Tag Archives: DOGE

Politico reports: The White House’s Department of Government Efficiency office has targeted a behavioral diversity program to be cut from Brookfield Zoo. Problem is, it has nothing to do with diversity, equity and inclusion in the traditional DEI sense. “It’s about bio-diversity and animal welfare,” said Brookfield Zoo Chicago Senior VP Andrea Rodgers. The funding cut wasn’t a complete surprise, …

The Washington Post reports: The Trump administration is using personal data normally protected from dissemination to find undocumented immigrants where they work, study and live, often with the goal of removing them from their housing and the workforce. At the Department of Housing and Urban Development, for example, officials are working on a rule that would ban mixed-status households — …

NPR reports: In the first days of March, a team of advisers from President Trump’s new Department of Government Efficiency initiative arrived at the Southeast Washington, D.C., headquarters of the National Labor Relations Board. The small, independent federal agency investigates and adjudicates complaints about unfair labor practices. It stores reams of potentially sensitive data, from confidential information about employees who …

Politico reports: The proposal for fiscal 2026 would allocate $28.4 billion to State and USAID, down from $54.4 billion in the enacted fiscal 2025 budget. That includes cuts demanded by the White House Office of Management and Budget. The proposal would eliminate or substantially cut numerous programs, including ones that promote democracy, support educational and cultural exchanges, fight drug trafficking …

The Washington Post reports: DOGE Service employees have inserted themselves into the government’s long-established process to alert the public about potential federal grants and allow organizations to apply for funds, according to four people who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe a sensitive situation. The changes to the process — which will allow DOGE to review and approve …

The New York Times reports: Last week, Elon Musk indicated for the first time that his Department of Government Efficiency was falling short of its goal. He previously said his powerful budget-cutting team could reduce the next fiscal year’s federal budget by $1 trillion, and do it by Sept. 30, the end of the current fiscal year. Instead, in a cabinet …

The Washington Post reports: Greg Pearre, who oversaw a staff of hundreds of technology experts, had pushed back on the Trump administration’s plan to move the migrants’ names into a Social Security death database, eliminating their ability to legally earn wages and, officials hoped, spurring them to leave the country. In particular, Pearre had clashed with Scott Coulter, the new …

Wired reports: The Social Security Administration will no longer be communicating with the media and the public through press releases and “dear colleague” letters, as it shifts its public communication exclusively to X, sources tell WIRED. The news comes amid major staffing cuts at the agency. “We are no longer planning to issue press releases or those dear colleague letters …

Wired reports: An unsigned agreement between the US DOGE Service (USDS) and the Department of Labor (DOL) provides significant insight into the evolving working protocols between DOGE and federal agencies. Notably, the agreement, obtained by WIRED, calls for the DOL to reimburse the USDS up to $1.3 million for work done by four DOGE affiliates, or “a slightly different number,” …

Wired reports: One of the largest federations of unions and several former officials of the US Occupational Safety and Health Administration have raised concerns about the possibility that Elon Musk and the so-called Department of Government Efficiency could potentially gain access to sensitive information shared with OSHA and the Department of Labor by whistleblowers at the centibillionaire’s companies. While Musk …

TechCrunch reports: The cuts that Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency made at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in February “disproportionately affected” employees working on vehicle automation safety, according to The Financial Times. One of the workers who was fired, who is not named in the story, told the outlet that the DOGE cuts would “certainly weaken NHTSA’s ability …

The Hill reports: Dozens of House Democrats are demanding President Trump confirm that Elon Musk will leave his role in the administration by May 30. A group of 77 lawmakers, led by Rep. Greg Casar (D-Texas), sent a letter to Trump on Wednesday, emphasizing the tech billionaire can only serve in his role as a special government employee for 130 …

Wired reports: The Government Accountability Office (GAO) is auditing Elon Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). The probe, which has been ongoing since March, covers DOGE’s handling of data at several cabinet-level agencies, including the Departments of Labor, Education, Homeland Security, Health and Human Services, the Treasury, and the Social Security Administration, as well as the US DOGE Service (USDS) …

Courthouse News reports: President Donald Trump triumphed at the Supreme Court on Tuesday, receiving an emergency pause to the reinstatement of thousands of probationary federal employees terminated in a firing spree. The justices said a lower court ordered Trump to rehire employees based solely on the accusations of nine nonprofit organizations, which the high court found insufficient to support the organizations’ …

Reuters reports: Trump administration officials have told some U.S. government employees that Elon Musk’s DOGE team of technologists is using artificial intelligence to surveil at least one federal agency’s communications for hostility to President Donald Trump and his agenda, said two people with knowledge of the matter. While much of Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency remains shrouded in secrecy, the …

The Washington Post reports: Retirees and disabled people are facing chronic website outages and other access problems as they attempt to log in to their online Social Security accounts, even as they are being directed to do more of their business with the agency online. The website has crashed repeatedly in recent weeks, with outages lasting anywhere from 20 minutes …

The Associated Press reports: The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops says it’s ending a half-century of partnerships with the federal government to serve refugees and children, saying the “heartbreaking” decision follows the Trump administration’s abrupt halt to funding for refugee resettlement. The break will inevitably result in fewer services than what Catholic agencies were able to offer in the past …

The Guardian reports: Office closures, staffing and service cuts, and policy changes at the Social Security Administration (SSA) have caused “complete, utter chaos” and are threatening to send the agency into a “death spiral”, according to workers at the agency. The SSA operates the largest government program in the US, administering social insurance programs, including retirement, disability and survivor benefits. …

The Associated Press reports: Opponents of President Donald Trump and billionaire Elon Musk rallied across the U.S. on Saturday to protest the administration’s actions on government downsizing, the economy, human rights and other issues. More than 1,200 “Hands Off!” demonstrations were planned by more than 150 groups, including civil rights organizations, labor unions, LBGTQ+ advocates, veterans and elections activists. The …

The Hill reports: Roughly 20 states have reported measles cases, with Texas at the center of the outbreak. Texas, the hardest-hit state, is now seeing the impact of federal cuts. In Dallas County, three of the funding grants from the CDC have been impacted by a federal funding freeze. Early estimates from officials say that could be in the millions of …