From Insty, talking about this little concept:
“All those people complaining about DOGE as a threat to privacy — why is it okay for the government to know how much money you make and what you spend it on?”
Why indeed.
Category: Gummint
Small Beginnings
I submit these two little snippets for your enjoyment contemplation:
First: the I.R.S.:
The Trump administration has executed one of the most significant workforce reductions in U.S. history, targeting over 200,000 probationary employees across multiple government agencies.
It was first reported that Trump’s administration plans to axe around 9,000 jobs at the IRS, primarily targeting employees still in their probationary period. However, as many as 15,000 IRS workers have been identified for possible termination as early as next week.
The targeted employees, many of whom were added during the Biden administration’s expansion of the IRS, reportedly hold non-essential roles unrelated to processing tax filings.
One can only hope that this will end with the department’s complete abolition. I’m not kidding, either.
Second, the CDC:
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is poised to lose roughly one-tenth of its workforce due to a Trump policy axing probationary employees as part of a larger effort of the Trump administration to cut the size and scope of government.
This reality comes as the Trump administration orders federal agencies to cut off probationary employees. That includes roughly 1,300 staffers at the CDC alone. Those employees, according to the Associated Press, are expected to receive roughly four weeks of paid administrative leave.
Let’s hope that the reduced CDC staffing means that those quacks will be going after actual diseases like smallpox and malaria, instead of inventing “epidemics” like accidental gun deaths and suchlike. (I’m hopeful, but not optimistic that this will happen; if it doesn’t, shut them down too and leave it to the states to deal with.)
Like I said, this is a good start, going after the low-hanging fruit (“probationary”, “non-essential”, FFS), but let’s not stop there.
Quote Of The Day
From my soul brother Elon:
“We find it sort of rather odd that there are quite a few people in the bureaucracy who who have a salary of a few hundred thousand dollars, but somehow manage to accrue tens of millions of dollars in net worth.” [beat] “We’re just curious as to where it came from…”
Yeah, me too. Investigate all of them — Democrats and Republicans.
More Savings
Representative Val Hoyle (D-OR) said on Monday on CNN’s “News Central” that Democratic lawmakers will not vote to fund the government if Republicans are advancing President Donald Trump’s agenda.
Wait, does that mean that the entire Feddle Gummint will shut down and won’t be paid? Including Congress?
Oh, please let it be so.
And by the way, you little pinko pustule: maybe the voters in your Commie district didn’t vote for Trump’s agenda, but the rest of us sure as hell did.
Now get out of the way so the adults can do what we sent them to D.C. to do.
Over The Line
I see that Tulsi Gabbard made it over the NO vote of soon-to-be-gone Mitch McConnell and was conformed as Director of National Intelligence (DNI). Excellent.
Now I’m wondering: who, exactly, approved the action which placed her on a “security risk” (SSSS*) list last year after she switched parties and became a Trump supporter?
If it was her predecessor, then he’s gone, no big deal. Then we have to ask: who motivated the action, if it wasn’t him?
Either way, I hope that Gabbard goes after the asshole — because if a former member of Congress can get blacklisted that way by the government, who is safe?
(Oh, and one last thought: I just hope that in her new positions she leaves behind all her earlier anti-2A bullshit.)
*SSSS: the code letters printed on your boarding pass that cause an “enhanced security check” when you check in. (FYI: it once happened to me too, for reasons never specified.)
Single Step
One might think at first that this was heartening news:
More than 65,000 federal workers have reportedly accepted the Trump administration’s buyout offer.
However:
“If you resign under this program, you will retain all pay and benefits regardless of your daily workload and will be exempted from all applicable in-person work requirements until September 30, 2025 (or earlier if you choose to accelerate your resignation for any reason),” the memo sent in January to roughly 2 million federal employees reads.
So: 65,000 down, leaving 1,935,000 still to go. And:
A federal judge is expected to weigh in on the matter Monday.
A federal judge in Massachusetts. The People’s Soviet of Massachusetts. Any prizes for guessing how that will turn out?
Gah. Still, I guess we should take heart in the 65,000 number — it’s better than nothing.
As long as Trump and Musk keep applying the screws…