Fox Host Struggles Explaining Why Trump’s Plan To Crash US Government Is OK
Is the Trump administration trying to make government work, or just destroy it?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1WFCFS9Zc-U
Scoop: GOP fight coming over labor unions
“GOP leaders see an opportunity for a new, working-class coalition, which includes more union outreach. It’s a major shift, and fault lines are already forming over President Trump’s pro-labor Cabinet nominee, former Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer.”
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“Hawley has been quietly circulating draft legislation that would prevent employers from stalling union contract negotiations — keeping the process to months, not years, according to a copy obtained by Axios.”
https://www.axios.com/2025/01/30/senate-republican-josh-hawley-pro-labor-bill-chavez-deremer
U.S. economy wraps 2024 on solid footing with 2.3% growth rate
“The U.S. economy grew at a 2.3% annualized rate in the final three months of 2024, the Commerce Department said on Thursday — closing out a year of strong growth.”
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“The fourth-quarter growth figures are aslowdownfrom the 3.1% rate in the previous three-month period.”
https://www.axios.com/2025/01/30/us-economy-gdp-growth-q4-2024
Elon Musk Foe Escorted Out of Fed Office After Refusing to Resign
“Fired inspector general of the U.S. Department of Agriculture Phyllis Fong was removed from her Washington D.C. office on Monday after refusing to comply with the conditions of her termination.
A 22-year-old veteran of the department—which has a broad mandate to investigate food safety and animal welfare—Fong’s office has been investigating Elon Musk’s brain implant startup Neuralink, among other investigations into the Boar’s Head’s listeria outbreak.
The USDA launched a federal investigation into Neuralink in 2022 for potential animal-welfare violations following internal staff complaints alleging the needless suffering and deaths of animals via testing, reported Reuters at the time.
On Friday, Fong was one of 17 federal watchdogs given their walking papers by the Trump administration, reported Reuters. However, Fong told her colleagues in an email that she intended to stay in her post, arguing that “these termination notices do not comply with the requirements set out in law and therefore are not effective at this time.””
https://www.yahoo.com/news/elon-musk-foe-escorted-fed-004315382.html
At least 11 Baltic cables have been damaged in 15 months, prompting NATO to up its guard
At least 11 Baltic cables have been damaged in 15 months, prompting NATO to up its guard
https://www.yahoo.com/news/nato-deploying-eyes-sky-baltic-050639580.html
Trump signs 4 new executive orders, transforming military
“The new orders prevent transgender people from openly serving in the military, greenlight the process of developing a missile defense shield to protect the U.S., and reinstate service members that voluntarily left or were forced out of the military over COVID-19 vaccine mandates.
Trump also penned an expected executive order that would “abolish” every diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) office within the DOD and Department of Homeland Security, the latter of which houses the U.S. Coast Guard.”
https://www.yahoo.com/news/trump-signs-4-executive-orders-125635519.html
Jan 6, Police, Democracy
When it comes to the Jan 6 rioters there’s an emphasis on what they did to police offers. That matters, but the most important part about the incident wasn’t the attack on the police, but the attack on United States democracy. The rioters attacked the legislature of the United States in their seat of power, and some did so with the intent of, at least temporarily, ending U.S. democracy by keeping a president who lost an election in power.
What to know about the Laken Riley Act
“The new law will require the detention of undocumented immigrants accused of certain crimes such as theft. Federal immigration officials have warned it could impact 60,000 people.”
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“ICE warned Congress that the Laken Riley Act could require detention for 60,000 people, and that the agency would need billions of dollars and thousands more detention beds to comply with the law, Axios reported.”
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“The federal government has prioritized deporting immigrants with criminal records since the Obama administration”
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“Study after study has indicated that immigrants — those in the U.S. legally or undocumented — commit crimes at lower rates than U.S. citizens, Axios’ Russell Contreras reports.”
https://www.axios.com/2025/01/29/laken-riley-act-what-to-know-trump-immigration-law
China’s DeepSeek AI is hitting Nvidia where it hurts
“DeepSeek also claims to have needed only about 2,000 specialized chips from Nvidia to train V3, compared to the 16,000 or more required to train leading models, according to the New York Times. These unverified claims are leading developers and investors to question the compute-intensive approach favored by the world’s leading AI companies. And if true, it means that DeepSeek engineers had to get creative in the face of trade restrictions meant to ensure US domination of AI.”
https://www.theverge.com/2025/1/27/24352801/deepseek-ai-chatbot-chatgpt-ios-app-store
White House walks back funding freeze after a day of confusion
“The White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is walking back the federal funding freeze memo that set off a day of chaos and confusion on Tuesday up until a judge paused the order right before it was set to take effect.
“In light of the injunction, OMB has rescinded the memo to end any confusion on federal policy created by the court ruling and the dishonest media coverage,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement. Leavitt said that other executive orders on “funding reviews” would remain in effect and that more would follow. “This action should effectively end the court case and allow the government to focus on enforcing the President’s orders on controlling federal spending. In the coming weeks and months, more executive action will continue to end the egregious waste of federal funding.”
The original memo would have paused the disbursement of federal grants and financial assistance programs, but its ambiguity and breadth led to a scramble for answers on what exactly would be impacted.”
https://www.theverge.com/news/602016/white-house-funding-freeze-memo-rescinded