The scope of the chaos and destruction taking place in your government (or as human/pig clone Steve Bannon would put it, "deconstructing the administrative state") has been overwhelming since the Musk-Trump regime came to power. The targets have been purposeful. See if you can spot some common themes:
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, an independent agency formed in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis to safeguard Americans against unfair business practices, is the newest target of Elon Musk and the Trump administration.
The agency is at a virtual standstill after Musk's Department of Government Efficiency and Russell Vought, the leader of the White House budget office and now acting director of the CFPB, took control.
They and congressional Republicans have accused the agency of overreach and not being politically accountable.
Internal emails obtained by ABC News show Vought advised the agency's headquarters in Washington will be closed all week and told employees, "Please do not perform any work tasks."
In a post on X Saturday night, Vought said the CFPB's funding, which comes through the Federal Reserve, is "now being turned off."...
Here's Sen. Elizabeth Warren's (D-MA) video response --
Staffers at the nation’s cybersecurity agency whose job is to ensure the security of U.S. elections have been placed on administrative leave, jeopardizing critical support provided to state and local election offices across the country.
In recent days, 17 employees of the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency who have worked with election officials to provide assessments and trainings dealing with a range of threats — from cyber and ransomware attacks to physical security of election workers — have been placed on leave pending a review, according to a person familiar with the situation who was not authorized to speak publicly.
Ten of those employees are regional election security specialists hired as part of an effort to expand field staff and election security expertise ahead of the 2024 election. The regional staffers were told the internal review would examine efforts to combat attempts by foreign governments to influence U.S. elections, duties that were assigned to other agency staff, according to the person.
All were former state or local election officials who were brought in to build relationships across all 50 states and the nation’s more than 8,000 local election jurisdictions. They spent the past year meeting with election officials, attending conferences and trainings, and ensuring officials were aware of the agency’s various cybersecurity and physical security services...
A federal judge Monday granted a temporary reprieve to the head of the Office of Special Counsel, who filed a lawsuit claiming President Donald Trump fired him illegally.
Hampton Dellinger, the head of the agency, received a termination email Friday night and filed the federal lawsuit Monday.
“That email made no attempt to comply with the Special Counsel’s for-cause removal protection,” the lawsuit reads. “It stated simply: ‘On behalf of President Donald J. Trump, I am writing to inform you that your position as Special Counsel of the US Office of Special Counsel is terminated, effective immediately.’"
The agency investigates whistleblower retaliation and enforces ethics laws like the Hatch Act. It is not related to the similarly named special counsel offices within the Justice Department that prosecute politically sensitive criminal cases...
Nearly half a billion dollars of food aid is at risk of spoilage following the decision of Donald Trump and Elon Musk’s “Doge” agency to make cuts to USAid, according to an inspector general (IG) report released on Monday.
Following staff reductions and funding freezes, the US agency responsible for providing humanitarian assistance across the world – including food, water, shelter and emergency healthcare – is struggling to function.
“Recent widespread staffing reductions across the agency … coupled with uncertainty about the scope of foreign assistance waivers and permissible communications with implementers, has degraded USAid’s ability to distribute and safeguard taxpayer-funded humanitarian assistance,” the report said.
According to USAid staff, this uncertainty put more than $489m of food assistance at ports, in transit, and in warehouses at risk of spoilage, unanticipated storage needs, and diversion.
USAid employs about 10,000 staff, with approximately two-thirds posted at the agency’s more than 60 missions overseas across multiple countries. The entire staff was put on administrative leave on Saturday, with limited exceptions.
The decision has caused chaos and devastation for those receiving foreign aid, such as in Malawi, one of the world’s most aid-dependent states.
The sweeping freeze on foreign assistance has also made it more difficult to track potential misuse of US taxpayer-funded humanitarian assistance, according to the report...
You couldn't lay out a better roadmap for an unaccountable, authoritarian, kleptocratic, oligarchic takeover of your government if you'd put in all on paper before the election. The courts are currently serving as (temporary?) speed bumps, but ominous statements by Musk-Trump officials make it clear they view executive power as preeminent and determinative over that of the judicial and legislative branches. By their words and actions, they're showing themselves as the corrupt, fascist sociopaths that they've always been.
BONUS: One more --
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