Law be damned, Trump asserts unilateral control over executive branch, federal service (13 Viewers)

[superchuck500]

Following the Project 2025 playbook, in the last week, Trump and his newly installed loyalists have moved to (1) dismiss federal officials deemed unreliable to do his bidding (including 17 inspectors general) - many of which have protections from arbitrary dismissal, (2) freeze all science and public health activity until he can wrest full control, (3) freeze all federal assistance and grant activity deemed inconsistent with Trump's agenda, and (4) moved to terminate all federal employee telework and DEI programs.

The problem is much of this is controlled by federal law and not subject to sudden and complete change by the president through executive order. Most notably is the Impoundment Control Act of 1974 that simply codifies what is the constitutional allocation of resources where Congress appropriates money to the executive branch for a specific purpose, the executive branch must carry out that statutory purpose. This is indeed a constitutional crisis and even if Congress abdicates to Trump by acquiescing, the courts must still apply the law - or rule it unconstitutional.

And meanwhile the architect of much of this unlawful action is Russell Vought, Trump’s OMB nominee who the Senate appears ready to confirm.

120. The Impoundment Crisis of 2025

The Trump administration's Monday spending freeze is likely to provoke a crisis over the constitutionality of "impoundment"—one that the justices could well have to resolve *very* soon.

www.stevevladeck.com

 

[Huntn]

NASA is working to comply with President Donald Trump’s crusade targeting diversity and inclusion at federal agencies, reportedly scrapping key terms from its websites related to accessibility, indigenous people, women, and other topics deemed “wasteful” by the current administration.

In a memo sent out on January 22, NASA employees were ordered to “scrub” mentions certain terms from the agency’s websites by end of day, according to 404 Media. “This is a drop everything and reprioritize your day request,” the memo read. “Note that the list below is the list that exists this morning, but it may grow as the day goes on.”

The list includes mentions of diversity, equity, inclusion programs (DEIA), underrepresented groups/people, environmental justice, and “anything specifically targeting women (women in leadership, etc.),” per the memo obtained by 404 Media. Gizmodo reached out to NASA to confirm the information but we did not hear back by time of publication.

Shortly after President Donald Trump announced his executive order related to shutting down DEIA offices in the federal government, NASA quickly put an end to its diversity programs and canceled any related contracts. “These programs divided Americans by race, wasted taxpayer dollars, and resulted in shameful discrimination,” NASA’s acting administrator Janet Petro wrote in a memo sent out to agency employees on January 22.

Prior to Trump’s orders, NASA was named as one of the best employees in the U.S. for diversity in 2023. NASA’s workforce is composed of approximately 35% women and 30% minorities, according to a 2021 report by NASA’s Office of Inspector General. Still, the agency had more work to do to improve inclusion amongst its workforce.

A 2024 report concluded that “despite support from Agency leaders and multiple initiatives to increase diversity, we found NASA has made little progress in increasing the representation of women and minorities in its civilian workforce or leadership ranks,” NASA’s Office of Inspector General wrote. “Specifically, over the past decade NASA’s overall workforce demographics have stayed roughly the same, with small increases (1 or 2 percent) for some groups.”

NASA’s websites are now undergoing a worrying change that aims to omit important milestones in the space agency’s history. For example, a 2023 article mentioning NASA’s 1978 class of astronauts that included the first female, Black, and Asian-American astronauts, was removed from the agency’s website by January 29, returning an error message instead, SpaceNews reported. Additionally, words like ‘inclusive’ were changed to ‘fair,’ while the word inclusion was omitted altogether on NASA’s pages, according to 404 Media............

NASA Ordered to Remove Anything About 'Women in Leadership' From Its Websites: Report

"This is a drop everything and reprioritize your day request."

gizmodo.com

Workers at NASA Told to ‘Drop Everything’ to Scrub Mentions of Indigenous People, Women from Its Websites

"This is a drop everything and reprioritize your day request," a directive "per NASA HQ direction" stated.

www.404media.co

#MuskTrump, despicable in all ways. There’s a large group of people in DC who can counter this. The question boils down to who controls law enforcement and the military. If it’s MuskTrump we are screwed. Do I have a reason to believe it’s anyone other than them? And what would happen if The JCS told them to fork off? This is the most serious threat to to Nation since the Civil War. We could be on the verge…

 

[Huntn]

FORT MEADE, Md. — Late last week, a national museum literally papered over history.

Responding to President Trump's order that terminated diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives across the federal government, the National Cryptologic Museum taped sheets of paper over plaques that celebrate women and people of color who had served the National Security Agency, which intercepts overseas conversations and breaks foreign government codes.

The honorees are described as "Trailblazers in U.S. Cryptologic History," and the plaques hang in the museum's Hall of Honor.

When Larry Pfeiffer, who spent two decades at the NSA, saw an image online showing the plaques covered with brown paper, he was stunned.

"My jaw dropped, my eyes bulged," said Pfeiffer, "like one of those Warner Brothers' cartoons."

He reposted the picture, as did retired Gen. Michael Hayden, who had served as NSA director for six years under presidents of both parties.

Many former NSA workers were furious. The museum uncovered the plaques and said Sunday on X that it had made a mistake.

But Pfeiffer and dozens of NSA retirees weren't satisfied. On Monday morning, they went to the museum outside Washington, D.C., to find out what had happened. Rob Johnson, who said he had worked for the agency for more than half a century, told the public relations staff at the museum that he was appalled.

"As much as this administration eschews truth and honesty, it is important that we not allow it to erase history," Johnson said.

Helen Adams was angry, too.

"Didn't somebody say, 'Oh my God, that's wrong?' " she asked.

Adams' late husband, Ralph, was executive director of the NSA. Ralph Adams was also Black. Although his face wasn't among those obscured, Helen Adams took the decision to cover up other NSA honorees personally.

In a phone interview, NSA Executive Director Sheila Thomas — the No. 3 person in the agency — told NPR that papering over the exhibits was a mistake.

"There was absolutely never an intention to cover up parts of our history," said Thomas, who was at the museum to greet the retirees and has worked at the NSA for just over four decades. "As soon as we became aware [of it], we said, 'Oh, that was not what was intended.' "............

NSA museum covered plaques honoring women and people of color, provoking an uproar​

https://www.npr.org/2025/02/05/nx-s1-5286299/nsa-museum-dei-exhibit-women-people-of-color-trump

So attacking DEI is the NEO Racist Trump Doctrine. And the people are just going to allow this to happen? Actually, that remains to be seen.

The bottom line, if you are not lilly white, but a lowly minority you will receive no accolades, no recognition, your faces will be covered. See the new directive to wear a bag over your head when you report to work? THIS IS SO forkED.

 

[MT15]

DOGE will keep limited access to Treasury payments system with 2 associates having ‘read-only’ view | CNN Politics

Two Treasury Department employees affiliated with Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency will keep limited access to the highly sensitive payment system within the agency, following emergency court proceedings Wednesday that arose out of privacy concerns about DOGE’s access to the system.

www.cnn.com

Read only access.

Elon himself is claiming otherwise. He is saying they have already removed at least one charity that receives government funding from the system so that they will no longer receive any funds.

 

[Heathen]

Democrats and those simply against Trump’s kleptocratic takeover need to get key members of the military - national guard, etc on their side like yesterday

 

[bird]

The MAGA are cheering on virtually anything done by Trusk/Mump.

Forked does not describe the depth of the stupidity and danger.

 

[SFIDC3]

Uh, oh! It's on now!!!

Somebody is about to learn a lesson.

This lady has to go down as one of the biggest morons to ever serve.....zero self-awareness....

 

[superchuck500]

Some IRS employees taking OPM’s ‘deferred resignation’ offer told to keep working until May 15

More broadly, federal employees say they’re increasingly skeptical of OPM’s offer as new details have emerged.

federalnewsnetwork.com

 

[MT15]

Some IRS employees taking OPM’s ‘deferred resignation’ offer told to keep working until May 15

More broadly, federal employees say they’re increasingly skeptical of OPM’s offer as new details have emerged.

federalnewsnetwork.com

This is part of the reason a lot of people don’t think that offer is worth the pixels on the screen. They will certainly back out if they feel like it. This administration in particular doesn’t keep its word. They will break the agreement and dare people to sue them over it, knowing the money and power is on their side.

 

[Optimus Prime]

A rightwing group that has created a series of blacklists to target federal workers it believes the Trump administration should fire has received funding for the project by the thinktank behind Project 2025.

A recent list created by the American Accountability Foundation called the “DEI Watch List” includes mostly Black people with roles in government health roles alleged to have some tie to diversity initiatives. Another targets education department employees in career roles who “cannot be trusted to faithfully execute the agenda of the elected President of the United States”. One calls out the “most subversive immigration bureaucrats”.

Tom Jones, the president of the American Accountability Foundation, said the organization had plans to add to its existing lists and create more. The group was designed to go after the “DC bureaucrats and leftist organizations” that had been allowed “to subvert, obstruct, and sabotage the America First agenda”, according to its website.


Founded in 2020, the group received $100,000 in funding for its first watchlist – focused on the Department of Homeland Security – from the Heritage Foundation, the rightwing thinktank behind the conservative blueprint Project 2025. The foundation called its list initiative “Project Sovereignty 2025” and said it was aimed at exposing the people behind the scenes who were advancing Biden’s border policies.

“We are extremely grateful to the Heritage Foundation for this great honor and opportunity,” Jones said at the time the prize was announced. “The scourge of woke open-borders-loving bureaucrats obstructing border security and facilitating the invasion of our country is something that needs to be brought to the attention of the American people.”……….

Project 2025 thinktank has backed group listing ‘woke’ federal workers

Heritage Foundation gave the American Accountability Foundation $100,000 for list focusing on homeland security

www.theguardian.com

 

[DaveXA]

Some IRS employees taking OPM’s ‘deferred resignation’ offer told to keep working until May 15

More broadly, federal employees say they’re increasingly skeptical of OPM’s offer as new details have emerged.

federalnewsnetwork.com

I'm currently in a meeting on this subject, and it's bananas. In the meeting one of the employees just posted that a federal judge has paused the deadline pending a court hearing. Rumors are there's a judge in Boston who might rule the entire thing illegal.

A lot of employees are absolutely livid that there's not more information and being given such a short suspense to respond to this. The whole thing is a mess.

And the RTO is a huge mess. Monday is gonna be a doozy.

 

[Optimus Prime]

Across the United States, in government agencies and private corporations, leaders are scrambling to eliminate DEI programs.

President Donald Trump is not only destroying any trace of diversity work within the government:

He has ordered a review of federal contracts to identify any companies, nonprofits and foundations that do business with the government and keep their diversity, equity and inclusion programs, and he has warned that they could be the target of investigations.

Let’s call this what it really is: resegregation.
I don’t mean resegregation in the sense of separate water fountains.

I mean it in the sense that a Black woman would never even be considered for a federal job or a management position at a big company — the way it was in, say, the 1960s.

It is not “inclusion” the Republicans want to get rid of, it’s integration.

If you think I’m exaggerating, just look at a post made by Darren Beattie, who was just named an acting undersecretary of state: “Competent white men must be in charge if you want things to work,” he wrote on X — not 10 years ago but in October.

Trump’s GOP is also threatening private companies that are trying to level the playing fields for Black people, women and other groups.

After Costco’s shareholders voted to keep its diversity programs in place, 19 Republican state attorneys general sent a letter to Costco asking it to explain why it was maintaining a policy of “unlawful discrimination.”

A number of other corporations have begun their cowardly capitulations. In a memo, Kiera Fernandez, chief equity officer for Target, said the company would be ending its diversity, equity and inclusion goals “in step with the evolving external landscape.” Amazon, Meta and Walmart have also announced rollbacks.

For anyone wondering why “inclusion” is still needed:

Since the Supreme Court ended affirmative action in 2023, first-year Black enrollment at top universities has dropped by 17 percent. That’s the sharpest drop of any major racial group. (For comparison, White enrollment has fallen by 5 percent.)

Or look at the business world: Black people represent 13.7 percent of the population but Black-owned businesses generally get less than 2 percent of venture capital funding.

Despite a smattering of promises from venture capital companies to do better after the murder of George Floyd, funding to Black companies dropped from $4.9 billion in 2021 to $705 million in 2023 — an astonishing 86 percentdrop. Sounds like a segregated market to me.

These facts, taken together, point to the removal of Black people from academic, corporate and government spaces: resegregation………

The assault on DEI? It’s aimed at resegregation.​

 

[superchuck500]

 

[MT15]

 

[DaveXA]

They blocked it for the DOL, but not the treasury? Lol.

 

[fooferdoggie]

The MAGA are cheering on virtually anything done by Trusk/Mump.

Forked does not describe the depth of the stupidity and danger.

well, the voted for trump so you don't need more evidence of their stupidity.

 

[SFIDC3]

They blocked it for the DOL, but not the treasury? Lol.

I know right.....but this is the 1st good news I've heard.....My old agency always took security very seriously.....fark Eloon and his band of young idiots....

 

[superchuck500]

They blocked it for the DOL, but not the treasury? Lol.

The lawsuit that got that order was union-filed an aimed specifically at Labor.

 

[bird]

well, the voted for trump so you don't need more evidence of their stupidity.

True that.