How DOGE’s Cuts to the IRS Threaten to Cost More Than DOGE Will Ever Save The Trump administration claims gutting federal agencies will save money, but cutting the IRS means the government collects less taxes. “If you’re interested in the deficit and curbing it, why would y...

If this administration is truly concerned about reducing the deficit then WHY would they reduce the ability to generate revenue? www.propublica.org/article/how-...

February 25, 2025 On Friday, February 21, former transportation secretary Pete Buttigieg posted: “A defining policy battle is about to come to a head in this country.

February 25, 2025

This, this, a thousand times this.

“You’re terminated because…?”

Fired federal employees are telling their stories—no deep state, just career public servants tossed aside.

DOGE’s mass firings aren’t about efficiency—they’re gutting expertise, wrecking lives, and calling it “reform.”

Carville's 'play dead' plan: A death knell for democracy Carville’s call for Democratic retreat is a losing strategy. To counter authoritarianism, Democrats must fight, reframe, and lead—not surrender.

The Dems need to get off their backside and fight. Rolling over like Carville suggests is what got us here

www.theframelab.org/carvilles-pl...

Yes, Dan Bongino once wrote 'cold civil war' warning to 'scumbag commie libs' The May 2024 post resurfaced as a screenshot in February 2025, after U.S. President Donald Trump announced Bongino as the new FBI deputy director.

Yes, Dan Bongino once wrote 'cold civil war' warning to 'scumbag commie libs' www.snopes.com/fact-check/b...

Cutting funding for science can have consequences for the economy, US technological competitiveness The jury’s out on whether the US is still at the top of global science. Proposed cuts to major agencies could mean completely ceding that title.

Cutting funding for science can have consequences for the economy, US technological competitiveness
theconversation.com/cutting-fund...

Firing civil servants and dismantling government departments is how aspiring strongmen consolidate personal power – lessons from around the globe Whether by shuffling agency personnel, creating new agencies, or limiting their capacity for oversight, a common tactic among power-hungry leaders is establishing control over the country’s bureaucrac...

Firing civil servants and dismantling government departments is how aspiring strongmen consolidate personal power – lessons from around the globe
theconversation.com/firing-civil...

Governor Mills doesn’t suffer fools lightly, and it appears she has even less tolerance for bullies. (And as a former attorney general, she knows what she’s talking about.)

Trump’s Military Purge Has Washington Asking ‘Who’s Next?’ The dismissal of the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff came as part of a broader shakeup throughout the military’s senior ranks.

The dismissal of the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff came as part of a broader shake-up that has rattled national-security officials, who fear they could be next, report @shaneharris.bsky.social and @jonlemire.bsky.social:

It's not about Brown, or Caine, or other individuals. It's not about reforming DOD . What it's about, at DOD and DOJ and the FBI and the intelligence community, is breaking all institutional resistance to Trump, and ensuring as much as is possible personal fealty to Trump.

Trump Fires Joint Chiefs Chairman Amid Flurry of Dismissals at Pentagon The decision to fire Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr., a four-star fighter pilot, upends a tradition in which the Joint Chiefs chairman traditionally remains in place as administrations change.

Trump’s Pentagon purge has included the top military lawyers. Nobody should be surprised. Dictators politicize the military. Trump wants those with the biggest guns loyal to him, not the Constitution He says he’s demilitarizing it. I call BS. Orwellian to the core.
www.nytimes.com/2025/02/21/u...

Who wants spies who look like they could fit into other societies? What's the point of that?

He nails it.

firing for "too much DEI" is plainly firing a woman and a Black man on the presumption only white men can be qualified. this is disgusting biogtry.

WaPo Page One:

“If you’re going to just yell at me, that’s not going to be an effective town hall,” McCormick said ..

“But we’re pissed!” a woman shouted. #GA07

www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

President Trump’s purge at the Pentagon is a major step toward creating an officer corps personally and absolutely loyal to him, @radiofreetom.bsky.social writes. theatln.tc/3oq1fmSh

This is how it’s done.

Scatterplot titled “Empirical Evidence of Ideological Targeting in Federal Layoffs: Agencies seen as liberal are significantly more likely to face DOGE layoffs.” • The x-axis represents Perceived Ideological Leaning of federal agencies, ranging from -2 (Most Liberal) to +2 (Most Conservative), based on survey responses from over 1,500 federal executives. • The y-axis shows Agency Size (Number of Staff) on a logarithmic scale from 1,000 to 1,000,000. Each point represents a federal agency: • Red dots indicate agencies that experienced DOGE layoffs. • Gray dots indicate agencies with no layoffs. Key Observations: • Liberal-leaning agencies (left side of the plot) are disproportionately represented among red dots, indicating higher layoff rates. • Notable targeted agencies include: • HHS (Health & Human Services) • EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) • NIH (National Institutes of Health) • CFPB (Consumer Financial Protection Bureau) • Dept. of Education • USAID (U.S. Agency for International Development) • The National Nuclear Security Administration (DOE), despite its conservative leaning (+1 on the scale), is an exception among targeted agencies. • A notable outlier: the Department of Veterans Affairs (moderately conservative) also faced layoffs despite its size. Takeaway: The figure visually demonstrates that DOGE layoffs disproportionately targeted liberal-leaning agencies, supporting claims of ideological bias. The pattern reveals that layoffs were not driven by agency size or budget alone but were strongly associated with perceived ideology. Source: Richardson, Clinton, & Lewis (2018). Elite Perceptions of Agency Ideology and Workforce Skill. The Journal of Politics, 80(1).

The DOGE firings have nothing to do with “efficiency” or “cutting waste.” They’re a direct push to weaken federal agencies perceived as liberal. This was evident from the start, and now the data confirms it: targeted agencies overwhelmingly those seen as more left-leaning. 🧵⬇️

Federal Elections Commission Chair Says Trump Tried to Illegally Fire Her Read more here.

NEW: Trump tried to unlawfully fire Federal Election Committee chair and outspoken Trump critic, Ellen Weintraub (D), without cause. This move adds to growing concerns over the administration's disregard for the separation of powers.

Trump's freeze stalls federal firefighter hiring Crews helped battle the deadly Los Angeles-area wildfires, and now some worry a shortfall will weaken response capabilities as fire season approaches.

NEW: President Trump's hiring freeze has stopped the onboarding of seasonal federal firefighters, including those who work for agencies called on to help battle the devastating L.A. fires, creating a potential shortfall ahead of the next fire season. www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news...

The Legal Challenges to Elon Musk’s DOGE, Explained Read more here.

NEW: Since Trump took office, Elon Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has disrupted the federal government. Three lawsuits have been filed to determine if its actions are legal. Here's where the legal challenges stand.👇

Health clinics face cuts, closures as Trump's funding fight ripples outside of Washington A judge has blocked the funding freeze, but organizations say they are still unable to access money they urgently need to pay for salaries, utilities, supplies and other expenses.

People will get sick and die. www.nbcnews.com/politics/don...

If Republicans really wanted to cut costs for families, then they wouldn’t slash the funds we use to educate and feed our kids, cut access to health care coverage, allow oil companies to pollute our air and water, and shovel even more money to defense contractors.

They are protecting the elites who screw real Americans. How does that fit in with the MAGA view?

Is Donald Trump Afraid of Elon Musk? The president has long operated without anything resembling worry when it comes to appointments or executive action, but as his most powerful—and richest—political ally chainsaws his way through the f...

“According to one Trump ally, Musk is not fully briefing White House chief of staff Susie Wiles about his plans and the White House is effectively in the dark.”

www.vanityfair.com/news/story/i...

Trump just terminated the Chair of the Kennedy Center and has installed himself as the new chair.

He says he will now be dictating the institution’s “art and culture” and says it “must reflect” what he chooses.

U.S. Aid to Israel in Four Charts Israel has long been the leading recipient of U.S. foreign aid, including military assistance. That aid has come under heightened scrutiny amid Israel’s conflicts with Hamas, Hezbollah, and Iran.

There’s a lot of confusion and misinformation about how much we send in foreign aid and to what countries. Here’s a chart that explains it.

www.cfr.org/article/us-a...

The U.S. Cannot Be Run Like a Business Donald Trump ran his campaign with the promise to manage the American government like a business. Should government even be run like a business, let alone by businesspeople? No more than business shou...

Here’s another excellent analysis of the ‘government should be run like a business' fallacy that the GOP of back in the day, tRump 1.0 and 2.0 and now DOGE rely on.
hbr.org/2017/03/the-...