“contrary to what Musk claimed, tackling “waste, fraud, and abuse” cannot possibly generate enough savings to eliminate the annual budget deficit, which was nearly $2 trillion in fiscal year 2024, let alone reduce the ever-climbing national debt, which currently exceeds $36 trillion, including $29 trillion in debt held by the public.”
…
“Even if Musk succeeds in curtailing “waste, fraud, and abuse,” there is only so much he can accomplish by focusing on “driving change through executive action based on existing legislation,” which is how he described his agenda last November. Any serious attempt to reduce federal borrowing will require new legislation that addresses the main drivers of federal spending, including Social Security, Medicare, and the military budget. But the platform on which Trump ran takes all those things off the table while promising pricey policies that will only exacerbate the problem that Musk decries.”
https://reason.com/2025/02/12/elon-musk-implausibly-claims-competence-and-caring-can-cut-the-federal-budget-deficit-in-half/
“DOGE deserves some credit for simply trying to map the federal government—a gargantuan endeavor that involves over 100 agencies, each a matryoshka doll of sub-agencies and offices. As former federal technology officer Marina Nitze wrote in Reason today, the amount of nonsensical rules, regulations, and turf battles means it’s a Sisyphean struggle to make even the most basic improvements to federal websites and tech systems.”
https://reason.com/2025/02/13/doge-begins-publishing-data-after-transparency-complaints/
“If the White House’s preliminary assessment is accurate, it would be the largest tax increase on Americans since World War II—and one that Trump would apparently seek to implement without congressional approval.
The specifics of Trump’s reciprocal tariffs plan remain sparse. The executive order Trump signed Thursday instructed the Department of Commerce and the U.S. Trade Representative to develop new proposed tariff levels that take into account the tariffs charged by other countries to import American goods, as well as industrial subsidies, value-added taxes, and other economic policies that Trump views as unfair. It will take weeks (and perhaps longer) for the new tariffs to be calculated and rolled out, and the changes may be implemented on a country-by-country basis, according to Megan Cassella, a reporter for CNBC.”
…
“The direct costs of taxes on so many imports would be only part of the problem. Trump’s idea of charging different tariffs on every country’s exports means the same product could be charged wildly different tax rates depending on where it was sourced. Those tariff rates would also be subject to constant fluctuation, as other countries shift their policies—as many will likely do in response to Trump’s new tariffs. That’s a recipe for not only higher taxes on American businesses that rely upon imports but also a constant state of uncertainty.”
https://reason.com/2025/02/13/trumps-reciprocal-tariffs-could-be-largest-tax-increase-since-world-war-ii/
“Mass layoffs have begun, with most of the some 200,000 probationary employees expected to be terminated in the coming days, mostly from the departments of Energy and Veteran Affairs, but also some from the Small Business Administration, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the Department of Education, the Department of Agriculture (specifically the Forest Service), and—ironically—the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), which has been overseeing the layoffs.
Probationary employees tend to be workers who have only been in their jobs for a year or under (or two years in some cases). They have the fewest job protections so they tend to be the easiest to fire.
“These firings are not about poor performance—there is no evidence these employees were anything but dedicated public servants,” said government employee union president Everett Kelley in a statement. “They are about gutting the federal government, silencing workers, and forcing agencies into submission to a radical agenda that prioritizes cronyism over competence.””
…
“The OPM has apparently dispensed shifting guidance, reportedly telling agencies earlier this week that they should focus on terminating underperforming employees before later in the week shifting to a policy that all or most probationary employees should be dismissed.”
https://reason.com/2025/02/14/200000-layoffs/
“Whether you’re hot or cold on DOGE’s government-slashing potential, everyone agrees it needs data to survive. Record access lawsuits might starve it of them.”
https://reason.com/2025/02/14/doge-needs-data-to-survive-these-lawsuits-are-trying-to-starve-it-of-information/
Three American goods that could rise in price due to metal tariffs
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c3vp06k90d5o?utm_source=firefox-newtab-en-us
“Germany’s naval chief said on Tuesday that several of Berlin’s warships were sabotaged.”
…
“German authorities have repeatedly suggested that Russia is the prime suspect but are still investigating many of these cases.”
https://www.yahoo.com/news/germany-said-warships-were-sabotaged-043336363.html
“the Trump administration plans to spend $400 million on “armored” Teslas in what’s reportedly the State Department’s biggest contract of 2025.
The five-year contract, which did not specify the Tesla model to be “armored,” was listed in the government’s procurement forecast for 2025”
https://www.yahoo.com/news/musk-slammed-state-department-reveals-053821508.html
“the lawsuit argues — in often dramatic terms — that the Appointments Clause of the Constitution calls for someone with such significant and “expansive authority” as Musk to be formally nominated by the president and confirmed by the U.S. Senate.
“There is no greater threat to democracy than the accumulation of state power in the hands of a single, unelected individual,” says the lawsuit, filed by New Mexico Attorney General Raul Torrez and officials from Arizona, Michigan, Maryland, Minnesota, California, Nevada, Vermont, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Oregon, Washington and Hawaii. “Although our constitutional system was designed to prevent the abuses of an 18th century monarch, the instruments of unchecked power are no less dangerous in the hands of a 21st century tech baron.” Two of the 14 states are led by Republican governors.”
…
“The suit filed by the 14 states says the Constitution blocks the president from overriding “existing laws concerning the structure of the Executive Branch and federal spending.” As a result, the suit says, the commander-in-chief from is forbidden from creating — or even “extinguishing” — federal agencies, and from “slashing federal programs or offering lengthy severance packages as a means of radically winnowing the federal workforce,” in a nod to the Trump administration’s “deferred retirement” offer to government employees.”
…
“”[T]he President does not have the constitutional authority to unilaterally dismantle the government. Nor could he delegate such expansive authority to an unelected, unconfirmed individual,” Thursday’s lawsuit says.”
https://www.yahoo.com/news/lawsuit-against-doge-14-states-203603702.html
“The departures amounted to a stunning condemnation of the actions of the department’s leadership just days after a close Trump ally, former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi, was sworn in as attorney general. Just three weeks into Trump’s second term, the department has been rocked by firings, transfers and resignations.
Adams pleaded not guilty last September to charges that while in his prior role as Brooklyn borough president, he accepted over $100,000 in illegal campaign contributions and lavish travel perks such as expensive flight upgrades, luxury hotel stays and even a trip to a bathhouse from people wanting to buy his influence. He has denied any wrongdoing.
Federal agents had also been investigating some of Adams’ aides. It was unclear what will happen to that part of the investigation.
In a memo Monday, Bove had directed Sassoon to drop the case as soon as practicable, so the mayor of America’s largest city could help with Trump’s immigration crackdown and could himself campaign for reelection unencumbered by criminal charges. Adams faces multiple challengers in June’s primary.”
https://www.yahoo.com/news/manhattan-us-attorney-resigns-refusing-192647391.html