Week 12 — The Return – The Weekly List

If reading this week’s list feels frenetic, that is because it is capturing the mood of the country. The return of Trump marks the return of his chaos and dysfunction, as if America is living in some frenzied mode awaiting the next eruption. The regime invoked the notion of “flood the zone” and “shock and awe” (we all know how that turned out last time) to describe a daily, all-out blitz of orders and actions. The goal seemed to be to destabilize and overwhelm those who might seek to oppose him. The question for Trump and his acolytes, seemingly drunk on their conceit and grandiosity, will be: have they gone too far, too fast?

An interesting take in the Wall Street Journal this week described Trump knowing his time is limited to enact his agenda. Public opinion will turn on him soon. Those cracks in his popularity will strain the GOP’s narrow majority in Congress ahead of midterms. So it has seemed in these first nine days to be a blitz of executive orders and other actions, that left the federal government, and large swaths of programs nationwide, paralyzed in disarray and confusion. Unlike the first regime where it took months for Trump to ramp up, this time Trump enters using Project 2025 as his playbook, and things are moving fast.

Trump’s actions this week are startling, and reminiscent of moves seen in countries living under authoritarian regimes. Government employees were asked to snitch on each other. Others who were viewed as part of the so-called Deep State were summarily fired. Whole parts of nonpartisan, independent watchdogs were fired in late Friday and Monday night purges. Federal officers were given quotas for rounding up and arresting immigrants. Indiscriminate and cruel round ups. The federal government completely shuttered. Mass firings of government workers to be replaced by loyalists. Revoking security protections for officials who were viewed as enemies. And so on. This week South Korea’s former president Yoon Suk Yeol was impeached, arrested, and indicted for arguably less.

But as Trump ramps up, he is meeting resistance. A multitude of lawsuits were filed, several successfully pausing some of his worst impulses. He has also faced criticism from several Senate Republicans, including former Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who seems intent on being a thorn in Trump’s side. And as the week came to a close, it was as if the Democrats were finally awakening from a sit-on-the-sidelines slumber. Things were starting to shift. Trump’s move to unilaterally halt government funding, challenging a longtime check and balance of the Impoundment Control Act, finally gave elected Democrats an issue that unified their opposition. Americans are also quickly souring on Trump, as his disapproval rose by seven points in his first week, and consumer confidence dropped to a four month low.

In a late Friday night purge, Trump fired what was initially thought to be 12, but later was reported to be at least 17 inspectors general, in an unprecedented purge that could allow Trump to install loyalists into these important watchdog positions.
Presidents have the right to fire IGs, but must communicate with Congress at least 30 days in advance, and due to a law enacted by Congress in 2022, must also give a detailed reasoning for firings.
The fired IGs were appointees from various presidents, including some appointed by Trump, or picked by agency heads. They serve indefinite terms and typically span several administrations, and are nonpartisan.
Mike Ware, the chair of the Council of the IG on Integrity said in a letter to the White House that firing IGs over email is not “legally sufficient to dismiss Presidentially Appointed, Senate confirmed Inspectors General.”
Ware told MSNBC on Monday that Trump’s terminations of 18 IGs amounted to “a threat to democracy, a threat to independent oversight and a threat to transparency in government.”
On Wednesday, the regime told the three Democratic members of the bipartisan, independent watchdog group, U.S. Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board, to resign by the end of Thursday or face termination.
On Wednesday, Milwaukee meteorologist Sam Kuffel was fired after criticizing Musk’s straight-arm gesture that many have likened to a Nazi salute on her social media.
On Wednesday, Trump demanded an apology from the “so-called Bishop” Mariann Edgar Budde for asking him to “have mercy.” He called her a “Radical Left hard line Trump hater,” who was “nasty in tone.”
Trump ally Rep. Mike Collins posted on X that Budde, who was born in New Jersey, “should be added to the deportation list.” Newsmax host Todd Starnes posted that the cathedral had become “a sanctuary of Satan.”
On Wednesday, federal websites devoted to diversity, equity and inclusion went offline. Agency heads were also instructed to remove “all outward facing media” related to DEI.
Federal workers were also threatened in an email with “adverse consequences” if they failed to report colleagues who do not purge DEI efforts. The regime also said it would not tolerate any efforts to “disguise these programs by using coded or imprecise language.”
Trump appointed conservative activist L. Brent Bozell III to lead the U.S. Agency for Global Media, parent company for Voice of America. Bozell’s son Leo was sentenced to four years of prison for his central role in the Jan. 6 insurrection.
NYT reported that as part of Trump’s first day flurry of executive orders, he ordered federal prisons to house transgender women in men’s facilities, and to halt medical treatments related to gender transition.
On Sunday, a transgender federal inmate, Maria Moe, sued the Trump regime in Massachusetts court, seeking a temporary restraining order to block the new regulation.
On Wednesday, the regime’s Justice Department halted all new civil rights cases or investigations. The regime also said it might back out of Biden-era consent decrees with police departments that engaged in discrimination or violence.
On Wednesday, House Speaker Mike Johnson announced the formation of a new Judiciary subcommittee to investigate the House’s former commission that investigated the Jan. 6 insurrection.
Former Proud Boy leader Henry “Enrique” Tarrio said in an interview, “Now it’s our turn,” and called for imprisoning Biden attorney general Merrick Garland for “corruption” to “give him a taste of his own medicine.”
Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes met with three Republican lawmakers at the Capitol, asking for a full pardon for himself and 13 others. He also outlined a plan to investigate police witnesses and prosecutors “up the chain.”
U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell dismissed two cases against Proud Boys pardoned by Trump, but refused to do so “with prejudice,” meaning they could not be charged again, as requested by Trump’s DOJ.
On Thursday, NYT reported Trump removed security protection from Mike Pompeo, his former secretary of state, and former top aide Brian Hook. The two face threats from Iran due to actions they took during the first Trump regime. Neither had been publicly critical of Trump.
ABC News reported that Trump also revoked Dr. Anthony Fauci’s security detail on Thursday afternoon. Fauci has received death threats since the pandemic from far-right critics.
NBC News reported that Trump revoking the security clearances of 49 former intelligence officials is an unprecedented move, to punish and silence his perceived enemies and please his supporters.
On Sunday, Sen. Tom Cotton, chair of the intelligence committee, told Fox News he wanted Trump to “revisit” revoking clearances, saying Iran was still “committed to vengeance” against officials in the first Trump regime for carrying out his orders.
The Hill reported several GOP senators pushed backed or questioned Trump’s executive order. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, chair of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, sought clarification on Trump pausing disbursements of the Biden-era Inflation Reduction Act.
Sen. Susan Collins expressed the importance of background checks, in opposition to Trump’s plan to grant security clearance for six-months without them. Alaska Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan criticized Trump for renaming Denali, adding President McKinley was never in their state.
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp pushed back on Trump’s Jan. 6 pardons, saying, “Anyone who harms a law enforcement officer should be held fully accountable.” Trump ally Sen. Lindsey Graham also pushed back, saying pardoning rioters who attacked officers “sent the wrong signal.”
On Monday, Senate Democrats introduced a resolution condemning Trump’s blanket pardon of Jan. 6 rioters who “violently assaulted Capitol Police officers in their attempt to overthrow a free and fair election.”
On Thursday, WSJ reported Trump’s executive orders have left important parts of the federal government in a paralysis, while awaiting clarification. Job offers were rescinded and hiring paused, while communications on health issues like the bird flu have gone dark.
Confusion also ensued over disbursement under the Inflation Reduction Act, much of which is promised under legally enforceable loan contracts. The Federal Highway Administration shut down its computer system that helped states manage funds for road projects.
NBC News reported the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention did not release its typical weekly Friday report, FluView, with detailed information on strains, in the midst of influenza rising nationwide.
WAPO reported Trump’s order paralyzed communications within the Department of Health and Human Services and its agencies. One cancer researcher said, “Everything is basically in chaos.”
AP reported Trump eliminated a team of White House advisors who focused on environmental justice, improving health conditions in Black and Latino communities that were hit by pollution.
On Wednesday, the regime’s State Department abruptly canceled thousands of flights for refugees who had been approved to fly to the U.S., including Afghans who face danger due to their association with the U.S. military.
On Wednesday, the ACLU sued the Trump regime over its expansion of “fast-track” deportations, saying the new rule violates federal law and the Fifth Amendment’s due process clause due to the lack of full hearing.
On Thursday, U.S. District Judge John Coughenour, a Ronald Reagan appointee in Seattle, temporarily blocked Trump’s birthright citizenship order, saying, “This is a blatantly unconstitutional order.”
On Thursday, Reuters reported ICE agents raided a worksite in Newark, NJ, after failing to produce a warrant, and rounded up undocumented migrants as well as U.S. citizens, including a military veteran.
On Thursday, NYT reported a memo from the acting head of the Homeland Security Department allows ICE to instantly expel migrants here on temporary Biden-era protections, including those fleeing Cuba, Nicaragua, Venezuela, and Haiti, as well as a program for Ukrainians.
On Friday, ‘border czar’ Tom Homan told ABC News that the regime plans to use military aircraft every day to carry out what Trump called largest deportation operation in U.S. history.
Homan said that ICE agents are now free to arrest any of the roughly 11 million immigrants in the U.S. without legal status, not just those identified as being prioritized for being convicted criminals.
NBC News reported that Mexico denied a U.S. military plane access to land on Thursday. After the reporting, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt posted on X, “Yesterday, Mexico accepted a record 4 deportation flights in 1 day!” It was unclear what the flights were.
On Sunday, Colombian President Gustavo Petro said on X that the country would not accept U.S. deportation flights until the Trump regime treats Colombian migrants and the country with “dignity and respect,” not as criminals.
Shortly after, Trump posted on Truth Social that the regime would immediately impose a 25% tariff on all Colombian imports, and raise the tariff to 50% in one week, and would revoke visas of Colombian government officials.
The dispute marked the most significant diplomatic crisis between the countries in decades. A settlement was reached late Sunday, with a Trump spokesperson claiming Colombia “has agreed to all” Trump’s terms, and “America is respected again.”
On Sunday, WAPO reported the regime issued quotas for ICE officers, in an effort to aggressively ramp up arrests from a few hundred per day to at least 1,200 to 1,500 per day. Trump was said to be disappointed with the mass deportation campaign so far.
The quotas were outlined to senior ICE officials, and each field office was told it should make 75 arrests per day, and that managers would be held accountable for missing that target.
On Sunday, Trump’s DOJ announced it had begun a multiagency immigration operation in Chicago. Acting deputy AG Emil Bove traveled to Chicago to oversee the effort, calling it a “national emergency.”
Bove urged local officials to aid in the effort, and said there would be consequences for those who did not. Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker said his state would only cooperate deporting undocumented immigrants convicted of crimes or with pending deportation orders.
ICE claimed to have arrested 956 undocumented immigrants and detained 554 others temporarily with other agencies on Sunday, in operations in Atlanta, Los Angeles, Chicago, and smaller cities.
On Monday, NBC News reported that while embedded with ICE agents in their Chicago raid, immigrants without a criminal history were arrested. The agency said ‘collateral arrests’ were possible.
On Monday, a Quaker congregation sued the Department of Homeland Security over ending a policy restricting ICE from making arrests in houses of worship, saying the threat “deters congregants from attending services.”
On Tuesday, NBC News reported that ICE has arrested multiple U.S. citizens and Native Americans in their raids, raising concerns of racial profiling. Many tribal members living off-reservation were questioned about their identities by ICE.
On Thursday, speaking via video at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Trump said he would “demand that interest rates drop immediately,” his first shot at Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell.
Trump also accused the CEOs of the two largest American banks, Bank of America and JP Morgan Chase, of refusing to serve conservatives, Trump campaign rhetoric which the banks deny.
On Thursday, WSJ reported that Bill McGinley, whom Trump appointed as DOGE’s legal counsel in December, said he would resign, days after Vivek Ramaswamy, DOGE’s then co-chair, stepped down.
On Thursday, Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Rep. Jake Auchinclos asked multiple regulators to look into the propriety of Trump and Melania meme coins, which had already generated billions of dollars of profits on paper for the Trump family.
WAPO reported among Musk’s many conflicts of interest, including Tesla and Trump rolling back electric vehicle tax credits that spurred competition, SpaceX and government contracts, and ongoing regulatory oversight of his companies, are Musk holdings of dogecoin.
DOGE is named after the cryptocurrency dogecoin, in which Musk has undisclosed holdings. The value of dogecoin has doubled since the election. Tesla accepts only dogecoin as digital currency.
NYT reported Trump and his son-in-law Jared Kushner are close to a deal on a joint project with an Abu Dubai real estate magnate to build a new luxury hotel in Serbia, a decade after Trump first floated the idea.
On Thursday, Republican Rep. Andy Ogles proposed an amendment to the Constitution that would allow Trump to serve a third term, to “sustain the bold leadership our nation so desperately needs.” Notably, Ogles’ campaign finances are under investigation by the FBI.
On Thursday, Trump pardoned 23 anti-abortion activists, who were convicted of blockaded access to reproductive health clinics, saying, “They should not have been prosecuted,” and “They’ll be very happy.”
On Friday, Trump restored U.S. participation in two international anti-abortion pacts, including one that cuts funds for foreign organizations that provide or promote abortions. Trump also reinstated the Mexico City Policy, which silences abortion advocates.
On Thursday, Trump’s Pentagon moved to defund and potentially “disestablish” the Civilian Protection Center of Excellence, which promotes civilian safety in battlefield operations. The move requires Congressional approval.
On Thursday, Trump shuttered the newly formed Federal School Safety Clearinghouse External Advisory Board, a board created to advise federal agencies on best practices to protect students, including from school shootings.
On Friday, the Department of Defense ordered a pause to all official social media accounts, unless the posts elevate the regime’s mission at the southern border or were informational.
On Friday, ahead of a visit to Los Angeles to tour areas hit by wildfires, Trump indicated he would condition aid to California on the state passing a voter ID law.
Trump also said the Federal Emergency Management Agency was “not good,” a “big disappointment,” and claiming without evidence that it is biased against Republicans. Trump floated “maybe getting rid” of FEMA, and having the responsibility passed down to the states.
On Sunday, Trump ordered the federal government to override the state of California’s water-management practices. Trump continued to falsely claim that Gov. Gavin Newsom and other state officials refused to provide water from the northern part of the state to fight the fires.
On Sunday, Trump signed an executive order creating a task force to review FEMA and decide on ways to overhaul or dissolve it. Trump will pick the members of the task force.
On Friday, incoming Secretary of State Marco Rubio in a cable ordered a sweeping freeze of all U.S. foreign assistance, with the exception of emergency food programs and military aid to Israel and Egypt.
Sec. Rubio also directed the State Department to suspend passport applications seeking to change a sex marker, or requesting an “X” sex marker, citing Trump’s executive order.
The State Department also banned Black Lives Matter and Pride flags from being flown at diplomatic buildings, both domestically and abroad.
The State Department also abruptly paused funding early Saturday for mine-clearing programs around the world, telling organizations to cease operations “effective immediately.”
On Monday, more than 50 mostly senior level career civil servants at the U.S. Agency for International Development were placed on administrative leave. The move came as USAID froze almost all foreign assistance.
On Thursday, a statement by Samantha Hegseth, Pete Hegseth’s second wife, saying he had and continues to have problems with alcohol abuse, was read to Senate Armed Services Committee leadership.
On Friday, Pete Hegseth was confirmed in a 51–50 Senate vote. It was the second time in history that a vice president’s vote was needed as a tie breaker for a cabinet position, and the smallest margin for a defense secretary since the position was created in 1947.
San Antonio Express-News reported the Air Force eliminated training courses with videos of Tuskegee Airmen and the Women Airforce Service Pilots, in order to comply with Trump’s crackdown on DEI.
Reuters reported the Air Force resumed using the teaching videos following a public outcry. Alabama Senator Katie Boyd Britt posted on X that the pause was “malicious compliance” with the DEI review.
WAPO reported Sec. Hegseth will target Trump adversary retired Gen. Mark Milley by removing his security detail, revoking his security clearance, and ordering an IG investigation into his behavior as the military’s top officer.
On Saturday, at a rally in Las Vegas, Trump said maybe he would consider rejoining the World Health Organization, days after signing an executive order for the U.S. to leave the WHO.
Trump also mused about running for re-election again, telling the crowd, “It will be the greatest honor of my life to serve not once, but twice or three times or four times.”
Trump also told reporters aboard Air Force One that he planned to take Greenland, saying, “I think we’re going to have it. I think the people want to be with us,” adding, “I don’t really know what claim Denmark has to it.”
Trump also told reporters he wanted to “clean out” the Gaza Strip, and urged Jordan and Egypt to take in Palestinian refugees, calling Gaza “a demolition site,” and citing “many, many conflicts” and “something has to happen.”
On Saturday, AP reported job seekers in the Trump regime are being intensely screened for loyalty. Those applying are told they need to prove their “enthusiasm” to enact the Trump agenda, and have been asked when their “MAGA revelation” occurred.
On Saturday, the Central Intelligence Agency shifted its assessment on the origins of Covid-19, saying it likely was leaked from a Chinese lab. The agency said it had “low confidence” in its judgment.
On Saturday, Musk made a virtual appearance at a campaign event for Germany’s far-right AfD party, days after he made what was viewed a fascist salute at Trump’s inauguration celebration, and said Germany should “move beyond” Nazi guilt.
On Sunday, NYT reported the FBI was taking steps to comply with the regime’s hiring freeze, and to supply the White House a list of employees on probation, but that it was already hurting morale and efforts to recruit, retain and train employees.
On Sunday, WSJ reported interim DOJ leaders are already working to wipe away Biden-era policies. They replaced a Biden-era memo for leniency for some drug offenders with a call for the stiffest penalties for all crimes, and halted much of the civil-rights and environmental work.
A new memo limited prosecutions of people accused of blocking access to abortion clinics. Some DOJ employees were demoted or reassigned, including people who advised on the two prosecutions of Trump.
NYT reported senior DOJ officials in areas such as national security, environmental, antitrust and criminal cases have been given the option to move a sanctuary city task force or to leave. Top officials overseeing the immigration court system were fired.
On Monday, Corey Amundson, the chief of the DOJ’s public integrity section, resigned, rather than accept a forced transfer to work on immigration, saying he spent his 26 years there committed to “the apolitical enforcement of federal criminal law.”
On Monday, Trump’s DOJ fired more than a dozen lawyers who worked on special counsel Jack Smith’s two cases against Trump.
On Monday, Trump signed an executive order barring transgender people from enlisting and serving openly in the military.
The order also required the Defense Department to update its military medical standards within 60 days, to “end invented and identification-based pronoun usage” and prohibits people assigned male at birth from using women’s sleeping, changing, and bathing facilities.
On Monday, Denmark said it would boost military spending by 14.6 billion Danish kroner ($2.05 billion) in the Arctic, citing Trump’s threat of taking over Greenland.
On Monday, House Republicans held their annual retreat at a Trump property, the Trump National Doral golf club.
At the GOP retreat, Trump said he wanted to deport “violent repeat offenders” who are in the U.S. legally, suggesting they could be maintained in a foreign country “for a very small fee.”
Trump also again mused about running for a third term, “Am I allowed to run again?” and “I’ve raised a lot of money for the next race that I assume I can’t use for myself, but I’m not 100% sure.”
On Monday, NYT reported that House Speaker Mike Johnson has positioned himself as a junior partner to Trump who does Trump’s bidding, diminishing the important role of the coequal branch of government that he leads as a check and balance.
In a late Monday night purge, two of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s three Democratic commissioners, Charlotte Burrows and Jocelyn Samuels were fired, along with the EEOC’s general counsel, Karla Gilbride.
Trump also fired National Labor Relations Board board member Gwynne Wilcox, a Democrat who was confirmed by the Senate in September 2023 to a five year term, an unprecedented move in modern times. He also fired the NLRB general counsel, Jennifer Abruzzo.
Late Monday night, a memo sent by the acting director of the White House Office of Management and Budget said Trump would temporarily pause all domestic and foreign federal aid as of Tuesday at 5 pm ET.
The memo said the pause in trillions of aid, such as grants and loans, would give time for the regime to review all agency spending to “determine the best uses of the funding” and to ensure programs were consistent with Trump’s agenda.
Ranking appropriations committees members Rep. Rosa DeLauro and Sen. Patty Murray said the regime’s move would “undermine Congress’s power of the purse,” and Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker called it unconstitutional.
Trump seemed to be testing the bounds of his power, and positioning the regime to challenge the constitutionality of the 1974 Impoundment Control Act, a law restricting presidential impoundment power, at the Supreme Court.
The freeze had widespread implications, from nonprofits, charities and public service programs, to police grants to fight crime, to mortgage assistance for aspiring home buyers, to nutrition for low-income Americans.
On Tuesday, the Medicaid portal experienced outages, as states reported issues accessing the site. State officials also reported being locked out of the federal Medicaid payment system.
On Tuesday, at the regime’s first White House press conference, press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the regime would no longer focus on “legacy” media, instead giving access to bloggers, influencers, and other new media, including changes in in-room seating.
Moments after promising to tell the truth from the podium, Leavitt echoed Trump’s false assertion that he won an “overwhelming mandate” in the election. His popular vote margin was historically very small.
Later Tuesday, a federal judge in the District of Columbia temporarily blocked the Trump regime’s effort to freeze federal grants and loans, which was set to go into effect at 5 pm ET, in response to a lawsuit by the activist group Democracy Forward.
Attorneys general of 22 states and Washington, D.C. also sued the Trump regime over its freeze of federal funds.
Later Tuesday, the Office of Personnel Management sent a memo to roughly 2 million government employees giving them until February 6 to accept a “buyout” if they resign. If they accept, the memo said they would receive full pay and benefits through September 30.
Musk, now sole leader of the so-called Department of Government Efficiency, said 5 to 10 percent of the employees were expected to quit, adding they “Can take the vacation you always wanted, or just watch movies and chill, while receiving your full government pay and benefits.”
On Tuesday, Sec. Rubio backtracked on his agency’s foreign aid freeze, saying in a memo that billions in “life-saving humanitarian assistance” would still be available. Many aid groups were left unsure on funding.
On Tuesday, the Smithsonian informed employees that it would close its diversity office, freeze new hiring, and return to in-person work to comply with Trump’s order.
On Tuesday, Matthew Huttle, 42, who pleaded guilty to entering the U.S. Capitol and was on supervised release after being pardoned by Trump, was shot and killed by a deputy at a traffic stop, after resisting arrest and being in possession of a firearm.
On Tuesday, Trump signed an executive order that would end gender-affirming medical treatments for children and teenagers under the age of 19.
On Tuesday, two national LGBTQ legal organizations, on behalf of six transgender people serving in the military, filed a lawsuit challenging Trump’s order barring transgender people from serving and enlisting.
On Tuesday, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Charles Grassley and ranking member Richard Durbin sent a letter to Trump requesting details on why he fired 17 inspectors general.
On Tuesday, Caroline Kennedy urged Senators in a letter to reject her cousin Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.’s nomination, citing his lack of experience, predatory behavior, his addictions, and leading family members “down the path of drug addiction.”
On Wednesday, Trump’s DOJ dropped an appeal against two Trump co-defendants, Trump’s valet Walt Nauta and Carlos De Oliveira, a worker at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago, in the classified documents case.
The AP announced it will continue to use “Gulf of Mexico” in its style guidance, while acknowledging the new name Trump has chosen, saying that Gulf of Mexico is how the rest of the world refers to it, and it has carried that name for over 400 years. AP will change from Denali to Mount McKinley.
Google said it would change Gulf of Mexico to Gulf of America and change Denali to Mount McKinley in its Maps apps. Notably, as featured in Week 11’s image, the CEO of Google’s parent Alphabet, Sundar Pichai, attended Trump’s inauguration.
CNBC reported that Google maps also reclassified the U.S. as a “sensitive country,” a designation it reserves for states with strict governments and border disputes, like China, Russia, Israel, Saudi Arabia and Iraq.
CNN announced layoffs, as cable television viewership plummeted: CNN viewership for the three months ended December was down 74% from its peak in the fourth quarter of 2020. MSNBC was down 62%, and Fox New down 27%.

ICE Agents Carry Out Raid On Undocumented Immigrants In Chicago