Law be damned, Trump asserts unilateral control over executive branch, federal service (2 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

 

[efil4]

The White House has stated that Musk is a special government employee (SGE), a status provided under federal statutes. Those statutes also require that SGE's adhere to federal conflict of interest rules that apply to all federal officials - and that SGE's file the standard federal official financial disclosure forms.

The White House today said that Musk's financial disclosures will be kept confidential. And the New York Times now has a graphic showing how Elon's activities with DOGE are directly involved in federal agencies and offices with open investigations of Musk and/or companies for which is is a director or key officer.

thats one way of getting out in front of "discovery" proceedings.

And many are simply "cool" with it.

What is happening lol.

 

[Optimus Prime]

The White House has stated that Musk is a special government employee (SGE), a status provided under federal statutes. Those statutes also require that SGE's adhere to federal conflict of interest rules that apply to all federal officials - and that SGE's file the standard federal official financial disclosure forms.

The White House today said that Musk's financial disclosures will be kept confidential. And the New York Times now has a graphic showing how Elon's activities with DOGE are directly involved in federal agencies and offices with open investigations of Musk and/or companies for which is is a director or key officer.

looks like the very definition of 'conflict of interest'

 

[DJ1BigTymer]

The White House has stated that Musk is a special government employee (SGE), a status provided under federal statutes. Those statutes also require that SGE's adhere to federal conflict of interest rules that apply to all federal officials - and that SGE's file the standard federal official financial disclosure forms.

The White House today said that Musk's financial disclosures will be kept confidential. And the New York Times now has a graphic showing how Elon's activities with DOGE are directly involved in federal agencies and offices with open investigations of Musk and/or companies for which is is a director or key officer.

Shocked, I tell you...Shocked!!!

 

[MT15]

I went to Tulane. They taught us finance, and how to distinguish between men and women.

Sure they did…lol. They obviously didn’t teach you how to spot BS. You seem to swallow every right wing piece of propaganda on the internet.

 

[el caliente]

And what do those previous efforts have in common??? They were all handled within the boundaries of the democratic process. CONGRESSIONAL ACTIONS.

DOGE is intentionally UNDERMINING CONGRESS, but you are unable or unwilling to acknowledge that. That is disappointing.

There are plenty of differences between the three, but the one thing that they all have in common is that they were created under executive orders.

I hope that this iteration can clean up some nasty spending.

 

[el caliente]

Why do you think they are unjustifiable? Are you against sponsoring cultural exchanges, or do you just hate transgender people? The opera you are harping about was money given from the State department (not USAID) to the Fulbright (again not directly to the Colombian University), who used that money for Fulbright's express purpose of promoting cultural exchange to grant money to a university in Colombia that used that money to produce an opera that featured a transgender main character.

That is all above board. YOU might not like promoting cultural exchanges, but they have been done for a long time, in a bipartisan manner, which helps the US in the long run by providing stable trading partners.

You are right, I don’t like cultural exchanges if I don’t even know where to buy a ticket for the event. Seems like something nefarious.

 

[RobF]

You are right, I don’t like cultural exchanges if I don’t even know where to buy a ticket for the event. Seems like something nefarious.

What are you on about? If you had a time machine you could travel back to 2022 and pop to Bogota’s Teatro Libre de Chapinero and buy a ticket. How is that even remotely relevant??

 

[coldseat]

You are right, I don’t like cultural exchanges if I don’t even know where to buy a ticket for the event. Seems like something nefarious.

They so easily get you with "TRANS SCARE".

 

[Optimus Prime]

guess this can go here

I wouldn't be surprised if the updated disclaimer changes again

"This film is perfectly fine"
===============

Disney is adjusting the content warnings ahead of some of its old movies including "Peter Pan" and "Dumbo" amid an overall shift in DEI strategy at the company following President Donald Trump taking office again.

As first reported by Axios and confirmed by Variety, Disney is changing the disclaimer that autoplays before these titles from one that notes the film "includes negative depictions and/or mistreatment of peoples or cultures," to this: "This program is presented as originally created and may contain stereotypes or negative depictions,"

Disney's chief human resources officer Sonia Coleman outlined changes to the company's DEI efforts in the below note to leadership Tuesday, which was obtained by Variety.

Executive Leaders,

For over 100 years, Disney has entertained and inspired generations of families from all walks of life around the world. We create entertainment that appeals to a global audience, and having a workforce that reflects the consumers we serve helps drive our business. With more than 230,000 dedicated employees and Cast Members in more than 40 countries across six continents, Disney has long believed that the rich variety of talents and experiences our employees bring to their work is good for our business and enhances the experience of our global consumers, audiences, and guests.

Creating a welcoming and respectful environment for our employees and guests is core to our company culture and our business. Our values - integrity, creativity, collaboration, community, inclusion - guide our actions and how we treat each other. Today I want to provide an update on how our values are embedded in our leader compensation programs, specifically our Other Performance Factors (OPFs), as well as share some of the work that has been underway to evolve our talent strategy consistent with these values........

Disney+ to Change Content Warnings Ahead of ‘Dumbo,’ ‘Peter Pan’ and More Old Movies Amid DEI Strategy Shift

Disney is adjusting the content warnings ahead of some of its old movies including "Peter Pan" and "Dumbo" amid an overall shift in DEI strategy

variety.com

 

[UncleTrvlingJim]

You are right, I don’t like cultural exchanges if I don’t even know where to buy a ticket for the event. Seems like something nefarious.

The opera was performed in 2022. Why do you think that’s nefarious?

 

[bird]

The purpose of government is different to different people, however spending money on sex changes in Guatemala probably wasn’t what the founding fathers had in mind when they came up with this crazy nation.

Still wrong. What you just described is a service that a government may or may not do. Government’s sole and only purpose is the organization of society.

 

[bird]

The White House has stated that Musk is a special government employee (SGE), a status provided under federal statutes. Those statutes also require that SGE's adhere to federal conflict of interest rules that apply to all federal officials - and that SGE's file the standard federal official financial disclosure forms.

The White House today said that Musk's financial disclosures will be kept confidential. And the New York Times now has a graphic showing how Elon's activities with DOGE are directly involved in federal agencies and offices with oversight over or open investigations of Musk and/or companies for which is is a director or key officer.

El Caliente doesn’t care about that.

 

[Optimus Prime]

challenges with the return to work order
===========================
Thousands of federal employees returned to the office Monday under President Donald Trump’s new executive order to end remote work.

Not all government agencies were required to return on Monday, but the order signed on Jan. 20 called for employees to come back roughly within 30 days.

The military said nearly 17,000 employees were expected to return to Washington Navy Yard despite having only 4,400 parking spaces available.
A federal worker, who asked to keep his identity anonymous, said he started to wake up at 3:30 a.m. two weeks ago to prepare for the change. After working remotely full time from his home in southern Maryland, the employee must now take the bus, making his commute time roughly 1.5 hours each way.

“There’s no parking, and it’s crazy,” he told WUSA9. “What can you do? It’s the powers that be.”

Navy Support Activity Washington doubled the number of screening lanes to get in on top of extra personnel at the gates to expedite this security process.

Capt. Ryan Gaul of NSA Washington says limited parking is the big issue, but one they’re working out.

“Across the river there's a WMATA garage that generally has a lot of capacity that we've been educating people about, but the bottom line is if they can't park on the installation, we got to get them off,” Gaul said.

Trump’s order has been widely criticized by many workers and lawmakers who blame him for trying to slash the federal workforce.

One man whose wife is a federal supervisor said working remotely didn’t mean slacking off. He’s only going by his first name, Bruce, out of fear of retaliation for his wife.

“She has been spending at least 50 hours a week,” Bruce said. “She’s in the office, but most of her team is actually remote so she's going into the office to sit and talk to people who aren't even in the D.C. area. She has to keep up a brave face because she's a supervisor, so she has a lot of employees in crisis all the time Going into work is like going into combat. You don't know who is going to get hit by the next bullet.”............

As federal workers return to office under Trump order, one man adjusts to 3:30 am wakeup call

Federal workers at Washington Navy Yard have been called to return to office full time amid limited parking spots.

www.wusa9.com

 

[Optimus Prime]

President Donald Trump’s directive for federal employees to return to in-person work could run into a significant hurdle: At agencies across the country, there simply isn’t enough space at their offices to accommodate everyone, multiple federal workers said.

Some agencies downsized their office space during the covid pandemic, as many employees moved to remote or hybrid work. Others had already granted telework arrangements to large numbers of workers, leaving them without an assigned office desk. And some employees hired as fully remote workers during the pandemic have never been assigned to an office and don’t even know where they’ll be expected to report to work.............

Trump ordered workers back to the office. They ask, where, exactly?​

 

[DJ1BigTymer]

Here's their problem, neither Musk nor Trump understand our Constitution and trump doesn't know what it means to be POTUS as Article II defines the office.

 

[el caliente]

So! You just admitted what I said. You don’t want money spent on certain things. Thanks for admitting that.

Of course I don’t want money spent on certain things. Are you opening a tab at the bar for your brother who is in AA?

 

[Neworleansfan]

Here's their problem, neither Musk nor Trump understand our Constitution and trump doesn't know what it means to be POTUS as Article II defines the office.

Why is our president not sitting in his chair?

 

[el caliente]

Of course there is auditing. But then there is auditing auditing, and it seems that that is what hasn’t been going on.

Heck as previously mentioned, this DOGE is the 3rd of its kind, so obviously things tend to slip through the butt crack of government.

And auditing does happen in the federal government. Maybe do your homework before making ignorant comments like this.