Jump to content
UnevenEdge

Enter The Trump Kakistocracy…


Jman

Recommended Posts

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/doge/federal-workers-exceptional-reviews-fired-performance-issues-rcna192347

Letters went out to dozens of probationary employees in at least one section of the Department of Transportation that said part of the reason they were being fired was for poor performance, according to a copy of the letter obtained by NBC News.

But as a source familiar and a secondary document viewed by NBC News laid out, most of those employees were rated as being “exceptional” performers by their supervisors.

That's the thing though. It was because of their performance.That's exactly why they got the axe... it's because they were doing such a good job. Having folks like that around makes all the incompetent ones in charge look bad. Of course they had to go. Seriously, is anybody really shocked or surprised by this?

  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, MasqueradeOverture said:

Wow, so not only does this one pretty much blatantly violate the first amendment to free speech, it's also clearly an attempt to seize the power of the judicial branch to interpret the law and make it the sole power of the president and attorney general. Guess he's trying to top himself for his all time most illegal EO yet. He must be really planning on taking Bondi as his next wife or at least make her his mistress to include her in this. Most king's had mistresses right? There's at least one precedent I bet he wouldn't mind following.

  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I just read the order. It isn't attempting to take over the judiciary, it's just unitary executive shit where everything that isn't the courts or congress must flow through his office.

So instead of attacking the courts, it's attacking institutions that were intentionally set up to be at arm's reach from politics (the exception cited in the EO is Fed monetary policy).

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

6 minutes ago, Raptorpat said:

I just read the order. It isn't attempting to take over the judiciary, it's just unitary executive shit where everything that isn't the courts or congress must flow through his office.

So instead of attacking the courts, it's attacking institutions that were intentionally set up to be at arm's reach from politics (the exception cited in the EO is Fed monetary policy).

Yeah, I was thinking I might be reading too much into the description they were giving on this one and that the actual text of the order might be a bit different than what they were describing. It's still bad, but not at bad as I thought then. Actually, looking at it again I really just misread it and ignored the instead of part in there. That's my bad.

Edited by Dark_Cloud_Overhead
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Quote

President Donald Trump on Tuesday signed a sweeping executive order bringing independent agencies under the control of the White House — an action that would greatly expand his power but is likely to attract significant legal challenges.

It represents Trump’s latest attempt to consolidate power beyond boundaries other presidents have observed and to test the so-called unitary executive theory, which states that the president has the sole authority over the executive branch. And it reflects the influence of Russ Vought, Trump’s budget chief, one of several conservatives in his orbit who have called for axing independent arms of the executive branch.

The theory was long considered fringe, and many mainstream legal scholars still believe it is illegal, given that Congress set the agencies up specifically to act independently, or semi-independently, from the president. These include the Federal Communications Commission, the Federal Trade Commission and the Securities and Exchange Commission, all of which enact regulations and can impose hefty fines on businesses that violate the rules.

Other presidents have not only declined to challenge the independence of these agencies in court, but have in many cases tried to avoid even the appearance of interference in their actions. Many leaders appointed to the agencies serve terms that last longer than a single presidency, in an effort to help shield them from political pressure.

The order would take that independence away by granting Vought, who reports to Trump, supervising power.

The executive order requires Vought, as the director of the Office of Management and Budget, to “establish performance standards and management objectives” for the heads of independent agencies and “report periodically to the President on their performance and efficiency in attaining such standards and objectives.” It also requires Vought to review and make changes to the agencies’ budgets “as necessary and appropriate, to advance the President’s policies and priorities.”

“For the Federal Government to be truly accountable to the American people, officials who wield vast executive power must be supervised and controlled by the people’s elected President,” the executive order states.

While the executive order is sweeping in nature and represents a fundamental reshaping of the federal government, it effectively codifies actions the Trump administration has already been taking, setting up the administration’s legal position in an expected court fight. Trump has, for instance, already fired Gwynne Wilcox, chair of the National Labor Relations Board, the NLRB’s general counsel, Jennifer Abruzzo, and Office of Government Ethics Director David Huitema. Wilcox has filed a lawsuit contesting her dismissal.

And Vought, almost immediately upon taking office, assumed the title of acting director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, another independent agency, halting further funding to the agency and firing its employees en masse.

But the order has broad — and potentially immediate — implications for a host of other independent agencies that have not yet been penetrated by the administration. And while it doesn’t apply to the Federal Reserve’s handling of monetary policy, it does apply to the Fed’s other responsibilities, including overseeing banks and other financial institutions.

Independent agencies often find themselves in the political crosshairs, either because they take actions that appear to align or conflict with a sitting president’s agenda. Those include the SEC’s efforts during the Biden era to force companies to disclose the risks they face from climate change, as well as the FCC’s more recent actions to investigate companies such as CBS for alleged bias against Trump during the 2024 campaign.

Under the order, independent agencies must appoint White House liaisons and “regularly consult with and coordinate policies and priorities” with not only Vought’s office but the White House Domestic Policy Council and National Economic Council.

It also neuters the agencies’ attorneys by asserting that “no employee of the executive branch acting in their official capacity may advance an interpretation of the law as the position of the United States that contravenes the President or the Attorney General’s opinion on a matter of law.”

Trump had made less dramatic intrusions into independent agencies’ power during his first term, including by pressuring both the FTC and FCC to punish social media networks accused of censoring conservatives — including himself.

In one episode that made headlines, Trump met with then-FTC Chair Joseph Simons in the White House and pushed him to take action on the censorship allegations, as POLITICO reported in August 2020. Simons had told lawmakers he considered the matter outside the agency’s jurisdiction.

Trump also stunned lawmakers that year by withdrawing the renomination of Republican FCC member Michael O’Rielly, who had expressed skepticism about using his agency’s powers to penalize online platforms for alleged ideological bias.

“I shudder to think of a day in which the Fairness Doctrine could be reincarnated for the internet, especially at the ironic behest of so-called free speech ‘defenders,’” O’Rielly said in a speech a few days before Trump pulled the plug on him.

The GOP-held Senate swiftly confirmed Trump’s replacement for O’Rielly, fellow Republican Nathan Simington.

In contrast, former President Barack Obama faced complaints from Republicans when he took actions that appeared to blur the lines between White House policy and the agencies’ decision-making. Those included Obama recording a video message in 2014 to urge his FCC chair to adopt strong net neutrality regulations, as well as a 2011 White House visit by Obama’s FTC chair on the same day that senior Google officials — whose company was under an antitrust investigation — were on the premises.

https://www.politico.com/news/2025/02/18/trump-order-power-independent-agencies-00204798

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Trump’s DoT axes congestion pricing in NYC. Pretty sure it won’t stick. So much for “state’s rights”

https://abc7ny.com/post/nyc-congestion-pricing-us-department-transportation-pulls-approval-toll/15932192/#
 

I didn’t like congestion pricing. Preliminary data shows it has relieved congestion somewhat but we really need to see long term. Plus the MTA has been mismanaged for so fuckin long Idt they should be rewarded with a new tax they will receive to in turn mismanage the funds.  I also think it’s outrageous that people living in the CZs didn’t have to pay the fees at all. Not even a reduced fee like when SI residents cross the VZ but nothing at all.  
 

all that said it already cleared all the hurdles regardless if I like it or not. Trump should mind his fuckin business and maybe do something other than strong arm Foreign Leaders, allow billionaires to loot our agencies, stuff his fat fuckin face with Big Macs and lie. 

  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

39 minutes ago, 1pooh4u said:

Pretty sure it won’t even be stopped as it goes through the process because it already went through the process 

The NYP thinks this is “normal” a President gleefully being called “a king”

IMG_7339.thumb.jpeg.3ee0237933f6bf811c12ee427fba6323.jpeg

The day Murdoch dies and his liberal kids pop the bubble (now that the court ruled they would have majority ownership over the one conservative kid) is going to be the biggest shell shock in media history.

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

12 minutes ago, Jman said:

The day Murdoch dies and his liberal kids pop the bubble (now that the court ruled they would have majority ownership over the one conservative kid) is going to be the biggest shell shock in media history.

I hope I get to see that day. The day the NYP gets its shit pushed in.  
 

Ofc we got bigger problems than just the NYP and the Murdoch’s but his death, if followed by instructions of honesty and integrity in journalism, would be some help. 
 

The Washington Post was recently accused of killing a 6 figure ad asking Trump to fire Musk. 
https://www.businessinsider.com/see-fire-elon-musk-ad-washington-post-scrapped-2025-2

 

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 minutes ago, discolé monade said:

you can see the bloodshot eyes, in almost every picture. 

musky musk must got the good K

I was about to say fortunately overuse of ketamine results in irreparable bladder damage . . . but then I realized this asshole probably has connections to get a harvested bladder.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

759CEC86-77F7-4480-B551-9342BAE09AB7.jpeg.a39722e255ef8984392f70f9a098f670.jpeg

So you only cling to fairy tales because one-too-many times, people on the computer called you a ditz. Not knowing things make head go owie!

So you pick up Don Cornelius 11:28-30 because it’s the spiteful bullshit artist act it’s always been. They’re wanting the Gervais cross photoshoot to be counterculture again in the distant future so I’m breaking my New Years resolution once. Non-believer outburst over.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yep, goodbye FBI... hello Gestapo. And hey, what happened to McConnell the rebel? Heh, announces he's not running again and then goes right back to his old ways supporting probably the most dangerous of all the nominees. Guess he got tired of the act or just figured no one was buying it. Not that his vote would have been enough, or that any of the republicans including Collins and Murkowski would have voted no if it could have ever possibly blocked the confirmation. Make no mistake, there's not a sliver of independence left in the republican party anymore.

  • Like 6
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...