Reducing services is not savings

DOGE's firings, and the ways they did it, will cost the federal government $135 billion this fiscal year, http://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/24/u…

Taniel (@taniel.bsky.social) 2025-04-25T03:55:37.580Z

What DOGE did is not savings, it’s a reduction in services. Savings would be if you figured out a way to do something in 30 minutes that used to take an hour.

Harris Levy (@harrislevy.bsky.social) 2025-04-25T03:59:40.462Z

For example, I don’t think of this as savings bsky.app/profile/cram…

Harris Levy (@harrislevy.bsky.social) 2025-04-25T15:26:46.685Z

another post and my reply

Elon backtracked on DOGE savings goals from $1 trillion to $150 billion.But watchdogs report only $12.6 billion in verifiable savings.That represents just 0.173% of the U.S. federal budget for 2025.We're losing vital government services for basically nothing in return.

Robert Reich (@rbreich.bsky.social) 2025-04-24T19:30:08.936700Z

Are any of those real savings or are they just reductions in services to people?

Harris Levy (@harrislevy.bsky.social) 2025-04-25T02:53:42.392Z

more “savings”

This is profoundly illegal.“The administration is seeking to pull back money that is already out the door — cash that President Joe Biden’s agencies had awarded, and placed in accounts for the recipients at Citibank, before Trump took office.”www.politico.com/news/2025/04…

Bobby Kogan (@bbkogan.bsky.social) 2025-04-24T01:51:29.195Z

Student loan servicers are notorious for making mistakes, but Trump still eliminated the watchdog team that oversaw them. I think we need to do more – not less – to protect borrowers, which is why I introduced the Student Loan Servicers Accountability Act.

Congresswoman Sara Jacobs (@sarajacobs.house.gov) 2025-04-23T01:55:14.646Z

For the nearly 7 million Americans afflicted with Alzheimer’s and their loved ones, federally-funded medical research represents hope that cherished memories will not fade and a family member will have many more years to celebrate birthdays, marriages & more.GOP funding cuts are ripping hope away.

Rep. Lloyd Doggett (@doggett.house.gov) 2025-04-23T01:12:26.715Z

@katrinamillerphd.bsky.social & I took a look at over 400 active National Science Foundation grants that got killed in the past few days. Here's our story (gift link) nyti.ms/4jp4aOx

Carl Zimmer (@carlzimmer.com) 2025-04-22T21:43:00.990Z

“This disappearance of data undermines evidence-based assessments and policymaking and increases the authoritarian regime’s control as the public lacks facts to hold them accountable.” @markjacob.bsky.social http://www.americaamerica.news/p/trumps-dan…

Steven Beschloss (@stevenbeschloss.bsky.social) 2025-04-22T22:29:49.500Z

Last Friday, Trump's EPA shut down a Biden-era website mapping locations of dangerous chemical plants. The chemical industry, which gave over $1M to Trump's inauguration, heavily lobbied the Trump administration to scrap the website. See how this works?

Robert Reich (@rbreich.bsky.social) 2025-04-22T22:01:07.261241Z

they want to crash the economy, cause bank runs and leave you destitute news.bloomberglaw.com/banking-law/…

jamelle (@jamellebouie.net) 2025-04-22T15:16:51.654Z

Exposing dangers is part of the CDC Closing departments hides problems that could be fixed or preventedYes, they found tesla-selfdriving problems That's why dodgy boys want them gone!

Ms. Lonnie🦋🩵🫂 (@lonsj.bsky.social) 2025-04-22T00:26:58.828Z

The Trump administration is set to cancel tens of millions of dollars in grants to scientists studying environmental hazards faced by children in rural America, among other health issues, according to internal emails written by senior officials at the EPA.

The New York Times (@nytimes.com) 2025-04-21T22:43:49.550Z

Among the impacts: The cuts will halt a first-of-its-kind study of the causes of thousands of firefighters’ cancer cases. propub.li/3GeQOWv

Dan Petty (@danielpetty.bsky.social) 2025-04-21T22:00:38.418Z

Trump just fired the HHS team responsible for calculating the Federal Poverty Line, which determines eligibility for programs like Medicaid, food assistance, and child care.Trump & DOGE are blocking hardworking Americans from getting the basic assistance they deserve.

Rep. Kevin Mullin (@kevinmullin.house.gov) 2025-04-25T16:52:32.469Z

Trump Administration cuts national database tracking domestic terrorism

Much of the staff responsible for distributing information about foodborne illnesses has been terminated by the Trump administration as part of its efforts to shrink the government’s size.

NBC News (@nbcnews.com) 2025-04-25T18:35:41.014Z

US Justice Department unit for drug and food safety cases being disbanded reut.rs/3EFhW0c

Reuters (@reuters.com) 2025-04-25T21:00:19.980Z

From @nytopinion.nytimes.com: Elon Musk “apparently did not anticipate that it would be bad PR for the world’s richest man to take food and medicine from the world’s poorest children,” our columnist Michelle Goldberg writes.

The New York Times (@nytimes.com) 2025-05-30T14:12:54.971Z

I wouldn’t call what DOGE did “savings”. They have cut costs by reducing services. Savings would be, for example, taking a process that takes an hour and modifying it so that it takes a half hour.

Harris Levy (@harrislevy.bsky.social) 2025-05-30T17:22:26.605Z

Trump keeps talking about running in 2028 – it’s illegal

It would be illegal for Trump to run in 2028 but who would stop him? The Republican Party is completely afraid of him and won’t stop him. If Republicans still control Congress, they won’t do anything. Individual blue states may keep him off the ballot but he wouldn’t win them anyway or need them to win the electoral college. The Supreme Court? I don’t know what they would do. Trump may try to declare an emergency and they may fall for it.

Trump: "I did it last time. And they undid it. That's why we have to stay president for a long time."

Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) 2025-04-17T20:37:43.047Z

Economist/YouGov Poll, April 5-870% of Democrats and 34% of Republicans think Trump will try to serve a third term3% and 36% think he should attempt to serve a third term2% and 16% think the Constitution allows Trump to serve a third termtoday.yougov.com/politics/art…

YouGov America (@today.yougov.com) 2025-04-09T21:07:48.789Z

wrote about trump's third term threats, which are not a joke. they're yet another attack on the constitution. and yes, he will not leave office if he can help it. http://www.publicnotice.co/p/trump-thir…

Noah Berlatsky (@nberlat.bsky.social) 2025-04-03T14:02:27.373Z

56% of US adults believe President Trump will definitely or probably attempt to serve a third term; 20% overall—and 43% of Republicans—say he should definitely or probably be allowed to serve a third term.(@taylororth.bsky.social @dhmontgomery.com @today.yougov.com)today.yougov.com/politics/art…

Opinion Today (@opiniontoday.bsky.social) 2025-04-03T00:57:45.455Z

A clean, straight shot at the facts: "Any attempt to seek a third term would run afoul of the 22nd Amendment, which begins, 'No person shall be elected to the office of the president more than twice.'” http://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/30/u…

John Schwartz (@jswatz.bsky.social) 2025-03-31T00:33:52.373Z

This is a very alarming constitutional gray area and Trump is floating it because he’s taking it seriously. Ignoring the ambiguities in the 12th and 22nd Amendments won’t make them go away! slate.com/news-and-pol…

Mark Joseph Stern (@mjsdc.bsky.social) 2025-03-30T21:45:25.596Z

Declare martial law, cancel elections, control power. That's one way.www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025…

Wajahat Ali (@wajali.bsky.social) 2025-03-30T20:46:38.654Z

President Donald Trump on Sunday declined to rule out seeking a third presidential term — an unconstitutional act explicitly barred under the 22nd Amendment — saying that “there are methods which you could do it.”

The Washington Post (@washingtonpost.com) 2025-03-30T19:50:38.289Z

Your article cites Trump’s unsupported claims of popularity in polls. There are actual polls you should include that counter his claim. bsky.app/profile/bria…

Harris Levy (@harrislevy.bsky.social) 2025-03-30T19:58:28.122Z

Immigration Polls

Pollster: Take a look at Trump's net approval rating on immigration. A lot of focus on Gallup at -27. That's horrible. Quinnipiac University, -16. That's awful. Marist is bad at -9. Fox at -7. Bad to just downright terrible. The American people have turned against Trump on what was his best issue

FactPost (@factpostnews.bsky.social) 2025-07-14T13:43:40.540Z

Gallup has new polling on immigration. Topline findings:-Americans hate Trump's immigration policy (35% approve, 62% disapprove)-Share who say immigration is a "good thing" for the country just hit an all-time high (79%)news.gallup.com/poll/692522/…

Catherine Rampell (@crampell.bsky.social) 2025-07-11T12:09:45.691Z

Polls taken this week“Do you approve of the way Trump is handling deportation”YouGov/Economist:Approve-39Disapprove-50Quinnipiac:Approve-40Disapprove-56So is it that Margaret Brennan’s producers don’t read their emailsOr is another network news show capitulating to Trump

Adam Cohen (My Personal Views Only) (@axidentaliberal.bsky.social) 2025-06-15T21:06:35.499Z

Economist/YouGov Poll% of U.S. adult citizens saying that in general, immigration makes the U.S. better off | worse off, in…Oct 19-22, 2024: 35% | 36%Apr 19-22, 2025: 40% | 29%today.yougov.com/politics/art…

YouGov America (@today.yougov.com) 2025-04-23T21:23:02.167Z

"we shouldn't make immigration salient"

jamelle (@jamellebouie.net) 2025-04-23T15:13:44.321Z

Ceding an issue has never been a successful strategy. Immigration is not only good for America, it’s essential. Now that the rule of law and the Bill of Rights are in play, this is no time for timidity. It’s time to beat Trumpism on its own turf.

T. J. Stiles (@tj-stiles.bsky.social) 2025-04-25T19:32:24.218Z

political press is doing a real disservice by basically not reporting the nuances of public opinion on deportations, and creating the appearance that most americans support the stephen miller-style gestapo tactics

jamelle (@jamellebouie.net) 2025-06-15T20:58:54.048Z

political press is doing a real disservice by basically not reporting the nuances of public opinion on deportations, and creating the appearance that most americans support the stephen miller-style gestapo tactics

jamelle (@jamellebouie.net) 2025-06-15T20:58:54.048Z

news.gallup.com/poll/692522/…

ian bremmer (@ianbremmer.com) 2025-07-11T20:19:34.235Z

It’s going to be hard to rebuild the agencies Trump is crushing

The people are gone. The money is gone. The buildings are gone. Nobody will want to work for a place that could be eliminated again. What happens to the records? I bet the Trump cult members destroy the paper and computer copies so they can’t be used in the future

What happens to the files and archives of government agencies Trump is destroying? Is Trump getting rid of them, too? In the future, if we get a president who cares about people, it would be hard to bring these organizations back.

Harris Levy (@harrislevy.bsky.social) 2025-04-18T19:45:09.600Z

There are many stages in this struggle. What’s happened so far is illegal. Next step is whether Congress votes to kill these agencies. Complicated

Josh Marshall (@joshtpm.bsky.social) 2025-04-18T19:46:16.143Z

Poor job by the Washington Post and CNN on posts about ex-presidents criticizing Trump

They left out all the times Trump has criticized the ex-presidents. I wrote them both back on BlueSky. The post article does talk about Trump’s bad remarks but it’s way down in the story. It should be in the post, too.

Three ex-presidents denounce the current one in a two-week stretchWhile presidents have been at odds before, there is often a sort of camaraderie among the small club of individuals who have served in the highest office in the land.www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202…

Jamie Gangel (@jamiegangel.bsky.social) 2025-04-19T23:15:40.866Z

You should also discuss how Trump has talked about the ex-Presidents. See example below and there’s Trump’s birther lie about Obama.Check out this article from USA TODAY:Trump: 'Jimmy Carter died a happy man' because he wasn't the 'worst president'www.usatoday.com/story/news/p…

Harris Levy (@harrislevy.bsky.social) 2025-04-19T23:36:29.072Z

Here’s the Post and my similar reply:

In just over two weeks, three former presidents have taken to the public stage to sound the alarm against President Donald Trump, despite the tradition that former presidents generally refrain from publicly criticizing their successors.

The Washington Post (@washingtonpost.com) 2025-04-19T20:08:55.629Z

Current presidents don’t usually criticize former presidents as often as Trump does. Check out this article from USA TODAY:Trump: 'Jimmy Carter died a happy man' because he wasn't the 'worst president'www.usatoday.com/story/news/p…

Harris Levy (@harrislevy.bsky.social) 2025-04-19T20:24:33.592Z

Trump’s effort to crush the Consumer Finance Protection Board

RIFs are pretty detailed, and it is entirely possible that many agencies failed to follow the steps or meet the criteria. Question is whether courts call them on their BS or say that the Trump administration has discretion over this (in which case, why have the rules at all?)

Don Moynihan (@donmoyn.bsky.social) 2025-04-18T21:23:05.204Z

This tweet appeared under this Techmeme headline:Kyle Cheney / @kyledcheney:Judge Amy Berman Jackson has suspended efforts to implement large-scale terminations at CFPB until she rules on whether it's a violation of her injunction against dismantling the agency. [image]

Techmeme X Chatter (@xchatter.techmeme.com) 2025-04-18T21:23:15.987Z

Judge Blocks DOGE From Laying Off 90 Percent of CFPB http://www.wired.com/story/cfpb-t…

WORKER19 (@blogwood.com) 2025-04-18T21:22:58.244Z

NEW: The CFPB has been gutted. More than 1,400 workers received RIF notices this afternoon, agency sources tell me. Around 200 employees are left. http://www.wired.com/story/cfpb-h…

makena kelly (@makenakelly.bsky.social) 2025-04-17T21:29:55.813Z

Late night Prospect: The CFPB mass firing leaves the agency without sufficient staff to fulfill its statutory goals or even priorities laid out by the agency’s acting chief legal officer a day earlier. It also puts some markets CFPB oversees at risk of malfunctioning.prospect.org/justice/cfpb…

David Dayen (@ddayen.bsky.social) 2025-04-18T06:05:55.598Z

Trump is destroying Americorps

Terrible decision

The entire AmeriCorps agency has been placed on administrative leave

Olga Nesterova (@onestpress.bsky.social) 2025-04-17T16:56:08.885Z

In Rhode Island, @americorps.bsky.social serves schools, health centers, food banks, Veterans facilities and countless other organizations.But Trump just shut it down.Just another shameful display of how he doesn’t value public service.

Congressman Gabe Amo (@amo.house.gov) 2025-04-18T15:22:07.536Z

NEW: AmeriCorps, the US federal agency that oversees volunteerism and service work, abruptly pulled teams of young people out of a variety of community service projects across the country on Tuesday, @wired.com has learned. @mollytaft.com w/ the scoop: http://www.wired.com/story/doge-c…

Andrew Couts (@couts.bsky.social) 2025-04-16T21:30:24.768Z

Hearing the same from a direct source. People in Americorps being told they're done. It's over. No notice.

Josh Marshall (@joshtpm.bsky.social) 2025-04-15T22:13:20.335Z

To be clear, there is bipartisan opposition to cutting AmeriCorps. Just last week, Reps. Bacon and Fitzpatrick joined @dorismatsui.bsky.social and me in supporting AmeriCorps and reminding Trump that public service is one of the greatest American values.

Rep. Chrissy Houlahan (@houlahan.house.gov) 2025-04-17T12:37:52.840Z

More DOGE cut madness being confirmed. Here's a background article on what the loss of AmeriCorps will mean: youthtoday.org/2025/03/endi…There's also an active Reddit AmeriCorps (National Civilian Community Corps) group discussing the cut:www.reddit.com/r/AmeriCorps…

Pam Spaulding (@pamspaulding.bsky.social) 2025-04-15T22:54:38.744Z

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