Ash Len

It's "Alligator Auschwitz" they're building - accuracy beats alliteration in this case. Fun fact: Auschwitz wasn't originally built as a death camp, either... the "final solution" came years later... but there were plenty of warning signs.

I know social studies hasn't been prioritized in education very much... but I'm pretty sure this kind of bald-faced BS isn't going to fly with the fund managers who have fiduciary responsibilities to their clients.

Sadly, neither Sec has the same legally binding fiduciary to We the People.

Lutnick (Commerce): Unfair trade practices are blocking American companies from selling rice in Asia!

Bessent (Treasury): This (10% drop in 2 days April 3-4) is just a natural market reaction to DeepSeek AI, not due to any of Trump's economic policies.*
*DeepSeek AI announced in January.

Would you accept an unlicensed, uninsured subcontractor who takes a sledgehammer to every wall before assessing if it's load-bearing, who clearly doesn't know the difference between a nail and a screw but wants to supply all job materials from his shop, to do any renovations in your home?

Some of these firings have been reversed, but those same agencies are still targets for Reductions-in-Force. Veteran status does impact order of consideration, but some agencies are facing RIF levels that will leave them little choice but to fire Veterans. Approx. 1/3 of Feds are Veterans. 5/End

Until they are converted, however, they are far more vulnerable to being fired compared to a worker in a non-probationary competitive service appointment. The initial rounds of terminations unequivocally targeted anyone in these types of temporary or probationary appointments. Incl. MIL spouses. 4/

This could be 1 year in a provisional appointment for some, or 2 years in an excepted service appointment for others. But as long as they perform well and show they can meet the expectations of the position, they are eligible for conversion to a competitive service appointment. 3/

Certain groups of veterans are eligible for different types of "non-competitive" hiring authorities that allow a hiring manager to select and appoint them to a vacancy without announcing or competing it.

The trade-off is they usually have to spend a period of time in a kind of temporary status. 2/

Just adding on some info since the general public is likely not familiar with the special hiring mechanisms for veterans in the federal government.

Most full-time jobs in federal civilian agencies are in the "competitive" service. This means people have to undergo competition to be hired. 1/

Employee performance plans are tied to agency strategic plans (if they're done right). Employees can do self-assessments to document how they have performed, citing specific achievements. Supervisors must complete mid-year and end-year reviews. Basically, we already know who's coasting... 3/

Federal agencies already have a mechanism for aligning their activities to the administration's goals and priorities. It's called a strategic plan. Conveniently, most strategic plans are 4 years long, and receive approval by the White House before they're finalized. 2/

Based on some quick, back-of-the-napkin math, if 2.3 million workers spend 1 hour/week writing and sending a report of their activities, assuming they all receive the same type of compensation as a given example on average, the cost to the US taxpayers on an annual basis would be ~$4,519,684,000.

Eliminating resources needed by the American people and closing offices so they have to travel farther or wait longer to access the few remaining resources is like claiming you've saved money by not feeding your family dinner ever again.

Statement from probationary federal employee fired from Veterans Crisis Line

These decisions show no evidence of careful analysis, just a hatchet job to take out as much as possible as fast as possible.

Federal Financial Watchdog Ordered to Cease Activity In an email to staff of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the agency’s acting director ordered workers to cease “all supervision and examination activity.”

Efficiently eradicating protections for middle and working class Americans...

www.nytimes.com/2025/02/08/u...

Data graphic with multiple points about the federal government workforce.

Actual data about the federal workforce that's been previously published in public reports. Click on image to expand for full size.

Many of the PCVs are posting on Reddit regarding what's happening to them in real time. Long-term, it's hard to say. Possible the agency will get absorbed into State like they're planning to do with USAID, like how Fulbright is run now.

Volunteers who had written stories for publication on the PC website are being contacted to update/change their stories to align with the current administration's messaging, such as removing "climate change." If the PCV disagrees with the change, their story is removed from the website and socials.

Any questions in the application that use "gender identity" have to be removed or changed to sex and the only response options will be "male" or "female." I believe all DEI-related language is being scrubbed from the website and application and training curriculum, as well as any reports.

Trans volunteers will no longer receive gender-affirming medical care. They have been given the option to "forego" such medical care for the remainder of their service (i.e., receive no hormone therapy) or be medically separated from service.

If federal govt is run like a business, shareholder profits reign supreme. The general citizenry are not the shareholders, they're the customers. The shareholders are the ones behind the super PACs buying the elected officials, getting the govt contracts, and funding lobbyists and policy writing.

If federal govt is run like a business, CDC and NIH research and grants will only support treatments and not cures because repeat customers produce more profits than one-time customers.

"More wood." (a la "More weight.") IYKYK