Crazed Musk Threatens To Fire 2.3 Million Federal Workers - The Monday AM Quickie 2/24/25

By Jacob Silverman — Feb 24, 2025

I spent a lot of the weekend watching Deep Purple videos and think you should, too. –Jacob

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THE BIG NEWS

Crazed Musk Threatens To Fire 2.3 Million Federal Workers

After being urged on social media by President Donald Trump to be more "aggressive," shadow president Elon Musk did just that over the weekend, threatening to fire pretty much the entire federal workforce. An email from the Office of Personnel Management went out to some 2.3 million federal workers demanding that they submit a list of at least five accomplishments from the previous week. On X, Musk reiterated the demand and said that a non-response would be considered equivalent to a resignation.

The whole thing is illegal and ridiculous, but those adjectives define pretty much everything Musk, DOGE, and Trump do these days. Already, some federal agencies, including the FBI, the State Department, and the Defense Department, have told their workers not to comply. Other agencies have more politely said that "they are waiting on further guidance."

Musk's demand for 2.3 million-plus individual emails in which employees review themselves hardly seems like a model of efficiency, but it mirrors the kind of bullying "justify your existence" approach he took when he acquired Twitter and began gutting the place.

Government workers are understandably panicked, but Musk, who's the subject of a new paternity suit for one of his bakers dozen of children who he seems to have overlooked, is unconcerned. He spent the weekend posting about rockets, a new Grok AI girlfriend app, and fake right-wing immigrant panic stories.

QUICKEST QUICKIES

Pope Francis Is Hospitalized In Critical Condition Pope Francis, who is 88 years old, has been in critical condition with pneumonia, a lung infection, and "early kidney failure." He's reportedly alert and asked people "to pray for me." via AP News and Axios.
Kash Patel Will Also Be In Charge Of The ATF Just-confirmed FBI Director Kash Patel will also be the head of the ATF. Republicans have long tried to kneecap the ATF because of its role in enforcing gun laws and regulating gun sales. via NBC News.
US Wants Ukraine To Deny That Russia Was The Aggressor The Trump administration isn't happy with a proposed Ukrainian resolution at the United Nations that "condemns" Russia for invading Ukraine. The dispute comes as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky rejected a US plan to fork over mineral rights to Donald Trump, who called Zelensky a dictator who should step down. So everything is going pretty badly. via WaPo, WaPo, and BBC News.
ICE Is Preparing To Deport Unaccompanied Children A new Trump administrative directive tasks ICE agents with finding hundreds of thousands of children who are in the US as unaccompanied migrants. Most of them crossed the border on their own, though at least 1,000 children remain separated from their parents via a family separation program from the first Trump administration. via Reuters.

SOME NUMBER

$200 million

That's how much money the Department of Homeland Security has budgeted for a new multimedia ad campaign in which DHS Secretary Kristi Noem thanks Donald Trump for securing the US-Mexico border. In the ad – which will air on TV, radio, and online – Noem warns migrants to stay away: "we will hunt you down." Noem recently said that the ads were Trump's idea.

ON THE SHOW TODAY

2/24: Happy Monday! Sam speaks with Eric Blanc, assistant professor of Labor Studies & Employment Relations at Rutgers University, organizer trainer in the Emergency Workplace Organizing Committee (EWOC), to discuss his recent book We Are the Union: How Worker-to-Worker Organizing is Revitalizing Labor and Winning Big.

DON'T MISS MR CLIPS‌

Stephen A. Smith SHREDS Dems For Screwing Bernie Sanders

Stephen A. is right: they all need to go.

Bolsonaro Charged In Coup Plot

Journalist Brian Mier joins the show to talk about what it really looks like when a democracy puts down a right-wing coup attempt.

PARTING WORDS

"I knew Roy Cohn. Roy Cohn was a friend of mine. As much as I hate to say it, this guy deserves an Oscar."

-- Comically sinister political operative Roger Stone offered praise for Jeremy Strong's over-the-top portrayal of Donald Trump's mentor Roy Cohn in the film The Apprentice.

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