@crgibs
Tulsi Gabbard

McConnell Votes No, But GOP Senate Confirms 'Putin's Girlfriend' As Intel Chief

The Senate on Wednesday confirmed former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI) to serve as President Donald Trump’s director of national intelligence. Republican senators almost unanimously voted for Gabbard despite unified Democratic opposition, with a final vote tally of 52-48.

Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY), who was the Senate Republican leader for nearly two decades and a former member of the "Gang of Six" that gets classified intelligence briefings, was the lone dissenter among his party. After casting his "no" vote with Democrats, McConnell ripped Gabbard over her "history of alarming lapses in judgment."

"The Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) is a key participant in the process that informs every major national security decision the President makes. The ODNI wields significant authority over how the intelligence community allocates its resources, conducts its collection and analysis, and manages the classification and declassification of our nation's most sensitive secrets," he stated. "In my assessment, Tulsi Gabbard failed to demonstrate that she is prepared to assume this tremendous national trust."

Multiple Democratic elected officials also tore into their GOP colleagues over their decision to be a rubber stamp for Trump. On Bluesky, Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-TX) wrote that Gabbard amplified "propaganda" for Russian President Vladimir Putin and deposed Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad for years. Anti-Trump group the Lincoln Project tweeted that Russia refers to Gabbard as "Putin's girlfriend." And Rep. Sean Casten (D-IL) slammed Republicans as "worse than useless" for confirming "Tulsi F—ing Gabbard."

"Confirming her as DNI serves only to tell Trump that Senate Rs would rather lick his boots than do a single damn thing to protect our national security," he tweeted. "They are worse than useless. And they are putting every American at risk."

Around the same time Gabbard was confirmed, Fox News liberal host Jessica Tarlov tweeted a video of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth (also one of her former Fox News colleagues) calling for Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula — which Russia has been illegally occupying since 2014 — to be considered Russian territory. Hegseth added that Ukraine shouldn't be considered for membership in the NATO alliance anytime soon.

"Tulsi confirmed at virtually the same time," Tarlov wrote. "A sunny day in Moscow even if's still only 19 degrees out."

Software engineer Alex Cole wrly noted on Bluesky that Gabbard — who was once the vice chair of the Democratic National Committee — has found far greater political success after abandoning the Democratic Party.

"Tulsi Gabbard was once on a government watchlist. Now she’s running U.S. intelligence," Cole wrote. "Moral of the story? If at first you don’t succeed, just switch political parties."

Gabbard's alleged closeness to Russia didn't go unnoticed by MSNBC columnist Brandon Friedman. He recalled a time when social media platform Instagram announced it was going dark in Russia on March 13, 2022. He then posted a screenshot of a March 23, 2022 Fox News interview with Gabbard where the former congresswoman complained that her Instagram video views had dropped from 250,000 to 300,000 to just 15,000, suggesting that Russian Instagram users were the main source of her traffic. Friedman called that complaint "the funniest thing" Gabbard said.

Former Chicago Tribune editor Mark Jacob took a more somber tone, writing: "No foreign country in its right mind will share sensitive intelligence with Tulsi Gabbard. We are now a country that's flying blind in a dangerous world."

Reprinted with permission from Alternet.

Elon Musk

Treasury Security Staff Warns Against 'Insider Threat' From DOGE Hackers

The handful of young men Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has hired to help him gut various federal agencies are now reportedly being treated as a significant security risk.

Tech publication WIRED reported Friday that the threat intelligence team with one of the payment systems managed by the U.S. Treasury Department's Bureau of the Fiscal Service (BFS) is now recommending that Musk's "Department of Government Efficiency" (which is not yet a congressionally authorized federal agency) employees be monitored. An email to BFS information technology workers entitled "recommendations" explained the reasoning.

“There is ongoing litigation, congressional legislation, and widespread protests relating to DOGE’s access to Treasury and the Bureau of the Fiscal Service,” the email read. “If DOGE members have any access to payment systems, we recommend suspending that access immediately and conducting a comprehensive review of all actions they may have taken on these systems.”

Last weekend, the New York Times reported that DOGE employees had gained access to the BFS' systems, which oversee the disbursement of roughly $6 trillion in annual federal government payments involving everything from Social Security and Medicare benefits to small business loans, government contracts and federal income tax returns, among others. One of the staffers reportedly had administrator-level access to those systems, and Talking Points Memo reported that staffer may have already made changes to the payment systems' source code.

“There is reporting at other federal agencies indicating that DOGE members have performed unauthorized changes and locked civil servants out of the sensitive systems they gained access to,” the “Recommendations” email read. “We further recommend that DOGE members be placed under insider threat monitoring and alerting after their access to payment systems is revoked. Continued access to any payment systems by DOGE members, even ‘read only,’ likely poses the single greatest insider threat risk the Bureau of the Fiscal Service has ever faced.”

Earlier this week, a federal judge ruled in favor of plaintiffs who sued to block DOGE staffers from accessing those systems, meaning they have now been temporarily locked out while their access is being litigated. The staffer who is accused of changing the payment systems' code — 25 year-old Marko Elez — recently stepped down from his role after the Wall Street Journal linked him to a racist social media account. He was reportedly reinstated after Vice President JD Vance advocated for him to be rehired on Friday.

Reprinted with permission from Alternet.

neo-Nazis Protest

Angry Ohio Residents Disperse Nazi Mob And Burn Swastika Flags

Local residents of a predominantly Black neighborhood near Cincinnati, Ohio recently chased away a group of masked men carrying rifles and displaying swastika flags.

On Friday, Cincinnati-based ABC affiliate WCPO reported that a group of several people wearing black clothing had been spotted on an Interstate 75 overpass in Lincoln Heights, Ohio waving banners emblazoned with swastikas. Some in the group were seen openly carrying AR-15 rifles and wearing red face masks.

However, the group was quickly run off by a crowd of angry local residents, who seized some of the swastika flags and recorded video of themselves burning them in the street.

"Burn that b---- up," one member of the crowd is heard saying. "Get the f--- out of here ... Hitler been dead! Y'all living in the Forties!"

Lincoln Heights is almost 90 percent Black, according to 2020 Census data. The neo-Nazi demonstrators were condemned by other members of the community following their highway display, with Cincinnati mayor Aftab Pureval calling it "shocking and disgusting."

"Messages of hate like this have no place in our region," Pureval tweeted Friday. "This is not what we stand for, and it will never be what we stand for."

Neo-Nazis were also seen demonstrating in Columbus, Ohio in the weeks following the 2024 election. The Columbus Dispatch reported that a group of masked men shouting racist slogans and waving swastika flags were met by an angry crowd that pointed guns at them and doused them in pepper spray. One of the men complained to police after the confrontation that he had "never been attacked like this."

Neo-Nazis appeared in Lincoln Heights (metro Cincinnati) Ohio and got ran out of dodge… but not before locals stole and burned their swastika flag in the street.

[image or embed]

— The Rooster (@rooster.info) February 7, 2025 at 8:39 PM

Reprinted with permission from Alternet.

Judge Locks Musk And His Gang Out Of Treasury Data Systems -- For Now

Judge Locks Musk And His Gang Out Of Treasury Data Systems -- For Now

A federal judge just issued an order locking employees of Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk out of the U.S. Treasury's internal systems managing roughly $6 trillion in annual payments. Legal experts are celebrating the win, but warn that the fight is not yet over.

On Thursday, Brookings Institution senior fellow Norm Eisen announced that a federal judge sided with plaintiffs in a lawsuit against Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, the Treasury Department and the Bureau of the Fiscal Service. In the court order, Senior U.S. District Judge Colleen Kottar-Kotelly (appointed by President Bill Clinton) ordered that the Treasury Department not grant access to any of the payment systems, while specifying that Musk employees Tom Krause and Marko Elez be relegated to read-only access. [Elez resigned on Thursday after the Wall Street Journallinked him to racist posts on a deleted social media account.]

Eisen's post was met with celebration, though some urged continued vigilance and follow-through. University of Florida political science professor Michael McDonald observed that the "next step" could be to "ignore the courts." George Mason University political scientist Jennifer N. Victor noted that it's possible that President Donald Trump's administration could choose to ignore the court order.

"Good news, but now the harder test. Will Trump comply?" she wrote. "If not, who will provide enforcement? According to the Constitution, it’s Congress’s job to oversee the bureaucracy. But the judicial and legislative branches have few tools — all administrative —to enforce laws and rulings."

Mother Jones reporter David Corn also hoped for "good enforcement" of the ruling. University of Kansas religious studies professor Sam Brody echoed that sentiment on Bluesky, and called on "security guards at Treasury" to physically prevent Musk's representatives from entering the building.

"In a lawless situation, it actually does come down to guys with guns standing in front of doors," Brody wrote.

"Now, we need real government [information technology] experts to go in there and re-secure the data and make sure malware wasn't deposited by Chinese, Iranian or Russian operatives - or by Musk and his boy band - after admin access was granted," Quinnippiac University journalism professor emeritus Rich Hanley posted to Bluesky. "I'm sure security wasn't part of their foray into the data trove."

Reprinted with permission from Alternet


Elon Musk

Top Treasury Official Quits As Musk Seeks Control Over Social Security And Medicare Payments

Allies of billionaire Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk are reportedly attempting to gain control of the U.S. Treasury's payment systems that handle roughly $6 trillion in payments every year. Now, the top career official at the Treasury Department is resigning.

That's according to a Friday article in the Washington Post, which reported that surrogates of Musk's "Department of Government Efficiency," or "DOGE" (which is not yet an official government agency authorized by Congress) are now aiming to control the Bureau of the Fiscal Service (BFS). The BFS oversees payment systems that make trillions of dollars in payments annually to households and businesses, as well as to Americans receiving Social Security and Medicare benefits.

David A. Lebryk, who President Donald Trump appointed as acting Treasury secretary after taking office, suddenly retired following an apparent "dispute" with Musk's associates. After Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent was confirmed by the U.S. Senate earlier this week, Lebryk stepped out of the acting secretary role, though he still remained at the Treasury Department until Friday.

Lebryk's retirement announcement came after decades of service in the Treasury Department under presidents of both parties and 11 different Treasury secretaries. DOGE officials have reportedly been trying to control the BFS' payment systems since after Trump's election victory, and doubled down on those requests after Trump's inauguration. Lebryk's departure was described as a "shock" to Treasury Department employees, who said he had a "sterling" reputation at the agency.

“Please know that your work makes a difference and is so very important to the country. It has been an honor to work alongside you," Lebryk wrote in an email to colleagues. “Our work may be unknown to most of the public, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t exceptionally important.”

BFS' payment systems made more than 1.3 billion payments totaling roughly $5.4 trillion in fiscal year 2023 alone, according to the Post, with every payment made on time. Mark Mazur, who was a senior Treasury Department official under former Presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden, said attempts to seize control of the BFS for political purposes is unprecedented.

“This is a mechanical job — they pay Social Security benefits, they pay vendors, whatever. It’s not one where there’s a role for nonmechanical things, at least from the career standpoint. Your whole job is to pay the bills as they’re due,” Mazur told the Post. “It’s never been used in a way to execute a partisan agenda... You have to really put bad intentions in place for that to be the case.”

Reprinted with permission from Alternet.

Brian Driscoll

Acting FBI Director Rejects Mass Firing Of Agents Ordered By Trump

President Donald Trump is now aiming to purge the FBI of hundreds of agents who helped investigate him and participants in the January 6, 2021 insurrection. But the man Trump temporarily put in charge of the FBI reportedly isn't going along with his plan.

The Washington Post reported Friday that Trump's proposed mass firings ran into a roadblock in the form of Brian Driscoll, who "refused to endorse the effort," according to the Post's sources. The initiative to identify and fire the agents in question is reportedly being headed by the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the White House, though Trump is apparently distancing himself from the effort.

When asked during a recent Oval Office press gaggle if he ordered the firings, Trump said: "No, but we have some very bad people there... I wasn’t involved in that. But if they want to fire some people, it is fine with me."

Firing FBI agents is a lengthy process, as the bureau allows agents the ability to appeal any termination in two different stages, and entitles them to have a written justification outlining what rules or standards they've been accused of violating. Replacing those agents will also be difficult, as FBI agents have to undergo an intense 18-week training program before being deployed in the field. And any investigations the fired agents were working on will be sidelined until their replacements can be trained and briefed.

Mark Zaid, who is an attorney specializing in federal employment law, told the Post that the proposed mass firings at the FBI — along with his threats to career DOJ prosecutors — could create a legal headache for the Trump administration.

“What this administration is doing is they are acting so recklessly and with disregard to any laws or norms, they are making a ton of errors in order to satisfy their outspoken base that seek retribution,” he said. “And they are creating a lot of legal claims.”

Driscoll's elevation to acting director of the bureau came as a surprise to both Driscoll and Robert Kissane, who was initially tapped for the job. The Wall Street Journal reported that the Trump transition team told Kissane he would be acting director and Driscoll — who reportedly signs his name "Drizz" — would serve as acting deputy director. However, a mixup led to Driscoll being listed on the FBI's website as acting director with Kissane as deputy. Rather than correct the error, the two agreed to swap roles until FBI Director-designate Kash Patel is confirmed by the full Senate.

Reprinted with permission from Alternet.

Don Bacon

GOP Rep. Bacon Rebels Over Funding Withheld From Omaha District

One of President Donald Trump's Day One executive orders that flew under the radar is provoking significant pushback from Congress — including from at least one House Republican.

The Atlantic reported Tuesday that Trump is apparently violating Article I, Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution with an executive order pausing the disbursement of federal funds already appropriated by Congress. On January 20 — the same day Trump pardoned January 6 insurrectionists and attempted to repeal birthright citizenship — Trump issued an executive order entitled "Unleashing American Energy."

That order includes a section dubbed "Terminating the Green New Deal," which freezes hundreds of billions of dollars in funding for various infrastructure projects launched during former President Joe Biden's administration. However, that money was already approved via the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which members of Congress were counting on for jobs in their districts.

Rep. Don Bacon (R-NE), who represents a purple district in the Omaha area, toldThe Atlantic that Trump's executive order was "alarming," particularly for his constituents, who were counting on $73 million from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to upgrade Omaha's airport.

"You just can’t determine what laws you want to execute and what you don’t," Bacon said, adding that executive orders from presidents representing both parties have "gotten out of hand."

"“You can’t change the law,” he added. “I think Republicans should stay true to that notion.”

According to The Atlantic, Bacon called the White House after that executive order was signed, which later prompted the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to issue a memo clarifying the scope of the "Green New Deal" section of the executive order in question. The Nebraska Republican said he was told the order mainly applied to the IRA provision pertaining to electric vehicle mandates, and was not a blanket cancellation of federal appropriations.

But Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), who is the ranking member on the House Appropriations Committee, wasn't convinced, saying she believed "everything is at risk." She flatly called the executive order "illegal," and characterized the president's move to freeze federal funds as "stealing."

"It’s creating chaos,” she continued. “I honestly don’t think the people who are dealing with this know what they are doing.”

During his confirmation hearing last week, OMB Director-designate Russell Vought (who was a leading architect of the far-right authoritarian Project 2025 playbook) refused to say whether he would allow Trump to violate the Impoundment Control Act of 1974, which prevents presidents from denying the disbursement of federal funds already appropriated by Congress. He refused to say under oath whether Trump would abide by the law, telling the Senate Budget Committee: "For 200 years, presidents had the ability to spend less than an appropriation if they could do it for less."

Trump's executive order may not survive muster in the federal courts if the administration is sued over the impoundment issue. His executive order denying 14th Amendment protections to the children of undocumented immigrants was recently paused by U.S. District Judge John Cougheneur, who called it "blatantly unconstitutional."

Reprinted with permission from Alternet.

Key GOP Senator Revolts Over Trump's Illegal Firing Of Inspectors General

Key GOP Senator Revolts Over Trump's Illegal Firing Of Inspectors General

One of President Donald Trump's biggest supporters in the U.S. Senate has now co-signed a letter with his Democratic counterpart demanding the president comply with a federal law he recently ignored.

On Friday night, Trump announced he was firing 18 inspectors general throughout various federal agencies, including the Departments of Defense, Labor, State and Health and Human Services. This was done in violation of the Inspector General Act, which requires that a president give Congress 30 days advance that he plans to fire an inspector general — which is an independent watchdog that calls out waste, fraud and abuse — and give a specific reason for their firing.

And on Tuesday, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Ranking Member Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) both signed a letter to Trump, pointing out that the firings were illegal. Politico legal correspondent Kyle Cheney posted the full text of the letter to Bluesky."Congress was not provided the legally required 30-day notice and case-specific reasons for removal, as required by law," Grassley and Durbin wrote. "Accordingly, we request that you provide that information immediately."

"While IGs aren't immune from committing acts that require their removal, and they can be removed by the president, the law must be followed," they continued. "The communication to Congress must contain more than broad and vague statements, rather it must include sufficient facts and details to assure Congress and the public that the termination is due to real concerns about the inspector General's ability to carry out their mission."

In addition to providing rationale for their firing, both senators insisted that Trump reinstate the fired inspectors general on an "acting" basis during the 30-day period and "work quickly to nominate qualified and non-partisan individuals to serve in those open positions." Trump has not yet responded to the letter.

As chairman of the Judiciary Committee, Grassley is perhaps the most critical in implementing Trump's policies pertaining to immigration, which is under his purview. Grassley's committee will also have to vet all of Trump's nominees to the federal courts, including anyone he nominates to succeed retiring Supreme Court justices. And as a 91 year-old senator who isn't up for re-election until 2028, Grassley is virtually untouchable in the Hawkeye State, which he has represented for more than 40 years.

Chuck Grassley

Grassley Warns Against 'Strong' Democratic Minority In Senate

Even though President Donald Trump was elected to a second term with Republican majorities in both chambers of Congress and is fulfilling his campaign promises, one high-ranking Senate Republican isn't so sure that Democratic opposition has been quelled.

Politico's Eugene Daniels recently interviewed Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA), one of Trump's biggest supporters and the longest-serving sitting U.S. senator. The 91 year-old Republican also chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee, which will be ground zero for many of Trump's wish-list items like immigration crackdowns and Supreme Court appointments.

Daniels asked Grassley how confident he felt about his ability to shepherd Trump's legislative agenda through his committee, given his party's recent victory in November. Grassley pushed back, saying that the GOP "ought to be cautious about what appears to be disarray in the Democratic Party." He opined that his own party was more fractured and prone to infighting than the Democratic caucus.

"I think they have the ability to reunify and get back. They’re going to be a strong minority. They don’t look like it today on January 22, but I’ll bet January 22 of 2026, it’ll be a whole different show," Grassley said. "It’ll take them a while to get there, but we can’t take anything for granted that we’re going to have a weak Democratic Party."

While Republicans enjoy a 53-47 majority in the Senate, they're still short of the 60 votes needed to bypass filibusters. This limits Republicans to having to rely on the budget reconciliation process, in which legislation can pass with 51 votes provided it deals with strictly budgetary matters. But even that isn't a sure thing, given that Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth needed a tie-breaking vote from Vice President JD Vance to get confirmed after three Republicans — including former Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) — voted against him. Just four Republican defections could sink a judicial appointment, a Cabinet confirmation, or a reconciliation bill.

"They have the ability to sing off the same song sheet," Grassley said of Democrats. "That’s something Republicans are very bad about. I mean, it may not appear to you today that it’s that bad of a situation for Republicans. But I’m telling you, Democrats are more unified and on the same message. It may not appear today, but they’ll get back there and get back fast."

In the 2026 midterm election, Democrats are defending 13 seats, while Republicans will attempt to keep 20 of their own. Outside of Sens. Jon Ossoff (D-GA) and Gary Peters (D-MI), the Democrats vying for another six-year term are from relatively safe blue states. However, four Republicans — Sens. Susan Collins (R-ME), Joni Ernst (R-IA), Roger Marshall (R-KS) and Thom Tillis (R-NC) — may face competitive opponents in both the Republican primary and the general election. Democrats could reclaim control of the Senate by flipping three of those four seats.

Reprinted with permission from Alternet.

'Hit Him Back Twice As Hard': Ontario Premier Bluntly Challenges Trump

'Hit Him Back Twice As Hard': Ontario Premier Bluntly Challenges Trump

While Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was the face of Canadian opposition to President Donald Trump in his first term, that role now appears to belong to Ontario Premier Doug Ford, leader of the Progressive Conservative Party.

In a lengthy interview with Politico magazine, Ford made it clear that while he hoped for good relations between Canada and the U.S. over the next four years, he wouldn't hesitate to be combative with Trump should the second-term president antagonize the United States' northern neighbor. Politico's Alexander Burns noted that Ford often sports a blue hat with the same serif-style font seen on MAGA hats that reads: "CANADA IS NOT FOR SALE."

Ford, who is 60 years old, accepted comparisons of his political style to professional wrestling. He likened himself to a "brawler with a reflex for combat," according to Burns.

“I’m a street fighter in politics,” said Ford, who is the brother of the late former Toronto mayor Rob Ford. “If someone throws a punch at me, I’m going to hit him back twice as hard.”

After Trump threatened to impose a 25 percent tariff on goods imported from Canada, Ford said he was ready to strike back with strict trade measures. This includes banning American liquor from Ontario's shelves, cutting power transmission from Canada to American homes and businesses just across the border (Windsor, Ontario is adjacent to Detroit, Michigan) and even what Burns called "dollar-for-dollar retaliation" against red states.

"[W]e’re standing up for the people. And the establishment and all the muckety-mucks, they think differently," the Ontario premier said. "For the blue-collar, hard-working families out there, they have a voice with the Ford family.

Now that the Liberal Party's Trudeau is stepping down and not seeing another term as prime minister, Ford has called for new elections in his province, seeking to claim another term in office to cement his leadership throughout the second Trump administration. He recently made an entreaty to the new U.S. president in a Wall Street Journal op-ed, arguing that a tighter United States-Canada alliance would be the best counter to China's economic influence.

"America will need allies, and Canada can help," Ford wrote on the day of Trump's second inauguration. "Our country offers deeply integrated supply chains across strategically significant sectors. We have an abundant supply of critical minerals, oil and gas and nuclear energy. We boast a highly trained workforce and a long legacy of partnership with American allies to confront global threats and fight tyranny."

If Trump follows through on his tariff threat, it could cause severe economic consequences for many Americans given the billions of dollars in Canadian goods Americans depend on every day. Jonathan Wilkinson, who is Canada's natural resources minster, recently warned that gas prices for some customers in the Midwest could soar by as much as 75 cents per gallon, given that the U.S. imports millions of barrels of oil from Canada every day.

The prospect of a trade war has some Americans scrambling to make significant purchases sooner than they expected in anticipation of higher prices. This includes both Canadian-made goods as well as products made in China (which could be hit with a 10 percent tariff) and Mexico, which Trump has threatened with a 25 percent tariff. Mexico in particular exports billions of dollars in grocery items ranging from meat to dairy products, confectionery items and produce, among others.

Reprinted with permission from Alternet.

Did Trump Aides Use AI Program To Write 'Slipshod' Executive Orders?

Did Trump Aides Use AI Program To Write 'Slipshod' Executive Orders?

Even though he held the office for four years already, President Donald Trump doesn't appear to have any more sophisticated of an operation when it comes to the drafting of his executive orders, according to one expert's analysis of their text.

Trump has been rolling out a flurry of executive orders since he was sworn in for his second term on Monday. His executive orders have been focused on everything from renaming the Gulf of Mexico to the "Gulf of America" (something Mississippi Democratic state representative Steve Holland first proposed in 2012 legislation aimed at mocking Republicans) to eliminating birthright citizenship for the children of undocumented immigrants.

But on Wednesday, tech publication Futurism reported that some of those orders have questionable wording and formatting suggesting they may have been written with the help of artificial intelligence (AI).

Futurism cited Slate Supreme Court analyst Mark Joseph Stern, who noted that many of Trump's executive orders are formatted in a confusing manner that is commonly associated with AI-generated text. In one example, an executive order entitled "Unleashing Alaska's Extraordinary Resource Potential" has a numbered list of Public Land Orders to be rescinded, but the number one is next to each item.

"The weird typos and formatting errors could lead to confusion down the road," Stern wrote on Bluesky. "If the Secretary of the Interior invoked his authority under Section XV(1) of this order, which of the 6 different subsections labeled 1 would [he] mean? And which number controls when a subsection has two different ones?"

"Lots of reporting suggested that, this time around, Trump and his lawyers would avoid the sloppy legal work that plagued his first administration so they'd fare better in the courts," he wrote he wrote in another post. "I see no evidence of that in this round of executive orders."

"This is poor, slipshod work," Stern continued, arguing that Trump's executive orders were "obviously assisted by AI."

Attorney Raffi Melkonian also accused the new administration of using AI as a crutch, saying Trump's "Gulf of America" executive order was "absolutely written by AI." Stern remarked that it read like a "7th-grade book report."

"The Gulf is also home to vibrant American fisheries teeming with snapper, shrimp, grouper, stone crab, and other species, and it is recognized as one of the most productive fisheries in the world, with the second largest volume of commercial fishing landings by region in the Nation, contributing millions of dollars to local American economies," the order read. "The Gulf is also a favorite destination for American tourism and recreation activities."

Futurism also called attention to other executive orders that "feature questionable errors and structural choices." In the order pulling the United States out of the World Health Organization, Futurism's Maggie Harrison Dupre noticed "inexplicably bolded punctuation." And she suggested that the haphazardly written documents "could lead to trouble down the line for the Trump Administration's attempts at enforcement."

Reprinted with permission from Alternet.

McConnell Blasts Trump Pardon Of January 6 Felons Who Attacked Police

McConnell Blasts Trump Pardon Of January 6 Felons Who Attacked Police

President Donald Trump's decision to pardon roughly 1,500 defendants charged and/or convicted in connection with the January 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol isn't going over well with one high-profile Senate Republican.

On Tuesday, Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) — who was the Republican leader in the U.S. Senate for 17 years — openly criticized the 47th president of the United States in an interview with Semafor. McConnell referenced Vice President JD Vance's remarks a week before the inauguration in which he said that January 6 rioters who attacked police officers "obviously" shouldn't be pardoned.

"I agree with the vice president," the Kentucky Republican said. "No one should excuse violence. And particularly violence against police officers."

Just before he left office, former President Joe Biden issued preemptive pardons to members of the House Select Committee on the January 6 Attack, along with some of the former Capitol Police Department officers who provided testimony to both the committee and against some of the January 6 defendants. Former Capitol Police Officer Harry Dunn posted to Bluesky on Tuesday that his former colleague, Sgt. Aquilino Gonell, has been inundated with automated calls from the Department of Justice letting him know that defendants he testified against have been released from federal prison.

According to Semafor, McConnell — who voted to acquit Trump during his second impeachment trial in response to the January 6 attack and endorsed his 2024 campaign – has made it clear he supports Trump but won't hesitate to speak out against him on issues where they disagree. He emphasized that he and Trump don't see eye-to-eye on certain national security issues (like supporting Ukraine in its war with Russia) and on tariffs.

Just before the November election, McConnell slammed Trump as a "sleazeball" and lamented that former President Ronald Reagan — a longtime Republican icon — wouldn't recognize today's Republican Party that Trump has fully remade in his image. He added that both Trump and his supporters have "done a lot of damage to our party's image and our ability to compete."

"I don’t know whether you can make a conclusive argument that [Trump]’s directly responsible for [January 6 rioters] storming the Capitol, but I think it’s not in dispute that those folks would not have been here in the first place if he had not asked them to come and to disrupt the actual acceptance of the outcome of the election," McConnell told biographer Michael Tackett last October.

Reprinted with permission from Alternet

Trump Fans Who Flocked To DC Now Furious Over Indoor Inaugural

Trump Fans Who Flocked To DC Now Furious Over Indoor Inaugural

Supporters of President-elect Donald Trump have been flocking to Washington D.C. in advance of his second inauguration on Monday. But many were caught off-guard at the news that the incoming president would be conducting his swearing-in ceremony at the Capitol rotunda, where only V.I.P. guests will be able to attend.

The Daily Beast reported after the news broke that the outdoor inauguration ceremony had been relocated, Trump fans who traveled from across the country were outraged. NBC Washington was the first to inform Oklahoma resident Ken Robinson that the inauguration had been moved indoors due to frigid temperatures and high winds in Monday's weather forecast.

"I don't like it! I mean we came all the way from Oklahoma, and now we're not gonna get to see him?" Robinson said. "We might as well have stayed home and watched it on TV."

"We have farms," Oklahoma-based Trump supporter Harry Troyer said. "We don’t get to not feed the cows cause it’s cold."

National Park Service officials had already begun the process of giving out the approximately 220,000 tickets for inauguration attendees prior to the announcement that the ceremony had been moved to the U.S. Capitol. Attendees have been invited to watch the inauguration via livestream at Washington D.C.'s Capital One Arena (home of the Washington Wizards NBA franchise), though the facility only has roughly 20,000 seats, meaning many Trump supporters will still be unable to even watch the inauguration there.

Following the change in venue, CBS News congressional correspondent Scott MacFarlane tweeted that those inauguration tickets have now been designated as merely "commemorative." This is despite some tickets selling for $500 apiece on Craigslist as of Thursday.

"The majority of ticketed guests will not be able to attend the ceremonies in person," read a memo by the House Sergeant at Arms.

"It's actually something that we've been looking forward to for historical purposes and being a part of it, that's once in a lifetime," Trump supporter Jose Granado, who traveled to D.C. from Florida, told NBC Washington. "Made all the plans, all the arrangements to come up and be a part of this event. And all of a sudden to hear that it's moved indoors, it's kind of like a bummer."

“Spent thousands of dollars on a hotel room and now they aren’t having an Inauguration for the public,” one Trump supporter wrote on X. “Wtf.”

“We have coats and will wear them. Already bought expensive hotels, rental cars, subway tickets etc etc,” another X user wrote. “We the people were prepared for the cold. We want to see Trump in person. Rain snow sleet warm cold it don’t matter.”

Reprinted with permission from Alternet.

Bitcoin

Trump's Crypto 'Meme Coin' Looks Like A Billion-Dollar Scam

President-elect Donald Trump has now found yet another way to convince his followers to throw their money his way — this time with a questionable cryptocurrency venture.

Axios is reporting that the soon-to-be 47th president of the United States has rolled out a "meme coin" dubbed $TRUMP, which is being billed as the "only official Trump meme." According to Axios, $TRUMP has already accumulated a valuation of roughly $32 billion. And because the Trump Organization is keeping 80% of the coins, this means the president-elect and his businesses are roughly $25 billion richer as a result.

Techdirt writer Mike Masnick wrote on Bluesky that the meme coin's market cap topped $9 billion in less than 12 hours, and that it soon jumped to $15 billion just hours later. As of 1:30 PM Eastern Time, the coin is trading at nearly $30 per unit.

"People are dumping like crazy and it's dropping fast," Masnick wrote early Saturday morning. "Noticing many large dollar sales, while buys are small amounts."

Journalist Judd Legum, who publishes the Popular Information Substack newsletter, called the meme coin a "brazen grift." And British novelist Hari Kunzru predicted that the Trump supporters who were eagerly buying the meme coin were in for a shock.

"Wake up to find that the incoming president is pumping a meme coin and is probably about to rugpull his followers and make several billion dollars," Kunzru wrote on Bluesky.

Matt Novak, who writes for tech publication Gizmodo, remarked that it was "crazy" that "the incoming president "launched his fake money right before taking office." He noted that this venture was different from his campaign's non-fungible tokens (NFTs) that he sold alongside pieces of the suit he wore while having his mugshot taken.

"I assumed this was more NFTs but it’s specifically a *fungible* asset meaning he’s selling his own crypto coin. On top of that, it has a crazy f—ing disclaimer and all the hallmarks of a f—ing rugpull," Novak wrote. "This is f—ing nuts."

The disclaimer Novak referred to in his skeet (the generally accepted term for a Bluesky post) openly tells prospective buyers that it is only meant to be "an expression of support for, and engagement with the ideals and beliefs embodied by" the president-elect. It goes on to warn that the coins themselves "are not intended to be, or to be the subject of, an investment opportunity, investment contract or security of any type."

Author Benjamin Dreyer was more direct in his criticism, telling his followers: "I have no idea what a fungible meme coin is, and if you attempt to explain it to me I’ll block you."

Reprinted with permission from Alternet.

Rep. Jasmine Crockett

Nancy Mace Melts Down, Challenges Jasmine Crockett To Fistfight

On Tuesday, the House Oversight Committee's organizational meeting to kick off the 119th Congress briefly devolved into chaos as one Republican member threatened to fight a Democratic member during the latter's allotted time.

While Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-TX) was speaking about Rep. Nancy Mace's (R-SC) crusade against transgender people — which led to Rep. Sarah McBride (D-DE.) being forced to use the men's bathroom in the House of Representatives — Mace blew up at Crockett and appeared to challenge her to a fist fight.

"Somebody's campaign coffers really are struggling right now, so she gonna keep saying 'trans trans trans' so that people will feel threatened," Crockett said, tossing her hair as she spoke. "And chile, listen, I want y'all to tell me why—"

At that point, Mace began shouting over Crockett as she spoke.

"Do not call me a child. I am no child. Don't even start! I am a grown woman! i am 47 years old! I have broken more glass ceilings than you ever have," Mace yelled as Crockett repeated that she was "reclaiming my time."

"If you want to take it outside, we can do that," Mace said as she slammed her mic down on a table.

At that point, Rep. James Comer (R-KY), who chairs the Oversight Committee, repeatedly banged his gavel, called "order" and demanded the two stop arguing. Rep. Maxwell Frost (D-FL), who sits on the committee, posted to Bluesky that Comer ruled "threatening violence against another member is okay, as long as it's in the form of question."

Crockett: Somebody’s campaign coffers are struggling right now so she’s going to keep saying trans trans trans.. Child listen Mace: I am no child! Do not call me a child. I am a grown woman. If you want to take it outside

[image or embed]

— Acyn (

@acyn.bsky.social) January 14, 2025 at 9:09 PM

Reprinted with permission from Alternet.

'Joke Appointment': Trump Names Tax Credit Scammer To Run IRS

'Joke Appointment': Trump Names Tax Credit Scammer To Run IRS

One of President-elect Donald Trump's appointments has so far escaped the level of intense scrutiny applied to some of his more controversial high-profile nominations. But experts are warning Americans to not overlook the damage one particular potential Trump administration pick could cause.

The Daily Beast reports that tax experts are urging senators to vote against the confirmation of former Rep. Billy Long (R-MO), who Trump has tapped to be the next commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). In addition to not having any experience as a tax enforcer (aside from a three-day course in Florida that allowed him to call himself a "Certified Tax & Business Advisor"), Long is also accused of running a scam aimed at bilking the federal government out of Covid-19 pandemic relief funds.

According to the Beast, Long — a former auctioneer who ran a failed bid for U.S. Senate after leaving the House —worked with Lifetime Advisors in Wisconsin and Commerce Terrace Consulting in Missouri to help clients exploit a loophole that rewarded businesses for keeping workers on company payrolls. He bragged on a 2023 podcast, titled "Secret Tax Credit That Could Put Thousands Back in Your Pocket with Billy Long," that even if a certified public accountant may not sign off on the scheme, would-be clients could instead "go back to Billy. Let Billy do it for you."

The loophole was initially projected to cost the IRS $55 billion. However, the financial blow climbed to $230 billion, and could even skyrocket to $500 billion despite the agency's efforts to close the loophole. Brookings Institution senior fellow Bill Galston told the Beast that Long's confirmation would mean "the end of tax enforcement as we know it."

"He’s an auctioneer – that’s just perfect. Tax credits to the highest bidder!! Going once! Going twice!!" Galston said. "I can’t even get mad, it’s so bleeping funny."

While current IRS commissioner Daniel Werfel is supposed to serve in his role until November of 2027, it's assumed Trump won't allow President Joe Biden's appointee to serve out the remainder of his term. Center for American Progress tax expert Brendan Duke said the IRS is actually a "really important law enforcement agency," adding that it was the IRS that ultimately nabbed notorious mobster Al Capone.

"They track money laundering and terrorism. This is not a joke job, but it is a joke appointment," Duke said. "This has flown under the radar... He’s just as bad as RFK Jr., but nobody is paying attention."

Reprinted with permission from Alternet.

How Trump Team Staged Junior's Publicity Trip To Greenland

How Trump Team Staged Junior's Publicity Trip To Greenland

President-elect Donald Trump's eldest son, Donald Jr., visited Greenland earlier this week as his father continues to push for the island to become a U.S. territory. But locals were considerably chillier to Donald Jr.'s visit than depicted, according to one official.

In an interview with Politico, Greenland parliament member Pipaluk Lynge pushed back on the president-elect's assertion that his son's delegation was received with open arms. While Trump insisted on Truth Social that "the reception has been great," Lynge said the visit was artificial and structured to insulate Donald Jr. from any negative imagery.

"No journalists were allowed to interview him," Lynge told the outlet. "It was all staged to make it seem like we — the Greenlandic people — were MAGA and love to be a part of the USA."

"People were curious, but some took pictures giving him [the] finger at the airport … Some wrote on Facebook: yankee go home," she added.

Donald Trump Jr. told Politico that any suggestion his visit wasn't received well was "ridiculous," and denied that the Greenland trip was staged. But Lynge countered that her country was well-aware of the United States' history of disrespect toward Indigenous communities and that the island prefers independence from both the U.S. and from Denmark, which currently claims control of Greenland.

“We know how they treat the Inuit in Alaska,” Lynge said. “Make that great before trying to invade us.”

Earlier this week, the Guardian reported that King Frederik II of Denmark changed the country's coat of arms for the first time in 50 years to emphasize Greenland, which is represented on the royal crest by a polar bear. Denmark, which is a key NATO ally, has already indicated that the island is not for sale and would reject any effort by the president-elect to purchase the territory.

Reprinted with permission from Alternet.