CURRENT EVENTS - Easter - April 25

[nycfan]

“… The draft also calls for cutting offices at State Department headquarters that address climate change and refugee issues, as well as democracy and human rights concerns.

The purpose of the executive order, which could be signed by President Trump this week, is to impose “a disciplined reorganization” of the State Department and “streamline mission delivery” while cutting “waste, fraud and abuse,” according to a copy of the 16-page draft order obtained by The New York Times. The department is supposed to make the changes by Oct. 1.

The signing of the executive order would be accompanied by efforts to lay off both career diplomats, known as foreign service officers, and civil service employees, who usually work in the department’s headquarters in Washington, said current and former U.S. officials familiar with the plans. The department would begin putting large numbers of workers on paid leave and sending out notices of termination, they said. …”

 

[nycfan]

“… The draft also calls for cutting offices at State Department headquarters that address climate change and refugee issues, as well as democracy and human rights concerns.

The purpose of the executive order, which could be signed by President Trump this week, is to impose “a disciplined reorganization” of the State Department and “streamline mission delivery” while cutting “waste, fraud and abuse,” according to a copy of the 16-page draft order obtained by The New York Times. The department is supposed to make the changes by Oct. 1.

The signing of the executive order would be accompanied by efforts to lay off both career diplomats, known as foreign service officers, and civil service employees, who usually work in the department’s headquarters in Washington, said current and former U.S. officials familiar with the plans. The department would begin putting large numbers of workers on paid leave and sending out notices of termination, they said. …”

“…One of the most drastic proposed changes would be eliminating the bureau of African affairs, which oversees policy in sub-Saharan Africa. It would be replaced by a much smaller special envoy office for African affairs that would report to the White House National Security Council. The office would focus on a handful of issues, including “coordinated counterterrorism operations.”

The draft also said all “nonessential” embassies and consulates in sub-Saharan Africa would be closed by Oct. 1. Diplomats would be sent to Africa on “targeted, mission-driven deployments,” the document said. …

… And it says the department will end its contract with Howard University, a historically Black institution, to recruit candidates for the Rangeland Pickering fellowships, which are to be terminated. The goal of those fellowships has been to help students from underrepresented groups get a chance at entering the Foreign Service soon after graduation. …”

——
Trump has a seemingly overwhelming (and for America, short-sighted and self-defeating) desire to abandon Africa.

 

[nycfan]

 

[nycfan]

 

[nycfan]

 

[nycfan]

Former Trump Staff Members Liken His Actions to Those of ‘Royal Despot’​

In an open letter, prominent Republicans criticized President Trump for using his power to punish two former administration officials who criticized him.

Former Trump Staff Members Liken His Actions to Those of ‘Royal Despot’

In an open letter, prominent Republicans criticized President Trump for using his power to punish two former administration officials who criticized him.

www.nytimes.com

“… Mr. Trump’s executive orders also revoked the security clearances of people and institutions affiliated with Mr. Krebs and Mr. Taylor, and called for investigations into their government tenures. The letter, signed by more than 200 people, criticized those actions as part of a “profoundly unconstitutional break” with precedent.

… “Behavior of this kind is more to be expected from a royal despot than the elected leader of a constitutional republic,” the signers wrote. “This is the path of autocracy, not democracy.”

The letter’s signatories include Ty Cobb, a lawyerwho led Mr. Trump’s response to a special counsel’s investigation of his ties to Russia during its early phases, and John Mitnick, who served as general counsel for the Department of Homeland Security until he was fired in 2019 after clashing with the White House. …”

 

[nycfan]

Guess which Easter message Trump wrote?

 

[lawtig02]

Guess which Easter message Trump wrote?

Congrats to all the “Christians” who will be worshipping this guy in your nationalist churches this morning. Hope it’s worth it for you.

 

[nycfan]

 

[nycfan]

“… Howard Lutnick, the secretary of commerce, has said his mother-in-law wouldn’t be worried if she didn’t get her monthly Social Security check. Elon Musk, who is slashing the Social Security Administration’s staff, has called it a “Ponzi scheme.” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has asserted that Americans aren’t looking at the “day-to-day fluctuations” in their retirement savings.

And if automakers raise their prices because of Mr. Trump’s tariffs? “I couldn’t care less,” the president told Kristen Welker of NBC. …”

 

[nycfan]

“… A man who became a naturalized citizen shortly before Trump took office received a letter on February 13 from the Social Security Administration informing him that he was losing his Social Security and Medicare benefits, The Bulwark reported Friday.

…“We cannot pay you benefits because you are not lawfully present in the U.S.,” the letter obtained by The Bulwark reads. The man’s English-speaking family appealed the letter, reversing the decision, but his case is yet another reminder that the president isn’t afraid to weaponize the federal programs in his war on immigrants … or really anybody he wants out of the country.

Last week, multiple news outlets reported that the Trump administration entered the names of more than 6,000 immigrants into the SSA’s “death master file,” stripping them of their legal ability to work and receive benefits in the U.S. (Meanwhile, Elon Musk continues to claimfederal safety net programs are rampant with fraudulent information, such as incorrect death dates.) …”

 

[nycfan]

Health Insurance for Millions Is Now on the Chopping Block​

Republicans’ very quiet, very serious effort to go after Obamacare’s Medicaid expansion.​

Health Insurance for Millions Is Now on the Chopping Block

Republicans’ very quiet, very serious effort to go after Obamacare’s Medicaid expansion.

www.thebulwark.com

“… For the past few months, Republicans have been signaling they would limit themselves to imposing “work requirements” and going after what they call “waste, fraud, and abuse” in the program. Either could have a significant impact on both the budget (i.e., federal spending would come down by more than $100 billion over ten years) and access to health care (i.e., several million people would lose insurance).

 

[nycfan]

Health Insurance for Millions Is Now on the Chopping Block​

Republicans’ very quiet, very serious effort to go after Obamacare’s Medicaid expansion.​

Health Insurance for Millions Is Now on the Chopping Block

Republicans’ very quiet, very serious effort to go after Obamacare’s Medicaid expansion.

www.thebulwark.com

“… For the past few months, Republicans have been signaling they would limit themselves to imposing “work requirements” and going after what they call “waste, fraud, and abuse” in the program. Either could have a significant impact on both the budget (i.e., federal spending would come down by more than $100 billion over ten years) and access to health care (i.e., several million people would lose insurance).

“… But the interest in ending expansion funding is still there—in no small part because the money is still there—and in recent years especially Republicans have spun their efforts more as an attempt to preserve Medicaid for what they say are the truly vulnerable groups that need it.

One source for this argument is the Paragon Health Institute, one of several think tanks launched by alumni of the first Trump administration, whose researchers have argued that adding all of these working-age, childless adults to Medicaid has put extra financial strains on the program, while overwhelming the doctors and other providers who see Medicaid patients. As a result, these researchers say, the children, pregnant women, seniors, and people with disabilities who had previously depended on the program now have a harder time getting care.

In addition, Paragon’s researchers argue, the extra funding for Medicaid expansion effectively “discriminates” against the vulnerable, because it means the federal government is subsidizing working-age, childless adults at a higher rate than it is for children, pregnant women, and the elderly.

… As Larry Levitt, executive vice president at the health policy research organization KFF, told me over email, “Recent comments from Republican leadership in the House have swung the door wide open for cuts in federal spending for the ACA Medicaid expansion.” …”

 

[nycfan]

Varying reports on Vance visit to the Vatican.

Pope Sends Deputy to Lecture Vance on Compassion at Vatican

Vance had an “an exchange of opinions” with Cardinal Pietro Parolin that touched on migration, the Vatican said.

www.thedailybeast.com

“Pope Francis did not attend the Vatican’s official meeting with U.S. Vice President JD Vance on Saturday, instead having his No. 2 deliver a lecture on compassion, according to a Vatican statement.

Pope Francis was absent from Vance’s conversation with Cardinal Pietro Parolin. However, the statement said there was “an exchange of opinions on the international situation, especially regarding countries affected by war, political tensions and difficult humanitarian situations, with particular attention to migrants, refugees, and prisoners.”

It called for “serene collaboration” between the White House and the Catholic Church in the United States—a seeming hint to the tensions that have brewed between the two since President Donald Trump took office. …”

 

[nycfan]

Varying reports on Vance visit to the Vatican.

Pope Sends Deputy to Lecture Vance on Compassion at Vatican

Vance had an “an exchange of opinions” with Cardinal Pietro Parolin that touched on migration, the Vatican said.

www.thedailybeast.com

“Pope Francis did not attend the Vatican’s official meeting with U.S. Vice President JD Vance on Saturday, instead having his No. 2 deliver a lecture on compassion, according to a Vatican statement.

Pope Francis was absent from Vance’s conversation with Cardinal Pietro Parolin. However, the statement said there was “an exchange of opinions on the international situation, especially regarding countries affected by war, political tensions and difficult humanitarian situations, with particular attention to migrants, refugees, and prisoners.”

It called for “serene collaboration” between the White House and the Catholic Church in the United States—a seeming hint to the tensions that have brewed between the two since President Donald Trump took office. …”

Looks like they did meet

 

[superrific]

“… But the interest in ending expansion funding is still there—in no small part because the money is still there—and in recent years especially Republicans have spun their efforts more as an attempt to preserve Medicaid for what they say are the truly vulnerable groups that need it.

This is what I've been saying for a while now and I wish Dems would wake the fuck up.

They are trying to portray Medicaid as welfare. It's actually a plank of Obamacare. Make some noise, Dems, and don't use the word Medicaid. They are trying to gut the ACA.

 

[Geisterfahrer]

Looks like they did meet

Where’s Usha?

 

[nycfan]

 

[Zoo_View]

“…One of the most drastic proposed changes would be eliminating the bureau of African affairs, which oversees policy in sub-Saharan Africa. It would be replaced by a much smaller special envoy office for African affairs that would report to the White House National Security Council. The office would focus on a handful of issues, including “coordinated counterterrorism operations.”

The draft also said all “nonessential” embassies and consulates in sub-Saharan Africa would be closed by Oct. 1. Diplomats would be sent to Africa on “targeted, mission-driven deployments,” the document said. …

… And it says the department will end its contract with Howard University, a historically Black institution, to recruit candidates for the Rangeland Pickering fellowships, which are to be terminated. The goal of those fellowships has been to help students from underrepresented groups get a chance at entering the Foreign Service soon after graduation. …”

——
Trump has a seemingly overwhelming (and for America, short-sighted and self-defeating) desire to abandon Africa.

I expect this brilliant gutting of the State Department will have little-to-no impact on China’s Silk Road Initiative.

 

[sringwal]

Is that... an invitation?