January 21, 2025
Trump ends telework for Federal Employees and orders everyone return to an office. This was done in an effort to get some people to resign.
January 25, 2025
The President fires all the Inspectors General. These positions existed within each department, auditing the books, assuring all laws were being followed, etc...This was done so that Elon Musk could go into each department and start cutting, slashing and reviewing classified and sensitive data, and gain access to everyone's records, without the clearances, policies and procedures required by the law.
January 28, 2025
The Trump Administration offers Federal Employees a buyout, for which they will resign immediately, but will continue to receive pay through September.
February 1, 2025
Trump fires the head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The Administration has planned a full review of the agency to see if it aligns with the administration's goals. This bureau was set up after the financial crisis of 2008, to protect consumers from the predations of large financial institutions.
February 2, 2025
News reports begin to circulate that Elon Musk had taken control of systems at the Department of Treasury. This means he has gained access to almost every American's personally identifiable information, including but not limited to: Name, Social Security Number, birth date, household composition, business, employment, residential address, financial accounts.
February 3, 2025
Elon Musk shuts down the USAID agency, and all employees are ordered not to return to work.
February 4, 2025
The CIA offers the same buyout to its entire workforce that was offered to Federal employees at large, with the stated goals of reducing its workforce and assuring all CIA employees are aligned with the Trump agenda for the agency.
February 5, 2025
A Federal Judge placed a limit on Elon Musk's team—called the Department of Government Efficiency—allowing only 2 employees to have full, unfettered access to see all records at the Department of Treasury. This will remain in place till February 24, when it will be hashed out in court. People concerned about this group being able to review the sensitive data of nearly all Americans, did not feel better about this silly compromise.
Meanwhile, reports are coming out that Musk's team has entered NOAA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and is electronically ransacking the place. The NOAA, run by the Department of Commerce, saves untold numbers of lives each year, by tracking weather and giving warnings. News stations get their weather reports from NOAA data. NOAA satellites track hurricanes and other deadly weather patterns. They also receive emergency beacons. Last year, the Department of Commerce reports 411 people were saved thanks to the emergency beacons.
February 6, 2025
Russell Vought, architect of Project 2025, was confirmed by the Senate today along party lines. During his confirmation hearing, Vought claimed that the President should be able to suspend Congressionally-approved funds.
February 8, 2025
A Federal District Court judge halted Elon Musk's team's access to a critical system at the US Treasury that granted them access to the personal identifying information of nearly all Americans, and ordered them to destroy any data they may have downloaded from this system.
February 9, 2025
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is shut down.
February 10, 2025
Elimination of the Federal Executive Institute, a place where the wealthiest bureaucrats go for "training," which is basically a nice vacation resort funded by American taxpayers. Can't say I don't like that this thing is gone.
February 11, 2025
The president orders agencies to hire one employee for every four who leave Federal employment, once he lifts the hiring freeze.
February 12, 2025
Republican Representatives in the House are in wild arguments regarding how to implement Trump's budget. The House Freedom Caucus, the most right-wing of Congress comprised of 30 people want to pass a single budget, defunding vast swaths of programs, while the rest of Congress, including republicans simply refuse to do that. Most republicans want a piecemeal dismantling of Federal agencies through consitutional processes.
February 13, 2025
In another stream of consciousness, Trump said he would meet with Russia and China and propose a treaty to cut defense spending in half. At the mere mention of this, the stock prices of major defense contractors fell. I am not bringing this up as an action Trump took, but to illustrate the power his words have in the American economy. The way he fires out ideas like a machine gun has ripple effects in the real world. I am not personally against reducing Federal spending on defense contracts. However, this statement goes against Trump's doctrines of bolstering the United States military and making it "great again," including his executive order on building an Iron Dome around the United States.
February 17, 2025
Along with continued firings throughout the Federal Government over the last several days, the Trump Administration fired hundreds of Federal Aviation Administration employees. This is notable because this agency has been chronically understaffed, contributing to various problems, including dozens of deaths in recent weeks.
February 18, 2025
Trump issues executive order, bringing independent watchdog agencies under his control, requiring them to get in line with his political agenda. Independent agencies protect Americans from the worst aspects of government overreach and control by keeping political bias—as much as possible—from ruining American lives. They protect whistleblowers and consumers, they protect our property rights, etc...
February 19, 2025
Trump has issued an Executive Order and a Memorandum, requiring a more measured approach to reducing the size of government. This requires analysis by the heads of departments and approval by the Office of Management and Budget, before implementation. It also reduces the role of DOGE to more of a consultant rather than an executive function that can take decisive action.
February 23, 2025
After a very public meltdown by Trump-supporting farmers, the Department of Agriculture has released funds previously canceled by DOGE and Trump. Numerous Trump-supporting Federal employees who have been fired, have publicly melted down, but have not been returned to their posts.
However, DOGE has terminated Federal Employees who were in charge of protecting our nuclear weapons, and those people have been rehired. Similarly with scientists tracking and studying the current Bird Flu, which has caused the price of eggs and products containing eggs, which has further exacerbated the problems caused by inflation.
March 7, 2025
In the last week, Trump has further relegated DOGE to the status of consultant, and reminded department heads that they are ultimately in charge. Trump acknowledged that DOGE had made vast cuts without understanding consequences, and he charged departments to do proper analysis before making surgical cuts.
Despite this, DOGE continues to have a very public face, and Elon Musk continues to at least act as if he has all the power.
Federal Judges have rules that the government can't fire people for being "unsuccessful" when in fact they were not, and thousands of Federal jobs have been reinstated and are in a kind of limbo at this time. Further, some funds that were cut, particularly the USAID program, have been reinstated by court order, but this has been haphazard and incomplete. Things really are in limbo.
On March 7, the Department of Justice announced that all Federal funds would be withdrawn from Columbia University—about $400 million. Columbia is the first of many universities under the thumb of the administration, and there are more to come.
March 20, 2025
President Trump signed an executive order aimed at dismantling the Department of Education. He knows only Congress can eliminate it, but Trump is going to make an empty shell that Congress can eliminate.
March 22, 2025
After persecuting a major DC lawfirm, Paul Weiss, and getting their complete obeissance, President Trump issued a memorandum today, ordering his Justice Department to prosecute lawfirms who bring action against the administration on the basis that all lawsuits against the Trump administration are illicit, frivolous and fraudulent.
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