Government Efficiency (2 Viewers)

Thread Attachment browser

Users who are viewing this thread

    Total: 3 (members: 0, guests: 3)
    RobF

    RobF

    Well-known member
    Joined
    Sep 28, 2019
    Messages
    1,376
    Reaction score
    4,226
    Location
    Warrington, UK
    Online
    I think this topic deserves its own thread, both to discuss generally the topic of government efficiency, and specifically the so-called 'Department of Government Efficiency' and the incoming Trump administration's aims to "dismantle Government Bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures and restructure Federal Agencies".

    The announcements have been covered in the The Trump Cabinet and key post thread, but to recap, Trump has announced that Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy will work together on a not-actually-an-official-government-Department of Government Efficiency, which is intended to work with the White House and Office of Management & Budget to "drive large scale structural reform, and create an entrepreneurial approach to Government never seen before," with the 'Department' to conclude its work "no later than July 4, 2026."

    Musk has previously said that the federal budget could be reduced by "at least $2 trillion", and Ramaswarmy, during his presidential campaign, said he would fire more than 75% of the federal work force and disband agencies including the Department of Education and the FBI.
     
    Optimus Prime said:
    Emails sent by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency asking federal workers to respond with five accomplishments have reportedly run into a technical hitch.

    The billionaire ordered federal workers to email the Office of Personnel Management listing five weekly achievements as part of a drive by the Trump administration to drastically reduce federal staff numbers.

    When workers submitted their lists, many received bounceback emails informing them that the department’s inbox was full, Bloomberg reports.

    “The recipient’s mailbox is full and can’t accept messages now. Please try resending your message later, or contact the recipient directly,” emails received by workers seen by the outlet reportedly said.

    The fault comes as Musk has branded himself and his DOGE team as the White House’s “tech support” and threatened to terminate workers who did not respond to the emails.

    Employees across the Social Security Administration, Department of Health and Human Services and the Internal Revenue Service received the bounceback, according to ABC News.

    The issue was “resolved quickly earlier this week,” a spokesperson for the Office of Personnel Management told The Independent.

    Enforcing Musk’s demand has “waned” at some agencies, sources told ABC News. “Some employees have simply stopped submitting their reports without consequence,” the outlet reports............

    www.the-independent.com

    Workers receive bounceback to Musk and DOGE’s ‘five things’ emails

    The fault comes as Musk has branded himself and his DOGE team as White House ‘tech support’
    www.the-independent.com www.the-independent.com
    Click to expand...
    Now "the 5 things" they will be doing for the remainder of this term will be trying to resend "the 5 things" they have done...
     
    I would list the things I didn't do:

    1) I didn't leak war plans on a chat app

    2) I didn't sell out our allies to a KGB thug

    3) I didn't take lunches away from school kids

    4) I didn't tank the economy with idiotic tariffs

    5) I didn't float the idea of eliminating federal courts

    My two week look ahead:

    Throw up all over myself and have Fox compliment my technique.
     
    Union busting, and canceling workers’ rights. If you think this won’t affect you because you’re not a federal worker, you’re crazy. You should realize by now that he will try to do this nationally next.

     
    Donald Trump is reportedly aiming to slash the workforces of nearly two dozen federal agencies by between 8 and 50 percent, according to a White House document preparing federal officials for the enormous cuts.

    According to the Washington Post, which obtained the document and spoke to two people familiar with it on condition of anonymity, its contents include plans for 22 agencies.

    People familiar with the document told the paper that the plans are fluid and that the numbers are not final.

    That said, the plans reportedly show that upcoming cuts will have a severe impact on what federal agencies will be able to accomplish in their diminished state.

    One document reportedly references the Department of Housing and Urban Development and suggests a cut of approximately half of its 8,300-person staff.

    A similar entry about the Department of the Interior shows a reduction of one in four of its employees, and an IRS note suggests a cut of nearly one in three employees.……




    www.independent.co.uk

    Here’s how much Trump may slash the workforce in various agencies

    Despite the cuts, the proposed savings by firing federal workers barely puts a dent in the $1.8 trillion Trump and Musk want to save
    www.independent.co.uk www.independent.co.uk
     
    The grant, contract and budget cuts in federal agencies, along with the crippling reductions of tens of thousands of government jobs, will “in all probability” end up increasing (by a lot), rather than decreasing the nation’s deficit, which has been the stated intent, notes a new report.

    The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) hatchet man Elon Musk initially boasted that he would carve $2 trillion out of government spending — even the Trump administration works to slash the nation’s income via tax cuts that will largely accrue to the wealthy by $4.5 trillion. (The Republicans are also planning to increase military spending by $150 billion over the next five years.)

    Now Musk is claiming he may reach half of that goal — $1 trillion in cuts — by the end of the year..

    It’s impossible to know what has actually already been cut since Musk’s “receipts” have been relentlessly riddled with significant errorsthat all make it look as if he has saved far more than he actually has.……


    www.independent.co.uk

    DOGE cuts will ‘in all probability’ increase the US deficit — by a lot: Report

    The grant, contract and budget cuts in federal agencies, along with the crippling reductions of tens of thousands of government jobs, will “in all probability” end up increasing (by a lot), rather than decreasing the nation’s deficit, which has been the stated intent, notes a new report.
    www.independent.co.uk www.independent.co.uk
     
    US Institute of Peace lays off staff after dramatic standoff with DOGE
    Employees with the U.S. Institute of Peace started receiving termination letters effective immediately on Friday evening, five people told POLITICO, a major blow to the embattled organization as the Trump administration seeks to dismantle its operations.

    While the size and scope of the firings is not immediately clear, longtime outside general counsel to USIP George Foote said nearly all of the institute’s U.S.-based employees received the termination notifications, with a handful of exceptions including regional vice presidents responsible for coordinating with overseas employees.
     
    Three-quarters of U.S. scientists say they’re considering leaving the country following moves to slash scientific programs by the Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency, a poll has found.

    In recent days, the administration has laid off researchers at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

    The Department of Health and Human Services is expected to lay off 10,000 workers. The agency oversees the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Food and Drug Administration.

    There have also been major cuts to funding. NASA is terminating $420 million in contractsnot aligned with the White House’s priorities.

    The National Institutes of Health are cutting grants for Covid research and the Environmental Protection Agency is reportedly targeting environmental grants, according to The Los Angeles Times.

    Last week, the government terminated at least 68 grants to 46 institutions, totaling nearly $40 million, according to a government website.

    These actions, and more, have left people in scientific fields feeling uncertain, and sparked protests across the country.

    The survey conducted by the journal Naturesaid worry among scientists was particularly pronounced among early-career researchers. More than 1,200 scientists responded to the poll.

    Of the 690 postgraduate researchers who replied, 548 said they were considering leaving. More than 250 of the 340 Ph.D. students surveyed said the same.……

    www.independent.co.uk

    Three-quarters of US scientists are considering leaving thanks to DOGE cuts: poll

    Scientists are considering moving abroad amid major funding cuts from the Trump administration
    www.independent.co.uk www.independent.co.uk
     
    Mail delivery. Real estate. Foreign aid grants. The Trump administration is moving to privatize a sweeping number of government functions and assets — a long-standing Republican goal that’s being catalyzed by billionaire Elon Musk.

    The slash-and-burn approach of Musk’s U.S. DOGE Service is paving the way for a new shift to the private sector, reducing the size and power of the federal bureaucracy in a real-world test of the conservative theory — a version of which is also widely popular in Silicon Valley — that companies are better than government at saving money and responding to people’s needs.

    Examples are popping up across Washington and in proposals from President Donald Trump’s allies, though the plans are various stages of development and, in some cases, have already encountered resistance.

    At the DOGE-allied General Services Administration, officials are quietly moving ahead with a push to sell hundreds of publicly owned buildings to private companies — which can then lease them back to the government, theoretically saving maintenance and upkeep costs for taxpayers, according to two people briefed on internal deliberations who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss them publicly.…….

    DOGE wants businesses to run government services ‘as much as possible’​


     
    Optimus Prime said:
    Mail delivery. Real estate. Foreign aid grants. The Trump administration is moving to privatize a sweeping number of government functions and assets — a long-standing Republican goal that’s being catalyzed by billionaire Elon Musk.

    The slash-and-burn approach of Musk’s U.S. DOGE Service is paving the way for a new shift to the private sector, reducing the size and power of the federal bureaucracy in a real-world test of the conservative theory — a version of which is also widely popular in Silicon Valley — that companies are better than government at saving money and responding to people’s needs.

    Examples are popping up across Washington and in proposals from President Donald Trump’s allies, though the plans are various stages of development and, in some cases, have already encountered resistance.

    At the DOGE-allied General Services Administration, officials are quietly moving ahead with a push to sell hundreds of publicly owned buildings to private companies — which can then lease them back to the government, theoretically saving maintenance and upkeep costs for taxpayers, according to two people briefed on internal deliberations who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss them publicly.…….

    DOGE wants businesses to run government services ‘as much as possible’​


    Click to expand...

    Since businesses prioritize profit, costs will inevitably rise. If some or all of these services—such as weather reports or traffic information—become paid subscriptions, it will simply be another way for large corporations to charge ordinary people for services that the government has provided for free for decades.
     
    Why would DOGE need to access this system?



    “Top career officials at the Department of the Interior (DOI) were placed on administrative leave late last week after declining to immediately give affiliates of the so-called Department of Government Efficiency(DOGE) levels of access to a payroll system that would in theory allow them to, among other things, stop individual Supreme Court justices’ paychecks.

    The New York Times has reported that these officials include DOI’s chief information and information security officers; sources tell WIRED they also include a top lawyer.”
     
    Optimus Prime said:
    So, my brother's agency is on the list that Trump wants to shut down, he's been there for nearly 20 years

    When I talked with him he was as down and dejected as I've ever heard him

    My girlfriend (who's own job is in limbo) is taking all this daily chaos, cruelty and uncertainty very hard and damn near had a panic attack (not an exaggeration) the other night over it all

    Voight said that he wanted federal employees to feel trauma and distress every day

    Well, mission accomplished butt crevasse

    Fork him, fork Trump, fork Musk and everyone who voted for this
    Click to expand...
    Just found out everyone at my brother’s agency was put on administrative leave today

    He’s devastated
     
    Last edited:
    This one I’m not mad about

    Still can’t stand Paxton though
    ====================
    The CEO of a Texas health insurance company was fired after admitting before a DOGE panel of state lawmakers that he hired private investigators to spy on customers and obtain sensitive details about their lives.

    Mark Sanders was dismissed from his duties as chief executive of Austin-based Superior HealthPlan after he testified before the Texas House Delivery of Government Efficiency Committee in a hearing on Medicaid procurement last week.

    Sanders acknowledged Wednesday that private investigators were hired to surveil and glean background information on state lawmakers, journalists, healthcare providers, and patients.

    Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced Thursday that his office was launching an investigation into the company after Sanders’ remarks.

    “The allegations concerning Superior’s actions, such as actions that were characterized as potentially blackmailing lawmakers to secure state contracts and surveilling private citizens to avoid paying legitimate claims, are deeply troubling,” he said in a statement…….

    www.independent.co.uk

    Health insurance CEO admits to hiring private investigators to spy on patients

    Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has vowed to ‘uncover any illegal activity’ as has launched an investigation into Superior HealthPlan and its chief executive Mark Sanders
    www.independent.co.uk www.independent.co.uk
     

    Create an account or login to comment

    You must be a member in order to leave a comment

    Create account

    Create an account on our community. It's easy!

    Register

    Log in

    Already have an account? Log in here.

    Share this page

    General News Feed

    Fact Checkers News Feed

    Back
    Top Bottom