Now that Hegseth is on his way to being confirmed, RFK Jr. can be debated. His confirmation hearing has been delayed, giving him time to try to put on a public display that he has cleaned up his act and is now ready to run HHS.
Trump threatens to withhold wildfire aid money. US judge temporarily blocks Trump's order to change birthright citizenship - live updates excerpt: "The president told Fox News' Sean Hannity that he doesn't think the federal government should give California "anything" until it sends more water down to the southern part of the state."
https://www.cnn.com/2025/01/23/business/trump-federal-workers-rto-mandate/index.html excerpt: "Travel: If a fully remote worker has to commute to a new office, they would be eligible for transit subsidies. Or if the office is more than 50 miles from their home, they might get temporary duty pay for transportation, lodging and per diem expenses. But temporary duty pay may be less of a concern, since the OPM guidance states that “If an employee’s official duty station is more than 50 miles from any existing agency office, the agency should take steps to move the employee’s duty station to the most appropriate agency office based on the employee’s duties and job function.” That sounds like it might require relocating a person’s job. If so, will the person move? Pay: If a remote worker has to relocate to an area with a higher cost of living — such as Washington, DC — their locality pay would have to be adjusted. For example, one given role in DC pays almost $19,000 more than the same role in Kentucky or Maine, Cross said. Another pays $26,000 more. Hiring costs: Should highly skilled, experienced federal workers who are working remotely full-time or teleworking part of the week decide to quit rather than comply with the new mandate, the department or agency would incur costs to hire their replacements."
Trump said he would handle water issues himself by turning a water faucet the size of a building up north somewhere to the south to give California water brimming in all the canals.
While signing another pile of EOs today he said “I'm about to sign some executive orders that are very important in “just about every case”. What does that mean? Some of therm are nonsensical fluff? He just adds words to sentences for no apparent reason.
Donald Trump Is Deliriously Happy. The Resistance Is Embarrassed. Welcome to Trump 2.0. excerpt: "Naughty as a term, of course, doesn’t capture the heights of malevolence he’s capable of reaching, on his own or through his various evil proxies within Trumpworld. But it does describe his physical response to his own behavior, his Ain’t-I-a-stinker mugging, that shit-eating grin." image:
Trump ends remote work for federal workers. It affects half of federal workers. He's trying whatever tactics are available to dispose of federal workers. Trump wants to sell federal buildings. https://www.cnn.com/2025/01/23/business/trump-federal-workers-rto-mandate/index.html excerpt: “Requiring federal employees to come to the office five days a week would result in a wave of voluntary terminations that we welcome,” they wrote in an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal. In fiscal year 2023, 43% of civilian federal workers engaged in telework on a “routine or situational” basis, according to a December report from the US Office of Personnel Management. But for practical, financial and other reasons, implementing Trump’s directive could be more complicated and time-consuming than assumed.
OPM doesn't matter to Trump. If OPM diesn't do what he says, he will issue an executive order overriding it.
The effective drop in pay for moving to a more costly place to work the federal job is what Trump wants so that the workers quit voluntarily.
Remarkable how so much of the fate of the world hinged on egg prices in the U.S. Trump reelected. All of Trump's rioters commuted. Federal criminal cases against Trump dropped. End of federal DEI program. Half the federal work force faced with leaving their jobs because of Trump's order to end remote work. Possible end of birthright citizenship. National emergency issued for energy. National emergency issued for the border. Possible 10,000 troops to the Mexican border and creation of military-run detention camps. Possible major tariffs on Canada, Mexico, China, and any other country Trump doesn't like. Potential U.S. commandeering of Panama, Greenland, and Canada.
Trump's continued behavior calls into question how long people will try to tolerate it before unrest in the streets starts happening. He's more fringe, irrational, and uninhibited than he was in his first term and has no guard rails on him this time,