- Heather Cox Richardson – Letters from an American – February 22, 2025
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Marshall notes that Trump is “reaching far down the pecking order to someone who isn’t even on active duty in the military for the critical position not only as the chief military advisor to the President…but the key person at the contact point of civilian control over the military.” In Trump’s telling, his support for Caine comes from the military officer’s support for him. “I love you, sir. I think you’re great, sir. I’ll kill for you, sir,” Trump claims Caine said to him. Trump went on to claim that Caine put on a Make America Great Again hat, despite rules against political messaging on the clothing of active-duty troops.
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They note that Trump expressed frustration with military leaders during his first term when they resisted illegal orders, saying, as then-chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley did, that in America “[w]e don’t take an oath to a king, or a queen, or to a tyrant or dictator, and we don’t take an oath to a wannabe dictator…. We don’t take an oath to an individual. We take an oath to the Constitution, and we take an oath to the idea that is America, and we’re willing to die to protect it.”
… - Federal Workers Send Me Responses to Musk’s Ridiculous “Five Bullets” Email
I asked federal workers how they wish they could respond to an email sent by OPM Saturday night. Here are some of the anonymous responses. - Reasoning backward and forward
Birthright citizenship and the horseshoe - The TikTok Farmer
The hyperfocus on farmers - Trump Is Fueling a MAGA Civil War
The power struggle between the unelected & incompetent South African billionaire vs unqualified & incompetent Trump appointees is becoming public
…So, whatever you do, please do NOT email HR@opm.gov with sarcastic nonsense to troll their incompetence. - The DOGE Project Will Backfire
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For all of Trump’s and Musk’s talk of efficiency, their policies will likely slow down the government. The state needs capacity to perform core tasks, such as collecting revenue, taking care of veterans, tracking weather, and ensuring that travel, medicine, food, and workplaces are safe. But Trump seems intent on pushing more employees to leave and making the civil service more political and an even less inviting job option.
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The reality is that the federal government has long faced a human-capital crisis. Since 2001, the nonpartisan Government Accountability Office has classified human-capital management—the number of people who are successfully recruited to fill skilled positions—as an area of “high risk” for the federal government. The workforce is older than the private sector, and the federal government already has a hard time hiring people. - Why Democrats Will Probably Shut Down the Government Soon
- Trump Golf Track
- Ukraine Fact Sheet, February 21, 2025
- Special Issue: The Friday Night Massacre & Important Government Updates 2/23/25
- Trump and Musk aren’t the first to make deep cuts. Clinton-era Reinventing Government saved billions
- Trump Order Shifts the Financial Burden of Climate Change Onto Individuals
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One of President Donald Trump’s most damaging strikes at the foundation of U.S. climate policy is buried deep in a sweeping Inauguration Day executive order focused on “Unleashing American Energy.” Half way through the lengthy document is a directive that would obliterate an obscure but critically important calculation the government uses to gauge the real-world costs that climate change is imposing on the U.S. economy.Getting rid of the measure, called the “social cost of carbon,” would upend energy and environmental regulations meant to address climate change and could have the long-term effect of shifting costs from polluting industries directly onto Americans as the expenses of climate change rise.
- Chris Murphy Emerges as a Clear Voice for Democrats Countering Trump
The third-term senator from Connecticut is eschewing caution and throwing out the traditional political playbook as he seeks a broader audience for his critiques of the president and his agenda. - White Men Really Are The Victims This Time
I think it’s time I say the quiet part out loud…
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The GOP trained white, cishet men to vote against their own interests. President Lyndon B. Johnson famously said this quote that explains everything:“If you can convince the lowest white man he’s better than the best colored man, he won’t notice you’re picking his pocket. Hell, give him somebody to look down on, and he’ll empty his pockets for you.”
- On DOJ’s petty and small—but also alarming—complaint against a federal judge
Chad Mizelle filed the judicial complaint against Judge Ana Reyes after a hearing over one of Trump’s anti-trans orders. - You Ask Me How I’m Doing, Part II
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That means the State Department is either intentionally flagging all American passports with record of a gender marker change and/or they’re intentionally cross-referencing passports with birth certificates, some of which are issued by states that ban gender marker changes. - Heather Cox Richardson – Letters from an American – February 23, 2025
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Rather than backing down on their unpopular programs, Trump and the MAGA Republicans are intensifying their behavior as if trying to grab power before it slips away.
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Trump spent at least 12 nights at Mar-a-Lago in his first 29 days in office. S.V. Date of HuffPost noted on February 18 that Trump has played golf at one of his own properties on 9 of his first 30 days in office and that Trump’s golf outings had already cost the American taxpayer $10.7 million. - Right-Wing Commentator Named F.B.I. Deputy Director
The choice of Dan Bongino is a radical departure from the bureau’s history of having a veteran agent serve in the key role that oversees operations. - UPDATE on town hall chaos: Woman who was dragged out speaks, police chief condemns security, name of security firm confirmed
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“I didn’t know if I was in trouble for saying Phil Hart stole from public lands or if it was because I’m a known Democrat in the area,” she said.The town hall was meant to be a forum where constituents could engage with their legislators, Borrenpohl said.
She said she was denied that opportunity. Borrenpohl also alleges she was assaulted.
“I think that my civil rights were stripped from me in that moment in a really embarrassing way,” she said. “Admittedly, I spoke out of turn. But do we live in a country where you speak out of turn and the result is three men assaulting a woman?”