Protests against Musk occurring around the country. National boycott of Tesla urged to protest Elon Musk's moves to "destroy our democracy" excerpt: Peter Haderlein was also at the protest. He said he was just fired from his job at a carbon sequestration company, after Musk's DOGE froze a DOE grant. "The grant was supposed to help us make payroll, and when the funding freeze happened, they fired a third of the company," Haderlein said. "My wife, she works in education research, and they have Department of Education grants, projects they've worked on for years. Projects that were six months away from publishing - that were supposed to help with America's kids and adult education in schools that weren't even DEI related - just canceled."
What Are Reciprocal Tariffs? Trump Unveils 'Big' Tariff Move—As Economists Warn About Inflation excerpt: “Interest Rates should be lowered, something which would go hand in hand with upcoming Tariffs,” Trump posted Wednesday. However, rate cuts typically come when inflation is on a stable low trajectory, which, with the hotter-than-expected consumer price index report Wednesday and the prospects of price increases from tariffs, is no guarantee.
Anger, chaos and confusion take hold as federal workers face mass layoffs excerpt: Andrew Lennox, a 10-year Marine veteran, was part of a new supervisor training program at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Ann Arbor, Michigan. He said he received an email “out of the blue” Thursday evening informing him that he was being terminated. “In order to help veterans, you just fired a veteran,” said Lennox, 35, a former USMC infantryman who was deployed to Iraq, Afghanistan and Syria.
Anger, chaos and confusion take hold as federal workers face mass layoffs excerpt: The new Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said Friday that her agency had invited Musk’s DOGE team with “open arms” and that layoffs “will be forthcoming.” “Clearly, it’s a new day,” Rollins said at the White House. “I think the American people spoke on November 5th, that they believe that government was too big."
Trump voters may have wanted the federal government to be downsized but not using the slash-and-burn approach of Musk and Trump.
Anger, chaos and confusion take hold as federal workers face mass layoffs excerpt: “This has been slash and burn,” said Nicholas Detter, who had been working in Kansas as a natural resource specialist, helping farmers reduce soil and water erosion, until he was fired by email late Thursday night. He said there seemed to be little thought about how employees and the farmers and ranchers he helped would be impacted. “None of this has been done thoughtfully or carefully,” he said. The White House and OPM declined to say Friday how many probationary workers, who generally have less than a year on the job, have so far been dismissed. According to government data maintained by OPM, 220,000 workers had less than a year on the job as of March 2024.
Measles outbreak in west Texas. None of the 48 children were vaccinated. Anti-vaccine RFK Jr. will fix it now that he's in charge of the country's health. In rural West Texas, a measles outbreak grows with no end in sight
"He who saves his Country does not violate any Law": Trump denies his actions are unconstitutional excerpt: "After several weeks of grabbing power for the executive branch, undermining Congress and bullying the press, Trump shared that he should be above the law if the ends justify his means. "He who saves his Country does not violate any Law," Trump wrote on Truth Social after his early executive orders and budget-slashing work with Elon Musk's questionably legal Department of Government Efficiency were called into court by a host of lawsuits."
https://www.politico.com/news/2025/02/15/trump-purges-real-world-consequences-disasters-00204475 excerpts: "At the U.S. Forest Service, where some 3,400 workers are slated to be cut, wildfire prevention will be curtailed as the West grapples with a destructive fire season that has destroyed millions of acres in California." “Morale is tanked,” said a forest service official close to the situation — who, like many current and former government employees who spoke to POLITICO, was granted anonymity out of fear of retribution. “The public will see it this summer when campgrounds are shut down, trails aren’t maintained and bathrooms aren’t cleaned.”
Musk and Trump destroying the CFPB. Judge temporarily blocks mass firing and data deletion at CFPB excerpt: Administration officials have been open about their goal of eliminating the agency: After members of his DOGE team arrived at its headquarters last week, billionaire Elon Musk posted, “RIP CFPB,” while President Donald Trump told reporters on Tuesday that it was “very important to get rid of.” “It was also a waste,” he said. “There was a bad group of people running it. … That was a vicious group of people. They destroyed a lot of people.”
Federal judge blocks Trump. Judge temporarily blocks mass firing and data deletion at CFPB excerpt: "A federal judge in Washington temporarily ordered the Trump administration to halt efforts to dismantle the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) on Friday, barring officials from laying off staff, deleting data, or emptying its reserve funds."
Trump’s Funding Freeze Creates Chaos and Financial Distress for Farmers excerpt: “The sheer wastefulness of changing course at this moment in this way is staggering, and I don’t think people are talking about that enough.” Wolf said. “There’s just the inefficiency . . . to have so many resources already put in and so many people working on projects all over the country that are now in jeopardy.” Individuals working in the field also said that the Trump administration’s purposeful rooting-out of climate-smart funding at the USDA will undermine some of the Republican Party’s stated goals for agriculture.
Trump will fix everything. Trump's funding freeze is hitting farmers. Democrats hope it costs Republicans in the midterms. excerpt: "The Biden administration crushed American agriculture with regulatory uncertainty, crippling inflation, trade imbalances, and radical environmental policies. Thankfully, President Trump is already delivering relief by unleashing American energy and cutting ten regulations for every new regulation," Kelly said. "He will continue to make all agencies more efficient to better serve the American people, including our hardworking farmers."
Trump is disrupting the supply chains that he said during the campaign that he wanted to improve to reduce inflation. Trump’s Funding Freezes Bruise a Core Constituency: Farmers excerpt: About $12 million worth of Mana’s products — 300,000 boxes, each containing 150 sachets of food to treat severe malnutrition for six weeks — is waiting to leave the Port of Savannah. Mr. Moore did not expect this particular shipment to be delayed, but he was also uncertain whether U.S.A.I.D. would foot the bill or if it would deliver future shipments. “The real impact of the shutdown will happen a month from now, six weeks from now, when the supply chain begins to crumble, which by that time, will it still be a story?” he asked.
Trump’s Funding Freezes Bruise a Core Constituency: Farmers excerpt: "Ending millions of dollars in grants by U.S.A.I.D. also resulted in the potential closing of research programs at universities across the country. The University of Nebraska, for instance, had a five-year, $19 million grant to develop irrigation techniques in developing nations. Funding for that and other grants has been either terminated or sharply reduced, putting the research in jeopardy."
U.S. farmers wlll feel the damage Trump is inflicting on them by his dismantling of USAID. Trump’s Funding Freezes Bruise a Core Constituency: Farmers excerpt: "But future humanitarian purchases of grains and other foods grown in the United States are unclear. U.S.A.I.D. buys about $2 billion from farmers a year, and 41 percent of its food assistance shipped abroad is grown domestically, according to a 2021 report. The agency estimated that it purchased 1.1 million metric tons of food from farmers and ranchers in 2023. Some 430 large-scale farmers growing crops in nearly every state fulfilled direct orders from the agency, data compiled by a U.S.A.I.D. employee and shared with The Times shows."
Trump’s Funding Freezes Bruise a Core Constituency: Farmers excerpt: Tom Smude, who operates a seed processing business in Pierz, Minn., recently learned that his $530,000 grant, funded by the state through the American Rescue Plan, was also paused. Mr. Smude took out a bank loan to afford a down payment for equipment that could more efficiently mill sunflower seeds, expecting the grant to cover three-quarters of the cost. But when the equipment arrives, he will have no way of paying for it. Though Mr. Smude said he shared Mr. Trump’s belief in cutting government spending, he expressed confusion about the president’s priorities. “It’s what he wants, growth in industry and keep America going,” he said. “I feel like I’m doing my part and now you’re going against what you said, a little bit.”
Not a little bit. A great deal. He's a Trump supporter who took out bank loan for equipment, and now Musk and Trump left him standing in the lurch. Yet he still sounds like he's apologolizing to Trump for hurting him 'a little bit'.
Trump damaging farmers across the country. Trump’s Funding Freezes Bruise a Core Constituency: Farmers excerpt: "Skylar Holden, a cattle rancher in Missouri, had signed a $240,000 cost-sharing contract with the Agriculture Department to add fencing and improve the watering system for his property. But after the Trump administration abruptly froze federal funding, Mr. Holden said, he was suddenly out tens of thousands of dollars and on the hook for tens of thousands more in labor and material costs, and risked losing his farm. “Whenever my farm payment comes due, there’s a good chance that I’m not going to be able to pay it,” he said in an interview.