Category: Uncategorized

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

bsky.app/profile/adam…

— Harris Levy (@harrislevy.bsky.social) 2025-04-20T16:23:43.934Z

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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Do you really think Trump would let us see Garcia?

I assume that Garcia is either dead or has been beaten up. I certainly think he’s not in as good a shape as he was when he was kidnapped by the Trump administration.

If Garcia returns to the US, people will see he has been treated badly and may be more active in opposing Trump’s disgusting actions. I would also assume Garcia would talk about his ordeal and criticize Trump.

While I admire Van Hollen for going to El Salvador, I don’t think it will accomplish his goals.

Van Hollen met with the Salvadorian Vice President who denied Van Hollen's request for any contact with Kilmar Abrego Garcia – in person or by phone – claiming that he needed more advance notice and a week was not enough time. The VP also denied contact with Abrego Garcia's wife.

— Fairfax Democrats (@fairfaxdemocrats.bsky.social) 2025-04-16T18:56:47.877Z

Trump’s bigoted NIH purge

Thirty-eight of 43 experts cut last month from the boards that review the science and research that happens in laboratories at the National Institutes of Health are female, Black or Hispanic, according to an analysis by the chairs of a dozen of the boards.

— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost.com) 2025-04-16T18:46:49.185Z

and more on the bad cuts at NIH:

A pie graph worth keeping in mind as the NIH budget plummets jamanetwork.com/journals/jam… for 356 new FDA drugs approved

— Eric Topol (@erictopol.bsky.social) 2025-03-23T16:17:31.942Z

"Her $60 million contract with the NIH had supported an international network of researchers and clinicians who had produced pathbreaking work on a disease that infects a quarter of the world’s population and kills more than 1 million people per year."

— Brendan Nyhan (@brendannyhan.bsky.social) 2025-04-16T02:47:25.684Z

I have heard that at least two people with leadership positions at NIH and National Cancer Institute may retire in the coming days, basically because they keep getting ordered by political appointees to illegally freeze grant funds to large recipients like Harvard and Columbia.

— Dave Levitan (@davelevitan.bsky.social) 2025-04-15T19:00:58.749Z

A few NIH updates in here, including some very small pieces of good news for a change. Also bad ones, obv.

— Dave Levitan (@davelevitan.bsky.social) 2025-04-15T19:55:42.182Z

NIH grants are still not being funded for existing awards. NIH reps are telling scientists they can't provide any info when they call to check the status of their annual funding. Now input into the NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION is unnecessary too.www.science.org/content/arti…

— Steph (@stephnorton516.bsky.social) 2025-04-16T13:08:45.486Z

Tax Day – round 3 – NIH 🩻🧠🧬🧬 The average U.S. taxpayer contributes $105/year to NIH, helping fund:• Cancer & rare disease breakthroughs• Pandemic preparedness• Children’s health• Medical tech innovation• Mental health science & moreNIH powers the science behind the healthcare we rely on.

— Stand Up for Science! (@standupforscience.bsky.social) 2025-04-15T21:36:04.741Z