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Oligarchs Launch Assault on Constitution - The Wednesday AM Quickie 1/29/25

By Corey Pein —

Happy Lunar New year! It's the year of the snake, which is apparently about "shedding the ego, letting go of the past, letting go of anger, letting go of love lost," and growing personally. Working on it! - Corey

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THE BIG NEWS

Welcome to the 1st Constitutional Crisis of the 2nd Trump Administration

In 2014, I reported on an obscure, crankish anti-democracy blogger, Curtis Yarvin, who had patrons among some very powerful people in Silicon Valley, such as major Republican donor and venture capitalist Peter Theil. Under the pen name Mencius Moldbug, Yarvin espoused all manner of crazy ideas, including apologia for slavery and far-right mass murder, but one idea he frequently returned to was an action item with an acronym: RAGE, short for "retire all government employees," which he called a key step toward installing "a national CEO" or "what's called a dictator."

In subsequent years, Yarvin's profile only grew. Vice President JD Vance came out as a fan, among others associated with the second Trump administration. Yesterday, the Trump White House began to implement RAGE in earnest – although it's not yet clear whether Yarvin supplied the inspiration, or Nazi-saluting oligarch Elon Musk with his phony "Department of Government Efficiency," or the Heritage Foundation with its Project 2025, or some horrid combination of all of these malign influences.

A memo emailed to some 2.3 million federal employees offered them a one-sided deal: quit now and be paid through September with no benefits, or stay on the job and maybe get fired at some point in the future. Some outlets initially misreported the memo as a buyout offer. It is something different, and much worse.

"Purging the federal government of dedicated career federal employees will have vast, unintended consequences that will cause chaos for the Americans who depend on a functioning federal government," American Federation of Government Employees union President Everett Kelley says. "Between the flurry of anti-worker executive orders and policies, it is clear that the Trump administration’s goal is to turn the federal government into a toxic environment where workers cannot stay even if they want to."

Trump also ordered a blanket freeze on the distribution of federal grants and loans approved by Congress, a decision that exceeds his authority as president. The consequences were immediate and global, with disruption to Medicaid, Meals on Wheels, preschools, universities, bank regulation, and wildfire aid domestically; as well as to minefield clearing programs, refugee camps, and pandemic response abroad.

The moves are part of the new administration's strategy to "flood the zone" with outrageous, frequently illegal policy decrees, spreading chaos and leaving opponents reeling. A federal judge temporarily blocked Trump's funding freeze last night – but whatever happens in the courts, the bigger political fight will continue carry in other arenas.

"What happened last night is the most direct assault on the authority of Congress, I believe, in the history of the United States," Sen. Angus King of Maine, an independent who caucuses with Democrats, told reporters. "If this stands, then Congress may as well adjourn."

"Trump is holding all the nation's hospitals and vital services hostage to seize power from Congress and hand it over to billionaires," New York Squad Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez wrote. "We must state the truth: this is a constitutional crisis. It's a massive, illegal power grab that the House and Senate have a sworn duty to stop."

Trumpocalypse, Con't: Trans Troops Sue Over Service Ban

  • Trump Order Seeks to Ban Gender-Affirming Care for Trans People Under 19 Years Old Nationwide The Education Department's "Office for Civil Rights," meanwhile, opened an investigation into Denver Public Schools for designating an all-gender restroom at a high school. via NBC News and Politico.
  • Brazil Demands Answers About Violent and 'Degrading Treatment' of Migrants Aboard Deportation Flight Native American tribal members and Puerto Ricans, who are all US citizens, have already been caught up in the latest surge of ICE raids. via the New York Times, NBC News, and Politico.
  • France Offered to Send Troops to Greenland to Repel US Invasion "If Denmark calls for help, France will be there," Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, who is meeting with European allies and NATO leaders this week, said yesterday. "Nobody can allow themselves to mess around with our borders." via Politico and the Guardian.
  • House GOP Pushes New and Expanded Work Requirements for Medicaid, Food Stamps, and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families "When you talk about school lunches, hey, I worked my way through high school," Georgia Republican Rep. Rich McCormick mused to CNN, suggesting that children enter the workforce rather than "sponge off the government." via Politico and HuffPost.
  • Trump Firings Hamstring Federal Worker Protection Agencies Trump this week fired the Democratic chair of the National Labor Relations Board and two of three Democratic members of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, leaving both boards unable to do business. via the Washington Post and the AP.
  • Tulsi Gabbard, Who Used to Praise 'Brave Whistleblowers' Like Edward Snowden, Is Pro-Surveillance State Now Reporting suggests Gabbard was placed on a TSA watchlist not for partisan reasons, as she claims, but because she attended a 2024 Vatican City meeting organized by a "European businessman" with links to Russian intelligence who was himself on a terrorist watch list. via the Washington Post and the New York Times.
  • Trump's New Defense Secretary Lets Everyone Know He Is Removing the Security Detail for a General Trump Wants Executed "'We're going to hold people accountable,' Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told reporters Monday as he arrived at the Pentagon for his first day of work." via Fox News and Politico.
  • One Pardoned Jan. 6 Insurrectionist Shot and Killed By Police, Another Being Sought for Sex Crimes The Justice Department is in panic mode, and more than a dozen officials who worked on the criminal investigations of Trump on Special Counsel Jack Smith's team have been fired. via USA Today, HuffPost, the New York Times, and the Washington Post.

QUICKEST QUICKIES

  • Largest Tuberculosis Outbreak in US History Hits Kansas City, Kansas Meanwhile, federal health officials disclosed that they've discovered a new strain of bird flu in California, "raising concerns that the virus is transforming in a way that could eventually cause wider outbreaks among humans." via the Kansas City Star, the New York Times, and the Washington Post.
  • Despite Winning Fetterman's Vote, GOP Bill to Sanction ICC Over Netanyahu Arrest Warrant Fails Trump has invited the far-right Israeli Prime Minister to be the first foreign leader to visit the White House in his second term. via the Washington Post, the Associated Press, and the Guardian.
  • Rwanda-Backed M23 Militia Seizes Key City in Eastern Congo "The offensive has sent thousands fleeing their homes, in addition to 1 million displaced who are already in Goma, and stretched hospitals to the limit, with hundreds of wounded coming in every day as civilians get caught in the crossfire." via the AP, the New York Times, and the Guardian.
  • Far-Right Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni Is Under Investigation for Embezzlement and Abetting a Crime Meloni said in an Instagram video that the investigation of her and several ministers stems from the decision to release a Libyan warlord, Ossama al-Masri, who is wanted by the ICC for war crimes and crimes against humanity. via the Guardian and the AP.

SOME NUMBER

35 percent

That's how much more likely human-caused climate change made the hot, dry, and windy conditions that precipitated the devastating Los Angeles County wildfires, NBC News reports. Some displaced residents are now picking through toxic ash in hopes of finding belongings that survived the flames.

ON THE SHOW TODAY

1/15: It's Hump Day! Sam speaks with Jackie Flynn Mogensen, reporter covering science and health at Mother Jones, to discuss her recent reporting on the Trump administration's actions towards the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Then, he speaks with Elie Mystal, justice correspondent at The Nation, to discuss his recent piece on the Trump administration's to dismantle DEIA efforts across the federal government.

DON'T MISS MR CLIPS‌

Dr. Phil Stunned When ICE Detainee Recognizes Him

This is some truly grotesque television.

Fetterman's Embarrassing Pivot Right Gets Worse

His shorts-and-hoodie shtick has extreme Poochie vibes.

PARTING WORDS

"We're not asking teachers to search out these books, you know, dig through backpacks and lockers. But if they become aware of it, then, gently ask the student to take the book home."

-- Utah State Board of Education Library Media Specialist Davina Sauthoff, speaking to KUER public radio about a new policy forbidding students from bringing personal copies of banned books – or "sensitive material" – onto school property. The list of banned titles will likely grow quickly, one critic tells the Washington Post, and already numbers in the dozens.

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