Week 14 — The Return

This week several notable legal scholars concurred that our country is already in the midst of a constitutional crisis. Trump and his regime continued a frenzied pace of actions and orders, many of which are unconstitutional or illegal. To wit, this week’s list is full of lawsuits and appeals, and Trump and his regime have found themselves on the losing end of every single one of them!

However, the judicial branch is currently the only form of pushback. Elected Democrats have yet to find a voice, other than vague threats of shutting down the government. In an ominous sign, elected Democrats were blocked by the Trump regime from entering a federal agency headquarters for the fourth time this week. Meanwhile, Republicans have been completely cowed by Trump, rendering the important check and balance of the Legislative Branch null and void.

Now the question becomes: will the so-called party of law and order respect and obey the law? This week’s list has two examples already of the regime failing to comply with federal court orders. In fact, Trump, Elon Musk, and Vice President JD Vance have shown open, public disdain for the courts. Past Vance comments resurfaced, of his evoking former President Andrew Jackson who defied even the Supreme Court. What will happen if some of the myriad of lawsuits against Trump and his regime reach the Supreme Court and he loses? Will the Justice Department, now firmly in Trump’s control, carry out the rule of law? Signs are, we will find out.

Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency was front and center this week, losing more court cases, and drawing negative attention over national security and privacy concerns, as well as Musk’s outsized power as an unelected official. By the end of the week, Trump invited reporters to the Oval Office, where Musk defended the growing public and private concerns.

Meanwhile, Trump is continuing his frenetic pace of actions, seemingly emboldened and unbridled by his early successes. He continues to haphazardly, and in many instances illegally, remove past and current impediments to his autocratic rule. A sampling of some of Trump’s firings in this week’s list, many of which were illegal, include: the chair of the Federal Election Commission; the inspector general of the U.S. Agency for International Development; the head of the Office of Special Counsel; the director of the U.S. Office of Government Ethics; the head of the National Archives and Records Administration; the trustees and chairman of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts; and the entire boards of four military services academies for the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Coast Guard. Several of these terminations are now subjects of lawsuits.

1. NYT reported that legal scholars believe the country is in the midst of a constitutional crisis, citing the unprecedented bevy of Trump’s unconstitutional and illegal actions in the first 18 days.
2. Examples include: revoking birthright citizenship; freezing federal spending; shutting down agencies; removing leaders of agencies; firing government employees subject to civil service protections; and threatening to deport people based on their political views.
3. Some fear the volume and speed of Trump’s actions could overwhelm the court system. It is unclear if the Trump regime will ignore the courts, as they have done with Congress.
4. Vice President JD Vance has been confrontational towards the courts. In the past, he has said Trump should ignore the Supreme Court, citing Trump hero Andrew Jackson, who had said, “The chief justice has made his ruling. Now let him enforce it.”
5. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, speaking at a Florida college and without mentioning Trump by name, said presidents are not monarchs, and must obey court rulings. She also mentioned the founders gave “Congress the power of the purse.”
6. On Wednesday, an Economist/YouGov poll showed support for Musk was plummeting: the share of Republicans who wanted him to have “a lot” of influence in the Trump regime fell from 47% after the election to 26%. Overall 13% want him to have a lot of influence.
7. On Wednesday, Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Susan Collins told reporters that Trump had empowered Musk, “far beyond what I think is appropriate,” and expressed concern that the regime is clawing back money that Congress had appropriated.
8. The Hill reported searches for “abortion” on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s website are prompting users to click on a “Also try: adoption” hyperlink.
9. On Wednesday, the CIA sent an unclassified email listing of all employees hired in the last two years in order to comply with a Trump executive order relating to Musk’s DOGE. A former agent called it a “counterintelligence disaster.”
10. WSJ reported the CIA, under the leadership of John Ratcliffe, who also served in the first regime, was the first intelligence agency to offer its entire workforce the option of Musk’s buyout to resign. A spokesperson said it was “an effort to “infuse the agency with renewed energy.”
11. On Wednesday, after her confirmation, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi issued 14 directives that shuttered department task forces, restored the federal death penalty, and mandated adherence to Trump’s agenda.
12. Although Bondi had told senators “politics will not play a part” in her investigative decisions, she said the DOJ would investigate those who pursued Trump, including Manhattan district attorney Alvin Bragg, New York AG Letitia James, and former special counsel Jack Smith.
13. NYT reported Ed Martin, Trump’s acting U.S. Attorney for D.C. was in the mob outside the Capitol on Jan. 6, echoed Trump’s false claims that the election was stolen, and said the day was marked by “faith and joy.”
14. Martin dismissed a myriad of Jan. 6 cases brought by his office, including several where he was the attorney on the other side. Staffers have chafed at Martin, whom they call a “keyboard warrior” sending off serial emails, who sees his job as working on behalf of Trump.
15. On Wednesday, in an email to employees, Google announced it would end its efforts to hire more employees from historically underrepresented groups, and review its DEI programs.
16. On Wednesday, the U.S. Military Academy at West Point disbanded 12 clubs for women and minorities, citing Trump’s executive orders related to DEI.
17. On Thursday, NBC News reported that the Trump regime evicted former Coast Guard Commandant Linda Fagan, the first woman to lead a branch of the military who was fired in Week 12, from her home with three hours of notice.
18. On Monday, in a sweeping purge, Trump dismissed the entire boards of four military services academies for the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Coast Guard, claiming, “Our Service Academies have been infiltrated by Woke Leftist Ideologues.”
19. On Friday, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, in a directive, ordered the immediate pause of gender-affirming medical care and of new promotions for individuals “with a history of gender dysphoria.”
20. On Tuesday, Hegseth was booed and heckled by military families at the U.S. European Command headquarters in Germany, over his anti-DEI push. In a short protest, the families chanted “DEI.”
21. NYT reported hours after his inauguration, Trump revoked security clearance for former defense secretary Mark Esper, who faces threats from Iran for actions he took serving Trump in the first regime.
22. On Wednesday, NBC News reported that Joe Kent, Trump’s pick to lead the National Counterterrorism Center, has called Jan. 6 insurrectionists “political prisoners,” and has ties to a member of the Proud Boys.
23. On Thursday, at the Capitol for the National Prayer Breakfast, Trump floated the idea again of serving beyond two terms, musing he would be need “a 25-year period” to select statues for a national garden.
24. Shortly after at a breakfast at a Washington hotel, Trump floated the idea again, saying, “They say I can’t run again; that’s the expression,” adding, “Then somebody said, I don’t think you can. Oh.”
25. On Thursday, Trump signed an executive order sanctioning the International Criminal Court, including financial sanctions and visa restrictions, accusing it of improperly targeting the U.S. and Israel.
26. On Thursday, Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino denied the announcement on X by the U.S. State Department that U.S. government ships would be able to access the waterway “without charge fees,” calling it “lies and falsehoods.”
27. On Thursday, a second federal judge issued a nationwide preliminary injunction to block Trump’s order to end birthright citizenship, bolstering another injunction issued on Wednesday.
28. On Monday, a third federal judge blocked Trump’s order ending birthright citizenship in a lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union, Asian Law Caucus, and the State Democracy Defenders Fund.
29. On Wednesday, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters that Musk would police his own conflicts of interest between his work reviewing federal spending and his overlapping six business. Ethics experts called the move unprecedented.
30. On Thursday, WAPO reported DOGE agents have access to Office of Personnel Management restricted data that includes highly restricted personally identifiable information for millions of federal employees.
31. DOGE agents, some in their early 20s, were given “administrative” access to OPM computer systems, which gives them the ability to install and modify software, and alter internal documentation.
32. On Friday, Bloomberg reported that DOGE agent Edward Coristine, a 19-year-old, was fired by a cybersecurity firm for leaking company secrets to a competitor. Coristine is in the core DOGE group gathering datasets from within federal agencies.
33. On Monday, WAPO reported that Coristine has been given new roles as a senior adviser at the State Department and at the Department of Homeland Security. His role at State’s Bureau of Diplomatic Technology gives him access to sensitive information.
34. On Wednesday, Trump’s DOJ agreed to a court order that would limit the Treasury Department from sharing sensitive financial data with Musk’s DOGE. Just two DOGE employees, called special government employees, will have “read only” access.
35. On Thursday, Bloomberg reported a group of roughly half a dozen GOP senators have reached out privately to the White House to express concern about DOGE’s access to Treasury. However, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is more on board with Musk’s DOGE mission than was widely understood.
36. On Friday, Treasury made Musk ally Tom Krause, a Silicon Valley executive with ties to DOGE, the financial assistant secretary, giving him control of the system that disburses more than $5 trillion in payments, including for Social Security, Medicare, and tax refunds.
37. ABC News reported Krause is known in Silicon Valley as the “hatchet man,” overseeing mass layoffs at his company, and instituting policies like a return-to-office mandate and rigid performance ratings.
38. On Friday, WAPO reported that the Treasury Department was warned by Booz Allen Hamilton, a federal contractor that runs the agency threat center, that DOGE access represented an “unprecedented insider threat risk” to the payment network.
39. Security experts warned Musk’s team has been granted security clearances, which normally takes months, and that “hostile intelligence services are likely already at work” trying to find where Musk’s team was sloppy and might be “vulnerable to entrapment or coercion.”
40. On Friday, New York AG Letitia James and 18 other attorneys general sued over young DOGE aides being granted broad access to the federal government’s most fundamental computer systems.
41. On Saturday, in an early morning ruling, federal judge Paul Engelmayer temporarily blocked DOGE’s access to the Treasury Department’s payment and data systems, citing the risk of “the disclosure of sensitive and confidential information” that could cause “irreparable harm.”
42. The judge also ruled that DOGE agents must “destroy any and all copies of material downloaded from the Treasury Department’s records and systems.” It was unclear if Musk would comply or how the AGs could monitor the regime’s actions.
43. Musk attacked Justice Engelmayer on X over the weekend, calling him “a corrupt judge protecting corruption,” and adding, “he needs to be impeached NOW!”
44. On Saturday, Trump posted on Truth Social that the ruling was a “disgrace,” adding, “No judge should, frankly, be allowed to make that kind of a decision.”
45. On Sunday JD Vance also complained about the ruling, posting on X that “judges aren’t allowed to control the executive’s legitimate power.” The majority of legal experts disagreed with this interpretation.
46. On Sunday, Trump told reporters that the regime was examining the Treasury debt payments for possible fraud, claiming, “some of that stuff that we’re finding is very fraudulent,” and as a result the U.S. may have less debt than thought. Trump did not give any specific examples.
47. On Monday, Trump’s DOJ said in a filing that the judge’s ruling was “anti-constitutional,” and asked him to end or modify his order, claiming, “every executive agency’s work be supervised by politically accountable leadership, who ultimately answer to the president.”
48. On Monday, five former treasury secretaries under Democratic administrations warned in an op-ed: “We are alarmed about the risks of arbitrary and capricious political control of federal payments,” calling it “unlawful and corrosive to our democracy.”
49. They also warned that Trump and Musk could put the U.S. at risk of default, saying, “Any hint of the selective suspension of congressionally authorized payments will be a breach of trust and ultimately, a form of default,” adding, “our credibility, once lost, will prove difficult to regain.”
50. On Tuesday, career civil servants at Treasury said in a court filing that staffer discovered DOGE staffer Marko Elez had been given “read/write permissions instead of read-only” to one of the payment databases. Tom Krause and Elez were the two employees to get “read-only” access.
51. On Thursday, a federal judge enjoined the Office of Personnel Management from executing Musk’s buyout program for federal workers, pausing on the program until a hearing on Monday.
52. The suit filed by three federal employee unions and 20 attorneys general argued that OPM’s buyout offer was an “unlawful ultimatum” to force resignations under the “threat of mass termination.”
53. On Friday, after the initial deadlines for Musk’s buyout offer, just 65,000 had taken the offer, roughly 3% of employees, far lower than Musk’s estimate of five to 10%. In a typical year, roughly 150,000 federal employees retire.
54. While Trump and Musk freeze aid and cut spending, a new analysis by the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget found that Trump’s tax cuts will cost the federal government between $5 trillion and $11.2 trillion in lost revenue over the next decade.
55. On Thursday, Ted Carstensen, a deputy administrator for the United States Digital Service, which houses tech talent in the government, resigned, citing Musk’s DOGE takeover of his agency. He noted he was not accepting Musk’s buyout offer.
56. On Monday, the judge continued the pause on OPM’s offer, saying, “I enjoined the defendants from taking any action to implement the so-called ‘Fork Directive.’’’
57. On Wednesday, NYT reported that Trump’s foreign aid freeze, including funding for President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, has left more than 20 million without HIV treatment, including 500,000 children.
58. WAPO reported USAID’s $40 billion budget also flowed back into the U.S. economy. American farms supply 41% of the food aid to the agency. Smaller companies in sectors such as global health care could go out of business, as researchers have been furloughed.
59. On Thursday, NYT reported the Trump regime will reduce the 14,000 USAID workforce to 290 employees. Secretary of State Marco Rubio told Fox News, “we have rank insubordination,” claiming employees have been “completely uncooperative, so we had no choice.”
60. On Friday, Trump posted about USAID on Truth Social, writing, “THE CORRUPTION IS AT LEVELS RARELY SEEN BEFORE,” and “CLOSE IT DOWN!” Trump demanded employees be placed on indefinite administrative leave and contractors be let go.
61. WAPO’s fact checker reported that the Trump regime’s news release “At USAID, Waste and Abuse Runs Deep” justifying their moves was wildly inaccurate: 11 of the 12 claims were misleading, wrong, or lacked context.
62. On Friday, a federal judge, who was appointed by Trump in 2019, blocked the Trump regime from putting 2,700 USAID employees on paid leave and recalling nearly all of those posted abroad.
63. WSJ reported Trump’s foreign aid freeze, pausing aid to countries like Haiti, Colombia, and Ecuador, could enable gangs to expand their territories and traffic more cocaine and fentanyl, and result in more people trying to migrate to the U.S.
64. On Monday, the union representing USAID employees said in a court filing that the Trump regime was not complying with the court order, saying some employees who were placed on leave are still locked out of the computer system at the agency.
65. On Monday, two small nongovernmental organizations sued the Trump regime for its freeze on foreign aid, which has disrupted medical and humanitarian aid programs around the world, saying it blocks funds appropriated by Congress in violation of the separation of powers.
66. On Monday, a report by the USAID inspector general, Paul Martin, released a warning that the Trump regime’s dramatic staff cuts and freezing aid left surviving programs more susceptible to waste, corruption and diversion to terrorists.
67. On Tuesday, Paul Martin was fired. His report had also cited that $489 million in USAID food assistance was at risk of spoilage and diversion.
68. On Tuesday, several House Republicans, whose constituents have enjoyed the economic benefits as food manufacturers from the USAID program “Food for Peace,” introduced a bill to move the program to the Agriculture Department.
69. On Thursday, WSJ reported Marko Elez, a 25 year-old DOGE employee, whose access to U.S. Treasury payment systems was approved by a federal judge, resigned following discovery of his social media posts, saying, “I was racist before it was cool” and “normalize Indian hate.”
70. On Friday, Musk asked on X if Elez should be reinstated. Vice President Vance, whose wife, Usha Vance, is the daughter of Indian immigrants, posted Elez should be reinstated, adding, “We shouldn’t reward journalists who try to destroy people.” Elez was reinstated.
71. NYT reported that increasingly Musk, Trump, and Vance are targeting journalists. Musk blamed WSJ investigative reporter, Katherine Long, for the Elez story, and said she was “a disgusting and cruel person” and should be “fired immediately.”
72. Trump called on the Post to fire Eugene Robinson, a Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist, over an op-ed shaming Republican senators for not standing up to Trump, citing his “pathetic Radical Left SPIN,” and adding, “He should be fired immediately!!!”
73. On Thursday, 168 employees at the EPA’s Office of Environmental Justice were place on leave. Trump is expected to close the office as he cuts programs that helped poor and minority communities disproportionately affected by pollution.
74. On Thursday, WAPO reported DOGE agents have fed sensitive data from the Education Department into artificial intelligence software to probe the agencies programs and spending, including personal information about people managing grants.
75. On Friday, two student advocacy groups filed a lawsuit against Education Department, seeking to block DOGE’s access to students’ personal data and financial information, saying efforts to capture that data are in violations of the Privacy Act of 1974.
76. NYT reported 16 DOGE members are now listed on the Education Department directory, including Jehn Balajadia, who has served as Musk’s assistant for several years.
77. On Friday, members of Congress were denied access to the Education Department headquarters by the Trump regime, the fourth agency where they were blocked, including Treasury, USAID and the EPA.
78. On Saturday, NBC News reported DOGE agents Akash Bobba and Ethan Shaotran, both 22 years old, have obtained “administrator” email accounts at the Education Department, and had accessed the back end of the ed.gov website.
79. Employees expressed concern that Musk and his team could use information from the national student loan database to target enemies, push out employees, and for other malevolent purposes.
80. On Monday, Musk’s DOGE announced it had cut over $900 million from the Education Department by terminating 89 of the department’s contracts and 29 grants, targeting its research arm, the Institute of Education Sciences.
81. Later Monday, an agreement was reached in a lawsuit filed by the University of California student government to keep DOGE out of the Education Department until a February 17 hearing, citing sensitive information on millions of Americans and students.
82. On Friday, the Trump regime’s DOJ said it would drop the Biden Administration’s opposition at the Supreme Court to a Tennessee law banning hormone and puberty-blocker treatments for young people.
83. On Friday, Trump was asked by a reporter for his reaction to a Time magazine cover depicting Musk sitting behind his Oval Office desk. Trump looked down for a few seconds, then responded, “Is Time magazine still in business?”
84. Hours after the cover dropped, Musk posted on X to flatter Trump, “I love @realDonaldTrump as much as a straight man can love another man.”
85. On Thursday, Trump’s Justice Department sued the state of Illinois, the city of Chicago, and local officials, accusing them of impeding federal immigration enforcement efforts, by creating a “sanctuary city.”
86. On Friday, NBC News reported Trump is “angry” that the number of deportations are not higher, and his displeasure is being passed along to leaders of the regime. The quota for arrests set by ICE was 1,200 to 1,400 daily, but last weekend there were only 300 arrests.
87. WSJ reported the Trump regime is looking for evidence that migrants are a disease threat, hoping to harness Title 42, an emergency health law used during Covid-19 to block the right of migrants to request humanitarian protection.
88. On Monday, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem asked Treasury Secretary Bessent to deputize Internal Revenue Service agents to help with immigration enforcement, including auditing employers believed to have hired unauthorized immigrants and investigating human trafficking.
89. On Monday, major refugee aid groups sued the Trump regime over his executive order suspending the federal refugee resettlement program and funding for resettlement agencies, calling the order illegal, and saying it violates Congress’ authority to make immigration laws.
90. On Tuesday, a collection of Christian and Jewish groups sued DHS over arresting immigrants at places of worship. NYT noted it was “rare for this range of religious leaders to come together on a single legal action.”
91. On Tuesday, two top ICE officials who were leading Trump’s deportation efforts were reassigned, as efforts to meet the mandate for the largest deportation in American history have faltered.
92. NYT reported on an explosive growth of incoming calls to members of Congress. Typically the phone system handles a few dozen calls per minute, but were receiving more than 1,500 per minute since Trump took office and empowered Musk.
93. On Friday, Trump signed an executive order allowing Afrikaners to migrate to the U.S. as refugees, and halting aid to South Africa, claiming Afrikaners were the “victims of unjust racial discrimination.” It was unclear if Musk was behind this move.
94. On Thursday, Federal Election Commission Chair Ellen Weintraub said Trump had fired her in a letter, but said in an interview that she did not view his firing as legally valid, and was considering how to respond.
95. On Friday, Trump fired Colleen Shogan, head of the National Archives and Records Administration, which is meant to be an independent agency. No reason was given. The agency became a target of Trump’s ire when it tried to retain documents from Mar-a-Lago in 2022.
96. On Friday, Trump announced on Truth Social that he was firing some trustees of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, including its chair, David Rubenstein, who had led the center for 14 years, and installing himself chair.
97. Trump said he would make the Center “GREAT AGAIN”, and end events featuring performers in drag. Shortly before the presidential election, Rubenstein had said he would stay on until September 2026.
98. On Monday, Trump announced on Trump Social that he named Richard Grenell as the interim executive director of the Kennedy Center, saying Grenell shared his vision “for a GOLDEN AGE of American Arts and Culture.” The Center’s future was unclear.
99. On Friday, Trump announced on Truth Social that he was revoking former president Joseph Biden’s security clearance and ending his daily intelligence briefings, citing retribution for Biden doing the same to him, and posting, “JOE, YOU’RE FIRED.”
100. Trump also revoked clearance for several current law enforcement and former national security officials, including former secretary of state Anthony Blinken, former national security adviser Jake Sullivan, and former deputy AG Lisa Monaco.
101. Trump also told The New York Post he would be stripping clearances for Letitia James and Alvin Bragg, the Manhattan district attorney. James’ office quipped in a statement, “What security clearance?”
102. Late Friday, the Trump regime announced it was cutting $4 billion in National Institutes of Health funding for “indirect” costs related to biomedical research, which Musk called “a ripoff.” Academic leaders said cuts would imperil their work.
103. On Monday, Republican Sen. Susan Collins said in a statement that the “arbitrary cuts” to NIH funding would be “devastating, stopping vital biomedical research and leading to the loss of jobs” in her state.
104. On Monday, attorneys general from 22 Democratic states sued the Trump regime’s NIH and Department of Health and Human Services over the cuts, saying it will devastate medical research.
105. Monday evening, a federal judge granted a temporary restraining order from the Trump regime slashing NIH funding, but only for the 22 states that were part of the lawsuit. Later Monday, the judge expanded the pause to nationwide.
106. On Tuesday, after a lawsuit filed by Doctors of America, a federal judge ordered the Trump regime to restore public information on the CDC and Food and Drug Administration websites, which had been removed after Trump’s order on gender.
107. On Saturday, WAPO reported Kash Patel’s documents submitted for his nomination to FBI director show he was paid $25,000 for his documentary last year by a Russian film company with ties to the Kremlin and has promoted anti-Western views.
108. On Tuesday, Sen. Dick Durbin said in a letter to the DOJ inspector general that he had “received highly credible information from multiple sources,” that Patel was directing the ongoing FBI purge, and “may have perjured himself” at his senate confirmation hearing.
109. On Monday, the White House OPM asked the FBI for a list of employees who are short-tenured (have been employed for less than two years) “probationary employees,” meaning they have little appeal rights, sparking fears of mass firings.
110. On Tuesday, the FBI identified more than 3,600 employees, about 10% of the workforce. Officials view cutting the workforce as risky and costly, since new employees have undergone extensive training, and removing new analysts and support could have wide ramifications.
111. On Friday, Bloomberg reported DOGE agents have embedded themselves within the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau, a step towards dismantling it. Musk posted “CFPB RIP” with a gravestone emoji on X late Friday afternoon.
112. On Saturday evening, Russell Vought, director of the Office of Management and Budget and an author of Project 2025, told CFPB employees to cease “all supervision and examination activity,” essentially shuttering the bureau.
113. Vought posted on X that the bureau “will not be taking its next draw of unappropriated funding because it is not ‘reasonably necessary’ to carry out its duties.”
114. On Sunday, CFPB’s chief operating officer emailed staff that the agency’s headquarters would be closed for a week. The office was already locked on Sunday, and staffers inside were told by security to leave.
115. On Monday, Vought sent an email to CFPB employees, instructing them “do not perform any work tasks,” and to contact the agency’s chief legal officer and get approval in writing to do anything related to their jobs.
116. On Monday, a federal union sued Vought to block DOGE from accessing CFPB employee information and to halt his directives blocking much of the bureau’s activities.
117. On Tuesday, 191 House and Senate Democrats sent a letter to Vought and Bessent, calling on them to reverse course on shuttering the CFPB, and calling for DOGE agents to be pulled out of the agency.
118. On Saturday, WSJ reported that the regime advisers have worked to quell dissent and disloyalty by scrutinizing political appointees across the government to insure their loyalty, as Trump felt some employees in the first regime got in the way of his agenda.
119. Potential hires are weeded out if they worked for a Trump critic, including Republicans and people from the first regime, or if they disagree with Trump’s views on Ukraine, NATO, and tariffs.
120. WAPO reported that candidates for top intelligence and law enforcement jobs were asked “yes” or “no” to two questions by hiring personnel: Was Jan. 6 “an inside job?” And was the 2020 presidential election “stolen?” If they say no, they are out of consideration.
121. Former security officials experts cite the importance of intelligence professionals be able to give the president accurate information, and need to enforce laws in a neutral, nonpartisan way.
122. On Sunday morning shows, Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy said the country was in “the most serious constitutional crisis the country has faced, certainly since Watergate.” Sen. Cory Booker said, “We are in a crisis right now, and Democrats will use every tool possible to protect Americans.” Sen. Andrew Kim stated, “We are basically on the cusp of a constitutional crisis.”
123. On Sunday, Trump touted a poll by CBS News which found 53% of Americans approve of Trump’s performance. However, Pew Research found 47% approval, 51% disapprove, and Reuters found a 45% approval, down 2 points already, with 46% disapproving.
124. On Sunday, Sec. Noem told CNN’s “State of the Union” that she would recommend to Trump that he “get rid of FEMA,” and allow local officials more say.
125. When pressed on the fact that Republicans used to be very careful about the government, especially unelected people having access to personal data, Noem said, “Well, we can’t trust our government anymore.” CNN’s Dana Bash replied, “But you are the government now.”
126. On Sunday, Trump became the first sitting president to attend the NFL Super Bowl. He was greeted with a mix of cheers and boos. The NFL removed ‘End Racism’ from its Super Bowl end zones, which it started using in 2020, although the league said it was a coincidence.
127. On Sunday, despite widespread global pushback, Trump told reporters he still planned to move forward on taking over the Gaza Strip, which he described as a “big real estate site” that the U.S. was “going to own.”
128. Later Sunday night, Trump said he ordered Sec. Bessent to stop producing new pennies, saying they cost more to make than they are worth. It was unclear that Trump had the authority to order the move.
129. NYT reported that an early trader, buying minutes after Trump announced the launch of a cryptocurrency called $Trump, made a profit of $109 million. Their identity was unclear. Many Trump supporters who bought $Trump later have suffered large losses.
130. On Monday, Trump widened his trade war, imposing a 25% tariff on steel and aluminum imports, to increase domestic production and bring more jobs the U.S. The European Union vowed to retaliate.
131. On Monday, Trump fired Hampton Dellinger, the head of the Office of Special Counsel, an independent agency. Dellinger sued the Trump regime, claiming Trump went beyond his legal authority firing him before the end of his five-year statutory term.
132. On Monday, Trump also removed David Huitema as director of the U.S. Office of Government Ethics, an independent agency. Huitema was nominated by Biden on Nov. 14 and confirmed by the Senate to serve a five-year term.
133. NYT reported that earlier on Monday, Sen. Adam Schiff had sent a letter to Huitema asking if Musk was in compliance with federal ethics laws.
134. Trump named loyalist Doug Collins, who was already confirmed as secretary of veterans affairs, to be the director of the two government ethics offices, OSC and OGE.
135. Later Monday, a federal judge temporarily reinstated Dellinger through midnight on Thursday. Investigations in the OSC are completely independent of the DOJ.
136. On Tuesday, the Trump regime fired Devin DeBacker, a career DOJ official, from his role as acting head of the DOJ’s National Security Division. He served only a few weeks, and had tried to ease concerns after two of the most experienced prosecutors were removed.
137. On Monday, Trump’s DOJ, in a letter from acting number 2 official, Emil Bove III, ordered federal prosecutors to drop corruption charges against Mayor Eric Adams of New York. NYT called it “a stunning incursion” in what was a continuing trial.
138. Bove said the decision had been made without accessing evidence, but said the indictment had been limiting Adam’s ability to cooperate with Trump’s mass deportation plan. Adams had lobbied Trump repeatedly for a pardon.
139. On Monday, Trump signed an executive order pausing enforcement of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, which makes it illegal for companies operating in the U.S. to pay bribes to government officials to secure business deals.
140. On Monday, WAPO reported U.S. farmers are missing millions of dollars they were promised for reimbursement in signed contracts with the U.S. Agriculture Department, as part of project under the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, because of the Trump funding freeze.
141. On Monday, federal judge John McConnell Jr. said the Trump regime has defied his Jan. 29 order to release billions of dollars in federal grants, and ordered the regime to comply with “the plan text” of his edict.
142. The Trump regime’s DOJ appealed Judge McConnell’s order, and asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit to stay his order while the case in being heard, calling the ruling “intolerable judicial overreach.”
143. NBC News reported hours after McConnell’s order, senior officials at FEMA disregarded it and instructed subordinates to freeze funding on a wide array of grant programs in an email with the subject line, “URGENT: Holds on awards.”
144. The freeze came after Musk posted a false claim that FEMA had spent $59 million on “high end hotels” for migrants. FEMA’s acting director, Cameron Hamilton, responded to Musk that payments in question “have all been suspended” and that “personnel will be held accountable.”
145. On Tuesday, the Trump regime fired four top FEMA employees, the day after Musk posted a misleading claim. The funds had been authorized by Congress under Biden and previously disbursed.
146. Later Tuesday, an appeals court rejected the Trump regime’s push to reinstate its funding freeze on federal grants and loans.
147. On Monday, Trump signed an executive order mandating the government use plastic straws, saying of paper straws, “These things don’t work. I’ve had them many times, and on occasion, they break, they explode.”
148. On Thursday, WAPO reported Trump’s federal funding cuts have led to private-sector and non-profits layoffs, unleashing a wave of job losses that economists say could threaten the broader labor market.
149. On Saturday, WSJ reported that Trump’s speedy, dramatic changes are changing the world order. Chief executive officers who entered the year feeling optimistic have become concerned with the slew of executive orders and the uncertainty.
150. The impacts of his funding freeze have been felt around the country: a Head Start preschool programs in Wisconsin scrambled for funding; a startup in West Virginia halted 30 projects to install rooftop solar panels; some community health centers closed in Virginia.
151. On Monday, WSJ reported the euphoria felt by CEOs and bankers over the second Trump regime is fading. Consumer sentiment is down, inflation expectations are rising with his trade war, and deal making in January was the lowest in a decade citing “fragility” and “volatility.”
152. On Tuesday, Jim Farley, the CEO of Ford, America’s s second largest automaker, criticized Trump’s tariffs and threats, saying Trump promised to make the U.S. automotive industry stronger, but instead “So far what we’re seeing is a lot of cost, and a lot of chaos.”
153. Kenneth Griffith, Republican donor and hedge fund billionaire, also criticized Trump at a conference, saying his “bombastic rhetoric, the damage has already been done,” adding, “it tears into the minds of CEOs, policymakers that we can’t depend on America, as our trading partner.”
154. On Wednesday, the Consumer Price Index rose more than expected, signaling a return to heated inflation. Trump tried to blame the Federal Reserve in a post on Truth Social, saying rates should be lowered, puzzling some in finance with his association.
155. On Tuesday, while meeting with King Abdullah II of Jordan, Trump repeated his plan that Jordan and Egypt would take in Palestinians, and the U.S. would take control of the Gaza Strip, saying otherwise the U.S. would pull aid to the two countries.
156. Trump told reporters, “We don’t have to buy. There’s nothing to buy. We will have Gaza. It’s a war-torn area. We’re going to take it.” He also said Hamas had to return all the hostages by Saturday or “all bets are off.”
157. Later Tuesday, Trump hosted reporters in the Oval Office for a DOGE executive order signing ceremony with Musk, and Musk’s four year-old son. Musk did most of the talking, and reporters said Trump was often looking at Musk’s son, relegated to a side character at the event.
158. Musk, who has faced mounting criticism for unchecked power, said the federal government is an “unelected, fourth, unconstitutional branch of government.” Notably Musk is an unelected appointee with vast power.
159. Musk said the only way to save democracy was to smash apart the federal government. Without offering evidence, Musk claimed “fraudsters” were receiving money from the Treasury, USAID employees were taking kickbacks, and dead people were getting Social Security.
160. Musk refused to release his financial disclosure forms, and despite operating in secrecy promised maximum transparency, which seemed to be mostly him posting on X. He also deflected questions on his companies’ conflicts of interest with agencies dealing with DOGE.
161. Trump signed an executive order giving DOGE even more power, and compelling federal agencies to “coordinate and consult” with DOGE to cut jobs and limit hiring,
162. The AP reporter was barred from attending, after the White House informed AP that it could not attend the event at the Oval Office until it started using “Gulf of America” to refer to the Gulf of Mexico.
163. On Tuesday, federal employees and unions, including AFGE, the union that filed a lawsuit to halt the buyout program, protested at the U.S. Capitol. Federal workers and organizers expressed disappointment that elected Democrats appear weak.
164. NYT reported that so far Trump and Musk’s DOGE have cut at least 8,700 federal employees through agency dismantling, 129 DEI workers, 33 Jan. 6 and Trump investigators, 22 government watchdogs, and 224 other staffers.
165. On Wednesday, two transgender school athletes sued the Trump regime over his executive order barring trans girl and women athletes from competing in women’s sports.
166. On Wednesday, the Senate confirmed Tulsi Gabbard as director of intelligence. Despite widespread concern voiced early on by Republicans over Gabbard, one of Trump’s most controversial appointments, Mitch McConnell was the lone Republican to vote against her.