Tracking presidential actions and other news.
16 posts
Musk, Ramaswamy to Lead Trump II’s “Department of Government Efficiency”. Busy day.
Trump II Boosts Billionaire Jared Isaacman to Lead NASA. The 10th Billionaire to be nominated to join Trump II’s administration. Serious conflicts of interest with Musk’s SpaceX.
Some of the Provisions Dropped From the CR That Passed the House After a Trump-Musk Blowup Scuppered an Earlier Deal.
Trump II Gives Oligarch Elon Musk’s DOGE Access to Federal Government’s Payments System.
DOGE Staffer Who Accessed Treasury Department Payment Systems Resigns After Racist Posts Exposed.
Implementing the President’s “Dept of Government Efficiency” Workforce Optimization Initiative. Instructs agencies to limit hiring to 1 new employee per 4 departures. Instructs agencies to prepare for a reduction in force. Gives DOGE teams authority to recommend staff cuts.
More Mass Firings at Federal Health Agencies. FDA, Medicare, and Emergency Response group.
Ensuring Lawful Governance and Implementing the President’s “Department of Government Efficiency” Deregulatory Initiative. Instructs agencies to review regulations and identify those that are unconstitutional or contravene admin policy. Next instructs agencies to identify regulations for selective enforcement and defines a review process for new regulations that includes DOGE and OMB.
DOJ Drops Hiring Discrimination Lawsuit Against Musk’s SpaceX. Dismissal is “with prejudice” and the case can’t be refiled. The Biden DOJ alleged SpaceX discriminated against non-citizens.
Implementing the President’s “Department of Government Efficiency” Cost Efficiency Initiative. Directs agencies to conduct a comprehensive review of contracts, grants, loans, etc, and create a centralized system for spending approvals. Freezes credit cards. Instructs agencies to plan for the sale of government real estate.
Directs agencies to consolidate procurement of common goods and services under the General Services Administration.
The National Institutes of Health ahs been directed to cut $2.6 billion of contracts. The deadline for the cuts is April 8. The figure represents 35% of the agency's spending on contracts. These contracts support scientists at NIH labs, as well as scientists and staff and academic institutions, and in the private sector.
Trump II administration officials, members of ICE, and DOGE agents have sought access to Medicare databases to assist in their efforst to track down immigrants marked for deportation.
A federal judge has temporarily blocked mass layoffs and restructuring at two dozen agencies. The judge said the Trump administration's actions were illegal without authorization from Congress.
The president fired three Democratic members of the five-member Consumer Product Safety Commission. The CPSC is an independent agency and its members can only be removed because of malfeasance or neglect of duty. The sacked commissioners intend to sue.
President Trump fired Register of Copyrights Shira Perlmutter, according to press reports. Earlier this week the president fired her boss, the Librarian of Congress (see notice below). Perlmutter's removal comes after her office had published the third part of a lengthy report that raised concerns about the usage of copyrighted materials by AI.