Trump's Second Term

JayUtah said:
Judge Kollar-Kotelly held a hearing yesterday on one of the ongoing lawsuits against the administration. Lawyers for the administration couldn't answer simple questions like who was the head of DOGE and what Elon Musk's role in government was. That's pretty audacious on the part of people who whined about "unelected" bureaucrats.

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Just who does the judge think he is? Trump IS the government. Musk can be and not be head of DOGE simultaneously!
 
Re: Design of the stage at a CPAC conference...
Safe-Keeper said:
Someone said in a different thread that the designers apologized profusely and didn't know that was a Nazi symbol.
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Even if you take them at their word that they didn't recognize it as a Nazi symbol THIS TIME, that sort of "accident" seems to be happening with an alarming frequency with Trump and the republican side of things.

How many 'oops, didn't mean to look like the 4th reich' should there be before people get nervous?
 
Aridas said:
On the other hand, we do not see any such actions from the republicans. (Yeah, they may talk in private about how "Trump is crazy/he's a problem", or they may complain about him after they leave politics, but when confronted with the opportunity to actually do something, they cave. (Witness that the ONLY senator to reject Kennedy's confirmation was Moscow Mitch.)
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Err... Moscow Mitch has announced that this is his last term, right? It's only after such an announcement that nearly any Republicans have spoken against him.
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That's right. He is announced that he is leaving politics.

After years of enabling Trump (voting against impeachment TWICE, ensuring people like Drunky McRapeface get confirmed to the supreme court, etc.) he is finally doing SOMETHING to stand up against Trump.

Too little, too late.

Heck, Moscow Mitch might have even been able to prevent Trump 2.0. He still had some influence in the senate in 2021, and had he supported impeachment, perhaps congress might have blocked Trump from running again. Instead we got some empty rhetoric about how "Trump is responsible for the terrorist attack... but I'm not going to do anything". Anything bad that happens from here on out, McConnel played a role in making it happen.
 
Segnosaur said:
Re: Design of the stage at a CPAC conference...

Even if you take them at their word that they didn't recognize it as a Nazi symbol THIS TIME, that sort of "accident" seems to be happening with an alarming frequency with Trump and the republican side of things.

How many 'oops, didn't mean to look like the 4th reich' should there be before people get nervous?
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"We just wanted our suits brown enough to not be tan..."
 
Tero said:
Just who does the judge think he is? Trump IS the government.
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That is literally the objection from the MAGA crowd. They demand that separation of powers prevents the judiciary from any sort of inquiry into the internal workings of the executive branch.

The Constitution also provides checks and balances, one of which is the Appointments clause. This gives rise to the doctrine that when an executive office is one that Congress creates and requires the executive to staff as a means of enforcing Congress's laws in the manner Congress prescribes, the judiciary is empowered to determine whether that office is being lawfully executed. That doesn't extend to the policy underlying either the law itself or the discretion in enforcing it. But courts very much do have jurisdiction to decide whether officers in the executive are acting lawfully. The determination of lawfulness is properly the role of the judiciary, no matter what Trump's executive orders want to say otherwise.

The Framers envisioned a scenario in which a President, once elected, could fill his administration with thugs that wield significant power and answer only to the President. Therefore the Appointments clause is a check on that.

Congress would normally have a role here in defending their budget appropriations in the face of ultra vires behavior from the executive. But the current appropriations are, to a certain extent, compromise measures from the formerly split Congress. Now that the Republicans control both houses, they can establish their own budget priorities consistent with Musk's hatchet job. And Congress seems eager to perform its duty to impeach judges that stand in the way, as directed by Musk.

Tero said:
Musk can be and not be head of DOGE simultaneously!
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Jack by the hedge said:
Quantum Musk. He's been unelected to a super position.
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This is literally the argument being attempted in court. "DOGE" is really three distinct entities that are participating in a shell game designed to prevent the judiciary from understanding and ruling on their operations. Elon Musk has an advisory role in one of those entities, which is postured as having no authority or official role beyond "recommending" efficiency measures. Another entity is empowered by an executive order repurposing it (which may be unlawful per se) to actually carry out modernization and upgrades in technical infrastructure. The third entity is apparently just to run cover for the other two and pretend to be one or the other as the need arises.
 
JayUtah said:
Judge Kollar-Kotelly held a hearing yesterday on one of the ongoing lawsuits against the administration. Lawyers for the administration couldn't answer simple questions like who was the head of DOGE and what Elon Musk's role in government was. That's pretty audacious on the part of people who whined about "unelected" bureaucrats.

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Another candidate for impeachment.
 
Putin said he is open to offering the US access to rare minerals, including from Russian-occupied Ukraine.

In a state TV interview on Monday, Putin said he was ready to "offer" resources to American partners in joint projects, including mining in Russia's "new territories" - a reference to parts of eastern Ukraine that Russia has occupied since launching a full-scale invasion three years ago.

The proposal could also see the two countries collaborating on aluminium extraction and supply to the US to stabilise prices, he added.
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"As for the new territories, it's the same. We are ready to attract foreign partners to the so-called new, to our historical territories, which have returned to the Russian Federation," he added.

He also suggested that Russia and the US could collaborate on aluminium production in Krasnoyarsk, in Siberia, where one Russian aluminium maker, Rusal, has its largest smelters.
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www.bbc.co.uk

Putin offers Russian and Ukrainian rare minerals to US

The proposal to give the US access to minerals would also include those from territories taken from Ukraine.
www.bbc.co.uk www.bbc.co.uk
 
Reporter: Migrants who were in Guantanamo Bay say they were shackled and placed in cages and say they were not treated as human beings. Any response to those conditions?

Leavitt: It’s a promise the President campaigned on
 
Segnosaur said:
Re: Design of the stage at a CPAC conference...

Even if you take them at their word that they didn't recognize it as a Nazi symbol THIS TIME, that sort of "accident" seems to be happening with an alarming frequency with Trump and the republican side of things.

How many 'oops, didn't mean to look like the 4th reich' should there be before people get nervous?
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"Look at that! A perfectly square bit of black dirt on the window!" - Father Ted Crllly.
 
'More than 20 civil service employees resigned Tuesday from billionaire Trump adviser Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, saying they were refusing to use their technical expertise to “dismantle critical public services.”'

apnews.com

Federal technology staffers resign rather than help Musk and DOGE

Twenty-one civil service employees have resigned from Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, saying they're refusing to use their technical expertise to “dismantle critical public services.”
apnews.com apnews.com
 
From that article, on the loyal DOGE employees :

"“Several of these interviewers refused to identify themselves, asked questions about political loyalty, attempted to pit colleagues against each other, and demonstrated limited technical ability,” the staffers wrote in their letter. “This process created significant security risks.” "
 
Orphia Nay said:
'More than 20 civil service employees resigned Tuesday from billionaire Trump adviser Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, saying they were refusing to use their technical expertise to “dismantle critical public services.”'

apnews.com

Federal technology staffers resign rather than help Musk and DOGE

Twenty-one civil service employees have resigned from Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, saying they're refusing to use their technical expertise to “dismantle critical public services.”
apnews.com apnews.com
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These are people who had been employed by the pre-existing United States Digital Service, which was absorbed by DOGE. There were not people who were recruited into DOGE.
 
I have to wonder about honour. Resigning appears honourable, but how does it help the resistance? Maybe a philosophical question.
 
Orphia Nay said:
I have to wonder about honour. Resigning appears honourable, but how does it help the resistance? Maybe a philosophical question.
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Depends on the circumstances. Are you a non-partisan civil servant being asked to train your partisan replacement on your computer system before you yourself are fired? In that case, resigning can cause the enemy more problems than staying. Do you hang on explaining why what they are doing is illegal until you are fired? What sort of job protections so you have? How much are you legally allowed to discuss your job to the press?

I am pretty sure that a lot of people are quitting that could do more to stop the enemy by staying, but I am not really in a position to judge individuals.
 
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