Tara Luke

The privatization of NOAA’s core responsibilities—such as weather forecasting, climate research, and environmental monitoring—poses serious risks to the quality, accessibility, and impartiality of the information we all rely on.

While she emphasized returning power to local governments, she also echoed Trump’s call for the federal government to police what schools are teaching. Not sure how you return power but then don’t return all of it.

RIP U.S. Department of Education. Education Secretary Linda McMahon introduced herself to department employees with an email calling on them to join her in a “historic final mission” to downsize the agency and shift control to the states.

Trump posted: ‘All federal funding will STOP for any college, school, or university that allows illegal protests. Agitators will be imprisoned or permanently sent back to the country from which they came. American students will be permanently expelled or, depending on the crime, arrested. NO MASKS!’

Some federal employees who accepted Trump’s buyout offer are now being notified that their buyout has been denied, and they are being terminated instead.

Welcome!

Trump has dismissed the director of the Office of Government Ethics. David Huitema, the former director, played a key role in vetting Trump administration appointees for conflicts of interest.

USAID, currently being shut down by Elon Musk, purchases about $2 billion annually in rice, wheat, lentils, and peas from American farmers.

Simultaneously, sections of NOAA’s website displaying climate data have become unavailable. They are systematically going through the system, removing content at their discretion. More details to follow.

Elon Musk’s staffers have gained access to the computer systems at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), claiming to use that access to search for programs and staff linked to diversity policies.

At CDC studies on the H5N1 bird flu, scheduled for release on Jan. 23, remain withheld despite the spreading outbreak.

Musk’s staffers fanned out across several agencies today, sending representatives to the Atlanta headquarters of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and meeting with the Labor Department to seek access to sensitive data.

They have also sought access to payment and contracting systems across HHS, which manage hundreds of billions of dollars in annual payments to health care providers. Musk’s staff has already gained access to these systems, including CMS’s grant-management system.

Musk posted on X today, stating, “Medicare is where the big money fraud is happening.” The Department of Health and Human Services spends nearly $2 trillion annually, mostly on health insurance programs like Medicare and Medicaid, making it a prime target.

While Trump has been distracting America with everything else, Elon Musk’s staffers are quietly taking over NOAA and the Department of Labor. They are also using AI to help rewrite a significant portion of the federal government’s computer systems.

Approximately 20 members of Elon Musk’s staff have begun working within the Education Department. They have gained access to multiple sensitive internal systems, including a financial aid dataset containing the personal information of millions of students enrolled in the federal student aid program.

The U.S. attorney in Washington warned that his office would pursue charges against ‘anyone who impedes’ Elon Musk or his staff.

The breach extends further, giving Musk’s associates access to systems related to employee onboarding, job performance reviews, and healthcare management. This raises serious concerns about potential violations of federal privacy laws, including those protecting health information under HIPAA.

Musk’s team has been reviewing these position descriptions to identify and target roles, including those related to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), which have subsequently been removed.

Elon Musk’s staffers have gained unauthorized access to sensitive government employee data by installing a server at the OPM. They now have access to USAJOBS, the federal hiring portal where applicants submit personal details such as Social Security numbers, home addresses, and employment histories.

A witch hunt has begun at the FBI. Employees are required to provide information by Tuesday and are being encouraged to report on their coworkers. The FBI questionnaire asks agents about their roles in various cases, including whether they made arrests or appeared in court, among other details.

Billionaire Elon Musk has stated that work is underway to shut down the U.S. foreign aid agency, USAID. Officials have been instructed not to report to work and have been locked out of the building.

It’s official: Elon Musk’s staffers have now illegally obtained classified information from the USAID office.

Here’s a recap of what’s happening:

Trump issued a memorandum invalidating government labor contracts finalized in the 30 days before his presidential inauguration. This action is not legal and will not hold up in court.

Scientists at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention were ordered to withdraw any pending publications, at any scientific journal, that mention terms such as “transgender,” “immigrant,” “L.G.B.T.” or “pregnant people.”

At OPM, Musk’s staffers won’t leave—they work around the clock and have even installed sofa beds in the office. Our access to data systems has been restricted, raising serious concerns about cybersecurity and a complete lack of oversight. We are keeping our heads down and documenting everything.

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