Musk takeover

[Travis]

Trump declared Elon the head of DOGE in the State of the Union Address.  It's already been noted in federal court.

https://x.com/klasfeldreports/status/1897144299113922926?s=46

[reeshau]

Please, PLEASE let his shameless, unending boasting cause some trouble for their plans this time!

[Archipelago]

Well, it happened. Today my wife got a memo that 80,000 VA employees would be laid off. This would be around 25% RIF.

[mtnrider]

Well, it happened. Today my wife got a memo that 80,000 VA employees would be laid off. This would be around 25% RIF.

80,000!  Is that a typo?  How could they deliver reasonable health care after that?

Edit: remove back of the envelope math

[seattlecyclone]

Well, it happened. Today my wife got a memo that 80,000 VA employees would be laid off. This would be around 25% RIF.

80,000!  Is that a typo?  That's nearly 20%.  How could they deliver reasonable health care after that?

Why would you assume that's a goal Musk shares?

[GuitarStv]

Well, it happened. Today my wife got a memo that 80,000 VA employees would be laid off. This would be around 25% RIF.

80,000!  Is that a typo?  That's nearly 20%.  How could they deliver reasonable health care after that?

Why would you assume that's a goal Musk shares?

Yeah.  The apparent goal I've seen since the beginning has been cost savings by permanently crippling government services.  This would seem to achieve it nicely.

[mtnrider]

Well, it happened. Today my wife got a memo that 80,000 VA employees would be laid off. This would be around 25% RIF.

80,000!  Is that a typo?  That's nearly 20%.  How could they deliver reasonable health care after that?

Why would you assume that's a goal Musk shares?

You'd think that they'd have some sense of responsibility to the people that voted them in.  Crazy.

[jrhampt]

Well, it happened. Today my wife got a memo that 80,000 VA employees would be laid off. This would be around 25% RIF.

80,000!  Is that a typo?  That's nearly 20%.  How could they deliver reasonable health care after that?

Why would you assume that's a goal Musk shares?

You'd think that they'd have some sense of responsibility to the people that voted them in.  Crazy.

Well, as we all know, veterans are suckers and losers :-(

[Travis]

Musk had a meeting with GOP Senators. Offered them his cell phone so they can be part of the process (I smell a trap), and Graham informed Musk there's a process for Congress to excise spending from the budget. So I imagine there's going to be some all-or-nothing vote on proposed DOGE cuts that the rest of Congress is going to get ambushed with. His answer to being told they're worried about him breaking the government was "I can't bat 1.000" and that Congress should keep him informed if their constituents have complaints. So they work for him now?

https://x.com/andrewdesiderio/status/1897367138895335627?s=46&t=R92-af67jjXZJ1DFeQwJtA

https://www.politico.com/live-updates/2025/03/05/congress/musk-defends-doge-house-republicans-00215271

[wenchsenior]

Well, it happened. Today my wife got a memo that 80,000 VA employees would be laid off. This would be around 25% RIF.

I'm expecting the same or worse at USGS (the non-policy-responsible, science-research branch of the government). Twiddling fingers waiting for the axe to fall on the entire division devoted to biological research, which Project 2025 explicitly stated they wanted to completely eliminate.

[MustacheAndaHalf]

"The VA's chief of staff, Christopher Syrek, sent a memo to senior agency officials on Tuesday, telling them the goal was to return the agency to 2019 staffing levels of just under 400,000. That would mean cutting about 82,000 staff."
https://www.reuters.com/world/us/department-veterans-affairs-cut-80000-jobs-part-trump-cuts-2025-03-05/

[swashbucklinstache]

This thread is like reading a case study on MMM where OP keeps saying how great it is that he paid one credit card on time for the first time by stopping paying his car payment he uses to get to work because the brilliant debt collector told him he should. All the while piling 5-20x higher mountains of debt on another one plus paying ungodly interest and fees by not paying minimums anymore. OPs goal isn't a neutral budget, living their best life, or retiring early, it is "efficiency" which can only happen through spending cuts and will therefore result in his debt going away. He says that personal finance is the same as company finance so his goals are correct. He knows that the debt collector is efficient and he isn't, because someone told him that one time. He quits his job (fires IRS) because the debt collector says he'll save on gas! We then explain to him that efficiency is in the absolute shitter as a direct result of these choices, to the point that everyone obviously knew efficiency was not the goal of the debt collector. Then he stops talking about efficiency except to note that the process is unimportant to him. He then talks again about that he paid that one credit card, plus the guy at the debt collector agency is so smart and nice and promised that he was only there to help him with debt so we can trust him. Even though that guy owns all his other debt. It's so bad to investigate that guy, because even though literally everything we know about that guy is that he's a completely shit bag with a long history of ripping off debtees by lying to their face, this time we should totally trust him. Plus there's no evidence (because the investigation was closed by that guy). Then someone chimes in to say, it's not that debt collector who got that investigation cancelled, it's was the debt collector's wife! Oops, that debt collector sent OPs private health and financial data all over the world, lol! Examples of previous OPs who cleared their deficit completely and cut their spending 20% using an ordered, planned, sensible process are completely ignored. At no point does OP realize that the debt collector might not be solely dedicated to their best interest.

Should we take bets on if OP will be happier in 4 years? Will their debt even be lower? Will they blame it on their responsible older brother and forum responders who encouraged them to engage in responsible spending reductions? Is it maybe secretly all the fault of a trans person?

How cool is it that we're all beholden to their choices not just them.

[Gremlin]

Well, it happened. Today my wife got a memo that 80,000 VA employees would be laid off. This would be around 25% RIF.

80,000!  Is that a typo?  That's nearly 20%.  How could they deliver reasonable health care after that?

Why would you assume that's a goal Musk shares?

You'd think that they'd have some sense of responsibility to the people that voted them in.  Crazy.

It’s only an issue if they expect to have to be answerable to them again in the future.  Doesn’t matter what you do if there’s not going to be more elections.

[reeshau]

Should we take bets on if OP will be happier in 4 years? Will their debt even be lower? Will they blame it on their responsible older brother and forum responders who encouraged them to engage in responsible spending reductions? Is it maybe secretly all the fault of a trans person?

How cool is it that we're all beholden to their choices not just them.

Hopefully we will have a family intervention in 2 years, and the family can start healing even if the OP Doesn't See It.

[Travis]

Senator from Oklahoma lets a pool of reporters know that DOGE is sniffing around McAlester Army Depot for personnel cuts. McAlester is final assembly and maintenance on a lot of our bombs.  I'm sure eventually the DoD will get around to this and exempt them somehow, but this just shows the blind hatchet-swinging that has been going on.

https://x.com/tcblume/status/1897347076016758848

https://x.com/ColbyBadhwar/status/1897428301725229487

[NorCal]

Dang.  VA service was already kinda subpar.  I recently qualified for VA health care due to the PACT act.  I've still kept my regular insurance because I'm not fully ready to jump all in.

My recent doctors appointment involved in-person telehealth.  I went to the hospital to have a fancy zoom-call with a doctor.  I wouldn't recommend it. 

Filling a prescription took the pharmacy 2 hours because they're already understaffed.

[Archipelago]

Well, it happened. Today my wife got a memo that 80,000 VA employees would be laid off. This would be around 25% RIF.

80,000!  Is that a typo?  That's nearly 20%.  How could they deliver reasonable health care after that?

Why would you assume that's a goal Musk shares?

You'd think that they'd have some sense of responsibility to the people that voted them in.  Crazy.

In our neck of the woods, the veteran population isn't the avid Trump supporter that people assume them to be. Most tend to be moderate and nuanced when it comes to considering what's important for the country for which they've served.

[spartana]

DOGE and the VA Director are trying to turn off 800 contracts including the ones that determine our disability ratings, evaluate for PACT Act illnesses, and cancer treatment programs. They probably didn't even read what they were about to shut off.

https://apnews.com/article/doge-veterans-affairs-cuts-health-services-contracts-9a726b744e402da01d711023b0fc49a1

I had a phone message yesterday that the VA cancelled 2 of my future appts. One regular twice-per-year appt with my primary care provider and the other for the hemotology-oncology clinic I've been getting treatment and testing from for the last 6 months. When I tried to re-schedule they were basicly "meh call us in a couple of weeks". So I think there's going to be a big impact on a lot of vets sooner then I thought.

When you do get an appointment make sure to thank everyone.  Someone who works in surgery at the VA has had 3 veterans so far berate them for being a government employee.

Wow, this is really surprising - a vet would insult someone to their face whose job it is to help them with a serious medical condition?  I cannot understand that mindset.

I haven't seen it myself ...yet... but apparently lots of vets are starting to get fed up with not being able to be seen fast enough or at all. But still why take it out on the VA employees who are trying their hardest with heavy workloads.

I finally got my 2 needed appts and labs but can't get in until June. So a really long wait if it's for something serious. I do imagine it's likely to be cancelled again because I heard on the news today they are planning to lay of 80,000 VA employees. They've been trying to privatize the VA for a long time and that may end up happening now. Or, you know, they can just let all us vets die and call it a win-win for DOGE.

Bat signal to @Sailor Sam and @monstermonster

[Poundwise]

Well, it happened. Today my wife got a memo that 80,000 VA employees would be laid off. This would be around 25% RIF.

80,000!  Is that a typo?  That's nearly 20%.  How could they deliver reasonable health care after that?

Why would you assume that's a goal Musk shares?

You'd think that they'd have some sense of responsibility to the people that voted them in.  Crazy.

It’s only an issue if they expect to have to be answerable to them again in the future.  Doesn’t matter what you do if there’s not going to be more elections.

There will be plenty of elections in the future. They will all be rigged. 

https://www.csis.org/analysis/elected-autocrat-why-rigged-elections-matter

[blue_green_sparks]

Well, it happened. Today my wife got a memo that 80,000 VA employees would be laid off. This would be around 25% RIF.

80,000!  Is that a typo?  That's nearly 20%.  How could they deliver reasonable health care after that?

Why would you assume that's a goal Musk shares?

You'd think that they'd have some sense of responsibility to the people that voted them in.  Crazy.

In our neck of the woods, the veteran population isn't the avid Trump supporter that people assume them to be. Most tend to be moderate and nuanced when it comes to considering what's important for the country for which they've served.

That's refreshing compared to my asinine southern state. People living in "double wides", adorned in cheesy MAGA garb, living on Social Security and as FEMA is being defunded, the next round of hurricanes is right around the corner. They are so proud of their own stupidity and wear it like a badge of honor. Yeah, it begins with an "F" and ends in a "duh".

[reeshau]

DOGE and the VA Director are trying to turn off 800 contracts including the ones that determine our disability ratings, evaluate for PACT Act illnesses, and cancer treatment programs. They probably didn't even read what they were about to shut off.

https://apnews.com/article/doge-veterans-affairs-cuts-health-services-contracts-9a726b744e402da01d711023b0fc49a1

I had a phone message yesterday that the VA cancelled 2 of my future appts. One regular twice-per-year appt with my primary care provider and the other for the hemotology-oncology clinic I've been getting treatment and testing from for the last 6 months. When I tried to re-schedule they were basicly "meh call us in a couple of weeks". So I think there's going to be a big impact on a lot of vets sooner then I thought.

When you do get an appointment make sure to thank everyone.  Someone who works in surgery at the VA has had 3 veterans so far berate them for being a government employee.

Wow, this is really surprising - a vet would insult someone to their face whose job it is to help them with a serious medical condition?  I cannot understand that mindset.

I haven't seen it myself ...yet... but apparently lots of vets are starting to get fed up with not being able to be seen fast enough or at all. But still why take it out on the VA employees who are trying their hardest with heavy workloads.

I finally got my 2 needed appts and labs but can't get in until June. So a really long wait if it's for something serious. I do imagine it's likely to be cancelled again because I heard on the news today they are planning to lay of 80,000 VA employees. They've been trying to privatize the VA for a long time and that may end up happening now. Or, you know, they can just let all us vets die and call it a win-win for DOGE.

Bat signal to @Sailor Sam and @monstermonster

The VA cuts are due in August, so maybe the smart thing is to load up on what you can until then.

[NorCal]

DOGE and the VA Director are trying to turn off 800 contracts including the ones that determine our disability ratings, evaluate for PACT Act illnesses, and cancer treatment programs. They probably didn't even read what they were about to shut off.

https://apnews.com/article/doge-veterans-affairs-cuts-health-services-contracts-9a726b744e402da01d711023b0fc49a1

I had a phone message yesterday that the VA cancelled 2 of my future appts. One regular twice-per-year appt with my primary care provider and the other for the hemotology-oncology clinic I've been getting treatment and testing from for the last 6 months. When I tried to re-schedule they were basicly "meh call us in a couple of weeks". So I think there's going to be a big impact on a lot of vets sooner then I thought.

When you do get an appointment make sure to thank everyone.  Someone who works in surgery at the VA has had 3 veterans so far berate them for being a government employee.

Wow, this is really surprising - a vet would insult someone to their face whose job it is to help them with a serious medical condition?  I cannot understand that mindset.

I haven't seen it myself ...yet... but apparently lots of vets are starting to get fed up with not being able to be seen fast enough or at all. But still why take it out on the VA employees who are trying their hardest with heavy workloads.

I finally got my 2 needed appts and labs but can't get in until June. So a really long wait if it's for something serious. I do imagine it's likely to be cancelled again because I heard on the news today they are planning to lay of 80,000 VA employees. They've been trying to privatize the VA for a long time and that may end up happening now. Or, you know, they can just let all us vets die and call it a win-win for DOGE.

Bat signal to @Sailor Sam and @monstermonster

I personally don't have anything urgent, but I think this is the kick I need to sign up for the VA's dietician + exercise program before it goes away.  I'll take the kick to get past my procrastination.

[spartana]

DOGE and the VA Director are trying to turn off 800 contracts including the ones that determine our disability ratings, evaluate for PACT Act illnesses, and cancer treatment programs. They probably didn't even read what they were about to shut off.

https://apnews.com/article/doge-veterans-affairs-cuts-health-services-contracts-9a726b744e402da01d711023b0fc49a1

I had a phone message yesterday that the VA cancelled 2 of my future appts. One regular twice-per-year appt with my primary care provider and the other for the hemotology-oncology clinic I've been getting treatment and testing from for the last 6 months. When I tried to re-schedule they were basicly "meh call us in a couple of weeks". So I think there's going to be a big impact on a lot of vets sooner then I thought.

When you do get an appointment make sure to thank everyone.  Someone who works in surgery at the VA has had 3 veterans so far berate them for being a government employee.

Wow, this is really surprising - a vet would insult someone to their face whose job it is to help them with a serious medical condition?  I cannot understand that mindset.

I haven't seen it myself ...yet... but apparently lots of vets are starting to get fed up with not being able to be seen fast enough or at all. But still why take it out on the VA employees who are trying their hardest with heavy workloads.

I finally got my 2 needed appts and labs but can't get in until June. So a really long wait if it's for something serious. I do imagine it's likely to be cancelled again because I heard on the news today they are planning to lay of 80,000 VA employees. They've been trying to privatize the VA for a long time and that may end up happening now. Or, you know, they can just let all us vets die and call it a win-win for DOGE.

Bat signal to @Sailor Sam and @monstermonster

The VA cuts are due in August, so maybe the smart thing is to load up on what you can until then.

I don't have much I need done - other then some specialty tests and labs for a service-connected thing that I can't seem to hurry along. Already backlogged I suppose and sounds like it'll get worse in Aug.

I also imagine it'll get worse when so many Fed's get laid off and lose their medical coverage. Many are vets who may qualify for  VA medical care once they no longer have civilian/job related medical insurance. Could get brutal for everyone if the ACA goes away or morphed into something else.

[41_swish]

The thing that gets me with Muska and DOGE is the absolute fit republicans would throw if this was a Democrat doing it. I know Democrats are throwing a fit, because an unelected oligarch is messing with basically everything. In a vacuum, regardless of your politics, it's undemocratic.

I think Republicans would throw and even bigger fit than the Democrats are.

I also read this whole DOGE situation as Trump and GOP admitting they will probably lose the midterms, so they have to go scorched earth and do everything that they can in two years.

[Dictionary Time]

The thing that gets me with Muska and DOGE is the absolute fit republicans would throw if this was a Democrat doing it. I know Democrats are throwing a fit, because an unelected oligarch is messing with basically everything.

I think if a democrat were doing this, democrats and republicans would be fighting it.

[Travis]

Trump pulled the cabinet together to tell them that Elon doesn't have firing authority. He's just an advisor. Probably the same way he advised the Senate to get with his program or he'll buy their elections. I guess he finally got the word that he probably nuked half a dozen court cases by reiterating Elon's role in DOGE the other night.

https://www.politico.com/news/2025/03/06/trump-cabinet-musk-025093

SSA blocked from reading Wired and a few other websites. Very transparent. Much free speech.

https://bsky.app/profile/wired.com/post/3ljq3jtxdx32p

[Travis]

And just like that, Trump goes back to implying Elon can do things if his cabinet members can't/won't.

https://fixupx.com/atrupar/status/1897750407113314325

[reeshau]

The thing that gets me with Muska and DOGE is the absolute fit republicans would throw if this was a Democrat doing it. I know Democrats are throwing a fit, because an unelected oligarch is messing with basically everything. In a vacuum, regardless of your politics, it's undemocratic.

I think Republicans would throw and even bigger fit than the Democrats are.

I also read this whole DOGE situation as Trump and GOP admitting they will probably lose the midterms, so they have to go scorched earth and do everything that they can in two years.

That's exactly it, though.  Say Trump largely gets his way, but does not contrive of a way to stay in office.  He backlash could be severe, and the next President could be the Democrat version of Trump.  With the legal precedent in place for all this, a left-leaning, Trump-thinking President can simply rescind all his executive orders at a stroke of his own pen, and rewrite Federal policy just as expensively.  If birthright citizenship can be taken away, then why not a path to citizenship given?  Tariffs imposed?  How about a VAT?  And, as suggested above, if Elon can be here, why not Mark Cuban?  (Could you imagine if Steve Jobs were still around?!?)

The payload is one thing, but governing by executive order is itself a dangerous development that sidelines Congress and makes the US only as stable a world player as the whims of the next administration.

That's why conservatives should be fighting it, too.

[GuitarStv]

There has never been a Democratic Party version of Trump.  The party wouldn't stand for it, so the risk is entirely theoretical and will never materialize.

[Travis]

Elon: I'm not the one making the cuts
Acting head of SSA: DOGE doing things I have no control over

https://newrepublic.com/post/192415/elon-musk-warns-republicans-doge-job-cuts

https://newrepublic.com/post/192412/social-security-chief-warn-doge-mistakes

[swashbucklinstache]

The thing that gets me with Muska and DOGE is the absolute fit republicans would throw if this was a Democrat doing it. I know Democrats are throwing a fit, because an unelected oligarch is messing with basically everything. In a vacuum, regardless of your politics, it's undemocratic.

I think Republicans would throw and even bigger fit than the Democrats are.

I also read this whole DOGE situation as Trump and GOP admitting they will probably lose the midterms, so they have to go scorched earth and do everything that they can in two years.

That's exactly it, though.  Say Trump largely gets his way, but does not contrive of a way to stay in office.  He backlash could be severe, and the next President could be the Democrat version of Trump.  With the legal precedent in place for all this, a left-leaning, Trump-thinking President can simply rescind all his executive orders at a stroke of his own pen, and rewrite Federal policy just as expensively.  If birthright citizenship can be taken away, then why not a path to citizenship given?  Tariffs imposed?  How about a VAT?  And, as suggested above, if Elon can be here, why not Mark Cuban?  (Could you imagine if Steve Jobs were still around?!?)

The payload is one thing, but governing by executive order is itself a dangerous development that sidelines Congress and makes the US only as stable a world player as the whims of the next administration.

That's why conservatives should be fighting it, too.

They had no problem fighting it during the Obama administration. It was probably my biggest criticism of BO.

[Metalcat]

Shared by Robert Reich today, made me literally laugh out loud.

[reeshau]

There has never been a Democratic Party version of Trump.  The party wouldn't stand for it, so the risk is entirely theoretical and will never materialize.

President Al Sharpton?

That was the closest I could imagine.  More ideologies than practical.

If we just want to go with corrupt...Rod Blagojevich?

[Chaplin]

There has never been a Democratic Party version of Trump.  The party wouldn't stand for it, so the risk is entirely theoretical and will never materialize.

That's probably true, but the point stands that if the process is broken and rule by EO is the new way of doing things, then even in the absence of a Democratic Party version of Trump, a series of Republican presidents could each remove their predecessors actions and implement their own personal version of everything. Of course, with the process broken, there won't be a future series of presidents of any party.

[Travis]

DOGE turned the sixth floor of the GSA headquarters into a hotel. Blatant fraud, waste, and abuse. Federal civilian workers are authorized to sleep at work only under extreme circumstances. They are not authorized to live there. The taxpayer is subsidizing their housing costs.

https://www.politico.com/news/2025/03/06/doge-federal-office-bedrooms-00216863

[lhamo]

$25k to install a washer/dryer?  I guess Elon must have some plumbers on the take?  A real genius would have bought the closest laundrymat and charged $100/load for bespoke laundry pickup and delivery

[Scandium]

The thing that gets me with Muska and DOGE is the absolute fit republicans would throw if this was a Democrat doing it. I know Democrats are throwing a fit, because an unelected oligarch is messing with basically everything. In a vacuum, regardless of your politics, it's undemocratic.

I think Republicans would throw and even bigger fit than the Democrats are.

I also read this whole DOGE situation as Trump and GOP admitting they will probably lose the midterms, so they have to go scorched earth and do everything that they can in two years.

In their pea-sized minds the argument is always "democrats already did it". Something about Obama being a dictator, or all the way back to FDR for the more old-school. Or maybe Biden was a corrupt dictator, because... reasons? Or George Soros did.. something? Specifics rarely given. They make up reasons why (small-d) democratically enacted policies they don't like are "tyranny", and somehow done in a dirty way. So then they of course also have to do dirty, tyrannical things. But even more.

[41_swish]

The thing that gets me with Muska and DOGE is the absolute fit republicans would throw if this was a Democrat doing it. I know Democrats are throwing a fit, because an unelected oligarch is messing with basically everything. In a vacuum, regardless of your politics, it's undemocratic.

I think Republicans would throw and even bigger fit than the Democrats are.

I also read this whole DOGE situation as Trump and GOP admitting they will probably lose the midterms, so they have to go scorched earth and do everything that they can in two years.

In their pea-sized minds the argument is always "democrats already did it". Something about Obama being a dictator, or all the way back to FDR for the more old-school. Or maybe Biden was a corrupt dictator, because... reasons? Or George Soros did.. something? Specifics rarely given. They make up reasons why (small-d) democratically enacted policies they don't like are "tyranny", and somehow done in a dirty way. So then they of course also have to do dirty, tyrannical things. But even more.

So, you're saying democrats are rightfully upset, but if you turned the dables this new hypothetical musk and trump would be a litter dictator

[partgypsy]

Well, I'm a Fed at the VA.
It's been really hard to concentrate, and workload is really high right now.
Most likely, I'm cooked. Twenty years to my little corner in this. What I feel worse about. The people who just had kids, started family because they were in a "stable" government job. The bright eyed, bushy tailed, hard working and SMART people coming up the ranks working on health care delivery. Talk about a brain drain. Drawn to the VA because being able to combine clinical care with research. One that was very cheap government, wise. That paid dividends both at the VA and in the private sector. 
On the up side, a veteran's family brought a bunch of treats with a very sweet thank you card.
If I am forced out, I will very much miss my this community.  Everything combined (the staff, the veterans and their family, the volunteers) was a nice community.

[Travis]

There was a monster blow up in the cabinet with Elon once the cameras were turned off.

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/07/us/politics/trump-musk-doge-power.html

https://x.com/maggieNYT/status/1898058445401530587

https://x.com/maggieNYT/status/1898058755729768692

[Fru-Gal]

There was a monster blow up in the cabinet with Elon once the cameras were turned off.

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/07/us/politics/trump-musk-doge-power.html

https://x.com/maggieNYT/status/1898058445401530587

https://x.com/maggieNYT/status/1898058755729768692

Non paywall link, fuck NYT & Maggie “Sanewasher” Haberman
https://archive.ph/ajnG5

[GuitarStv]

Man, we're in a dark timeline where I'm kinda rooting for Rubio.

[mtnrider]

There was a monster blow up in the cabinet with Elon once the cameras were turned off.

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/07/us/politics/trump-musk-doge-power.html

https://x.com/maggieNYT/status/1898058445401530587

https://x.com/maggieNYT/status/1898058755729768692

I'm impressed that someone in the administration would take a stand against Musk.  I thought everyone had learned to be a sycophant.

Still, will this be the thing that creates an actual fissure in their axis of evil?

Edit: non X link to above post

[Travis]

I'm impressed that someone in the administration would take a stand against Musk.  I thought everyone had learned to be a sycophant.

Still, will this be the thing that creates an actual fissure in their axis of evil?

They still are. They're complaining to an "advisor" that he's running their agencies. If they weren't sycophants they'd push back by throwing these people out of their buildings.

[Omy]

It feels like we're getting close to the "throwing people out of windows" stage of this regime.

[mtnrider]

I'm impressed that someone in the administration would take a stand against Musk.  I thought everyone had learned to be a sycophant.

Still, will this be the thing that creates an actual fissure in their axis of evil?

They still are. They're complaining to an "advisor" that he's running their agencies. If they weren't sycophants they'd push back by throwing these people out of their buildings.

Good point.  And if the reporting is accurate, it was more like a typical high level meeting of VPs and the C-suite in a megacorp.  Still, one can hope that Rubio and Duffy were pushing back while thinking about the American people as well as their fiefdom and legacy.  They would have to be careful to pick battles where they don't get pushed out themselves.

As @GuitarStv says, I feel strange hoping that Rubio can persuade a president to listen to his idea of how government should be run.

[Sandi_k]

I'm impressed that someone in the administration would take a stand against Musk.  I thought everyone had learned to be a sycophant.

Still, will this be the thing that creates an actual fissure in their axis of evil?

They still are. They're complaining to an "advisor" that he's running their agencies. If they weren't sycophants they'd push back by throwing these people out of their buildings.

One of the African aid agencies visited by the Muskrats were refused entry. They came back the next day with Federal marshals.

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/06/us/politics/doge-african-aid-agency.html?unlocked_article_code=1.2E4.L3TE.X1PE5U7oToIP&smid=url-share

[mtnrider]

I'm impressed that someone in the administration would take a stand against Musk.  I thought everyone had learned to be a sycophant.

Still, will this be the thing that creates an actual fissure in their axis of evil?

They still are. They're complaining to an "advisor" that he's running their agencies. If they weren't sycophants they'd push back by throwing these people out of their buildings.

One of the African aid agencies visited by the Muskrats were refused entry. They came back the next day with Federal marshals.

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/06/us/politics/doge-african-aid-agency.html?unlocked_article_code=1.2E4.L3TE.X1PE5U7oToIP&smid=url-share

And this was in Rubio's fiefdom.

[CrustyBadger]

His answer to being told they're worried about him breaking the government was "I can't bat 1.000" and that Congress should keep him informed if their constituents have complaints.

This is exactly his strategy. Shut everything down, as much as he can, and wait till he hears complaints.  They just hire those people back.

That's what he did with the National Nuclear Security Administration. Despite protests from the agency officials, he just let go almost 20% of employees, basically will nilly. No thought to what their jobs were or how vital to the mission.

Then -- ooops -- enough people protested that many were asked to come back.  No thought went into the cuts in the first place, though. He waited until senators in red states vehemently complained.

https://newrepublic.com/post/192247/elon-musk-doge-cuts-nuclear-safety

The White House also walked back the decision after it received a “stream of panicked calls” from lawmakers on both sides of the aisle who demanded the immediate reinstatement of some 314 nuclear staff workers, including engineers, technicians, and managers, according to the Post.

“These are jobs directly tied to keeping bad things from happening at facilities in places like Tennessee, Texas, New Mexico, Nebraska, and Kansas City, Missouri,” another anonymous official who recently left their job told the newspaper. “A lot of them are in red states. These lawmakers are not thrilled by the potential for bad things happening in their communities.”

[Travis]

NWS in New York and Maine suspending weather balloon launches due to lack of manpower.

https://x.com/jamiedupree/status/1898137598964769085