can run the day-to-day, and they can deal with crises, and they can, you know, put out whatever fires are burning that day. But they do not have the ability to look at long-term issues, including staffing. And so, we have to start treating this more seriously. A permanent FAA administrator needs to be in place at all times.
AMY GOODMAN: So, you have right now — yeah, he may be the richest man in the world, not to be glib, but the guy who keeps blowing up rockets is now influencing airline safety policy.
WILLIAM McGEE: Yeah, it’s a very dangerous situation. There’s no two ways about it. Again, you know, the FAA used to be called the gold standard for a government agency overseeing aviation. Other nations, when they had problems, when they had accidents, that weren’t even in any way related to the United States, not involving a U.S.-built aircraft, not involving a U.S. airline, they would turn to the FAA and the NTSB and ask for assistance. We are no longer the gold standard. It’s just that simple. We have seen it in recent years when other countries have said, “No, we’ll do without the FAA on this investigation,” particularly after the Boeing MAX crashes. This is not how to run the FAA, to have someone like Elon Musk come in and make these decisions.
AMY GOODMAN: Bill McGee, I want to thank you for being with us, senior fellow for aviation and travel at American Economic Liberties Project, an FAA-licensed aircraft dispatcher. We’re going to link to your new piece for Frommer’s titled — for Frommer’s, “The Big Lie of Aviation DEI.” Bill McGee was editor-in-chief of Consumer Reports Travel Letter, and he is the author of Attention All Passengers.
by William J. McGee
Published: Jan 28, 2025
Updated: Jan 29, 2025
One day after Donald Trump's second inauguration, the White House issued an executive order entitled "Keeping Americans Safe in Aviation" that rescinds all Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) hiring programs at the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
The president directed the Department of Transportation and the FAA to "take all appropriate action to ensure that any individual who fails or has failed to demonstrate requisite capability is replaced by a high-capability individual that will ensure top-notch air safety and efficiency."
Although the FAA Regulations don't define "top-notch," the implications are clear. The White House statement claimed: "During the prior administration…the FAA betrayed its mission by elevating dangerous discrimination over excellence."
There's a fundamental problem with these assertions: They're based on lies.
There is no list of unqualified individuals who were hired by the FAA due to race, gender, or any other DEI criteria who were deemed to be unfit for their jobs.
No such list exists.
A “movement” with no evidence
As I learned when I was licensed by the FAA as an aircraft dispatcher for the airlines in 1990, safety-critical jobs in aviation require passing many hurdles: verifiable experience, along with written, oral, and practical exams. No one gets hired without meeting or exceeding these criteria, and the bar isn't lowered for anyone based on DEI.
If there's any proof suggesting a single hire failed to meet established qualifications, the White House hasn't provided any.
The new FAA directive is part of a larger administration effort at eliminating DEI initiatives across the government. But it could also have a chilling effect on U.S. airlines and aviation companies like Boeing.
It's unclear yet how some corporations will respond, but already, American Airlines has reportedly "abandoned its DEI hiring practices."
To say that DEI has been an obsession in certain aviation circles is an understatement. For years, airline blogs have been rife with unfounded claims about incompetent hires.
But now it's much more than just industry gossip, because it has morphed into a federal policy without proven evidence.
To date, there have been no public accusations of inflight incidents or accidents tied directly to employees that were unqualified for their jobs as pilots, mechanics, air traffic controllers, dispatchers, engineers, or any other FAA-licensed personnel.
So where's the proof to support the dangerous accusations?
The FAA needs to address critical safety programs at Boeing and the airlines, but those issues are not caused by DEI.
What DEI has done for the aviation industry
For years, I and others have spoken out against wholesale outsourcing and offshoring of good American jobs, such as U.S. airline mechanics, who have seen their careers migrate to places like El Salvador and China.
And since Covid, leaders in the industry have complained about shortages of airline pilots and air traffic controllers.
DEI was designed in part to address such shortages by attracting demographics that traditionally haven't pursued aviation careers. DEI trains recruiters to seek qualified applicants from previously overlooked pipelines.
Many airline executives who have been loudest about the brain drains in the aviation industry have also been silent on supporting DEI recruitment that would directly help remedy those shortages.
Rick Larsen, Ranking Member of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, blasted the executive order in a statement on Jan. 28. "Hiring air traffic controllers is the number one safety issue according to the entire aviation industry. Instead of working to improve aviation safety and lower costs for hardworking American families, the Administration is choosing to spread bogus DEI claims to justify this decision."
As one FAA inspector expressed it to me recently: "[DEI] is about expanding recruitment so airlines and the FAA look more like America. It has never been about hiring or promoting the unqualified."
Everett Kelley, president of the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), which represents 800,000 federal workers, stated last week: "The federal government already hires and promotes exclusively on the basis of merit. The results are clear: a diverse federal workforce that looks like the nation it serves, with the lowest gender and racial pay gaps in the country."
I have seen the benefits of diversity for years. I've taught and lectured at Vaughn College of Aeronautics, and I can testify that Vaughn boasts one of the most diverse student bodies in the nation.
Chaundra Daniels, Director of Career Services at Vaughn, told me: "[DEI] wasn't as inclusive with white men as it should have been, and a lot felt left out. Understandably."
And what about veterans and the disabled?
Tellingly, anti-DEI rhetoric focuses on race and gender. But two more groups directly affected by Trump's statement also fall under the FAA's DEI umbrella: veterans and the disabled.
In fact, the term DEIA—which includes "Accessibility"—is what is widely used by the government to ensure that veterans and the disabled with the right qualifications are also considered for jobs. Yet the White House has shortened the term to just DEI.
This is the new administration's Pandora's box: Is it claiming that DEIA is promoting under-qualified individuals, as long as they're not veterans or the disabled?
Or are the targets of the current crackdown only those people who check certain racial or gender boxes? The answer may lie in Project 2025's 922-page manifesto, which repeatedly details eliminating DEI.
If this is just about race or gender, which dropping the A suggests, then let's call this action what it is.
Who will discover young aviation enthusiasts?
Since 2001, I've also been an officer in the U.S. Air Force Auxiliary, which oversees Civil Air Patrol youth programs that help encourage young Americans aged 12 and up to gain otherwise unattainable aeronautical experience, including flying. Former CAP members now populate airlines, the military, and NASA.
In mid-January, all members received an email from CAP's National Commander stating CAP has been asked to pause "any future DEIA-related events, programs, policies, or related activities." This despite the fact that no CAP members are ever promoted or assigned before meeting the full list of requisite qualifications.
My many years at Vaughn and CAP have allowed me to see the face of a changing America in future aviation professionals. Talented young people need role models who resemble them, inspiring their drive to succeed in this critical and demanding field.
After Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in Major League Baseball, he said that "any mistake I made would be magnified because I was the only Black man out there."
The White House’s senseless DEI directive has the same effect on aviation professionals, because the order has virtually ensured thousands of qualified workers are being maligned, vaguely, as "DEI hires." Even if they're more skilled than their peers, they'll carry the weight of having to appear better.
Where do we go from here?
Perhaps the first step is engaging a national conversation about two issues:
1) If DEI programs have truly affected safety, as the title of the executive order implies, then provide data that proves it. To date, there's been no evidence.
2) If this purge isn't about safety, then let's define what it really is about. AFGE seems to have nailed it: "Ultimately, these attacks on DEIA are just a smokescreen for firing civil servants, undermining the apolitical civil service, and turning the federal government into an army of yes-men loyal only to the president, not the Constitution."
Or as Vaughn’s Daniels puts it: "The real problem some people have with DEI is the 'E' for equity. And we also have to follow the purse—what's happening to the money the government will save?
America awaits the answers.
William J. McGee is the Senior Fellow for Aviation & Travel at American Economic Liberties Project. An FAA-licensed aircraft dispatcher, he spent seven years in airline flight operations management and was Editor-in-Chief of Consumer Reports Travel Letter. He is the author of Attention All Passengers and teaches at Vaughn College of Aeronautics. There is more at http://www.economicliberties.us/william-mcgee/.
*******************
“Nonsensical”: As Trump Blames Crash on DEI, Aviation Expert Says It’s Understaffing, Lax Regulation
by Amy Goodman
DemocracyNow!
January 31, 2025
https://www.democracynow.org/2025/1/31/ ... transcript
Donald Trump is blaming DEI for the deadliest U.S. aviation disaster in more than two decades, when a regional jet and a U.S. Army helicopter collided over a Washington, D.C. airport, killing 67 people. “We have a long list of problems that need to be addressed. … Instead, we’re talking about a nonsensical issue that is not based in fact,” says FAA-licensed aircraft dispatcher Bill McGee, who says criticisms of DEI distract from and work against a critical staffing shortage at the FAA. McGee also discusses the dangerous politicization of the FAA and the increasing influence of Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX, over the aviation industry.
Transcript
This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.
AMY GOODMAN: During a White House press briefing Thursday, President Trump said the cause of Wednesday’s midair collision of a U.S. military helicopter with an American passenger jet at Reagan National Airport outside Washington, D.C., that killed 67 people is still unknown, but Trump proceeded to blame, without evidence, Democrats and federal workplace DEI initiatives for the deadliest U.S. aviation disaster in more than two decades.
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: My administration will set the highest possible bar for aviation safety. We have to have our smartest people. It doesn’t matter what they look like, how they speak, who they are. It matters intellect, talent. The word “talent.” They have to be talented, naturally talented, geniuses. You can’t have regular people doing that job. They won’t be able to do it. But we’ll restore faith in American air travel. I’ll have more to say about that.
I do want to point out that various articles that appeared prior to my entering office — and here’s one: “The FAA’s diversity push includes focus on hiring people with severe intellectual and psychiatric disabilities.” That is amazing. And then it says, ”FAA says people with severe disabilities are most underrepresented segment of the workforce.” So they want them in, and they want them — they can be air traffic controllers. I don’t think so. This was on January 14th, so that was a week before I entered office. They put a big push to put diversity into the FAA’s program.
Of the F.A.A. under Mr. Obama, Mr. Trump said: “They actually came out with a directive, too white.” At another point he quoted from the website of the F.A.A., which he said indicated that the agency was looking to hire people with disabilities, including “hearing, vision, missing extremities, partial paralysis, complete paralysis, epilepsy, severe intellectual disability, psychiatric disability and dwarfism,” and said that they “all qualified for the position of a controller of airplanes pouring into our country.”
In fact, Mr. Trump was citing language about recruiting people with disabilities on the F.A.A.’s website that existed during his first administration.
-- Trump Blames D.E.I. and Biden for Crash Under His Watch: President Trump’s remarks, suggesting that diversity in hiring and other Biden administration policies somehow caused the disaster, reflected his instinct to immediately frame major events through his political or ideological lens, by David E. Sanger, New York Times
AMY GOODMAN: Trump was reading from a year-old online report about efforts at the FAA to hire people with disabilities. During the news conference, journalists repeatedly questioned Trump about his unfounded assertions. This is one exchange with New York Times reporter David Sanger.
DAVID SANGER: Mr. President, you have today blamed the diversity element, but then told us that you weren’t sure that the controllers made any mistake. You then said perhaps the helicopter pilots were the ones —
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Yeah.
DAVID SANGER: — who made the mistake.
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: It’s all under investigation.
DAVID SANGER: I understand that. That’s why I’m trying to figure out how you can come to the conclusion right now that diversity had something to do with this crash.
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Because I have common sense, OK?
AMY GOODMAN: During Thursday’s news conference, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth echoed Donald Trump’s attacks on diversity.
DEFENSE SECRETARY PETE HEGSETH: We will have the best and brightest in every position possible — as you said in your inaugural, it is colorblind and merit-based — the best leaders possible, whether it’s flying Black Hawks and flying airplanes, leading platoons or in government. The era of DEI is gone at the Defense Department, and we need the best and brightest, whether it’s in our air traffic control or whether it’s in our generals or whether it’s throughout government.
AMY GOODMAN: During Thursday’s press conference, Vice President JD Vance echoed Trump’s attacks on DEI.
VICE PRESIDENT JD VANCE: When you don’t have the best standards in who you’re hiring, it means, on the one hand, you’re not getting the best people in government, but, on the other hand, it puts stresses on the people who are already there. And I think that is a core part of what President Trump is going to bring and has already brought to Washington, D.C., is we want to hire the best people, because we want the best people in air traffic control, and we want to make sure we have enough people in air traffic control who are actually competent to do the job. If you go back to just some of the headlines over the past 10 years, you have many hundreds of people suing the government because they would like to be air traffic controllers but they were turned away because of the color of their skin. That policy ends under Donald Trump’s leadership, because safety is the first priority of our aviation industry.
AMY GOODMAN: For more, we’re joined by Bill McGee, senior fellow for aviation and travel at American Economic Liberties Project. As an FAA-licensed aircraft dispatcher, he spent seven years in airline flight operations management and is the author of Attention All Passengers: The Airlines’ Dangerous Descent — and How to Reclaim Our Skies. He teaches at Vaughn College of Aeronautics. Bill McGee’s new piece for Frommer’s is headlined “The Big Lie of Aviation DEI.”
Now, I want to point out, Bill, that you wrote this piece not in response to the news conference at the White House, but before the White House news conference and before the crash. Can you talk about what’s going on here? President Trump, when asked about any other issue, said, “Well, the investigation has to continue,” but he still blamed the crash on DEI.
WILLIAM McGEE: Yes, you’re right. The fact is that these rumors, which are unfounded, have been swirling around aviation for more than 20 years, but they are not based in fact. That’s why I wrote what I wrote in Frommer’s the other day. That was, again, as you pointed out, you know, the day before the crash. But it’s not as if what we heard this week we haven’t heard before. And it’s simply unfounded. As you just pointed out, these rumors are not at all based in fact.
What the DEI initiatives at the FAA — and at other agencies, as well, but specifically at the FAA — what they were meant to do was to broaden the pool of recruitment for positions. But this needs to be said in all caps, in bold. The fact is, there has not been a loosening of standards. The same standards have to to apply, in terms of testing — you know, when I was licensed as an FAA dispatcher, we had a written test, we had an oral test, we had an eight-hour practical exam. All of those things are still in place. No one is going into safety critical jobs without being prepared.
AMY GOODMAN: Bill McGee, Trump blamed Biden. He blamed Obama. He blamed Pete Buttigieg, the former transportation secretary. He said, “They actually came out with a directive: 'too white.' And we want the people that are competent,” he said. They kept talking about “the best and the brightest,” not to be confused with “the best and the whitest.” If you can comment on this and the history of this, where his certainty comes from? He says it’s just common sense, yet presented absolutely no evidence.
WILLIAM McGEE: Well, I think we need to step back a moment and look at the bigger picture with what is really going on here. We have an aviation industry in crisis, and we’ve had that for several years now, at the FAA, at Boeing, at the airlines. And for every minute that we spend talking about DEI, we’re not talking about so many other critical issues.
FAA safety inspectors, they have been understaffed for 40 years. It’s not just a matter of throwing money at these problems, but the FAA needs to be realigned. Since the Reagan administration, it has not kept pace with the industry. And, you know, we can go through a long list of problems that are not being addressed by this.
And every time I hear this, DEI — that’s why I wrote the column I wrote — the DEI issue, in my view, it’s a distraction. I mean, for those that are serious about aviation safety, they know we have a long laundry list of problems that need to be addressed, with air traffic control, with maintenance outsourcing, with the oversight of the airlines, the oversight of Boeing. And instead, we’re talking about a nonsensical issue that is not based in fact.
AMY GOODMAN: After Donald Trump’s inauguration, the White House issued an executive order titled “Keeping Americans Safe in Aviation” that rescinds all diversity, equity and inclusion hiring programs at the FAA. I want to turn to Rick Larsen, ranking member of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, criticizing the executive order in a statement, saying, quote, “Hiring air traffic controllers is the number one safety issue according to the entire aviation industry. Instead of working to improve aviation safety and lower costs for hardworking American families, the Administration is choosing to spread bogus DEI claims to justify this decision.” And you have, Bill, The New York Times reporting, and others, that it looks like the Black Hawk helicopter, with the three, and usually it’s supposed to be four people, soldiers inside, being off the actual route and too high.
WILLIAM McGEE: Yeah, you’re right. And I think Representative Larsen is correct, as well. We have had an air traffic controller shortage in this country for several years now. These issues cross political lines, by the way. They go back years and years. And the pipeline, it actually improved under Secretary Buttigieg and President Biden. We started seeing more air traffic controllers come online. But we do not have enough.
And when you look at what happened the other night in the Potomac River — I know that airport very, very well, DCA, because when I was working in airline flight operations, I worked for the Northeast Shuttle, so I dealt with DCA, dispatching flights there every day of the week. And I can tell you it’s one of the most challenging airports in the country. And we need the absolute full staffing of air traffic control at DCA and at airports all across the country. We’re not there.
The irony here is that for all the knock on DEI, it’s about doing that. It’s about broadening the net of trying to attract more people into aviation, people that traditionally were not drawn to aviation. You mentioned I teach at Vaughn College of Aeronautics. It happens to be the most diverse student body of any college in the country. And I see it all the time. We’re sending more and more people into aviation who wouldn’t before.
So, you know, we need to get rid of the rumors, that are unfounded, about the safety question, and we need to start doing things to improve the system, including staffing, staffing at the FAA on the air traffic control side and staffing at the FAA on the safety inspector side. We all know that Boeing is a mess. This was once probably the greatest corporation in this country. And why is it a mess? Well, in large measure, it’s because the FAA hasn’t been able to inspect it. They have something called the designee system, that allows Boeing employees to be the eyes and ears of the FAA. Imagine that. Imagine having to tell your boss that you need to shut down the assembly line. You’re a mid-level manager, and your mortgage is riding on this. It’s a system that really needs to be revamped from top to bottom.
AMY GOODMAN: So, the crash comes as the Federal Aviation Administration is lacking an administrator, though Trump just named one. But it was lacking an FAA administrator after Elon Musk pressured Mike Whitaker to announce his early resignation in December. Musk was furious with Whitaker after the FAA fined Musk’s SpaceX over $600,000 for safety violations on Florida’s Gulf Coast. Musk has also accused the FAA of slowing development of its experimental Starship rocket. Earlier this month, the FAA grounded Starship after a test vehicle caught fire, veered off course and exploded high above the Caribbean, the disaster triggering massive sonic booms as fiery debris reentered the atmosphere at hypersonic speeds, littering the Turks and Caicos with rocket parts and forcing airlines to divert dozens of flights. So, the richest man in the world forces the head of the FAA out, and now, just after the crash, Trump names a new FAA administrator, Christopher Rocheleau, a 22-year veteran of the agency. Can you respond to Musk and what you know about the new FAA head?
WILLIAM McGEE: Yeah, you raise a great question, you know, because about 15 years ago, the FAA Reauthorization Act in Congress specifically changed the parameters so that the FAA administrator term would be five years. And the clear intent there was that aviation safety is so critical that it should rise above politics, and that a five-year term would guarantee that an administrator would be in office during any kind of a presidential transition from one party to another, from one president to another.
Well, we didn’t see that happen, right? Michael Whitaker was in office only for a little more than a year. He should have been in office for five years. And he was removed on Inauguration Day. As you say, all of the media reports indicate this was because of Musk and because of Whitaker coming down on his company. This is not how the system is supposed to work. Aviation safety should be above politics.
And unfortunately, for decades now, we have seen not administrators, but acting administrators. That’s what we have seen in the first Trump administration. You know, you’ll recall the two fatal Boeing 737 MAX accidents. It wasn’t until after the second accident, in early 2019, that it was as if the administration woke up and said, “Oh, we don’t have an FAA administrator.” Now, I know there are those that are going to say an acting administrator is almost as good as an administrator. It’s not the case. Yes, they can run the day-to-day, and they can deal with crises, and they can, you know, put out whatever fires are burning that day. But they do not have the ability to look at long-term issues, including staffing. And so, we have to start treating this more seriously. A permanent FAA administrator needs to be in place at all times.
AMY GOODMAN: So, you have right now — yeah, he may be the richest man in the world, not to be glib, but the guy who keeps blowing up rockets is now influencing airline safety policy.
WILLIAM McGEE: Yeah, it’s a very dangerous situation. There’s no two ways about it. Again, you know, the FAA used to be called the gold standard for a government agency overseeing aviation. Other nations, when they had problems, when they had accidents, that weren’t even in any way related to the United States, not involving a U.S.-built aircraft, not involving a U.S. airline, they would turn to the FAA and the NTSB and ask for assistance. We are no longer the gold standard. It’s just that simple. We have seen it in recent years when other countries have said, “No, we’ll do without the FAA on this investigation,” particularly after the Boeing MAX crashes. This is not how to run the FAA, to have someone like Elon Musk come in and make these decisions.
AMY GOODMAN: Bill McGee, I want to thank you for being with us, senior fellow for aviation and travel at American Economic Liberties Project, an FAA-licensed aircraft dispatcher. We’re going to link to your new piece for Frommer’s titled — for Frommer’s, “The Big Lie of Aviation DEI.” Bill McGee was editor-in-chief of Consumer Reports Travel Letter, and he is the author of Attention All Passengers.
- admin
- Site Admin
- Posts: 37580
- Joined: Thu Aug 01, 2013 5:21 am
Re: Anti-Anti Nazi Barbarian Hordes are Knocking Down the Ga
by admin » Sat Feb 01, 2025 6:03 am
Trump FIRST MOVES Lead to INSTANT CATASTROPHE: It wasn't a DEI hire that crashed American Airlines flight 5342, but budget cuts and and removal of leadership. There should have been at least two air traffic controller, instead of one.
by Michael Popok
MeidasTouch
Legal AF Podcast
Jan 31, 2025
It is starting to look like Trump’s cost-cutting and decapitating leadership at the FAA may have been the true cause of the Flight 5342 disaster, as there should have been 2 controllers, not one monitoring the helicopter and planes in the airspace, and that’s on Trump. Michael Popok reports on this developing story that demonstrates that our lives are all at risk with Trumpat the helm, as Project 2025 enacts policies to kill its own voters.
Transcript
Preliminary results are trickling in
about the American Airlines flight 5342
disaster in Washington and it's making
Donald Trump out to be a liar. It wasn't
a DEI hire who worked in the air
traffic control that crashed the plane
it looks like it was the type of budget
cuts and hollowing out of
administrations and the removal and
decapitation of leadership that has
marked Donald Trump's beginning days
that caused the crash it looks like
there should have been at least two air
traffic controllers one watching
helicopters the other one watching
planes instead of one trying to do both
that's a budget and Leadership problem
that's not a Dei problem and that's a
Donald Trump major problem on Michael
Popok you're on the Meidas touch
Network in legal AF earlier reporting
from Donald Trump if he was to believed
it's because the uh the FAA was putting
people who were mentally diminished or
had other types of handicaps in
positions to be air traffic controllers
so it must have been a black or brown
handicapped one-armed mentally disabled
person that crashed the planes in
blaming Obama and Biden and the rest now
it looks like it's the very thing that
we feared When Donald Trump got in is
that he would hollow out and force to
leave those people those Legacy people
with deep deep understandings of the
institutions for which they work and
with knowledge fleeing fleeing um as
federal workers to run as far away and
fast away from Donald Trump as possible
first Donald Trump decapitated the
leadership around Airline safety and air
aircraft safety on day one the head of
the NTSB gone the head of the FAA gone
the head of the TSA gone because Donald
Trump wanted to get rid of them didn't
replace them all sorts of acting people
there's a reason a lot of people are
acting and are never made the head
leadership there so that happened that's
all in the we're only 10 days into the
administration then Donald Trump decides
to Furlow Andor fire federal workers
including those that work for the FAA in
these positions so with tax cuts I'm
sorry with budget cuts with uh
employment and hiring freezes with the
hollowing out of leadership what do you
think happens it all comes to a perfect
storm more likely uh uh last night when
there should have been two traffic
controllers but there's only one now you
have an Administration that took took
its eye off the ball of Public Safety it
is instead looking at penny pinching
cost cutting getting rid of people
having them Furlow paying them 7 months
to get rid of it all seven months to get
rid of these people of uh Severance
payments that's a Donald Trump problem
and if you think that this is not
already in day 10 the symptom of a
greater disease in Donald Trump leave me
a note in the comments right now you
don't think more of this is going to
happen see when they when that ship hit
the bridge and a collapsed in Washington
they immediately started to blame Dei
hires back in the Biden Administration
it doesn't work now when you're now in
charge when it's your policies you know
that were just uh very uh obscenely
implemented without any thought in the
beginning days beginning hours and
minutes of the Trump Administration
leads to things like boom not enough uh
air traffic controllers at the very
moment when they were needed one
tracking the Blackhawk helicopter one
tracking flight number 5342 for American
Airlines that didn't happen we're going
to see more of this as he shrinks major
departments that that are responsible
for the safety of Americans and safety
of the very voters that put him into
office people that are supposed to be
focused on uh uh avoiding pollution and
illness from air and water contaminants
gone people that are supposed to be
worried and about and inspecting Bridges
tunnels our infrastructure gone people
that are supposed to be responsible for
our nuclear power reactors and how
they're maintained gone the people that
are responsible within the military at
the very very top level forced into
retirement those that are on the front
lines like uh air traffic controllers
gone
Donald Trump says it must have been a
woke deal Dei air traffic controller no
it was the lack of air traffic
controllers which is on your watch and
as a result of what you're doing you
can't Lop off the leadership leave it
rudderless and then just on a on a
regular Wednesday night hope things are
going to go well in the world of air
traffic control and one of the busiest
airspaces the most regulated and tightly
controlled airspaces in the world that
around the capital of the United
States see this is the kind of story and
the kind of drill down that only you'll
find here on might Network and legal
layoff because the other networks have
already moved on look we've got 70
victims we have that many families
grieving we have people still being
recovered from the icy Potomac and Donald
Trump's first thing was to start reading
from an old FAA website and blaming it
on the website like the website killed
these people now it turns out the worm
has turned now it turns out that it's
more likely the fault of the Trump
administration now look I'm not here I
didn't want to cast blame one day into a
n a national
tragedy that's not where I go check my
you know 1,500 other videos that's not
me but I've been forced into do it to
respond to Donald Trump because
mainstream media is not going to do it
we have
to if you just if you just remember only
the last thing you heard from mainstream
media would be the press conference with
Donald Trump where he BL blamed the
website he blamed Dei and he blamed
Obama and by everybody but himself but
now now it's coming to fruition now it's
coming coming up and what I want people
to understand from this hot take is this
is not unfortunately going to be the
last time this presidency is going to be
tested and fail and people's lives are
at risk as a result you can't shrink the
government and take away those people
that know what they're doing with
expertise in places at the very very uh
guard rails of protecting people's
health and safety whether it's medical
vaccines uh disease and Disease Control
uh Bridges tunnels infrastructure our
power grid nuclear power those in the
military you you can't get rid of
leadership and then and then expect an
organization to run properly
by Michael Popok
MeidasTouch
Legal AF Podcast
Jan 31, 2025
It is starting to look like Trump’s cost-cutting and decapitating leadership at the FAA may have been the true cause of the Flight 5342 disaster, as there should have been 2 controllers, not one monitoring the helicopter and planes in the airspace, and that’s on Trump. Michael Popok reports on this developing story that demonstrates that our lives are all at risk with Trumpat the helm, as Project 2025 enacts policies to kill its own voters.
Transcript
Preliminary results are trickling in
about the American Airlines flight 5342
disaster in Washington and it's making
Donald Trump out to be a liar. It wasn't
a DEI hire who worked in the air
traffic control that crashed the plane
it looks like it was the type of budget
cuts and hollowing out of
administrations and the removal and
decapitation of leadership that has
marked Donald Trump's beginning days
that caused the crash it looks like
there should have been at least two air
traffic controllers one watching
helicopters the other one watching
planes instead of one trying to do both
that's a budget and Leadership problem
that's not a Dei problem and that's a
Donald Trump major problem on Michael
Popok you're on the Meidas touch
Network in legal AF earlier reporting
from Donald Trump if he was to believed
it's because the uh the FAA was putting
people who were mentally diminished or
had other types of handicaps in
positions to be air traffic controllers
so it must have been a black or brown
handicapped one-armed mentally disabled
person that crashed the planes in
blaming Obama and Biden and the rest now
it looks like it's the very thing that
we feared When Donald Trump got in is
that he would hollow out and force to
leave those people those Legacy people
with deep deep understandings of the
institutions for which they work and
with knowledge fleeing fleeing um as
federal workers to run as far away and
fast away from Donald Trump as possible
first Donald Trump decapitated the
leadership around Airline safety and air
aircraft safety on day one the head of
the NTSB gone the head of the FAA gone
the head of the TSA gone because Donald
Trump wanted to get rid of them didn't
replace them all sorts of acting people
there's a reason a lot of people are
acting and are never made the head
leadership there so that happened that's
all in the we're only 10 days into the
administration then Donald Trump decides
to Furlow Andor fire federal workers
including those that work for the FAA in
these positions so with tax cuts I'm
sorry with budget cuts with uh
employment and hiring freezes with the
hollowing out of leadership what do you
think happens it all comes to a perfect
storm more likely uh uh last night when
there should have been two traffic
controllers but there's only one now you
have an Administration that took took
its eye off the ball of Public Safety it
is instead looking at penny pinching
cost cutting getting rid of people
having them Furlow paying them 7 months
to get rid of it all seven months to get
rid of these people of uh Severance
payments that's a Donald Trump problem
and if you think that this is not
already in day 10 the symptom of a
greater disease in Donald Trump leave me
a note in the comments right now you
don't think more of this is going to
happen see when they when that ship hit
the bridge and a collapsed in Washington
they immediately started to blame Dei
hires back in the Biden Administration
it doesn't work now when you're now in
charge when it's your policies you know
that were just uh very uh obscenely
implemented without any thought in the
beginning days beginning hours and
minutes of the Trump Administration
leads to things like boom not enough uh
air traffic controllers at the very
moment when they were needed one
tracking the Blackhawk helicopter one
tracking flight number 5342 for American
Airlines that didn't happen we're going
to see more of this as he shrinks major
departments that that are responsible
for the safety of Americans and safety
of the very voters that put him into
office people that are supposed to be
focused on uh uh avoiding pollution and
illness from air and water contaminants
gone people that are supposed to be
worried and about and inspecting Bridges
tunnels our infrastructure gone people
that are supposed to be responsible for
our nuclear power reactors and how
they're maintained gone the people that
are responsible within the military at
the very very top level forced into
retirement those that are on the front
lines like uh air traffic controllers
gone
Donald Trump says it must have been a
woke deal Dei air traffic controller no
it was the lack of air traffic
controllers which is on your watch and
as a result of what you're doing you
can't Lop off the leadership leave it
rudderless and then just on a on a
regular Wednesday night hope things are
going to go well in the world of air
traffic control and one of the busiest
airspaces the most regulated and tightly
controlled airspaces in the world that
around the capital of the United
States see this is the kind of story and
the kind of drill down that only you'll
find here on might Network and legal
layoff because the other networks have
already moved on look we've got 70
victims we have that many families
grieving we have people still being
recovered from the icy Potomac and Donald
Trump's first thing was to start reading
from an old FAA website and blaming it
on the website like the website killed
these people now it turns out the worm
has turned now it turns out that it's
more likely the fault of the Trump
administration now look I'm not here I
didn't want to cast blame one day into a
n a national
tragedy that's not where I go check my
you know 1,500 other videos that's not
me but I've been forced into do it to
respond to Donald Trump because
mainstream media is not going to do it
we have
to if you just if you just remember only
the last thing you heard from mainstream
media would be the press conference with
Donald Trump where he BL blamed the
website he blamed Dei and he blamed
Obama and by everybody but himself but
now now it's coming to fruition now it's
coming coming up and what I want people
to understand from this hot take is this
is not unfortunately going to be the
last time this presidency is going to be
tested and fail and people's lives are
at risk as a result you can't shrink the
government and take away those people
that know what they're doing with
expertise in places at the very very uh
guard rails of protecting people's
health and safety whether it's medical
vaccines uh disease and Disease Control
uh Bridges tunnels infrastructure our
power grid nuclear power those in the
military you you can't get rid of
leadership and then and then expect an
organization to run properly
- admin
- Site Admin
- Posts: 37580
- Joined: Thu Aug 01, 2013 5:21 am
Re: Anti-Anti Nazi Barbarian Hordes are Knocking Down the Ga
by admin » Sat Feb 01, 2025 6:35 am
WTF!!! Top IG Gets PHYSICALLY ACCOSTED by Trump’s GOONS: Phyllis Fong, whose office opened up an investigation in 2022 against Elon Musk's Neurolink, literally dragged from her office because she refused to recognize the illegal firings of inspector's Generals
by Michael Popok
MeidasTouch
Legal AF Podcast
Feb 1, 2025
The next phase of fascism has begun, with Trump dragging out of their offices Inspectors General who refused to recognize his illegal firings. Michael Popok discusses the brave and important resistance of Phyllis Fong, a 22-year apolitical watchdog, who took on Elon Musk’s companies, and has been retaliated against, as new lawsuits pile up against Trump tying his administration up in knots.
Transcript
The next stage of fascism has started
with Donald Trump now pulling out of
offices and dragging away Inspector
Generals that oppose him or people in his
administration. And now we have Phyllis
Fong, a 22-year Inspector General all her
job has been for republicans and
Democrats alike has been to root out
corruption to root out abuse of power at
various departments. She's been at the US
Department of Agriculture. She got
sideways with Elon Musk because her office
opened up an investigation in
2022 against Neurolink one of his
companies and now they've attempted to
literally drag her from her office
because she's refused to recognize the
illegal firings of inspector's Generals
uh with a note a boilerplate note no
less from the director of personnel for
Donald Trump she's a profile in Courage
the resistance continues and is
televised and at least on YouTube and
I'm going to continue to follow it right
here in the Meidas touch Network in legal
I'm Michael Popok let's talk about the
firings and what Phyllis Fong's
resistance means the reason these
inspectors General were were created was
in
1976 after Watergate after the Nixonian
crime
spray and Congress at the time had the
wisdom to install these Watchdogs
independent Watchdogs to root out abuse
of power and Corruption within the
various departments and uh agencies of
the government everyone has an inspector
general or did until on Friday they're
in dependent they're they're they're
aartis
apolitical they just look you know it's
like a it's like an accountant I mean is
your CPA or your accountant political or
are they just looking at the numbers and
the facts and delivering an audit or a
message same thing for inspector
generals think of it as an Ethics or
Abuse of power audit being run by an
independent Auditor in the form of An
Inspector General that's one way to
think about it and Congress is always
concerned about the independence of the
inspector's General and they were very
concerned about it before Trump's
potential arrival because in
2022 knowing that there was a chance
that Donald Trump could come back and
because project 2025 has as one of its
tenants one of its principles get rid of
the inspector's General I'm going to
show you a video clip about that in a
minute right from their handbook right
from their playbook but because of all
of that in 2022 even the MAGA Congress
thought it's a great idea we should
increase the independence and protect
the dep dependence of the inspector's
General and they passed a law that said
you can't fire just because you came
into office you can't fire people you
don't like who happen to be inspectors
General you have to give us sufficient
notice which they never gave here and
you have to list the reasons by person
why they are being removed effectively
for cost none of that happened here
there was a mass a mass mailing a mass
email your services are no longer no
longer wanted does anyone truly believe
that Elon Musk didn't have Phyllis Fong
fired because they opened up an
investigation against neurolink leave it
in the chat in the comment if you think
I'm I'm uh my thought experiment is all
wet so she properly and she's the
perfect person by the way to be the
profile en courage for this story why
Phyllis Fong was appointed by both
Democrats and Republicans to do her job
Bush and Clinton confirmed by the Senate
working away tirelessly patriotically
as a public as a as a public servant
just to do her job to root out abuse of
power and Corruption she's been given
every award Under the Sun that you can
think of if I were to do it a list of
her accolades and awards and
commendations on both sides of the aisle
it would take up the entire hot take
that's all she's ever wanted to do
that's all she's ever done with for her
adult
life and she served democratic
presidents and and uh and Republican
ones that's what happens over 22-year
career she was the first chairperson of
the Council of inspectors General on
integrity and efficiency she was the
very first one let alone the first woman
won and she has refused to acknowledge
that the that there's been an illegal
firing of her in fact if you go up on
their website she's still there at least
at the time of this recording let's put
her up now now why do I say that there's
a one-to-one correlation between project
202's Playbook and the firing of Phyllis
Fong and the other inspector's General
because there's a training video made by
project 2025 I don't know if they never
thought this would ever see the light of
day but they like kept receipts it's
like you know it's like a terrorist
organization you know when you when you
finally bust it up you know like an
undercover operation and you get all of
their videos and audios and social media
posts and Diaries yeah they thought they
were uh they were immune that they that
they were above reproach so we have a
training video where they say exactly
that fire the inspector General let's
play the clip you should be worried
about in oversight investigations
there's this whole other community of
permanent bureaucrats that are out to to
you know look after your conduct and
what I'm talking about here are the
inspector's General and the government
accountability officer are two that come
to mind so Tom why don't you just
explain what inspectors General are IG
and GAO yeah so the inspectors General
are uh permanent staff within the agency
that are responsible for rooting out
Fraud and Abuse within the agency
operation and these are guys you don't
want to get Crossways with these are
guys that show up with Badges and they
can conduct investigations and they have
the power to investigate uh in a way
that really a lot of other um
investigative agencies and organs don't
have so you know they're they vary in
the quality some agencies have
outstanding inspectors General who are
impartial who are looking at rooting out
fraud some agencies have guys that are
kind of meh they're they're less than
Stellar uh but at the end of the day you
you don't want to be in the in kind of
the crosshairs because that you know
they can get information from outside
sources or within the building that says
hey we think there's a problem going on
within this department we think this
political appoin is misbehaved done
misappropriated funds used things you
know outside the the proper course
coordinated with political actors thank
you propublica for finding that
clip so for Donald Trump to look the
American people in the eye and and lie
which he does regularly running on a
phony populist message not caring about
the pop the population at all not caring
about the average American at all for
him to say there's no link between his
administration and project 2025 is a
bald-faced criminal
lie the Father the self-professed father
to use that term uh mildly you Loosely
of project 2025 the architect of it is
Russ fought what's Russ VA he's going to
be changing your life on a daily basis
until we get lawsuits up and running
against him because he's going to run
the Congressional manage management and
budget office yeah the Office of
Management and budget the nation's
checkbook if you will he's a project
2025
founder yeah
I don't know
why someone didn't think of this sooner
now we've got that clip Phyllis Fong had
to do
something this is a preview of the
lawsuits that are going to be filed I'm
on record of saying that there's going
to be at least three to four lawsuits a
day being filed against this
Administration who is operating who's
careening from one illegal executive
order to the next this is this is a
presidency by executive order which is a
gift to the Democrats and progressives
and moderates because that means every
executive order has a matching
correlating lawsuit 1,000 lawsuits or
more were filed against Donald Trump the
first time triple that number now maybe
even quadruple it he's already been he
has already had um one lawsuit a little
over one lawsuit a day since he's been
in office and he's only been in office
for about 12
days yeah we have almost that many
lawsuits in four different courts and
two restraining orders already by
federal judges triple that number at
least double that number as we move
forward as the Attorneys General of uh
the Attorneys General of the United
States 18 or 20 of them that are
democratic move forward against Donald
Trump and these executive orders judges
start to rule public interest groups
like like uh the ACLU and the na ACP and
others execute their plan in opposition
and resistance we need Phyllis fun we
need a Phyllis fun in our life right to
lead to lead from the front and that's
what we're watching this Council of
independent inspector's General is
currently led by a guy named uh Hannibal
but he goes by Mike Mike wear and Mike
wear went on I think on MSNBC recently
and and and uh laid down the Line in the
Sand as a as a precursor to the lawsuits
that are coming let's play that clip the
reason was uh due to changing priorities
of the administration and the reason
that is alarming is because IGS are not
a part of any
Administration ig's oversee how the
priorities of the administration is
being conducted to make sure that
there's transparency in government and
to make sure that there's no fraud waste
and abuse and how taxpayer funds are
being um expended so the decapitation of
the inspector's General by Donald Trump
will not
stand democracy requires that we have
especially when you have an occupant
like Donald Trump that we have firewalls
around all the Departments to avoid
abuse of power and Corruption as as I've
said
before on the day one of his
administration minute one of his
administration that we be kening from
one abuse use of power to another one
violation of separation of powers to
another one constitutional crisis to
another on almost an hourly basis and
that's exactly what we're seeing but the
counter to that the antidote to that is
the federal
courts who will put him back in his
place and groups led by Phyllis Fong who
were going to sue to get their jobs
rated the Department of Justice senior
leadership that were fired by Donald
Trump not reassigned but fired illegally
against Civil Service protection laws
against Merit service protection
laws they're going to get their jobs
back they're going to get their money
look how much money Donald Trump is
wasting with this retribution scheme the
money for lawsuits the money to pay
these people when when they have to
settle with these people or are awarded
large tens of millions of dollar sums
the buyouts for federal employees over
seven
months yeah where's that coming from not
Donald Trump's pocket he doesn't pay
taxes you yours in my pocket
wasteful yeah petulent
childish not dignified not adult not
professional not in your best interest
as the President of the United States
and now we've got to use these examples
these two to three lawsuits a day the
firings of the inspector's General uh
the firings of the uh Department of
Justice Personnel the firing of anybody
who would who would uh have the tarity
to resist Donald Trump we have to use
that in our campaign against the
fascists in our campaign against Donald
Trump at and the Republicans you know
sometimes we slip in the shth head and
we call it Maga call it the Republican
Party hold them responsible and
accountable in every race local local to
Federal every race from now until the
midterms and Beyond every judge that
runs with a red banner every every dog
catcher every School Board
member all every Congressional candidate
and the Democrats are going to are going
to do our part and the moderates are
going to do our part in the lawsuits and
then running great candidates that
you'll that you'll admire and that
you're going to want to vote for but you
got to make the Republicans pay that
they are the power the party of abuse of
power they are the party of
constitutional crisis they are the they
are the party that's in favor of
releasing criminals that beat police and
have them released and child
pornographers and put them back on the
streets to satisfy the worst instincts
of Donald
Trump we have to call it out we have to
televise it we got to talk to each other
before we speak truth to power we'll do
it all right here on the Meidas touch
network and on legal AF
by Michael Popok
MeidasTouch
Legal AF Podcast
Feb 1, 2025
The next phase of fascism has begun, with Trump dragging out of their offices Inspectors General who refused to recognize his illegal firings. Michael Popok discusses the brave and important resistance of Phyllis Fong, a 22-year apolitical watchdog, who took on Elon Musk’s companies, and has been retaliated against, as new lawsuits pile up against Trump tying his administration up in knots.
Transcript
The next stage of fascism has started
with Donald Trump now pulling out of
offices and dragging away Inspector
Generals that oppose him or people in his
administration. And now we have Phyllis
Fong, a 22-year Inspector General all her
job has been for republicans and
Democrats alike has been to root out
corruption to root out abuse of power at
various departments. She's been at the US
Department of Agriculture. She got
sideways with Elon Musk because her office
opened up an investigation in
2022 against Neurolink one of his
companies and now they've attempted to
literally drag her from her office
because she's refused to recognize the
illegal firings of inspector's Generals
uh with a note a boilerplate note no
less from the director of personnel for
Donald Trump she's a profile in Courage
the resistance continues and is
televised and at least on YouTube and
I'm going to continue to follow it right
here in the Meidas touch Network in legal
I'm Michael Popok let's talk about the
firings and what Phyllis Fong's
resistance means the reason these
inspectors General were were created was
in
1976 after Watergate after the Nixonian
crime
spray and Congress at the time had the
wisdom to install these Watchdogs
independent Watchdogs to root out abuse
of power and Corruption within the
various departments and uh agencies of
the government everyone has an inspector
general or did until on Friday they're
in dependent they're they're they're
aartis
apolitical they just look you know it's
like a it's like an accountant I mean is
your CPA or your accountant political or
are they just looking at the numbers and
the facts and delivering an audit or a
message same thing for inspector
generals think of it as an Ethics or
Abuse of power audit being run by an
independent Auditor in the form of An
Inspector General that's one way to
think about it and Congress is always
concerned about the independence of the
inspector's General and they were very
concerned about it before Trump's
potential arrival because in
2022 knowing that there was a chance
that Donald Trump could come back and
because project 2025 has as one of its
tenants one of its principles get rid of
the inspector's General I'm going to
show you a video clip about that in a
minute right from their handbook right
from their playbook but because of all
of that in 2022 even the MAGA Congress
thought it's a great idea we should
increase the independence and protect
the dep dependence of the inspector's
General and they passed a law that said
you can't fire just because you came
into office you can't fire people you
don't like who happen to be inspectors
General you have to give us sufficient
notice which they never gave here and
you have to list the reasons by person
why they are being removed effectively
for cost none of that happened here
there was a mass a mass mailing a mass
email your services are no longer no
longer wanted does anyone truly believe
that Elon Musk didn't have Phyllis Fong
fired because they opened up an
investigation against neurolink leave it
in the chat in the comment if you think
I'm I'm uh my thought experiment is all
wet so she properly and she's the
perfect person by the way to be the
profile en courage for this story why
Phyllis Fong was appointed by both
Democrats and Republicans to do her job
Bush and Clinton confirmed by the Senate
working away tirelessly patriotically
as a public as a as a public servant
just to do her job to root out abuse of
power and Corruption she's been given
every award Under the Sun that you can
think of if I were to do it a list of
her accolades and awards and
commendations on both sides of the aisle
it would take up the entire hot take
that's all she's ever wanted to do
that's all she's ever done with for her
adult
life and she served democratic
presidents and and uh and Republican
ones that's what happens over 22-year
career she was the first chairperson of
the Council of inspectors General on
integrity and efficiency she was the
very first one let alone the first woman
won and she has refused to acknowledge
that the that there's been an illegal
firing of her in fact if you go up on
their website she's still there at least
at the time of this recording let's put
her up now now why do I say that there's
a one-to-one correlation between project
202's Playbook and the firing of Phyllis
Fong and the other inspector's General
because there's a training video made by
project 2025 I don't know if they never
thought this would ever see the light of
day but they like kept receipts it's
like you know it's like a terrorist
organization you know when you when you
finally bust it up you know like an
undercover operation and you get all of
their videos and audios and social media
posts and Diaries yeah they thought they
were uh they were immune that they that
they were above reproach so we have a
training video where they say exactly
that fire the inspector General let's
play the clip you should be worried
about in oversight investigations
there's this whole other community of
permanent bureaucrats that are out to to
you know look after your conduct and
what I'm talking about here are the
inspector's General and the government
accountability officer are two that come
to mind so Tom why don't you just
explain what inspectors General are IG
and GAO yeah so the inspectors General
are uh permanent staff within the agency
that are responsible for rooting out
Fraud and Abuse within the agency
operation and these are guys you don't
want to get Crossways with these are
guys that show up with Badges and they
can conduct investigations and they have
the power to investigate uh in a way
that really a lot of other um
investigative agencies and organs don't
have so you know they're they vary in
the quality some agencies have
outstanding inspectors General who are
impartial who are looking at rooting out
fraud some agencies have guys that are
kind of meh they're they're less than
Stellar uh but at the end of the day you
you don't want to be in the in kind of
the crosshairs because that you know
they can get information from outside
sources or within the building that says
hey we think there's a problem going on
within this department we think this
political appoin is misbehaved done
misappropriated funds used things you
know outside the the proper course
coordinated with political actors thank
you propublica for finding that
clip so for Donald Trump to look the
American people in the eye and and lie
which he does regularly running on a
phony populist message not caring about
the pop the population at all not caring
about the average American at all for
him to say there's no link between his
administration and project 2025 is a
bald-faced criminal
lie the Father the self-professed father
to use that term uh mildly you Loosely
of project 2025 the architect of it is
Russ fought what's Russ VA he's going to
be changing your life on a daily basis
until we get lawsuits up and running
against him because he's going to run
the Congressional manage management and
budget office yeah the Office of
Management and budget the nation's
checkbook if you will he's a project
2025
founder yeah
I don't know
why someone didn't think of this sooner
now we've got that clip Phyllis Fong had
to do
something this is a preview of the
lawsuits that are going to be filed I'm
on record of saying that there's going
to be at least three to four lawsuits a
day being filed against this
Administration who is operating who's
careening from one illegal executive
order to the next this is this is a
presidency by executive order which is a
gift to the Democrats and progressives
and moderates because that means every
executive order has a matching
correlating lawsuit 1,000 lawsuits or
more were filed against Donald Trump the
first time triple that number now maybe
even quadruple it he's already been he
has already had um one lawsuit a little
over one lawsuit a day since he's been
in office and he's only been in office
for about 12
days yeah we have almost that many
lawsuits in four different courts and
two restraining orders already by
federal judges triple that number at
least double that number as we move
forward as the Attorneys General of uh
the Attorneys General of the United
States 18 or 20 of them that are
democratic move forward against Donald
Trump and these executive orders judges
start to rule public interest groups
like like uh the ACLU and the na ACP and
others execute their plan in opposition
and resistance we need Phyllis fun we
need a Phyllis fun in our life right to
lead to lead from the front and that's
what we're watching this Council of
independent inspector's General is
currently led by a guy named uh Hannibal
but he goes by Mike Mike wear and Mike
wear went on I think on MSNBC recently
and and and uh laid down the Line in the
Sand as a as a precursor to the lawsuits
that are coming let's play that clip the
reason was uh due to changing priorities
of the administration and the reason
that is alarming is because IGS are not
a part of any
Administration ig's oversee how the
priorities of the administration is
being conducted to make sure that
there's transparency in government and
to make sure that there's no fraud waste
and abuse and how taxpayer funds are
being um expended so the decapitation of
the inspector's General by Donald Trump
will not
stand democracy requires that we have
especially when you have an occupant
like Donald Trump that we have firewalls
around all the Departments to avoid
abuse of power and Corruption as as I've
said
before on the day one of his
administration minute one of his
administration that we be kening from
one abuse use of power to another one
violation of separation of powers to
another one constitutional crisis to
another on almost an hourly basis and
that's exactly what we're seeing but the
counter to that the antidote to that is
the federal
courts who will put him back in his
place and groups led by Phyllis Fong who
were going to sue to get their jobs
rated the Department of Justice senior
leadership that were fired by Donald
Trump not reassigned but fired illegally
against Civil Service protection laws
against Merit service protection
laws they're going to get their jobs
back they're going to get their money
look how much money Donald Trump is
wasting with this retribution scheme the
money for lawsuits the money to pay
these people when when they have to
settle with these people or are awarded
large tens of millions of dollar sums
the buyouts for federal employees over
seven
months yeah where's that coming from not
Donald Trump's pocket he doesn't pay
taxes you yours in my pocket
wasteful yeah petulent
childish not dignified not adult not
professional not in your best interest
as the President of the United States
and now we've got to use these examples
these two to three lawsuits a day the
firings of the inspector's General uh
the firings of the uh Department of
Justice Personnel the firing of anybody
who would who would uh have the tarity
to resist Donald Trump we have to use
that in our campaign against the
fascists in our campaign against Donald
Trump at and the Republicans you know
sometimes we slip in the shth head and
we call it Maga call it the Republican
Party hold them responsible and
accountable in every race local local to
Federal every race from now until the
midterms and Beyond every judge that
runs with a red banner every every dog
catcher every School Board
member all every Congressional candidate
and the Democrats are going to are going
to do our part and the moderates are
going to do our part in the lawsuits and
then running great candidates that
you'll that you'll admire and that
you're going to want to vote for but you
got to make the Republicans pay that
they are the power the party of abuse of
power they are the party of
constitutional crisis they are the they
are the party that's in favor of
releasing criminals that beat police and
have them released and child
pornographers and put them back on the
streets to satisfy the worst instincts
of Donald
Trump we have to call it out we have to
televise it we got to talk to each other
before we speak truth to power we'll do
it all right here on the Meidas touch
network and on legal AF
- admin
- Site Admin
- Posts: 37580
- Joined: Thu Aug 01, 2013 5:21 am
Re: Anti-Anti Nazi Barbarian Hordes are Knocking Down the Ga
by admin » Sat Feb 01, 2025 11:41 pm
Trump TURNS Against Students Nationwide With Crushing Executive Order: President Donald Trump signs executive order to cancel visas and deport International students who express support for Palestinians, and end to genocide
by John Iadarola
The Damage Report
Feb 1, 2025 #TheDamageReport #JohnIadarola #TheYoungTurks
Donald Trump attacks freedom of speech with a new executive order meant to silence student protests with the threat of deportation for any foreign students who express support for Palestinians during anti-war protests. John Iadarola and Francesca Fiorentini break it down on The Damage Report. Leave a comment with your thoughts below!
Transcript
President Donald Trump signed yet
another executive order just yesterday
in this case uh the executive order
would cancel visas and Deport
International students who committed the
irredeemable crime of expressing support
for Palestinians and calling for an end
to the genocide in Gaza that's
unacceptable but yay Free Speech yay I
I'm a free speech absolutist but if you
say a thing I don't like then you're
going to be sent somewhere else in the
world that's how it works here the fact
cheat for the president's order
describes the move as a means to address
anti-Semitism directing the doj to
prosecute quote terroristic threats
arson vandalism and violence against
American Jews and it says in particular
this is actual text in the order to all
the Resident aliens who joined in the
pro- jihadist protests we put you on
Notice come 2025 we will find you and we
will Deport you God pro like if you
literally say hey could we stop Dr 2,000
pound pound bombs and killing kids no
you're a jihadist and to give you an
idea like that they've been sitting on
these orders it says come 2025 they just
signed it again that's how this works we
will Deport you because it's not about
actually protecting America from
criminals it is a weapon to be wielded
against people they don't like in all
cases that's why they talked about
deporting uh Reverend uh buddy that's
why they instantly were talking about
deporting Selena Gomez and that's why
they're talking about deporting these
students now go back to your country is
no longer just a thing terrible people
say it's the official policy of our
government in all cases and so if you're
a Hamas sympathizer they're going to
cancel your visas Trump called college
campuses infested with radicalism and I
just want to give a counterveiling point
before we discuss this is from Jamie
baren CEO of progressive Jewish group
Ben The Arc who said Trump's order
promot the false premise that Jews and
Israel are one entity this idea
reinforces the anti-semitic dual loyalty
dropes Trope uh which Trump has
reinforced a thousand times in his
career quote Jews feel many ways about
Israel and Palestine and the protests on
college campuses have included and
continue to include many Jewish
participants and that may be true but
they're apparently also pro- jihadist
and anti-semitic and they should
probably be deported I guess to Israel I
suppose is how that would work I guess
again we are living in the dumbest time
ever but Fran what do you think I mean
like honestly no irony here but like
deporting Jews to Israel is kind of
Christian Zionist bag like that's what
they would like they would love for all
the Jews to go to Israel that's the
point so that then they die in a in
Hellfire and or convert to Christianity
and then are saved like that's what's
going to get Jesus to come back if
you're Mike Huckaby who is currently the
ambassador to Israel um so this is crazy
you know it's absolutely insane and this
is I've been talking a lot about the
permission structure to do things like
this meaning when Democrats during these
protests were
also Democrats like Josh Shapiro saying
that these college campus protesters
were engaging in anti-Semitism when they
said please stop bombing Palestinians
Gaza that gave a permission structure so
did um College administrators when they
were grilled by Elise stefanic giving a
permission structure saying that yes
their students were anti-semitic giving
a permission structure to do things like
this because things like project Esther
which is basically a like farri Heritage
Foundation um plan to go after Palestine
demonstrators that is now being enacted
and this is part of that plan it is part
of purging and so to all the liberals
and to all the people who at once may be
identified uh as a Zionist hey man don't
you see what is going on here don't you
understand that this is all about um
purging International students foreign
students same with like similar
anti-immigrant sentiment but it's also
about clamping down on actual free
speech that being said John I absolutely
think we should Deport anti-semites from
this country get rid of them goodbye but
real anti-semites the ones who toppled
Jewish headstones in cemeteries When
Donald Trump was elected the first time
the ones who Mass shot uh uh synagogue
worshippers at the Tree of Life all
right the people who marched on on in
the the unite the right rally screaming
Jews will not replace us let's Deport
them but let's go after actual
anti-semites yeah Deport Elon Musk by
the way the dude just did a Nazi salute
by John Iadarola
The Damage Report
Feb 1, 2025 #TheDamageReport #JohnIadarola #TheYoungTurks
Donald Trump attacks freedom of speech with a new executive order meant to silence student protests with the threat of deportation for any foreign students who express support for Palestinians during anti-war protests. John Iadarola and Francesca Fiorentini break it down on The Damage Report. Leave a comment with your thoughts below!
Transcript
President Donald Trump signed yet
another executive order just yesterday
in this case uh the executive order
would cancel visas and Deport
International students who committed the
irredeemable crime of expressing support
for Palestinians and calling for an end
to the genocide in Gaza that's
unacceptable but yay Free Speech yay I
I'm a free speech absolutist but if you
say a thing I don't like then you're
going to be sent somewhere else in the
world that's how it works here the fact
cheat for the president's order
describes the move as a means to address
anti-Semitism directing the doj to
prosecute quote terroristic threats
arson vandalism and violence against
American Jews and it says in particular
this is actual text in the order to all
the Resident aliens who joined in the
pro- jihadist protests we put you on
Notice come 2025 we will find you and we
will Deport you God pro like if you
literally say hey could we stop Dr 2,000
pound pound bombs and killing kids no
you're a jihadist and to give you an
idea like that they've been sitting on
these orders it says come 2025 they just
signed it again that's how this works we
will Deport you because it's not about
actually protecting America from
criminals it is a weapon to be wielded
against people they don't like in all
cases that's why they talked about
deporting uh Reverend uh buddy that's
why they instantly were talking about
deporting Selena Gomez and that's why
they're talking about deporting these
students now go back to your country is
no longer just a thing terrible people
say it's the official policy of our
government in all cases and so if you're
a Hamas sympathizer they're going to
cancel your visas Trump called college
campuses infested with radicalism and I
just want to give a counterveiling point
before we discuss this is from Jamie
baren CEO of progressive Jewish group
Ben The Arc who said Trump's order
promot the false premise that Jews and
Israel are one entity this idea
reinforces the anti-semitic dual loyalty
dropes Trope uh which Trump has
reinforced a thousand times in his
career quote Jews feel many ways about
Israel and Palestine and the protests on
college campuses have included and
continue to include many Jewish
participants and that may be true but
they're apparently also pro- jihadist
and anti-semitic and they should
probably be deported I guess to Israel I
suppose is how that would work I guess
again we are living in the dumbest time
ever but Fran what do you think I mean
like honestly no irony here but like
deporting Jews to Israel is kind of
Christian Zionist bag like that's what
they would like they would love for all
the Jews to go to Israel that's the
point so that then they die in a in
Hellfire and or convert to Christianity
and then are saved like that's what's
going to get Jesus to come back if
you're Mike Huckaby who is currently the
ambassador to Israel um so this is crazy
you know it's absolutely insane and this
is I've been talking a lot about the
permission structure to do things like
this meaning when Democrats during these
protests were
also Democrats like Josh Shapiro saying
that these college campus protesters
were engaging in anti-Semitism when they
said please stop bombing Palestinians
Gaza that gave a permission structure so
did um College administrators when they
were grilled by Elise stefanic giving a
permission structure saying that yes
their students were anti-semitic giving
a permission structure to do things like
this because things like project Esther
which is basically a like farri Heritage
Foundation um plan to go after Palestine
demonstrators that is now being enacted
and this is part of that plan it is part
of purging and so to all the liberals
and to all the people who at once may be
identified uh as a Zionist hey man don't
you see what is going on here don't you
understand that this is all about um
purging International students foreign
students same with like similar
anti-immigrant sentiment but it's also
about clamping down on actual free
speech that being said John I absolutely
think we should Deport anti-semites from
this country get rid of them goodbye but
real anti-semites the ones who toppled
Jewish headstones in cemeteries When
Donald Trump was elected the first time
the ones who Mass shot uh uh synagogue
worshippers at the Tree of Life all
right the people who marched on on in
the the unite the right rally screaming
Jews will not replace us let's Deport
them but let's go after actual
anti-semites yeah Deport Elon Musk by
the way the dude just did a Nazi salute
- admin
- Site Admin
- Posts: 37580
- Joined: Thu Aug 01, 2013 5:21 am
Re: Anti-Anti Nazi Barbarian Hordes are Knocking Down the Ga
by admin » Sun Feb 02, 2025 7:46 pm
Government technological workers forced to defend projects to Elon Musk at random: GSA’s Technology Transformation Services employees surprised to meet people not identified in the meetings, who won't say their names
by Elijah
Wired
January 30, 2025
https://whatsnew2day.com/government-tec ... at-random/
The email reminds one that Musk sent early on their Twitter days, demanding that the employees send a description of a page of what they had achieved the previous month and how to differ from their goals.
Instead of calling Shedd [Tesla alum Thomas Shedd] at these meetings, TTS [GSA’s Technology Transformation Services (TTS) exists to design and deliver a digital government with and for the American people.] employees were surprised to meet people with whom they had never seen or worked before.
“It was a very confusing decision because I expected to meet you, and instead I was received by two people reluctant to identify,” said a TTS employee to Shedd in an open channel, one of several reviewed by Wired. “They had not seen the information I sent in my form, so I was trying to explain things without the images/links I had sent,” one wrote.
“It also had the same exact experience,” added another employee. “The individual with whom I had gathered had no idea of the Google form that I sent and when I made it reference, I found myself with avoidance.”
In a loose message to TTS staff on Thursday morning seen by Wired, Shedd apologized for vague and sudden meetings invitations, and to include people not identified in the meetings that joined the Gmail addresses.
“Each is in the incorporation process of obtaining a GSA laptop and a PIV card. I assume all the responsibility of the actions of each of them in the calls. I asked them to begin the calls with their first name and confirming that they are an advisor to me, ”said Shedd in a Slack message screenshot seen by Wired.
Shedd told employees that people in the calls were “examined by me and invited to the call.” He said they were physically present with him at the headquarters of the GSA, and that he had “inspired them all in the building.” This implies that those who join the calls did not currently have official government identifications issued to the agency.
At least two of these individuals seemed to be “university students with an authorization from Suite to disturbingly high,” a TTS source told Wired. (Suite authorizations to link employees to the GSA administrator office).
A person says they were taken to a review with Edward Coristine, a newly graduated from high school that spent several months in Neuralink, the Musk brain interface company, which Wired has previously identified as a person who worked in the management office of personnel (OPM) and directly informing her new chief of cabinet, the former employee of Xai Amanda Scales. He has not responded to Wired’s requests, and OPM has refused to comment.
“We don’t have additional personnel ads right now.” A GSA spokesman told Wired on Thursday.
It is typical that TTS workers work together with other agencies throughout the government, with many of their projects that contain external data to GSA and subject to sensitivity agreements. However, by sharing specific technical achievements, it frightened some employees who feared that they could violate these agreements.
“The team is right when feeling nervous by sharing details about other agencies in these calls and must continue following the normal guide that cannot share confidential information,” Shedd wrote in Gsa’s slack on Thursday. “The objective of these calls is to talk about interesting example/victorious problems and dig on how that victory was made. An opportunity to show off how a problem solved."
(Tagstotranslate) Elon Musk (T) Silicon Valley (T) Government
by Elijah
Wired
January 30, 2025
https://whatsnew2day.com/government-tec ... at-random/
The email reminds one that Musk sent early on their Twitter days, demanding that the employees send a description of a page of what they had achieved the previous month and how to differ from their goals.
Instead of calling Shedd [Tesla alum Thomas Shedd] at these meetings, TTS [GSA’s Technology Transformation Services (TTS) exists to design and deliver a digital government with and for the American people.] employees were surprised to meet people with whom they had never seen or worked before.
“It was a very confusing decision because I expected to meet you, and instead I was received by two people reluctant to identify,” said a TTS employee to Shedd in an open channel, one of several reviewed by Wired. “They had not seen the information I sent in my form, so I was trying to explain things without the images/links I had sent,” one wrote.
“It also had the same exact experience,” added another employee. “The individual with whom I had gathered had no idea of the Google form that I sent and when I made it reference, I found myself with avoidance.”
In a loose message to TTS staff on Thursday morning seen by Wired, Shedd apologized for vague and sudden meetings invitations, and to include people not identified in the meetings that joined the Gmail addresses.
“Each is in the incorporation process of obtaining a GSA laptop and a PIV card. I assume all the responsibility of the actions of each of them in the calls. I asked them to begin the calls with their first name and confirming that they are an advisor to me, ”said Shedd in a Slack message screenshot seen by Wired.
Shedd told employees that people in the calls were “examined by me and invited to the call.” He said they were physically present with him at the headquarters of the GSA, and that he had “inspired them all in the building.” This implies that those who join the calls did not currently have official government identifications issued to the agency.
At least two of these individuals seemed to be “university students with an authorization from Suite to disturbingly high,” a TTS source told Wired. (Suite authorizations to link employees to the GSA administrator office).
A person says they were taken to a review with Edward Coristine, a newly graduated from high school that spent several months in Neuralink, the Musk brain interface company, which Wired has previously identified as a person who worked in the management office of personnel (OPM) and directly informing her new chief of cabinet, the former employee of Xai Amanda Scales. He has not responded to Wired’s requests, and OPM has refused to comment.
“We don’t have additional personnel ads right now.” A GSA spokesman told Wired on Thursday.
It is typical that TTS workers work together with other agencies throughout the government, with many of their projects that contain external data to GSA and subject to sensitivity agreements. However, by sharing specific technical achievements, it frightened some employees who feared that they could violate these agreements.
“The team is right when feeling nervous by sharing details about other agencies in these calls and must continue following the normal guide that cannot share confidential information,” Shedd wrote in Gsa’s slack on Thursday. “The objective of these calls is to talk about interesting example/victorious problems and dig on how that victory was made. An opportunity to show off how a problem solved."
(Tagstotranslate) Elon Musk (T) Silicon Valley (T) Government
- admin
- Site Admin
- Posts: 37580
- Joined: Thu Aug 01, 2013 5:21 am
Re: Anti-Anti Nazi Barbarian Hordes are Knocking Down the Ga
by admin » Sun Feb 02, 2025 8:08 pm
US aid agency is in upheaval during foreign assistance freeze and staff departures
by Matthew Lee and Ellen Knickmmeyer
AP News
Updated 9:27 PM MST, January 31, 2025
https://apnews.com/article/trump-usaid- ... 8e883b9756
WASHINGTON (AP) — Trump administration changes have upended the U.S. agency charged with providing humanitarian aid to countries overseas, with dozens of senior officials put on leave, thousands of contractors laid off, and a sweeping freeze imposed on billions of dollars in foreign assistance.
Democratic senators warned the Trump administration Friday against any effort to eliminate the U.S. Agency for International Development as an independent agency, responding to growing fears among its supporters that such plans may be in the offing.
Sen. Chris Murphy was one of a half-dozen Democrats on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to argue in statements and on social media that President Donald Trump would have no legal authority to dissolve the agency.
Aid organizations say the funding freeze — and deep confusion over what U.S.-funded programs must stop work as a result — has left them agonizing over whether they could continue operating programs such as those providing round-the-clock nutritional support to extremely malnourished infants and children, knowing that closing the doors means that many of those children would die.
Current and former officials at the State Department and USAID say staffers were invited to submit requests to exempt certain programs from the foreign aid freeze, which Trump imposed Jan. 20 and the State Department detailed how to execute on Jan. 24.
Three days later, at least 56 senior career USAID staffers were abruptly placed on administrative leave.
Three officials said many of those put on leave were lawyers involved in determining what programs might qualify for waivers, helping write proposals and submitting those waiver requests as they believed they had been invited to do.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal. A Trump administration directive that aid organizations interpret as a gag order has left them unwilling to speak publicly for fear of permanently losing U.S. funding.
In an internal memo Monday about the staffing changes, new acting USAID administrator Jason Gray said the agency had identified “several actions within USAID that appear to be designed to circumvent the President’s Executive Orders and the mandate from the American people.”
“As a result, we have placed a number of USAID employees on administrative leave with full pay and benefits until further notice while we complete our analysis of these actions,” Gray wrote.
A former senior USAID official said those put on leave had been helping aid organizations navigate the “confusing process” to seek waivers from the aid pause for specific life-saving projects, such as continuing clean water supplies for displaced people in war zones.
Others were identified as having been involved in diversity, equity and inclusion programming, which the administration has banned.
On Thursday, a USAID human resources official who tried to reverse the action, saying there was no justification for it, was himself placed on leave, according to two of the officials who had viewed internal emails and verified them as authentic. Reporters from ProPublica and Vox first reported the emails on X.
The State Department and White House didn’t respond to messages seeking comment about the staffing changes.
The new leaders at USAID also abruptly laid off contractors who made up about half the workforce in the agency’s humanitarian bureau Tuesday, knocking them out of systems so that some vanished in the middle of videoconferences, the former senior official said. The targeted institutional service contractors do everything from administrative and travel support to grant processing and data analytics.
The staffing changes came three days after the State Department issued guidelines last Friday for implementing Trump’s executive order freezing foreign assistance for 90 days. The department says it’s reviewing the money the United States is spending to ensure it adheres to administration policy.
The guidelines initially exempted only military aid to Israel and Egypt and emergency food programs but also said program administrators and implementors could apply for waivers for programs that they believe would meet administration standards.
On Tuesday, new Secretary of State Marco Rubio issued a broader waiver for programs that provide other “life-saving” assistance, including medicine, medical services, food and shelter, and again pointed to the possibility of waivers. Rubio pointed to the broadened exemptions in an interview Thursday with SiriusXM host Megyn Kelly.
“We don’t want to see people die and the like,” he said.
Rubio said there would be a program-by-program review of which projects make “America safer, stronger or more prosperous.”
The step of shutting down U.S.-funded programs during the 90-day review meant the U.S. was “getting a lot more cooperation” from recipients of humanitarian, development and security assistance, Rubio said. “Because otherwise you don’t get your money.”
The State Department said that since the aid freeze went into effect, it has approved dozens of waivers, although many were returned because they did not include enough detail. It said waiver requests for programs costing “billions of dollars” have been received and are being reviewed.
The department did not specify how many waiver requests had been denied but said Thus far its actions had stopped more than $1 billion from being spent on programs and projects that are “not aligned with an America First agenda.”
Even with the broadening of exemptions for life-saving care, uncertainty surrounds what U.S.-funded programs legally can continue. Hundreds of thousands of people globally are going without access to medicine and humanitarian supplies and clinics are not getting medicine in time because of the funding freeze, aid organizations warn.
——
AP reporter Rebecca Santana in Washington contributed.
by Matthew Lee and Ellen Knickmmeyer
AP News
Updated 9:27 PM MST, January 31, 2025
https://apnews.com/article/trump-usaid- ... 8e883b9756
The Trump administration has placed two top security chiefs at the U.S. Agency for International Development on leave after they refused to turn over classified material in restricted areas to Elon Musk’s government-inspection teams, a current and a former U.S. official told The Associated Press on Sunday.
Members of Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, known as DOGE, eventually did gain access Saturday to the aid agency’s classified information, which includes intelligence reports, the former official said.
Musk’s DOGE crew lacked high-enough security clearance to access that information, so the two USAID security officials — John Vorhees and deputy Brian McGill — were legally obligated to deny access.
The current and former U.S. officials had knowledge of the incident and spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to share the information.
Musk on Sunday responded to a post about the news on X by saying, “USAID is a criminal organization. Time for it to die.” The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
It comes a day after DOGE carried out a similar operation at the Treasury Department, gaining access to sensitive information including the Social Security and Medicare customer payment systems.
Musk formed DOGE in cooperation with the new Trump administration with the stated goal of finding ways to fire federal workers, cut programs and slash federal regulations.
USAID, whose website vanished Saturday without explanation, has been one of the federal agencies most targeted by the Trump administration in an escalating crackdown on the federal government and many of its programs.
-- USAID security chiefs put on leave after trying to stop Musk’s team from accessing classified info, officials say, by Ellen Knickmeyer and Matthew Lee, Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — Trump administration changes have upended the U.S. agency charged with providing humanitarian aid to countries overseas, with dozens of senior officials put on leave, thousands of contractors laid off, and a sweeping freeze imposed on billions of dollars in foreign assistance.
Democratic senators warned the Trump administration Friday against any effort to eliminate the U.S. Agency for International Development as an independent agency, responding to growing fears among its supporters that such plans may be in the offing.
Sen. Chris Murphy was one of a half-dozen Democrats on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to argue in statements and on social media that President Donald Trump would have no legal authority to dissolve the agency.
Aid organizations say the funding freeze — and deep confusion over what U.S.-funded programs must stop work as a result — has left them agonizing over whether they could continue operating programs such as those providing round-the-clock nutritional support to extremely malnourished infants and children, knowing that closing the doors means that many of those children would die.
Current and former officials at the State Department and USAID say staffers were invited to submit requests to exempt certain programs from the foreign aid freeze, which Trump imposed Jan. 20 and the State Department detailed how to execute on Jan. 24.
Three days later, at least 56 senior career USAID staffers were abruptly placed on administrative leave.
Three officials said many of those put on leave were lawyers involved in determining what programs might qualify for waivers, helping write proposals and submitting those waiver requests as they believed they had been invited to do.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal. A Trump administration directive that aid organizations interpret as a gag order has left them unwilling to speak publicly for fear of permanently losing U.S. funding.
In an internal memo Monday about the staffing changes, new acting USAID administrator Jason Gray said the agency had identified “several actions within USAID that appear to be designed to circumvent the President’s Executive Orders and the mandate from the American people.”
“As a result, we have placed a number of USAID employees on administrative leave with full pay and benefits until further notice while we complete our analysis of these actions,” Gray wrote.
A former senior USAID official said those put on leave had been helping aid organizations navigate the “confusing process” to seek waivers from the aid pause for specific life-saving projects, such as continuing clean water supplies for displaced people in war zones.
Others were identified as having been involved in diversity, equity and inclusion programming, which the administration has banned.
On Thursday, a USAID human resources official who tried to reverse the action, saying there was no justification for it, was himself placed on leave, according to two of the officials who had viewed internal emails and verified them as authentic. Reporters from ProPublica and Vox first reported the emails on X.
The State Department and White House didn’t respond to messages seeking comment about the staffing changes.
The new leaders at USAID also abruptly laid off contractors who made up about half the workforce in the agency’s humanitarian bureau Tuesday, knocking them out of systems so that some vanished in the middle of videoconferences, the former senior official said. The targeted institutional service contractors do everything from administrative and travel support to grant processing and data analytics.
The staffing changes came three days after the State Department issued guidelines last Friday for implementing Trump’s executive order freezing foreign assistance for 90 days. The department says it’s reviewing the money the United States is spending to ensure it adheres to administration policy.
The guidelines initially exempted only military aid to Israel and Egypt and emergency food programs but also said program administrators and implementors could apply for waivers for programs that they believe would meet administration standards.
On Tuesday, new Secretary of State Marco Rubio issued a broader waiver for programs that provide other “life-saving” assistance, including medicine, medical services, food and shelter, and again pointed to the possibility of waivers. Rubio pointed to the broadened exemptions in an interview Thursday with SiriusXM host Megyn Kelly.
“We don’t want to see people die and the like,” he said.
Rubio said there would be a program-by-program review of which projects make “America safer, stronger or more prosperous.”
The step of shutting down U.S.-funded programs during the 90-day review meant the U.S. was “getting a lot more cooperation” from recipients of humanitarian, development and security assistance, Rubio said. “Because otherwise you don’t get your money.”
The State Department said that since the aid freeze went into effect, it has approved dozens of waivers, although many were returned because they did not include enough detail. It said waiver requests for programs costing “billions of dollars” have been received and are being reviewed.
The department did not specify how many waiver requests had been denied but said Thus far its actions had stopped more than $1 billion from being spent on programs and projects that are “not aligned with an America First agenda.”
Even with the broadening of exemptions for life-saving care, uncertainty surrounds what U.S.-funded programs legally can continue. Hundreds of thousands of people globally are going without access to medicine and humanitarian supplies and clinics are not getting medicine in time because of the funding freeze, aid organizations warn.
——
AP reporter Rebecca Santana in Washington contributed.
- admin
- Site Admin
- Posts: 37580
- Joined: Thu Aug 01, 2013 5:21 am
Re: Anti-Anti Nazi Barbarian Hordes are Knocking Down the Ga
by admin » Sun Feb 02, 2025 9:01 pm
Trudeau says Canada will place 25% tariffs on US imports in retaliation for Trump tariffs
Associated Press
Feb 1, 2025 #canada #usa #economy
The Canadian prime minister spoke after President Donald Trump on Saturday signed an order to impose stiff tariffs on imports from Mexico, Canada and China. Read more here: https://bit.ly/3CnNmat
Transcript
[Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau] Tonight I am announcing Canada will be
responding to the US trade action with
25% tariffs against
a155 billion worth of American
Goods this will include immediate
tariffs on $30 billion worth of goods as
of Tuesday followed by further tariffs
on
$125 billion worth of American Products
in 21 days time to allow Canadian
companies and Supply chains to seek to
find
Alternatives like the American tariffs
our response will also be far-reaching
and include everyday items such as
American Beer wine and bourbon fruits
and fruit juices including orange juice
along with vegetables perfume clothing
and shoes it'll include major consumer
products like household appliances
furniture and sports equipment and
materials like Lumber and Plastics along
with much much more
*********************
Trudeau: Canada will retaliate with 25% tariffs on $155B of U.S. goods
CBC News
CBC/Radio-Canada is a Canadian public broadcast service.
Feb 1, 2025
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Saturday that Canada will respond to Donald Trump's tariffs with 25 per cent tariffs on $155 billion of U.S. goods.
Transcript
[Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau] Today the United States informed us they
will be in imposing 25% tariffs on
Canadian exports to the United States
and 10% on Canadian energy a decision
that should the elect to proceed with
should take effect on Tuesday February
4th a Rel been the source
weal and opportunities on both sides of
the Border tonight first I want to speak
directly to Americans our closest
friends and
neighbors this is a choice that yes will
harm Canadians but beyond that it will
have real consequences for you the
American
people as I have consistently said
tariffs again against Canada will put
your jobs at risk potentially shutting
down American Auto assembly plants and
other manufacturing facilities they will
raise costs for you including food at
the grocery stores and gas at the pump
they will impede your access to an
affordable supply of vital Goods crucial
for US security such as nickel poach
uranium steel and aluminum
they will violate the free trade
agreement that the president and I along
with our Mexican partner negotiated and
signed a few years
ago but it doesn't have to be this
way as President John F Kennedy said
many years ago geography has made us
neighbors history has made us friends
economics has made us partners and
necessity
has made us
allies that rang true for many decades
prior to President Kennedy's time in
office and in the decades
since from the beaches of Normandy to
the mountains of the Korean Peninsula
from the fields of Flanders to the
streets of Kandahar we have fought and
died alongside
you during your darkest
hours during the Ian hostage crisis
those
444 days we worked around the clock from
our Embassy to get your innocent
compatriots
home during the summer of 2005 when
Hurricane Katrina ravaged your great
City of New Orleans or mere weeks ago
when we sent water bombers to tackle the
wildfires in
California during the day the world
Stood Still September member 11th 2001
when we provided Refuge to stranded
passengers and
planes we were always there standing
with you grieving with you the American
people
together we've built the most successful
economic military and security
partnership the world has ever seen a
relationship that has been the Envy of
the
world yes we've had our differences in
the past but we've always found a way to
get past
them as I've said before if president
Trump wants to usher in a new golden age
for the United States the better path is
to partner with
Canada not to punish
us Canada has critical minerals reliable
and affordable energy stable Democratic
institutions shared values and the
natural resources you need Canada has
the ingredients necessary to build a
booming and secure partnership for the
North American economy and we stand at
the ready to work
together let's take a moment to talk
about our shared border our border is
already safe and secure but there's
always always more work to do less than
1% of fenel less than 1% of illegal
Crossings into the United States come
from
Canada but hearing concerns from both
Canadians and Americans including the
American president himself we're taking
action we launched a 1.3 billion border
plan that is already showing results
because we too are devastated by The
Scourge that is fenel a drug that has
torn apart communities and caused so
much pain and torment for countless
families across Canada just like in the
United States a drug that we too want to
see wiped from the face of this Earth a
drug whose traffickers must be
punished as
neighbors we must work collaboratively
to fix
this
unfortunately the actions taken today by
the White House split us
apart instead of bringing us
together
tonight I am announcing Canada will be
responding to the US trade action with
25% tariffs against
$155 billion worth of American
Goods this will include include
immediate tariffs on $30 billion worth
of goods as of Tuesday followed by
further tariffs on $125 billion worth of
American Products in 21 days time to
allow Canadian companies and Supply
chains to seek to find
Alternatives I am announcing Canada's
response I am announcing 25% tariffs on$
1555 billion of us
Goods as of
Tuesday $30 billion worth of us products
will be affected and in 21 days to allow
Canadian companies the opportunity to
find Alternatives this will be the case
for $125 billion worth of
productss our response will also be
far-reaching and include everyday items
such as American beer wine and bourbon
fruits and fruit juices including orange
juice along with vegetables perfume
clothing and shoes it'll include major
consumer products like household
appliances furniture and sports
equipment and materials like Lumber and
Plastics along with much much
more and as part of our response we are
considering with the provinces and
territories several non-tariff measures
including some relating to critical
minerals energy procurement and other
Partnerships we will stand strong for
Canada we will stand strong to ensure
our countries continue to be the best
Neighbors in the
world with all that
said I also want to speak directly to
Canadians in this
moment and I'm sure many of you are
anxious but I want you to know we are
all in this together the Canadian
government Canadian businesses Canadian
organized labor Canadian Civil Society
Canada's Premier and tens of millions of
Canadians from coast to coast to coast
are aligned and
United this is Team Canada at its best
earlier today I spoke with premiers from
all provinces and
territories we are
united they've all supported our
approach we're also aligned to
reduce internal trade barriers and to
make it easier for consumers to choose
um
Canada and Canada products
a few moments ago I spoke with Mrs Shin
bom the president of Mexico our other
North American
partner who was and this country was
also the subject of 25% tariffs today
we're working together to face these
tariffs this threat is targeting the
entire country and I am hearten to see
all our leaders answer the call and um
to be so committed to make sure that no
Canadians are left behind our government
will be there for Canadians we will be
there for
you at the same time I do have something
to ask of you I would ask you to remain
United many of us will be deeply
affected a lot of people will go through
dark times I'm asking you to support one
another to be there for your friends
your neighbors and um your fellow canadi
from C to C Canadians are different we
speak different languages we have
different beliefs and opinions we have
different
ideas but when we remain
united we are stronger and now is also
the time to choose
Canada there are many ways for you to do
your part it might mean checking the
labels at the supermarket and picking
canadian-made
products it might mean opting for
Canadian rye over Kentucky bourbon or
foregoing Florida orange juice
altogether it might mean changing your
summer vacation plans to stay here in
Canada and explore the many national and
provincial parks historical sites and
tourist destinations our great country
has to
offer it's time to choose Canadian
products and to support Canadian
businesses to support our Farmers our
producers our workers our business
owners or artists it might mean doing
all of these things or finding your own
way to stand up for
Canada in this moment we must pull
together because we love this country we
pride ourselves on braving the cold
during The Long Winter months we don't
like to beat our chests but we're always
out there waving the maple leaf loudly
and proudly to celebrate an Olympic gold
medal we have a distinct identity we
have our own history and our
values Canadians are welcoming open
Innovative and
ambitious we prefer to solve our
differences with
diplomacy but we're prepared to fight if
it's required Canada is home to
Bountiful resources breathtaking beauty
and a proud people who've come from
every corner of the globe to forge a
nation with a unique identity worth
embracing and
celebrating we don't pretend to be
perfect but Canada is the best country
on Earth there's nowhere else that I and
our 41 million strong family would
rather be
and we will get through this challenge
just as we've B done countless times
before together thank you Merada
[Music]
Associated Press
Feb 1, 2025 #canada #usa #economy
The Canadian prime minister spoke after President Donald Trump on Saturday signed an order to impose stiff tariffs on imports from Mexico, Canada and China. Read more here: https://bit.ly/3CnNmat
Transcript
[Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau] Tonight I am announcing Canada will be
responding to the US trade action with
25% tariffs against
a155 billion worth of American
Goods this will include immediate
tariffs on $30 billion worth of goods as
of Tuesday followed by further tariffs
on
$125 billion worth of American Products
in 21 days time to allow Canadian
companies and Supply chains to seek to
find
Alternatives like the American tariffs
our response will also be far-reaching
and include everyday items such as
American Beer wine and bourbon fruits
and fruit juices including orange juice
along with vegetables perfume clothing
and shoes it'll include major consumer
products like household appliances
furniture and sports equipment and
materials like Lumber and Plastics along
with much much more
*********************
Trudeau: Canada will retaliate with 25% tariffs on $155B of U.S. goods
CBC News
CBC/Radio-Canada is a Canadian public broadcast service.
Feb 1, 2025
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Saturday that Canada will respond to Donald Trump's tariffs with 25 per cent tariffs on $155 billion of U.S. goods.
Transcript
[Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau] Today the United States informed us they
will be in imposing 25% tariffs on
Canadian exports to the United States
and 10% on Canadian energy a decision
that should the elect to proceed with
should take effect on Tuesday February
4th a Rel been the source
weal and opportunities on both sides of
the Border tonight first I want to speak
directly to Americans our closest
friends and
neighbors this is a choice that yes will
harm Canadians but beyond that it will
have real consequences for you the
American
people as I have consistently said
tariffs again against Canada will put
your jobs at risk potentially shutting
down American Auto assembly plants and
other manufacturing facilities they will
raise costs for you including food at
the grocery stores and gas at the pump
they will impede your access to an
affordable supply of vital Goods crucial
for US security such as nickel poach
uranium steel and aluminum
they will violate the free trade
agreement that the president and I along
with our Mexican partner negotiated and
signed a few years
ago but it doesn't have to be this
way as President John F Kennedy said
many years ago geography has made us
neighbors history has made us friends
economics has made us partners and
necessity
has made us
allies that rang true for many decades
prior to President Kennedy's time in
office and in the decades
since from the beaches of Normandy to
the mountains of the Korean Peninsula
from the fields of Flanders to the
streets of Kandahar we have fought and
died alongside
you during your darkest
hours during the Ian hostage crisis
those
444 days we worked around the clock from
our Embassy to get your innocent
compatriots
home during the summer of 2005 when
Hurricane Katrina ravaged your great
City of New Orleans or mere weeks ago
when we sent water bombers to tackle the
wildfires in
California during the day the world
Stood Still September member 11th 2001
when we provided Refuge to stranded
passengers and
planes we were always there standing
with you grieving with you the American
people
together we've built the most successful
economic military and security
partnership the world has ever seen a
relationship that has been the Envy of
the
world yes we've had our differences in
the past but we've always found a way to
get past
them as I've said before if president
Trump wants to usher in a new golden age
for the United States the better path is
to partner with
Canada not to punish
us Canada has critical minerals reliable
and affordable energy stable Democratic
institutions shared values and the
natural resources you need Canada has
the ingredients necessary to build a
booming and secure partnership for the
North American economy and we stand at
the ready to work
together let's take a moment to talk
about our shared border our border is
already safe and secure but there's
always always more work to do less than
1% of fenel less than 1% of illegal
Crossings into the United States come
from
Canada but hearing concerns from both
Canadians and Americans including the
American president himself we're taking
action we launched a 1.3 billion border
plan that is already showing results
because we too are devastated by The
Scourge that is fenel a drug that has
torn apart communities and caused so
much pain and torment for countless
families across Canada just like in the
United States a drug that we too want to
see wiped from the face of this Earth a
drug whose traffickers must be
punished as
neighbors we must work collaboratively
to fix
this
unfortunately the actions taken today by
the White House split us
apart instead of bringing us
together
tonight I am announcing Canada will be
responding to the US trade action with
25% tariffs against
$155 billion worth of American
Goods this will include include
immediate tariffs on $30 billion worth
of goods as of Tuesday followed by
further tariffs on $125 billion worth of
American Products in 21 days time to
allow Canadian companies and Supply
chains to seek to find
Alternatives I am announcing Canada's
response I am announcing 25% tariffs on$
1555 billion of us
Goods as of
Tuesday $30 billion worth of us products
will be affected and in 21 days to allow
Canadian companies the opportunity to
find Alternatives this will be the case
for $125 billion worth of
productss our response will also be
far-reaching and include everyday items
such as American beer wine and bourbon
fruits and fruit juices including orange
juice along with vegetables perfume
clothing and shoes it'll include major
consumer products like household
appliances furniture and sports
equipment and materials like Lumber and
Plastics along with much much
more and as part of our response we are
considering with the provinces and
territories several non-tariff measures
including some relating to critical
minerals energy procurement and other
Partnerships we will stand strong for
Canada we will stand strong to ensure
our countries continue to be the best
Neighbors in the
world with all that
said I also want to speak directly to
Canadians in this
moment and I'm sure many of you are
anxious but I want you to know we are
all in this together the Canadian
government Canadian businesses Canadian
organized labor Canadian Civil Society
Canada's Premier and tens of millions of
Canadians from coast to coast to coast
are aligned and
United this is Team Canada at its best
earlier today I spoke with premiers from
all provinces and
territories we are
united they've all supported our
approach we're also aligned to
reduce internal trade barriers and to
make it easier for consumers to choose
um
Canada and Canada products
a few moments ago I spoke with Mrs Shin
bom the president of Mexico our other
North American
partner who was and this country was
also the subject of 25% tariffs today
we're working together to face these
tariffs this threat is targeting the
entire country and I am hearten to see
all our leaders answer the call and um
to be so committed to make sure that no
Canadians are left behind our government
will be there for Canadians we will be
there for
you at the same time I do have something
to ask of you I would ask you to remain
United many of us will be deeply
affected a lot of people will go through
dark times I'm asking you to support one
another to be there for your friends
your neighbors and um your fellow canadi
from C to C Canadians are different we
speak different languages we have
different beliefs and opinions we have
different
ideas but when we remain
united we are stronger and now is also
the time to choose
Canada there are many ways for you to do
your part it might mean checking the
labels at the supermarket and picking
canadian-made
products it might mean opting for
Canadian rye over Kentucky bourbon or
foregoing Florida orange juice
altogether it might mean changing your
summer vacation plans to stay here in
Canada and explore the many national and
provincial parks historical sites and
tourist destinations our great country
has to
offer it's time to choose Canadian
products and to support Canadian
businesses to support our Farmers our
producers our workers our business
owners or artists it might mean doing
all of these things or finding your own
way to stand up for
Canada in this moment we must pull
together because we love this country we
pride ourselves on braving the cold
during The Long Winter months we don't
like to beat our chests but we're always
out there waving the maple leaf loudly
and proudly to celebrate an Olympic gold
medal we have a distinct identity we
have our own history and our
values Canadians are welcoming open
Innovative and
ambitious we prefer to solve our
differences with
diplomacy but we're prepared to fight if
it's required Canada is home to
Bountiful resources breathtaking beauty
and a proud people who've come from
every corner of the globe to forge a
nation with a unique identity worth
embracing and
celebrating we don't pretend to be
perfect but Canada is the best country
on Earth there's nowhere else that I and
our 41 million strong family would
rather be
and we will get through this challenge
just as we've B done countless times
before together thank you Merada
[Music]
- admin
- Site Admin
- Posts: 37580
- Joined: Thu Aug 01, 2013 5:21 am
Re: Anti-Anti Nazi Barbarian Hordes are Knocking Down the Ga
by admin » Sun Feb 02, 2025 9:23 pm
Senior U.S. official to exit after rift with Musk allies over payment system: [Highest-ranking career official at the Treasury Department, David A. Lebryk, departing after clash with allies of Elon Musk and DOGE over access to sensitive payment systems]
by Jeff Stein, Isaac Arnsdorf and Jacqueline Alemany,
(c) 2025, The Washington Post
Fri, January 31, 2025 at 7:54 AM MST
https://www.yahoo.com/news/senior-u-off ... ccounter=1
NOTICE: THIS WORK MAY BE PROTECTED BY COPYRIGHT
The highest-ranking career official at the Treasury Department is departing after a clash with allies of billionaire Elon Musk over access to sensitive payment systems, according to three people with knowledge of the matter, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe private talks.
David A. Lebryk, who served in nonpolitical roles at Treasury for several decades, announced his retirement Friday in an email to colleagues obtained by The Washington Post. President Donald Trump named Lebryk as acting secretary upon taking office last week. Lebryk had a dispute with Musk’s surrogates over access to the payment system the U.S. government uses to disburse trillions of dollars every year, the people said. The exact nature of the disagreement was not immediately clear, they said.
Officials affiliated with Musk’s “Department of Government Efficiency” have been asking since after the election for access to the system, the people said -- requests that were reiterated more recently, including after Trump’s inauguration.
A spokeswoman for DOGE declined to comment. Lebryk could not be reached for comment late Thursday.
When Scott Bessent was confirmed as treasury secretary on Monday, Lebryk ceased to be the acting agency head.
Typically only a small number of career officials control Treasury’s payment systems. Run by the Bureau of the Fiscal Service, the sensitive systems control the flow of more than $6 trillion annually to households, businesses and more nationwide. Tens, if not hundreds, of millions of people across the country rely on the systems, which are responsible for distributing Social Security and Medicare benefits, salaries for federal personnel, payments to government contractors and grant recipients and tax refunds, among tens of thousands of other functions.
The clash reflects an intensifying battle between Musk and the federal bureaucracy as the Trump administration nears the conclusion of its second week. Musk has sought to exert sweeping control over the inner workings of the U.S. government, installing longtime surrogates at several agencies, including the Office of Personnel Management, which essentially handles federal human resources, and the General Services Administration, which manages real estate. (Musk was seen on Thursday visiting GSA, according to two other people familiar with his whereabouts, who also spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe internal matters. That visit was first reported by the New York Times.) His Department of Government Efficiency, originally conceived as a nongovernmental panel, has since replaced the U.S. Digital Service.
The executive order Trump signed creating DOGE also instructed all agencies to ensure it has “full and prompt access to all unclassified agency records, software systems, and IT systems,” which would appear to include the Treasury payment systems.
It is unclear precisely why Musk’s team sought access to those systems. But both Musk and the Trump administration more broadly have sought to control spending in ways that far exceed efforts by their predecessors and have alarmed legal experts.
On Monday, the White House Office of Management and Budget ordered a freeze on all federal grant spending - an order it rescinded two days later amid intense political backlash and multiple lawsuits over the consequences of that decision.
Musk has characterized the rising national debt as an existential threat to the country and has proved willing to break norms in service of sweeping change.
Still, the possibility that government officials might try to use the federal payments system - which essentially functions as the nation’s “checking book” - to enact a political agenda is unprecedented, said Mark Mazur, who served in senior treasury roles during the Obama and Biden administrations.
“This is a mechanical job - they pay Social Security benefits, they pay vendors, whatever. It’s not one where there’s a role for nonmechanical things, at least from the career standpoint. Your whole job is to pay the bills as they’re due,” Mazur said. “It’s never been used in a way to execute a partisan agenda. … You have to really put bad intentions in place for that to be the case.”
In the 2023 fiscal year, the payment systems processed nearly 1.3 billion payments, accounting for about $5.4 trillion, nearly 97 percent made electronically, according to the Treasury Department. Every payment was made on time.
Lebryk’s departure is expected to be a shock to Treasury personnel, among whom he enjoys a sterling reputation. The lifelong bureaucrat joined the department as an intern in 1989 and spent three decades at the agency under 11 different treasury secretaries, serving as acting director of the U.S. Mint and commissioner of the Bureau of the Fiscal Service, among other roles.
In his email announcing his retirement, Lebryk praised the department’s staff. “Please know that your work makes a difference and is so very important to the country. It has been an honor to work alongside you," he wrote. “Our work may be unknown to most of the public, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t exceptionally important.”
Michael Faulkender, whom Trump nominated as deputy U.S. treasury secretary in December, praised Lebryk’s work in 2023.
“I could not, to this day, tell you his politics,” Faulkender, who served as an assistant secretary at Treasury during Trump’s first term, told The Washington Post at the time. “He always seemed to be relaxed and under control.”
***********************
SHOCK NEWS: Elon Musk pulls dangerous move at Treasury Dept.
Brian Tyler Cohen
Feb 2, 2025 Democracy Watch with Marc Elias
Democracy Watch episode 251: Marc Elias discusses Elon Musk's dangerous moves at the Treasury Department.
Transcript
[Brian Tyler Cohen] This is democracy watch Mark we've got
some alarming news here the highest
ranking career official at Treasury and
the guy who was previously serving as
the acting treasury secretary is now out
after a clash with Elon Musk and his
allies because they wanted access to
sensitive payment systems that
distribute about $6 trillion in US
Government payments so this is basically
all of the money that flows out of our
government into the hands of the folks
where it gets distributed whether it's
different programs and whatnot first of
all can I have your reaction to what
looks on its face like pretty startling
news in that uh the guy who is managing
these systems is out and Doge and Elon
musk's um whole organization is now in
after trying to get access to the system
for a a long time now
[Marc Elias] I mean it's
shocking I mean I don't shock easily and
even I am shocked by this at a couple of
levels the first is you know this guy
who has now retired and resigned he was
the acting uh treasury secretary just a
few days ago I mean this is a guy who
knows how to make sure the treasury
Department runs and the treasury
Department is one of the most important
agencies and departments in in the world
it not only oversees the payment uh uh
process but it oversees literally you
know a lot of how the US economy winds
up working and so just the fact that a
guy with that much experience who's that
senior who has been around the treasury
Department all these years for him to
suddenly resign tells you something
really bad is happening number one but
number two you know there are only a
couple reasons why someone from Doge
would want access to the US payment uh
system um one is that they're trying to
cut off the flow of funds to certain
programs. Now that is important because
remember the Trump White House through
OMB and then through a tweet from the
press secretary has tried a series of
ways to suggest that Donald
Trump can control whether or not funds
are distributed or not distributed to
various Federal programs or
through grants or through loans and that
is a power explicitly reserved in the US
Constitution for congress. So having been
frustrated with their effort to block
this through OMB one wonders if they're
now trying to find another way to block it
through the actual mechanism of funds
moving out the door. Of course the only
other possibility is that why you would
want to control the payment process is
not to stop funds from going out but you
would want to direct where the funds go
out, right? And you know you can only
imagine what kind of trouble could be
done there.
[Brian Tyler Cohen] I want to dig into
that part a little bit of it because we
already know that the Trump
Administration is especially interested
in blocking payments to recipients
that they don't want to fund anymore.
They've already tried to to do it to
programs like Medicaid to Meals on
Wheels a lot of these programs that
the poor, who the Elon Musks of the world
and the Donald Trumps in the world don't
care about, rely on to survive.
But if you
have other recipients we'll
just say who might want
government want funds from the federal
government but the oversight all of the
controls are other Trump lackies then
then what bulwark is there to prevent
from abuse happening?
[Marc Elias] You know
we tend to focus on this as we should
about what does this mean for the poor,
what does this mean for people who need,
who who are the most needy. What does it
mean for the billionaires, right? And the
large multinational corporations that
have either bowed down or not bowed down,
right? What does it say if you are a
major defense contractor? What does it
say if you are a major contractor to the
federal government that provides, oh, I
don't know, say cloud Computing
Services right or space Services? What
does it mean that now the spigot for how
money can go out or how money
cannot go out is now under a control of
political actors rather than, you know,
people who are who are upholding their
oath of office or federal law? So that
is terrifying because that is
the stick portion of
the program, not just the carrot
portion of it. And then of course there
is just the possibility that
funds are just distributed
in ways that that defy common sense,
and that might benefit
Donald Trump's political
supporters. Will funds flow, for
example, to certain types of
cryptocurrency, certain meme coins for
example? I don't know if there's one you
could think of you know maybe what we
need is a Brian Tyler Cohen coin.
[Brian Tyler Cohen] Yeah,
that's next up
on my plate. I need a shitcoin
basically that. That's what I should be doing.
[Marc Elias] It seems to be very much
in fashion.
[Brian Tyler Cohen] I know. it is it's in it's in
Vogue I'll tell you what if all I have
to do is Pivot to the right and I can I
can start selling coins and and that
that's really all it takes at this point.
Marc, in terms of in terms of recourse
what is what is the bulwark if the
federal government if the Executive
Branch if the folks at the treasury
aren't willing to provide any adequate
or requisite oversight do we then look
to the courts like what happens when all
of the police basically become bought
and sold by the very people um who who
are who are content to abuse the system
and look we've spoken at length about
how Donald Trump is trying to root out
career civil servants from the
government he's trying to get them to
resign he's sending out these mass
emails, he's promising them buyouts which
may or may not happen I don't think
there's any Avenue for the government to
be able to pay 12 months in advance um
but but these are the folks who would
largely make up the population of
whistleblowers for example if there was
abuse these are folks who wouldn't be
willing to just allow a criminal
president and his criminal accomplices to
just run Roughshod over over these these
departments and so if those people are
gone then who becomes the
person responsible for oversight here?
[Marc Elias] Well, so, sadly, in our system of checks
and balances, the check on the
executive branch --
misusing appropriated funds -- is Congress,
because it's Congress that has the
greatest interest in seeing that their
Appropriations are followed. I mean, after
all, it is literally in the Constitution.
The House of Representatives has a
privileged place in the Constitution
about appropriated funds. And normally --
normally -- the Senate appropriators, the
house appropriators, on a bipartisan
basis, the one thing that they guard more
than anything else is their prerogative
to appropriate funds. And to ensure that
the funds that they appropriate are sent
out, and the funds that they don't
appropriate are not sent out. But I
got to tell you Brian, I mean, we're
not seeing any sign of life from the
republicans in Congress as a check.
[Brian Tyler Cohen] Yeah
I mean if if if the goal here is to hope
that Mike Johnson and the Marjorie Taylor
Greenes of the world are going to serve
as a bulwark to Trump's worst
excesses, I think we're in a
pretty Grim position moving forward.
At this point we would have to hope
that that um either there's going to be
some remaining officials who are willing
to speak out and not just completely
bend the knee to Donald Trump which you
know if if he gets his way those people
won't exist or that someone in Congress
is willing to actually speak out against
against the worst abuses by their own
party which again also doesn't seem
likely given them given the way the
incentive structure for the GOP today
right.
[Marc Elias] And so look the courts are an
ultimate backstop here because
ultimately people who don't get funds
that they're entitled to can sue the
federal government and then go to court
but but I want to be clear you know I
try to point out the places where I
think the courts can be really a
Frontline uh actor to Halt Donald
Trump's worst imp uh impulses and and I
think it's important that we recognize
when the courts do that and celebrate
them when they do that. This one's
trickier because the fact is you will
need a a recipient of federal funds who,
number one, is willing to blow the
whistle. So far we have not seen a lot of
courage from Corporate
America, or government contractors, or
from Republican state Governors. So sure,
you have the Democratic AGS, and the
Democratic Governors and
they can do this. But the second is the
courts are not meant to police the
day-to-day distribution of funds from
the federal government. The oversight
that is done by Congress, that's why we
talk about Congressional oversight of
the executive branch. And like I said,
usually, if there is is one aspect of the
federal government that is subject to
more rigorous day-to-day oversight, it is
the Appropriations process. And so this
is a terrifying development, because they
may have found, you know Trump may have
found the weak spot in the federal
government where Congress won't do
oversight, and the courts will, but where it
is very clunky and not efficient. And
then you are left, as you say, with the
career civil servants, and hoping that
they can stand up against the powerful
in the way in which the Legacy Media is
backing down, the way in which Corporate
America is backing down, the
billionaire oligarchs are backing down.
And I should add to that whistleblowers. Were do
whistleblowers go? Whistleblowers usually
either go to Congress or the
inspector Generals which have been fired. Or they go
to the media. And tell me
which, if you're a career civil
servant --
[Brian Tyler Cohen] You can't go
to the LA Times, you can't go to the
Washington Post.
[Marc Elias] Yeah like what are you
going to do?
[Brian Tyler Cohen] I think all of that
underscores the importance of of the
work that you're doing over at democracy
docket which is the news Outlet you
founded to focus on everything voting in
elections you guys have been uh
completely cleare eyed and focused on
Fearless journalism and holding the
powerful to account so for those who are
watching right now if you are not yet
signed up please do yourself a favor and
sign up you'll get good information and
you'll support folks who are actually
meeting this moment with the urgency
that it deserves so I'll put the link
right here on the screen and also in the
post description of this video I'm Brian
teller Cohen I'm Mark Elias this is
democracy watch
[Music]
********************
Elon Musk’s task force has gained access to sensitive Treasury payment systems, sources say
by Fatima Hussein
Associated Press
Politics Feb 2, 2025 12:07 PM EST
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/e ... ources-say
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Department of Government Efficiency, run by President Donald Trump’s billionaire adviser and Tesla CEO Elon Musk, has gained access to sensitive Treasury data including Social Security and Medicare customer payment systems, according to two people familiar with the situation.
The move by DOGE, a Trump administration task force assigned to find ways to fire federal workers, cut programs and slash federal regulations, means it could have wide leeway to access important taxpayer data, among other things.
The New York Times first reported the news of the group’s access of the massive federal payment system. The two people who spoke to The Associated Press spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.
The highest-ranking Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee, Ron Wyden of Oregon, on Friday sent a letter to Trump’s Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent expressing concern that “officials associated with Musk may have intended to access these payment systems to illegally withhold payments to any number of programs.”
“To put it bluntly, these payment systems simply cannot fail, and any politically motivated meddling in them risks severe damage to our country and the economy,” Wyden said.
The news also comes after Treasury’s acting Deputy Secretary David Lebryk resigned from his position at Treasury after more than 30 years of service. The Washington Post on Friday reported that Lebryk resigned his position after Musk and his DOGE organization requested access to sensitive Treasury data.
“The Fiscal Service performs some of the most vital functions in government,” Lebryk said in a letter to Treasury employees sent out Friday. “Our work may be unknown to most of the public, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t exceptionally important. I am grateful for having been able to work alongside some of the nation’s best and most talented operations staff.”
The letter did not mention a DOGE request to access Treasury payments.
Musk on Saturday responded to a post on his social media platform X about the departure of Lebryk: “The @DOGE team discovered, among other things, that payment approval officers at Treasury were instructed always to approve payments, even to known fraudulent or terrorist groups. They literally never denied a payment in their entire career. Not even once.”
He did not provide proof of this claim.
DOGE was originally headed by Musk and former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, who jointly vowed to cut billions from the federal budget and usher in “mass headcount reductions across the federal bureaucracy.”
Ramaswamy has since left DOGE as he mulls a run for governor of Ohio.
by Jeff Stein, Isaac Arnsdorf and Jacqueline Alemany,
(c) 2025, The Washington Post
Fri, January 31, 2025 at 7:54 AM MST
https://www.yahoo.com/news/senior-u-off ... ccounter=1
NOTICE: THIS WORK MAY BE PROTECTED BY COPYRIGHT
YOU ARE REQUIRED TO READ THE COPYRIGHT NOTICE AT THIS LINK BEFORE YOU READ THE FOLLOWING WORK, THAT IS AVAILABLE SOLELY FOR PRIVATE STUDY, SCHOLARSHIP OR RESEARCH PURSUANT TO 17 U.S.C. SECTION 107 AND 108. IN THE EVENT THAT THE LIBRARY DETERMINES THAT UNLAWFUL COPYING OF THIS WORK HAS OCCURRED, THE LIBRARY HAS THE RIGHT TO BLOCK THE I.P. ADDRESS AT WHICH THE UNLAWFUL COPYING APPEARED TO HAVE OCCURRED. THANK YOU FOR RESPECTING THE RIGHTS OF COPYRIGHT OWNERS.
The highest-ranking career official at the Treasury Department is departing after a clash with allies of billionaire Elon Musk over access to sensitive payment systems, according to three people with knowledge of the matter, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe private talks.
David A. Lebryk, who served in nonpolitical roles at Treasury for several decades, announced his retirement Friday in an email to colleagues obtained by The Washington Post. President Donald Trump named Lebryk as acting secretary upon taking office last week. Lebryk had a dispute with Musk’s surrogates over access to the payment system the U.S. government uses to disburse trillions of dollars every year, the people said. The exact nature of the disagreement was not immediately clear, they said.
Officials affiliated with Musk’s “Department of Government Efficiency” have been asking since after the election for access to the system, the people said -- requests that were reiterated more recently, including after Trump’s inauguration.
A spokeswoman for DOGE declined to comment. Lebryk could not be reached for comment late Thursday.
When Scott Bessent was confirmed as treasury secretary on Monday, Lebryk ceased to be the acting agency head.
Typically only a small number of career officials control Treasury’s payment systems. Run by the Bureau of the Fiscal Service, the sensitive systems control the flow of more than $6 trillion annually to households, businesses and more nationwide. Tens, if not hundreds, of millions of people across the country rely on the systems, which are responsible for distributing Social Security and Medicare benefits, salaries for federal personnel, payments to government contractors and grant recipients and tax refunds, among tens of thousands of other functions.
The clash reflects an intensifying battle between Musk and the federal bureaucracy as the Trump administration nears the conclusion of its second week. Musk has sought to exert sweeping control over the inner workings of the U.S. government, installing longtime surrogates at several agencies, including the Office of Personnel Management, which essentially handles federal human resources, and the General Services Administration, which manages real estate. (Musk was seen on Thursday visiting GSA, according to two other people familiar with his whereabouts, who also spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe internal matters. That visit was first reported by the New York Times.) His Department of Government Efficiency, originally conceived as a nongovernmental panel, has since replaced the U.S. Digital Service.
The executive order Trump signed creating DOGE also instructed all agencies to ensure it has “full and prompt access to all unclassified agency records, software systems, and IT systems,” which would appear to include the Treasury payment systems.
It is unclear precisely why Musk’s team sought access to those systems. But both Musk and the Trump administration more broadly have sought to control spending in ways that far exceed efforts by their predecessors and have alarmed legal experts.
On Monday, the White House Office of Management and Budget ordered a freeze on all federal grant spending - an order it rescinded two days later amid intense political backlash and multiple lawsuits over the consequences of that decision.
Musk has characterized the rising national debt as an existential threat to the country and has proved willing to break norms in service of sweeping change.
Still, the possibility that government officials might try to use the federal payments system - which essentially functions as the nation’s “checking book” - to enact a political agenda is unprecedented, said Mark Mazur, who served in senior treasury roles during the Obama and Biden administrations.
“This is a mechanical job - they pay Social Security benefits, they pay vendors, whatever. It’s not one where there’s a role for nonmechanical things, at least from the career standpoint. Your whole job is to pay the bills as they’re due,” Mazur said. “It’s never been used in a way to execute a partisan agenda. … You have to really put bad intentions in place for that to be the case.”
In the 2023 fiscal year, the payment systems processed nearly 1.3 billion payments, accounting for about $5.4 trillion, nearly 97 percent made electronically, according to the Treasury Department. Every payment was made on time.
Lebryk’s departure is expected to be a shock to Treasury personnel, among whom he enjoys a sterling reputation. The lifelong bureaucrat joined the department as an intern in 1989 and spent three decades at the agency under 11 different treasury secretaries, serving as acting director of the U.S. Mint and commissioner of the Bureau of the Fiscal Service, among other roles.
In his email announcing his retirement, Lebryk praised the department’s staff. “Please know that your work makes a difference and is so very important to the country. It has been an honor to work alongside you," he wrote. “Our work may be unknown to most of the public, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t exceptionally important.”
Michael Faulkender, whom Trump nominated as deputy U.S. treasury secretary in December, praised Lebryk’s work in 2023.
“I could not, to this day, tell you his politics,” Faulkender, who served as an assistant secretary at Treasury during Trump’s first term, told The Washington Post at the time. “He always seemed to be relaxed and under control.”
***********************
SHOCK NEWS: Elon Musk pulls dangerous move at Treasury Dept.
Brian Tyler Cohen
Feb 2, 2025 Democracy Watch with Marc Elias
Democracy Watch episode 251: Marc Elias discusses Elon Musk's dangerous moves at the Treasury Department.
Transcript
[Brian Tyler Cohen] This is democracy watch Mark we've got
some alarming news here the highest
ranking career official at Treasury and
the guy who was previously serving as
the acting treasury secretary is now out
after a clash with Elon Musk and his
allies because they wanted access to
sensitive payment systems that
distribute about $6 trillion in US
Government payments so this is basically
all of the money that flows out of our
government into the hands of the folks
where it gets distributed whether it's
different programs and whatnot first of
all can I have your reaction to what
looks on its face like pretty startling
news in that uh the guy who is managing
these systems is out and Doge and Elon
musk's um whole organization is now in
after trying to get access to the system
for a a long time now
[Marc Elias] I mean it's
shocking I mean I don't shock easily and
even I am shocked by this at a couple of
levels the first is you know this guy
who has now retired and resigned he was
the acting uh treasury secretary just a
few days ago I mean this is a guy who
knows how to make sure the treasury
Department runs and the treasury
Department is one of the most important
agencies and departments in in the world
it not only oversees the payment uh uh
process but it oversees literally you
know a lot of how the US economy winds
up working and so just the fact that a
guy with that much experience who's that
senior who has been around the treasury
Department all these years for him to
suddenly resign tells you something
really bad is happening number one but
number two you know there are only a
couple reasons why someone from Doge
would want access to the US payment uh
system um one is that they're trying to
cut off the flow of funds to certain
programs. Now that is important because
remember the Trump White House through
OMB and then through a tweet from the
press secretary has tried a series of
ways to suggest that Donald
Trump can control whether or not funds
are distributed or not distributed to
various Federal programs or
through grants or through loans and that
is a power explicitly reserved in the US
Constitution for congress. So having been
frustrated with their effort to block
this through OMB one wonders if they're
now trying to find another way to block it
through the actual mechanism of funds
moving out the door. Of course the only
other possibility is that why you would
want to control the payment process is
not to stop funds from going out but you
would want to direct where the funds go
out, right? And you know you can only
imagine what kind of trouble could be
done there.
[Brian Tyler Cohen] I want to dig into
that part a little bit of it because we
already know that the Trump
Administration is especially interested
in blocking payments to recipients
that they don't want to fund anymore.
They've already tried to to do it to
programs like Medicaid to Meals on
Wheels a lot of these programs that
the poor, who the Elon Musks of the world
and the Donald Trumps in the world don't
care about, rely on to survive.
But if you
have other recipients we'll
just say who might want
government want funds from the federal
government but the oversight all of the
controls are other Trump lackies then
then what bulwark is there to prevent
from abuse happening?
[Marc Elias] You know
we tend to focus on this as we should
about what does this mean for the poor,
what does this mean for people who need,
who who are the most needy. What does it
mean for the billionaires, right? And the
large multinational corporations that
have either bowed down or not bowed down,
right? What does it say if you are a
major defense contractor? What does it
say if you are a major contractor to the
federal government that provides, oh, I
don't know, say cloud Computing
Services right or space Services? What
does it mean that now the spigot for how
money can go out or how money
cannot go out is now under a control of
political actors rather than, you know,
people who are who are upholding their
oath of office or federal law? So that
is terrifying because that is
the stick portion of
the program, not just the carrot
portion of it. And then of course there
is just the possibility that
funds are just distributed
in ways that that defy common sense,
and that might benefit
Donald Trump's political
supporters. Will funds flow, for
example, to certain types of
cryptocurrency, certain meme coins for
example? I don't know if there's one you
could think of you know maybe what we
need is a Brian Tyler Cohen coin.
[Brian Tyler Cohen] Yeah,
that's next up
on my plate. I need a shitcoin
basically that. That's what I should be doing.
[Marc Elias] It seems to be very much
in fashion.
[Brian Tyler Cohen] I know. it is it's in it's in
Vogue I'll tell you what if all I have
to do is Pivot to the right and I can I
can start selling coins and and that
that's really all it takes at this point.
Marc, in terms of in terms of recourse
what is what is the bulwark if the
federal government if the Executive
Branch if the folks at the treasury
aren't willing to provide any adequate
or requisite oversight do we then look
to the courts like what happens when all
of the police basically become bought
and sold by the very people um who who
are who are content to abuse the system
and look we've spoken at length about
how Donald Trump is trying to root out
career civil servants from the
government he's trying to get them to
resign he's sending out these mass
emails, he's promising them buyouts which
may or may not happen I don't think
there's any Avenue for the government to
be able to pay 12 months in advance um
but but these are the folks who would
largely make up the population of
whistleblowers for example if there was
abuse these are folks who wouldn't be
willing to just allow a criminal
president and his criminal accomplices to
just run Roughshod over over these these
departments and so if those people are
gone then who becomes the
person responsible for oversight here?
[Marc Elias] Well, so, sadly, in our system of checks
and balances, the check on the
executive branch --
misusing appropriated funds -- is Congress,
because it's Congress that has the
greatest interest in seeing that their
Appropriations are followed. I mean, after
all, it is literally in the Constitution.
The House of Representatives has a
privileged place in the Constitution
about appropriated funds. And normally --
normally -- the Senate appropriators, the
house appropriators, on a bipartisan
basis, the one thing that they guard more
than anything else is their prerogative
to appropriate funds. And to ensure that
the funds that they appropriate are sent
out, and the funds that they don't
appropriate are not sent out. But I
got to tell you Brian, I mean, we're
not seeing any sign of life from the
republicans in Congress as a check.
[Brian Tyler Cohen] Yeah
I mean if if if the goal here is to hope
that Mike Johnson and the Marjorie Taylor
Greenes of the world are going to serve
as a bulwark to Trump's worst
excesses, I think we're in a
pretty Grim position moving forward.
At this point we would have to hope
that that um either there's going to be
some remaining officials who are willing
to speak out and not just completely
bend the knee to Donald Trump which you
know if if he gets his way those people
won't exist or that someone in Congress
is willing to actually speak out against
against the worst abuses by their own
party which again also doesn't seem
likely given them given the way the
incentive structure for the GOP today
right.
[Marc Elias] And so look the courts are an
ultimate backstop here because
ultimately people who don't get funds
that they're entitled to can sue the
federal government and then go to court
but but I want to be clear you know I
try to point out the places where I
think the courts can be really a
Frontline uh actor to Halt Donald
Trump's worst imp uh impulses and and I
think it's important that we recognize
when the courts do that and celebrate
them when they do that. This one's
trickier because the fact is you will
need a a recipient of federal funds who,
number one, is willing to blow the
whistle. So far we have not seen a lot of
courage from Corporate
America, or government contractors, or
from Republican state Governors. So sure,
you have the Democratic AGS, and the
Democratic Governors and
they can do this. But the second is the
courts are not meant to police the
day-to-day distribution of funds from
the federal government. The oversight
that is done by Congress, that's why we
talk about Congressional oversight of
the executive branch. And like I said,
usually, if there is is one aspect of the
federal government that is subject to
more rigorous day-to-day oversight, it is
the Appropriations process. And so this
is a terrifying development, because they
may have found, you know Trump may have
found the weak spot in the federal
government where Congress won't do
oversight, and the courts will, but where it
is very clunky and not efficient. And
then you are left, as you say, with the
career civil servants, and hoping that
they can stand up against the powerful
in the way in which the Legacy Media is
backing down, the way in which Corporate
America is backing down, the
billionaire oligarchs are backing down.
And I should add to that whistleblowers. Were do
whistleblowers go? Whistleblowers usually
either go to Congress or the
inspector Generals which have been fired. Or they go
to the media. And tell me
which, if you're a career civil
servant --
[Brian Tyler Cohen] You can't go
to the LA Times, you can't go to the
Washington Post.
[Marc Elias] Yeah like what are you
going to do?
[Brian Tyler Cohen] I think all of that
underscores the importance of of the
work that you're doing over at democracy
docket which is the news Outlet you
founded to focus on everything voting in
elections you guys have been uh
completely cleare eyed and focused on
Fearless journalism and holding the
powerful to account so for those who are
watching right now if you are not yet
signed up please do yourself a favor and
sign up you'll get good information and
you'll support folks who are actually
meeting this moment with the urgency
that it deserves so I'll put the link
right here on the screen and also in the
post description of this video I'm Brian
teller Cohen I'm Mark Elias this is
democracy watch
[Music]
********************
Elon Musk’s task force has gained access to sensitive Treasury payment systems, sources say
by Fatima Hussein
Associated Press
Politics Feb 2, 2025 12:07 PM EST
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/e ... ources-say
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Department of Government Efficiency, run by President Donald Trump’s billionaire adviser and Tesla CEO Elon Musk, has gained access to sensitive Treasury data including Social Security and Medicare customer payment systems, according to two people familiar with the situation.
The move by DOGE, a Trump administration task force assigned to find ways to fire federal workers, cut programs and slash federal regulations, means it could have wide leeway to access important taxpayer data, among other things.
The New York Times first reported the news of the group’s access of the massive federal payment system. The two people who spoke to The Associated Press spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.
The highest-ranking Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee, Ron Wyden of Oregon, on Friday sent a letter to Trump’s Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent expressing concern that “officials associated with Musk may have intended to access these payment systems to illegally withhold payments to any number of programs.”
“To put it bluntly, these payment systems simply cannot fail, and any politically motivated meddling in them risks severe damage to our country and the economy,” Wyden said.
The news also comes after Treasury’s acting Deputy Secretary David Lebryk resigned from his position at Treasury after more than 30 years of service. The Washington Post on Friday reported that Lebryk resigned his position after Musk and his DOGE organization requested access to sensitive Treasury data.
“The Fiscal Service performs some of the most vital functions in government,” Lebryk said in a letter to Treasury employees sent out Friday. “Our work may be unknown to most of the public, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t exceptionally important. I am grateful for having been able to work alongside some of the nation’s best and most talented operations staff.”
The letter did not mention a DOGE request to access Treasury payments.
Musk on Saturday responded to a post on his social media platform X about the departure of Lebryk: “The @DOGE team discovered, among other things, that payment approval officers at Treasury were instructed always to approve payments, even to known fraudulent or terrorist groups. They literally never denied a payment in their entire career. Not even once.”
He did not provide proof of this claim.
DOGE was originally headed by Musk and former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, who jointly vowed to cut billions from the federal budget and usher in “mass headcount reductions across the federal bureaucracy.”
Ramaswamy has since left DOGE as he mulls a run for governor of Ohio.
- admin
- Site Admin
- Posts: 37580
- Joined: Thu Aug 01, 2013 5:21 am
Return to United States Government Crime
Who is online
Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 55 guests