Trump Admin Threatens to Stop Social Security If DOGE Can’t Have Personal Data

Trump’s interim Social Security chief says he wants to turn off the program if #Musk & #DOGE can’t access #Americans’ most sensitive #data
https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/trump-musk-stop-social-security-doge-data-1235300785/

"Dudek’s threat to block #SSA employees from using the agency’s #IT systems — a move that could halt #SocialSecurity payments — came in response to a judge’s temporary restraining order"

#ElonMusk #Coup #Corruption #Trump #GOP #USPol #Tech #News #US #USA

Billionaire Trump Official Says Missing Social Security Checks Are No Big Deal

Howard #Lutnick suggested that anyone who would actually complain about a missing benefit is a "fraudster"
https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/howard-lutnick-missing-social-security-checks-1235301307/

"Lutnick’s comments come as #ElonMusk & his minions from the so-called Dept of Govt Efficiency ( #DOGE) have invaded the #SocialSecurity Administration, implementing big changes & leading #Americans to worry that their #benefits could be in danger."

#Musk #Coup #Trump #GOP #USPol #News

Musk, trying to sway a #Wisconsin Supreme Court election, offers voters $100

The billionaire #US official is again offer voters cash, this time for agreeing with him on "activist judges"
https://www.salon.com/2025/03/21/musk-trying-to-sway-a-wisconsin-election-offers-100/

"Musk’s #America PAC — known for its potentially #illegal million-dollar giveaways ahead of the 2024 #election

...payday never came. Musk’s PAC was still on the hook for... payments to multiple swing state volunteers"

#ElonMusk #Musk #Corruption #Money #Politics #USPol #News #USA

Starlink at the White House
https://www.muskwatch.com/i/159516805/starlink-at-the-white-house

" #Starlink, a satellite #internet provider owned by #SpaceX, has been installed on the #WhiteHouse campus...

bizarre arrangement that provides no clear #technical benefit, as internet speeds from Starlink’s satellites are easily outclassed by its terrestrial competitors. Jake Williams, a #cybersecurity expert... “It introduces another attack point,” Williams said. “But why introduce that risk?”

#ElonMusk #Musk #Corruption #USPol #News #US

Director of federal broadband program quits
https://www.muskwatch.com/i/159516805/director-of-federal-broadband-program-quits

"The director of a massive Dept of #Commerce program to improve #rural broadband access has quit the #government over concerns that the agency would delay the initiative to lavish #Starlink with federal funds...

Feinman urged the #Trump admn against changing BEAD “to benefit [satellite] #technology that delivers slower speeds at higher costs"

#ElonMusk #Musk #Corruption #GOP #Politics #USPol #Tech #Business #News #US #USA

The Tesla Secret That Exposes Elon Musk’s Whole Game

The car company’s big business in regulatory credits shows Musk’s mantra has always been “Govt handouts for me, not for thee.”
https://newrepublic.com/article/192993/tesla-elon-musk-credits-money

"his empire, built originally on an #apartheid emerald mine, has been propped up by public #money for years...

It’s not #innovation that’s keeping #Tesla finances afloat; it’s a rigged system that #Musk is milking for everything it’s worth."

#ElonMusk #Corruption #Politics #Business #News

Elon Musk Leaves Pentagon After Discussions About China & Tech
https://archive.is/jBqo7#selection-6023.0-6023.234

"That Musk would sit for any China-related meeting at all underscored the potential #conflicts of interest for him

#Musk... was going to receive the top-secret briefing on #China because he asked for one. He has a #security clearance but isn’t in the #military chain of command or known to be a military adviser to #Trump."

#ElonMusk #Corruption #Coup #Politics #USPol #USPolitics #Pentagon #Tech #News #USA

Musk tries to buy a Supreme Court
https://charliesykes.substack.com/p/elon-comes-for-wisconsin

"Musk... so far spent more than $11 million...

One Musk-backed group... is running deceptive #ads that claim to support candidate #SusanCrawford but are actually designed to alienate moderate #voters by claiming that she supports a radical #progressive agenda. And now, #Musk is offering #Wisconsin voters $100 to sign a petition against “activist judges”"

#ElonMusk #Corruption #Politics #USPol #Election #SupremeCourt #News #US #USA

Elon Musk threatens Pentagon leakers after NYT report on secret China war briefing

“They will be found,” warns US President Donald Trump’s billionaire adviser as #WhiteHouse lashes out at the #media.
https://www.politico.eu/article/elon-musk-threatens-pentagon-leakers-new-york-times-briefing-china-war/

"Elon #Musk has openly threatened #Pentagon employees who may have leaked #information that the #tech billionaire was due to get a briefing on a potential American #war with #China."

#ElonMusk #Coup #Corruption #Trump #GOP #Politics #USPol #USPolitics #News #US #USA

Elon Musk’s DOGE Moves to Gut Local Libraries While No One Is Looking

DOGE is seizing the Institute of #Museum & #Library Service.
https://newrepublic.com/post/193015/elon-musk-doge-library-musem-imls

"There are [Dept] of Homeland Security personnel present - to bully a bunch of civil servants who administer grants to #museums & #libraries.”

“There is no efficiency argument when #IMLS represents just 0.0046% of the federal budget, while museums generate $50 billion in economic impact”

#ElonMusk #Musk #Doge #Trump #GOP #USPol #News #USA

On a Musk-Know Basis

There’s alarming reporting that Musk is about to be given access to the crown jewels of our military’s operational planning for a conflict with China.
https://statuskuo.substack.com/p/on-a-musk-know-basis

"It is quite remarkable that officials at the #Pentagon would #leak word of the meeting & the presentation to the #press. It’s an indication of how alarmed some officials are at the prospect of #Musk gaining access to classified #war plans."

#ElonMusk #China #Corruption #USPol #Military #News #USA

Elon Musk Is Said To Be Getting The War Plan Against China
https://www.techdirt.com/2025/03/21/elon-musk-is-getting-the-war-plan-against-china/

"**reporting that the nature of the meeting changed because of the public revelation**

...The same #ElonMusk who is currently CEO of #Tesla, which operates a flagship factory in #Shanghai that produces more than half of the company’s global deliveries...

This isn’t just a routine #conflict of interest—it’s a national #security nightmare"

#Musk #Coup #Corruption #China #Pentagon #Politics #USPol #News #USA

"The mechanisms through which this #conflict could compromise national #security are not theoretical... #Chinese authorities, well aware of Tesla’s vulnerability in their market, could apply subtle pressure... Even without explicit coercion, Musk’s awareness of which Chinese facilities would be primary targets in a conflict could unconsciously influence his #business decisions... inadvertently telegraphing US #military priorities."
https://www.techdirt.com/2025/03/21/elon-musk-is-getting-the-war-plan-against-china/

#Musk #Corruption #USPOl #News #USA

Trump Threatens to Deport the “Terrorists” Who Protest Tesla

Donald Trump continues to come running to Elon Musk’s defense.
https://newrepublic.com/post/193012/donald-trump-threatens-deport-tesla

" #DonaldTrump is threatening to deport #US citizens who vandalize #Tesla dealerships...

isn’t the first time Trump has threatened to deport lawful #American citizens...

#Trump used to fling the threat against people who stood against him...

attempting to widen the circle of who can be #deported"

#Musk #Corruption #Coup #USPol #News #USA #US

Elon Musk Is Openly Trying to Buy Votes in Crucial Supreme Court Race

#ElonMusk is once again interfering in a pivotal #election.
https://newrepublic.com/post/193026/elon-musk-buy-votes-wisconsin-supreme-court-race

"Musk is attempting to artificially shift public opinion by circulating a petition against “activist” judges & offering compensation...

little over a week before Wisconsin’s #SupremeCourt election, in which #Musk has already put a whopping $20 million behind conservative candidate Brad Schimel."

#Corruption #USPol #Wisconsin #News #US

Is the Muskrat working for China? (Is Trump working for Putin?)

The fact we don’t know and can’t know is itself a problem
https://robertreich.substack.com/p/is-the-muskrat-working-for-china

"There are two huge national #security questions at the heart of the Trump regime.

The first is whether #ElonMusk is working, at least in part, for China’s #XiJinping...

#Musk has been in regular contact with the #Russian president —a close partner of #China...

second... Is #Trump working for #Putin?"

#Politics #Corruption #USPol #News #US #USA

It’s A Start: Musk & DOGE Take Their First Real Hit
https://www.techdirt.com/2025/03/21/its-a-start-musk-and-doge-take-their-first-real-hit/

"So the [Trump] govt tried a “foil a judicial order with this one quick trick!” maneuver by converting a #DOGE staffer into a #USAID official, which would then seem to grant him the mantle of legitimacy to effectively ratify his team’s own illegitimate actions. But it didn’t work: the court subsequently reiterated that the injunction kept anyone connected with DOGE out of the agency’s business"

#Musk #USPol #Law #News

"Having a #court at last officially credit the arguments that any DOGE authority was falsely claimed seems an important point to be reached... Right now all these cases are being litigated against the big black box of the #government...

But with DOGE it is different because what it is finally starting to dawn is the #judicial recognition that #DOGE has no constitutionally-appointed governmental power"
https://www.techdirt.com/2025/03/21/its-a-start-musk-and-doge-take-their-first-real-hit/

#ElonMusk #Musk #Coup #Corruption #Trump #GOP #USPol #Law #News #USA

‘Frustrated and angry’ Iowans confront Sen. Chuck Grassley at raucous town hall in Hampton

An overflow crowd packed the Franklin County Courthouse as Iowans asked Grassley about Donald Trump’s funding cuts, Elon Musk’s mass firings
https://www.thegazette.com/government-politics/frustrated-and-angry-iowans-confront-sen-chuck-grassley-at-raucous-town-hall-in-hampton/

"Iowans’ anger over funding cuts & mass firings of federal employees led by billionaire #ElonMusk ’s #DOGE ... boiled over during a raucous #TownHall ...hosted by #Republican Iowa #US Sen. Chuck Grassley."

#Resist #Resistance #News #USA

Michael Lewis: Government Workers Are Not the Corrupt Ones
https://www.thebulwark.com/p/michael-lewis-government-workers

"Elon Musk claims he’s rooting out waste, fraud, and abuse with all his mass firings. But #DOGE should be looking higher up the food chain to target the #graft: for example, the #SouthAfrican immigrant whose #car company would not have gotten off the ground without the taxpayer money he still collects."

#ElonMusk #Musk #Corruption #Business #Politics #USPol #Podcast #News #US #USA

Elon Musk Made No Promises

So with Trump’s blessing, he is going after #SocialSecurity
https://steady.substack.com/p/elon-musk-made-no-promises

"With no authority other than #Trump saying he can, #Musk, who has manipulated & bought his way into the system, is cutting 7,000 jobs at #SSA, or 12% of the workforce, and closing more than 40 field offices. Closing those offices is a terrible idea for an agency where getting an in-person appointment is already notoriously difficult."

#ElonMusk #Coup #Corruption #USPol #News #USA

Elon Musk is accelerating a 50-year government privatization project

Trump’s DOGE campaign accelerates a longtime Republican trend
https://www.salon.com/2025/03/22/elon-musk-is-accelerating-a-50-year-government-privatization-project-_partner/

" #DonaldTrump has aggressively moved to shrink the federal #government...

#DOGE has been billed as a cost-cutting initiative, although the actual amount of money being saved remains unclear...

these actions reflect a longer trend of privatizing govt."

#ElonMusk #Coup #Corruption #Trump #GOP #Politics #USPol #Business #News #US #USA

The FBI Is Investigating Attacks on Tesla as ‘Domestic Terrorism.’ Here’s Why That Matters

The domestic #terrorism designation could give law enforcement sweeping authority to surveil people protesting against Elon Musk's role in the #US federal govt, civil liberties experts warn
https://www.wired.com/story/fbi-tesla-arson-domestic-terrorism-protests/

"instead of focusing on people who are alleged to have committed... acts of violence, the FBI’s focus... people who it thinks are expressing “anger or animosity towards #Tesla or #ElonMusk”

Centralizing Personnel Authority

A new #Trump move seeks to evade #court orders & empower DOGE
https://donmoynihan.substack.com/p/centralizing-personnel-authority

"Why the new confidence in OPM? #OPM is, effectively, a subsidiary of DOGE now. DOGE employees, when they meet resistance, have not been shy about threatening federal employees or contractors... The new #EO means that #DOGE employees have even more leverage in their interactions with agencies."

#ElonMusk #Musk #Coup #Corruption #Trump #GOP #Politics #USPol #News #US #USA

"We are watching #DOGE become both the most important unit in #government, but also one that claims to have limited legal power. It is amassing these powers through a series of... legal fictions...

We have struggled to characterize DOGE... DOGE is better described as a network, with members across govt, and inside & outside of govt. It operates around a single charismatic figure—Musk, not Trump"
https://donmoynihan.substack.com/p/centralizing-personnel-authority

#ElonMusk #Musk #Coup #Corruption #Trump #GOP #Politics #USPol #News #USA

IRS Predicts DOGE Lost Half a Trillion Dollars for the USA
https://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/irs-predicts-doge-lost-half-a-trillion-dollars-for-the-usa

"the IRS’s internal projections estimate that the DOGE-driven disruptions to the #IRS since the inauguration are on track to have reduced #tax receipts by more than $500 billion...

in about eight weeks #DOGE managed to lose the US #government, more or less light fire, more than half of what goes to all non-defense discretionary spending."

#ElonMusk #Coup #Corruption #Trump #GOP #Politics #USPol #News #US #USA

How #TeslaTakedown is bringing the fight to Musk

"Part of the reason people are coming out is because they feel it’s having a real impact on Elon’s pocketbook."
https://www.publicnotice.co/p/tesla-takedown-musk

"activists and regular citizens around the nation (and world) have been showing up to #Tesla showrooms to #protest Musk’s actions & #DOGE generally. What started as small #protests have grown to well-attended #demonstrations in many different states."

#Resist #Resistance #ElonMusk #Musk #Trump #GOP #News #USA

Elon Musk lashes out at US judges as they rule against Doge

#Musk lambastes #judges as leftwing activists in more than 20 posts as #Trump admn’s judiciary clash intensifies
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2025/mar/22/elon-musk-doge-judges-usaid

"In the days after a federal judge ruled Elon Musk’s dismantling of #USAID likely violated the #constitution, [Musk] issued a series of online attacks against the #American judiciary... & called on #Congress to remove his newfound legal opponents from office."

#ElonMusk #Coup #GOP #USPol #News #US

Trump & DOGE Propel VA Mental Health System Into Turmoil

A chaotic restructuring order threatens to degrade services for veterans...
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/22/us/politics/veterans-affairs-mental-health-doge.html

"a new return-to-office policy ... mental health providers... found no way to ensure patient #privacy... arrangement violates #ethics regulations & #medical privacy laws. At the same time, layoffs of at least 1,900 probationary employees are thinning out already stressed services that assist #veterans"

#Musk #Doge #Trump #VA #Health #News

"Clinicians warn that the changes will degrade mental #health treatment at the #VA., which already has severe staffing shortages...

The #DOGE cuts have already sparked #chaos & confusion within the sprawling agency, which provides care to more than nine million #veterans. The #Trump admn has said it plans to eliminate 80,000 VA #jobs, and a first round of terminations has halted some #research studies & slashed support staff."
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/22/us/politics/veterans-affairs-mental-health-doge.html

#Musk #DonaldTrump #Coup #USPol #News #USA

Protests against DOGE pop up across East Tennessee following federal employee layoffs

Two #protests were held in #Knoxville against #DOGE and #Tesla. Another was held in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
https://www.wbir.com/article/news/local/sevierville-sevier/protests-against-doge-pop-up-across-east-tennessee-following-federal-employee-layoffs/51-08fbe756-9a76-4993-9530-716c684c6868

"People across East #Tennessee gathered to protest the #Trump Administration, #ElonMusk and the Dept of Govt Efficiency.

#Resist #Resistance #Protest #Musk #DonaldTrump #GOP #Coup #Corruption #USPol #News #Park #NationalParks #Nature #Video #Tennessee #USA #US

Buying the vote
https://www.muskwatch.com/p/musks-political-muscle-faces-first

"In #Wisconsin, an #ElonMusk -backed super PAC is offering registered #voters $100 in exchange for their contact #information and signatures on a petition...

So far, America PAC and Building America's Future, a Musk-backed nonprofit, have spent $20 million combined in support of Schimel.

...the PAC can use the program to hoover up contact information to email, call, or text voters before election day"

#Musk #Corruption #Politics #USPol #News #US #USA

Musk Is Positioned to Profit Off Billions in New Govt Contracts

The boost in federal spending for SpaceX will come in part as a result of actions by Trump & Elon Musk’s allies & employees who hold #government positions...
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/23/us/politics/spacex-contracts-musk-doge-trump.html

"At NASA, after repeated nudges by #Musk, the agency is being squeezed to turn its focus to Mars, allowing #SpaceX to pursue federal contracts...

And at the #FAA & the White House... #Starlink satellite dishes have recently been installed"

#News #US

"The Department of Gaslighting Efficiency"

Non Sequitur by @Wileymiller for March 24, 2025
https://www.gocomics.com/nonsequitur/2025/03/24

#Comics #Comicstrip #Doge #ElonMusk #Musk #Trump #GOP #Politics #USPol #Humor #PoliticalCartoon #US #USA

Elon Musk Is Demolishing the Rationale for Citizens United

The #SupremeCourt said in 2010 that the decision wouldn’t damage Americans’ faith in #democracy. Whoops.
https://newrepublic.com/article/193058/elon-musk-citizens-united-kennedy

"in #CitizensUnited v. Federal Elections Commission, in which the court struck down key guardrails against corporate spending in #American elections, Kennedy rejected the allegation that the court’s ruling would have deleterious effects on how #Americans perceived their republic."

#Musk #Corruption #USPol

"The last two months have proven him disastrously incorrect. #ElonMusk, a South African [immigrant]... spent $288 million to reelect #DonaldTrump last year. In return for his contributions, he has been given more #power over the federal #government than any other private individual since the founding...

The entire federal government now seems to bend to one man’s personal interests."
https://newrepublic.com/article/193058/elon-musk-citizens-united-kennedy

#Musk #Coup #Corruption #Trump #GOP #Politics #USPol #CitizensUnited #News #US #USA

"The court’s #liberal members... were unpersuaded by Kennedy’s reasoning... criticized the #conservative majority for its dangerous nonchalance toward the corrosive effects of #corruption...

Stevens’s dissent... carries even greater weight w/the benefit of hindsight. He described Kennedy’s majority opinion as “a rejection of the common sense of the #American people, who have recognized a need to prevent #corporations from undermining self-government"
https://newrepublic.com/article/193058/elon-musk-citizens-united-kennedy

#USPol #News #USA

Bondi Continues Using DOJ As Musk Retribution Weapon In Warning To Dem Who Protested Tesla
https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/bondi-continues-using-doj-as-musk-retribution-weapon-in-warning-to-dem-who-protested-tesla

"Crockett participated in a non-violent conference call discussing protesting #ElonMusk...

Bondi’s warning... for Crockett to “tread very carefully” amid her criticism of #Musk, is yet another example of Donald Trump’s Dept of #Justice functioning as an extension of the White House — protecting Musk’s #business interests"

#Tesla #Trump #Corruption #Coup #DOJ #USPol #News #USA

Bernie Sanders and AOC Rallies Are Pissing Off Elon Musk

The two #Democrats are drawing huge crowds on the #FightOligarchy tour. And it’s making #Republicans nervous.
https://newrepublic.com/post/193071/bernie-sanders-aoc-rally-pissing-off-elon-musk

"[Musk] who is still bribing people to vote Republican is pushing wildly unsubstantiated claims about paid protesters at the #BernieSanders & Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez rallies.

Sanders & #AOC started their #FightingOligarchy tour last month"

#Resist #Resistance #ElonMusk #Musk #Trump #USPol #News #USA